That showed up for Buddy in his iron game, where he just wasn’t hitting the ball as solid as he wanted to. He could produce a great shot, but the misses were unpredictable. His swing is very good. It didn’t need a rebuild—more of a tuneup in one particular area.
You don’t have to spin your chest fast to play good golf, but it does need to keep moving and not stall out in the downswing. We tackled this with a series of feels and drills that encouraged the move we wanted. You can see the whole process in the latest episode of our Pro Work series.
Believe it or not, it starts in the backswing. We got Buddy to let his head drift a little to the right as he turned back, to make it easier for his chest to turn back. You can think of it almost like a spring. The more you can turn back and wind up the spring, the more energy you can release when you let the spring out.
Players who tend to stall out usually come out of their posture and their hips move closer to the ball. This pitches the swing direction out to the right, and the club tends to come through impact on a very upright swing plane. In terms of pivot, it will feel like your pressure on the ground goes out toward the toes on your left (or lead) foot, if it ever even gets to the left side.
Instead of stalling and standing up to compensate, we got Buddy to keep turning his chest. A good way to accentuate that feel was to concentrate on where the pressure ended up on his left foot. Instead of moving out to the toes, it needed to feel like it was going into his heel—a sign that he was swinging more around.
Once you get the feel of that, you can have a friend face you and move a couple of steps toward the target as they hold a club shaft straight out, at the same level as your elbows. When you swing, it should feel like you’re going around and under that guide shaft. Stall and lose your posture and it will feel like you’re going to swing up and hit the shaft. (Make sure your friend stands far enough up that even a bad swing won’t actually hit it!)
Even players with plenty of talent and plenty of clubhead speed get stuck here, because standing up out of posture feels like it’s giving you room to swing the arms faster. It’s another one of those things in golf where what feels more powerful is actually slower. Keeping the chest turning and making better contact produces more flush contact, a more consistent face and ultimately more ball speed.
Schedule Update
With the Old Palm practice facility now closed I am fortunate to be teaching and coaching in South Florida at two wonderful spots. The Club at Boca Pointe in Boca Raton along with Dutchman’s Pipe Club in Palm Beach.
Upcoming dates:
Launching September 1: Tour Coach Remote with Tony Ruggiero & Jackson Koert
This limited opportunity will feature monthly FaceTime lessons, fitness programs through the Stable to fit your golf program, practice plans designed each week for the student and lots of other amazing options for the serious golfer wanting to compete and improve.
South Florida:
August 19-23
August 31-September 3
September 16-20
September 24-27
Blue Bell, Philadelphia:
August 26-27
MOBILE/PRESERVE:
August 12-13
August 24-25
August 29-September 2
Upcoming Retreat Weekends:
August 22-23 and September 18-20 at Dutchman’s Pipe.
Small group comprehensive workshops with Tony Ruggiero and Wayne Flint, Dr. Greg Cartin and Coop along with and special guests.
If you would like to book a lesson or for information about one of our programs please email tony@dewsweepersgolf.com or Liz@dewsweepersgolf.com or call or text 850.225.1631
Here’s to a great summer of better golf!
Tony