By working with GOLF Top 100 Teacher Todd Sones, this senior golfer shaved greater than 15 strokes.
Images by way of Todd Sones
Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com collection during which we’re sharing enhancements, learnings and takeaways from newbie golfers similar to you — together with among the pace bumps and challenges they confronted alongside the best way.
Ask any golfer in the event that they’d like to shave greater than 15 strokes off their scorecard and also you’d get a powerful “yes.”
Unfortunately, there’s no magic tablet that leads to that sort of enchancment in a single day, however with the best plan and dedication, the outcomes can happen.
That’s what occurred with a senior golfer named Dave, who started working with GOLF Top 100 Teacher Todd Sones so as to play his greatest golf.
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Despite being 70 years outdated, Dave knew he had higher rounds in him. For over a decade, he had shot within the high-90s to low-100s, that means he left a variety of pointless strokes out on the course every spherical.
But Sones knew he might get Dave to develop into the participant he all the time dreamt about.
So the 2 launched into a journey collectively, with Sones growing a plan that he typically makes use of together with his college students (particularly senior golfers who might have bodily limitations).
Said Sones, “I promised Dave that I would do my part in designing a roadmap for him to improve, but he had to do his part and do the work.”
With the expectations set and Dave keen to commit to the plan, Sones particulars the blueprint he used for the senior golfer to go from hovering round 100 every spherical to breaking 80 in back-to-back rounds final summer season. Take a glance beneath to see the 4 steps that improved his recreation — who is aware of, perhaps they’ll be just right for you as properly?
How this senior golfer shaved greater than 15 strokes
“When I started to work with Dave, he had the common movement patterns I often see in many senior golfers,” Sones says. “This was partly due to misconception, and partly due to body restriction. Both needed to be addressed for Dave to begin on a path of sustainable improvement.”
Sones says that he likes to break the swing down into one thing he calls the “swing chain,” and describes the completely different “links” within the proverbial chain.
“The first link in the swing chain is the setup. The second is the takeaway. The third is the completion of the backswing. The fourth is the transition to the downswing. The fifth is impact. The sixth is finish,” he tells me.
“What often happens is, if a player does the work through the links, by the time they improve transition, the impact and finish take care of themselves. That was what Dave and I experienced.”
Sones believes that, with the best plan and a dedicated pupil, each golfer can rating decrease — so right here’s the plan he used with Dave.
Setup
As all the time, I began with setup. Dave’s a uncommon case in contrast to different gamers I’ve labored with, as a result of he had a fairly strong setup from the start. All he wanted was to get just a little bit extra athletic within the decrease physique.
Dave’s first drawback was in his takeaway. His notion was that he was taking the membership again straight, however the actuality was that he was disconnecting his left arm and mixed that flaw with a decrease physique slide with out a lot rotation.
Takeaway
Next, Dave and I labored on his transition. So I had Dave really feel like his proper shoulder was going straight again behind him — as if he was loading up to punch a heavy bag. I wished him to hold his left arm linked to his chest, whereas the clubhead stayed exterior of his hand line.
A typical drill to really feel this motion is to hold a glove pinched below the armpit in the course of the swing.
Completion of the backswing
After the takeaway, I requested Dave to proceed to transfer his proper shoulder again, permitting his proper hip to comply with the shoulder and finishing a full flip. For his hip to return, he had to enable his left knee to transfer again and the left heel to carry.
It’s additionally essential to be aware that Dave embraced to stretching and mobility program via Rotex Motion, which enormously elevated his vary of movement.
Transition to the downswing
After Dave improved his takeaway and realized to full his backswing with a full flip, he was prepared to work on bettering his transition to the downswing.
A easy phrase I used that actually helped Dave was this: Drive, Drop, and Drive the decrease physique to the left facet, whereas drooping the arms straight down. By utilizing this transfer, it led to an affect place that was from the within of the goal line on a shallow angle of strategy.
The purpose Dave bought so a lot better was as a result of he had an organized plan based mostly off the details about his earlier swing flaws. By trusting the method and placing within the work, he was ready to shave strokes and now enjoys rounds within the low-80s.
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Features
2-in-1 golf swing training mat combining the features of an impact mat / strike mat and a swing path trainer to help golfers quickly identify and correct common swing problems like hooks and slices.
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Product Specs
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