Holly Sonders Swing Analysis: Learn How to Make a Good Shoulder Turn
http://www.rotaryswing.com/youtube/index.php?vid=Body&ref=350
Click the link above to see the full “How the Lower Body Works” video for FREE!!
Holly Sonders has a fantastic golf swing with a lot of great moves. It is no wonder she was an all-american golfer in college.
So what is it that allows her to hit the ball so well? A lot of it has to do with creating separation and proper sequencing in the downswing.
In this video we will go over how to make a good shoulder turn and how to restrict the hips in the backswing. This allows the muscles to stretch and eventually fire much faster.
If you would like to learn how to pick up some distance in your golf game, you will want to watch this video!
http://www.rotaryswing.com/youtube/index.php?vid=Body&ref=350
Click the link above to see the full “How the Lower Body Works” video for FREE!!
Muscles don’t stretch like rubber bands. Opposing pairs of muscles relax
and contract. It’s the correct sequencing of the swing that accelerates the
club. Restricting the hip turn can cause back injuries.
She sends me to woodyville.
Way too steep, standing up on impact, massive stall, left leg posted so no
more hip rotation for her and the blue and orange outfit…. yuck
Hottest 45 year old in golf…..wait…she isn’t 45? Is she 35?
what about the hip turn. i just watched a video on here with arnold palmer
and getting power with hip turn. this one
seems to be emphasizing more the shoulder turn.
wow man your whack. In my round tomorrow I will pretend your face is the
ball. nevermind your not even talented enough to lace up my cleats
You do NOT have time (less than 1.5 seconds for an entire swing) to think
about all this sequencing. If you turn your trunk/core/abdoman to the top
of your backswing and turn to a full funish, everything else happens
naturally.
Who cares where the ball went…
From the angle of the camera, the swing looks like an out to in.
she’s a woman, and very athletic, so naturally more flexible, which allows
for more rotation. what about the rest of us?
mmmm. Every martial arts practitioner and boxer will tell you that power
comes from the bottom of your stomach somewhere or pelvic floor muscle
….. AND be firmly anchored to the floor ….. basic physics …. just
like an explosion needs to push against something to be more effective.
Have you tried keeping you swing as low down your torso and away from the
shoulders and initiate the down swing by propelling yourself upwards off
that front leg? I.E. bend the front knee as you go back with the swing. The
right is almost straight. Then push up hard with your front leg as you come
back down towards the ball. Try hopping on one leg as an exercise. That
will give you the picture. Essentially you’re fully balanced on your front
leg during the whole of your swing.
Wouldn’t exactly call that a “rotary swing.” She’s generating power more
through arc rather that rotation. Proof is in the high hands and stand up
move right before impact. Losing you posture so much is not good in a
rotary action.
everyone’s shoulder turn is different to that person.
Holly does a good job of going wide narrow to wide. Bobby Jones Turn his
hips considerably further than 30 degrees and took the club well past
parallel and it didn’t hurt his swing.
Great analysis of the golf swing, Butt i am only able to focus on those
great leggs ; )
I don’t understand why everybody is so concerned with her right elbow,
she’s hitting a driver so to me it looks like her triangle at the top is
about right?? She has to stand a little higher with the driver and come
into the ball a little flatter….no? Good vid Clay!
I never feel my shaft flexing like that.
Wow. In both senses of the word.
Hip and shoulder separation isn’t really relevant to a good golf swing.
It’s mostly about controlling the momentum of the club through the
downswing.
Holly actually has a reasonably terrible backswing. Her straight right arm
is completely wrong. She also fails to load the wrist early enough, causing
her to cross the line at the top. By the way, you called this a small error
and no big deal. Actually, it’s a HUGE error. It’s caused by lack of
loading the club.
Here’s why it’s a huge error.
When you cross the line at the top, the club basically points right — or
it has crossed the plane line. (Doesn’t matter if that makes total sense.)
As the club starts down, you are now forced to re-direct it back onto the
plane line. This causes a pull with both the left arm and the shoulders.
When you pull on the club, it falls “behind you”. If you don’t understand
that concept, check out Nicklaus in Golf My Way, where he says, “You can’t
release the club too early.” What he means is, the first move out of the
top needs to direct the momentum of the club back at the ball. If you pull
the club, the momentum is behind you.
If you notice in Holly’s downswing (much more critical than the backswing,
but again, no matter) she has to “pull the club” to get it back on plane,
and heading towards the ball. It may be hard to see at first, but keep
looking, and Nicklaus’ quote may start to make sense.
As far as shoulder and hip ‘separation’ – that just sets up a pull, which
is bad. So the more you separate, the more likely it is you will pull.
Her right hip is in a good position going back. That’s about it. Start
there, and see if you can figure out what Nicklaus meant. You might want to
turn off the audio, as it’s a little distracting.
Much love. Happy golfing.
Is it a good idea to keep the right arm straight in the takeaway with the
irons too?
looks perfect too me
She straightens her right leg considerably going back, which allows for the
big shoulder turn. She re-flexes it at transition, then immediately
straightens it back up, and is standing straight up at impact in order to
accommodate being too close to the ball. She would be more consistent,
accurate, and likely longer if she kept that right knee flexed and
restricted the shoulder turn, as well as setting up a little further away
from the ball.
Oh come on Clay Ballard. Are you for real? In 2:14 you say her right elbow
is a little bit away from her body. Now what does a right elbow look like
that is long way away from her body? Also please stop teaching rubbish like
“a limited hip turn that is key to creating power in golf swing”. I think
golfers like Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson has proven that you can hit
it long with a big hip turn on the backswing.
I guess you are just another internet “golf instructor” who thinks that if
you cannot impress them with brilliance then you might as well dazzle them
with bullshit. Oh you guys make me laugh with your golf instructions.
Selling the “secret of the golf swing” to ignorant fools out there for
$39.99 per month, knowing the average 10-36 handicapper would never be able
to even come close to grooving a PGA swing. I think the Hank Haney project
has proven that too.
Tell you what Clay. The day one of the top PGA players come knocking on
your door for some golf instruction then that will be the day I will pay
for your golf instructions.
Sorry, I misunderstood your comment. It will put the same amount of stress
on the back either way. You must coil in the backswing one way or another
(create separation between the upper and lower body). You can let your hips
rotate farther, but your upper body will have to rotate farther to make a
good coil. Palmer and Bubba let their hips rotate and extra 20 degrees, but
their torso also rotates an extra 20 degrees to get the same coil. You will
notice this as Palmer got around 110* of (cont.)
I like the response bobbyshops, well said! ~Clay Ballard
look…when ya got fake tits like Holly…well she stays inside and hits
the slot…
I dont think he was talking about the deceleration of the hips around
impact. He is talking about restricting your hip turn in the backswing.
Arnie did not restrict his hips on the backswing and neither does Bubba
they are probably topping the longest in their certain times. I follow your
teachings clay and there is really a lot of great advice here. I just don’t
believe in the hip restriction. You are an excellent teacher.
I can see how it appears that way but you may want to watch some slow
motion of Arnie’s hip action. Arnold Palmer had some of the fastest
deceleration of the hips in the game. His hips actually stopped all
rotation completely as he released the club. The only one who decelerated
more, I have seen is Rory, whos hips actually move backwards as he releases
the club. ~Clay Ballard
Looks to me like she stands up (loses posture). Maybe just the camera angle.
Haha, actually yes. I had a lesson the other day with a guy who pulled an
intercostal. Be sure to take it easy for a while. Good Luck!
You are correct, the left shoulder should be lower and the shoulders both
to be more level. That way she can release the club so it will ground out
consistently. The shoulders should slow through impact to transfer energy
to the club. If the shoulders keep moving aggressively, the energy won’t
transfer efficiently. Good luck with your game! ~Clay Ballard
How does Holly get her left arm so far back. I,m a very fit 55 year old guy
who has just began to play golf but I’m only able to get my left arm “if
kept straight” to 10 o’clock, Holly’s arm is at 12 o’clock.
(cont.) I hope you don’t take this as me bashing Bubba or anyone else with
over rotates or overswings. Some of the players you mentioned were some of
the greatest of all time. I am just referring to the cause and effect of
body movements. You can play great golf with a big hip turn going back, but
there are downsides that anyone should be aware of. Thank you for your
comments fradaja. I like your passion when it comes to discussing the golf
swing. ~Clay Ballard.
(cont.) shoulder rotation to match his hip rotation. This didn’t come from
an over flexible spine, it was from rotating the hips more (the stress on
the spine is exactly the same). Over rotation of the hips also leaves you
susceptible to over swinging due to more shoulder rotation (Bubba and other
70’s players you mentioned). It is much easier to get the same coil by
restricting the hip rotation and stopping the overswing. Like you would see
with Adam Scott and Tiger Woods etc. (cont.)
Her arms are out of position at the top. Her right elbow is fliying away
from her body and the left arm is too far back. The right elbow should be
much more in front and the left arm should be closer to 10 o’clock as you
mentioned. That isn’t something you should strive for. She is also very
flexible. Watch the 5 minutes to the perfect backswing on the Rotary Swing
Website. Good Luck! ~Clay Ballard
No problem. This is Clay though. Good luck with your game! ~Clay Ballard