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Building A Better Backswing
By Lawrie | March 24, 2008
In my last post I described two clubface positions at the top of the backswing. One is described as “closed” and the other “square.” The orientation of the clubface at the top of the backswing can have a significant effect on your golf shots, both in terms of direction and also distance.
Many competent golfers play golf with a golf club that is closed at the top of the swing and this is far more common today than the open clubface method which was common in the early nineteenth century when golf swings were powered with more involvement from the hands and forearms like this photo depicting the great Bobby Jones at the top of his backswing.
Today golfers have a distinct advantage over golfers from past eras with high speed video allowing us to see more easily the clubface postion at various points throughout the golfswing. At our golf school a square to closed clubface position is our preference since it allows the golfer to square the clubface up to the ball more easily without excessive hand motion.
You may recall that the young Korean player I was working with had a clubface that was more closed than I preferred which was (in her case) creating mis-directed shots into the green leading to higher scores than she wanted. I made two slight changes to her backswing that A) helped her to square the clubface up and 2) improved her clubface control where it matters, in the impact zone.
Change number one was to relax her left arm during the backswing phase which was stiff and had the effect of making the arms swing too much inside on the backswing and also closing the club too much as it reached the top of the swing.
Change number two involved cocking the wrist much earlier in the backswing which opened the clubface up and also kept the clubface more in-front of her as it went to the top, leading to a square clubface and better swing plane. These changes dramatically improved her shotmaking skills giving her more variety and choice with her shots into the greens.
If you are having problems with your backswing always check the clubface position to see whether the clubface is open, square or closed as this will affect your impact with the ball. Stay tuned to my next post where I’ll explore the backswing more deeply.
Good golfing Lawrie
Topics: General |
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