I've come to a realisation recently that has improved my game, and i felt like.
I've come to a realisation recently that has improved my game, and i felt like sharing it because someone else might be struggling with the exact same thing without "truly" knowing it. Put simply, we all know that the point of the backswing is to get into a position that allows us to swing the club at speed in the downswing. The tensing of a stretched muscle creates movement. The tensing of an already tense muscle creates minimal motion and mostly aching muscles. Hence the backswing is all about creating a stretch in the muscles that are then supposed to fire in sequence by tensing in the downswing. Backswing= Stretching, Downswing= tensing. The realisation that i have slowly come to is that all my issues of overusing the upper body, getting a flat shoulderplane, early extending, sliding etc. all stem from that i after the takeaway do not let my right leg muscles continue stretching. As the club starts moving to a set position i get into a tensed position in my right leg to "control" the motion of the club into the top of the backswing. My realisation was that allthough i knew what i previously said had to happen i simply did not allow for it. The way i have been drilling my swing motion recently has been on a balance board (working like a seesaw) placed under my right foot and as i start swinging back i want the board to bang in the heel direction and as i continue my backswing i think of my right leg sensations to be like i was doing a standing hamstring stretch, really thinking all stretch no tension in the backswing. My flat turn is now cured, i no longer early extend, i no longer slide. For me all of this was created from not allowing my right leg to stretch and therefore having no movement available in the lower body. Explore this yourself and see if you perhaps also fall in the category of starting to tense muscles in your lower body early to "control" the swing.
