# Compressing the ball...



## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

Been struggling to compress the ball since playing again this year, does anyone have any drills that I could try to help with this problem?


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## Alex1975 (Apr 28, 2014)

Any idea what your angle of attack it?


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

I had a lesson last week, trying to sort my swing path/release, however, on quite a few occassions the track man showed a positive number in the attack angle!


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## HawkeyeMS (Apr 28, 2014)

Forgive me, but I don't think you really mean what you asked. Compression happens when you hit the ball, the better and harder you hit it, the more the ball will compress. You don't need a negative angle of attack to compress the ball...

Why do you think you aren't compressing it?


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

Im not striking down on the ball, and therefore the ball is spinning too much, and ball flight is ridiculously high. I was hitting a 6 iron 140 into the wind because the ball was just ballooning.


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## Foxholer (Apr 28, 2014)

Try trying to take bigger divots.

It's nothing to do with the divot itself, nor any squeezing of the ball into the ground - that doesn't happen because the ball is long gone at a different angle by the time the club hits the turf. 

But the feeling that you have to drive the club-head through the turf is likely to actual strike more oomph!

Btw. If you are producing a + AoA for irons, then you are doing one of - hitting it off a tee; thinning it; hitting the ground first!

If you are NOT producing a + AoA for Driver, you are wasting energy - sizeably -ve AoA will certainly produce more spin/ballooning from Driver. Tee it higher is generally the solution there.


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## HawkeyeMS (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			Im not striking down on the ball, and therefore the ball is spinning too much, and ball flight is ridiculously high. I was hitting a 6 iron 140 into the wind because the ball was just ballooning.
		
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You might want to read this...

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/andrew-rice-golf/2013/02/compress-the-golf-ball


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## duncan mackie (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			Im not striking down on the ball, and therefore the ball is spinning too much,........
		
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nope - ball spin increases if you strike down ie increase angle of attack for any constant of loft and clubhead speed.


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

Foxholer said:



			Try trying to take bigger divots.

It's nothing to do with the divot itself, nor any squeezing of the ball into the ground - that doesn't happen because the ball is long gone at a different angle by the time the club hits the turf. 

But the feeling that you have to drive the club-head through the turf is likely to actual strike more oomph!

Btw. If you are producing a + AoA for irons, then you are doing one of - hitting it off a tee; thinning it; hitting the ground first!
		
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None of the above, too 'handsy' at impact, not keeping my hands ahead of the ball. A thin would surely come off low and fast? A heavy would be noticed by a pro watching me? He recommended that I try to hit down on the ball a little more.


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## Foxholer (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			None of the above, too 'handsy' at impact, not keeping my hands ahead of the ball. A thin would surely come off low and fast? A heavy would be noticed by a pro watching me? He recommended that I try to hit down on the ball a little more.
		
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Well, presuming you know what AoA actually means, can you explain how you can get anything more than a marginally positive one without hitting the ground first?

And what the pro is recommending will almost certainly (well, hopefully) work. By trying to hit down more, you are more likely to get your hands ahead of the club-face and avoid the 'flip'. It's this de-lofting of the clubcace that achieves the better 'compression'. at the moment, you are doing the opposite!

Similar concept with my 'bigger divots' suggestion. Forces more foreward and solid wrists/forearms to drive through the turf - but that's an 'in the head' solution.


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

As I said previously, I was getting reading of 5 up on the ANGLE OF ATTACK, but nothing better than zero. The ball was a little low on the club face, but not low enough to be a rocket thin. 

I was swaying a little to start off, which would have affected angles etc, I was only looking for some drills, not an exam about the accronyms assosciated with a Track Man!


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## One Planer (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			Been struggling to compress the ball since playing again this year, does anyone have any drills that I could try to help with this problem?
		
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Some cracking info on keeping your hands ahead of the ball here:

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?66359-Hands-in-front-of-ball-(impact)-drill-Help!


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## Foxholer (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			As I said previously, I was getting reading of 5 up on the ANGLE OF ATTACK, but nothing better than zero. The ball was a little low on the club face, but not low enough to be a rocket thin. 

I was swaying a little to start off, which would have affected angles etc, I was only looking for some drills, not an exam about the accronyms assosciated with a Track Man!
		
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Ask your Pro then. He's certainly in the best position to select which drill will be best FOR YOU.


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## HawkeyeMS (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			None of the above, too 'handsy' at impact, not keeping my hands ahead of the ball. A thin would surely come off low and fast? A heavy would be noticed by a pro watching me? He recommended that I try to hit down on the ball a little more.
		
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Am I the only one who finds it odd that your pro would tell you to try hitting down a bit more and then not tell you how to do it


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## Alex1975 (Apr 28, 2014)

7.5* driver.... your way up on the ball as you said. I am not going to advise you as your a better golfer than me but I would think you need to hold onto your angles longer...

I am usually 6* down on my 6 iron and 1* up or down on my driver.... Not even in the same ball park as you. I am more about releasing the angles than holding them.


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## Albanach (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			As I said previously, I was getting reading of 5 up on the ANGLE OF ATTACK, but nothing better than zero. The ball was a little low on the club face, but not low enough to be a rocket thin. 

I was swaying a little to start off, which would have affected angles etc, I was only looking for some drills, not an exam about the accronyms assosciated with a Track Man!
		
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For the swaying the ball under the outside of the right foot drill should be good. For the impact drill maybe try and start to swing from the impact position to get the feeling. There's a couple of videos on the golf channel site for the above with Karen Stupples and Anika Sorenstam resp. I'm struggling with angle if attack at the minute and it's mainly due to staying on my RHS through impact so I found this helpful:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h9AGqVJApKI

Caveat - being off 3 you're a better golfer than me so just my 2 cents.


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

Theres not really any need for sarcy remarks is there? I asked a simple question, detailed the faults. Ive tried the two he gave me, snapped an alignment cane and the others are better on grass, but Im practising at the range.


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## One Planer (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			Theres not really any need for sarcy remarks is there? I asked a simple question, detailed the faults. Ive tried the two he gave me, snapped an alignment cane and the others are better on grass, but Im practising at the range.
		
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There is a drill that can be done on range mats that involves placing a ball about 8" behind your target ball.

The idea is to hit your target ball and  not the one behind.


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## Foxholer (Apr 28, 2014)

Gareth said:



			There is a drill that can be done on range mats that involves placing a ball about 8" behind your target ball.

The idea is to hit your target ball and  not the one behind.
		
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That's a bit close imo. Promotes too steep an attack. Starting at 18" and moving it in to just over a foot works pretty well - at least for me.


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## One Planer (Apr 28, 2014)

Foxholer said:



			That's a bit close imo. Promotes too steep an attack. Starting at 18" and moving it in to just over a foot works pretty well - at least for me.
		
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Ya, know I mean to put 18" and missed the '1' 

I should probably re-read my posts before hitting 'post' :rofl:


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

Gareth said:



			Ya, know I mean to put 18" and missed the '1' 

I should probably re-read my posts before hitting 'post' :rofl:
		
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Cheers Gareth.


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## the_coach (Apr 28, 2014)

GMAC88 said:



			Been struggling to compress the ball since playing again this year, does anyone have any drills that I could try to help with this problem?
		
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There's a couple drills you can do on range mats, first one is a little easier to do, second can be a struggle to do absolutely correctly but worth it. 
What your struggling with is really all about where the lowest point of your swing arc is in relation to dynamic loft & currently in your strike the loft your presenting is nearer the static loft of whatever iron your using, 'compression' has just become a teaching short hand for striking your irons with a forward leaning shaft, the ball just deforms on the face during the transfer of energy from club to ball in the strike, then you just take a bunch of ground.

Does boil down in the end to getting your hands further forward opposite lead thigh some coming into & through impact as you want the lowest point of your swing arc some 3" or more target side of the ball.

In the better players I help coach that I sometimes find struggling with this, it's about getting in position through impact that allows your hands & arms to lead the forward leaning shaft, the issue in these good players with it usually starts from transition. (Assuming the back swing to the top has given you a 90Âº angle between lead arm & shaft & the trail arm angle of the elbow is no less than 90Âº) 
The cure is about starting weight on the lead leg, leading transition move, having the trail elbow hug the trail hip at delivery position still maintaining angle in trail hand & very importantly having the hips clear properly with weight at least 80-85% on lead leg. Weight on lead leg & hips have to clear to provide that space for the arms & hands to be in the correct place. 

Even good golfers can get a tad lazy & leave some weight on the trail leg, do this & you can't clear hips properly so then there's no room for the arms & hands to get up through level with the lead thigh which is what gives you the optimum 6Âº to 10Âº forward leaning shaft, & low point of the arc the 3" target side. So optimum negative AoA for best dynamic loft through the strike for the proper penetrating traj & distance.

To get the shot flight your looking for you've got to get the weight left just before the strike, your swinging past a really firm posted leg & the lead hip has to have cleared to give the arms & hands the room to get forward. 

If you're late with your weight, hip not cleared enough then the path for the arms & hands will be blocked so you arrive at impact with a shaft that's a tad more vertical (club head to grip) & this puts more loft at impact, so too high a flight lack of forward travel for the effort expended but as the ball is still coming out of the middle of the face it can still seem like a pretty good strike, but from the sound & what happens to the ball you can tell it's not quite there & do this is the wind & it's real bad news.

First easier drill, I'd start with an 8i (but you could use 6i straight away but slightly harder straight off to do) 
Take a folded ball towel & as your a Cat 1 player place it 3" behind the ball, then start at 75% speed & strike some shots. 

The only way you can miss the towel, strike the ball then matt is if you have weight forward, hip cleared, with head still behind ball & you still in posture, so get the hands to the lead thigh for the downward AoA. 
Also if you have an sort of 'early release' of the hips, coming into impact, up & out to your ball/target line you're going to hit the towel, if your weight not firmly on lead leg, hip cleared, hands to lead thigh you're going to hit the towel.
Get so you can do this with a 6i with 100% success, then move the towel to 2" behind the ball.

This other drill a mite more difficult straight off, with an 8i to start (no towel), just address the ball as you normally would, stance posture as you would, ball position somewhere just in front center as you would normally.

Then without changing any of your posture, address position just push the ball until it's opposite you lead foot's little toe (so ways out in front to target) then bring your club head back to where you'd normally address the ball from. So your starting takeaaway & the swing from a good ways behind this 'new' drill ball position.

You now make your normal back swing & the objective is to have your weight forward hip cleared to strike the ball that's a way out in front of where it would normally be, wouldn't go normal speed at first though! Not that easy to do, but a really good drill to help achieve what you are looking to do, move the low point of your swing arc with your irons to 3" target side of the ball so you get the forward leaning shaft, negative AoA & real solid strikes with a good piercing traj.
When you get the 8i down do same with 6i.

Get both these drills down, the strike, flight of the shot will be what you're looking for, maybe the drills something you'll have to revisit during the season until it really becomes grooved in.


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## markgs (Apr 28, 2014)

hit the ball hard


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## GMAC88 (Apr 28, 2014)

the_coach said:



			There's a couple drills you can do on range mats, first one is a little easier to do, second can be a struggle to do absolutely correctly but worth it. 
What your struggling with is really all about where the lowest point of your swing arc is in relation to dynamic loft & currently in your strike the loft your presenting is nearer the static loft of whatever iron your using, 'compression' has just become a teaching short hand for striking your irons with a forward leaning shaft, the ball just deforms on the face during the transfer of energy from club to ball in the strike, then you just take a bunch of ground.

Does boil down in the end to getting your hands further forward opposite lead thigh some coming into & through impact as you want the lowest point of your swing arc some 3" or more target side of the ball.

In the better players I help coach that I sometimes find struggling with this, it's about getting in position through impact that allows your hands & arms to lead the forward leaning shaft, the issue in these good players with it usually starts from transition. (Assuming the back swing to the top has given you a 90Âº angle between lead arm & shaft & the trail arm angle of the elbow is no less than 90Âº) 
The cure is about starting weight on the lead leg, leading transition move, having the trail elbow hug the trail hip at delivery position still maintaining angle in trail hand & very importantly having the hips clear properly with weight at least 80-85% on lead leg. Weight on lead leg & hips have to clear to provide that space for the arms & hands to be in the correct place. 

Even good golfers can get a tad lazy & leave some weight on the trail leg, do this & you can't clear hips properly so then there's no room for the arms & hands to get up through level with the lead thigh which is what gives you the optimum 6Âº to 10Âº forward leaning shaft, & low point of the arc the 3" target side. So optimum negative AoA for best dynamic loft through the strike for the proper penetrating traj & distance.

To get the shot flight your looking for you've got to get the weight left just before the strike, your swinging past a really firm posted leg & the lead hip has to have cleared to give the arms & hands the room to get forward. 

If you're late with your weight, hip not cleared enough then the path for the arms & hands will be blocked so you arrive at impact with a shaft that's a tad more vertical (club head to grip) & this puts more loft at impact, so too high a flight lack of forward travel for the effort expended but as the ball is still coming out of the middle of the face it can still seem like a pretty good strike, but from the sound & what happens to the ball you can tell it's not quite there & do this is the wind & it's real bad news.

First easier drill, I'd start with an 8i (but you could use 6i straight away but slightly harder straight off to do) 
Take a folded ball towel & as your a Cat 1 player place it 3" behind the ball, then start at 75% speed & strike some shots. 

The only way you can miss the towel, strike the ball then matt is if you have weight forward, hip cleared, with head still behind ball & you still in posture, so get the hands to the lead thigh for the downward AoA. 
Also if you have an sort of 'early release' of the hips, coming into impact, up & out to your ball/target line you're going to hit the towel, if your weight not firmly on lead leg, hip cleared, hands to lead thigh you're going to hit the towel.
Get so you can do this with a 6i with 100% success, then move the towel to 2" behind the ball.

This other drill a mite more difficult straight off, with an 8i to start (no towel), just address the ball as you normally would, stance posture as you would, ball position somewhere just in front center as you would normally.

Then without changing any of your posture, address position just push the ball until it's opposite you lead foot's little toe (so ways out in front to target) then bring your club head back to where you'd normally address the ball from. So your starting takeaaway & the swing from a good ways behind this 'new' drill ball position.

You now make your normal back swing & the objective is to have your weight forward hip cleared to strike the ball that's a way out in front of where it would normally be, wouldn't go normal speed at first though! Not that easy to do, but a really good drill to help achieve what you are looking to do, move the low point of your swing arc with your irons to 3" target side of the ball so you get the forward leaning shaft, negative AoA & real solid strikes with a good piercing traj.
When you get the 8i down do same with 6i.

Get both these drills down, the strike, flight of the shot will be what you're looking for, maybe the drills something you'll have to revisit during the season until it really becomes grooved in.
		
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Perfect mate. Thanks! Tried this in the net at the club earlier, was getting better toward the end of the bag of balls, I should have continued practicing over the winter, but as I do most years, golf clubs go away and the goalie gloves come out.


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## stevelev (Apr 28, 2014)

If you are ever practising at the range off mats, take a piece of chalk with you and put a thick line behind the ball if there is a puff of chalk its a fatt shot,  after a few of these put the ball so the chalk line is target side, and aim to hit the ball but get a puff of chalk, that means you would be taking a divot. So gives you instant feedback even though not on grass. 

You can also use some wide masking tape on your club face for a couple of shots to see where on the face you're striking the ball

Good luck


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## dsanders9944 (Apr 29, 2014)

Try this drill, it worked quite well for me and wasn't too complicated[video=youtube_share;oxizfvsJAeI]http://youtu.be/oxizfvsJAeI[/video]


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## Albanach (Apr 29, 2014)

the_coach said:



			There's a couple drills you can do on range mats, first one is a little easier to do, second can be a struggle to do absolutely correctly but worth it. 
What your struggling with is really all about where the lowest point of your swing arc is in relation to dynamic loft & currently in your strike the loft your presenting is nearer the static loft of whatever iron your using, 'compression' has just become a teaching short hand for striking your irons with a forward leaning shaft, the ball just deforms on the face during the transfer of energy from club to ball in the strike, then you just take a bunch of ground.

Does boil down in the end to getting your hands further forward opposite lead thigh some coming into & through impact as you want the lowest point of your swing arc some 3" or more target side of the ball.

In the better players I help coach that I sometimes find struggling with this, it's about getting in position through impact that allows your hands & arms to lead the forward leaning shaft, the issue in these good players with it usually starts from transition. (Assuming the back swing to the top has given you a 90Âº angle between lead arm & shaft & the trail arm angle of the elbow is no less than 90Âº) 
The cure is about starting weight on the lead leg, leading transition move, having the trail elbow hug the trail hip at delivery position still maintaining angle in trail hand & very importantly having the hips clear properly with weight at least 80-85% on lead leg. Weight on lead leg & hips have to clear to provide that space for the arms & hands to be in the correct place. 

Even good golfers can get a tad lazy & leave some weight on the trail leg, do this & you can't clear hips properly so then there's no room for the arms & hands to get up through level with the lead thigh which is what gives you the optimum 6Âº to 10Âº forward leaning shaft, & low point of the arc the 3" target side. So optimum negative AoA for best dynamic loft through the strike for the proper penetrating traj & distance.

To get the shot flight your looking for you've got to get the weight left just before the strike, your swinging past a really firm posted leg & the lead hip has to have cleared to give the arms & hands the room to get forward. 

If you're late with your weight, hip not cleared enough then the path for the arms & hands will be blocked so you arrive at impact with a shaft that's a tad more vertical (club head to grip) & this puts more loft at impact, so too high a flight lack of forward travel for the effort expended but as the ball is still coming out of the middle of the face it can still seem like a pretty good strike, but from the sound & what happens to the ball you can tell it's not quite there & do this is the wind & it's real bad news.

First easier drill, I'd start with an 8i (but you could use 6i straight away but slightly harder straight off to do) 
Take a folded ball towel & as your a Cat 1 player place it 3" behind the ball, then start at 75% speed & strike some shots. 

The only way you can miss the towel, strike the ball then matt is if you have weight forward, hip cleared, with head still behind ball & you still in posture, so get the hands to the lead thigh for the downward AoA. 
Also if you have an sort of 'early release' of the hips, coming into impact, up & out to your ball/target line you're going to hit the towel, if your weight not firmly on lead leg, hip cleared, hands to lead thigh you're going to hit the towel.
Get so you can do this with a 6i with 100% success, then move the towel to 2" behind the ball.

This other drill a mite more difficult straight off, with an 8i to start (no towel), just address the ball as you normally would, stance posture as you would, ball position somewhere just in front center as you would normally.

Then without changing any of your posture, address position just push the ball until it's opposite you lead foot's little toe (so ways out in front to target) then bring your club head back to where you'd normally address the ball from. So your starting takeaaway & the swing from a good ways behind this 'new' drill ball position.

You now make your normal back swing & the objective is to have your weight forward hip cleared to strike the ball that's a way out in front of where it would normally be, wouldn't go normal speed at first though! Not that easy to do, but a really good drill to help achieve what you are looking to do, move the low point of your swing arc with your irons to 3" target side of the ball so you get the forward leaning shaft, negative AoA & real solid strikes with a good piercing traj.
When you get the 8i down do same with 6i.

Get both these drills down, the strike, flight of the shot will be what you're looking for, maybe the drills something you'll have to revisit during the season until it really becomes grooved in.
		
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Without sounding stupid...how do you avoid the towel on the way back with only a 3" gap?


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## the_coach (Apr 29, 2014)

Albanach said:



			Without sounding stupid...how do you avoid the towel on the way back with only a 3" gap?
		
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The advice to the OP tailored to him being a Cat 1 golfer, working with a lot of Cat 1 players, I knew from experience this wouldn't be an issue for him, doubt it crossed his mind as the focus would be on the actions needed the drill helps to highlight to get the better impact conditions he was looking for. It's just a towel folded so flat less than 1/4" all in.

If giving this advice to someone not having the same skill set, I'd advise using a small tee (but ball teed down) having the folded towel 4" to 5" away from back of ball. As the towel placed there for them still of use as they will have much more weight on the back leg so the 'flip'/'collapse' of the left wrist is going to be back opposite the trail thigh.

The only way to get rid of the dreaded 'scoop/flip action' is to start the transition & downswing with the weight on the lead leg & clearing the lead hip properly, head remaining behind the ball though, to give the arms, hands the space to come through so they 'pass' the ball's position with the club shaft having a good forward lean to bring the club head into impact with the lowest point of the swing arc some 3" target side of ball. As with all these drills you should approach them with a 70% ish swing speed to give yourself the time needed to get used to the changes needed to be able to do it properly, once you can do this 100% of the time at the slower speed then just up the ante a tad to 80% effort, you never want to do these drills 'flat out' it defeats the objective of them.
Here's a guy doing it with a 'lie board' which is only a club heads width away from the ball, but a towel lot more 'hand & wrist friendly' as you're learning to do it!!

[video=youtube_share;9LwME9mU3Hs]http://youtu.be/9LwME9mU3Hs[/video]


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## Albanach (Apr 29, 2014)

Cheers coach!


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