Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in
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To do the step change of direction, first, grab a golf club and get into a golfing posture. Place both feet together and start with the club pointed at the target. Begin by stepping towards the target as you take a backswing. It is extremely important to sequence this movement correctly, step just after the club starts the takeaway. The backswing and the step should happen together. When you step, make sure that it is just your lowerbody that moves toward the target, and not your entire body. When you finish the step, your lowerbody should be closer to the target than your upper body. The stepping during the backswing will shorten your swing, but it will also give you an exaggerated feeling of the lowerbody initiating the downswing. This is critical for swing plane, creating power, and creating lag. For bonus points, try to feel the downswing in your abs instead of in your back.
Tags: Transition, Drill, Intermediate
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This drill is called step change of direction and it's a more of a rhythm drill to help
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you feel the timing and kind of the tempo of a swing that creates a lot of power.
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So what we're going to do in this is you're going to swing the club back and as the club
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is swinging back you're going to take a step and initiate with your lower body.
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Now what should happen is you get an exaggerated feeling of the proper stretch of the
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lower body initiating the downswing.
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So I'm going to demonstrate first with the speed ball and then I'll move on to the golf
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club.
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When you're using the golf club keep in mind that with this much lateral movement you're
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probably not going to hit the ball solidly and I recommend that you tee the ball up.
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Both of those, you know just be reasonable with your expectations anytime you're stepping
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into the golf ball.
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So you're going to take your normal setup so that the speed ball or the golf ball is in your
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normal ball position and then you're going to bring your left foot to your right foot
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if you're right hand a golfer.
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From here you're going to swing back and as you start swinging back you're going to step
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your foot back to where it should have been.
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So as the club starts back you're going to step you're going to be shifting your weight
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while those arms are still finishing and because you're doing it through the movement
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during the backswing it's going to shorten your swing just a little bit.
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So it'll look like this.
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You're going to step and I rehearse the step a number of times just to get the feeling
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of stepping without letting my upper body go completely with it.
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That's probably the biggest mistake that I see with this.
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The second biggest would be waiting until I finish the backswing and then stepping as I
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start down with my arms.
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It's exaggerating the feeling so the step should happen way before your arms go down.
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So it's going to go step and then swing through.
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Okay so the step change of direction again with the golf club you're going to want to make
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sure that you tee the ball up.
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You're going to take your normal setup.
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You're going to bring your left foot to your right foot.
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You're going to swing back stepping without stepping.
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It's your camera.
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So you're going to swing back.
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You're going to step without letting your upper body shift.
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I call it stepping without stepping.
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And then feel that exaggerated separation through your core.
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I'll demonstrate one.
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So normal setup, left foot to right foot.
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So that's my version of the step change direction.
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It's a great way to feel the timing of the lower body initiating the downswing.
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After you've done it a half dozen times or so, you're going to take a normal swing.
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And try to feel like as the club swings back you step without actually taking the step.
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So you try to recreate that feeling of the weight shift.
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And that's a great way to feel the leg of the lower body initiating the downswing.
