MGSS – have you GOT IT? Many people get into a slightly closed set-up and think they’ve GOT IT!
NOT SO. There is much more to MGSS, and the RIGHT-SIDE-DOWN of the backswing is as – important as – or more important than – the SPINAL ROTATION of the set-up.
Sometimes making all the same movements while standing nearer – as one does for the pitch shot – is a good way to make sure you GET all the elements of the MGSS full-swing, without leaving anything out.
See the video ‘It’s NOT MGSS – The Pitch Shot’ in the golf videos section of this blog to understand it a bit better.
If a golfer does not follow the few basic must-haves of the MGSS, she/he easily reverts to old bad habits. In the case of the golfer below, the old habit is to start with a backward bend of the right wrist along with a drop down of the left side of the body.
This drop-down of the left side allows the right side to lift, and allows the right elbow to bend pointing backwards (instead of down). Now the right elbow cannot straighten out – FROM THE INSIDE – in time for the downswing, and the golfer arrives at the ball from the OUTSIDE, and OVER-THE-TOP.
The moral: TWIST enough for the shot to be made, keep the right side DOWN throughout the backswing, and start the backswing from the top of the left arm!
Hi Kiran. I’m on my second week of recovery from a total right hip replacement. Amazingly, I was able to play right up until the operation which I credit to MGS. The twist part of the set up may have been compromised a little, but I was happy to be able to play, and was striking it remarkably well. I can hardly wait to be able to try swinging a club again, to see if I can setup and swing hitting all the MGS correct positions. Thanks for all the updates and reminders.
Tom, good for you! Are you left or right handed as a golfer and which hip was replaced? have you got your full range of motion back on it and are you permitted to do anything? No pain referred to the lower back or anywhere else? Kiran.
I’m righted handed, and it was the right hip replaced. I’ll keep you posted as PT increases my range of motion. Prior to surgery, I don’t think I was slanted right enough, but definitely had left shoulder, and side higher than the right. Even with the bad hip, I found MGS was a reliable straight shot. If I had problems, they were caused by turning into the ball, instead of letting the club fall to the ball, and just letting the swing happen. Looking forward to full recovery by about Jan.
A bit unrelated to the topic but……. what comments do you have about all the advice to hit down on the ball for iron shots?
Adrian, it’s not unrelated if the topic is golf!
I have seen many teachers tell their students to ‘hit down on the ball’ or ‘brush the grass firmly’, and feel this results in a person trying so hard they hack down into the ground and inevitably miss the exact spot they need to connect.
What the MGSS does by never letting the right side of the body (for a right-handed golfer) rise, is to allow the club to drop down at the precise spot it started from, so the advice to ‘hit down’ is never required – the club simply always accomplishes that! The golfer’s head and chest also face away from target at impact (just because of the way the swing is designed) which also helps prevent any topping/whiffing.
With the longer/lighter clubs such as the woods, the arms are then also (because head and chest remain slightly ‘closed’) able to roll over to give a player a sweet baby-draw.
I have tried MGS on and off because of distance problemsand pushing shots to right.Is there less distance with MGS ? can I send you a video of my swing pls give me some instruction of where to send it . thanks Joe Almario
The first paragraph of your reply exactly describes my over zealous attempts to accomplish that elusive downward hit ! It is liberating to read your advice that the swing will take care of correct impact automaticaly . Thanks !
Adrian,
If you could see my downswing of over 30 years, I become (even now when I’m not focused on making an MGSS move) practically 3 feet short at impact (what some people might call a squat and deem beneficial – but actually, to my mind, is an un-necessary downward move when the purpose of the swing is to increase power in a target-ward direction).
The move is probably either part of the brain’s own ned to help drop the club back to ground level, or the golf-world-imposed idea of ‘hitting down’. Basically, the closer you get to MGSS set-up and backswing, the more easily it’ll get eradicated, you will not drop what you have not lifted!