About leaving your club 'laid off' at the top

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

You’ve got your club ‘laid-off’ if your club is behind your hands at any point during your swing. When this happens, you’ll leave your club pointing left of your target at the top. From the laid-off position, you’ll usually swing your club outside the target line. That forces you to cut across your ball, inflicting slices, pulls or pull-hooks on you.

If you are an advanced player, however, you’ll incur nasty pushes. Also, you’ll hit a duck hook if you cross over your hands with an excessive jerk through your ball.

You may believe you can correct the laid-off problem by turning your shoulders more. That way you can leave your club shaft resting parallel to your target line at the top of your backswing. However, you cannot fix your laid-off problem by rotating your shoulders more. Even when you do so, your club will remain laid off.

To correct this fault, you need to let your clubhead work on plane. The laid-off problem has nothing to do with your shoulders, hips, knees or feet. You need to use your wrists and hands right so your clubhead stays outside your hands.

Several simple ways here will help you fix your laid-off problem and whack your ball far and straight.

First, prevent your clubhead from working inside your hand line set up at address as you take your club back. That helps you keep your clubhead staying outside your hands longer on the backswing, holding the laid-off problem at bay.

To do this properly, you need to take your club away from your ball right. Make sure about hip-high, the Y formed by your arms and club shaft at address stays intact. About hip-high, your club shaft is running directly along your foot line.

Once you’ve swung your arms about hip-high, let your grip end point to the target line or a touch inside it. That way you’ll ward off your laid-off problem.

Second, swing your club back along your toe line. That way you’ll stop taking your club away from your ball too quickly inside into a flat, laid-off position.

Third, move your grip end first to take your club away from your ball. That allows you to keep your clubhead outside your hands during the takeaway, automatically preventing the laid-off problem.

Incidentally, when you set up your backswing by moving your grip, you’ll naturally let your hips shift laterally to the right. This hip move promotes straight shots. It delays your hip turn, allowing you to swing your club straight back along the target line.

Fourth, start cocking your wrists upward at the end of the takeaway where your left hand is in front of your right thigh. To this end, press down on your club handle with your left-hand heel pad roughly hip-high. That will allow you to keep your clubhead from going behind your hands.

Fifth, let each hand take its own path as you swing your club back. At address, you set your right hand lower on the handle of your club than the left. Put differently, your right hand starts farther from your body than your left. You need to let your right hand remain farther from your body than your left throughout your swing. To avoid the laid-off problem, you need to let each hand travel in its own circle. Make sure your right hand takes an outer path, your left hand taking an inner path.

Allowing your hands to swap their circles ruins your swing, costing your swing speed and force. Allowing your left hand to move outside your right, you’ll get your club laid off at the top. You’ll swing your club back too far inside into a flat, laid-off position.

Take care to let each hand take its own path during the entire swing, making sure your right hand stays outside your left throughout your swing.

Sixth, avoid swinging your club back with your right hand or right arm. When your right side dominates or gets too active, you’ll usually pull your club inside into a laid-off position.

Seventh, imagine the head cover of your driver seven to 10 inches behind your ball just inside the target line. Picture you’re taking your club straight back from your ball without touching the head cover and completing your backswing. That way you’ll swing your club on a more upright plane. That will help you set your club parallel to your target line at the top of your backswing.

Make sure you don’t hit the head cover coming down if you’re suffering pushes, push-slices or push-hooks.

Once you’ve completed your backswing properly, hit your ball with the forefinger of your right hand. Or, just whack your ball with the handle of your club. That’ll help you hit your ball longer and straighter.

Standing in a bent posture, however, just ignore your laid-off position at the top. You’ll naturally swing your club back on a flatter plane. You don’t need to exert yourself to let your club shaft rest parallel to your target line. It is OK to leave your club shaft pointing slightly left of your target at the top. There are diverse correct ways to whack your ball solidly and hit your target accurately.