DRILLS TO MASTER THE MAGIC MOVE
Take Half Swings
This swing will feel strange at first, so start with half-swings with a short iron to get the feel. Practive rolling your hands over on the downswing-if you're doing it right, the toe will point toward the target at about three feet past impact. When you've hit 10 crisp half-swings, move up to three-quarter swings and, after that, to full cuts.
Get a Leg Up
To promote the pronation of your hands in the downswing, address your ball with your driver and place all your weight on your left leg, using your right just to keep from falling. Now Swing! This drill forces you to turn your hands if you want to hit the ball hard. And you can hit it almost as far as normal. It underscores that your hands are king in the swing, and your legs and weight shift are secondary. Get good at this one and you can make extra cash on side bets. ("Fellas, give me 3-to-1 odds and I'll play this hole on one leg.").
TIPS FOR TROUBLESHOOTING
You hit the range, you did the drills. Still not feeling the magic? Try A.J.'s troubleshooting tips.
Q. I'm hooking it. Now what should I do?
Don't panic. That means you're turning the face over, which is a good thing. But you're doing it too early. You want to feel that your right palm is facing the target at the moment of impact. Try holding off turning over your hands until they pass the ball. Also, experiment with opening the clubface even more at address. I like about 10 degrees, but more or less may work for you.
Q. What if I start topping the ball?
Topped shots are usually the result of not hitting down on the ball. Remember to drive that nail down, down, down. If this visual isn't working, instead of playing the ball foward of middle, which I like for most shots, move it more to dead center and hit down on the ball.
Q. How about fat shots?
When you turn over the clubface, it's easy to slow the speed of your hands, even though you're increasing the speed of the clubhead-this can cause you to flip your hands at the ball at impact, and hit it fat. You always want your hands ahead of your clubhead and moving aggressively, as a unit, toward the target.
Take Half Swings
This swing will feel strange at first, so start with half-swings with a short iron to get the feel. Practive rolling your hands over on the downswing-if you're doing it right, the toe will point toward the target at about three feet past impact. When you've hit 10 crisp half-swings, move up to three-quarter swings and, after that, to full cuts.
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Angus Murray
Taking full driver swings on one leg forces you to make the Magic Move.
To promote the pronation of your hands in the downswing, address your ball with your driver and place all your weight on your left leg, using your right just to keep from falling. Now Swing! This drill forces you to turn your hands if you want to hit the ball hard. And you can hit it almost as far as normal. It underscores that your hands are king in the swing, and your legs and weight shift are secondary. Get good at this one and you can make extra cash on side bets. ("Fellas, give me 3-to-1 odds and I'll play this hole on one leg.").
TIPS FOR TROUBLESHOOTING
You hit the range, you did the drills. Still not feeling the magic? Try A.J.'s troubleshooting tips.
Q. I'm hooking it. Now what should I do?
Don't panic. That means you're turning the face over, which is a good thing. But you're doing it too early. You want to feel that your right palm is facing the target at the moment of impact. Try holding off turning over your hands until they pass the ball. Also, experiment with opening the clubface even more at address. I like about 10 degrees, but more or less may work for you.
Q. What if I start topping the ball?
Topped shots are usually the result of not hitting down on the ball. Remember to drive that nail down, down, down. If this visual isn't working, instead of playing the ball foward of middle, which I like for most shots, move it more to dead center and hit down on the ball.
Q. How about fat shots?
When you turn over the clubface, it's easy to slow the speed of your hands, even though you're increasing the speed of the clubhead-this can cause you to flip your hands at the ball at impact, and hit it fat. You always want your hands ahead of your clubhead and moving aggressively, as a unit, toward the target.
