Golf Digest Dec '05 Instruction Critique

Many golfers look to Golf Digest for information to help them play better. Unfortunately, the instructional information often appears contradictory but, more seriously, too often it is problematic. By wrong I mean that the words in the instruction don't match the picutres and that the instruction given cannot produce the results being sought. The objective of this blog is to provide a helpful perspective.

This month's articles:

GIVE YOURSELF ROOM. More and more, I like what Tiger is doing to his swing and how he is conceptualizing what he wants to do. If you would make a very slow backswing, you would see how your right and left forearms begin rotating the moment the backswing begins. On the forward swing they begin rotating in the opposite direction the momet the swing begins. Tiger used to have the sense of dropping the club linealy downward. Now he instead has a sense of the club swing circularly around him. Nice.

ELBOWS IN. David has a good point. You don't want to slice. But isn't that old news? If you try the "headcovers under the arms" drill, you'll find that you can still slice. Elbows in doesn't rule slicing out!

STAY SHARP. OK

LIGHTEN YOUR GRIP. GOOD

KEEP THE CLUB IN FRONT. First, this is about chipping and I can't imagine the player who would be making a small chip shot and would swing the club like the photo on the right (page 50). But, that aside, look at the two pictures. Now imgine that these are not photos of the backswing but instead are of the forward swing. It's anybody's guess as to where the ball on the right would go. Now let's consider the photo on the left. With the club "in front of the hands" as Hank suggests, the club is off-plane. From this position the player either has to quickly change the plane or hit it left. Bottom line, Hank's suggestion that swing plane is related to "an inconsistent bottom to your swing" doesn't hold water. Both the path and the plane can be faulty but the bottom of the swing's arc can reach bottom precisely at the ball. Not very helpful instruction for tight lies.

HOW TO KEEP IT LOW. Keeping it low can be useful. But let's keep it simple. The trajectory of the ball is merely a function of the loft of the club face. Want to keep it low? Use a lower trajectory club without any swing changes. Want any iron to travel lower? Play the ball further back in your stance without any swing changes (aim more to the left). Keep it simple.

FIVE KEYS FOR SOLID CONTACT. "Consistent ball-striking is about keeping your swing as simple as possible" (Butch got that one right). Unfortuately Butch did not get past the first KEY without throwing a curve. Notice the Step2 photo on page 100. You'll see that the shaft is leaning toward his left pocket. Set up with your own club with the shaft pointing at your left pocket. Then, while slowly moving the grip back to pointing at your belt buckle, notice how much you had the club de-lofted when it was leaning forward. In that forward position, the club face is likely delofted, aimed right, or both. On page 102 Butch suggests a "simple rule": Your weight should move in the same direction as the swing. If Butch would honor this rule I'd be very enthused. But he violates it right away. The club moves in a circular direction. Butch must be thinking that the swings direction is to the right because moves his weight laterally to his right on the back swing. With his weight shifted to his right, he is now out of position to make solid contact and must begin shifiting it forward hoping that his body arrives back in position at the very instant the club does (see his comment in the photo on payge 103). Very small margin for error. Avoid the imprecision created by weight shift. Keep your balance till after impact. In the final KEY, are Butch's hips level in the top photo on page 104? Nor should they be. Nor should yours.

WHAT'S KILLING YOUR SHORT GAME? OK

HOW I WENT 351 HOLES WITHOUT A THREE-PUTT. OK

BREAKING 100. OK

BREAKING 90. Opening the club face to achieve varying trajectories is probably the most difficult way to do it. When we open the club face we must know: how much to open it and how far left to aim. It's simpler to just change clubs--a sandwedge for a lot of loft, a six iron for very little.

Breaking 80. Ok

Breaking 70. Ok