- 4 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
00:30to maybe two for one here change your practice routine up a little bit and change that practice
00:35routine to focus more on strike and swing because strike could be the problem right? Yeah I mean
00:39especially with driver right a lot of people forget this there's something called gear effect
00:42okay so you could make a good swing but the strike could be a little bit out and if you
00:46hit it out
00:46the heel yeah heel twisting forward curve with left to right curvature for a right-handed golfer
00:52and out the toe right to left curvature and a lot of people forget that because when we're looking
00:59down at the shot we think oh that's curved because I've done something random whereas actually we've
01:03just maybe got it two fingers a finger off the center which is going to cause that curve yeah so
01:08maybe people watching at home aren't actually swinging that bad and don't need the full it's
01:12just they're a few inches out so maybe let's think of something about strike what sort of tips have you
01:16got for strike uh drills yeah so this drill would be the same for irons and driver great the gear
01:22effect would only count for driver okay but I think this is really going to complement you with your
01:27irons too so if you look down there closely Dan I've just set up like a really tight little this
01:32is
01:33this is scaring me yeah it's quite narrow isn't it and you can start off a little bit wide if
01:37you want
01:37to start like that and make it a little bit narrower but essentially miss both teeth legs you're going to
01:41find the center okay don't worry if you hit the outer one to start with or the inner one
01:44I'll actually say that's probably a good thing you then got a focus of how you're going to change
01:48that right and as a club golfer you're not going to be perfect straight away but knowing what the
01:54feedback you've got if you always toe or always heal you know how you're going to fix that brilliant
01:59so because I think a lot of people maybe don't actually know they're like why is it going that
02:03way 100 where I'm actually hitting it from this is going to give you that that visual audio cue as
02:07well 100 what you're going to do is you're going to rule out that it's not strike right because then
02:11if
02:11it's still curving and you're hitting the middle then that might be where you've got to go and
02:15seek further advice maybe we do go change your swing then like we said this is before you have
02:18to change your swing if you're still messing it up go change your swing okay so I'm gonna give this
02:22one a go so I've got it it looks very narrow as I'm looking down but I'm just going to
02:26trust and work
02:27on that feeling of right okay I'm going to bring it through that center oh yeah that plays so uh
02:35if
02:36you're doing that tick what what happens if I've hit this one on the right or this one on the
02:40left
02:40so if hitting this out one we're probably going to find the heel of the golf club yeah because our
02:44club has moved a little bit further away and we're gonna get the slice there yeah I've moved on the
02:47hit on the inside one we're gonna hit multi-toe we'll probably get more of that hook shot I think
02:51the thing to remember here is we only want to change our swing and we're saying don't do that first
02:54but
02:55people rush to change their swing because they're worried about ball flight exactly so this is a really
03:00really good one I think so two for one here change that practice routine think about that strike because that
03:05could be
03:05what's causing you issues more than your actual golf swing right Alex before people start thinking
03:10about changing their entire swing should we take a look at the grip um what pieces of advice would
03:13you give for someone who's not striking it great or they're pulling it or they're slicing it and how
03:18they can just alter a little bit of their grip to help with that first things first I'd make sure
03:23that your club is in the fingers oh interesting yeah um just purely sometimes we have it in the palm
03:28which if we have a little look at that closer there then you can see there's quite a big gap
03:32in between
03:33my little finger and where the club is yeah essentially it makes it very very hard to square
03:37the face very very hard to swing the club with any momentum and essentially overall leafy motion
03:42with that is that the club face is probably going to be open is that going to lead to a
03:45bit of
03:46inconsistency of strike as well if it's not in those fingers definitely and with driver it's just going
03:50to be absolutely so the first thing just to combat that I would look at and it's a really sort
03:56of
03:56little Ben Hogan tip here that with all the fingers on and just take them off and leave this here
04:01yeah the club should stay interesting if it falls you know it's more in the palm because our meaty
04:09our padded area isn't there to sort of create a little bit of a great that's a great little just
04:12check for yourself actually isn't it okay good but then you also mentioned slice and you also mentioned
04:17hook yeah so really nice and simple with that as long as we've got that club in the fingers if
04:22you
04:22hook the gold ball nice and simple just from player cam here rotate your hands more towards the left half
04:28of
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
04:38has 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's coming and it is although it feels more extreme it is a bit easier than having a full
04:58swing change right it's just it's a few little notches here and there and it'll feel weird for
05:01the first 15 20 shots get yourself on the range just adjust that grip slightly as alex told us there
05:08depending on where you're hitting the ball and don't change your whole swing do you want to hit one
05:11for us now because i will on the 17th here and i would like to see you go for one
05:14okay all right so i've
05:16got a little bit of the case of the pools today so i'm going to go a little bit weaker
05:19perfect
05:19and see if that helps me just keep that face a little bit open oh my ball striker
05:28catch a piece this is a part five by the way just going to mention that i'd be happy there
05:33just off
05:33the back right i think you make it up and down from there with that pin so yeah just before
05:36you
05:36go and change your whole golf swing as alex said tinker with that grip and see how you get on
05:42so another thing to think about before entirely changing your swing alex is just tightening up that
05:46short game and your scores can come down considerably making a few more up and downs right 100 i like
05:51i think the most common sort of issue for golfers is they spend so much time on driver and want
05:55to
05:55bomb it but they only use it maybe 11 12 times around but this could be used on every single
06:01green yeah now this tip is nothing to do with technique it's about choosing the right loft and
06:05the right landing zone so i've got two t pegs down it down like i've got one at 50 of
06:09the way yeah so
06:10this would be like our 50 in the air 50 rollout sure i've got another one here which would be
06:14our sort of
06:1525 in the air yeah 75 rollout now right now many golfers don't know what shot is good for them
06:21so i want you to pick two clubs i've got my pitching wedge here which is my more roll one
06:24then i've got my 58 which is my more 50 in the air 50 rollout and just get into tune
06:31with what loft and
06:32what role requires for that shot and what you might prefer as a golfer anyway you might get on more
06:37with
06:37your 58 you might actually prefer a little bit less long 100 because guarantee you'll prefer a different
06:40wedge to me yeah and golf is very personal so practice that and find out what's good for yourself
06:45so okay i'm going to play both there first one my more raw one so i'm going to focus on
06:49the t peg
06:49not the hole okay let the club do the work for me
06:56a little bit downhill hello hello that was the first take can i just say as well and then this
07:03one
07:03here was more in the air shot now i'm a golfer that i i know this i've done this show
07:07many times i prefer
07:09less i'm the same i want i want that shot i want the ball rolling a bit more i feel
07:14like a bit more
07:14control of it so and proofs in the pudding i guess so these shots get me a little bit more
07:18nervous
07:22oh you haven't both pretty handy well one in and one up and down so just tightening up that short
07:28game
07:29visualizing the shot a little bit more before you go and change the swing entirely bring those scores
07:33down with a better wedge play okay alex finally then uh we're going to chat clubs and maybe before
07:38that swing has to change you have a little mot of your bag and what's in there we can chat
07:42a few
07:43things here we can chat maybe gapping loft and lie um put some new grips on it should you loft
07:50and lie
07:50first because i think some people maybe don't understand how that affects their game definitely
07:53so loft and lie will affect your clubs even more so in the most lofted clubs okay so the more
07:59loft you
08:00have basically it's called face plane tilt and if i sort of grab a 50 degree here let's say you
08:06had
08:06a very upright lie angle that would be the toe off the ground yeah okay this would point all off
08:11very
08:11left as i say more loft more of effect this has so if you have very upright clubs it can
08:16cause your
08:16ball to start massively left okay if you have very flat golf clubs which would be the sort of heel
08:21off
08:21the ground the ball can start significantly off to the right now sometimes when you do get fitted if you
08:26slice it that could be a pretty good thing or you push it because it can help you iron out
08:29some bad
08:30shots but a general mot if you're seeing bad characteristics of shots that are left maybe
08:35too upright and it's something you can get adjusted you might have already been fit and that was fine
08:40maybe your swings changed or maybe you haven't been fit before definitely worth checking out um should
08:45we talk you've got a great example of it here actually in your set of clubs and you've given
08:48yourself a little bit more help where you need it in in the longer irons you think maybe a split
08:52set
08:53for the perhaps more experienced golfer or even a beginner is a bit more helpful what what i'd
08:58suggest is let's just go beginner first i wouldn't even want them to carry a four or five eye four
09:03or
09:03five hybrid yeah that's a great shout make it easier that's what i'd suggest and then for your
09:08intermediate slash more experience you've got to think people don't want to be buying clubs all the
09:12time so if you're an intermediate golfer with aspirations of practicing a lot playing a lot i would
09:16definitely say that sort of combo set whether you go blades a little bit bigger to a little bit bigger
09:21yeah or just go muscle back to sort of a more forgiving guy in the long one i think so
09:25i mean
09:25listen if alex elliott's still using these at the top of the bag get that four iron blade out of
09:29your
09:29bag now okay um let's talk gapping finally then especially the top of the bag and i think with
09:34golfers especially they maybe want that five and four hybrid getting this area the bag right can help
09:39your scores out a little bit more maybe help your swing out if you're swinging easier into different
09:43hybrids or fairweight woods definitely like i mean i i would always say first on that gapping i don't want
09:49people to really use a three wood oh really i use five wood and that's what i'd recommend for most
09:53golfers and actually they hit it a little further because that three was a bit close to the drivers
09:56you reckon like where's it 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
10:03get in the
10:04air so essentially having a little bit more loft a little bit of a deeper face yeah help you get
10:07it up
10:08so i would always suggest going driver five wood and then maybe another maybe a three hybrid in there
10:14then four five brilliant oh that's great showing the five wood actually because it's only a couple of
10:18degrees isn't it and it will be a bit easier and then get those wedges right as well the the
10:22bounce
10:23uh the gapping in there yeah i mean how i'd base that on and most people's i mean it's very
10:28changeable
10:29depending what brand depends what your pitching wedge from your set will be yeah but how would base
10:33this have a look at your specs online or even ask your pro what loft is my pitching wedge and
10:39then base
10:39it on four degree increments from that it might be that it's 52 it might be that it's 50 but
10:44base it on
10:44the pitching wedge in yourself yeah brilliant brilliant advice and it might seem basic stuff
10:48and if you're watching your swings a mess you're like why are we talking about this but before you
10:51go through that drastic change make sure everything you're using is correct first and then go from
10:56there okay like so we've spoken about timing about short game chipping before changing your swing
11:01entirely should we chat about the putter now i thought you're gonna maybe suggest change your actual
11:05physical grip which you could do but you're talking about changing the material of it go for a different
11:10type of grip yeah i mean there are so many out there i mean you could go thick yeah rounded
11:15thick with a flat front i think it's a good way of making putter feel new rather than invest in
11:21300
11:21pounds in a brand new head and brand new full putter just go to your local pj pro let them
11:26recommend
11:27something go oh you know what i need a change i need to look down some differently to feel something
11:31different and that could just be the difference that makes your whole these must-make putts yeah i think
11:36that goes to the whole bag as well maybe re-grip the irons re-grip the driver something different to
11:40look down on a different feel maybe a swing will tighten up because of it right so there you have
11:45it some brilliant bits of advice i think all golfers should be following before they go through that
11:49massive swing change that i think we all really want to avoid big thanks to alex elliot for joining
11:54us in that video some brilliant tips he's given you there to head out into the range or head out
11:58into
11:58the course to better your game if there's something we maybe missed or something you've tried that's
12:04worked before you've totally rebuilt your swing let me know down in the comments i'd love to hear
12:08from you but for now from kettleston park golf club i'll see you next time
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