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Derek is a 2 handicap who can shoot under par but is susceptible to high scores due to a stubborn hook with the driver and some overall inconsistency with his ball striking. One thing he surely has plenty of is forward shaft lean, and in the video I go over why that is not such a great thing with the driver. A couple of things that stand out to my eye right away are the tight elbows at address, followed by the pinched right arm in the backswing. If you have watched any number of my previous lessons you will note a recurrence of the pattern in which the pinched right arm causes problems in transition and ultimately at impact, although Derek doesn’t follow the normal progression which would have him move the right arm behind him in transition and steepen the shaft. Rather, he takes the right elbow, which is already well in front of his chest, and drives it in even further in the downswing, which, along with his full wrist cock, cupped wrist and excellent sequence creates a ton of lag and an extreme forward leaning shaft at impact. This is good for the most part with the irons, but is not so good when the ball is on a tee, as you don’t want the descending angle that such a late delivery brings. Combine that with a shaft that is caught behind the arms at shaft parallel in the downswing (“stuck”) and you have a recipe for overactive hands trying to keep the ball from going way right. This will not be an easy fix, as releasing the club earlier than usual is almost as hard as learning how to release it later, which is what the vast majority of players have to do. It is not surprising that Derek is an excellent player: he could really advance his game by getting the shaft to come in above the right arm on the approach with both the irons and woods, and with the driver he has to work hard to produce a more ascending path into the ball.
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