Golf

This amateur dropped his handicap index by 13. Here’s his secret

Working with a GOLF Top 100 Teacher helped this amateur discover his supreme swing – and decrease scores adopted.

Image through Tommy Hoopsick

Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a brand new GOLF.com sequence by which we’re sharing enhancements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers similar to you — together with a few of the velocity bumps and challenges they confronted alongside the best way.

Going by means of a drastic swing change can result in all kinds of issues for a lot of gamers. Instead of feeling snug at handle and confidently hanging their ball, many instances, they overthink their mechanics — which frequently results in unhealthy pictures.

Golf is about having routines, sticking to them, and hoping these steps lead you to your required consistency.

Having swing ideas in your head previous to committing to your shot is a slippery slope. It distracts you and causes doubt, and it doesn’t will let you totally think about the duty at hand — which is simply merely hitting a very good shot.

Maria Fassi

4 LPGA Tour execs reveal their favourite go-to swing ideas

By:

Zephyr Melton



As somebody who lately overhauled his golf swing himself, there have been undoubtedly rounds the place I simply felt misplaced. I used to be looking for solutions mid-round, questioning why I used to be falling again into unhealthy habits and hitting unhealthy pictures.

While I’m nonetheless a piece in progress, there are many success tales on the market about golfers who noticed near-instant enchancment, permitting them to enhance their handicap index.

We’ve all seen Rickie Fowler’s resurgence on the PGA Tour after a swing change, so it’s a reminder that success is feasible — it doesn’t matter what degree of participant you’re.

Since we’re all hoping to shoot low every time we play, it’s necessary to adapt your sport to search out what works finest.

That’s what an amateur participant named Tommy has executed, as he’s been in a position to go from a 17 handicap to a present 4 handicap; all whereas remodeling his swing sample.

Tommy has labored with GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tim Cooke to see the development, so Cooke lately detailed the secret behind his scholar’s success. Take a glance under to see if the identical can give you the results you want!

Tommy’s dedication has guided his enchancment

Said Cooke, “In the past 14 months, Tommy’s handicap index has dropped from a 17 to a low of 2.9, with him currently sitting at 4.0 — but only because he’s had a couple poor rounds as of late!”

One of the keys to Tommy’s unbelievable progress is his dedication.

Cooke is positioned on the Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C., however Tommy lives in Philly. Despite the space between them, the scholar makes it a degree to go to his instructor about thrice every year.

“During these visits, we work for three hours a day for 2-3 days, mostly focusing on Tommy’s full swing, but also retooling his short game,” says Cooke.

“It’s an immersive golf trip, where we can build a game plan of improvement for the following few months, then we supplement our in-person work with online sessions to keep his progress on track.”

How Cooke helped Tommy drop his handicap index

When Tommy started working with Cooke, the scholar had tendencies which might be frequent in most amateur gamers.

He had a flat shoulder flip with restricted pelvis rotation on the backswing, resulting in an “over the top” steepening of the shaft in transition. The ensuing ball flight was a weak lower that lacked distance.

After dissecting the issue, Cooke rapidly realized how motivated Tommy was to enhance his swing, hoping a change may degree up his sport.

“Our first objective was to create depth of handle at the top of his swing by using his body pivot,” mentioned Cooke.

“One factor that Tommy does nicely is make exaggerated follow swings to really feel the change he needs to make. On the vary, he has an unimaginable mindset for change, so he doesn’t care about the place the ball goes.

“After feeling and seeing the swing change, he starts to add a ball flight picture of the shot that he wants, while maintaining the new feel to his swing.”

In today's Shaving Strokes, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tim Cooke gives the steps he used to help a 12.5-handicap shave five strokes off his game

How a 17.5-handicap shaved 5 strokes off his sport by rebooting his setup

By:

Nick Dimengo



So Cooke centered on Tommy’s lead shoulder working beneath his chin.

“He had to feel that it was almost touching the ground and staying there in transition,” Cooke provides. “So we eliminated the flat shoulder turn and allowed his trail hip to rotate internally for a longer duration.”

Now that Tommy had a reworked backswing pivot — serving to create extra depth in his deal with place on the prime — Cooke started to right the “handle dragging cut” at affect.

“He had to learn a new pattern, making sure he kept the lead shoulder low in the first half of the downswing as he lowered the shaft,” mentioned Cooke. “We filmed lots of practice swings in slow motion, which helped Tommy learn this new pattern.”

By reviewing the tape and adapting to the brand new sensation, Tommy slowed every thing down throughout follow. This helped his muscle reminiscence really feel the swing change, which, in the end, he may apply at full speeds on the golf course.

“Tommy didn’t rush to hit balls, and instead would take 5-10 slow practice swings,” mentioned Cooke. “He would then hit just a few pictures at slower speeds so he may switch his new really feel to a full velocity shot.

“By doing this, it has allowed him to hit the baby draw that he’s always been looking for, and he has dramatically increased his distance and repeatability.”

Want to share your firsthand expertise for an opportunity to be featured in a future Shaving Strokes article? Share your particulars and progress by emailing me at nick.dimengo@golf.com. We’re all on this collectively, so let’s share our wins, our learnings and our frustrations to assist each other enhance!

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Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Editor


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