Russell... this is one I come back to weekly as a reminder since I first watched it. The crazy thing is that I no longer get upset with myself or punish my myself on the course when I get stuck and come over the top and duck hook it left or hit a bad shot. For the last few years (I am in my sixth year of playing) I had no idea what I was doing wrong when that happened. Now I understand it's lack of rotation and turn over my trail leg, forcing me to make an accommodation in my downswing, make me push my hips forward and well, you know the rest. Thanks for putting the science into my swing! And now when I make a bad one, I come back to this, and flush the next shot. Like clockwork. Now, if you can figure out a way to keep me focussed on every shot :)
Wow....I just had an epiphany from your video!!! Not having any weight of significance on your front leg on the transistion from back swing to forward swing while you open up your hips is huge!!!!. I just tried it without weight and with weight watching in my living room. When I put weight on my front leg too early my shoulders come over the top immediately. I have been trying to fix this for years!!! As soon as I took my weight off my front leg and then opened up my hips like you demonstrated .....I could feel my shoulders moving in the correct plane. Wow!! Amazing!! What a feeling ..it feels like freedom. I have always felt stuck in my swing mostly except on rare occasions when it felt good and I had no idea why it did. I will watch your other videos on how to get consistently to the properly turned and loaded back swing. Thanks from Canada!!!!
This lesson is perhaps the most valuable lesson in golf! Selfless teaching. Professionals learn this by their coaches but for thousands or dollars. If I was taught this at the beginning I would have been playing scratch golf 10 years ago. Thank you Russell!
This is such awesome stuff! My biggest issue has always been loading and proper weight transfer. Russell has opened my eyes to how important this is and I have been working hard on it. Played yesterday and struck the ball magnificently as long as I slowed down and loaded and transferred properly and produced effortless power. Had a few loose old swings while trying to produce power from the top and the shots were miserable. For me now it's the retraining of the swing more than the realization of the mechanics and also the mind game of realizing the power derived from the proper swing and not trying to "produce" the power with the arms and hands. Trust in a new swing is also a leap but through time should become easier.
Never understood why I early hip extended at impact but your instructions around the importance of turning your hips correctly and loading the left hand side have been a mind popping experience. I can now use the ground as a source of power rather than just passively rotating around my axis like a top heavy spinning top that has to early extend and fights the over the top swing path just to make contact with the ball. Your content is superb because you explain what the consequences are of actions good / bad during the back swing which golfers of all abilities need to understand better - keep up the great work.
The concept of momentary weightlessness was was paradigm changing. Always felt I had to get to lead side quickly and would get stuck more often than not.
This key move is most revealing to me in understanding the purpose of a correct backswing being to allow for early separation of lower body from upper body in the transition. Pressurizing the load on the rear foot at the top immobilizes the functionality of the rear hip and leg which in turn prevents any a)spinning out b) sliding the hips too far forward and hitting fat or topped shots or c) early extending the hips resulting in a flip at the ball. Well done, These two objectives of a correct backswing 1) putting pressure into the ground with the heel of the rear foot and 2) resisting the turning of the rear leg's are key thoughts that go to the root causes of the problems mention above a to c and allow for the opening up f the hips to swing down and through.
Ingenious conclusion to the backswing and passage to the transition. I understand my problem with the weight transfer - too much weight to quick on the left side blocks proper rotation - less is more...
Massive piece of the puzzle!! And it makes perfect sense😀. Awesome stuff Russ. Big ah ha moment. Would love to hear about feeling the weight of the club head at the top and that moment between top of backswing and downswing. Transition I suspect.
Blooming brilliant video analysis and description Russell of what is basically causing me a big headache at the moment, poor weight distribution leading to poor results.... looking forward to seeing the changes when I get out on the course!!
Great insight. I'm struggling at the moment of coming up too early and catching the ball thin especially with the driver coming off the bottom. Will give the wedge a blasting 👍
GREAT STUFF RUSSEL AS ALWAYS... love u pal ... and of course u get me going.... again :D Pointing out ONE of the reasons those "bad" moves happen in the back swing-start of down swing = BAD posture as in shoulders too level (therefor closed) and will make u swing behind u... for many (far from all) it might help setting up and "just" open ur shoulders WITHOUT moving the club head in ur normal setup and feel ur none glove hand slide under/lower/behind the ball and glove hand slightly moving forward with the grip of the club. This "small" thing helps a lot with both path and restricting that right leg moves that add those behind-hip moves.... and more. Try it out... i'll be amazed if Russel wont agree. Too many have such strong and twisting glove hand that the shoulder pops low and in front = bad thing... can be used on some shots... rescue. Good luck ;) Rock on Iceland...
Brilliant! Any chance of dissecting the 4 wedges into full, 3/4, 1/2 swing distances, I tend to hit my wedges full apposed to hitting half with a extra club. Would love to get your working out distance charts for above and recommendations
GREAT stuff, love your videos. This seems to be THE most important factor in the/my swing, and I am working on it - mostly in slow motion now. Still have a problem keeping the beltbuckle facing downward when I turn my pelvis to the left trough transition. A question though: With your experience, this way of training/swinging doesn´t cause any back problems further on?
I understand the loading pressure into the trail leg, For transition, you said to pull the left hip back to the original position/same plane, any feelings or tips you can share?
Concentrating on that feeling of pressure into the ground in the backswing is providing me a side benefit that also helps: relaxed arms and shoulders as I do not try to force a shoulder rotation. This gives me the feeling of a more compact golf swing, but on video I can see that the shoulders are still getting at least a 90 degrees rotation. 👍
Hi Russel, you empathise the vertical component of the ground force under the trail foot. As someone who specialised in structural dynamics for 40 years (as it relates to earthquake engineering) I know that there is also a horizontal component to the force that the trail foot applies to the ground during the backswing (necessary to cause the body to rotate). I feel this as a force applied to the ground at about 1.30 o’clock (assuming 12 o’clock is straight ahead towards the target line). The feeling I have is that the trail foot is trying to slide in the 1.30 o’clock direction. Do you feel this horizontal component of the ground force during your backswing and, if so, does it continue during the transition to aid the weight stabilisation of the trail hip?
I'm trying like hell to keep up with what you're saying. But it's all beginning to sound like riddles .I'm not sure what anything should look like because you're giving so many examples of what maybe it shouldn't that the should is somewhere in between all the shouldn'ts.I do know it's really confusing the h*** out of me🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪🤪 anyways thanks for sharing your lessons. Take care 🙋♂️
This, unfortunately, is why golfers around the world are so hopelessly lost when it comes to understanding the golf swing. In a sad irony, the very thing Russell prescribes - the unweighting of the lead side/foot - is the very reason the average player’s pivot is so poor. The body is brilliant and always monitoring itself in space trying to maintain balance. When one unweights one side of the body the autonomic nervous system reacts with an attempt to rebalance. Now, add to that subconscious reaction the conscious knowledge that we’re hitting a ball on the ground and every instructional advice talks about the “weight shift” and the player will almost automatically “jump” back over to their lead side, and drag the trail shoulder with it ... OTT. The golf swing is a pivot, not a turn and certainly not a weight shift. If we were supposed to totally unweight our lead side, why not just totally lift the lead foot off the ground like when throwing a ball (as you show)? I don’t mean to be harsh on you Russell, I know you mean well. The golf instructional world is convinced that the average player doesn’t shift his weight properly, and then prescribes more of the very thing that causes them to do so. The reality (of a proper pivot) is that the pressures of the pivot shift WITHIN the feet but the overall weight distribution remains about 50/50 (or close there to) until well into the strike. It’s like a little dance of sorts - with the pressures moving from heel to toe, then reversing. Before anyone cry out, “Stack & Tilt” that’s NOT what I’m talking about. Anything that triggers an autonomic response from the right brain is going to be very difficult to override and the player will find the response coming in at the WORST possible time. The body wants to be 50/50, and we can generate ample rotational speed within our feet as we’re amplifying that force up the kinetic chain. Again, I’m sorry to burst in an harsh on your instruction Russell, but - as an instructor myself - almost every student I see gets this wrong because they’re trying to do what they’ve been told and “shift their weight.”
Russell... this is one I come back to weekly as a reminder since I first watched it. The crazy thing is that I no longer get upset with myself or punish my myself on the course when I get stuck and come over the top and duck hook it left or hit a bad shot. For the last few years (I am in my sixth year of playing) I had no idea what I was doing wrong when that happened. Now I understand it's lack of rotation and turn over my trail leg, forcing me to make an accommodation in my downswing, make me push my hips forward and well, you know the rest. Thanks for putting the science into my swing! And now when I make a bad one, I come back to this, and flush the next shot. Like clockwork. Now, if you can figure out a way to keep me focussed on every shot :)
Wow....I just had an epiphany from your video!!! Not having any weight of significance on your front leg on the transistion from back swing to forward swing while you open up your hips is huge!!!!. I just tried it without weight and with weight watching in my living room. When I put weight on my front leg too early my shoulders come over the top immediately. I have been trying to fix this for years!!! As soon as I took my weight off my front leg and then opened up my hips like you demonstrated .....I could feel my shoulders moving in the correct plane. Wow!! Amazing!! What a feeling ..it feels like freedom. I have always felt stuck in my swing mostly except on rare occasions when it felt good and I had no idea why it did. I will watch your other videos on how to get consistently to the properly turned and loaded back swing. Thanks from Canada!!!!
This lesson is perhaps the most valuable lesson in golf! Selfless teaching. Professionals learn this by their coaches but for thousands or dollars. If I was taught this at the beginning I would have been playing scratch golf 10 years ago. Thank you Russell!
This is such awesome stuff! My biggest issue has always been loading and proper weight transfer. Russell has opened my eyes to how important this is and I have been working hard on it. Played yesterday and struck the ball magnificently as long as I slowed down and loaded and transferred properly and produced effortless power. Had a few loose old swings while trying to produce power from the top and the shots were miserable. For me now it's the retraining of the swing more than the realization of the mechanics and also the mind game of realizing the power derived from the proper swing and not trying to "produce" the power with the arms and hands. Trust in a new swing is also a leap but through time should become easier.
One of the best golf instruction videos I have seen. A very often overlooked, yet crucial part of the golf swing. 👍🏻👍🏻
Never understood why I early hip extended at impact but your instructions around the importance of turning your hips correctly and loading the left hand side have been a mind popping experience. I can now use the ground as a source of power rather than just passively rotating around my axis like a top heavy spinning top that has to early extend and fights the over the top swing path just to make contact with the ball. Your content is superb because you explain what the consequences are of actions good / bad during the back swing which golfers of all abilities need to understand better - keep up the great work.
Hi just looked at your video today yes very good about pelvis down
Will try tomorrow tomorrow
Thanks again
Bill from Mildura Australia
Go for it 👍🏻
Thank you! This is taking me a while to grasp; I am only 80% there. I will look at the wedge drill.
This is excellent in explaining the "feel" during the swing and how to achieve it.
The concept of momentary weightlessness was was paradigm changing. Always felt I had to get to lead side quickly and would get stuck more often than not.
Great video and very informative I will take on board your tips
You really explain things well...great tips...one of the best instructors on golf tips...here on UA-cam!
Thank you.
This key move is most revealing to me in understanding the purpose of a correct backswing being to allow for early separation of lower body from upper body in the transition. Pressurizing the load on the rear foot at the top immobilizes the functionality of the rear hip and leg which in turn prevents any a)spinning out b) sliding the hips too far forward and hitting fat or topped shots or c) early extending the hips resulting in a flip at the ball. Well done, These two objectives of a correct backswing 1) putting pressure into the ground with the heel of the rear foot and 2) resisting the turning of the rear leg's are key thoughts that go to the root causes of the problems mention above a to c and allow for the opening up f the hips to swing down and through.
Ingenious conclusion to the backswing and passage to the transition. I understand my problem with the weight transfer - too much weight to quick on the left side blocks proper rotation - less is more...
Massive piece of the puzzle!! And it makes perfect sense😀. Awesome stuff Russ. Big ah ha moment. Would love to hear about feeling the weight of the club head at the top and that moment between top of backswing and downswing. Transition I suspect.
Blooming brilliant video analysis and description Russell of what is basically causing me a big headache at the moment, poor weight distribution leading to poor results.... looking forward to seeing the changes when I get out on the course!!
Great insight. I'm struggling at the moment of coming up too early and catching the ball thin especially with the driver coming off the bottom. Will give the wedge a blasting 👍
This (along with your other vids ofcourse) is gold! I believe you to be the most articulate coach on youtube. Thanks for the eye opening info!
Happy to be your first view and to tell you, your videos are fantastic. You have helped me and my golf game immensely.
GREAT STUFF RUSSEL AS ALWAYS... love u pal ... and of course u get me going.... again :D
Pointing out ONE of the reasons those "bad" moves happen in the back swing-start of down swing = BAD posture as in shoulders too level (therefor closed) and will make u swing behind u... for many (far from all) it might help setting up and "just" open ur shoulders WITHOUT moving the club head in ur normal setup and feel ur none glove hand slide under/lower/behind the ball and glove hand slightly moving forward with the grip of the club. This "small" thing helps a lot with both path and restricting that right leg moves that add those behind-hip moves.... and more. Try it out... i'll be amazed if Russel wont agree. Too many have such strong and twisting glove hand that the shoulder pops low and in front = bad thing... can be used on some shots... rescue. Good luck ;) Rock on Iceland...
Brilliant explanation as always
Love the description, Russell. Just recently subscribed to your channel, and I love your videos. Thank you. Cheers from Texas.
Very informative and pertinent
Great video Russell - provides invaluable information....
I am working on this key move Russ and I will figure it out
Brilliant! Any chance of dissecting the 4 wedges into full, 3/4, 1/2 swing distances, I tend to hit my wedges full apposed to hitting half with a extra club. Would love to get your working out distance charts for above and recommendations
GREAT stuff, love your videos. This seems to be THE most important factor in the/my swing, and I am working on it - mostly in slow motion now. Still have a problem keeping the beltbuckle facing downward when I turn my pelvis to the left trough transition. A question though: With your experience, this way of training/swinging doesn´t cause any back problems further on?
God bless you Russell.
I understand the loading pressure into the trail leg, For transition, you said to pull the left hip back to the original position/same plane, any feelings or tips you can share?
Will keep discussing this
Concentrating on that feeling of pressure into the ground in the backswing is providing me a side benefit that also helps: relaxed arms and shoulders as I do not try to force a shoulder rotation. This gives me the feeling of a more compact golf swing, but on video I can see that the shoulders are still getting at least a 90 degrees rotation. 👍
Hi Russel, you empathise the vertical component of the ground force under the trail foot. As someone who specialised in structural dynamics for 40 years (as it relates to earthquake engineering) I know that there is also a horizontal component to the force that the trail foot applies to the ground during the backswing (necessary to cause the body to rotate). I feel this as a force applied to the ground at about 1.30 o’clock (assuming 12 o’clock is straight ahead towards the target line). The feeling I have is that the trail foot is trying to slide in the 1.30 o’clock direction. Do you feel this horizontal component of the ground force during your backswing and, if so, does it continue during the transition to aid the weight stabilisation of the trail hip?
I will continue to talk about this area with forces as we continue the series, thanks
Excellent!
Hi Russell.
Do you not agree with the spiral staircase drill or the pulling on a lawn mower handle. In the backswing transition.?
Please advise.
Not the spiral staircase the lawn mower works fine as an analogy
What is the wedge drill you are referring to ?
He's got a couple videos which talk about utilizing a wedge of one sort or another. Here is one of them: ua-cam.com/video/GXl4eIrJUXs/v-deo.html
And another one here: ua-cam.com/video/RknvixgTm8Y/v-deo.html
Sorry, I don't do social media.
I'm trying like hell to keep up with what you're saying. But it's all beginning to sound like riddles .I'm not sure what anything should look like because you're giving so many examples of what maybe it shouldn't that the should is somewhere in between all the shouldn'ts.I do know it's really confusing the h*** out of me🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪🤪 anyways thanks for sharing your lessons. Take care 🙋♂️
Ok, thanks for the comment. Not sure what your referring to. Also it’s free to send on swings to help golfers improve.
This, unfortunately, is why golfers around the world are so hopelessly lost when it comes to understanding the golf swing. In a sad irony, the very thing Russell prescribes - the unweighting of the lead side/foot - is the very reason the average player’s pivot is so poor. The body is brilliant and always monitoring itself in space trying to maintain balance. When one unweights one side of the body the autonomic nervous system reacts with an attempt to rebalance. Now, add to that subconscious reaction the conscious knowledge that we’re hitting a ball on the ground and every instructional advice talks about the “weight shift” and the player will almost automatically “jump” back over to their lead side, and drag the trail shoulder with it ... OTT. The golf swing is a pivot, not a turn and certainly not a weight shift. If we were supposed to totally unweight our lead side, why not just totally lift the lead foot off the ground like when throwing a ball (as you show)? I don’t mean to be harsh on you Russell, I know you mean well.
The golf instructional world is convinced that the average player doesn’t shift his weight properly, and then prescribes more of the very thing that causes them to do so. The reality (of a proper pivot) is that the pressures of the pivot shift WITHIN the feet but the overall weight distribution remains about 50/50 (or close there to) until well into the strike. It’s like a little dance of sorts - with the pressures moving from heel to toe, then reversing. Before anyone cry out, “Stack & Tilt” that’s NOT what I’m talking about. Anything that triggers an autonomic response from the right brain is going to be very difficult to override and the player will find the response coming in at the WORST possible time. The body wants to be 50/50, and we can generate ample rotational speed within our feet as we’re amplifying that force up the kinetic chain.
Again, I’m sorry to burst in an harsh on your instruction Russell, but - as an instructor myself - almost every student I see gets this wrong because they’re trying to do what they’ve been told and “shift their weight.”
FFS get to the point.Never known anyone waffle on so much!!!
FFS.listen and learn ya numpty