Not starting your down swing properly is a common problem, especially for people who pull or slice their shots.

This excellent video, by MeAndMyGolf, explains the proper sequence of how to start your down swing, and is a variation of other blog posts such as “Box Before Ball” and “Lead with the Lower Body“.

The key is after you get to the top of your back swing, shift your weight into your front foot, turn your hips, and then the shoulders and arms will follow.

Check out other videos on Youtube by MeAndMyGolf for other great tips.

I was reading an article on GolfDigest.com the other day and saw a link to a tip from 2012 by Tom Watson about leading with your lower body.

This is a major fundamental to playing good golf. Anyone who has ever read Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons will immediately recognize the tip, and Martin Hall’s tip about lifting the left heel and “box before ball” tips, and a simple thought to help you stop casting the club , as well as countless other places.

The key swing thoughts to leading with your lower body is ” initiating the downswing by rotating the left hip and simultaneously moving to the left heel–this is more pronounced if you’ve let the heel come off the ground in the backswing (as I recommend).”

This move will help you clear your hips and lower body, and then allow your arms to swing from the inside into the ball.  You’ll hit it much farther and straighter.

“[W]hen you start down, your left shoulder should stay on the plane you established at address. So many amateurs start the downswing by turning the shoulders toward the target too early, causing the dreaded over-the-top move that results in pulls or slices.”

If you pull the ball, or slice it, this is the tip for you.

Watson also says “In the best swings the lower body starts forward while the upper body is still turning back. The left hip turns toward the target as the shoulders continue to coil. That takes terrific timing and a lot of practice.”  This is something I wouldn’t recommend to the weekend hacker, as the timing is very tough to get down. Instead just turn back fully, and then start with the hips and legs and the shoulders and arms will do what they should. Do not try to swing hard at the ball.

None of this is new, but sometimes we get so caught up in trying to control the path of the clubhead that the simple fundamental of using your legs and hips to start the downswing gets lost in the details.

With baseball season about to begin, former MLB power-hitter Gary Sheffield was on the Golf Fix and got a lesson from Michael Breed.  I guess it was a good lesson as Sheffield was instantly hitting his 7-iron 25 yards further.

Michael didn’t do a great job explaining this one, but I think Gary was just swinging with his arms and not utilizing his legs, hips, and shoulders (seeing his swing before the tip would have helped).  Anyways, use your lower body to generate more clubhead speed.

I saw this on the Golf Channel about a week ago and thought it was pretty interesting, and today I see they have posted the clip.  This could help instill the proper feeling of not coming-over-the-top and allow many golfers the proper feedback to get the club on the right path.

School of Golf’s Martin Hall shows two of his favorite club path drills to prevent slices.

I found this tip on GolfChannel.com.

If you have trouble getting out of bunkers, you may be swinging too wildly. Mike Malaska, Director of Instruction at Superstition Mountain Golf Course in Mesa, Arizona, has a drill to keep your body under control in the sand.

If you do this drill, you’ll have no problems getting out of sand traps.

Who wouldn’t like to make every 3-foot putt?  School of Golf’s Martin Hall shares three drills that will help you make the 3-foot putt every time.

Tiger has withdrawn from Torrey Pines this week due to his “glutes” being “deactivated” (more on this in another post).  But even before his withdrawal he was struggling once again with chipping.  And last week in Phoenix, Tiger’s short game was painful to watch.

School of Golf’s Martin Hall and Sara Brown appeared on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show this week and discussed how to fix the problem of bad chipping (or at least how to make better contact). Here is the video of that visit:

Hopefully this might help you if you struggle with chipping and pitching.

It’s the week of the SuperBowl and Golf Channel sent out a link to a lesson Martin did with Minnesota Viking kicker Blair Walsh. Blair talks about a problem he had when practicing and Martin applies it to golf.

Go Seahawks!