June ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary

This month's articles:

LESSON TEE –
TIGER WOODS. SWEEP OUR 3-WOOD--Tiger’s comments for the 3-wood are appropriate for swing with any club in the bag.
SEE THE SHOT, THEN HIT IT—Tiger is describing a difficult and unusual shot. Your practice time will be better spent working on more common shots. However, his comment about imagination is a good one and applicable for all players and every shot.
TOM WATSON. HOLING A TOUGH CHIP—Practice pays.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM. MAKING SHORT PUTTS—The pushing drill can be interesting for very short (4 feet or less) distances. Remember, the putter head does not stay on the target line. It makes a circle.
BUTCH HARMON. PITCH FROM ROUGH—Accelerating the club through the ball is a characteristic of swing and should be expected for every shot.
JIM FLICK. PUTT YOUR CHIPS—This is a legitimate alternative to the conventional use of the club for chipping. If you are having problems chipping, this may provide some relief.
HANK HANEY. PLUMB PUTTING—Hank is a little off on this article. “…you’d want the putter head to stay away from that line.” In both the “yes” photo and the “no” photo the path of the putter makes it get closer to the line. The “no’ photo shows a path that gets to the line quicker. Take a pass on this instruction.
DAVID LEADBETER. PULL IN YOUR CHIN-- “If it feels a little awkward at first, it’s probably correct.” Huh? Read this article and ask what it’s definitive effect is on the movement of the club. Answer: None. Why bother?
ERNIE ELS. 10 MORE YARDS—I think if I had saved all the articles explaining how to get ten more yards, I would probably be able to hit it about 480 yards. So here we go. Look at the photo of the Big Easy. Which leg looks like he has thrown “it to the target”? I am not sure what “throwing your legs at the target” looks like, but his legs look pretty normal. He also mentions a “bigger shoulder turn”. It’s not the turn of the shoulders that give the club more time to accelerate but the length of the swing arc. Pass on this one.
THE NEW TOUR SWING—What’s new about this swing are new tilt body angles and new weight shifts. What’s old about this swing is its focus on the movements of the body and its disregard for the movement of the club (which of course is the single determinant for the flight of the ball). There is no reason to believe that these bodily gyrations will reliable deliver the club correctly to the ball.
MY SHORT GAME BASICS—This one you can judge for yourself. I found it puzzling. Stan is certainly a recognized expert regarding short game, but it appears the article’s writer did a poor job. The content is very disconnected and not thorough enough to use for instruction.
BREAKING 100/90/80/70
See your Full Game—Try this and see if it is useful. I could not find a value.
100—ok
90—ok
80—ok
70—ok