So much commentary about your full swing. Maximum 36 shots per round.

What are you doing about your wedge game?

I also started experimenting with cross-handed/left-hand-low putting (I’m right handed) after watching Billy Horschel this weekend. I’d seen other players use the grip before and tried it myself, but didn’t feel comfortable with it, but after watching Billy it just clicked.

Needless to say, sometimes it just takes a different person speaking to us before we hear it – even though what they are saying is essentially the exact same as the person who originally said it.

Place a large sheet of wrapping paper on the ground. Tee the ball on top of the paper on one side of the paper. Setup on top of the paper on the other side of the paper. Before taking the backswing, use a crayon to trace the outlines of the feet onto the paper of the feet positions during the driver address. The hole punched in the paper by the tee indicates the position of the ball. The stance distance from the ball can be thus measured.

Have an instructor of about the same height stand on the paper with the feet set in the traced outlines of the feet. Tee the ball at the same spot as the hole made by the tee. See if the instructor can make an upright swing with this stance distance from the ball.

Post the measurements of the stance distances by overlaying the distances in a photo of the paper, or photograph the paper with a ruler on it before posting it.

McIlroy is about average height, but not comparable to most of today’s top players’ in height. His setup positions are obviously effective for a swing plane that is neither too flat, nor too upright.

The leading arm and hand are fairly close to the body at address, with the learding arm fairly vertical. The leading hand, and the leading arm just basically swing back straight up as the leading shoulder turns back to start the backswing. The leading hands and arms swing straight back and up until the leading arm swings near up to horizontal before shifting behind the player as the shoulder turn becomes full during the later part of the backswing.

If the leading hand is too far from the body during address, swinging the leading hand vertically upwards will require the the leading hand and the leading arm to stretch far away from the body during the first half of the swing in a very awkward manner.

The normal backswing is done with “swinging” it back, rather than “taking” it back. Measurement of the swing speeds of the backswing have it about one-third the speed of the downswing in general. Because, many champions wrote about performing backswings slow in one-piece (as it appeared that players made very rapid backswings in the old days,) there is a tendency of todays player to actually take the club back instead of swinging the club back.

Setup up with the leading arm fairly vertical, and make practice back and forth half-swings back and forth. After the forward half-swing, the momentum of the returning swing will automatically carry the arms to an upright backsing in a swinging motion rather than in a taking-it-back motion.

The backswing does not have to be perfect, as the ball is not hit with the backswing. A so-so to even a bad backswing can still produce good shots. Johnny Miller in a Youtube clip says that he observed that if there is a pause at the top of the backswing before changing direction to the downswing, a poor backswing may not prevent good shots.