Well, while analyzing swings of the great pro golfers, I got the desire today to go out to the range for the first time in weeks.

I hit the ball great and here’s why.

As you can see in the address, the shoulders  are parallel to my target line and my clubface is about 8 degrees open to hit a power fade. (My video camera is a little off…)

My stance is closed, which is a natural habit I get into but I should really open up more.

At 1/2 way point, My club is in perfect plane from the ball through the middle of my right shoulder socket. This is the the plane Tiger Woods follow and me three.

At top of my swing, the butt end of my club shows that I am still in plane. I also have a very good triangle going, which is good. The only bad part about this backswing is that I just finished working out before hitting balls so my muscles are too tight. Tightness is not good for golf but oh well…

On the downswing, I dip my head a little, which is my bad habit and I am also slightly inside of the plane. (probably because of my slightly closed stance)

At impact, I hit the 3 wood perfect. It makes thing really big “ping” sound.

My shoulders are about parallel to my target line.

My clubface is actually open and I am trying to hit a power fade here.

My followthrough is slightly flat. Meaning I came over the ball a little. This is partly due to my slightly closed stance.

I might block the ball 1 out of 10 balls or pull it because of the closed stance.

If I opened my stance, most of my problems would probably be solved.

Oh well, next time I get to go hit balls, I will probably have “other” problems but yes alignment is probably the most important. You have wrong alignment at the beginning of your swing and you can have all kinds of problems.

Overall, I hit the ball great today. I feel like I can try out for the PGA Tour the way I hit the balls today.

Well, even with the closed stance and my bad swing habits, I hit a lot of good shots at my target. Well, good scores are about good short game mostly anyways.

What is my long term goal?

Well, it has always been to play pro golf. Now, I make money online to feed my family and make a living. Once I can get that going faster, I might have more time to practice and eventually start playing in some mini-tour events again.

Will it happen?

Of course, my dreams never die. That’s probably why I made this blog. Once I can build up my blogging business to about $20K per month, I should be able to spend more time golfing and of course, blogging more often on here too.

Here’s a video of the 3 wood power fade I hit just perfectly about 270 yards:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Don’t blame me if my swing sucks right now, I go to the range about once a month.

alignment, backswing, bad habit, balls, butt end, downswing, long term goal, muscles, natural habit, pga-tour, pro golfers, short game, shoulder socket, shoulders, target line, tiger, Tiger Woods, triangle, video camera alignment, backswing, bad habit, balls, butt end, downswing, long term goal, muscles, natural habit, pga-tour, pro golfers, short game, shoulder socket, shoulders, target line, tiger, Tiger Woods, triangle, video camera If you like this post, please subscribe to the ProGolferDigest via RSS or via E-Mail to receive updates.

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Retieft Goosen has one of the best rhythms in golf.  Here’s Retief at setup.

At backswing, Retief is right on-plane.  Now, there’s 2 types of planes that 99% of tour pros use.

One plane is the plane formed by the ball to the middle of the shoulder sockets (the top red line) and the other one is the plane formed by the ball to the belly. (the bottom red line)

Retief here uses the 2nd type of plane, which is what David Leadbetter promotes whereas Butch Harmon does the other.

The impotant thing is to keep your plane within the two different types of plane.  Anything higher or lower will make your swing a lot harder to keep up and cause back problems.

Jack Nicklaus probably breaks this swing plane rule but that explains why he needed a ceramic hip replacement.

At the top of the backswing, Retief has a beautiful triangle.  His club is pointing slight to the right of parallel meaning he will probably hit from inside-out and a slight draw.   This can become a problem for Retief if his club starts pointing more right and cause blocks to the right under pressure.

At downswing, Retief is actually a little too “steep”.  This can again cause blocks to the right.  But Retief manages to get back on plane right before impact:

As you can see, Retief is coming in a little too much inside-out.  His shoulders are still inside-out.  He might hit a good 15 yard draw on this drive but again, this type of too much inside-out action will cause blocks to the right.

However, it’s always better to error on the inside-out plane than outside-in plane since you do hit the ball more accurately this way.

After impact, Retieft shows he hit the ball perfectly as his club and right arm are in plane with the ball.

This is the secret.  No matter how bad your backswing is, if you can end up in this position, you will hit the ball very very good like Retief Goosen.

Here’s the video:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Butch Harmon, david leadbetter, hip replacement, jack nicklaus, planes, red line, Retief Goosen, rhythms, right arm, shoulders, sockets, swing analysis, swing plane, triangle Butch Harmon, david leadbetter, hip replacement, jack nicklaus, planes, red line, Retief Goosen, rhythms, right arm, shoulders, sockets, swing analysis, swing plane, triangle

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Adam Baddeley has one of the simplest swings in golf.

As you can see Adam at address, he’s perfectly balanced, ready to go.  I set up the big red line from the clubhead through middle of his shoulder sockets.  (That is important as I will explain later…)

Adam’s new swing is actually a little flatter than most other tour pros but it’s perfectly acceptable position here.  He “rotates” more laterally than the other players, which is part of his swing technique.

At the top of his swing, again, Adam is very flat compared to most other tour pros but he does remind me of Ben Hogan, who swung even flatter than Adam.

The important thing to note is how “well balanced’ he is, he looks like he’s almost just standing tall without the club in his hand. (for the lower body)

At downswing, Adam is perfectly ready to launch the ball with his swing plane slight flatter than the red line from the ball through his shoulder sockets.  This means he’s coming into the slightly inside-out, meaning he will hit a nice powerful draw.

At impact, again, Adam is in perfect balance.  If you watch his spine and lower body only, you can tell how well balanced he is, almost standing normal.

That is the key, you always want to feel like you are simply standing up tall throughout the swing.  It lets your body balance itself automatically.

Now, here’s the secret.  Notice that red line from the ball through the shoulder sockets?  Well his clubs right on it after impact.  This ball probably was hit almost perfectly.

Here’s the video:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

baddeley, Ben Hogan, body balance, clubhead, downswing, perfect-balance, red line, sockets, spine, swing analysis, swing plane, swing technique, swings, tour pros baddeley, Ben Hogan, body balance, clubhead, downswing, perfect-balance, red line, sockets, spine, swing analysis, swing plane, swing technique, swings, tour pros

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Here’s swing analysis of K. J. Choi, a very good Korean golfer on the PGA Tour.

Here’s his takeaway, Choi breaks his wrists early but the important part is how well he kept his triangle. (the triangle formed by his arms and shoulder)

On his 3/4 backswing, you can see that KJ has fully cocked his wrists and notice how steady his lower body is. That might be secret to his consistency.

At the top of Choi’s swing, you can see a very good lower body balance and he does not overswing, stopping slight before the club reaches parallel point to the surface.  What I like most about his backswing is it looks so stable as if he’s ready to give a nice knock out punch.

Balance is the key on the backswing.  You should be able to be in this position in perfect balance.

On his downswing, Choi dips his head a little too much, which is explanation why he took such a big divot on this 6-iron shot.   Other than that, he does transfer weight well to his left feet and also maintains a very good 90 degree angle between his arms and the club, a must for any A-class golfer.

What you should learn from this position is Choi’s lower body transfer, this is where all his power comes from, the rotation and the weight transfer.

At impact, watch how straight his left arm and the club are together.  This guarantees you to hit the ball very very straight, although KJ is currently working on the power fade.  You will see this position on any pro golfer who wins a lot of tournaments.

Finally, but not least, check out how well KJ extends both of his arms after the ball is hit.  This is another key factor in a good swing.  (Check out the triangle, isn’t it beautiful?  Great golf swings always have triangles everywhere)

Now here’s a video of it in action:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

body balance, consistency, degree angle, dips, divot, golf swings, great golf, k j choi, K.J. Choi, kj, knock out punch, left arm, left feet, perfect-balance, pga-tour, pro golfer, swing analysis, swing check, triangle, triangles body balance, consistency, degree angle, dips, divot, golf swings, great golf, k j choi, K.J. Choi, kj, knock out punch, left arm, left feet, perfect-balance, pga-tour, pro golfer, swing analysis, swing check, triangle, triangles

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Well, I was just browsing through Youtube today and found this great video of Adam Scott’s knockdown shot.

If you fast foward to the last part where Butch Harmon is standing, that’s how you should hit a knockdown shot.

Really try to play over and over to hear the crisp sound of the ball being hit.  If you listen very carefully, he made almost no divot on the knockdown shot and only the ball.  When you hit the knockdown shot correctly, you should be able to hear the “knock” sound.  It’s the sound that’s made when you “almost” hit it a little thin.

Next time you go on the range, try to see if you can make that “thud” or “knock” sound, that is the secret to great knockdown shots with minimal backspin and drop and hop action.

Adam Scott, backspin, Butch Harmon, crisp sound, divot, knockdown, thud Adam Scott, backspin, Butch Harmon, crisp sound, divot, knockdown, thud

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