Make sure you don't fall into these beginner swing traps with the help of Top 50 coach Alex Elliott.
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00:00Now the golf swing is a confusing movement at the best of times especially if you're new to the game
00:06and a beginner golfer. Now in this video I'm going to be joined by Golf Monthly Top 50 coach Alex
00:11Elliott to talk about some swing traps that new golfers need to avoid. We're going to head out on
00:16the range and the golf course here at Kettleston Park to give you some top tips if you're just
00:20starting out on the game. Right let's get going. Right Alex hello we're going to chat swing traps
00:26here for new golfers on the range here at Kettleston Park Golf Club and this is number one for me from
00:31what I see for new golfers and it's leaning up lifting up thinking that's how you get the ball
00:36in the air with the irons that's not the case is it? No I think a lot of golfers just got to take comfort
00:40from the fact that the gold ball is designed with dimples the dimples are like the aeroplane wings
00:45they give it lift what gives it the spin is your grooves on your club face you've got to allow
00:50yourself to maximize using those grooves and with an iron we want to sort of picture a descending blow
00:57to get the middle part of these grooves to allow it to ride up as much as we can rather than the sort
01:02of scoopy we're sort of down towards this bottom edge. So could you give us a drill for new golfers
01:07watching now who might be a bit leany and not strike it quite low to help them not do that hit down on it
01:13and compress that ball a little bit more? I'll say two things here Dan first thing the drill I would just
01:17place a t-peg one fingertip in front it doesn't have to be too precise what it all is it's just
01:22a bit of a focus point yeah now if you think about this logically for me to get that t-peg if you look
01:27at this in player cam if I don't transfer my weight it'll be so far behind the ball exactly and that's
01:32what we see like your most common bad shot will probably either the thin or a slot or a bit of a
01:37top possibly the longer irons and we don't want that thin fat or top no so what I want you to be aware
01:43of a couple of things trying to hit the ball then through to the t-peg but also try and
01:47feel the impact I've got sort of 70-30 weight distribution onto the left side that's going to
01:53take our bottom of the arc ahead yeah help it down there we go brilliant brilliant tip there from
02:01Alex and it is a swing trap I think we see lots of new golfers fall into so understand how the golf
02:05ball and the face work together understand where that weight needs to be and strike the ball better
02:10okay a swing trap I see loads of beginner golfers get into is getting their aim wrong Alex so can you
02:14show us firstly what people are getting wrong when they start out with their aim and how they should
02:18be going about it I think firstly it's just the concept of aiming because the golf ball is on that
02:24side of us we all associate aiming our body first and that's where we fall into that trap so let me
02:29explain this Dan so it would make sense in any other logical sport this would happen and we stand to
02:35the golf ball and we sort of aim our shoulders first straight towards let's take the flag because it's
02:40sure yeah yeah now this really impacts our ball to target line right and that's what I want people
02:46to become a little bit more obsessed with so have a look at this here this really other straight sit
02:51my shoulders and feet are aiming pretty much at the flag okay now if you just place that down parallel
02:56to this one here now way around and come have a look at this look how far right that is let's have
03:01a look at that you can see now actually aiming at that tree going way right there yeah but it didn't
03:06feel like it did it no no and you stand over it and you you look through your shoulder and you maybe
03:10see that from player cam now and just see actually yeah you know what I feel like I'm aiming yeah you
03:14hit a good shot it finishes right and then you associate actually what could have been a good swing
03:18as a bad one but just with poor alignment interesting so the routine I want golfers to think about here is
03:25standing behind that golf ball and firstly being fixated over the ball of the target line okay so I'm going to
03:31put my club up and sort of pick an intermediate target only about two or three feet in front yeah
03:36let's just take that mark sure I walk in and I build from the ball to the club head my hands to my body
03:41not body down to the ball right so I'm placing my club down thinking about that line that I had
03:47and sort of making a 90 degree angle between my club head and that line that I'm sort of picturing
03:53and then build my stance to that so now when you look up you'll feel like potentially aiming a little
03:58bit left interesting but now if we place these down I mean my alignment's not my best thing but
04:04it's a little bit better isn't it exactly it's closer and it's interesting because it is all about
04:10that feel so you felt that you're potentially going a little bit left but actually doing that routine
04:15building that routine gets you aiming a bit better now that's something I think all new golfers need to
04:20build into their game early for into that habit right go on then show us it and let's hit the shot
04:26shall we I'll do it properly we'll go through the full routine okay we're in picture that line
04:31it doesn't have to be a long process walk it in and have a little look up and then give it a hit
04:41a little left to target a little of a pull and the wrong club bit of a pull but I'd say you're aiming
04:47straight you just pulled it there so hey you can't you can't be great every time but importantly the
04:52aiming routine build it into your swing early and you won't fall into that trap right Alex another
04:57swing trap I think a lot of new golfers watching now will fall into is watching loads of swings on
05:01Instagram watching the tour pros do it and thinking right I've got to have the perfect swing to get out
05:05on the golf course now it's not the case is it let's simplify it a little bit definitely I mean you've
05:10only got to go to the open this year stand on the range and you're going to see a host of different
05:14swings the only place they are very similar is those six inches down at the ball how we deliver the club
05:20so most people slice it right and don't just take this advice from me Wyndham Clark recent US Open
05:25champion I read one of his uh posts and they're talking with his coach one week if he's hooking
05:30it you'll try and slice it on the range yeah basically try and create opposites to find the
05:34middle ground and that's as easy as it has to be so a lot of people at home with respect you're probably
05:39slicing it a little bit I reckon new golfers especially so you're thinking maybe let's bring
05:42a let's bring a hook feeling on the range and see where we go from there 100 and that hook feeling
05:47will probably just be a straight shot for most golfers yes so what I would suggest here Dan is
05:50really nice and simple first things first what's our only point of contact with the golf club the grip
05:55so hold the club up and look at this in player cam all I want you to do is rotate your hands both left
06:00and right to the right side of the golf club for a right-handed player to the left side of the golf club
06:05for a left-handed player now ball position with driver inside left heel making sure our shoulder
06:11alignment is not too left these are little good habits that I always promote but what I want you
06:16to feel in the shot which is going to change our release which is then how that club comes into the
06:21ball is I want instead of feeling like we're hitting it like this which it might not feel like that but
06:26if you're slicing it probably isn't it yeah I want you to feel that you're going to make more of that
06:31motion now if you just watch my forearm there and my wrist I'm sort of making that action a lot of tennis
06:37players will feel it's a bit more like a top spin forehand right exactly so that's going to really
06:42stronger grip change a release that's going to change the action the direction and how my club
06:48face comes into the ball hopefully a little bit more into out and a little bit closed rather than
06:53out to in and a little bit open well I think I think one great tip there on doing the opposite of
06:57what you're doing get that feel and more importantly don't fall into that trap of trying to perfect your
07:01swing swing your swing and see how you get on 100 right Alex spoke about hitting down on iron
07:07to get the ball up we're now going to pretty much completely contradict ourselves but it's a trap
07:11that a lot of new golfers fall into and it's not hitting up on the driver it's getting a little
07:15bit too steep isn't it exactly I mean you look at your driver face there's not many groups or not any
07:20at all and and also there's very little loft so it needs to be launched a little bit more now this can
07:26be a really simple concept you can do a lot of this with yourself so let's just talk through set up
07:30first yeah when you get the ball position two back in your stance so if you look at me from player cam
07:35here even having it sort of a club head back in our stance could just be a little bit too much
07:40okay in the sense of we're gonna hit down it's gonna become down to really move it up for sure
07:45and then also if it's too back you might end up trying to manipulate your swing in other ways
07:49so little routine that I say for every golfer first things first line it up right in the middle of your
07:53stance now I like to fly my left toe so I move that out slightly and just move my right foot away like
07:58that straight away now I know my ball position is up in my stance yeah further up later in the arc
08:06just what's that flaring of the toe interestingly for people at home and essentially just to help
08:09me open the hips yeah I've got a bit of a dodgy knee which helps me sort of protect that a little
08:14bit as well but essentially it just opens my hips a little bit easier interesting now why have I got
08:18a towel in my hand so this is a really good one just as a focus point because it will feel a strange
08:23feeling when people first do this especially if they've got a habit of hitting hundreds of balls down
08:28as soon as we get this we need a little bit of focus we need a little bit of feedback so if I take the
08:31towel absolutely so nice and simple this is how you set this drill up from player count I'm going
08:35to place my club head down one in front then two in front and simply just roll your towel up just here
08:44have a few practice swings just inside it getting that feeling of just being more
08:48up and over the towel yeah rather than through the towel interesting and it is as simple as that the
08:54ball position will help you do it the setup will help you do it and here you go so I'll talk you
08:58through my full routine and right foot away another little aid is I feel as though I my right shoulder
09:04is a little bit lower than my left again if I go like this look at that would be really up this way
09:10somewhere in the middle of those two exactly don't don't be too complicated with it so here we go
09:15let's hit this one away dad got my setup got my towel my focus here is up and over the towel
09:23beauty look at that great strike and it is it is tricky for new golfers to almost get their head
09:29around that I think especially when we've spoken about irons already take this drill to the range
09:33for you though practice hitting up on that ball and don't fall into that trap and getting too steep
09:37with your driver okay another swing trap a lot of beginner golfers fall into alex is and I do this
09:43myself still after playing for a long time is using too much loft around the green in situations like
09:47this what would you say to people like that yeah I mean a lot of us see the guys on tv don't we and
09:52we see the likes of phil mickelson john ram messing around in the short game area playing it high
09:57I would just default away from any of your lofted clubs yeah so for example most people will grab 58
10:02I'm going to hand you that let's get it away from you yeah I mean it looks great if you pull it off
10:06doesn't it it's brilliant but we want percentage game on consistency everybody that comes to a
10:10lesson for me they go oh I want consistency well I think default to pitching wedge you still got a
10:16little bit of loft but it's going to get the ball rolling a little bit so nice and easy all I want
10:22people to do is have the ball slightly towards the back of their stance have a look at this from
10:25player camp my stance is roughly two club head widths apart weight on my left and simply just feel
10:31as though you just rock that triangle back and through keeping that weight left it's as easy as
10:36that don't go complicated really see I'm a big I see I'm a big fan of that and it does look good
10:41but when you've got nothing to go over and the pins nice and close to you keep the ball low get it
10:44rolling as soon as possible exactly so I'm just going to pick a landing zone maybe a yard two yards on
10:49go on then fall back
10:53let's get it rolling rolling quickly nearly went in there so yeah next time you're in a situation like
10:58this nothing to go over deal off those wedges make life easy for yourself right Alex this isn't so
11:04much a swing trap as a grip trap I can call it that but new golfers might not know how to grip the club
11:09properly they might think it wants to go in their palm or wherever it initially feels comfortable
11:13can you talk us through where it should be going basically yeah and first thing I'd say is just make
11:16sure your grip thickness is right for you is that on the actual club itself yeah because that'll play
11:21like a big part and being able to get the club in the right position and a little tip for that is just
11:25your longest finger should just be able to just touch it it should be like digging in or shouldn't
11:30be too much of a gap that's what I recommend good little tip that yeah so palmy grip that would be
11:35when the club is sort of sat through here as you said right a nice simple way of getting that we all
11:40go to the range we all improve our golf use your basket not just to carry your balls but think about
11:44it if you're picking up that basket I wouldn't grab it in the park no no you wouldn't it wouldn't make
11:49sense it would look a bit weird yeah you would grab it in the fingers yeah so grab your basket
11:55have your club in your hand just place them on top of each other and then just remove the basket
12:00that's where I want the club to be and you'll notice the club feels lighter your wrists can move much
12:04more and that's going to help with speed it's going to help with club face control and as you go to
12:08those longer clubs that's where you'll see even more of an effect with this brilliant and a super easy
12:13tip there from Alex I think to get that right and if you're a new golfer just getting into the game make
12:17sure these habits are right put that club in the right part of your hand right finally then Alex I
12:22think a trap people fall into new golfers probably even current golfers getting a bit too excited
12:27about club head speed how fast they're swinging it how hard they're hitting it how far it may or may
12:32not be going we don't really want to fall into that trap do we no I actually often find with club golfers
12:36the faster they swing it very often the shorter it goes yes because their quality of strike goes so
12:41their ball speed drops so I want people to be more bothered about ball speed than club head speed correct
12:46so if we think about tempo because when you make a good tempo swing down like you're probably more
12:50likely going to find the center and this is the bit we want to be hitting it I know it sounds basic
12:55a lot of us just forget that I think I do as well mate even as a golfer who's played for how many
12:59years now I get a bit excited let's say I do I've got to tell myself not to do it stop it so like a
13:04little mantra I use and you can make it whatever you want Dan but I go Sergio for the backswing
13:09and Aguero on the way through other footballers are available yeah I mean it goes back to when
13:15I was a kid I remember playing one of my best rounds where I had like a song in my head yeah
13:20I'm not going to tell you what song but I had a song in my head and I had great rhythm all day I
13:24found the middle I drove the ball great I hit my irons great yeah and it's so basic but we forget it
13:29yeah so I'd even hit a few on the range maybe even say it out loud so here we go go on give us a
13:34Sergio so I'd go a bit like this Sergio Aguero and it just gives you something to work to because
13:41you can't touch tempo no and that's the hard thing about it but having a mantra really does help I
13:45love that I'm going to pick a footballer I can't work out who yeah I'll come back to you on that but
13:50as a new golfer even as an experienced golfer don't fall into that trap of chasing club head speed
13:55chase that strike and that ball speed instead right so there you have it some swing traps that beginner
14:00golfers need to avoid as they start out in the game massive thanks to Alex Elliott for joining
14:05us for that thought he'd give some brilliant bits of advice there that you can take out into your
14:09practice sessions and onto the golf course hopefully to play some better golf now if there's something
14:14of yourself you've recognized in these videos or something we've missed out let me know down in
14:18the comments because I'd love to hear from you but for now from Kettleson Park Golf Club thank you
14:22for joining me I'll see you next time