- 7 weeks ago
Discover the secrets to a better golf swing! We're ditching the conventional wisdom on left elbow position and wrist movement to help you achieve a more fluid and consistent game. See what PGA professionals recommend.
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which
00:04we are going to take a look at six golf tips you should ignore. These tend to be the things
00:09that amateurs say to other amateurs and they can actually do you more harm than good. Right,
00:14let's head out onto the golf course here at Fox Hills, take a look at the six golf tips
00:18you should ignore.
00:24Okay, so we're joined by Alex again and Alex, the first one on the list is about the position
00:31of your left elbow in the golf swing. Explain to me what it is that people get told here.
00:35There's a lot of talk where we've got to keep this left elbow straight and left arm straight
00:39and now, okay, there may be reasons why we actually bend the left elbow due to grip, but
00:45if we just look at it just as a whole and saying, I don't think there should be so much
00:49pressure
00:49on keeping the left arm straight. Okay, so can I just play devil's advocate here for a second.
00:55You don't want to be in a position where you're in that position then. No, no.
01:00So there is some truth to this, that you shouldn't be in that position there. Why is that not a
01:04good position to be in? Ultimately, it's going to create a very
01:07inconsistent bottom of the arc. Anytime I see a motion like this, I tend to kind of classify
01:12people that may be a little bit scoopy into the golf ball, but the thing with this, look
01:17at Jordan Spieth. He was a world number one, master's winner. He is what we kind of classify
01:24as slightly bent at the top. Okay, so what's an okay position to be in at the top?
01:28What I would say is we don't want to feel like we're locked out because that's really going to
01:32limit our rotation. Anytime that we feel like we concentrate on trying to keep that straight,
01:38we start to create a lot of tension through the whole body. Anytime we create tension, it's hard to
01:42create rhythm. It's hard to create a good consistent swing. So even when I swing, and as I come to
01:46the top,
01:47I would never be locked out. I would never be at 90 degrees, but I would have a slight kink
01:52in my
01:52arm. Just be relaxed. Yeah, so it's just, I guess this is one for anyone out there that's really
01:57getting a bit too focused on keeping this very straight, and it all can become very mechanical,
02:03and so lacking in that kind of free-flowing movement that you're looking for. Exactly,
02:07and if we look at Ernie Els, Jordan Spieth, all free-flowing movements, we're not stood here
02:12like a mechanical robot really focusing on this because our focus is on this then,
02:16not the shot in hand. Yeah, so there you have it. Don't worry too much
02:19about keeping this elbow perfectly straight during the golf swing.
02:27So for the next one, as you can see, we are on the putting green, and Alex, it's again another
02:32tip
02:32that you'll hear people give to each other, which is that you've got to keep your wrists really locked
02:38down. You have a repeatable, consistent putting stroke, but actually, again, it's a thought that
02:43can do more harm than good. Why? Exactly. Well, if you just imagine you're going to address the ball
02:47on the floor there. If you feel the wrists are locked, straight away, we're going to get tension
02:51in the arms, tension in the shoulders, and it becomes a very wooden, no-flowing motion.
02:57Yes, true. Now, there are techniques where we potentially get the arm in the arm lock,
03:01and we do create it to be locked out. Putting's very individual to you, and if you're using that kind
03:06of grip, then that's okay for that technique. Yes, but otherwise, for most of us who aren't
03:11using an arm lock grip, actually, you want a little bit of freedom in your wrist.
03:16We look at Jack Nicholas, one of the probably the best putters, best short game,
03:20having that flow, even feeling, I'm not saying flick it, but a little bit of giving the lead
03:25wrist, it's going to help you develop feels, it's going to help you longer putts, shorter putts,
03:29and just overall help you flow. As you say, you don't want to flick it, because I guess the truth,
03:35again, there's always an element of truth behind all of these. The truth is, you see a lot of
03:39players, when they putt, get into that position there, they do all of the work by flicking the
03:44wrist at the ball. Why is that not a good idea? Almost hit up on the ball, we're going to
03:49hit
03:49above the equator, we could put the face left, put the face right. What I would tend to give as
03:54my
03:55advice, if I was holding it a more traditional way, is that we want a motion that's driven mainly by
04:00the arms and the body, and very little with the wrist. If I make this motion here, you wouldn't
04:06stick out that I'm flicking the golf ball club, but I have an element of softness to my wrist,
04:12and that's what I want you to have, the element of softness, almost like you're squeezing a tube
04:16or toothpaste. Yes, so just that little bit of, I guess you could call this a little bit of lag,
04:21actually, in your wrist, it's going to help the freedom of your stroke, the flow of your stroke,
04:25ultimately improve your overall consistency on the greens.
04:33Okay, so the next one on our list relates to lag, and it's something that a lot of amateurs
04:38go in search of because they know that it's the kind of that secret ingredient that delivers more
04:43power. But why is lag itself something that players should sort of not be so worried about searching for?
04:49I think it's a dangerous topic for most people. It can, for me, cause them to stiffen up,
04:55point the face right at target, and really become very obsessed in creating a move that looks very
05:01false in rehearsal. Now, there are essence in saying that we've got to create the opposite
05:07scenarios to what we've got, but I would say for most people, if you look at you've got a good
05:11grip,
05:12good body movement, good sequencing, that will help you create lag.
05:16Okay, fine. Rather than going searching for it directly.
05:19So don't be led down the path and thinking it's this kind of magic,
05:23you know, little single thing that you can do that's going to deliver more power.
05:27Exactly. We're not saying it's not important, it is, but being too focused on it can be the
05:32wrong avenue for you. Okay, go on then, hit one for us, Alex.
05:34Okay.
05:43Okay, lovely shot, and I think we'll show that again from the sort of square on angle. You'll be
05:48able to see that Alex creates lag in his golf swing, but he does it for a whole host of
05:52other
05:52things that are working well. Trying to focus purely on delivering that lag is probably not the
05:57right way to go. Okay, so the next one on our list relates to chipping, Alex. What is it?
06:08So I always hear this, especially when we're trying to create a bit of spin around the greens,
06:13put the ball back, get the hands forward, hit down the goal ball. I was told it as a junior.
06:18Yeah, I was actually taught that as being the right way to chip.
06:21I mean, there probably are times and scenarios where we probably want to adopt a similar
06:26technique for that, but sometimes by putting that ball back and the hands forward, all we're doing
06:31there is exposing that leading edge and it's going to dig. You're going to potentially duff it,
06:36which is something that I am very familiar with, Alex. If that's not the right technique for chipping,
06:41what is the right technique? Well, I like to make sure the ball is a
06:44little bit more central. The rule of thumb that I use is my stance, I like to have just wide
06:50of a
06:50clubber width apart. And if the chip becomes a little bit longer, I get a little bit wider
06:54accordingly. Ball position, just on my zip or just the right of my zip. And then from there,
07:00hands on the golf ball, because now we've got an opportunity to display some loft and hit slightly
07:05down on it, which is a good recipe for creating spin. And crucially, you're going to be employing
07:09a bit more of the bounce of the golf club, so the clubs can just glide off the top of
07:13the
07:13dirt. Exactly, you've got a much more margin for error. So in the winter, when you're chipping,
07:16or it's a bit of a wet lie, a bit of a bad lie, you've got a bigger margin for
07:19error.
07:19You've just put yourself under a bit of pressure there, because it is winter here. It is very wet
07:24underfoot. This is a real prime scenario for duffing it, isn't it? And that's exactly why you
07:29shouldn't have the ball back in your stance and your hands forward. So yeah, show us how it's done, Alex.
07:33Okay, no pressure.
07:41Well, it just grabbed on you there, but as you could see, absolutely no danger that
07:45cub was going to dig and that Alex was going to duff that one.
07:59That's not your best, Alex. Now, if we were playing golf, in that scenario, I might be tempted to say
08:04to you, just slow it down a bit, because it looked a bit ragged.
08:08Yes. Yeah, it looked a little bit off balance, I guess.
08:11But actually, it's a tip, again, it's a tip that gets handed from one amateur to the next that might
08:16not be that useful. Yes. Now, if we look at the top players in the world, they're trying to swing
08:21the club as fast as they can. It's all about distance in the modern game. I'm really reluctant to
08:27tell someone to slow it down. I'm more bothered about the tempo of the swing.
08:31Okay, fine. So, my speed might be
08:33the same as yours, but we have slightly different tempo on how we go about it.
08:36Okay, fine. So, that begs the question, how do you work on tempo? Tempo is one of those things,
08:42isn't it, that you either have one day or you don't?
08:44Yeah. So, the analogy that I like to use, and I use this on the course as well, so not
08:48just in my
08:49practice, I imagine a rev counter that works from transition down to the golf ball, so on the
08:54downswing. Okay. So, a lot of people like that swing there would have looked like the
08:59high peak and the higher revs in your car were really early in the downswing.
09:03Right, at the top of all those. Exactly. I want you to feel like you build
09:06up to that, so we're peaking our revs just before impact. Yeah, and I guess it's the reason why many
09:12of the world's best players, they look like they swing the club quite easy, but they hit the ball very
09:18hard because actually they don't get speed until they really need it most. I mean, Ernie Alston,
09:23as soon as I think rhythm and tempo, he comes straight to my mind.
09:27Yeah. So, next time someone says to you, I think you might need to slow it down,
09:30just check yourself and think, actually, it's tempo, it's a smoother tempo that I need.
09:35That might just help you straighten things out, hit better shots.
09:43Okay, so Alex, I'd say the number one thing that you hear amateurs say to other amateurs that pros
09:48really don't like is keep your head down. You know, you've hit a bad shot there,
09:54or you lifted your head. Especially when you see a top shot.
09:56Yes. I hear that all the time.
09:58You hear it all the time. Why is that unhelpful advice?
10:02Well, just in terms of, if we look at how we want to work through the golf ball,
10:06we want to be very rotary through the golf ball. Now, to help us do that, the chin has to
10:11lift,
10:12we have to start looking towards the target. Yeah, I mean, take a look at the way that Henrik
10:16Stenson swings the golf club, or the way that Anna Kasorenstam hit the ball. Both of them,
10:21through impact, their head would be at kind of that angle, wouldn't it?
10:24Exactly. So, what I would say is, any time that we are trying to keep our head down,
10:29is what the tip that we hear, this is really limiting our ability to swing through and rotate,
10:35reducing club head speed, and it's going to do more harm than good, because that face could be
10:39pointing left and right, because we're really relying on our hand-eye coordination to time it.
10:44Now, Alex, I'm going to play devil's advocate here, and say there is an element of truth
10:48to don't lift your head, and that element of truth is that you don't want people to lose their posture,
10:55their spine angle. You don't want someone to lift up, or I guess you'd less see people dipping down.
11:02Is that true? Is that fair? Yeah, that's the kind of,
11:04I think where it kind of gets a little bit led down the wrong avenue when we say lift our
11:09head.
11:09In an ideal world, I like to think the golf swing, we get light, we get heavy, and we get
11:15light,
11:15but through doing this, our head roughly stays around the same position. We never want to see
11:21too many changing levels. Yeah, okay. Well, hit one for us then,
11:25Alex, so we can see what you mean. So, what I try and feel is,
11:27in terms of trying to get me to get my head to move towards target, I try and imagine I'm
11:31going to
11:32follow the spots on the golf ball down to target. Okay, good.
11:41Lovely. So, there you have it. Don't focus too hard on keeping your head down during the golf swing.
11:46Chances are, if you're hitting bad shots, it's not because you're not looking at the ball through
11:49impact. It'll be something different. Hopefully, Alex's tip will show you what to do. So, there you
11:53have it. That's our list of the six golf tips you should ignore. Guys, please do leave some comments
11:58below. Is there anything that you think we've missed? Any tips that you've been given in the
12:02past that have actually done you more harm than good? We'd be really interested to hear your
12:07thoughts. But for now, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
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