October ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary



This month's articles:

LESSON TEE –
Kenny Perry—Read the first paragraph. Disregard the rest. Kenny writes, “I know my clubhead speed is probably four to five miles per hour slower than it was in the 90’s….And today I’m about 15 yards longer….The technology has made a huge difference. Kenny sets up with the ball of the front foot. He does not shift his weight. Therefore his ball flight is always left to right. He should not change—he has adjusted his game accordingly. If he played the club in the center he would hit it straight.

Hit it high from the sand—trajectory is determined by club loft (not how you set your hands).

The long and short of the belly putter—Ok.

How to stop the chip flip—Rick’s idea is ok but it teaches us a different swing (and one that you can’t use for a longer ship). Instead it would be much better to fix the flip by instead making sure that both ends of the club are swinging forward. During the flip, the butt end of the club moves right with the head moves left.

Watch you hands—Ok.

Sweep uphill chips—The angle of the lie has nothing to do with sticking the club in the ground for the shot David is making in this article. Set your spine perpendicular to the lie of the ground and make your normal chipping motion. The ball flight will be higher because of the hill. You can compensate for this by choosing a lower lofter club.

The art of the layup—Ok.

Break up long putts—This is how a “curve putter” would make this putt. We teach straight putting. Choose a point to the side of the how (an alignment target) and putt to that point.

Jack’s 8 Basics—These are not Jack’s basics. Instead they are aspects of the swing which Jim Flick considers to be the transcendent characteristics of his swing. I like 1, 4, and 8.

3 steps to a better short game—
Short pitch…David is using a 60 degree wedge and opening the face. We don’t typically play on greens this fast. If you need an almost vertical launch on the ball then you have to go through the setup changes David describes. However, for 90 percent of the shot you make a 60 degree and your normal setup and swing will provide plenty of loft for shot shots.
Long Chip—Ok. (no need to open the stance)
Basic Pitch—Ok.

Tiger Tips—This is a very demanding drill. Remember it is for a three foot putt on a very fast green. It may appear that the putter head is traveling straight back and straight through because the stroke is so short.

Finding your swing hardware
100—I like the lines on the ground. A chalk line works easily and is less messy. Regarding setup, the center of your body belongs centered on the golf club.
Marking the V’s of your hand is a good visual. V’s should be pointing to your center.
Whoops. Regarding weight, keep it balanced.

90—Mark the back of your wedge to learn bounce. This only works if you have the club face open. Otherwise the paint mark will not be on the trailing edge of the bounce but will be in the middle.
Setup for putting is very important. The chalk line works well.
Regarding divots, don’t try to make them. Let them happen. They will be shallow, leaving some of the grass roots (unless you play off of bent grass fairways).
Putting on the yardstick is great (it has to be level).

80—Stay Afloat. Ok.
The swing plane dowels are tricky to setup correctly. Consult an expert or just swing the club over your right rotator cuff joint.

3 Bonus Scoring Tips. Ok.