Tag: swing tips

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Swing Tips from a Super Bowl Champion

QUICK COACHING

A Swing Tip You Can Learn From the NFL Quarterbacks Who Played in the Super Bowl

By Ryan Adams, PGA

Published on Sunday, January 28, 2024

A thrilling match-up for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 ended as it should.

With drama.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 on a short pass play in overtime. The game was fun to watch, with high-flying offenses, stout defenses, plenty of storylines . . . and how could we forget Taylor Swift?

Believe it or not, though, there’s also a little golf lesson you can learn from the quarterbacks playing in today’s game.

Did you see how Patrick Mahomes (above) of the Chiefs and Brock Purdy of the 49ers were making their throwing motions? Well, there’s a lot of similarities between the way these quarterbacks sling it and how to create more powerful strikes with every club.

Let’s break it down.

Wind up and weight transfer

The first step for a quarterback is winding up their upper body and then transferring weight to the front foot to fire a pass. That’s a lot like the golf swing if you think about it: You make a full turn and then transfer your weigh to the lead side to maximize power. Look at Mahomes below as he steps into a pass:

He can’t make this throw without transferring his weight to the lead side. When they weren’t under pressure during the Super Bowl, Mahomes and Purdy started throws by stepping into them, and not hanging back. When you hang back on your trail side, there’s no energy going to the ball (or in the quarterbacks’ case, the pass) which makes it harder to create good contact.

Try this: Make practice swings with a full turn (shoulder under chin) and then on your downswing, take a step with your lead foot like you’re throwing a football or baseball. You’ll understand the proper sequence a lot better.

Unwind the lower body

Once you’ve made that first step, it’s time to unwind the lower body. You’ll see in the Super Bowl that the quarterbacks create space with their lower body by opening their hips and firing through with their upper body. Without that, it’s nearly impossible for them to make a proper move and throw the ball. Look at Purdy unwindingfor a big throw here:

Same goes for your golf swing. There’s no way for you to hit the ball squarely without unwinding and rotating your hips to clear out space for the arms, hands and club. Not only are you clearing out space but because you made that move we described above in the first step, your sequence is right on and that means really good contact with the ball.

Try this: To understand this hip clear-out, get in stance and then take your lead hand and press it into your lead hip. You should feel an open rotation, or a “clearing out” of your lower body. Another way to think about this is if you had a belt on and tugged it with your lead hand. Attempt hitting a few half shots with this idea in place with your wedges.

Hopefully this two-part tip is something that will help you, like it helps these great quarterbacks on the NFL’s biggest stage.

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How to Cure a Slice

  1. Great swing tips to fix your slice quickly and easily!
    The cause of slicing the golf ball simply boils down to delivering the clubface to the ball in an open position at impact (clubface pointing to the right of the intended target line for right handed players). Here are the most common causes and cures for the dreaded slice:
    Grip Position
    Your first area of examination is to check your grip position at address. If the hands are rotated too far to the left on the club an open position at impact will likely result. Check out this article for more details about proper grip positioning:
  2. Use Two Tees to Cure your Slice – GOLF.com

    Jun 25, 2007 … Your grip is making it difficult to square the clubface at impact. How to fix it … If you slice, line up the tees ov…
    Golf
  3. Wrist Position Top of Swing
    The next area to explore is the back of the left hand and wrist position at the top of the swing.  If the left wrist is cupped (concave) the clubface is likely open and if returned to the ball in the same position a slice will occur.  The following video demonstrates both wrist cupping and grip positioning quite well:
  4. Instant Fix: Correct Your Slice – Video – GOLF.com

    Dec 30, 2012 … In the first installment of his “Instant Fixes” series for Golf.com, Top 100 Teacher Tim Mahoney has three t…
    Golf
  5. Pronation
    The final area of concern at least for the sake of this post would be to check and see if your right hand is pushing against and breaking down the left hand through impact, as opposed to properly rolling over / pronating through the ball.  In the video below Chuck Cook delivers a great tip on how to properly rotate the hands and forearms:
  6. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0ktg-Yllk?feature=oembed&w=400&h=225]
    Chuck Cook: Slice Cure: Wrist Roll
    golflink
    ·

    Sun, Mar 03 2013 15:02:33

  7. A simple quick fix or two can make a huge difference in reducing or eliminating your slice, and therefore making for a much more enjoyable round of golf!
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Top Three Golf Swing Set-Up Tips

Stance

The stance is the foundation of the golf swing and like many other sports requires the player to prepare for athletic action. Begin by evenly dividing your weight between both feet, slightly favoring the balls of the feet not the toes or heels. Next, position the feet approximately shoulder width apart. Proper stance width helps maintain good balance, too narrow a stance increases instability and too wide restricts hip and shoulder turn, making it difficult for the player to properly transfer weight back onto and over the right leg during the backswing.

Turn the left foot (forward foot) outward toward the target about a quarter turn. This position allows the player to maintain dynamic balance throughout the golf swing and well into the finish. The back foot (right foot) should generally be pointed straight forward or at a right angle to the target line. This position allows power-generating resistance to build by stabilizing the right leg while the upper body turns around it.

Alignment/Aim

Aligning or aiming the body properly is crucial if one desires to develop a powerful repeating golf swing. The first key point of alignment is; align the leading edge of the
clubface square or at a right angle to the target line. Then set the tips of the toes, knees, hips, shoulders and eyes parallel to that same line. This method of alignment is
referred to as aiming “parallel left.” If a player is to err or deviate from this common principle it would typically involve the feet and body aiming slightly to the left of the
target. Keep in mind though, whatever combination of body and clubface positions a player employs is deemed acceptable if it results in the clubhead consistently traveling down the target line with the clubface square to that line.

Golf is a target game and it is very easy to get caught up in the complexity of the perfect golf swing. However, many who follow this quest fail to recognize that no matter how beautiful the swing becomes it is of little value if aimed incorrectly

Posture

Another key element to develop a powerful repeating golf swing requires the upper body to be tilted over the ball slightly at address. This is achieved by bending from the hips over the ball, not the waist. Bending from the hips allows the spine to remain straight and the buttocks to protrude slightly, whereas if we tilt from the waist the spine tends to curve. The head should also match the plane of the back; this allows the left shoulder to turn underneath the chin during the backswing. This very much helps maintain centeredness while completing the backswing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_R._Cotter

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