Lesson of the Week: Doug Luce

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

This is another example of the classic swing pattern that sees the right arm drop either straight down or, in this case, backwards behind the right side while the lower body drives up and under toward the ball, causing the right arm to approach in such a manner that a solid, forward leaning impact is nearly impossible to achieve. It would appear that this type of pattern functions fairly well when players are younger or have more time to practice, and when the degree to which the movements happen is not so great, but as time goes on and the pattern worsens the player finds that all of a sudden they can’t hit a solid shot off the ground. As you compare this lesson with others you will find definite similarities to the items necessary to reverse this pattern, starting with posture. Usually there is a lack of depth in the backswing, and when the left arm tries to connect to the chest the hands move to the side and the right arm winds up pulling back behind the body. This problem can be minimized to a degree by keeping the hips deep and clearing nicely, but unfortunately it seems to be inherent in the pattern that the legs push up into the space the right arm needs to get in front of the chest, making the approach to impact that much more marginalized. Doug will need to do some serious work as fixing this requires a reversal of just about everything he is doing. However, once the general motion is understood, he can spend his practice time working on the right stuff.