Getty Images
Bryce Cope starts his move and faster than you can say ‘wrong’, the head teacher has committed a sin. The move is deliberate, of course—he’s teaching a lesson—but the point remains:
Swing mistakes can happen quickly – and he says one in particular is common.
Cope was speaking a video posted on his Instagram accountand the swing area he was focusing on was food intake. There are right ways to start swinging, and then there’s the move he sees often — and it can lead to disaster.
Players, he said in the video, should not take their hands off their bodies in the garage.
“Usually from here to get the club behind them,” Cope said in the video, “players roll it to the inside, which opens up a face and makes them come up.”
So what should players do instead?
Keep your hands down and in, Cope said. In the video, the clips of Viktor Hovland, Nelly Korda AND Justin Thomas appeared.
And how much better can you keep your hands down and in?
“Feel like your back hand (right hand if you’re right-handed) goes over the back shoelaces while the palm is down,” Cope said in the video, “don’t push the palm away from you and roll the palm up toward the sky. This will keep the hands in and the face squared, bringing that club into a position where you can swing more effectively.”
Below is the video and some additional thoughts below.
For convenience, here’s what Cope said in the video:
“One of the most common eating mistakes I see is hands away from the body. Usually from here to get the club behind them, players spin it in, which opens up a face and makes them come out on top. Instead, we want to keep those hands low and in, as you’ll see from most of the best players in the world. Feel your back hand go over the back shoelaces as the palm rests down, keep it away from you and roll the palm up towards the sky. This will keep the hands in and the face squared, bringing that club into a position where you can swing more effectively.”
Also in the Instagram post, there were answers to some questions, and those helpful exchanges are below, with the questions in italics.
– “Does it also go for bars?”
“Yes,” said Cope.
— “Is there a reason why I see myself doing this alone with my driver? It’s not a problem with my irons or even my 3-wood. Only with a driver, which drives me crazy.”
“That’s a tough one,” Cope said. “It’s possible that since it’s the longest and heaviest club, you can try to help it around you.”
– “Is this just for the driver? I always try not to get my hands too far into the takeout. Always heard to keep the club head out of my hands.”
“That goes for all clubs,” Cope said. “I would say it’s just a different way of thinking about it, but the same end goal is to keep the hands off and the club to stay off the hands. It’s not a hard and fast rule, of course – there are many ways to do this and you’ll see some great players with that club slightly in; Even more so trying to avoid the extremes of the road or exit.”
– “I was told to think long and wide.”
“It’s not a bad idea, but it’s very player-specific,” Cope said. “I find this thinking gets more players into trouble, as they tend to overdo it by locking their wrists and pushing their arms out and away from their body. It will also be seen that this will cause players to swing away from the golf ball as the arms stay too extended. Not bad information; it just depends a lot on the player.”
— “What advice is there to do this with the hands, but not to draw the stick in with it?”
“The mental assurance of ‘hands in, club out’ is what I give players that seem to click,” Cope said.
— “Certainly how to draw it; don’t hit straight.”
“JT, Nelly and Hovland in the examples are not big ball drawers,” Cope said.
“I tried this and every shot is a pretty aggressive draw.”
“The grip can be strong,” Cope said. “It’s also possible that if you had the push-and-roll motion of the club open at first, you’d be running your hands through impact to set it up. So now if you do that and the club sits flatter from the start, but you carry the same amount of swing, the ball is going to go left.”
-“Tiger (Woods) it says to push your right hand out, and if you can kiss your hands on the backbend, you’re doing it wrong. Now I do what Tiger says and put 50 to 60 yards on the car. It also doesn’t show the full swing in the pros. Not good advice, in my opinion.”
“You can keep your hands down and in while keeping them wide,” Cope said. “Armspan is not achieved just by pushing them back and forth from the start of the swing. I can keep my arms out but still have them work around the body.”
Editor’s Note: To help further the conversation, below is a story written in March by GOLF’s Zephyr Melton that was titled “This Cheat Code Will Help You Make a Perfect Take Every Time.” You can also read it from by clicking here.
***
The takeaway is one of the most important elements of the swing. It is the first move you make and thus dictates how the rest of your move will play out. If something is out of whack, you’ll make allowances for the rest of the swing. This is why it is so important to mark your nail.
Despite the importance of nutrition, many recreational players do not emphasize it enough. They are too busy focusing on the results of their shots rather than the reasons for them. Often, the root cause turns to the wrong tool.
If you want a reinforcement of the importance of food taken, check out Justin Thomas or Xander Schauffele go through their pre-shot routines. You’ll see both of them practice taking a bite as they prepare to hit each shot.
If the pros are putting a premium on getting food, then you should be too. Here’s how, courtesy of instructor Brian Mogg.
One of the most common racing mistakes for amateur golfers is the tendency to suck the clubhead in during the backswing. This causes the club to get stuck behind you at the top, and the only way to correct that is to go over the top and downslope. This robs you of a lot of energy and often results in an ugly piece.
The solution to this is simple – and all you need to focus on is keeping the clubhead out of your hands when the shaft becomes parallel to the ground during the backswing.
To drill this feeling into your swing, take a putter and grip it in your hand near the butt of the club. The extension stick should extend up towards your body and you want the end of the stick to touch your lead hip. Next, get into your swing position and begin a top swing.
When you make your delivery, you’ll want to hang your wrists so that the extension stick creeps down your lead side to touch your lead knee.
“What you’ll see is if you do it right by adding the twist, the clubhead will be over my hands and out,” says Mogg. “And from there, we turn around and raise our arms up.”
Once you start to drill the feel of the right pick up, remove the extension stick and keep the same feeling in your arms and hands. If you do this, you will find that you can create the perfect meal every time.
