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David Leadbetter's A Swing book

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c.a.eleric said:
funny to see this thread bumped. was watching lpga and they showed Lydia Ko. I thought, "hmmm, looks like leadbetter's a swing." not sure why I've never noticed it before. googled it and found an article where leadbetter is defending the change and showing some before and after video.

it definitely looks different, but it's hard to argue with her results.


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I've been reading and watching leadbetter and he mentions Lydia and some other pros he works with who have incorporated parts of the a swing without switching fully to it. His thoughts are for those with good synchronization in the swing that are looking for something then don't go full a swing but see if there is anything that can help, but if you have sync issues consider making the change.
 
I've seen some real positives just by implementing the A-swing grip.
 
Been playing bad all year a lot of bad hooks.
Decided to read this again last night and tried to put itinto practice today.
Oddly only had 3 left misses all day and if anything started hitting some fades at times too which was unexpected.
I went to simulator at nearby golf shop and I can tell you compared to the day before my driver swing speed up 4 -5mph ball speeds as much as 7-8mph. This in spite of some fades too.
I am going to commit to it as my driving and fw was much better today. irons were still an adjustment.
 
The thing I love about the A swing is the idea that you can't overdo the feels Leadbetter teaches. That's such a huge benefit to his approach. I incorporated his grip and some of his ideas which was a great jumping off point for the coach I'm working with now. I highly recommend buying his video series as it covers the book material but also gives you a lot more visuals to learn from.
 
Played again today 2nd round focusing on this swing. Only had 2 bad drives the whole round and only 2 snap hooks the whole round. Messed up a few holes as inserted to have gained a club of distance. Caused me to overshoot 3 greens leaving me in tight recovery spots. Also hit 5 wood on one dog leg that has always left me short of a fairway bunker with an 8 iron approach. Today same 5 wood had me fly the bunker and end up having to hit out of trees making double.

So far contact and distance is better. Still having slight pulls and pushes but things are tightening up.

Think with some practice this will be the swing to keep. Feels low maintenance. If I pivot right then c0ck up the club I feel I can just turn through and the ball takes off.
I am no longer worried about how to take it back and the downswing feels effortless
 
Wanted to bump this as I really like the A swing. I worked with two instructors at the Leadbetter academy when I was playing college golf and a lot of the same concepts he has been teaching for 15 plus years. Early wrist set, turn the chest to the top, get the club shallowed coming down and fire through. Check out Charles Howell's old swings from 2008.
 
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Not sure if the A swing is for me but my first instructor was a short, stocky, chain smoking Lee Marvin look alike with a Prince Valiant haircut named Bob who used Leadbetter's and Faldo's teachings as a template. Early wrist set and complete the swing with the shoulders. Every time I feel I lose my way I focus on those two keys and my swing usually finds its way back to me.
 
My instructor mentioned in passing something about the moves / positions he's asking me to get in are like Ledbetter's A swing. I shrugged, had never heard of it. I've made my way through the thread and watched a couple of his videos...yep, I'm being asked to do a lot of this. It's been a mixed bag for me so far, better when I had more time to practice and regression now that time has become tighter.
 
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tequila4kapp said:
My instructor mentioned in passing that something about the moves / positions he's asking me to get in are like Ledbetter's A swing. I shrugged, had never heard of it. I've made my way through the thread and watched a couple of his videos...yep, I'm being asked to do a lot of this. It's been a mixed bag for me so far, better when I had more time to practice and regression now that time has become tighter.
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buy the book. He has drills to work on that takes 7 mins a day and recommends doing them 3x/week to help engrain them.
 
Anyone still using this swing, or some variation of it? I was killing time on the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and a few of these popped up so I watched and was interested. There's a lot in this swing that my pro's had me working on, like the weaker right hand grip and the shorter more connected backswing. I just reserved the book at the library to check it out.
 
russtopher said:
Anyone still using this swing, or some variation of it? I was killing time on the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and a few of these popped up so I watched and was interested. There's a lot in this swing that my pro's had me working on, like the weaker right hand grip and the shorter more connected backswing. I just reserved the book at the library to check it out.
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I'm still using it. Not playing a lot of golf right now due to weather, but have been practicing the drills in the book.
 
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bobgeorge said:
I'm still using it. Not playing a lot of golf right now due to weather, but have bee practicing the drills in the book.
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Yeah I figured this time of year might influence responses I'm always looking to improve in my winter down time and this peaked my interest based on what I've been working on the past season or so.


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I have the Hardback Book with Dust Cover that I could be convinced to sell cheap if someone is so inclined to PM me.
 
russtopher said:
Yeah I figured this time of year might influence responses I'm always looking to improve in my winter down time and this peaked my interest based on what I've been working on the past season or so.


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The good thing about the A swing is you can incorporate all of it or some of it depending on what you need.
 
markm778 said:
I have the Hardback Book with Dust Cover that I could be convinced to sell cheap if someone is so inclined to PM me.
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I may take you up on that after I give a quick read to the one that's headed my way from the library.

I've watched a bunch of videos and have been trying the backswing & grip indoors. I have NO IDEA if I'm doing it properly, but I've been incorporating that into what I normally work on from lessons (turn into right thigh on backswing, turning not swaying, feel like hands get no more than waist high to stop my overswing). I hit some foam balls in the garage and they felt good, and swinging inside on carpet shows my low point a good 2-3" ahead of where it usually is with my "normal" swing.

I'll have to book some sim time to try it out after I work on things some more.
 
Still using the A swing when I get the chance to play or practice. I can say with 100% certainty that this swing is the least mechanical for me to adjust to AND I've never hit more smoothly. Not to say that anything else can't meet this standard as I know better but this has been a less stressful transition with better results.
 
So I got the book from the library and gave it a good read. Dry boring beginning but once it got to the meat of the swing, it made a lot of sense. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, a lot of the swing has components I've been working on since getting a few lessons last year. And the "prayer" grip is definitely something I need to continue to work on, my right hand has the tendency to get under the grip and cause a mess.

I've been going through the 7 minute exercises every day, and I'm noticing some soreness in my lower back - most likely because this swing is forcing me to use my core, which I've never really done. My biggest issue in the past has been using my arms only, which had lead to slow swing speeds and lots of fades/slices.

I'm going to continue to do the exercises in the book and hopefully get on a sim soon to see what types of distances/shot shapes I see. One thing that really resonated with me was Leadbetter repeatedly saying in some videos that he encourages whacking the ball with the right hand/right side - I've always been a hitter, not a swinger.
 
Minor update. I chatted with my "pro" about this swing - he's a former head pro & mini tour player who moved into tech sales about 7-8 years ago when he realized he couldn't afford kids on a club pro's salary; he's been nice enough to give me a few lessons every summer in exchange for me helping him with his clients. He was familiar with the A Swing, and agreed that a lot of the aspects of the swing mirror what we've worked on, and he's a big DL fan. He cautioned about the steep to shallow and wanted me to make sure I was concentrating on a smooth transition with my weight, which has always been an issue for me.

After doing the 7-minute exercises every other day for the past two weeks, the swing is starting to feel more natural for me. I hit foam balls again in the garage tonight, and it just feels like I have so much power & speed that I've been lacking in my game since I started playing seriously a few years ago. I did notice that all of my shots were starting right, so I'm not sure if they're just flat out pushes, or the beginnings of a push draw. As a habitual puller/power fader, seeing everything start right was weird for me.

I hope to get on a sim in the next few weeks to see what semi-real ballflight might look like, I'm interested to see how that'll work out. I'm sure that I probably have a long way to go still, but on the good side, most ranges up by me will be opening within the next 2-3 weeks thankfully. Even if that means hitting off of mats, it's better than nothing.
 
So update - I never went to this swing, and stuck with what I've been building the past few years (mostly Sam Goulden's S2S swing with input from a local instructor).

However... I did keep the prayer grip that Led emphasizes in the book. And let me tell you - so far I have yet to hit a single snap hook with my driver or hybrids. In fact, hybrids have never been better for me. For that fact alone, I'm thankful for this thread and the time I spent with the book and videos.
 
russtopher said:
So update - I never went to this swing, and stuck with what I've been building the past few years (mostly Sam Goulden's S2S swing with input from a local instructor).

However... I did keep the prayer grip that Led emphasizes in the book. And let me tell you - so far I have yet to hit a single snap hook with my driver or hybrids. In fact, hybrids have never been better for me. For that fact alone, I'm thankful for this thread and the time I spent with the book and videos.
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It's one of the good things about reading the book is he galls about not having to incorporate everything from the swing to find success. Find the part(s) you are struggling with and put them in play
 
I have messed around with the "A" swing and had some success. I like the presetting of the wrists. The challenge with any swing is dropping it in the slot on plane. I believe this technique can work for a lot of golfers who have the classic slice swing.
 
russtopher said:
I may take you up on that after I give a quick read to the one that's headed my way from the library.

I've watched a bunch of videos and have been trying the backswing & grip indoors. I have NO IDEA if I'm doing it properly, but I've been incorporating that into what I normally work on from lessons (turn into right thigh on backswing, turning not swaying, feel like hands get no more than waist high to stop my overswing). I hit some foam balls in the garage and they felt good, and swinging inside on carpet shows my low point a good 2-3" ahead of where it usually is with my "normal" swing.

I'll have to book some sim time to try it out after I work on things some more.
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Lead and his coaches in Orlando have 1-on-1 personal online coaching too, really helps continue the progress made with the book.
davidleadbetter.com/the-a-swing/a-swing-online-coaching/personal-online-coaching/
 
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