Sometimes we may arrive to the course with the intention to warm-up however you turn-up and find the Driving Range out of action. One of the best ways to warm-up when this occurs is practicing swing drills in front of the mirror. If you are conscious of what you've been working on, you can have a visual aid to help ensure you see and feel the movements. The best method if you arrive early enough and the Driving Range is available, is doing a combination of both. This means performing mirror drills, then heading to the Range to warm-up. This will give you a great feeling when on the course.
When I'm performing mirror swings, I'm looking for a few key movements. I firstly check my set-up and ensure that the left hip is lined up straight with my left shoulder. I then ensure my hands are slightly in front of the clubface with my head just behind the ball. You might say that surely I would have this mastered by now, but it is always good to see and confirm with your eyes to give you that level of certainty when over each shot. The golf swing, as you may know, can vary subtly particularly the set-up, so even to this day you will always find Tour Professionals continually confirm their swing patterns on video and the mirror.
When I'm performing mirror swings, I'm looking from front-on and behind. I would do approximately 12 swings from each angle. After viewing my set-up, I would then perform swings keeping note of my head angle. I want to ensure that every time I swing that the position of my head remains the same to the top of the backswing. On the downswing I'm then ensuring that I'm bumping my left hip first followed by a complete rotation of the body.
Now from the behind angle I'm then paying close attention to path. I'm ensuring that my chest turns with my arms and when the club reaches parallel to the ground, that the clubhead and and the hands form a straight line. I then view the top of my swing where the arms will travel further behind my body. At the top of the swing, the right elbow will be down and you will feel a real tightness between your arms and your chest. On the downswing, I'm ensuring that as I approach impact, that my hips have turned and my glutes have stayed back. Just after impact, I'm ensuring that my path exits left to the point that when looking at the mirror, My arms and hands disappear just after impact.
If you have any further questions about how to warm-up before your round using a mirror, just contact myself at David Waters Golf located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.
Comments