Martin's Blog - Chapter 12: Understanding the Pivot

• By Martin Hall
• Apr 25, 2012 7:30 PM ET

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Cliff Notes
-A great drill for understanding the pivot is attach a PVC pipe to your shoulder and hip plane. They should start out parallel to your target line. The top PVC pipe (shoulder plane) moves first and then the weight shifts into the back hip and that’s when the bottom PVC pipe should begin to move. Once you are in that position, this is crucial, you need to be able to start the bottom PVC pipe on your downswing without moving the top PVC pipe (shoulder plane). The shoulder plane will follow and catch up with the hip plane.

-An easy drill is to put a club head cover underneath your lead arm. This will connect your lead arm to your chest and this will keep the body involved in the golf swing. You must only take a 3/4 swing. This will help you get the feeling of the body moving during the pivot.

-The great Jack Nicklaus said the downswing always starts from the ground up. He would lift up his lead foot on his backswing and before he would start his downswing, make sure to put that heel back on the ground. So remember, left heel down before the club comes down.

-Grab your most lofted wedge and put the club face under your back heel. This is called drop it before you pop it. Go to the top of your backswing shift and rotate your weight and this should drop the wedge from under your heel then you can pop your shot.


Viewer Question (Facebook Exclusive)
Q: When putting, should your left hand be the dominant hand throughout the stroke or should the right hand dominate? (Jose El Profe Donis)

A: If you have a tendency to pull putts to the left, it would help to feel you putt with your left hand. If you push putts to the right, I think a good correction is to feel you put more with your right hand. If you do neither, I don’t know why you’re writing in.


Martin’s Library
“The 50 Greatest Golf Lessons of the Century" by John Jacobs


Next Week’s Show
Chapter 13: Hitting It Straighter (May 2, 2012)
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