If you’ve ever seen PGA Tour Golf, you know the names Cameron Young AND Hideki Matsuyama. What do these two players have in common (besides being winners of the tour)? They both use a special “pause” on top of their backwardness.
Young and Matsuyama are very different players, but the pause on top of the swing is something that connects them. And although their reasons for pause may change, it does not mean that you cannot learn from both.
In the text below, Top 100 Golf teacher Tim Cooke explains how he uses a “pause exercise” to help his students in their shakes. Try it yourself and you can be good on your way to hit the ball like Young and Matsuyama.
How to execute the pause exercise
With Cameron Young breaking in August for his first victory in PGA Tour – and Hideki Matsuyama known for his signature pause at the top of the swing – you may ask yourself: Can you add a pause to your oscillation help? If you fight to control the club’s position on top or find your landing sequences in opposition, pause training may be exactly what you need.
I regularly use this training with both professionals and recreation players. It is a simple but powerful way to feel a new club or hand orientation on top of the swing. Slowing your back and adding a deliberate pause helps position your club – and your body – more optimal. This often leads to the best approximation in influence.
Of course, a faster spine can help generate more club speeds, but if this speed throws your position or time, it will surely lose your facial center. Anydo’s speed gain is lost when the ball flies out of line-worse, out of play.
The pause training Thell is synchronizing your chest and club to stop at the same time, using a quiet, even open spine. There should be no bounce or backwardness – imagine that the club is so stable that a bird can go down on it. As you start landing, don’t drown with your arms. Let them follow the natural change of your body towards the target.
At a last session with Ben Kruper – AKA “The Pause King” – I asked what pauses about his game. He said:
“The pause helps me to gather at the top so that I can make a coordinated transition. My tendency was once my hips to rotate toward the target before my hands reached the top. This left me stuck down, and my losses could go left or right.
Want to see the pause in action? Check out a recent post from Ben’s last session with me below.
