Need a Lesson?
Click here to search the directory.

WARMING UP OVER WINTER (John Cregan)

First, if you haven't swung a club for a while, do some stretching! Make sure to focus on your back, shoulders, ham strings. Now take a club, a five iron will work nicely. If you have a full length mirror handy stand in front of it. Get into your address position and look at yourself in the mirror. Check your 
posture. Are your arms hanging naturally, or are they stiff and tense? Are your knees flexed correctly or do 
you have too much squat or not enough? Are your feet the correct distance apart? Does your grip look OK? If you are not sure what to look for, get a golf magazine or book that features pictures of a player similar in 
stature to you and check their address positions. We may not be able to swing exactly like the pros, but everyone should be able to get into similar address positions. 

Now, start swinging the club. DO THIS VERY,VERY SLOWLY!!! I want you to "feel" what is going on in your bodies. When your HANDS reach belt high, stop. At this point your weight should be shifting to your back leg. You should have felt that the hands, arms and shoulders all worked together to get to this point. Check the position of the club shaft. It should be pointing at the target (or parallel to your foot line) and the toe of your club should be pointing directly up in the air (the scoring lines of the club are perpendicular to the ground). If you don't have your body or the club in these positions, make adjustments. 

Now continue to swing the club up over your shoulder and stop. Is most of your weight on the INSIDE PORTION OF YOUR BACK FOOT AND THIGH? Is your back leg maintaining it's flexed position? Where is the club shaft pointing? It should be in the direction of the target. Are your thumbs underneath the shaft of the club and supporting it? It's amazing how much you can see and feel just by going slowly and pausing at various positions! Now swing the club forward and stop at the impact position. Is the club (the entire club, head, shaft etc.) in the same position it was in when you were standing at address? It should be. If so did you need to manipulate the club at all to acquire this position? 

What I find with many of my students when they perform this drill is that they have either had to manipulate the club to get the club face square at impact or, they are able to see that the club is out of position. Out of position at impact is usually when the hands are too far ahead of the ball causing the club shaft to point under or ahead of their lead armpit, and this keeps the club face open instead of square. Where is your weight at impact? I believe that the weight should be shifting forward, BUT you will still have a noticeable amount of weight on your back foot. 

Harvie Ward, the great amateur from North Carolina once told me that his thought in the golf swing was to keep his back heel grounded until well after impact. He felt this kept his body in a "square" position. If you watch many of the great pros, they do this. Now continue to swing to a full finish. Is all your weight on a flat front foot? Are you "up" on your back toe? Is your torso facing the target? Are your arms relaxed? Are your elbows close together, or is the lead elbow "flying"? A flat front foot at the finish indicates that the player didn't get too aggressive with their lower body. Being "up" on your back toe indicates that your weight has shifted fully. If your arms are relaxed you have released the club naturally and fully. And if your elbows remain close together this shows that your arms have worked properly through out the swing.

Practice this drill 10 to 20 times a day and I believe that you will not only keep the "rust" away, but that you will gain a better feel for you swing. Remember, the ball doesn't know you are going to hit it. Your swing is 
what propels the ball and it just reacts to how well you are swinging! 

Good luck, John Cregan