Welcome to Golfer-to-Golfer, where we try to learn from all different kinds of avid players out there, in hopes that the rest of us can take away something that might improve our own games.
Golfers come in all shapes and sizes. There are tall players (Dustin Johnson) and short players (Brian Harman). Thin players (Justin Thomas) and husky ones (John Daly). Golf is a beautiful game because there is no one body type required to be competitive.
With the wide range of body types that inhabit the game comes a variety of different swings, too. While no one body is the prototype, certain bodies have limitations that change the way they can swing the club. Every swing is different, and some of that comes down to body types.
Take a tall golfer, for example. With long limbs and a tall frame, they have the advantage of lots of leverage in their swing. But they also can struggle with getting the club on plane as easily as a shorter player. With so much space during the swing, there’s plenty of time for something to get thrown off.
The below post from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jonathan Yarwood is an excellent example of this. His student is taller than the average golfer, which gives him some inherent advantages in the swing. But instead of leveraging those advantages, he works against his body and has a very flat swing plane.
“There’s no range, there’s no height,” Yarwood says. “He should have a lot of height and a lot of range. The hands should be way up over that trail shoulder.”
In order to get the student’s hands higher, and fix the overly flat swing plane, Yarwood came up with a drill he calls “Kiss the Guns.”
Yarwood instructs the player to make the same start to the backswing he normally uses, but once he gets to arms parallel, he tells him to “kiss the guns.” By trying to “kiss” his bicep on the lead arm at the top, his arms have to get higher at the top of the backswing, creating higher hands at the start of the transition.
“As a result of that he can shallow it so much nicer,” Yarwood says. “Great little drill.”
Every swing is different, so there’s a good chance if you have an overly flat swing you won’t have exactly the same problems, but this is a great starting point for tall players with flat swings. All you have to do is remember to kiss the guns.
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