You’re catching it fat. You’re catching it thin. A lot of this happens because of the way your trail hip and knee move in your downswing. With a few practice swings and an alignment rod, however, you can fix things for good.
Try this to stabilize your downswing
Slide a rod through your front belt loops and have a friend videotape your swing.
If you’re like most rec players who struggle with consistency and errant shots, you’ll notice that the rod dips considerably to your back side as you approach impact (below).
That’s “hang back” and it’s not good (unless you like to miss fairways and greens). What you need, as I tell my students, is more of a “balanced table,” with your hips relatively even as you strike the ball. It’s something you’ll see when the rod in this drill remains more parallel to the ground. The trick is to re-flex your back knee as you swing into impact while also moving it toward the target (below).
This simple action keeps your trail hip high, eliminates hang back and delivers the crisp contact you’re looking for.
Learn more from James Hong on his Instagram account: @jameshonggolf.
