Drills

Question
I have been playing for 35 years and got tired shooting inconsistently ok (5 or 6 handicap). 6 months ago, I decided to revamp my swing. Stand more upright. Have my head over the ball. Set my wrist early and just turn around my head. My main objective was to keep my head over the ball and keep it there throughout the swing. To that end, I am much more relaxed going back (if I tense up it has the tendency to pull me away from the ball). Also I turn my hips only to the extent that I have to in order to get the club back to parrallel  (or less). And more importantly I "feel" like my cocked hands are always directly in front of my chestplate ( I call it connected, probably not in the Ballard sense). I have been stiking the ball much better and my last two scores have been 74,68. I feel however I have gotten pretty mechanical and would like to "work" the ball better (especially left to right) when I have to. Can you recommend any drills that that would help me "work" it without losing the mechanics I have worked on? (sorry for the long question)

Answer
Hi Gary:
Sure, not a problem.  You're not long winded Gary, you should see some of the questions I field.  Without changing much of anything, I'll make it real simple.  If you want to work it left to right, think about what the club must be doing to produce that spin?  Think about the club moving into and through impact and what the face needs to look like to get it done.  The simplest way to curve the ball either way is this:  Line up your body lines (shoulders, forearms and feet) on the line you want your ball to start on, and align your clubface to where you want the ball to end up.  Then go ahead and swing it like you always do.  So picture your left to right movement.  To produce that, line yourself up approximately 20-30 feet left of your intended target, but leave your clubface pointing at the intended target.  The club is now set up to swing on a path to the ball from "outside/in" and the face is set slightly "open" relative to the line you are swinging on, so, if you do not rotate your hands too much, that should produce a shot that takes off to the left down the line you are lined up on and curve back to the right the amount the face is open at impact.  Pretty simple.  Don't complicate this Gary.  Keep it simple...and as I watched Jack Nicklaus give this demonstration to a group of us college kids at the NCAA Championship at the Scarlet Course at Ohio State in 1981 on the 18th tee, I decided from that day on if it was good enough for Jack, it was good enough for me.  Make it good enough for you to.  Obviously, to move it the other way, reverse it.  With a little practice, and letting your eyes work for you, you'll develop a real nice feel for curving it either way.  It's pretty simple.  Good luck.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member