Friday was a busy day and I didn't get much time to write, but I wanted to add something to yesterday's tip from Rickie Fowler.
While I mentioned how the umbrella drill helped Rickie stay connected at the top of his backswing so he wouldn't overswing, I forgot to mention how it helps his takeaway and downswing plane. Rickie has had a tendency to open the club face on the takeaway and then lay the club off on the downswing -- that is, he would drop the club shaft so it was more parallel to the ground as he started down. It caused him to be too shallow on the downswing and too much in-to-out. As a result, he often pushed the ball at impact and flipped his hands trying to save it. (Most amateurs would just hit a push.)
By using the umbrella image, Rickie doesn't twist his forearms so much on the way back, which keeps the club more vertical. (It's still tilted on plane, it's just not exaggerated.) Since the club is more vertical, the natural move is to keep the club more on plane as he comes down. In other words, he doesn't "wave" the club back and forth during his swing.
Using a one-piece takeaway (the basic drill is in this post) puts you in good position to use Rickie's umbrella drill naturally. And the two together will improve your swing plane tremendously.
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