December ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary


This month's articles:

LESSON TEE—First let me begin by saying, I’d trade my score for Chris’ any day on any course. He can get the ball to the target and that’s what the game is all about. However, Chris is a good example of being able to get the ball to the target, but not consciously understanding what he did to make that happen. This is true of many fine golfers. Not knowing what you do to make a good shot can keep you out of "paralysis by analysis. On the flip side, when you loose your swing (which happens to us all from time to time) the journey back to your game can take longer.

I could walk you through this article sentence by sentence, but we can make the point more quickly. First, on page 32 take a look the paragraph under the close up of Chris’ grip. Notice where he says that the weaker grip “helps me keep the club on plane.” A grip has not effect on your swing plane. Second, while the “V” on the left hand is turn slightly too much to the left, the right is turned too much to the right. This balances on the grip and does not make it weak. Now turn to page 34 and look at the single frame at the bottom of the page. It reads, “My weak grip keeps me from shutting the clubface on the backswing…”Look at the picture the clubface is shut. If it were not the grooves would be vertical.
Bottom Line: Good athletes in many sports are like Chris. They can make it happen, but do not understand the mechanics. Tiger is the exception. He can both make it happen and understands the mechanics correctly.

SOFTEN HANDS, SAVE SHOTS—Tiger’s suggestion is right on the mark. When you practice build a habit of holding the club no more tightly than is necessary to get the swing made. Regarding his description of the mechanics, while he describes starting the backswing with the shoulders, notice that he describes the forward swing as a matter of the arms.

CONTROL LONG EXPLOSION—Two points are important: 1)consider using a lower lofted club for longer bunker shots (this allows you to make a more gentle swing and the longer distance still allows the ball to get fairly high so it will settle quickly), 2)set the club square to the target line.

CUT IT FROM THE ROUGH. Ok, but don’t try it without gaining some familiarity with the shot in a practice session.

STREAMLINE YOUR SWING—Go to any pharmacy and you will find many devices and chemicals that can help you return to being healthy. The same is true for golf drills. But like the drug store, you don’t go in and buy items because they are helpful for someone. Don’t invest in this drill unless you KNOW that it targets an issue that you are continually having.

STAY LEVEL—Once you are at address the angle of the shoulders is set. You need do nothing more than keep your balance, make the backswing so the club travels over your right shoulder joint, and allow you body to respond to the clubs movement. Never make the shoulders turn—allow them to turn.

TRAIN YOUR EYES—Jim has this close to right. Nicklaus fully understood and fully utilized the informative and directive effects visualization have on the body’s movements. See the ball roll to the target and watch that mental movie while you are putting.

SHIFT YOUR WEIGHT—Turn back to page 46. What does Leadbetter say about this drill regarding balance—you want to maintain your balance. It will serve you well to consider the center of your swing as a balance point (the center is the point midway between your shoulder joints). When the balance moves the center of your swing moves. When that moves, sending the ball down the target line gets unlikely. Keep your balance. Weight shift is another way of saying swaying. Shifting your weight does little or nothing to make the swing faster but it does much to make your swing less effective in getting the ball to the target.

SQUARE YOUR SHOULDERS—Ok, but neither the elbow nor anything else needs to go “straight back” on the back swing. Everything moves circularly.

LEFT ELBOW FOLDS DOWN—This article is worthy of the teenager phrase, “Duh!”

THE 17-YARD SECRET—Wow, I wonder if the guys who have this kind of trajectory, worked on it or happened on it. The things this article wants you to perfect are extensive. My suggestion is to put this “secret” on hold until you can hit 5 out of 10 drives within a 17 yard circle. While distance is fun and important, ask yourself how many of your 6’s and 7’s are the result of not being able to hit it far enough. I think you’ll find the bogies, doubles, and triples are because of accuracy not distance.

LESSONS FROM LORD BYRON
Lesson 1: Powerful feet—I don’t get the “powerful” aspect but “working freely” is what Manuel would describe as allowing the body (including the feet) to respond to the swing.
Lesson 2: Playing the wind—Low shots are a good strategy for playing the wind. Changing ball position but not the swing is good thinking too.
Lesson 3: Lively legs—Like with the feet, the legs should be responsive. The colored drawing is a distortion from how Nelson’s legs worked.
Lesson 4: Byron’s Swing—Everyone’s body is different. Yours nor mine are Byron’s. Mimic the movement of his club—not his body.
Lesson 5: To the target—good.
Lesson 6: Square shoulders—and hips, and feet
Lesson 7: Eyes over ball—Scotty Cameron suggests you also try having the eyes slightly inside the target line.
Lesson 8: Keep your right arm free—ok
Lesson 9: Cut it from the sand—ok
Lesson 10: Firm left side—I don’t know about “firm” but the three sentences of related description look ok.
Lesson 11: Be careful. This looks less like Byron’s work than the editors. The quote from Byron is pretty good.

FIX YOUR YIPS FOREVER—One of Manuel’s mandates is “never argue with success.” If Hank is having success with his approach, that’s wonderful. Here is my take on the yips. First there are two kinds: neurological and psychological. Regarding neurological, think of Parkinson’s. Regarding psychological, think of fear of failure. For instances of the former, I am not familiar with any solutions other than pharmacological (medication). For instances of the latter, there are training regimens that can be very effective. I you know someone that has the yips, I’ll be happy to speak with them..

BREAKING 100|90|80

HOW TO MASTER THE PAR 3S AND PAR 5S—Don’t get a high score? I think that’s what Dave is saying. Ok.

BREAKING 100
GO FOR MORE LOFT—If you are a 100+ shooter this is a less pressurized strategy. However, many par 3s are designed with hazards in front so this strategy may not be available to you all the time.
TAKE THE EASY WAY ON—Ok.
HOW TO HIT THE BUMP-AND-RUN—Ok, except no need to play the ball back and lean forward.

BREAKING 90
KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS—Ok
Focus on the third shot—Ok
Go up one club—Ok
Back in play—Good
Aim for the center—Good
Loft is your friend—Ok

BREAKING 80
DANCE WITH YOUR PARTNER—Ok
USE THE RIGHT TOOLS—Good
BE LIKE TIGER—Ok
BE WARY OF SMALL GREENS—ok
RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT—Ok

BREAKING 70
PLAY SMARTLY AGGRESSIVE--Ok