THE DOWNSWING MOVE THAT 99% OF GOLFERS GET WRONG

[@russellheritagegolf]

Hey guys thanks for your engagement. The aim of this video is to highlight the movement into the lead side at the start of the downswing. This is why I love the rope drill. We’re all aware there are different feels in the golf swing which obviously won’t suit everyone 👍🏻

[@snowbind]

Massive respect for citing who it was that inspired you to make this video. I follow a lot of golf channels and it's always funny to me when one person does a video, others will follow with the exact same, but articulated differently, lesson. As a sidenote, the above used to wind me up massively, but on reflection it became apparent to me that the 'perfect' swing technique has been know for years. The difficulty is articulating it. And different coaches and channels do this differently, which will resonate with different people in different ways.

[@meazlesgolf3455]

YOU SIR ARE MY NEW GOLF HERO!!!!! This video right here is what I have been missing all of these years! It is EASY to understand and do. I don't need to concern myself with wrist cocking, delofting club face, shifting weight, etc.... All of those have there place, BUT THIS SIMPLE INSTRUCTION is GOLD!!!!! I don't understand the physics of it all but I can assure you, not only has this simple modification to my swing gave me move yardage to my club but I am also HITING the ball straight most of the time (a high percentage of the time) which I wasn't doing before. I took about 10 - 15 strokes off my game and hitting in the low 80's for the first time. This is because I am not hitting out of trouble much (if at all) or losing golf balls to the water or deep in the woods. This did NOT take hours of practice or difficult to do when actually hitting the ball. Actually, I did the drill immediately after watching it then put it into practice within a few days at the driving range with GREAT success. I kept saying "Oh my God!" over and over again. I am an average golfer and a 66.5 year old senior. Depending on the time of day for my round, I will either pause at the top of my swing while turning my hips into the ball on my downswing followed by my shoulders (This is during my early rounds at 8AM because I still might be a little stiff even after my morning stretches.) Or If I have a mid-morning or noon round, then I might have a much less pause that you can't see with the naked eye, but the lag is there and this is when I really get those extra yards because I am much more flexible and my swing speed has increased. My putting is stellar due to a home putting area so I truly expect my handicap to drop even more at the end of the 2022 season, thanks to you my Hero!!!!!!

[@raymondjones8899]

This is by far the best description of this issue I’ve ever seen/heard. The reference to the past video is a nice addition. Gears is great but can also send your head spinning. Got my rope and really got the feel. Thank you sir. Great content.

[@scotttracey4015]

Another good and well explained lesson. Thanks.

[@lesliegreenhalgh1686]

Kusos to you dude for giving recognition to the people that you learned the drills from. Moe Norman would say he felt he was coming down as he was coming up when talking about transition.

[@pohoresky]

Chest moving onto the arms is a great analogy for creating the "catapult effect" talked about so much!

[@jswede1]

Yessss

[@peterdon-duncan7851]

This video resonates with me because I had a lesson on this very topic just two days ago. Most of my swing is technically sound but I just felt that my timing was not quite right. My coach felt that I was overthinking the detail about where my hands, shoulders, hips should be at each point in the swing. He gave me a simple drill to swing with a towel on the end of a shaft. The cloth creates drag making it harder than a normal club to swing. He told me to just swing very hard without any other thoughts. I was amazed when I looked at the before and after videos! After just a few swings everything synched up. Without realising it, the detailed elements of the swing fell into place including the important weight/pressure shift. The moral of this story is that we can sometimes focus too much on specific detail. So coming back to this video, the rope drill is a great training aid to have! A key for me was establishing a personal trigger for the downswing. My coach suggested something which clicked with me and everything fell into place!

[@russellheritagegolf]

Perfect, thanks for sharing

[@jman321]

Hi. What did your trainer suggest as your down swing transition trigger? Curious.

[@peterdon-duncan7851]

@@jman321 The trigger was feeling tension under my left shoulder, signifying reaching full shoulder turn.

[@lynetteaster5190]

What a terrific video-thank you so much.

[@anthonyperrin3411]

Brilliant. Simplicity. Fab.

[@robmaguire6843]

Thanks for giving props to the Dr Kwon stuff. I like how you connect his rope swing and transition to turning your chest into into you arm. It gives a great feel for the transition in the rope drill.

[@johnschwartz1536]

Russell! Excellent demonstration on keeping the body moving in the swing! I would think that any pauses in the swing would lead to a "timing" or "tempo" problem which in turn would lead to "mishits!"

[@TheBarkanMethodofHotYoga]

this was great! Thanks Russell...My pro always swing the rope swing the rope....🙏🙏🙏

[@sunshine1days342]

Thanks! Liked before watching 'cause I knew it would be amazing! :) I'm a beginner and need stuff like this! Thanks for the details!

[@tomrichardson1308]

Two thoughts…first I’d say maybe my biggest struggle is taking this kind of DRILL and putting it into action once actually hitting balls. Most “average” players struggle to find hours and days to incorporate getting the separation that comes from hips starting forward while arms/shoulders stay back. Second thought: Matsuyama played a pretty powerful game with a STOP at top of backswing (before his swing change). Do we know how much he has picked up in yardage….and might some people still benefit with better control without the “whipping” action we’re trying to capture here?

[@russellheritagegolf]

Good point he’s gained distance for sure that’s actually been spoken about during his recent wins. I think we would still find even with the pause he would still be moving towards his lead side first anyway 👍🏻

[@patrickduffy654]

Great use of Gears to illustrate how the hips & chest move at the start of the downswing. PERFECT !

[@kennyc3670]

Brilliant video.

[@kathrynmcfarlane1243]

Hope this helps me next week while playing in Mexico

[@russellheritagegolf]

Hope you had a good one

[@royclose946]

Well done Russell 👏

[@lepepus]

This drill works well also with a towel with a knot tied at one end..... easier to find that this kind of rope :)

[@fuzz21750]

Sorry for the bad but very excitable language…Holy shit the drill works. I was that guy who pulled down. Now I’m the guy who rotates like your suppose too. Still some work to put in to get out of bad habits but thank you so much!!!!!!

[@robmichael9089]

Hi Russell, This is a great drill. I'm going out to buy some rope. One question. Should the the arms be pulling through as part of the whipping motion to the ball, or are the arms just an extension of the golf club? Thanks.

[@russellheritagegolf]

Yeah I would start to pull your arms once at lead arm horizontal

[@robmichael9089]

@@russellheritagegolf and that pull motion would be straight down towards the outside front of my right foot? I'm right handed. Thanks.

[@randtucker7793]

The main thing with your lesson and most sunday golfers are the are swinging the head of the club the thing to teach is to swing the handle and making sure that the handle passes your hip before you start to rotating

[@VJM58]

Russell my guess is that your video should help my tendency to initiate the downswing with an "over the top" motion which has always been an issue for me along with the tendency to hit off the hosel. Agree?

[@russellheritagegolf]

Sure will

[@oldprogolf7292]

I guess you mean never pull down "with the hands". I can't find definitive evidence but some evidence suggests that most top golfers fire the pecs in transition which causes the trail elbow to tuck in towards the ribs which has the effect of pulling the club down. Also slight lateral movement of the hips pulls the trail shoulder and club down. Would you agree?

[@russellheritagegolf]

I think the general agreement in coaching is how golfers use the ground. This is how a sound sequence is created “from the ground up” however there are many firing muscles in the golf swing and couldn’t confirm how much the pecs have involvement in the downswing

[@rteasley3ke567]

As an older golfer, my backswing stops effectively at lead arm horizontal and my hips and shoulders are fully rotated with my trail buttocks against the wall. It seems you are saying my hips need to be square to the target/toe line by time the lead arm returns to horizontal. I think that means I need to start returning my hips back to square before I start any downswing arm movement. Then as I move the lead hip back, I can start the downswing. Is this correct? I think the key in the start of the downswing is the trail shoulder stays on the toe line until impact. Is this also correct?

[@russellheritagegolf]

Yes this is all correct. Just got to go and do it now 👍🏻

[@migbgold3191]

do you also feel the ground pressure works to the lead foot while the arms are still in the process of getting to top of backswing?

[@jaked5637]

Does your weight go to your trail foot in any part of your downswing?

[@russellheritagegolf]

100%

[@stevekulbacki5238]

Nice video. I think my problem is much the opposite. I find my hips clear too fast and I am constantly trying to catch up with the arms

[@russellheritagegolf]

Yeah I’ll be talking about this on Monday too

[@imuawarriors]

Hideki Matsuyama pauses at the top. there are exceptions/different answers to all parts of the swing.... the Mike Austin students will say to start releasing from the top, and to throw the club, not to pull down at all... I like the rope drill for timing, but slicers (like me) need help with path and face angle...

[@russellheritagegolf]

He used to pause doesn’t tend to now. Again this is subject to the ideal kinematic sequence. Of course there are many ways to swing a golf club

[@OzarkMountain]

Some of the best golfers in the world say the start the downswing by feeling like they are pulling down on a chain.....

[@russellheritagegolf]

I’ve got some upcoming videos on this to clear up the uncertainty

[@paulsdeep5598]

Sergio says pull down 🙈

[@russellheritagegolf]

Will be talking about this on Monday

[@Big-Crow]

Shots fired at GolfersRx

[@simmo5071]

Not totally agreeing with this one! As the rope is going back the weight is shifting to the lead foot this is truly the move that most amateurs completely miss. Not saying your wrong, just not in agreement.

[@russellheritagegolf]

I think were referencing the same point here. You can recentre of course but also ok to move from right to left.

[@marcmanion4264]

First time you have confused me!

[@russellheritagegolf]

Will clear this up a bit more on Monday

[@LJ-ig5sl]

Inventor of GForce club insists on pulling the arms down first and he uses Gears. Lots of mixed messages.

[@russellheritagegolf]

Got some videos to clear this up next week

[@BossCrunk]

Just imagine burying an axe all the way to the hilt into an oak tree. Your body will take care of the rest. The ball is going nowhere unless you hit it hard. Being able to look smooth doing it comes with practice and in due time. Every famous golfer who has sons has started them off hitting it as hard as they could. Nicklaus, Miller, all of them will tell you the same thing. They told them not to worry about where it goes, just try to knock the freaking cover off it. Once you're hitting it hard, then you can start applying tweaks. You cannot learn to hit it hard later. If you're just picking the game up, hit the ball hard. If you've been a lousy player for years, go to the range today and try to cream the ball. Leave the practice tee with every muscle in your body hurting, then go back for more tomorrow. Forget swinging the clubhead, quit imagining the swing as some series of positions (it's not). Mash the ball. Hard.

[@rubenmartinez8659]

most golfers have to much chest rotation , over the top golfers have great chest rotation

[@FarnzworthIII]

They have too much poor chest rotation. Not too much rotation.

[@russellheritagegolf]

I’m not sure about too much rotation I think it’s important to understand the angles which I’ve got some great video upcoming

[@Pravdaband]

Ben Hogan’s book disagrees

[@zero2herogolf]

Yup, just got done posting a video on this exact issue. Enjoy - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWTPZpxso8-dr9k

[@exitar1]

Stop using your hands to move the club...

[@tommiehl677]

Yet, Sergio Garcia says he pulls down.

[@FarnzworthIII]

Feel vs real

[@tommiehl677]

@@FarnzworthIII check on KZbin “Sergio Garcia downswing” about 45 seconds. Definitely says pull down.

[@FarnzworthIII]

@@tommiehl677 he starts his lower body before he completes the backswing. This “pull down” the club. He does not pull down from the top. Hogan was famous for saying things he felt he did but he didn’t actually do …

[@russellheritagegolf]

Yeah I get that but Sergio is also on Gears and it’s the same sequences of a typical professional. However that doesn’t mean its not his downswing thought as he does drop his arms down plane. That’s a different point however to starting the downswing with the arms moving first.