Unhinge Training - Pool Noodle
This is a great visual cue for golfers who tend to get steep at the bottom of the swing. Often times, this pattern can be attributed to a lack of ulnar deviation or "unhinge". If you fall into this category, a simple pool-noodle and tripod can get you to unhinge earlier and create a shallower angle of attack. However, do not be frustrated if you notice a few shots leaking to the right; you may need to train the "motorcycle" to create a more neutral clubface and take full advantage of your improved arm mechanics. Again, our goal is to avoid the flip-style release (and the open club-face that accompanied it) while focusing on creating a shallow movement of the arms that will better compliment our pivot & body-mechanics.
This is a great visual cue for golfers who tend to get steep at the bottom of the swing. Often times, this pattern can be attributed to a lack of ulnar deviation or "unhinge". If you fall into this category, a simple pool-noodle and tripod can get you to unhinge earlier and create a shallower angle of attack. However, do not be frustrated if you notice a few shots leaking to the right; you may need to train the "motorcycle" to create a more neutral clubface and take full advantage of your improved arm mechanics. Again, our goal is to avoid the flip-style release (and the open club-face that accompanied it) while focusing on creating a shallow movement of the arms that will better compliment our pivot & body-mechanics.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000
This drill is unhinged training with the pool noodle, so if you tend to get
2
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:06.480
steep
3
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:11.740
down towards the bottom of the swing, so let's say or in transition, but
4
00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:12.080
because
5
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.400
of what's going on in the bottom of the swing, then what will happen is
6
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:15.840
typically
7
00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:19.440
the club will get outside here. Now we have a couple different visual ways that
8
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:25.720
you can work on being aware of the path of the club, but I find that having a
9
00:00:25.720 --> 00:00:31.760
perpendicular pool noodle like this can be quite helpful or effective for
10
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.520
helping train that spatial awareness. So all I've done is I took an old tripod
11
00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:42.320
and stuck half a pool noodle on it, so now I've got a nice soft barrier if I
12
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:42.520
were
13
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.720
to make contact. Then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna get set up or I'm gonna
14
00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:52.280
position the club so that I'm set up and then basically I'm going to bring the
15
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.120
pool noodle so that it just gives me a very small margin of error from the
16
00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:00.520
down the line. I'm going to be tough here to make myself swing a little bit
17
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:00.520
more
18
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:05.000
from the inside. Now to help myself make sure that I stay at about the same
19
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.680
distance in line with the pool noodle, I'm just going to put a couple teas so
20
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:11.840
that
21
00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:18.440
I know that the golf ball is roughly in between those teas. Now I can do nine
22
00:01:18.440 --> 00:01:18.640
to
23
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:25.120
three training or I could do full swing training and I will be able to have a
24
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:32.510
little bit of a extra spatial awareness. If I were to maintain that hinge and
25
00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:32.760
not
26
00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:37.680
get the club down to the ground through there, then the club would hit into the
27
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:42.760
pool noodle. So as long as I have a pretty good pivot and the club swings
28
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:49.780
more from the inside there, then I know that I did a good job of owner dev
29
00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:50.120
iating
30
00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:56.200
or unhinging. Now if I tend to do this movement and what commonly happens the
31
00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:01.440
first few times I'll have students try this if they're used to doing more of a
32
00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:05.680
you know steep move or radial deviation move or it's getting on top more like
33
00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:11.680
this, then what'll happen is the first few times that they get under it'll go
34
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:16.120
like that and the ball will go 30 yards off to the right even on a little half
35
00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:23.680
shot. So then what that's telling us is that a large reason why you are getting
36
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.360
on top of it is to close the face and so then you may need to work on that
37
00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:28.840
combo
38
00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.600
of owner deviation and the motorcycle move. So you may need to work on getting
39
00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:38.760
the club face a little bit more square so that when you then owner deviate and
40
00:02:38.760 --> 00:02:43.440
come through the club face it or the ball goes straight even though you swung
41
00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:47.600
from the inside. So this can be a very useful tool for training your path
42
00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:48.840
instead
43
00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:53.680
of necessarily trying to always feel the perfect movements. You can use
44
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.120
spatial awareness like this to help calibrate the movements. This can be very
45
00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:02.640
helpful for training that owner deviation path and if you tend to get more
46
00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:09.240
of steep or pulls or slices there's a good chance that you might need to do
47
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:09.360
some
48
00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:14.280
owner deviation training and putting a little pool noodle right here in line is
49
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:18.960
a great way to establish a good spatial awareness and make sure that you're
50
00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:24.080
doing it correctly. So now I've done a few nine to threes let's do a little bit
51
00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:32.960
more of a full swing. So pretty good there didn't quite get the club face
52
00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:38.120
around. Steeping it a little bit because I'm now hitting out of the divots from
53
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.760
those nine to three drills. One downside with station training is unless you're
54
00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:46.840
using a tee you're gonna end up hitting out of divots.
55
00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:55.730
That's a little bit better there. So use this little spatial awareness from
56
00:03:55.730 --> 00:03:55.880
down
57
00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:01.200
the line to help train the path of the club from the early part of the release
58
00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:04.080
into impact.
Have questions?
Ask Mulligan for helpUnhinge Training - Pool Noodle
This is a great visual cue for golfers who tend to get steep at the bottom of the swing. Often times, this pattern can be attributed to a lack of ulnar deviation or "unhinge". If you fall into this category, a simple pool-noodle and tripod can get you to unhinge earlier and create a shallower angle of attack. However, do not be frustrated if you notice a few shots leaking to the right; you may need to train the "motorcycle" to create a more neutral clubface and take full advantage of your improved arm mechanics. Again, our goal is to avoid the flip-style release (and the open club-face that accompanied it) while focusing on creating a shallow movement of the arms that will better compliment our pivot & body-mechanics.
This is a great visual cue for golfers who tend to get steep at the bottom of the swing. Often times, this pattern can be attributed to a lack of ulnar deviation or "unhinge". If you fall into this category, a simple pool-noodle and tripod can get you to unhinge earlier and create a shallower angle of attack. However, do not be frustrated if you notice a few shots leaking to the right; you may need to train the "motorcycle" to create a more neutral clubface and take full advantage of your improved arm mechanics. Again, our goal is to avoid the flip-style release (and the open club-face that accompanied it) while focusing on creating a shallow movement of the arms that will better compliment our pivot & body-mechanics.
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000
This drill is unhinged training with the pool noodle, so if you tend to get
2
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:06.480
steep
3
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:11.740
down towards the bottom of the swing, so let's say or in transition, but
4
00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:12.080
because
5
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.400
of what's going on in the bottom of the swing, then what will happen is
6
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:15.840
typically
7
00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:19.440
the club will get outside here. Now we have a couple different visual ways that
8
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:25.720
you can work on being aware of the path of the club, but I find that having a
9
00:00:25.720 --> 00:00:31.760
perpendicular pool noodle like this can be quite helpful or effective for
10
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.520
helping train that spatial awareness. So all I've done is I took an old tripod
11
00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:42.320
and stuck half a pool noodle on it, so now I've got a nice soft barrier if I
12
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:42.520
were
13
00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.720
to make contact. Then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna get set up or I'm gonna
14
00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:52.280
position the club so that I'm set up and then basically I'm going to bring the
15
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.120
pool noodle so that it just gives me a very small margin of error from the
16
00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:00.520
down the line. I'm going to be tough here to make myself swing a little bit
17
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:00.520
more
18
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:05.000
from the inside. Now to help myself make sure that I stay at about the same
19
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.680
distance in line with the pool noodle, I'm just going to put a couple teas so
20
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:11.840
that
21
00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:18.440
I know that the golf ball is roughly in between those teas. Now I can do nine
22
00:01:18.440 --> 00:01:18.640
to
23
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:25.120
three training or I could do full swing training and I will be able to have a
24
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:32.510
little bit of a extra spatial awareness. If I were to maintain that hinge and
25
00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:32.760
not
26
00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:37.680
get the club down to the ground through there, then the club would hit into the
27
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:42.760
pool noodle. So as long as I have a pretty good pivot and the club swings
28
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:49.780
more from the inside there, then I know that I did a good job of owner dev
29
00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:50.120
iating
30
00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:56.200
or unhinging. Now if I tend to do this movement and what commonly happens the
31
00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:01.440
first few times I'll have students try this if they're used to doing more of a
32
00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:05.680
you know steep move or radial deviation move or it's getting on top more like
33
00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:11.680
this, then what'll happen is the first few times that they get under it'll go
34
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:16.120
like that and the ball will go 30 yards off to the right even on a little half
35
00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:23.680
shot. So then what that's telling us is that a large reason why you are getting
36
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.360
on top of it is to close the face and so then you may need to work on that
37
00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:28.840
combo
38
00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.600
of owner deviation and the motorcycle move. So you may need to work on getting
39
00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:38.760
the club face a little bit more square so that when you then owner deviate and
40
00:02:38.760 --> 00:02:43.440
come through the club face it or the ball goes straight even though you swung
41
00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:47.600
from the inside. So this can be a very useful tool for training your path
42
00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:48.840
instead
43
00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:53.680
of necessarily trying to always feel the perfect movements. You can use
44
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.120
spatial awareness like this to help calibrate the movements. This can be very
45
00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:02.640
helpful for training that owner deviation path and if you tend to get more
46
00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:09.240
of steep or pulls or slices there's a good chance that you might need to do
47
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:09.360
some
48
00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:14.280
owner deviation training and putting a little pool noodle right here in line is
49
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:18.960
a great way to establish a good spatial awareness and make sure that you're
50
00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:24.080
doing it correctly. So now I've done a few nine to threes let's do a little bit
51
00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:32.960
more of a full swing. So pretty good there didn't quite get the club face
52
00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:38.120
around. Steeping it a little bit because I'm now hitting out of the divots from
53
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:42.760
those nine to three drills. One downside with station training is unless you're
54
00:03:42.760 --> 00:03:46.840
using a tee you're gonna end up hitting out of divots.
55
00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:55.730
That's a little bit better there. So use this little spatial awareness from
56
00:03:55.730 --> 00:03:55.880
down
57
00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:01.200
the line to help train the path of the club from the early part of the release
58
00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:04.080
into impact.
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Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.
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