The 'slot'

[Papas1982]

When I first started golf it was mentioned by some of the older guys that I was fortunate to be flexible. In comparison to them at least. During my first lesson (only had. 3). My coach made the point that the further I could rotate the better torque I could create for my swing. Recently my games gone to pot as I've tried to eek out every mph swing speed. My driver is a slice every time! My coach is now on paternity leave, how inconsiderate. . So have trawled the inter web and have come across 'the slot'. I vaguely rmemebr seeing Butch Harmon mentioning it on a chipping video, saying it was like hinge and hold with irons and driver and would let you know when you were set and ready for the downswing.

As as a reference, with my driver I can rotate to the point that the club head is pointing down and only a foot or so from the deck. My irons are also still pointing down.

Does anybody here swings as wide as they can and has mastered it, or would some of the better golfers on here say they've ever changed from doing this and tried a shorter backswing.
All
opinions welcome, come, only mentioned "better players " as obviously you guys are better than me as a 24 capper. So would be good to know if improvement came with the acceptance of a shorter more controlled swing.

And breathe........

 

[nickyj4]

Sounds a bit like you are overswinging to me, I was doing that until I got a lesson recently and the pro told me to try what felt like a 3/4 swing. He then took a pic and it turns out what I thought was a 3/4 was actually full and my club was pointing straight down the target line.

Try standing with your left side against a wall and then swing until your back is parallel to the wall without the clubhead hitting the wall, this helped me.

Now hitting the ball with a draw rather than a massive slice.

 

[Papas1982]

Sounds a bit like you are overswinging to me, I was doing that until I got a lesson recently and the pro told me to try what felt like a 3/4 swing. He then took a pic and it turns out what I thought was a 3/4 was actually full and my club was pointing straight down the target line.

Try standing with your left side against a wall and then swing until your back is parallel to the wall without the clubhead hitting the wall, this helped me.

Now hitting the ball with a draw rather than a massive slice.

Cool, will give that a go. I videoed myself earlier and was almost turned to face video, annoying thin his that seeing the pace it creates. The shots that connect fly! Far to many mishitts though!

 

[Doh]

When people talk about being wide i think they try to take that literally,they take the club and hands as far away from their body as possible.However where you want to keep the width is between your hands and you head. This will stop you over swinging.

 

[the_coach]

Cool, will give that a go. I videoed myself earlier and was almost turned to face video, annoying thin his that seeing the pace it creates. The shots that connect fly! Far to many mishitts though!

You don't want your hips & core, chest & shoulders to turn virtually the same amount as that creates no torque, no power so you won't be generating the club head speed you could do.
Better to work to a 3/4 length feel at the top of the backswing. (as already said in the thread this will inevitably be longer in actuality during the swing motion)

As a guide you need a stable base to support the club moving at speed in a swing motion. So your legs, feet to the ground, need to be stable, solid to turn your upper body over to help cultivate balance and rhythm through the swing. You don't want 'Elvis' knees or legs. Think firm solid knees/legs not 'floppy'.

Your hips start to turn only when your arms & upper body 'pull' on them too, not straightaway from first move of the club, likewise you knees and legs start to move when 'pulled' on by the movement of the hips.
It's then the complete reverse in the down & through swing from the top, where feet & legs move hips which moves body core then chest, then shoulders then arms, hands & club. Think of it as a relay race, each bit passing on their energy to the other until finally the hands passively (no extra flipping) lead a forward leaning shaft & club head through the ball.

Think at the top of your backswing as a guide that your legs, knees feel solid and you've retained your knee flex & posture and vertical height virtually the same that it was at address, your hips will have turned about 45 degrees your upper chest and shoulders around 90 degrees, your left arm won't have collapsed at the elbow & the angle between your right upper arm & right forearm will be 90 degrees or a little less but again the right elbow shouldn't have collapsed towards your shoulder.

From the top feel the weight move back onto your left foot & leg (weight should have moved to flexed right leg as you turned back to the top of your 3/4 backswing) then feel you swing the club downwards, right shoulder moving down (not outwards) & then feel the right shoulder move under as you 'swing through impact' to a fully balanced finish.

 

[Jack_bfc]

When I first started golf it was mentioned by some of the older guys that I was fortunate to be flexible. In comparison to them at least. During my first lesson (only had. 3). My coach made the point that the further I could rotate the better torque I could create for my swing. Recently my games gone to pot as I've tried to eek out every mph swing speed. My driver is a slice every time! My coach is now on paternity leave, how inconsiderate. . So have trawled the inter web and have come across 'the slot'. I vaguely rmemebr seeing Butch Harmon mentioning it on a chipping video, saying it was like hinge and hold with irons and driver and would let you know when you were set and ready for the downswing.

As as a reference, with my driver I can rotate to the point that the club head is pointing down and only a foot or so from the deck. My irons are also still pointing down.

Does anybody here swings as wide as they can and has mastered it, or would some of the better golfers on here say they've ever changed from doing this and tried a shorter backswing.
All
opinions welcome, come, only mentioned "better players " as obviously you guys are better than me as a 24 capper. So would be good to know if improvement came with the acceptance of a shorter more controlled swing.

And breathe........

WOW this should be added to the over complicating thread... You lost me half way through...

 

[Papas1982]

WOW this should be added to the over complicating thread... You lost me half way through...

Well the 3 previous readers managed to understand. But thanks for your contribution........

 

[Foxholer]

So would be good to know if improvement came with the acceptance of a shorter more controlled swing.

3/4 swing with decent (not excessive) turn works much better imo. 'Balance and Rhythm' beats 'Max Slash' any day for me!

I'd suggest you picked up on some of your coach's words, but not others - like 'up to a point'!

 

[Sponge1980]

From reading only the thread title I thought this might have been some kind of follow up to JustOne's "Bum" thread in OOB.

 

[Papas1982]

From reading only the thread title I thought this might have been some kind of follow up to JustOne's "Bum" thread in OOB.

Think that 'slot' may belong in the oob too lol

 

[Papas1982]

3/4 swing with decent (not excessive) turn works much better imo. 'Balance and Rhythm' beats 'Max Slash' any day for me!

I'd suggest you picked up on some of your coach's words, but not others - like 'up to a point'!

Thats most likely true! I shall be seeing him once he's back. Wasn't meant to appear like a criticism. Will try out all current advice at the range

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I would consider getting a lesson somewhere and just let a pro look at what you are doing. If the driver is a slice every time my concern would be about club head and swing path. You say your are trying to "eek" every mph and I reckon you are swinging too long and too fast and maybe getting confused on what you are trying to achieve. I don't mean to be rude but as someone who got lost trying to self diagnose and know the problems it caused I would hate to see anyone fall apart like I did

 

[Papas1982]

I would consider getting a lesson somewhere and just let a pro look at what you are doing. If the driver is a slice every time my concern would be about club head and swing path. You say your are trying to "eek" every mph and I reckon you are swinging too long and too fast and maybe getting confused on what you are trying to achieve. I don't mean to be rude but as someone who got lost trying to self diagnose and know the problems it caused I would hate to see anyone fall apart like I did

Im gonna see my pro when he's back in a couple of weeks. I think it was a case if getting greedy. I used to hit driver further a year ago, think I just forgot how wild I was with it. But with trying to self diagnose I've forgotten what I was taught. Fingers crossed a refresher will sort me out.

 

[TheClaw]

When I first started golf it was mentioned by some of the older guys that I was fortunate to be flexible. In comparison to them at least. During my first lesson (only had. 3). My coach made the point that the further I could rotate the better torque I could create for my swing. Recently my games gone to pot as I've tried to eek out every mph swing speed. My driver is a slice every time! My coach is now on paternity leave, how inconsiderate. . So have trawled the inter web and have come across 'the slot'. I vaguely rmemebr seeing Butch Harmon mentioning it on a chipping video, saying it was like hinge and hold with irons and driver and would let you know when you were set and ready for the downswing.

As as a reference, with my driver I can rotate to the point that the club head is pointing down and only a foot or so from the deck. My irons are also still pointing down.

Does anybody here swings as wide as they can and has mastered it, or would some of the better golfers on here say they've ever changed from doing this and tried a shorter backswing.
All
opinions welcome, come, only mentioned "better players " as obviously you guys are better than me as a 24 capper. So would be good to know if improvement came with the acceptance of a shorter more controlled swing.

And breathe........

How far can you rotate whilst limiting your hip turn and keeping your posture? There's no point in a long swing if there is no 'coil'. Also, is your right elbow getting away from your body?

 

[Papas1982]

How far can you rotate whilst limiting your hip turn and keeping your posture? There's no point in a long swing if there is no 'coil'. Also, is your right elbow getting away from your body?

it it is generally my my arms and shoulders rotating, not my core as such. My right elbows leaves my side as I was taught to get club as far from body as possible. Of course I may have misunderstood the instruction.

 

[chrisd]

It sounds to me like you're over swinging massively and trying to wallop the ball as hard as possible ala John Daly. Over swing too far and you almost certainly have to cast the club from the top, that probably leads to a big over the top move and the ineviatable slice. One thing that I think works is concentrating on seeing the ball go off the tee, it is harder to hit a good shot if everything goes so fast and furious that you can't see the club hit the ball

 

[G_Mulligan]

Maybe think of it this way, if you are flexible enough to over swing so much the club head is facing back to the ground at the top, then it should be very easy for you to get it parallel without much effort. You are very lucky, many golfers struggle to get it there (myself included) you can create plenty of natural speed, and power from here without tensing up and losing your natural rhythm and tempo.

Swing slow and easy, as others have said, turn the shoulders and hold the hips which creates the coil and the torque for effortless power. Have a look at Ernie do it, he looks like he is not trying at all but is actually ripping it 300 yards.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

What your pro says is fine if you are capable of doing it which many of us aren't. As has already been said, you need to shorten your swing and TBH your pro should realise that there is little point teaching you something you physically can't do. Shorter swings are the way forward.