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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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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There has been a lot of discussions on the internet about how to play the knockdown shot. I did go over it in brief detail couple months ago but here it is again.

A knockdown shot is nothing but a mini version of your full swing.

There are variety of knockdown shots too. Depending on what kind of lie you have and what kind of results you are trying to achieve, there’s about a hundred ways to play the shot.

But for 99% of golfers and 99% of situations, you play the knockdown shot for the following reasons:

1. You are between clubs. Let’s say you hit your 5-iron 185 yards and you hit your 6-iron 150 yards. You got a 160 yard shot, you can hit a knockdown shot here.

2. It’s windy. Whether that wind is against/with you or a cross-wind, by hitting a knockdown shot, you can keep the flight of the golf ball 20-40% lower than your normal shots and not get affected by the wind. That means you don’t have to worry about how the wind will affect the shot as much.

3. You need to hit it lower than usual to avoid high hanging trees and also put lots of backspin. If you hit a knockdown shot, usually you will get a lower ball flight and get a nice hop and stop action on the ball.

Again, here’s the simplest and the most effective way to hit the knockdown shot that I personally learned from Butch Harmon:

1. Put the ball near center or slightly forward of center of your stance.

2. Swing easy, anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4 swing.

3. On the downswing, feel like you are “trapping” the ball with your body. Now, this “feeling” might take a lot of practice to achieve.

4. Try to contact the ball first, not the turf. Better yet, don’t hit the turf at all. Hitting the turf only makes the ball lose backspin. If you look at Tiger in practice (not in competition), you will see him take zero turf on every one of his ‘good’ knockdowns. If you are awed by tour pros hitting really low sand wedges and they ‘hop and drop’, this is how they do it.

This may be the most important in knockdowns since the less you hit the ground (or take a divot), the more ‘hop and drop’ backspin you will get PLUS your ball will fly a lot lower since you are not hitting down on the ball. The only way to achieve this is to really hit the ball from 0 degree angle, meaning you don’t want to hit down or up on the ball.

Now this method is great since you will be able to use your knockdowns “everywhere” once you get good.

I tend to favor it even if it’s not windy and I don’t need to hit it under a tree since you don’t have to do a full swing and stay in control of your ball flight.

Look at Tiger and he’s doing that.

Next time, I will take a video to show you exactly what I mean. These days, I don’t have much time for golf practice. I hope that changes soon and maybe I will have to try out for PGA again soon.

backspin, ball flight, Butch Harmon, downswing, full swing, golf-ball, golfers, knockdown, mini version, sand wedges, tiger, trees, turf backspin, ball flight, Butch Harmon, downswing, full swing, golf-ball, golfers, knockdown, mini version, sand wedges, tiger, trees, turf

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