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The Simple “1-2-3 Swing”

The Amazing "1-2-3 Swing" GuaranteesThe Average Golfer Can

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The Amazing "1-2-3 Swing" Guarantees AverageGolfers Can Learn To Consistently Hit

The Ball Long and Straight.

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The “1-2-3 Swing”The Simplest, Most Consistent Golf Swing Ever

We have designed the 1-2-3 Swing to be the most consistent golf swing ever. It is also amazinglylong and amazingly straight plus awesomely accurate.

The 1-2-3 Swing is an on-plane or single plane swing which is the basis for the “modern golf swing”which you are starting to see on the tour. We have combined the single plane swing with a simpleset-up routine to make frequently occurring mistakes a thing of the past.

We are also including the Power Lock Grip with the 1-2-3 Swing. The new Power Lock Grip keepsthe clubface square through impact longer then any other grip. The result is that you will hit morestraight shots than you ever thought you possibly could. If you can consistently square the club faceup at impact with your current grip then it is fine to use your current grip with the 1-2-3 Swing howeverwe do suggest you try the Power Lock Grip.

Good Swings vs Good Shots

Your set-up (address position) is very important. If you set-up correctly and make a good swing, youare highly likely to have a good shot. Our new 1-2-3 pre-shot routine will automatically make any golfswing more consistent and more accurate.

Your job is to concentrate on making good swings. Just set-up correctly and make a good swing….the accuracy and distance will take care of itself. Your Goal: To make as many Good Swings asPossible.


To Make The Maximum Number Of Good SwingsStart With The Set-Up Fundamentals!

All of our testing showed us that I had to do three things:

1. Identify the “fewest” Set-Up Fundamentals that a golfer needed to do each time to ensure agood golf swing.

2. Find a way to move most of the “Set-Up Fundamentals” to the address position (before theswing).

3. And most importantly, we had to come up with a way to make sure those Set-UpFundamentals were easy to REMEMBER so every golfer would actually remember to do thembefore every swing. It is important for you to say (and do) these three fundamentalsBEFORE EVERY SWING.

The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals are:

1. Set Up The LEGS(Hips)2. Set Up The ARMS3. Set Up The GRIP

So all you have to remember is the word “LAG” which stands for Legs, Arms, Grip.

Your pre-shot routine will be to say to yourself (silently or very quietly) 1. Legs, 2.Arms, 3. Grip. That is all you need to say.

This is a logical, very easy to say and very easy to remember routine to say beforeevery shot. This routine works amazingly well.

The 3 Simple Set-Up Fundamentals will insure consistently good golf shots, a high percentageof the time, if you just learn the three words and build them into your routine.

WE WILL EXPLAIN THESE FUNDAMENTALS AND SHOW YOU EXACTLYHOW TO DO THE SET-UP FUNDAMENTALS IN A FEW PAGES.


10 Years Of Swing Testing

Our team has done over 10 years of swing testing with golfers of all abilities. We have studied everypart of the swing from the set-up to the follow-through.

Here is What We Found After The Swing Testing.

1. Getting The Set-Up Position right is Critical.

The first thing we found was that very few “regular” golfers had a consistent set-up position. It wasamazing how differently they could set up from one swing to another. (Obviously, this caused bigproblems.) We were able to tell if they were going to make a good swing or bad swing before theyswung just by looking at their set-up position. Most of the time we could tell exactly what swingmistake they were going to make before they even took the club back.

The bottom line was if the golfer did not have a consistently good set-up routine then they didnot have a consistently good golf swing. It was as simple as that. You could say that settingup consistently (the same way every time) was more important than setting up exactly rightevery time.

2. The Other Thing We Confirmed Was “The Simpler The Swing” – “The Better The Swing”

Now the pros or the golfers that play 4 times or more a week can groove any kind of swing. They cantake the club back off plane and then time it just right and loop the club back on-plane when they getit to impact.

However, the all the regular golfers that play less than 3 times a week do much, much better with asimpler on-plane modern swing. (Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson are just two examples ofprofessionals using this type of swing.)

One of the ways we found to simplify the swing was to move some things normally done during theswing to the set-up routine. When golfers could take their time during the set-up procedure, they didthe correct procedures much more consistently and effectively.

Rolling the wrists, swinging the hips and the old leg drive swing was the type of swing popularized byJohnny Miller. The bottom line is the up and coming pros using the simpler “modern golf swing” donot do that and neither should you.

What is A “Modern Golf Swing?”The modern golf swing has a much quieter lower body with less leg motion and less hip motion. I amnot saying no hip motion and no leg motion, I am just saying much less than before. The modern golfswing also has less clubface rotation than the traditional swing.

A Simpler Grip With Less Rotation Means Significantly Better AccuracyThe Power Thumb Grip which we include with the 1-2-3 Swing is a low rotation grip that simplykeeps the clubface square to the swing plane for the whole swing. This makes sure the clubfacealways comes to impact square, resulting in straighter shots.

Starting In the Impact Position Makes You Swing Much Simpler


We start our swing by setting up in our desired impact position. Starting in the impact position makesit much easier to return to the actual impact position when striking the ball. When you start in yourimpact position with your hips forward and spine tilted away from the target, it make it much easier foryou to get in the position when actually striking the ball. Your body just has to return to the position itwas in when you started the swing. The key to a good golf swing is to be in the right position atimpact. Starting in the right impact position makes the process much easier.

EVERYTHING IN YOUR SWING WON’T BE PERFECT

It would be wonderful if we all made a perfect golf swing every time. However, the fact is we seldom ifever make a perfect golf swing. Even the pros are far from “perfect”. In addition, we all have baggagefrom her previous golf swings. Also, we all have different skill levels and we all have different physicalattributes. So naturally, our swings will be a bit different, even if we are trying to do the exact sameswing.

The 1-2-3 golf swing will make you a better golfer. The better you actually do the swing, the betterplayer, you will become. However, the fact is, most golfers will wind up with a swing that is acombination of the 1-2-3 swing and their previous swings. That is the reality and that is okay.

The 1-2-3 Swing Lets, You Fix Your Own Swing Problems

The 1-2-3 Swing is so simple that when you do make a bad swing it is very simple for you to fix theproblem. Most importantly it helps you to learn how to prevent the problem from happening again.

With the traditional swing, there can be up to 10-12 causes for a specific swing error. We have all hitthe ball in the woods once in a while and had absolutely no idea why the ball went in the woods.

When you do have a problem with the 1-2-3 Swing there are likely only 1 or 2 possible things thatcould cause that specific problem. From that point, it is easy to identify exactly what caused yourproblem and most importantly, what you need to do to fix it.

See our “Faults and Fixes” Section in Appendix 6. It lists the potential swing problems and shows youhow to quickly fix each one of them.


The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals - Simple As 1-2-3

We Have Moved The Complicated Stuff To The Set-Up

We have simplified the golf swing by moving most of the complicated swing stuff to your set-uproutine at address. This setup procedure with the 1-2-3 Swing takes care of many of the things youpreviously had to do during your swing.

You no longer have to worry about coordinating all those body parts on the backswing and thedownswing as you do in the traditional swing. As long as you set up correctly and start yourbackswing correctly, it is actually pretty hard to screw up the 1-2-3 Swing.

Now, we are going to show you the 3 Set-Up Fundamental and explain how each one will make yourswing better.

I spent a long time studying WHY my students would make bad swings. Over and over, I heard thewords “I FORGOT …”

The students did not always forget the same thing each time but definitely the biggest reason for abad swing was that they “forgot” (meaning “they didn’t do”) something important in the swing (set-up,backswing or downswing). After a while, it became very clear that the things they forget most oftenwere things in setting up or addressing the ball. With the 1-2-3, Swing the only way to fail at thiseffort now is to forget our simple one word reminder before taking the shot.

The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals That You Won’t Forget!We have been working on reducing the number of things to think about because the simpler the set-up routine the more likely you will remember to do it before each and every swing. Now with the 1-2-3 Swing, if you can count to 3 you can have a good golf swing.

Sometimes, I would like to remind students of a dozen things before each swing but the fact is that istoo many. No one will remember a dozen things before every swing and the result is you will not dothem.

So what we’ve done is to come up with a 3 word simple reminder that are easy to remember andshort enough that you’d actually repeat them for each swing.

It is nice to have a fancy pre-shot routine like the pros, but the fact is very few regular golfers willremember to do a complicated set-up routine like the pros do. Our 3 Set-Up Fundamental aredesigned to be a simple, easy to remember set-up routine that you should do before every swing.


Set-Up Fundamental # 1 – SET THE LEGS (&HIPS)

1. Keep your head still and shift your hips toward the target until your front hip is almostover your front ankle. As you shift your hips forward, your head stays still and the back kneeis pulled in under your head. Your spine will now be tilted away from the target. When youdo this, you will have more weight on your front leg than on your back leg.

2. Your head will hardly move during this motion. Your spine will be tilted away from thetarget. This is the power position that you will see all pros in at impact.

3. KEEP THE FRONT KNEE BENT. Your weight should be in an athletic position, mostly on theballs of your feet.

4. COCK YOUR BACK KNEE IN AND TAKE ALL THE WEIGHT OFF THE BACK HEEL BYLIFTING YOUR BACK HEEL UP SLIGHTLY (¼ TO ½ INCH) OFF THE GROUND.

5. Start with your front foot square and flare your back foot 45 degrees. Your heels should beparallel to the target line but your toes will not be "square" because the back foot is flared out.You can put a golf club behind your heels to check if your heels are square. Your feet may notlook square because your back foot is flared 45 degrees but they are square. Flaring the backfoot 45 degrees allows for a bigger turn, which will give you a better backswing.


Set-Up Fundamental #2 – SET THE ARMS

1. Start by lifting both your arms up above horizontal then bring your elbows in close together.

2. Next, bring both upper arms down on top of the pectoral muscles of your chest. Your triceps(muscle in the back of your upper arms) will rest on top of your chest muscles (pectoral muscles).

3. Your shoulders and hips should be square to the target line (blue line).

Note: Getting your arms on top of your chest makes it less likely an arm will be trapped by the chestpulling your swing off-plane.


Set-Up Fundamental #3 - SET THE GRIP

1. This is the time to double-check your grip no matter what type of grip you are using. While youcan use other grips with the 1-2-3 Swing we do recommend the Power Lock Grip.

2. Top HandJust before you begin your backswing set your grip by firming up the grip of the littlefinger and ring finger of the top hand. Also, extend the fingers of the top hand aroundthe grip so the tips of your finger are almost touching the base of your palm.Gripping with a firm little finger and ring finger will prevent the clubface from closing throughimpact causing a draw or a hook.

3. Bottom HandUse an overlap or interlock bottom hand grip. In order to make an on-plane backswing you willlikely need to have a very strong grip with the pad at the base of the index finger under thebottom of the club.

4. Do a Squeeze Test (see Appendix 2) before each swing to make sure your clubface is square toyour target line.


The 1-2-3 Swing-Step-By-Step Instructions

The Address Position

NOTE: THE 3 SET-UP FUNDAMENTALS (L.A.G.)SHOULD BRING YOU TO THIS ADDRESS POSITION

1. The hip has moved forward with the weight mostly on the front leg and the spine is tilted awayfrom the target.

2. The shaft of the club is almost "in line" with your front arm. The elbows are very close together.3. The shoulders and hips are square to the target and the feet are about

shoulder width apart.4. The back foot is flared 45 degrees to allow for a longer backswing and the back heel is slightly

raised off the ground.5. The back knee should have a slight bend in it. If you want to protect from a pull it a good idea

to flare the back knee out as shown above.6. Your front knee should be bent so it is almost over your front toe (or it looks like it

is as you address the ball.)


Beginning Backswing

1. YOU BEGIN YOUR BACKSWING BY BRINGING YOUR FRONT KNEE BACK AWAY FROMTHE TARGET. This is a move very much like tour player Jason Day.

2. MOVING YOUR FRONT KNEE WILL BEGIN TURNING YOUR CORE (shoulders, chest &abdomen) as the shaft traces the extended target line (blue line). We refer to this as“Tracing ”. Both upper arms are still tucked against your chest.

3. THINK OF YOUR HIPS LIKE A DOOR WITH THE HINGE OF THE DOOR BEING ON YOURFRONT HIP. YOUR FRONT HIP BECOMES THE HINGE OR PIVOT POINT THAT YOUTURN AROUND. In the backswing, your front hip will move slightly toward the ball and thenback away from the target for a couple inches. As your hip moves back, you will feel a bracinginto the inside of your back foot.

4. If you are using the Power Lock Grip, it is okay to left the club head open a little bit(rolling your wrist back) on the backswing more like in a traditional swing. This gives youmore options regarding your bottom hand grip and it gives you a little more club head speed.

Note: You will find you have to keep the front wrist fairly flat in order to keep the club pointing atthe extended target line. You do not want to bend or “cup” your front wrist


Mid-Backswing

1. As the club shaft comes up to horizontal, the shaft should be parallel to the target line (blueline). If it points inside parallel that means you are bringing the club back under the swingplane. If the shaft points outside parallel then you are bringing the club back above the swingplane.

2. Both upper arms are still connected or tucked in against the chest. The head remains stablewhile the core turns around the spine.

3. THE BACK HIP CONTINUES TO BE PULLED BACK AWAY FROM THE BALL BY THETURNING OF THE CORE. The core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) is continuing its rotationaround the spine and the spine stays tilted away from the target. Because the core is rotatingaround the spine, the head will remain level (now up or down motion) throughout the swing.

4. THE FRONT WRIST REMAINS RELATIVELY FLAT although the wrist is starting to bend (orcock) in the direction of the front thumb.


The “Backswing Checkpoint”

1. When the front arm is horizontal, it too should be parallel to the target line. THIS IS THE“BACKSWING CHECKPOINT”. If your front arm is starting to point behind you when it reacheshorizontal then you are taking the club back inside or under the swing plane.

2. In the upper part of the backswing, the butt of the club continues back tracing the extendedtarget line (blue line). The front arm is still connected (tucked in) to the top of the chest and theback elbow is still touching or almost touching the side of the chest muscle. The head staysstable as the core rotates around the spine. THE SPINE IS STILL TILTED AWAY FROM THETARGET.

3. The front wrist should continue to stay relatively flat, even as it cocks (bends in the direction ofthe thumb) at this point in the backswing. If the front wrist cups (bends towards the top of thewrist) more than just a little, then the club will move off-plane (above the swing plane in thiscase) making it much more complicated to get the club back to the correct impact position.

The is the one position you should make sure that you hit on every practice swing. Makingsure you hit your “backswing checkpoint” pretty much guarantees an on-plane golf swing.


The Top Of Backswing

When learning the 1-2-3 Swing you should limit your backswing to the point where their front arm ishorizontal (See the Backswing Checkpoint on previous page). Continuing the front arm up pastparallel will like reduce accuracy and consistency until well experienced.

1. However, once experienced golfers have mastered this swing length they can bring the front armup past parallel as long as they stay on-plane. As your arm moves past parallel it follows yourswing plane and starts to move inside pointing behind you just a bit. When your arm goes insidepast parallel that is normal and your swing is still on-plane. As we said, the butt of the club shouldcontinue to point at the extended target line. Some bend of the front elbow is okay as long as theelbow hinge on the swing plane.

2. Notice that the head has remained pretty stable although there will be some side-to-side motion.IT DOES NOT MOVE UP AND DOWN!

3. THE BACK HEEL IS STILL SLIGHTLY UP IN THE AIR

4. The butt of the club continues to trace the extended target line. To see where the butt of your clubis actually pointing it is helpful to stick a long white tee into the hole on the butt of your club. Thatwill make it much easier to see where the butt of the club is pointing.


The DownswingThe Downswing Begins

1. The downswing begins with the bent front knee moving toward the target to return toits' address position. (The front knee stays bent throughout the swing.) The movement ofthe front knee causes the “hip bump” towards the target, which begins the uncoiling of theupper body. Again beginning the downswing with the move toward the target of the front kneeis very much like tour player Jason Day.

2. The back heel is still a little up. The back leg is now pushing into your front leg.

3. The hips start returning to square, not opening up yet because the bent front knee preventsthe front hip from opening up too soon (pulling shots to the left).

4. Your upper arms remain “connected” well past impact.


Downswing Continues On-Plane

1. As the club shaft gets to horizontal in the downswing, it again should be parallel to the targetline.

2. The core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) is rotating around the spine. The spine continues to betilted away from the target.

3. THE WEIGHT IS MOVING MORE TO THE FRONT LEG.

4. "The brace" or pushing into the front leg continues to stabilize the lower body.

5. The spine is still tilted away from the target.


Approaching Impact

1. THE FRONT KNEE STAYS BENT WELL THROUGH IMPACT! If the front knee straightens, itwill likely pull the front hip open, which will pull the shoulder open resulting in a pull. (Practiceswinging without a ball just to get the feeling of keeping that front leg bent until well afterimpact.) The front knee stays bent and moving toward the target.

2. Starting the backswing by moving the bent front knee back away from the target and thenstarting the downswing with the bent front knee going back to it’s original position makes itmuch easier to keep the front knee bent through impact. This motion is designed to preventpulls and slices (outside-to-inside swings) as long as your grip squares the club up okay.

3. The shaft of the club continues to trace the extended target line. The shoulders and hips havesquared up. You stay in an athletic position with your weight mostly on the balls of your feet.

4. The “connected core” powers the swing right through impact. On the downswing, both upperarms stay “connected” or tucked against your chest with the elbows relatively close together.

5. In effect, your arms and club are acting like a segmented whip. Your core (shoulders, chest &abdomen) is the center, which powers the whip. Your shoulder, upper arm, lower arm, wristand club are the other segments of the whip.

6. Your wrist and arms do add power but it is done as a reaction to the turning of the core ratherthan as a conscious effort to power the swing with your arms.


Impact

1. We have now returned to our original address position.

2. THE FRONT KNEE REMAINS BENT RIGHT THROUGH IMPACT PREVENTING THEFRONT HIP FROM OPENING UP. Starting the backswing with the front knee and starting thedownswing with the front knee makes it much easier to keep the front knee bent right throughimpact preventing an outside-to-inside swing.

3. The back heel is just starting to come up more. The back leg is still pushing or bracing intoyour front leg.

4. The back leg also acts as a stabilizer preventing the front hip from opening up too soon andpulling shots to the left.

5. Your upper arms remain “connected” well past impact.


The Follow-Though Begins

1. The club is still on-plane. The club head end of the shaft is tracing (see dotted red arrow) thetarget line (blue line).

2. The front knee is still bent and moving toward the target.

3. On the follow through the arms should stay “connected to the chest” at least until the club wellpast impact in the follow-through.

4. If you are using the Power Lock Grip, your club face should stay square almost to this point.


Mid Follow-Though

1. As the front arm comes up to horizontal, it should be parallel to the target line (blue line). Youcould say this position is your “Follow-Through Checkpoint”.

2. Only now does the front knee begin to straighten.

3. The body is starting to turn to finish facing the target.

4. Even more of your weight is moving over onto the front leg.


Approaching The Finish

1. The club is still on-plane. The butt of the club is tracing (see dotted red arrow) the extendedtarget line (blue line).

2. The front knee is almost straight and it is now pulling the front hip open allowing the body tostart facing the target.

3. The head stays stable (moving forward a bit) as all your weight moves to your front leg.


The Finish

1. Only now, when you relax does the club drop off-plane.

2. Your chest (sternum) should finish facing the target.

3. The front leg has now straightened.

4. Pretty much all your weight has moved to the front leg.


Appendix 1

Review Of Key Points Of The 1-2-3 Swing

Begin Your Backswing By Moving Your Front Knee Away From the Target.

Your backswing should begin by moving your front knee back away from the target, whichautomatically begins turning your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen)!

The inside of both your upper arms should be connected to (i.e., “tucked in” against) your chest. Theback foot should be flared 45 degrees to allow for a better turn in your backswing.

You do NOT need any deliberate arm or wrist movement until the club is approaching horizontal inthe backswing.

There is little or no hip movement on shorter shots. On longer shots your back hip should not startmoving back until the shaft is somewhere near 45 degrees back from the address position.

Starting your backswing with your core will help insure you make a one piece on-plane takeaway. Asyou take your club back, the shaft should trace the extended target line.

At the top of the backswing, your front wrist should be flat and the butt of the club should point at theextended target line.


Appendix 2

Squeeze Test - To Make Sure Your Clubface Is Square At Impact

During the golf swing, the dominant bottom hand can accidentally close the clubface at impact. Weuse the “squeeze test” to make sure that any tension in the grip will not close the clubface during afull power swing.

1. To check your grip, first take your grip normally on the club.

2. Then stretch the club out in front of you near horizontal. Without tension in your hands and armsthe clubface should be square (vertical).

3. Then tense your arms, your forearms and your hands (as you would when you hit the ball).Squeeze the club very tightly. If the clubface closes during this drill, it is also likely to close during afull swing, especially a swing at maximum power. If this happens, adjust your grip, do anothersqueeze test, and repeat until your grip stays square even during a “squeeze”.

The purpose of this test is to see if your grip will keep the clubface square at impact. It does this bysimulating the flexing (tension) of the muscles during a full power swing.


Appendix 3 – PracticePractice Notebook

Go to the store and get a pocket notebook to record each practice session. It should be about a 4x6inch notebook that you can keep in your back pocket at the range. Then before you go to the rangeWRITE OUT YOUR GOALS AND STEP BY STEP LIST EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TODO DURING THE PRACTICE SESSION.

Writing down your goals and what you want to practice will make your session much more effectiveand efficient. It will dramatically reduce the tendency we all have just to “bang balls” somewhatmindlessly.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE RANGE WRITE DOWN THE RESULTSFROM YOUR SESSION. Write down what worked well and write down what did not work well.

HAVING THIS WRITTEN RECORD WILL BE EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN IMPROVING YOURGAME.

How to PracticeWhen you practice ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS start by hitting short game shots. Start by hittingsome short shots with your wedge. We recommend starting by hitting shots with your feet together(back foot flared 45 degrees) with your wedge. Then gradually widen your stance and hit longer andlonger shots with your wedge until you are hitting full wedges. Then work your way through your clubsstarting with shorter shots and gradually work up to hitting longer full swing shots with each club. Youdon’t have to go through all the clubs but you should hit at least one wedge, one short iron, onemiddle iron, one longer iron or hybrid, one fairway wood and your driver.

Make sure you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a target for each practice shot. If you do not havea definite target, you will not be able to really judge your shot. Your target should always be a either aspecific point (a yardage sign, etc.) or it should be between two things. For example, imagining thewidth of a fairway is between two yardage signs on the range.

PLAY A (GOLF) RANGE ROUNDAt the practice range with a scorecard of your favorite course in hand; imagine you are standing onthe course's first tee. You are going to play the 18 holes one by one right on the practice tee.

Ready, now hit your drive on the first hole. Are you in the rough or the fairway? What club will you hitnow? Be honest with yourself. If you are in the bunker, get your sand wedge out for your next shot.

When you get to the imaginary green, you have an automatic two putt. Add two strokes to your scorethus far on the hole and record it on the scorecard. Now tee up for the second hole. Good luck!


Appendix 4 – Support

FOR SUPPORT - USE THE HELPDESK

If you have any questions at all, about The 1-2-3 Swing check out the Simple Golf Helpdesk athttp://www.equalizerswing.com/helpdesk/ or call us at 203-794-4900. We are here to help.

The HelpDesk is the fastest and most dependable way to ask a question or make a comment and geta prompt response because everything is tracked. PLEASE DO NOT USE EMAIL BECAUSE EMAILJUST IS NOT DEPENDABLE THESE DAYS AND I DO NOT WANT TO MISS ANYCOMMUNICATIONS FROM YOU. If you do email me and you do not get a response in 24 hoursthen I missed your email so try the HelpDesk or call.

You can call us directly at 203-794-4900. If you are an international customer, we can set up aSkype schedule through the HelpDesk.


Appendix 5 - Core Warm-up Waggle

Before Each Swing Do -“The Core Warm-up Waggle”

The phrase Core Warm-up Waggle means to do a short partial backswing back just up to your“backswing checkpoint”. Its purpose is to “loosen” you up and make sure you start your backswingon-plane.

Waggle To The Backswing Checkpoint (when the front arm is horizontal).

You do a practice waggle from address position back to your “backswing checkpoint” and back toyour address position. You start the Core Warm-up Waggle by moving your front knee back awayfrom the target just like you do with your regular swing.

Or better yet, you can do a checkpoint “practice swing” making sure you hit your “backswingcheckpoint” on the backswing of the practice swing. Doing this will ensure your swing will be “on-plane”.


Appendix 6 - Faults and Fixes(Directions are for a right handed golfer)

WHEN YOU ARE ON THE RANGE THE FIRST THING TO DO IS TOIDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM.

When a student is having a problem with hooking or slicing, the first thing I. do is to identify whetherthe problem is caused by their hands and arms or if the problem is caused by their lower body. Forexample, when a student comes to me with a hooking (or slicing) problem I ask them put their feettogether and start hitting some short chips. Then I have them gradually lengthen their shots until theyare hitting almost full swing shots with their feet together. If the hooking and or slicing goes away thenI know the problem must be caused by the lower body action. If they still hook or slice shots with theirfeet together then I know that their arms and hands are causing the problem. Knowing which part ofthe bodies actually causing the problem makes it dramatically easier and quicker to solve theproblem.

Fault: Fat ShotsFat shots are most often caused by the collapsing inward of the back knee.Fix: Make sure your hip is positioned almost over your front leg. In that position the shift of your hipspulls your back leg fairly straight so your back knee is unlikely to collapse. Bracing or pushing into thefront leg with the back leg will additionally ensure that that back knee does not collapse.

Fault: Topped (or thin) ShotsTopped shots are most often caused by straightening the front leg during the backswing or thedownswing. Either way if at impact the front leg is straight then it is likely the result will be a thin shot.Fix: Making sure you begin your backswing by moving your front me back away from the target is thebest way to make sure that the front knee stays bent throughout the backswing and the downswing.

Slices (big fades) (see IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM)

Fault: High SlicesHigh slices are caused by leaving the clubface open at impact. Since the Power Lock Grip does agreat job of squaring the clubface up at impact each time, it is unlikely you will slice with the 1-2-3Swing unless your stance is a little too wide. If your stances to wide you can wind up leaving toomuch weight on your back leg through impact. By that, I mean you are not getting your weighttransferred back to your left side through impact like you should. Leaving the weight on the back legwill cause an outside to inside swing path, which will cause a high slice if the clubface is square to thetarget line.Fix: The fix is to make sure your stance is not too wide. You should also try lifting the back heel aquarter of an inch off the ground. That will help you learn to push off with your back leg and get yourweight through to your front leg through impact.

Fault: Low SlicesLow slices do not happen too often. Low slices can sometimes be caused by the hands getting too farahead of the club head at impact. Sometimes low slices can be caused by teeing the ball too low andtoo far back in your stance.Fix: The fix can be as simple as teeing the ball correctly, opposite your front shoulder joint or betteryet an inch or two ahead of your front shoulder joint so you can hit the ball on the upswing.

Fault: Slices that start out to the left


An outside to inside swing path causes slices that start out to the left. The swing path may be outsideto inside however the clubface points to the right of the swing path points to the right of the swingpath.Fix: concentrate on keeping the front knee bent through impact. The front knee should move backaway from the target in the backswing and then comes back towards the target on the downswingand through impact.

Hooks (big draws) (see IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM)

There are two things you should do first if you are hooking.1. Check your grip. Make sure the pad at the base of your bottom hand index finger is under the

club or forward of the mid-line of the bottom of the grip. That means the pad of the bottomhand index finger not only should be under the club but it should be under and more forwardthan the mid-line of the bottom of the grip. Firm up the little finger and right finger of the tophand.

2. The back heel should be slightly up in the air and stay up right through impact. If the back heelcomes down the back foot has the leverage to cause a spinning or rotation around the backhip resulting in some ugly shots.

Fault: Low HooksLow hooks are most often caused by the hands and the arms. When you close the clubface with yourhands and arms, it also de-lofts the clubface resulting in a lower shot.Fix: Obviously, the fix is to reduce the arms and hands rolling over and closing the clubface. Thesimplest way to do this is to use the power lock grip that is included with the 123 swing. If you usingthe power lock grip and you get any bigger draws then you would like you need to concentrate onfirming up the little finger and ring finger of the top hand. Forming up the little finger and ring finger willprevent the front arm from rolling over and closing the clubface.

Fault: High HooksHigh hooks are generally the result of a swing path problem. Check your divots and see where theyare pointing. It is likely that they are pointing from the inside out.Fix: The fix is to get your swing back on the plane. In particular, concentrate on hitting the backswingcheckpoint. That is when your front tire comes up to horizontal in the backswing it should be parallelto the extended target line. When you hit high hooks, it is most likely that you are bringing the clubback too much inside or under the swing plane and then swinging out to the right above the swingplane on the follow-through.

Fault: Hooks that start out to the left (Pull Hooks)Pull hooks are one of the least enjoyable shots in golf. It starts out to the left and then curves furtherto the left. The main cause of the problem is in outside to inside swing path. There is also asecondary problem in that the hands and arms are getting overactive and closing the clubface.Fix: first thing we need to do is to stop the outside to inside swing path. Again, we have toconcentrate on keeping that front knee bent through impact AND THE BACK HEEL UP IN THE AIR.Make sure you are starting your backswing and starting your downswing with your front knee.KEEPING YOUR FRONT KNEE BENT THROUGH IMPACT WILL PRETTY MUCH ELIMINATE ALLPULLS.

We also have to double check our grip and make sure the little finger and ring finger of the top handfirm up just before the backswing begins. This will stop the front arm and hands from rolling theclubface closed through impact.


Fault: Pulls (Outside-to-inside Swings)Pulls are obviously also caused an outside to inside swing path. What causes the outside to insideswing path is usually an overactive front hip that opens up too soon and then pulls the shouldersopen which causes the swing path to go from the outside to the inside.Fix: Preventing pulls can be done by stopping the front hip from opening up too soon. KEEP THEBACK KNEE COCKED IN AND THE BACK HEEL SLIGHTLY UP IN THE AIR (about ¼ of an inch)Concentrate on starting the backswing with the front knee and keeping the front knee bent throughimpact. If you keep the front knee bent that will make it extremely difficult, in fact, almost impossible toopen that front hip prematurely.

Fault: Pushes (Inside-to-outside Swings)Pushes are caused by an inside to outside swing path. The inside outside swing path is generally theresult of bringing the club back to much on the inside (under the swing plane) with the result that theright elbow comes in against the side too far back not towards the front of the chest but towards theback of the chest. The result is that the right arm gets trapped and it is not able to come back out andget the club on plane. The result is a swing path that goes off to the right.

Fix: The fix is to get your backswing back on plane. Concentrate on doing some core waggles beforeeach swing. That means you do a backswing up to your backswing checkpoint where your arm isparallel to the extended target line. If you make sure your backswing is on plane it is very likely yourdownswing and follow-through will be on playing also.

Fault: Heels ShotsHeel shots (or hosel shots, aka shanks) are generally caused by not having the arms well extended ataddress. We want to set up with the arms already in the impact position. We want to concentrate onkeeping the front arm fully extended at address. The arms at impact will be pretty much fully extendedalthough not necessarily dead straight. When you set up with your arms less than fully extended, theforce of your downswing will generally extend your arms so instead of hitting the ball in the middle ofthe clubface you will now hit the ball towards the heel or the hosel of the clubface.Fix: The fix is to fully extend your front arm at address. It does not have to be locked dead straightbut it definitely should look straight to anyone observing it.

Fault: Toe ShotsIf you hit a toe shot, the first thing you should do is check your divot and make sure it actually went offthe toe. A heel shot that touches the hosel can go off to the right and look just like I toe shot but it is avery different shot with a very different cause. The toe shot most often occurs because of an outsideto inside swing path. It can also because by trying to lift the ball instead of hitting through the ball.Fix: The first thing to do is to get your swing back on plane. That means do a couple of core wagglesbefore the swing and concentrate on beginning the back swing by moving the front knee back awayfrom the target and on the down swing through impact the front knee should move back towards thetarget.

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