How To Avoid Being Stuck On The Downswing??

This is quite a buzz word at the moment especially in relation to good players. Being 'stuck' simply means that the club gets stuck behind the body too much on the downswing, causing shots to be pushed to the right or hooked to the left. Being in this stuck position can also affect beginner and intermediate players however it is far less frequent. The reason being is that less advanced players usually have trouble with 'coming over the top' which is caused by having the hands push away from the body on the downswing.

If you recognise that you are 'stuck', there are two excellent drills that you can work on to overcome this. The first is where you set up an alignment stick directly behind the ball at a 45 degree angle. You want to have the end of the stick in line with the ball. You should have the stick positioned at a distance where you won't contact it on the downswing. Now when taking a swing, you simply want to ensure that you keep the clubhead in front of the stick on the backswing and the downswing. When doing this though, ensure your hands don't push away from the body during the takeaway. They should be kept at the same distance from the set-up right up until the club reaches parallel to the ground.

Now on the downswing you also want to keep the clubhead in front of the stick. it is important though that you don't push your arms forward. You want to firstly feel as though the lower half goes first and then then the club comes down on the same angle as it went up. When the club reaches parallel to the ground again, the clubhead should be in front of the stick. The last step once you've achieved this, is have the path exiting more left. This will take some time to get used to but once you've practiced this over a period of time, you'll start to overcome your 'stuck' position.

The last drill is putting an alignment stick through the front buckles of your pants. When you swing, you want to feel as though the arms always stay in front of the chest. If you collide with the stick on the downswing, you know the arms are working too far behind the body. This is a challenging drill and I'd only do this drill if you can master the first drill as mentioned previously that was dedicated to path. I would also do this drill slowly and increase the tempo when you have complete confidence.

If you're having trouble being 'stuck' just contact myself at David Waters Golf located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.