Because of their apparent simplicity, I have no doubt that both amateurs and professionals woefully underestimate the effectiveness of the MacDonald Exercises (drills).
http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...ed=1#post39845 Correctly performed, they have the power to transform one's game. But, there's the rub: They rarely are performed correctly, at least not at first.
Here are ten common mistakes I see -- there are more -- as students attempt them under my tutelage. I will talk to you as I talk to them:
Exercises 5 and 6 (No Club)
1. Your feet are too wide apart. Get your heels together . . . actually brushing against each other back and through. [I usually have to repeat this instruction a half dozen times or more before it finally sinks in.] And keep your hands apart . . . you're swinging your hands, not gripping a golf club.
2. Keep the motion continuous . . . don't stop after one 'swing' . . . back and through and back and through and back and through. Oops, you've got it backward: You're on your left foot when you swing back and your right when you swing through. It should be the opposite: Swing your arms back when you're on your right foot and through when you're on your left foot.
3. Your feet and knees are too wobbly . . . too much sideways motion. The 'mark time' motion should be straight ahead. The knees don't 'kick in' independently, and the ankles don't roll excessively. Later, they will be pulled in slightly as the hips rotate.
4. Let your left heel 'unload' on the backstroke. In fact, let it come up a fraction just to make sure you've got the right action. Keep the outer edge of the toe of the left shoe on the ground. [Here, I often will squat down and physically place the left foot in its proper 'top' position.]
5. Your shoulders are way too active. Feel as though you keep them facing the line. Don't let them turn toward 'the target'.
6. Swing your arms freely from the shoulder joints. Yours really aren't swinging at all. They are tied into your shoulders and you're dragging them around like this (demo).
7. Your arms and hands are swinging way too much inside . . . going back and coming through. Feel like you swing them 'parallel' to the plane line. Point both your index fingers at the target line throughout the motion. Your arms should swing more 'up' and less 'around'.
8. You're holding your right arm too straight on the backstroke. Let it bend at the elbow. And you're not fanning the elbow. Let the 'pocket' of your right elbow look upward and your hands turn to plane, like this . . . [Yoda 'hands on' correction is applied with virtually instantaneous results.]
9. Let the right arm 'go' a little at the bottom, like you're pitching a ball.
10. Keep your head still. Here, I'll help keep it steady -- [I actually reach out and stabilize the head position] -- while you 'mark time' with your feet and knees and swing freely back and forth with your arms from the shoulder joints. This is the essence of the swing, including its timing. It's just like
walking, but with a
sideways arm swing. See?
And so it goes . . .
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