How do you get your swing back, in the shortest possible time? Two quick shortcuts to solid impact.

This post will get your golf swing back in the shortest possible time. Before we do that though, First things First – Golf Channel and their blatant stealing of ideas from this active golf page!

Recently, the golf channel’s ‘School of Golf’ did an episode (Season 2017, Chapter 4 – Solid Contact) where Martin Hall discusses his number one way to get back to solid contact. It involves placing two tees on the ground – building a ‘gate’ through which one must try to swing the clubhead. Does this technique sound familiar?

It should, if you’ve been reading this blog for any period of time. I have been promoting this technique for the past 15 years – and have used it in my own instructional sessions as well. As far as I know, NO OTHER coach has discovered this method for the simple reason that it was discovered and forgotten over 90 years ago.

And as far as I know, I originally proposed  using two tees as a simplified version of the gate, instead of the elaborate device mentioned in the original text (by J. Douglas Edgar).

So definitely, when Martin Hall starts talking about creating a ‘gate’ by placing two tees on the ground, that rings of plagiarism. At the very least, the Golf Channel needed to acknowledge their source of information.

Okay – thanks for reading through my rant.  How do you get your swing back, in the shortest possible time?

As winter turns to Spring, the golfing itch starts to bother most golfers.  You are eager to go out and play a few holes  – but have been out of touch with your swing. Is there a way you can rapidly get your swing back?

What saves me time and time again is a simple technique that lets one focus on the main objective – solid impact – as opposed to the correct stance, posture, swing path and what not. These are all great things for the intermediate to advanced golfer to work on, but for an absolute beginner, talking about swing paths is a bit heavy.

Quick Swing Fix 1 – The Gate to Golf, Two tees in the ground

This technique was discussed in detail in several previous posts; but it deserves a recap. Close friends who ask me for a golf initiation lesson, get this simple technique taught in return.

The original gate device	My improvised ‘Tees in the ground’ gate

The innocuous looking device above, with the slightly angled placement of two tees,  is called a ‘gate’. The idea is to present your brain with the imagery to swing through the gate as well as to align your body to the gate prior to the swing.  This may sound very straightforward – and it is, but there are several things that automatically take care of themselves as you try to swing through the gate.

1. The club automatically approaches the ball from inside-out, which is the path that all pro-swings take.
2. Flat wrist on top – If you simply align your flat wrist with the gate (basically left shoulder-tip and left wrist are in a straight line – and both point to 7 O’ Clock). If you can maintain the flat wrist all the way to the top of your backswing, you will have  the perfect top-of-the-backswing position. Look at any pro – the wrist break is lateral – and the flatness of the wrist is maintained.
3. 
4. Your setup, distance from the ball, amount of hip bend etc. are all automatically calculated – as you align your left arm along the gate.  
5. Finally, the greatest advantage of this ‘angled tees on the ground gate’ is the psychological advantage you obtain on the course. On the course, when you do not have the luxury of taking along any training device, the gate can still be your friend.  All you need is the visual of the two angled tees around the ball – and construct a mental image of the gate that you need to swing through.  Lo and behold – all the regular distractions of the golf course – the lie of the ball, the hazards in your way – all just disappear – as you shift your focus to swinging through the gate. I guarantee you, even after a single day of practicing with this gate device, you will play a much more confident round of golf – provided you remember to surround each lie with an imaginary gate.

Quick Swing Fix 2– The Impact Snap

This device, a recent arrival on the golf market, can shorten the learning curve by addressing some of the larger issues that affect most amateurs.

1. Issue 1 – The wrist break – In a previous post, we discussed how all power is the result of a wrist break (and release of the wrists through the ball).  Unless your wrists break correctly, they will not release correctly through impact. This device provides a sound as feedback for the wrist break, which, IMO, is a sound technique to learn the proper wrist break.
2. Issue 2 – Extending the arms through impact. I am a big proponent of extending your arms through the ball – and I utilize that swing thought as often as I can. This device, through an innovative yellow ball, provides the correct hand and arm position at impact. With a little practice, your impact position can look like that of the pros.  If you google this ‘impact snap device videos’, there are some great instructional videos on the correct usage of this device – including a few by it’s inventor.

Once you get the hang of using this device, simply doing the movement for a few minutes before a round of golf, can work wonders.

Summary

Before I discovered these simple techniques,  I used to spend a fortune on lessons – just to get back to where I was a year ago! All of that changed when I discovered ‘The Gate to Golf’ and also, more recently, the ‘Impact Snap’ device. It seriously takes me a day, just a day – on the range with these devices – to get back to solid contact.

Happy Golfing – and do comment, share if you enjoyed this post.

Recommended Reading

This is a short, though highly recommended, read. The author is not your everyday golfer, he was the man to reckon with in his prime, having won multiple PGA tournaments. Tragically, he died young (killed by a jealous husband…., that itself, should pique your curiosity ).