I feel one of the most overlooked hinges during the golf swing is the right elbow and how it should function. If you look at The Impact Method and watch one of the videos on this site, you will notice the distance the right elbow is from the torso at set up remains fairly constant throughout the backswing.

Many golfers make efforts to lift the club to the top of the backswing. You should never make any move to ‘lift’ the arms because this will add a great deal of separation between the body and arms requiring another compensation to take place on the forward swing. So, what elevates the golf club to the top of the backswing? You guessed it..the folding of the right elbow. If you hold the golf club in your right hand only and lift the club to the top, you will feel the incorrect method of finishing the backswing. What I want you to try now is pay close attention to how far the right elbow is from you right side at address when taking your golf stance. Now make a very slow backswing keeping that distance as constant as possible and simply folding the right elbow as you turn. Your folding motion will take place when your hands are approximately waist high.

Eliminating any lift you may have in the backswing will make it much easier to keep the golf club on plane, which then will allow your arms and pivot to work together during your golf swing. Correct Impact alignments are produced much easier when your arms are ‘packed in’ to the torso throughout the backswing.  Remember, there are no straight lines in the golf swing and if you are lifting the golf club to the top you are creating a straight line, not swinging the club on a tilted circle.

This video discusses the importance of keeping balance throughout the golf swing and how doing so will enable the swing to ‘bottom out’ in front of the golf ball not behind. You will see how efficient and effective The Impact Method can become. I have incorporated some of stack and tilt theories with mine, but made them much more simple to understand and ingrain to your golf swing.

Many golfers are taught to ‘load’ the right side, I know I was at different points in my golfing life. Recently stack and tilt has given golfers new hope and allowed them to strike the ball more solid. Many players I have seen, misunderstand stack and tilt and overdo many positions. The Impact Method neutralizes your weight shift so it becomes very simple to stay centered and move into the left hip socket, moving the low point of the swing in front of the golf ball where it belongs. Very simple and less complicated to learn.

In this video I discuss the importance of swing plane. Establishing the proper swing plane will make it much easier to create strong impact positions. Swinging the club on an effective swing plane reduces the need for compensating moves to be made during the swing and will produce greater ball striking consistency. I also discuss common flaws often seen (such as out to in..aka over the top), why they happen, and how to cure the problem.

Allowing the arms to work with the body is neccessary to keep the golf club on plane. When you swing the arms independently they will not be supported by the body and will have a negative effect on your golf swing. Notice in the video how my hands remain in front of my chest. I try to maintain this relationship throughout the entire swing. The feel I want you to have is you are hitting the golf ball with your body and the arms are simply transported back and through by using the pivot (body rotation).

In this video we see how important it is to maintain spine your spine tilt throughout the backswing. You can see here why it is vital to allow the arms and body pivot to work with each other and not independently during the golf swing. I also show the difference between an arm swing and pivot driven arm swing and why we must have leverage to create correct impact alignments.

I am sure you have felt the vibration up your arms as I described here. When the wrist angles are lost early on the downswing ‘clunked’ golf shots will occur. Work on getting the weight into the left hip socket as you are moving through impact and resist the temptation to flip the clubhead at the golf ball. Use your pivot to move your arms and those pure shot will happen more often.

Hopefully the weather we are having all over the country will begin to break a little and let us get out and start playing golf. I have not seen a winter this cold ever and have only been able to get on the course sporadically this winter. 

Here is what  I would recommend to you for quickly getting your game in shape. One, work heavily around the chipping green to recover some touch and eliminate the potential anxiety that could occur when you need to chip on the golf course. You know for sure the ball striking may not be up to par and you will miss more greens than usual, so be prepared to use your short game to salvage a few strokes early in the season. This will pay off greatly, especially when your ball striking comes around. Two, workout with the driver at home and on the range. You will be surprised how quickly your golf muscles become slow and sluggish. Swing drivers at home a much as possible to keep those  muscles toned and quick. I want you swinging full speed during these practice sessions with the driver. You can get away with mediocre iron play, but if you are getting into trouble off the tee it will be a long round !

I suggest you try improving these two areas of your golf game first then begin working on the other areas as you ramp up your available practice time.

This video shows the hit and hold drill. Most golfers struggle to produce consistent clubhead speed or fail to make repeating solid ball contact. You can use this drill to establish better arm/body relationship during your swing which will lead to power and accuracy and certainly reinforce impact.

When you perform the hit and hold drill I want you using a 6,7,or 8 iron, making half to three-quarter swings. If you are unable to stop your arms waist high post impact, then it is likely they are working independently of your torso. Practice this drill and I can guarantee you will start to feel how important it is to allow the pivot (body turn) to control the arm swing.

I am asked by every student ” How much should I practice “? Most golfers are not sure what it takes for them to become better players or what they need to change in their golf swing to make this happen.

If you ask the better players you know I think you will find they spend more time practicing or playing than you may think. Most golfers feel once or twice a week is a lot and certainly should be enough to improve their games. Well, I believe once or twice a week will allow you to maintain where you are but not enough practice to really make a drastic change in your game. 

What you should do in order to really see progress would be making swings everyday, even if it were for 5-10 minutes at home without hitting a ball. This is better than not doing anything and will keep your golf muscles limber and also keep the club feeling good in your hands. Hitting a few putts or at least making a few practice strokes  would  be beneficial as well. Adding a regiment of regular golf lessons to the formula is also a must.

Time is certainly a consideration when it comes to practice. When you have limited time to spend practicing I recommend splitting your session in equal parts. For example, if you have an hour to spend practicing, use 30 minutes for full swing practice and the remainder for short game. 

Make sure you are spending your valuable practice time wisely. Once you establish a practice schedule stick with it and you should obtain the results you want much faster.