CEgolf.com

Casey Eberting Golf Schools and Golf Instruction
In Texas Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin, Texas
(40 minutes north of San Antonio International Airport)

image showing downswing that is too steep

image showing where the club would prefer to go from above position

image showing the tendency of a downswing that is too steep

The Steep Forward Swing

Ideally, the club should swing forward in very nearly the same direction that the shaft points. When the swing plane is too upright, or steep, this can't happen.

In the first picture the shaft is pointing almost straight down. The second picture shows what would happen if I were to come down in such a steep swing plane—my right arm gets stuck beside my body with nowhere to go (the ultimate block). I've exaggerated the problem so it's easier to see.

The third picture shows another problem of a steep forward swing path. Notice that the clubface is wide open, pointing to the right by about 30 degrees. This is an example of the arms pulling across the body (block), which I mentioned on the previous page.

To compensate for the block and resulting open clubface, the golfer has to find some way to manipulate the club so that the face gets as close to square as possible at impact. The most common manipulation is the "over-the-top" and "casting" combination, which is where the golfer pushes the clubhead outside with arms and wrists at the beginning of the forward swing. A second type of manipulation is the flipping of the hands (wrists) at the ball which results in the "chicken wing" effect a little after impact. The third most common type of manipulation is the rolling over of the arms (trying to square the club by artificially closing it). The rolling over of the arms is what almost all golf instructors believe to be a correct release, but it is not! This rollover movement is nothing more than another manipulation to counteract the most serious, and most common, of swing faults—a block!

Note: good players who have steep backswing planes flatten their plane considerably as they transition into the forward swing. They don't get the club into the positions shown on this page.

Please go to the Next Page for more about "over-the-top" and "casting".

Next Page—Over-the-top

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