September ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary



This month's articles:

LESSON TEE –SERGIO GARCIA. As you might imagine I think this article is very valuable. In Sergio’s words, “If you can focus like this (i.e. focus on the target), your body has a way of producing the swing you need to get the ball to the target.” There is no better way to inform your body of what you want it to do than to hold a mental picture of the ball traveling to and stopping at the target while the swing is occurring.

FADE FOR ACCURACY. Sergios’s technique for creating the fade is ok. Note the last paragraph in the article. Bottom line: we change our setup for specialty shots but we never change our swing.

SWING. As Rob comments, the swing is looking more conventional. You’ll notice that at address he has the club head near the center of his stance but has the shaft leaning forward which delofts the club face. At the 9 o’clock postion you can see that the grooves are not vertical. Otherwise, looks very de la Torre to me.
By the way Rob makes one other very insightful observations. He says the swing looks more conventional but is not sure it works better. Too often, tour players are coached to learn a “better swing” rather than learning how to make “their swing” more consistently.

TIGER TIPS – CONTROL YOUR CURVES. When you read this article, remember Sergio’s article on fading. You’ll see Tiger describing changes in his setup but in that last line you’ll see that there are no changes in his swing.

ACCELERATE ON PITCHES. Any time you swing the club you accelerate through the ball.

WATSON’S SHORTCUTS. Ok.

SWING 6 TO GET YOUR TEMPO BACK. Sometimes you’ll find better players describe their speed as 80% (Els) sometimes 60% (Sorentsam). Who knows what 80, 70, or 60 really means? One thing that is consistent is that every good player knows that their best shots happen with less than their greatest effort. Here is the reason. When you walk, there are certain muscles that are used and others that are not. The same is true for golf. If we try to put more effort in to a swing we begin calling into play additional muscles—ones that are not used in our best swings. We will feel more effort but will have our body doing things that diminish our effectiveness.

BUTCH’S BASICS—HOW TO BEAT YOUR NERVES. Ok. I think the best way is to control your attention and keep it on the shot at hand. When your attention is on the shot it can’t be on those things that make you fearful.

FLICK’S MASTER TIPS—ELIMINATE ONE SIDE. Ok—sort of. If your swing produces a very consistent fade or draw this is ok. If you are hooking or slicing this article is not for you.

HANK HANEY—HEAVY DUTY. Ok
IS IT YOUR STROKE? Ok. Alignment is not the key element. It is one of two: distance and direction.

RICK’S PRACTICE TIPS. Turn the page quick. Rick had a mental melt down on this one. This instruction adds complexity to your swing for no good reason.

LEADBETTERS LESSONS.—TRY THE TWO-STEP CHIP. David, we have one word for you, “club”. Fixing the feet will not necessarily fix the path of the club. Learn the path for your swing not the two-step.

MILLER TALKS GOLF.—9 WOOD. Why is precise contact with a 9 wood more difficult than precise contact with a 7 iron, or sand wedge, or driver? It’s not. Johnny’s description of the recommended 4 iron swing looks like the right prescription for any club.

TEE HEIGHT. Ok—except don’t , “HIT DOWN SLIGHTLY…”

THE SLOT SWING. First, there is not a swing slot. There are are an infinite number of swing slots. While golfers may teach themselves to swing on any number of planes, when you set the club at address the swing plane and the “swing slot are set”. With any given club, a taller person will have a steeper plane than a shorter person.
Regarding one plane for the back swing and a different one for the forward swing, try this with tossing. Swing your arm back on a plane other than the one you want to use for the forward swing. You can do it. But it is more difficult and unnecessary.
The swing plane for the back swing is the same for the forward swing. Six o’clock at address, then to seven, then eight, then nine (club is parallel to ground and parallel to the target line), then over your right shoulder joint. The forward swing retraces that path. Keep it simple and you’ll keep the ball in the fairway.

BREAKING 100 | 90 | 80

ROLL IT WHEN YOU CAN. Absolutely!

THE ANGLE THAT MATTERS MOST. Poor Stan has fallen victim to “body-mania”. Its not the angle of the wrist, it’s the movement of the club. Swing the club and you don’t get the scoops, blades, or chunks.

MASTER THE PITCH-AND-RUN. Stan makes a lot of money and is very hot these days. However, he doesn’t know a weight-shift from a pivot. Pivot is a circular movement—that’s not what he is doing in step 3. Look at how far forward he has shifted his weight.
Then he uses the old phrase, “squeeze the ball”. YOU CAN’T PHYICALLY DO THIS!!! If you haven’t tired this, then immediately go get a wedge, put a ball on the rug, and try to squeeze the ball between the blade and the rug.
Finally, behind Stan in photo 3 is a photo labled “NO”, but there is no reason why not (because there is no reason-the photo should be labled “FINE”).

LET THE CLUB GO INSIDE. Stan is regurgitating some of the worn out, and wrong info that is so frequently handed out. Once the club passes the 8 o’clock position on the back swing, it is very difficult to sense that the club is either on or off the target line. At 9 o’clock the shaft does not “point at the target line.”

STICK IT FROM THE SAND. Here we go again. More “special things” we need to do with the club to get the ball out of a bunker. Why??? There is no reason the club cannot be swung just like any chip shot with the only change being in our set up.
Also, this instruction is a good example of where the words don’t match the illustrations. Read the last sentence in the article. It begins, “Don’t move the grip end far from the center of your body…” Now look at the YES photo. Isn’t the grip end of the club about as far away from the center of his body as you can get it?

DIAL IT IN WITH YOUR SCORING CLUBS. Before you take Stan’s advice, do this. Go outside with a handful of golf balls (no club) and toss them to a target. When you are tossing are you looking at the landing area or the target? You’ll find it always works best when we look at the target. When you are making a partial swing, have the target in your mind—not the landing area.

AVOIDING TROUBLE LEFT. Three good ideas.