The Bump is one of the keys of the Peak Performance Golf Swing but it must be executed correctly. We find that a lot of people think the bump is a profound movement in your body - it is not! The Bump is a small movement of the hips in the transition of the backswing to the forward up-swing. One critical thing to note that if you have bad alignment, the bump will be impossible as your brain will attempt to correct your swing to get the ball to where you want it to go.
Alignment is always key. Execution of the bump is necessary to perform a perfect PPG swing. If you are having trouble with the bump, first check your alignment. We have 71 minutes of video dedicated to alignment if you want to dig deep into the topic. After that, remember that the movement is a small lateral shift of your hips.
Comments
Bump in Sand Bunker
The bump works well on the fairway but do you do the bump in a green side bunker? In fact, can you find a bunker somewhere and show us how to do the PPGS in it? I have lots of trouble getting the ball out and on the green.
That shot is covered in the
That shot is covered in the Situational Shots around the Green, have you consulted the video in your account?
Don only has available the backyard for filming of the Daily videos.
Bunker
I have watched the video many times but not much help there.
Firstly the video is such low quality you can't even see where the ball is in the bunker and the instruction is not clear as to whether you load your weight heavy on the right foot or like most other instructors say, shift your weight to your left at address. I cannot tell whether there is a bump or not.
I am sure Don can find a practice bunker at his club and shoot a short video there.
I am starting to work on some
I am starting to work on some of the videos and their quality issues. The video was compressed years ago when broadband was not as fast as it is today. If you are watching the videos on demand, I would download the HD version to watch offline. We only broadcast the non-HD (SD) version for on-demand because of bandwidth costs.
Regarding the videos. Don does not have a course he can use for video near his home. You need permission from the course management to do that, plus it isn't something Don can do alone. Don shoots all of the daily videos alone without any assistance.
Bump, alignment and hybrid irons.
Thanks for this video!! When I hit, I was chastising myself for not doing the bump with a ball in play -- but only in dry practice without a ball. Now I know why. I have been doing it -- I just thought it was a bigger move, like the elderly Moe Norman left knee bend.
On alignment - same thing, I was going to tell you that I align right at the target and hit it, but going 10-30 yards away from it put the ball there! This video cleared that up too. Like you mentioned that you do this too, in my natural pre shot routine I look at the target and align myself to it while standing square with both eyes on it, then I NEVER look at it again having picked a spot on the ground to hit to. Your advice was for people looking at the target sideways at address.
Someone makes same size hybrid irons. I bought some because I like their inclusion in my bag. But my dilemma was having to hit them without taking a divot. The PPGS makes that a cinch and the hybrid irons are terrific in any rough and off the par 3 tees too!
Thanks again!
Leo
Purpose of the Bump
It seems that the bump simply moves the bottom of the swing arc from under the ball to just in front of the ball ... making the urge to hitt down on the ball unnecessary, no?
Deliberate Bumping
The only time that I use a deliberate bump now is when a steep downswing is required for hitting out of rough. There is no doubt that a deliberate bump can put some extra zip in the downswing, but I get much better results not using the bump as a downswing trigger, when hitting shots requiring more of a sweeping swing. Thinking about turning the sides of the chest in sequence, rather than the shoulders, gets me to a good impact position, with weight on the front foot, without having to think about doing a bump.
I think that it is too easy to make a "fake" shoulder turn during the backswing and follow through when thinking about the shoulders. It's hard to "fake" a chest turn. I focus on the turning of the left and right side of the chest, specifically the armpits.
The following link talks about using the left shoulder as a downswing trigger that will keep the head behind the ball at impact, rather than floating ahead and causing bad shots. I get the same result and feeling by actively turning the left armpit back and around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecTqi52lQ5o