One Drill That Might Help Your Turn (Video)

This video claims to have 6 swing changes you can make over the winter that will help your swing. I'm only posting this video for the very first one (labeled as 6 in the video because he's counting backwards from 6 to 1). Make sure you read my notes after the video before you try it!

I want to show you how to use this drill to avoid back problems. By using this drill, you can learn how you need to move through impact to avoid putting undue stress on your back.

Set up with two clubs in the positions he shows. When you make the move from square setup to hips turned, do it SLOWLY at first. You want to learn how your body moves from one position to the other without pain. Most of us normal golfers aren't flexible enough to move fast without hurting ourselves -- at least, not in the exact positions you'll normally be taught.

When you're bent over, it changes the way stress is put on your back -- something which isn't mentioned later in this video when you're advised to just take a baseball swing motion and tilt it over. Too much teaching focuses on methods that give you the most power rather than the method that allows you to swing fast without pain, and there is more than one way to create speed.

After you've practiced that first hip position drill and found how you can best move without pain, use it with the versatile L-to-L drill that I mention so often in this blog. Make that hip height to hip height swing slowly, using the pain-free position you discovered in the hip turn drill. As you become more comfortable with it, you can practice the L-to-L swing with more speed. This way, you don't put too much stress on your back too soon.

Once you're sure you can make this hip to hip swing at a decent speed without pain, that's when you start making the swing longer. You want to find how long you can swing without undue stress, which may mean you can't get a 90° shoulder turn. That's okay. As I said, there are other ways to create speed. And making a comfortable shoulder turn will help you be more consistent with your shots.

I really think it's important to build a swing that doesn't hurt. Given how many pros have back problems despite all the stretching and gym work they do, I don't think weekend players should copy them as much as we do. Let's learn to make good swings that will let us play for a long time without pain.