Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
A really common problem for a lot of golfers is that they struggle with a reverse pivot during their golf swing. So let's have a look at what reverse pivot means, as you swing your golf club back, the correct way to shift your weight would be that you swing and shift your weight onto your right foot as you swing back and then that your weight shifts over to your left foot as you swing through. Now people who are struggling with the reverse pivot see the opposite, so rather than their weight shifting with the direction and the movement in the golf club, they would see that as they swing back their weight shifts onto the left side and as they swing back down, as the club comes down it forces them over and onto the right side, seeing this type of weight movement, which is incorrect in moving against the direction of the club and its going to cause you a lot of connection problems and also really reduce the power that you can present the club to the ball with.
So in order to improve that reverse pivot, we need to really look at what going on in your backswing, because if your weight is on the left at the top of the backswing, as you swing back down its going to get forced over to the right as you swing into the ball. If we can correct the backswing position, so your weight is on your right foot, then you are going to easily be able to transfer your weight correctly onto the left foot as you swing through the golf ball. So if you set up into position, on the take away and the initial movement away from the ball, work on keeping the club head on target line and stretching the club out along the target line as you hinge your wrist. So you should feel much more of a stretch to the right with the arms. Instead of curving the club head around you very quickly and the hands getting very close to your right side, if this happens, you won't be able to shift the weight onto the right side and then as you lift the club up it's going to force you onto your left side. And then you got no choice but as you swing down, try to correct the position and then end up with a weight on the right foot at impact which is incorrect.
So work on stretching along the target line more and a good drill to practice to do that is if you take the club away and set up ready to hit the golf ball, just imagine one of your friends is now stood in line with you but to the right a good few places away, work on with your left hands just stretching out to shake their hands. And that’s stretching action there, where you are reaching your left hand away from your body, your center of gravity is moving over to the right to allow you to balance and you should notice that your weight has shifted over correctly. Another good drill to do is if you have a resistance band you could try this if you stand with the resistance band under your left foot and then hold the resistance band, behind your golf clubs, so you are holding the handle and the resistance band, now work on stretching the resistance band away from your left foot.
If you are going in to reverse pivot position, the band will just be straight up your body really touching the body and you won't be stretching away at all. So work and stretch the resistance band away from you so that it doesn’t touch your body and that will get you to have much more width, a much bigger gap between the hands and the body as you swing on your backswing. And it's going to mean that you are in the correct position at the top of the swing, so you can transfer your weight correctly onto your left side as you swing through. Work on doing this and you should find that you start to hit your golf shots a lot longer, with much more consistency and the accuracy will follow.
2013-08-12 Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro
A really common problem for a lot of golfers is that they struggle with a reverse pivot during their golf swing. So let's have a look at what reverse pivot means, as you swing your golf club back, the correct way to shift your weight would be that you swing and shift your weight onto your right foot as you swing back and then that your weight shifts over to your left foot as you swing through. Now people who are struggling with the reverse pivot see the opposite, so rather than their weight shifting with the direction and the movement in the golf club, they would see that as they swing back their weight shifts onto the left side and as they swing back down, as the club comes down it forces them over and onto the right side, seeing this type of weight movement, which is incorrect in moving against the direction of the club and its going to cause you a lot of connection problems and also really reduce the power that you can present the club to the ball with.
So in order to improve that reverse pivot, we need to really look at what going on in your backswing, because if your weight is on the left at the top of the backswing, as you swing back down its going to get forced over to the right as you swing into the ball. If we can correct the backswing position, so your weight is on your right foot, then you are going to easily be able to transfer your weight correctly onto the left foot as you swing through the golf ball. So if you set up into position, on the take away and the initial movement away from the ball, work on keeping the club head on target line and stretching the club out along the target line as you hinge your wrist. So you should feel much more of a stretch to the right with the arms. Instead of curving the club head around you very quickly and the hands getting very close to your right side, if this happens, you won't be able to shift the weight onto the right side and then as you lift the club up it's going to force you onto your left side. And then you got no choice but as you swing down, try to correct the position and then end up with a weight on the right foot at impact which is incorrect.
So work on stretching along the target line more and a good drill to practice to do that is if you take the club away and set up ready to hit the golf ball, just imagine one of your friends is now stood in line with you but to the right a good few places away, work on with your left hands just stretching out to shake their hands. And that’s stretching action there, where you are reaching your left hand away from your body, your center of gravity is moving over to the right to allow you to balance and you should notice that your weight has shifted over correctly. Another good drill to do is if you have a resistance band you could try this if you stand with the resistance band under your left foot and then hold the resistance band, behind your golf clubs, so you are holding the handle and the resistance band, now work on stretching the resistance band away from your left foot.
If you are going in to reverse pivot position, the band will just be straight up your body really touching the body and you won't be stretching away at all. So work and stretch the resistance band away from you so that it doesn’t touch your body and that will get you to have much more width, a much bigger gap between the hands and the body as you swing on your backswing. And it's going to mean that you are in the correct position at the top of the swing, so you can transfer your weight correctly onto your left side as you swing through. Work on doing this and you should find that you start to hit your golf shots a lot longer, with much more consistency and the accuracy will follow.
