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Make sure you don't fall into these beginner swing traps with the help of Top 50 coach Alex Elliott.
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00:00Now the golf swing is a confusing movement at the best of times especially if you're
00:05new to the game and a beginner golfer. Now in this video I'm going to be joined by Golf Monthly
00:10Top
00:1050 coach Alex Elliott to talk about some swing traps that new golfers need to avoid. We're going
00:16to head out on the range and the golf course here at Kettleston Park to give you some top tips
00:20if
00:20you're just starting out on the game. Right let's get going. Right Alex hello we're going to chat
00:25swing traps here for new golfers on the range here at Kettleston Park Golf Club and this is
00:30number one for me from what I see for new golfers and it's leaning up lifting up thinking that's how
00:35you get the ball in the air with the irons that's not the case is it? No I think a
00:38lot of golfers
00:39just got to take comfort from the fact that the gold ball is designed with dimples the dimples are
00:44like the aeroplane wings they give it lift what gives it the spin is your grooves on your club face
00:50you've got to allow yourself to maximize using those grooves and with an iron we want to sort
00:55of picture a descending blow to get the middle part of these grooves to allow it to ride up as
01:00much as we can rather than the sort of scoopy we're sort of down towards this bottom edge. So
01:06could you give us a drill for new golfers watching now who might be a bit leany and not strike
01:10it
01:10quite low to help them not do that hit down on it and compress that ball a little bit more?
01:14I'll say
01:15two things here Dan first thing the drill I would just place a tee peg one fingertip in front it
01:20doesn't have to be too precise what it all is is just a bit of a focus point yeah now
01:24if you think
01:24about this logically for me to get that tee peg if you look at this in player cam if I
01:28don't
01:28transfer my weight it'll be so far behind the ball exactly and that's what we see like your most common
01:34bad shot will probably either the thin or a slot or a bit of a top possibly the longer irons
01:39and we
01:39don't want that thin fat or top no so what I want you to be aware of a couple of
01:43things trying to hit
01:44the ball and through to the tee peg but also try and feel the impact I've got sort of 70
01:4930 weight
01:50distribution onto this left side that's going to take our bottom of the arc ahead help you down
01:59there we go brilliant brilliant tip there from Alex and it is a swing trap I think we see lots
02:03of new golfers fall into so understand how the golf ball and the face work together understand where
02:07that weight needs to be and strike the ball better okay a swing trap I see loads of beginner golfers
02:12get into is getting their aim wrong Alex so can you show us firstly what people are getting wrong when
02:16they start out with their aim and how they should be going about it I think firstly it's just the
02:21concept of aiming because the golf ball is on that side of us we all associate aiming our body first
02:27and that's where we fall into that trap so let me explain this time so it would make sense in
02:31any
02:31other logical sport this would happen and we stand to the golf ball and we sort of aim our shoulders
02:37first
02:38straight towards let's take the flag because it's sure yeah yeah now this really impacts our ball to
02:44target line right and that's what I want people to become a little bit more obsessed with so have
02:49a look at this here this really illustrates it my shoulders and feet are aiming pretty much at the
02:54flag okay now if you just place that down parallel to this one here now way around and come and
02:58have
02:58a look at this look how far right that is let's have a look at that you can see now
03:03actually aiming
03:03at that tree going way right there yeah but it didn't feel like it did it no no and you
03:07stand over
03:08it and you you look through your shoulder and you maybe see that from player cam now and just see
03:11actually yeah you know what i feel like i'm aiming yeah you hit a good shot it finishes right and
03:16then
03:16you associate actually what could have been a good swing as a bad one but just with poor alignment
03:20interesting so the routine i want golfers to think about here is standing behind that golf ball and
03:27firstly being fixated over the ball of the target line okay so i'm going to put my club up and
03:32sort of
03:33pick an intermediate target only about two or three feet in front yeah let's just take that mark sure i
03:38walk
03:38in and i build from the ball to the club head my hands to my body not body down to
03:43the ball right
03:44so i'm placing my club down thinking about that line that i had and sort of making a 90 degree
03:49angle
03:49between my club head and that line i'm sort of picturing and then build my stance to that so now
03:55when you look up you'll feel like potentially aiming a little bit left interesting but now if we place
04:00these down i mean my alignment's not my best thing but it's a little bit closer it's a bit better
04:06isn't it exactly it's closer and it's interesting because it is all about that feel so you felt that
04:11you're potentially going a little bit left but actually doing that routine building that routine
04:17gets you aiming a bit better now that's something i think all new golfers need to build into their game
04:21early for that habit right go on then show us it and let's hit the shot shall we i'll do
04:26it properly
04:27we'll go through the full routine okay we're in picture that line it doesn't have to be a long
04:32process walk it in and have a little look up and then give it a hit a little left to
04:42target
04:44and the wrong club bit of a pull but i'd say you're aiming straight you just pulled it there so
04:48hey you
04:49can't you can't be great every time but importantly the aiming routine build it into your swing early
04:54and you won't fall into that trap right alex another swing trap i think a lot of new golfers
04:59watching now will fall into is watching loads of swings on instagram watching the tour pros do it
05:03and thinking right i've got to have the perfect swing to get out on the golf course that's not the
05:06case is it let's simplify it a little bit definitely i mean you've only got to go to the open
05:11this year
05:11stand on the range and you're going to see a host of different swings the only place they are very
05:16similar is those six inches down at the ball how we deliver the club so most people slice it right
05:22and
05:22don't just take this advice from me wyndham clark recent us open champion i read one of his posts
05:27and the talk with his coach one week if he's hooking it you'll try and slice it on the range
05:32yeah
05:32basically try and create opposites to find the middle ground and that's as easy as it has to be
05:36so a lot of people at home with respect you're probably slicing it a little bit i reckon new golfers
05:40especially so you're thinking maybe let's bring a let's bring a hook feeling on the range and see
05:44where we go from there 100 and that hook feeling will probably just be a straight shot for most golfers
05:49yes so what i would suggest here dan is really nice and simple first things first what's our
05:53only point of contact with the golf club the grip so hold the club up and look at this in
05:57player cam
05:57all i want you to do is rotate your hands both left and right to the right side of the
06:02golf club for
06:03a right-handed player to the left side of the golf club for a left-handed player now ball position
06:08with
06:09driver inside left heel making sure our shoulder alignment is not too left these are little good
06:13habits that i always promote but what i want you to feel in the shot which is going to change
06:17our
06:18release which is then how that club comes into the ball is i want instead of feeling like we're
06:23hitting it like this which it might not feel like that but if you're slicing it i want you to
06:29feel
06:30that you're going to make more of that motion now if you just watch my forearm there and my wrist
06:34and
06:34sort of making that action a lot of tennis players will feel it's a bit more like a topspin forehand
06:40right exactly so that's going to really stronger grip change a release that's going to change
06:45the action the direction and how my club face comes into the ball hopefully a little bit more
06:51into out and a little bit closed rather than out to in and a little bit open well i think
06:55i think one
06:56great tip there on doing the opposite of what you're doing get that feel and more importantly don't fall
07:00into that trap of trying to perfect your swing swing your swing and see how you get on right Alex
07:05spoke about hitting down on irons to get the ball up we're now going to pretty much completely
07:09contradict ourselves but it's a trap that a lot of new golfers fall into and it's not hitting up on
07:14the
07:14drive it's getting a little bit too steep isn't it exactly i mean you look at your your driver face
07:18there's not many groups or not any at all and and also there's very little loft so it needs to
07:24be
07:24launched a little bit more now this can be a really simple concept you can do a lot of this
07:28with your
07:29setup so let's just talk through setup first yeah when you get the ball position two back in your stance
07:33so if you look at me from player cam here even having it sort of a club head back in
07:38our stance could just
07:39be a little bit too much okay in the sense of we're gonna hit down it's gonna become down to
07:43really
07:44move it up for sure and then also if it's too back you might end up trying to manipulate your
07:48swing in
07:48other words yeah so little routine that i say for every golfer first things first line it up right in
07:53the middle of your stance now i like to fly my left toe so i move that out slightly and
07:57just move my right
07:58foot away like that straight away now i know my ball position is up in my stance yeah further up
08:04later in
08:04the arc more likely to do just what's that flaring of the toe interestingly for people at home um
08:08essentially just to help me open the hips yeah i've got a bit of a dodgy knee um which helps
08:12me
08:12sort of protect that a little bit as well but essentially it just opens my hips a little bit
08:16easier interesting now why have i got a towel in my hand so this is a really good one just
08:21as a focus
08:22point because it will feel a strange feeling when people first do this especially if they've got
08:26a habit of hitting hundreds of balls down as soon as we get this we need a little bit of
08:29focus
08:30we need a little bit of feedback so if i take the towel absolutely so nice and simple this is
08:33how
08:33you set this drill up from player cam i'm going to place my club head down one in front then
08:38two in
08:39front and simply just roll your towel up just here have a few practice swings just inside it getting
08:46that feeling of just being more up and over the towel yeah rather than through the towel and it is
08:53as simple as that the ball position will help you do it the setup will help you do it and
08:57here you go
08:58so i'll talk you through my full routine and right foot away another little aid is i feel as though
09:03i
09:03my right shoulder is a little bit lower than my left again if i go like this look at that
09:09would be
09:09really up this way somewhere in the middle of those two do you reckon exactly don't don't be too
09:14complicated with it so here we go let's take this one away dan got my setup got my towel my
09:18focus here
09:18is up and over the towel beauty look at that great strike and it is it is tricky for new
09:28golfers to
09:28almost get their head around that i think especially when we've spoken about irons already
09:32take this drill to the range view though practice hitting up on that ball and don't fall into that
09:36trap and getting too steep with your driver okay another swing trap a lot of beginner golfers fall
09:41into alex is and i do this myself still after playing for a long time is using too much loft
09:46around
09:46the green in situations like this what would you say to people like that yeah i mean a lot of
09:50us see
09:51the guys on tv don't we and we see the likes of phil mickelson john ram messing around in the
09:55short game
09:55area playing it high i would just default away from any of your lofted clubs yeah so for example
10:00most people will grab 58 i'm gonna hand you that let's get it away from you yeah i mean it
10:05looks
10:05great if you pull it off doesn't it it's brilliant but we want percentage game on consistency everybody
10:10that comes to a lesson for me they go oh i want consistency well i think default to pitching wedge
10:16you still got a little bit of loft but it's going to get the ball rolling a little bit so
10:20nice and easy
10:21all i want people to do is have the ball slightly towards the back of their stance have a look
10:25at
10:25this from player camp my stance is roughly two club edwards apart weight on my left and simply just feel
10:31as though you just rock that triangle back and through keeping that weight left it's as easy as
10:36that don't go complicated really see i'm a big i see i'm a big fan of that and it does
10:40look good but
10:41when you've got nothing to go over and the pins nice and close to you keep the ball low get
10:44it rolling
10:45as soon as possible exactly so i'm just going to pick a landing zone maybe a yard two yards on
10:49go on then fall back
10:53let's get it rolling rolling quickly nearly went in there so yeah next time you're in a situation
10:58like this nothing to go over deal off those wedges make life easy for yourself right alex uh this isn't
11:04so much a swing trap as a grip trap i can call it that but new golfers might not know
11:09how to grip the
11:09club properly they might think it wants to go in their palm or wherever it initially feels comfortable
11:13can you talk us through where it should be going basically yeah and first thing i'd say is just make
11:17sure your grip thickness is right for you is that on the actual club itself yeah because that'll play
11:21like a big part and being able to get the club in the right position and a little tip for
11:24that is
11:25just your longest finger should just be able to just touch it it shouldn't be like digging in or
11:30shouldn't be too much of a gap that's what i recommend good little tip that yeah so palmy grip
11:34that would be when the club is sort of sat through here as you said right a nice simple way
11:39of getting
11:39that we all go to the range we all improve our golf use your basket not just to carry your
11:43balls but
11:44think about it if you're picking up that basket i wouldn't grab it in the park no no you wouldn't
11:48it
11:49look a bit weird yeah you would grab it in the fingers yeah so grab your basket have your club
11:55in your hand just place them on top of each other and then just remove the basket easy that's where
12:00i want the club to be and you'll notice the club feels lighter you risk and move much more and
12:05that's
12:05going to help with speed it's going to help with club face control and as you go to those longer
12:09clubs
12:09that's where you'll see even more of an effect with this brilliant and a super easy tip there from
12:13alex i think to get that right and if you're a new golfer just getting into the game make sure
12:17these
12:17habits are right put that club in the right part of your hand right finally then alex i think a
12:23trap
12:23people fall into new golfers probably even current golfers getting a bit too excited about clubhead
12:28speed how fast they're swinging it how hard they're hitting it how far it may or may not be going
12:32we don't really want to fall into that trap do we no i actually often find with club golfers they're
12:36faster they swing it very often the shorter it goes yes because their quality of strike goes so their
12:41ball speed drops so i want people to be more bothered about ball speed than clubhead speed correct so if
12:47we
12:47think about tempo because when you make a good tempo swing down like you're probably more likely
12:51going to find the center and this is the bit we want to be hitting it i know it sounds
12:55basic
12:55a lot of us just forget that i think i do as well mate even as a golfer who's played
12:59for how many years
12:59now i get a bit excited let's say i do i've got to tell myself not to do it stop
13:03it so like a little
13:04mantra i use and you can make it whatever you want dan but i go sergio for the backswing and
13:10aguero
13:10on the way through other footballers are available yeah i mean it goes back to when i was a kid
13:16i remember
13:16playing one of my best rounds where i had like a song in my head yeah i'm gonna tell you
13:20what song
13:20but i had a song in my head and i had great rhythm all day i found the middle i
13:24drove the ball great
13:25i hit my irons great yeah and it's so basic but we forget it yeah so i'd even hit a
13:30few on the range
13:31maybe even say it out loud so here we go go on give us a sergio so i'd go a
13:35bit like this sergio
13:38aguero and it just gives you something to work to because you can't touch tempo no and that's the
13:43hard thing about it but having a mantra really does help i love that i'm gonna pick a footballer
13:47i can't work out who yeah i'll come back to you on that but as a new golfer even as
13:51an experienced
13:52golfer don't fall into that trap of chasing clubhead speed chase that strike and that ball speed instead
13:58right so there you have it some swing traps that beginner golfers need to avoid as they start out
14:03in the game massive thanks to alex elliott for joining us for that i thought he gave some brilliant
14:07bits of advice there that you can take out into your practice sessions and onto the golf course
14:11hopefully to play some better golf now if there's something of yourself you've recognized in these
14:15videos or something we've missed out let me know down in the comments because i'd love to hear from
14:19you but for now from cattleston park golf club thank you for joining me i'll see you next time
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