TaylorMade Rescue 11

  Everyone knows that a golf club, for the most part, is a straight shaft and the shaft is connected to the club head at the hosel. Club heads are designed so that when the sole (bottom) of the club is placed square to the ground the grip end of the shaft leans toward the target and the club head is behind it. When the TaylorMade Rescue 11 is set down like this the level of loft on the clubface is as the designer intended. By allowing the TaylorMade Rescue 11 to have its naturally designed forward target side lean at the address point we are using the design rather than fighting it. I call this Design Rule #1.

  How often do you see players at address with the shaft positioned at right angles to the ground or even pointing backwards? Too often. With their hands in this position the loft now being presented to the ball is much higher than what is stamped on the TaylorMade Rescue 11, in other words a 5 iron is now a 7 iron.

  For all right handed players, the left hand holds the grip of the club at the top of the shaft. Few of us probably think about where our left hand actually locates itself naturally and so we end up with our hand holding the TaylorMade Rescue 11 shaft vertically somewhere around our zippers.

  Figure 3 shows how my arms hang naturally by my sides standing up. Figure 4 shows where they hang as I tilt forward into a golfing posture at set-up and Figure 5 shows this same position from a target line view. Note I am not putting my arms in this position; they naturally fall this way once I lean forward. Where they hang from person to person will vary. This is Design Rule #2.

                             

  If trying this at home or in the office lean forward, find where your arms hang naturally and give yourself a reference point on your thigh or trousers so you can look down and see that your hands are in the same place more often than not. Also note how far away your hands are from your body as we do not wish to either stretch outward or pull inwards from this point as we set up or swing.

  Note too that I have a straight back. As I tilt forward I do not hunch over or round my shoulders, my spine stays straight. As we swing the TaylorMade Rescue 11 we pivot around our spine so the fewer curves in our spine at setup the easier this is.