- 7 minutes ago
If your golf swing is in a bit of a rut, it might be tempting to start all over again from the ground up. But before you go down that route, stop and consider these six tips from Golf Monthly Top 50 coach Alex Elliott that should get you on the route to better golf without having to totally change your swing.
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00:00Is your golf swing in such a mess right now? You're thinking about rebuilding it totally
00:04from the ground up. Well before you go down that time consuming and probably expensive path
00:10I'm going to be joined in this video today by Golf Monthly Top 50 coach Alex Elliott who's going to
00:14give us six top tips to get you back on track without changing your entire swing. I'm here at
00:21Kedleson Bark Golf Club today let's get started. Right okay we're on the range now Alex I want to
00:26talk about before people go and change their whole swing and their whole identity of their golf is to
00:31maybe two for one here change your practice routine up a little bit and change that practice routine to
00:36focus more on strike and swing because strike could be the problem right? Yeah I mean especially with
00:40driver right a lot of people forget this there's something called gear effect. Okay so you could
00:43make a good swing but the strike could be a little bit out and if you hit it out the heel yeah heel
00:48twisting forward curve with left to right curvature for a right-handed golfer and out the toe right to
00:54left curvature and a lot of people forget that because when we're looking down at the shot we
00:59think oh that's curved because I've done something random whereas actually we've just maybe got it
01:04two fingers a finger off the center which is going to cause that curve. Yeah so maybe people watching
01:09at home aren't actually swinging that bad and don't need the force it's just they're a few inches out so
01:13maybe let's think of something about strike what sort of tips have you got for strike drills? Yeah so this
01:18drill would be the same for irons and driver right the gear effect would only count for driver okay
01:25but I think this is really going to complement you with your irons too so if you look down there
01:28closely Dan I've just set up like a really tight little this is this is scaring me yeah it's quite
01:34narrow isn't it and you can start off a little bit wide if you want to start like that and make it a
01:38little bit narrower but essentially miss both teeth legs you're going to find the center okay don't
01:42worry if you hit the outer one to start with or the inner one I'd actually say that's probably a good thing
01:46you then got a focus of how you're going to change that right and as a club golfer you're not going
01:51to be perfect straight away but knowing what the feedback you've got if you always toe or always
01:56heel you know how you're going to fix that brilliant so because I think a lot of people maybe don't
02:01actually know they're like why is it going that way 100 where I'm actually hitting it from this is
02:05going to give you that that visual audio cue as well 100 what you're going to do is you're going to
02:09rule out that it's not strike right because then if it's still curving and you hit the middle
02:13then that might be where you've got to go and seek further advice maybe we do go change your
02:16swing now like we said this is before you have to change your swing if you're still messing it up go
02:19change your swing okay so I'm gonna give this one a go so I've got it it looks very narrow as I'm
02:24looking down but I'm just going to trust and work on that feeling of right okay I'm going to bring it
02:29through that center oh yeah that plays so uh if you're doing that tick what what happens if I've hit
02:38this one on the right or this one on the left so if hitting this out one we're probably going to find the
02:42heel of the golf club yeah because our club has moved a little bit further away and then we're
02:45gonna get the slice there yeah I've moved on the hit on the inside one we're gonna hit multi-toe
02:49we'll probably get more of that hook shot I think the thing to remember here is we only want to
02:52change our swing and we're saying don't do that first but people rush to change their swing because
02:57they're worried about ball flight exactly so this is a really really good one I think so two for one
03:01here change that practice routine think about that strike because that could be what's causing you
03:05issues more than your actual golf swing right Alex before people start thinking about changing their
03:10entire swing should we take a look at the grip um what pieces of advice would you give for someone
03:14who's not striking it great or they're pulling it or they're slicing it and how they can just alter a
03:19little bit of their grip to help with that first things first I'd make sure that your club is in
03:24the fingers oh interesting just purely sometimes we have it in the palm which if we have a little look
03:29at that closer there then you can see there's quite a big gap in between my little finger and where the
03:34club is yeah essentially it makes it very very hard to square the face very very hard to swing the club
03:38with any momentum and essentially overall leafy motion with that is that the club face is
03:44probably going to be open is that going to lead to a bit of inconsistency of strike as well if it's
03:47not in those fingers definitely and with driver it's just going to be absolutely so the first thing
03:52just to combat that I would look at and it's it's a really sort of little Ben Hogan tip here that
03:58with all the fingers on and just take them off and leave this here yeah the club should stay
04:02interesting if it falls you know it's more in the palm because our meaty our padded area isn't
04:10there to sort of create a little bit of an right that's a great little just check for yourself
04:13actually isn't it okay good but then you also mentioned slice and you also mentioned hook yeah
04:18so really nice and simple with that as long as we've got that club in the fingers if you hook the
04:22golf ball nice and simple just from player cam here rotate your hands more towards the left half of the
04:28golf club if you slice the golf ball just rotate both non-glove and glove hand to the right side
04:34of the golf ball it's that easy and just have a go at that because how you hold the club has a very
04:39very big impact on how you control the face and i think it's probably the last thing people go to
04:44because it feels very strange and it feels very odd because it's like i'm not used to that yeah but
04:50it's gonna have a direct impact on how you control the face and that's essentially what the ball
04:54flight is going to do and it is although it feels more extreme it is a bit easier than having
04:58a full swing change right it's just it's a few little notches here and there and it'll feel
05:01weird for the first 15 20 shots get yourself on the range just adjust that grip slightly as alex
05:06told us there depending on where you're hitting the ball and don't change your whole swing do you
05:10want to hit one for us now because i will on the 17th here and i would like to see you go for one okay
05:15all right so i've got a little bit of the case of the pools today so i'm going to go a little bit
05:18weaker perfect and see if that helps me just keep that face a little bit open
05:22oh my ball striker catch a piece this is a part five by the way just going to mention that i'd be
05:32happy there just off the back right i think you make it up and down from there with that pin so
05:36yeah just before you go and change your whole golf swing as alex said tinker with that grip and see how
05:40you get on so another thing to think about before entirely changing your swing alex is just tightening
05:46up that short game and your scores can come down considerably making a few more up and downs right
05:50100 i like i think the most common sort of issue for golfers is they spend so much time on driver
05:55and want to bomb it but they only use it maybe 11 12 times around but this could be used on every
06:00single green yeah now this tip is nothing to do with technique it's about choosing the right loft
06:05and the right landing zone so i've got two t-pegs down it down like i've got one at 50 of the way yeah
06:09so this would be like our 50 in the air 50 rollout sure i've got another one here which would be our sort
06:14of 25 in the air yeah 75 rollout now right now many golfers don't know what
06:20shot is good for them so i want you to pick two clubs i've got my pitching wedge here which is
06:24my moral one then i've got my 58 which is my more 50 in the air 50 rollout and just get into tune with
06:31what loft and what role requires for that shot and what you might prefer as a goal for anyway you might
06:36get on more with your 58 you might actually prefer a little bit less long 100 because guarantee you'll
06:40prefer a different wedge to me yeah and golf is very personal so practice that and find out what's
06:44good for yourself so okay i'm going to play both there first one my more raw one so i'm going to focus on the
06:49t-peg not the hole okay let the club do the work for me a little bit downhill hello hello that was
07:01the first take can i just say as well and then this one here was more in the air shot now i'm a golfer
07:06that i i know this i've done this show many times i prefer less i'm the same i want i want that shot i
07:12want the ball rolling a bit more like a bit more control of it so and proofs in the pudding i guess so
07:17these shots get me a little bit more nervous oh you haven't both pretty handy well one in and one
07:26up and down so just tightening up that short game visualizing the shot a little bit more before you
07:30go and change the swing entirely bring those scores down with better wedge play okay alex finally then
07:36we're going to chat clubs and maybe before that swing has to change you have a little mot of your
07:41bag and what's in there we can chat a few things here we can chat maybe gapping loft and lie um
07:48put some new grips on it should you loft and lie first because i think some people maybe don't
07:51understand how that affects their game definitely so loft and lie will affect your clubs even more so
07:57in the most lofted clubs okay so the more loft you have basically it's called face plane tilt and if i
08:02sort of grab a 50 degree here let's say you had a very upright angle that would be the toe off the
08:08ground okay this would point all off very left as i say more loft more effective side so if you have
08:14very upright clubs it can cause your ball to start massively left okay if you have very flat golf clubs
08:20which should be the sort of heel off the ground the ball can start significantly off to the right
08:24now sometimes when you do get fitted if you slice it that could be a pretty good thing or you push it
08:28because it can help you iron out some bad shots but a general mot if you're seeing bad characteristics
08:33of shots that are left maybe too upright and it's something you can get adjusted you might have
08:38already been fit and that was fine maybe your swings changed or maybe you haven't been fit before
08:43definitely worth checking out um should we talk you've got a great example of it here actually in
08:46your set of clubs and you've given yourself a little bit more help where you need it in in the longer
08:51irons you think maybe a split set for the perhaps more experienced golfer or even a beginner is a bit
08:56more helpful what what i'd suggest is let's just go beginner first i wouldn't even want them to carry a four or
09:02five iron four or five hybrid yeah that's a great shot make it easier that's what i'd suggest and
09:07then for your intermediate slash more experience you've got to think people don't want to be buying
09:11clubs all the time so if you're an intermediate golfer with aspirations of practicing a lot playing a lot
09:16i would definitely say that sort of combo set whether you go blades a little bit bigger to a little
09:20bit bigger yeah or just go muscle back to sort of a more forgiving eye in the long one i think so i mean
09:25listen if alex elliott's still using these at the top of the bag get that four iron blade out of your bag now
09:30okay um let's talk gapping finally then especially the top of the bag and i think with golfers
09:34especially they maybe want that five and four hybrid getting this area of the bag right can
09:39help your scores out a little bit more maybe help your swing out if you're swinging easier into
09:43different hybrids or fairway woods definitely like i mean i i would always say first on that gapping
09:48i don't want people to really use a three wood oh really i use five wood and that's what i'd recommend
09:53for most golfers and actually they hit it a little further because that three was a bit close to the
09:56drivers you reckon like where's actually being not necessarily that like most of these golfers are
09:59going to use their three wood or five wood off the deck yeah three was a very hard club to get in the
10:04air so essentially having a little bit more loft a little bit of a deeper face yeah help you get it
10:07up so i would always suggest going driver five wood and then maybe another maybe a three hybrid in
10:14there then four five brilliant oh that's great shot on the five but actually i hadn't thought because
10:17it's only a couple of degrees isn't it and it will be a bit easier and then get those wedges
10:21right as well the the bounce uh the gapping in there yeah i mean how i'd base that on and most
10:27people's i mean it's very changeable depending what brand depends what your pitching wedge from
10:31your set will be yeah but how would base this have a look at your specs online or even ask your pro
10:37what loft is my pitching wedge and then base it on four degree increments from that it might be that
10:42it's 52 it might be that it's 50 but base it on the pitching wedge in your set yeah brilliant brilliant
10:46advice and it might seem basic stuff and if you're watching your swings a mess you're like why are we
10:50talking about this but before you go through that drastic change make sure everything you're using
10:55is correct first and then go from there okay like so we've spoken about timing about short game
11:00chipping before changing your swing entirely should we chat about the putter now i thought you're going
11:04to maybe suggest change your actual physical grip which you could do but you're talking about changing
11:09the material of it go for a different type of grip yeah i mean there are so many out there i mean you
11:13could go thick yeah rounded thick with a flat front i think it's a good way of making putter feel new
11:20rather than invest in 300 pounds in a brand new head and brand new full putter just go to your local
11:26pj pro let them recommend something go oh you know what i need a change i need to look down some
11:30differently to feel something different and that could just be the difference that makes your whole
11:34these must-make foot yeah i think that goes to the whole bag as well maybe re-grip the irons re-grip the
11:39driver something different to look down on a different feel maybe a swing will tighten up
11:44because of it right so there you have it some brilliant bits of advice i think all golfers
11:47should be following before they go through that massive swing change that i think we all really
11:52want to avoid big thanks to alex elliott for joining us in that video some brilliant tips he's
11:56giving you there to head out into the range or head out into the course to better your game if there's
12:01something we maybe missed or something you've tried that's worked before you've totally rebuilt your swing
12:06let me know down in the comments i'd love to hear from you but for now from kettleston park golf club
12:11i'll see you next time
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