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When working to improve the "flat-spot", golfers can become confused regarding the relationship between shaft lean & angle of attack. In other words, we know that there is no direct correlation between the two. While this seems counter-intuitive, we know that it is possible for a player to have his/her hands ahead of the club-head while still being able to hit up ("positive" angle of attack) on the ball; if we think of the best drivers in the world, this would often describe their impact conditions.
This separation is important to remember as it can improve our training process; most golfers need to create more shaft lean, but also decrease their angle of attack. This seems tricky, but if we use the right release mechanics (such as ulnar deviation, trail wrist extension, etc.), we can accomplish both goals and end up with more efficient and repeatable impact conditions.
Tags: Fundamentals, Poor Contact, Not Straight Enough, Impact, Release, Concept
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This concept video is separating angle of attack from shaft length.
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So as we work through trying to improve your flat spot, one concept that can trick golfers
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up or make them, let's say, get a little bit frustrated, is the idea that you can have your
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hands way forward like so.
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I'm exaggerating of course, but you can have your hands way forward and hit up on the ball
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if the handle was raising.
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So I would have a positive angle of attack even though my hands were way forward.
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Or I could have my hands backward like so and hit really down on the ball if I was doing
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it more like this.
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So the trick here is learning to separate the two more in your mind.
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Yes, if you don't change your swing, then hitting it more, you know, further back on the
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arc of the circle will increase the angle of attack.
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But if you change the shape of the bottom of the swing, then these two variables do
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and can become separate.
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Because a lot of golfers struggle with getting a steep angle of attack and they struggle with
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not having enough shaft length.
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So what usually creates more of the steep angle of attack problem is either a lack of an
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unhing or the upper body lunge more on top of the golf ball.
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And you can lunge on top of the golf ball and still have the club working in more of a
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scoop fashion.
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So you have very little angle of attack or you could be well behind the golf ball, but
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not have enough only deviation and so the club would be coming down really steep.
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If you tend to have neither of those, so if you stay behind the ball and have a lot of this
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unhing, yes, you'll typically have zero shaft length and you might actually hit up on
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it.
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But as I said, it's important to start separating those in your mind.
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Or else you may be a little bit afraid of trying to get your wrists in a little bit
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more extension or your lead wrist and a bit more flexion or having a little bit more of
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this white movement.
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Because all of those help create shaft lean, but can keep you in a, if you're making
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a good bracing move and making a good body pivot, you won't have an incredibly steep
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angle of attack.
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You're not going to stick the club into the ground.
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So I've had a couple of questions about it.
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I thought I'd just do a real quick video just to get you thinking that these two variables
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are not one to one.
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You can increase the shaft lean and decrease the angle of the attack.
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That's great to do, say, with your driver.
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Or you could bring the handle back and increase the angle of the attack if you're having
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either not as good wrist mechanics or too much of an upper body lunge.
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In fact, I'd say more often than not, it's the owner deviation that's going to have the
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biggest impact on your angle of attack.
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So even if I come from the inside, if I keep this hinge up like so, I'm going to tend to
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have a fairly diggy or steep angle of attack.
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And if I was to come from the outside, but really, hold your deviate, you'll see the club
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will get down closer to the ground sooner.
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I'll have a longer flat spot and typically shallow out my angle of the attack.
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It's one of the reasons why the unhinges, one of the big shallow movements for the arms.
