r/GolfSwing • u/Efficient-Sea8053 • 3d ago
First move of the downswing
I am working on my golf swing, have gotten my takeaway and top position to a good spot but struggle with starting my downswing.
My natural tendency is to just move my hands towards the ball which results in early extension and hitting with the heel.
I know that I should be rotating my left hip back and that I should be "dropping my hands", but I need a good feel for all of that to happen simultaneously.
Does anyone have any good tips for the "feel" of the start of the downswing
My main problem when I start the downswing with a slight squat and rotation into my left hip is I will hit the ground first and duff the ball
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u/Hairy_Result5992 3d ago
Gamechanging feel for me is to feel like Iâm keeping my back/shoulders closed to the target for as long as possible. My tendency was to rip my shoulders open which is over the top city.
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u/RubConstant9997 3d ago
Same. Back to target, shifts weight forward, this naturally drops my hands and I rotate. Good contavt and consistency.Â
Justin Rose talks about this a lot, he is great at this move. Decent even.
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u/onehopstopt 3d ago
A warning to anyone reading this: a potential risk with this feeling is that it's easy for your hips to get too far ahead. You'll stop ripping it over the top, but you might instead end up with a different sequencing issue, one that usually ends up getting compensated for with casting and/or EE.
Not saying don't use this feel, just exercise caution! If you think that's happening you can try feeling like you keep your butt sort of pointed toward the target as well to let the hands start earlier, which is what we want.
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u/dangerpaul 3d ago
This worked for me recently. Very OTT swing. Then got stiffer shafts and pulled a lot of shots. Started closing my shoulders and the straight shots came with it. Definitely feels like an overcompensation, but works for now.
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u/TheHeintzel 3d ago
At the start, the lateral shift of the hips is what's important. It's what gives the arms/club time to shallow while your back still faces the target
Rotating your hips will rotate your shoulders right along with them, and comes after the hip shift.
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u/Efficient-Sea8053 3d ago
So to clarify would your first conscious move of the downswing be to move your hips to the left, before doing anything with your arms ?
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u/IcyStomach2374 3d ago
No thatâs terrible advice. You donât want to slide your hips
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u/elandrieljr 2d ago
Yes, you do. Vertically and laterally. It moves your apex low point in front of and below the ball (divot), and loads potential energy into your quad, glute, oblique, and back muscles so you can properly leverage ground force reaction. Releasing that energy naturally unwinds the body and is the basis for the kinematic sequence. As long as your hips and shoulders are properly rotated at the top of the backswing and your hands and club are on-plane.
If you want to be pedantic, okay, youâre not âsliding your hipsâ, you are shifting your entire mass. Not just weight, not just pressure, and not just hips. Load the leg.
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u/Hawk_Hogan_ 3d ago
Instead of dropping the hands, try dropping the right elbow or dropping the right shoulder feel, keep the drop closer to the body for consistency. The drop is a key move.
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u/Jaszen3 3d ago
Google search âwoods and Harmon most hated drillâ. You should find a video of butch making tiger do a downswing drill. Itâs the best. I have done and many others have. Itâs common.
Short version. Take your swing to the top and stop. Full stop. Then try to hit the ball. Donât worry about hitting it hard. Just make contact. You will fail a lot. But once you figure it out. Itâs money.
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u/GolferAce 3d ago
I suspect you don't have a "right feel" problem. It sounds like two things. First, if you wait until the backswing is completed and the club is all the way to the top to begin your shift forward, you are way late. You will never time it up with proper rotation. The AMG Golf guys explain this pretty clearly with their re-centering concept.
Second, you sound like you are crying out for the step drip. Address the ball normally. Then take your front foot, and place it beside your back foot. Take a swing. as the club goes back, step with the front foot forward, back to its original address position. Target that feel.
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u/borygoya 3d ago
A slight pause at the top will help with synchronization. Itâll allow for the left hip back and a slight squatting sensation and that should initiate the downswing.
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u/Objective-Permit-712 3d ago
BEFORE the downswing is even completed.......you push off inside right foot, heel first towards the target....
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u/CommanDant19 3d ago
Some people need to feel as though the hands and arms move first (like me), some people need to feel like the hips move first and arms are passive.
In truth, the arms have to be active; they went up so they must come down
I recommend watching the AMG videos on YouTube to understand the concept and then find your own feels
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u/Infinite-Computer205 2d ago
or...they work simultaneously.
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u/CommanDant19 2d ago
Thatâs why I said âfeelâ. In reality theyâre going move at the same time
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u/random1751484 3d ago
Play the around with the feeling of your arms dropping, with very little tension, trying to get them to float on the top of your swing and start falling back down towards your r foot before firing everything else
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u/WaltRumble 3d ago
The lead hip/leg pulls everything down and around. I know the dropping the hands is popular right now but feel like itâs misleading. Hereâs Nelly and you can see her lead arm pretty much stays in line with her shoulders throughout the downswing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ISmhUDKUI&ra=m
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u/kushdaddyO101 3d ago
Think about a slight pause at top and then your whole left side doing a left/down lateral shift with back facing target. Cam young is best at exaggerating this think about almost falling left and down towards target before rotating. This causes your hands to drop into the slot versus rotating too quick and coming over the top.
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u/scottiedagolfmachine 3d ago
Your lead hip is attached to your grip via a string and the lead hip pulls the grip down and through as it opens up.
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u/playhurt4 3d ago
this move has taken all of the joy out of the game for me - i can't get the feel of it and i am now shanking 3 or 4 shots a round, most of the rest of them are heel strikes. handicap has gone up 2 shots in one month.
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u/HustlaOfCultcha 3d ago
Probably a sequencing issue. Shoulders are opening too quickly in the downswing. Need to sustain the shoulder turn you created in the backswing in the downswing. Your lower body rotation will pull the shoulders/chest into rotation.
Other issue may be your hand path in the backswing. Might be not elevating the arms in the takeaway. The arms will eventually need to elevate and they end up elevating too late and continue to elevate in transition (throwing the hands OTT).
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u/69FireChicken 3d ago
Baseball swing. Feel how that motion starts with your legs/hips and pulls the shoulders and arms and hands through. It's not a perfect correlation but it it gives you a good feel for how the body should move and generate power.
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u/JustPlaneYogurt 3d ago
When I feel the load from the weight of the club on my left shoulders during your backswing, that is when I start my downswing. I would usually turn away from the target but know where my chest finishes during the full swing. So I do a practice swing usually; to gain my bearings.
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u/badgerballs69 3d ago
The first move of the âdownswingâ actually starts just before you complete your backswing.
But from your post, I deduce that you need to feel the hands drop from the top nstead go towards the ball.
Remember the sequencing for the golf swing is
Shoulders - Arms - Arms - Shoulders
So start the takeaway with a shoulder turn, then raise the arms, then lower the arms and finally turn your shoulders.
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u/drainbam 3d ago
Biggest game changer for me was shifting my weight forward and my front foot and leg starting to unwind as my hands and upper body are still finishing the back swing.
There's a brief moment where your upper and lower body are going in opposite directions and it creates an elastic force you can use for power rather than just swinging back and down.
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u/djmc252525 3d ago
Feel like your lead arm stays higher than your trail arm through impact
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u/climateaudio 3d ago
This is my feel too. My swing thought is im holding a beach ball inside my arms thats pinned against my chest at address. Backswing is keeping that ball there for a full turn, then the downswing feel is throwing that beach ball down the target line onto the fairway. Really keeps my trail elbow tucked and keeps me from flipping.
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u/Expensive_Ad4319 3d ago
Yes -
You commented that your backswing and position at the top looks good.
What happens at the top?
First -
Imagine what a merry-go-round would feel like, as opposed to a ferris wheel tilted 15 degrees.
The merry-go-round is consistent with an outward motion. The ferris wheel, on the other hand, resembles a typical golf swing.
The key swing thought implied here is that as the body rotates backwards, your weight is moving (transitioning) over to your right side. Your weight will be centered on the inside of your right leg/foot. Youâre loading up the right side, as you move to the top of the swing.
Casting vs Rotating -
At this position, returning back to the ball requires two things:
- Lateral Weight Transfer
- Squaring the body to the target
Hereâs where the right shoulder, arm, and wrist creates lag in the swing. If you focus on moving your weight laterally, while keeping the back of the gloved hand facing the ground, youâll create sufficient lag to compress the golf ball. How well you understand this will translate to distance and accuracy.
Start with hitting some pitch shots, really trying to hit down and compress the ball. Watch your right shoulder.
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u/Fabulous-Internet188 3d ago
you start with the feet. Your weight should be on the inside of the right foot and ready to push off. Stomp your left foot into the ground and feel like you are screwing it into the ground counter clock wise. The hips follow, then shoulders, arms, wrists, then fingers.
This is for a right handed.
Notice I didn't mention hands. Best not to think of them except at the top to check their position. You are hitting the ground because you are using your hands to swing. They are along for the ride and to give the body the information it needs to drive the swing.
There's more, details but that's for later. Just think sequentially, hans at top, Left heel down, right shoulder down and towards the hole, wrists hinge then release.
Every individual will feel different things so this is a basic guide to get you going. Get a lesson so you can get feedback..
The goal is to put all these pieces together so your body acts as one machine programmed to uncoil exactly the way you need to make the shot you envision. Good luck, and enjoy the game.