Slight problem with my swing ....

[harpo_72]

I have been struggling with consistency with my driver, if it works I am happily going to score when it doesn't I know I have to limit the damage. My fault is my hands getting left behind, this means my hips are clearing but the club face is left open when I hit the ball. It does seem exaggerated with the driver and I can get all the other clubs back for a straight shot. Tonight I was trying to see if I consciously fired my hips forward causing my arms to drop would allow me to get them in the right place. Another issue is the weight does get left on the back foot, turning it into high right and horrible. But I just could not get the hip thing to work. The only thing that seemed to just straighten it all out was the feeling of the hands leading and pulling the body through, so the eyes were focused on the ball or just in front and then being pulled away by the momentum of the body. After doing this for a good number of balls I then went to a 9 iron and 5 iron, both of these seemed straight.
The thing is, it is working but is it a correct movement to replicate, is this the correct idea ?

 

[Region3]

I think it boils down to 2 things.

1) Feel vs real.
2) Everybody is different (ie. different faults causing the same bad shot).

I saw an old interview with Tiger Woods and Butch Harmon on the Golf Channel a while back. On it they talked about what they'd been working on and one of the things was trying to get the feeling that the hands were beating the body in a race back to the ball.
They also said that this isn't what really happens, it was just a feeling that Harmon wanted Woods to have. What the golfer feels is not necessarily real.

Another example. I had a lesson once and to cure the problem the instructor asked me to feel that I was keeping my weight on my back foot on the downswing. It worked because I'd got so far forward that the face couldn't be anything other than open at impact.
If I'd gone back to my club and told all my mates of this miracle tip it would have ruined most of them.

My point is that what you think you feel during the swing isn't necessarily what is actually happening. Whether or not your swing thought has cured a fault or compensated for it with another one, who knows?!

What you've described sounds a lot like I (hope I) was. I was awful for early extension as well, is that something you struggle with too?

 

[harpo_72]

Thanks for the reply, I had to google early extension. I don't really suffer with that, I think the hip bump drill old cause it though! Interesting comment about Tiger, it just feels that my hands are too behind and I cannot get them back on time.

 

[Region3]

Finally found the video I mentioned. The reason I remember it so well is that it was another 'feeling' I was told to have at another lesson, but I thought it might carry more weight if Tiger Woods said it.

They will probably make it clearer than I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplQjd6ZP88