tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196322302024-03-18T21:49:58.514-05:00Golf Digest Instruction CommentaryMany golfers look to Golf Digest for information to help them play better. Unfortunately, too often the instructional information often appears contradictory and, more seriously, too often it is problematic. By problematic, we mean that the words in the instruction don't match the pictures and that the instruction given may not produce the results being sought. The objective of this blog is to alert players to such instruction.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-86842165441480617002013-01-24T09:01:00.001-06:002013-01-24T09:02:16.664-06:00Thanks for visiting Golf Digest Instruction. In our efforts to
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<br />GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-41158058418917464562008-09-23T11:35:00.002-05:002008-09-23T11:39:26.567-05:00October 2008 Golf DigestLESSON TEE—Body, body, body. A lot of talk about body by Randy Smith. But read Justin’s comments on page 33 and you’ll see he targets grip and setup. That make’s sense.<br /><br />BELT BUCKLE TO THE TARGET—Let the body respond to the swing and that’s what you’ll get. Tiger presents it as an action that you initiate. Instead think of it as an action that is in response to the swing.<br /><br />THE FLOP SHOT—Step 1 is fine. Then just make your normal swing.<br /><br />FIX YOUR DRIVER MISS—If your miss is the result of off-center contact, the fix is simple. Practice retracing your backswing with your forward swing. The club started set up correctly on the ball, so just retrace.<br /> <br />KEEP YOUR BUTTONS MOVING— Allow your body to respond to the swing.<br /><br />RIGHT KNEE POWER KEY—If your problem is that you hang back on your right foot too long (as Tom describes). The solution is to not do that. Get balanced at address and stay balanced until the forward swing of the club passing the address position pulls you forward.<br /><br />SPLIT YOUR HANDS—Unless you are a veteran hockey player, take a pass on this.<br /><br />GET YOUR STROKE BACK—I’ll take Rick’s word for it. I don’t see how this will fix anything, but it can’t hurt.<br /><br />HOW GOOD CAN YOU GET—Hank asks some good questions for the player who is ready to look beyond their swing for score improvement. Regarding driving, if you are not sure you can keep your drive from costing you a penalty, widen your landing area to include the rough on the opposite side of the fairway from the hazard. Regarding approach shots realize there is a difference between “distance” and “effective distance”. Regarding chipping, don’t let you interest in precision promote rigidity in your body. And regarding putting, its not distance vs. direction. We need both—while you are putting be visualizing the ball rolling and stopping at your target.<br /><br />10 RULES—Dave is from an era when psychological principles had not yet been clearly adapted to the game. Dave’s first rule illustrates this. What Dave means to say is that golfers perform on two levels. Our conscious mind should be focused on “what we want” allowing our unconscious mind to mange “how we do it”. Rule 2: read the first sentence and disregard the rest. Rule 3: I wish I was the player that Dave was. That notwithstanding his logic is off. Trust your read. If it looks straight, play it straight. Rule 4: Great. Rule 5: Good. Rule 6: Muscles respond to thoughts. No thoughts no movement. Have a clear mental picture of the ball rolling to and stopping at your target. Rule 7: Good. Rule 8: While this is logical, it is impractical. Imagine a spot one inch in front of the ball. If the ball rolls 1/8 of an inch to the right of that spot when making a 10 foot putt the ball will miss the cup by 2 inches. Rule 9: Good. Rule 10: Good.<br /><br />HOW TO NAIL THE 4,5, & 6—Pablum.<br /><br />THE FEEL OF A GOOD SHOT—Words from the king—if they help you, good for you.<br /><br />THE PATH TO STRAIGHTER SHOTS—Ok, but not practical to use.<br /><br />100/90/80<br /><br />THE FORGOTTEN FAIRWAY WOODS—Amen.<br /><br />Breaking 100<br /><br />MATCH THE SLOPE ON UNEVEN LIES—When the hill is not too steep this is the correct strategy.<br /><br />Breaking 90<br />WHEN TO SELECT A WOOD OVER A HYBRID—A high lofted wood is just as easy to use for heavier rough as is a hybrid. If its really heavy, don’t delude yourself—use a pitching wedge.<br />WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN YOUR SETUP—Good.<br /> <br />Breaking 80<br />LEARN TO HIT THE TOUR’S LAUNCHER SHOT—Disregard.<br /><br />MASTER THE LONG PAR 3 WITH WOODS—Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-85912234215653882612008-07-16T13:09:00.000-05:002008-07-16T13:10:24.495-05:00August 2008 Golf DigestLESSON TEE—This article is a good lesson in the title saying one thing and the contents saying another. Lorena says “All the power in my golf swing comes from my hips and legs.” She then goes on to say, “I can keep all the energy I have in my upper body to release at the ball.” The speed in your arms is 99% of the speed of the club.<br />In the photos, you are seeing a swing that is very functional (produces good shots) but not optimal. The club swings outside and above the swing plane on the backswing and then looped so it can be returned on the swing plane on the forward swing. Additionally, at the top of the swing the club is pointing to the right of target. Lorena’s trademark head movement in frame 5 is not optimal either. The key to winning is to have a swing that can produce predictable ball flight and that is repeatable—her’s does.<br /><br />MY CHIPPING BASICS—Maintaining the address-position wrist angles—critical. Playing the ball back in your stance—unnecessary. Keep the back swing short—then its not a swing. (P.S. Yes, Tiger is the best player in the world. Yes, this work’s terrific for him. Would this be the preferable direction for you to develop your chipping—not really.)<br /><br />THE BASIC SPLASH OUT—Step 1-ok. Step 2-no. Never have the idea of swinging down. Step 3-ok.<br /><br />MAKE MORE THREE-FOOTERS—First, if you ever are consider using a “straight back, straight through” idea for putting, tape a pencil to the end of the shaft and see how good you are at drawing a straight line to the target. You’ll be terrible. Second, no club swings inside on the backswing and inside after impact. Learn the difference between focusing on the path of the clubhead and focusing on the direction of the swing.<br /><br />GET BACK TO SQUARE—In the photo Hank is setup with a driver. Presumably the target is over 200 yards away. During a full swing Hank can tell if the logo on his golf glove is pointing down the target line? I don’t think so. Look at the photo and ask yourself if the logo is pointing to the target line (target lines are down on the ground). Sorry Hank, what you may have meant is not what you said or are demonstrating.<br /><br />HOW TO HIT ANY WEDGE SHOT—Do you think Butch has his students carry three different putters (one for short, one for medium and one for long putts)? Or, do you think he expects them to be able to simply vary the size of their swing to fit the shot? Why should it be any different with wedges?<br /><br />GIVE YOUR PUTTS A BREAK—Ok.<br /><br />USE THE 14 CLUB RULE—Ok.<br /><br />ADD 42 YARDS NOW—Let’s begin with the question, “Could Tiger use this to get an extra 42 yards?” Of course not. The first point is that this will not be useful for everyone. <br />--The second point is that thinking of the swing as in-to-out can result it a very confused mind a misshapened swing. I would instead think of the swing as having a direction toward the target. <br />--Regarding Rick’s description of swaying, I can’t imagine anything that is more compatible with Manuel’s teachings. <br />--Regarding turning, it is the result of how far back you are comfortably able to swing the club. Think of the swing causing you to turn instead of the turn creating the swing. <br />--Regarding space, don’t try to keep the hands away from you. Instead, don’t try to unnecessarily bring them towards you. <br />--Regarding hanging back, allow the forward swing to shift your weight to your right foot.<br />--Regarding casting, the hands are for holding the club. The unhinge on the forward swing due solely to the centrifugal force of the swing.<br />--Regarding tapping, take a close look at the clubface in the photo marked with the “Y” (for Yes). Notice that the club face is out-of-square and looking far off to the right. No one would be in this position at impact.<br />--Regarding releasing—there is no release in the golf swing. The “N” photo is an example of a player using their hands (i.e. hand-action).<br /><br />100/90/80<br /><br />Breaking 100<br />HOLD THE BALLONS—looks good but guarantees little<br /><br />POINT THE CLUB—you don’t need to extend the finger—just swing so the club winds up pointing at the target.<br /><br />ROTATE—Ok.<br /><br />FINISH—Good.<br /><br />Breaking 80<br />CLIP THE TEES—don’t be mislead to think there is a “flat spot” at the bottom of your swing.<br /><br />TRAJECTORY—Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-81723434543498679792008-06-17T20:48:00.000-05:002008-06-17T20:49:41.951-05:00July 2008July ’08 Golf Digest Magazine<br /><br />LESSON TEE—Trevor Immelman’s swing is perhaps the most symmetrical on the backswing and the return of the club to the ball. Good balance.<br /><br />A MATTER OF BALANCE—Tiger is unequivocal when he says, “One of the least discussed but most important elements of the full swing [really any swing] is balance. When you shift your weight, the club will not be square when contact is made.<br /><br />KEEP IT SMOOTH—A swinging object accelerates at a constant rate and then decelerates at a constant rate—a swing is smooth. If it ain’t smooth it ain’t a swing. If it is not a swing don’t expect to get the speed and consistency that a swing always delivers.<br /><br />KEEPING YOUR TEMPO—Ditto from above.<br /> <br />MASTER THESE TWO CHIPS—When the ball is high in the grass, raise your center (sternum) so that the bottom of your arc meets the ball. When the ball is down study the grass. You may need to play the ball back in your stance if the grass behind the ball is thick. Go with a very lofted club to improve your odds of escaping the rough. Disregard Butch’s comments about the legs.<br /> <br />MILK DOES A GOLF SWING GOOD—Oops! Disregard.<br /><br />AIM CORRECTLY—NOT RIGHT—Ok.<br /> <br />LET YOUR HANDS WORK TOGETHER—Since when is neutral other than neutral? V’s to the right is strong. V’s to the left is weak. So where should neutral be? Yep, pointed at your center. And yes, keep the grip pressure the same throughout the swing (write me if you want to know why).<br /> <br />DON’T FLIP IT—Ok except for the last page. The left arm does not lead. If it does you’ll have to shut the club face to keep the ball from going to the right. Both arms swing together.<br /><br />THE ONE LCUB YOU NEED—Ok.<br /> <br />BURNED TO A CRISP—Use suncreen—at least SPF 45.<br /> <br />ONE SIMPLE CHANGE TO HOLE MORE PUTTS—Try it. It’s not magic. Maybe it will help some.<br /><br />HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY PUTTS—Ok.<br />TURN YOUR SHOULDER, SWING YOUR ARMS—The movement of the body can be described many ways. It is more useful to think of the hands swinging the club back, the arms swinging it forward, and the body responding accordingly to both.<br /><br />BREAKING 100 / 90 / 80—Disregard.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-13666456002627183482008-05-22T18:08:00.000-05:002008-05-22T18:09:15.490-05:00June 2008 Golf DigestThis month's articles<br /><br />-Lesson Tee—K.J is so smooth in his rhythm and well balanced during his swing. The primary thing you should note in his coach’s instruction is that K.J is creating the “power fade” as a result of a swing change and not a setup change. While this is can be done with much daily practice, this is a high maintenance way to adjust ball flight. Much better would be to create the “power fade” through a setup change such as playing the ball slightly back in your stance.<br /><br />-My New Stinger—Again notice that Tiger creates this ball flight by a swing change. This ball flight could also be created by closing the clubface slightly before you take your grip.<br /><br />Trigger the Trap—Timing, timing, timing, too high maintenance. By the way, trapping the ball is a misnomer. You cannot trap the ball between the clubface and the turf unless you contact the all above the equator—and then it would never get airborne.<br /><br />Open Mouth, Lose Tension—This could work for some players. What will work for every player is to put their attention on attempting to make the club move in a swinging motion (which is smooth and rhythmic) as opposed to attempting to make the club face crash into the ball.<br /><br />Against the Grain—Ok.<br /><br />How to Tame Your 3-Wood—Become “club blind”. Allow yourself the benefit of knowing that the swing is the same for all clubs. If you are thinking about the club you aren’t thinking about the swing.<br /><br />How I Track My Stats—Ok.<br /><br />Learn the Bumb-And-Run—So what is the difference between a “bump-and-run” and a chip shot? Nothing. Whether a lofted trajectory is desired or a low trajectory, the setup and swing are the same. The loft of the club determines the flight.<br /><br />Get On The Ball—The key here is to learn to keep your balance during the swing. If the ball helps (and I doubt it will), fine.<br /><br />The Importance of Speed—How long does a putt have to be when you want to lag it? Or, put another way how long does a putt have to be to keep you from trying to make it? Don’t lag putts, try to make them all. Statistically, if a putt is in the 20-25 foot range, a very good putt ends within 3 feet. <br /><br />3 Steps to Fix Your Tee Shot—Since when is the fix for a slice a draw? And if that is a fix, why on the next page do they offer a fade fix for a hook? This is foolish. The fix is to hit the ball straight.<br /><br />Breaking 100/90/80<br /><br />Sand Solutions—OKGolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-83650896983875094612008-01-10T13:42:00.000-06:002008-01-10T13:43:45.453-06:00February ‘08 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary This month's articles<br /><br />-LESSON TEE—I like some of the ways Suzann thinks about her swing. I don’t like the idea of creating resistance or tension. While it is technically correct it is not a helpful way to think about the swing. Think of ease, flow, and speed—not resistance and tension. I do like “I can swing down [forward] freely” and “keep my weight still [balanced]. In frame #4 Suzann does a good job of maintaining her balance. Like many players her swing is more complicated than it need be. In frame #2 you can see that her backswing is off the swing plane so that in frame #5 she needs to reroute the club so it is back on plane. The other thing that will help her is to recognize that she is moving her head and torso away from the target has he swings forward (see frame #6). However, if I was working with her I wouldn’t make changes unless I saw they were creating a problem. The golden rule is if a player is winning and has a swing with which they can control the ball—make no changes.<br /><br />PITCH IT LOW-OR HIGH—Jim has many great stories from yesterday’s great players. I would suggest that it is not the pressure of the grip that changes the trajectory but the position of the club at impact. When the hands lead the club head the club will be delofted and the trajectory is lower.<br /><br />TOUGHEST PUTT IN GOLF—Ok.<br /><br />FIX A SLICE? Tee it higher—There are 19 ways to slice a golf ball. If your slice matches David’s description, this MIGHT be of some help. The key is changing the swing so that it does not create slice spin.<br /><br />HITTING PURE IRON SHOTS—I love Annika’s game. Skip this article.<br /><br />THE NO-FEAR PITCH—Ok, except if your mind is on the green it cannot be on the mechanics. Further, don’t hit down. You want the ball to go forward so have you intention be to swing forward. Finally, with regard to a divot, look at the size of the divot relative to the ball. I would not be surprised if this shot does not make it to the water.<br /><br />TRAIN YOUR BRAIN FOR FEEL—Ask yourself this question, “With your eyes closed do you know what a 23 foot putt feels like versus a 19 foot putt?” Probably not. Golfers don’t have to putt with their eyes closed. The rules allow you to leave them open. Putt by visualizing. Look at the hole and while you are putting visualize the ball rolling to the hole. Let your brain learn how to move your muscles in response to your imagery. Feel is a poor second choice.<br /><br />MY GUIDE TO BEATING THE SHORT SIDE—Let’s first get the one message that Nick gives us for each of the four situations: “GET IT TO OR PAST THE HOLE!” The most common problem with being short sided is leaving the ball short. It is what most of us dread and therefore is what is so easy to have on our mind. Control your thoughts. Visualize the ball landing at the flagstick. Unless your short game is really on, get the ball on the green for a possible one putt not for a gimme.<br /><br />HIT IT SOLID—Mike leaves me in the dark when he says that by turning my left hand to the right squares my shoulders. I don’t know about Mike, but my left hand turns independent of my shoulders. His ball setup description is also puzzling. “The Move” Mike describes on the forward swing is also puzzling. If we do not need to raise our right shoulder and move our hips to the left to move the club from the ball to the end of the backswing, why do we need to lower the right shoulder, lean to the right, and move the hips to the left in order to return the club to the ball? The reverse-C finish is finished. Take a look at Suzann Petersen’s finish on page 36—no reverse-c.<br /><br />MY BUNKER BLAST—OK. I think you’ll find equally satisfactory results without making the backswing more vertical than normal.<br /><br />Breaking 100<br />CAST YOUR LEG IN PLACE AT THE TOP—Ok.<br />GRIP THE GRASS WITH YOUR FEET—Ok.<br />SWING LIKE YOUR SLAMMING YOUR CAR DOOR—Ok.<br /><br />Breaking 90 Randy seems to imply that its more about distance than direction—don’t get sucker-punched. Direction first, distance second!!<br /><br />POINT THE CREASE AT IMPACT FOR MAXIMUM SPEED—Point the crease at the ball during impact?? That is three ten thousandths of a second in duration. Release is nothing more than the continuous unhinging of the wrists which begins at the top of the backswing. By the time the club reaches about seven o’clock the wrists are fully unhinged and back to the position they were at address. The wrists maintain that position until after impact when the club passes 3 o’clock.<br /><br />MORE EFFORT EQUALS CROOKED TEE SHOTS—Randy has this a little mixed up. A bigger swing (i.e. longer arc) gives the club more time to accelerate. However, a “harder” swing means using extra muscles—non-golf swing muscles. This gets the body to do things that get in the way of your normal good swing. Bigger does not mean more effort. More effort means more effort and that can produce crooked tee shots.<br /><br />Breaking 80 I agree with Randy. If you can produce consistent ball flight (left, right, high or low) you can put some good numbers on the card.<br /><br />TURN THE TRIANGLE TO CREATE POWER—Randy’s use of the triangle imagery is novel but triangles don’t hit golf balls—clubs do. The best imagery is of the club performing correctly.<br /><br />SWING FROM A GOOD FINISH—Ok.<br /><br />TURN THE WHEEL TO HIT A DRAW—This is dangerous. Don’t change your swing to hit a draw. Change your setup in a way that allows you to swing normally but produce a draw.<br /><br />BREAKING 70—Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-15551851858000586282007-12-12T17:17:00.000-06:002007-12-12T17:20:28.650-06:00January ‘08 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary This month's articles<br /><br />-LESSON TEE—Three things to observe in Colt’s swing. First, he plays the ball forward in his stance. This will necessitate that he sway forward (see photo 6) in order to get the club shaft and face square at impact. Second, although he is flat on the back swing (3) he reroutes the club on the forward swing (5) moving it along a path that is aligned with his target. Third is that he finishes (as you all have been taught to do) up on the right toe and with the club hanging over his left shoulder.<br /><br />WIND UP FOR MORE POWER—David begins by saying, “…you have to do more than just turn your shoulders and hips.” But what does the “pull for power” drill do more than just turn your hips? Nothing. Be clear about this: Focus on swinging the club over your right shoulder. When you do, that motion will turn your shoulders and hips. We focus on making the club move correctly and allowing the body to respond to (not initiate) the swing.<br /><br />BUMP YOUR CHIPS—I am not sure what “bump” means, but Tiger’s strategy of playing “low rolling shots” is one that Manuel whole-heartedly recommends whenever possible. Soling the club on the toe is a viable strategy “especially on dicey lies” as Tiger puts it. If you want to experiment with this type of setup, remember that playing a shot on the toe will tend to torque (twist) the club in your hands.<br /><br />SAVE SHOTS INSTANTLY—From behind the ball, it is difficult to read the second half of a long putt simply because it is so far away. On long putts, walk halfway to the hole and read the break for that portion of the put. Then go back behind the ball and read the whole putt. <br /><br />TRY SAM’S PITCHING TECHNIQUE—Regardless of which club you use for chipping, there should be no hand action (wristy-ness). Hands are for holding, arms are for swinging.<br /><br />HOW TO HIT A 50-YARD BUNKER SHOT—“…use your normal bunker swing” I don’t think so.<br />A greenside bunker swing is intended for the club to create a “tidal wave” of sand that pushes the ball out of the bunker. On a 50-yard shot you don’t want any sand between your clubhead and the ball because you couldn’t carry the shot 50 yards. Keep this shot simple setup as you would for a fairway bunker shot. If you don’t regularly practice shots like this don’t allow your expectations to become unrealistic for hitting the shot the correct distance.<br /><br />3 KEYS FOR RELEASE—Huh? Disregard this article.<br /><br />TRAIN YOUR AIM—Our recommendation is to align with the actual target. We can’t argue with Tiger’s and Jack’s success.<br /><br />FEET OPEN, BODY SQUARE—If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If you aren’t having a problem with your body responding to the swing then keep your setup for your short shots the same as for your full swing.<br /><br />TRIPLE X FACTOR—Jim starts of by saying since his first x-factor article in 92 “…there seems to be more confusion than ever about the body’s role in the swing.” Could triple-x triple the confusion? Jim and Heartland differ on one central point. Jim want the player to focus on the body’s movements whereas we know better shots result when you focus on the clubs movements. The triple-x that Jim describes seems reasonable. However, it is not something the golfer should “make” happen, but instead is something the golfer should “let” happen as a result of swinging the club.<br /><br />ELEVATE YOUR SHORT GAME—<br />Bunker Shot…..While Stan is very popular on tour, let me ask you one question. If you want to have a higher trajectory, why would you need to do anything different but choose a more lofted club or just open the club face? Keep your bunker play simple.<br /><br />Downhill Shot…..Ok (except forget the “in your pocket” comments).<br /> <br />Short Chips…..A chip shot is just a small golf swing. No need to do anything unusual.<br /><br />Breaking 100/90/80<br /><br />3 STEPS TO MORE UP-AND-DOWNS—Consider using Todd’s 3 steps to practice what you learned at Heartland.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-4139217177147524402007-11-12T17:10:00.000-06:002007-11-12T17:12:11.546-06:00December '07 CommentaryThis month's articles<br /><br />3-WOOD OFF THE TEE—Ok. (expect play all clubs in the center).<br /><br />FIND MORE FAIRWAYS—Pretty good. In a nutshell, what Butch is saying is to use the arms to make the club swing and allow the body to turn in response to the swing (versus having the body initiate a turn).<br /><br />BEAT THE ELEMENTS—Good thoughts about the effect of the elements.<br /><br />ESCAPE FAIRWAY SAND—Ok.<br /><br />CONTROL YOUR PITCHES—Ok. (This is rare. As you may know there is little that David suggests that I agree with.) The one comment I will offer is that I think “synchronizing” as David refers to it, is no less important in the full swing.<br /><br />THE EASY WAY TO SHAPE SHOTS—Ok. For a more extensive discussion of this see Manuel’s book (page 178).<br /><br />CURE YOUR SLICE—Not Again!! Will we never wear-out this title for an article. There are nineteen explanations for the slice. Jim offers a cure for one type of slice. That notwithstanding, the cure he offers will result in the lower part of the club (club head) arriving at the ball prior to the upper part (grip). When this does happen you are likely to hook the shot. To cure YOUR slice make sure to know the reason YOU slice and what YOUR cure should be.<br /><br />A BETTER WAY TO PUTT—Rick says, “…if you don’t have that kind of time, try this drill.” Rick should know better than to propose a “quick fix”. This drill has its merits but it is not a faster way of building a good stroke than any other way. Putting with the club under your arms only does one thing. It demonstrates whether your shoulders are parallel to the target line while you put. It fixes or demonstrates nothing else.<br /><br />SHATTER YOUR HANDICAP—Ben Hogan is the penultimate example of a player finding a way to control the ball that works for them. However, because a given prescription for glasses may work well for me does not mean it will work well for you. On page 114, notice that if Josh keeps the club between those two panes of glass on the forward swing the club will miss the ball by two feet. Look at the swing on the top half of page 117, have you ever seen a backswing or finish like this? If I have, I doubt it would be from a player that could break a hundred. The same is true for the swing at the bottom of that page. On page 118, we read the headline, “Fix A Slice”. It should read “Fix Two Slices”, Josh’s instruction can fix two of the problems that causes a slice. “Catch it Flush” would be better titled, “Keep Your Balance.” “Improve Your Path” is ok but is more confusing than necessary. Instead of thinking “inside to inside” think of the club as swinging in the direction of your target (e.g. your arm swings toward its target when you make an underhand toss). “Gain More Power”—oops. Josh got his one wrong. Making an arms-only swing has nothing to do with lunging. However lunging can result from if we think “the hips should unwind and PUSH toward the target.<br /><br />EDUCATE YOUR HANDS—Understanding the use of our hands is important. However, Tom misunderstands their roll. He attempts to make the case for disregarding the body by making the point, “When you throw a ball you don’t think about stepping forward with your foot.” However, that same example makes the point that we should not think about our hands either because when we make a throw we don’t think about when to open the fingers to let go of the ball. I like the three points made by Homer Kelley. The comment about the wrinkles is ok, but the “flat left wrist” will cause you more trouble than you can imagine. “Straight Arms”, Tom almost has this correct. Look at the photo of his finish on page 161. Unlike his instruction that the “club should be aligned with the left arm, his club is not aligned with his left arm. “Curl The Weight To Get On Plane”, this might be ok if the weight was light (5lbs). “Let Your Thumbs Point The Way”, disregard. “To Stop Casting, Set Up With Your Hands Centered”, disregard. Tom’s instruction for the position of the forward swing is geometrically impossible. Finally, with regard to his comments about fades and draws, notice that he describes these as being produced by body movements” not by the hands.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-49303588967829481182007-10-16T13:07:00.000-05:002007-10-16T13:51:22.866-05:00November 2007 IssueThis month's articles<br /><br />-FREE UP YOUR DRIVER—Reducing muscle tension is good advice for every swing, not just the driver. Only shorten the backswing if you feel the length of your backswing makes you tense.<br /><br />-FOCUS ON THE LANDING—I don’t doubt that Tiger is accurately relating a drill that he practices. However, I have never found a person who “tosses” (under hand toss) a ball to a flag while focusing on the landing area. It is just the other way around. We focus on the target. The same works very well for chipping.<br /><br />-MY FIRST MOVE DOWN—Tiger’s most common error with the driver is to hit the ball to the right. When we “bump” our hips to the left it is difficult to return the club to the ball square. Start with the arms and all will be well. (Are Tigers pants long enough in this photo?)<br /><br />-ADJUST THE BALL—Lew was a great player. However, putts break varying amounts. So, we would have to decide what to do if the putt broke left-to-right one inch vs. one foot. Play the club in the center for all putts. You won’t make them all. No one does. But you will be closer more often because you are being consistent.<br /><br />-STOP SKULLING YOUR IRONS—I like Butch’s analysis of the problem. One of the reasons we can top the ball is because we shift our weight forward which moves the bottom of the swing from just in front of the ball to points well left of the ball. There is a simpler and more obvious solution to the problem. Don’t shift your weight on the forward swing.<br /><br />SHORT-SIDED SOLUTION—Ok. But don’t change the shape of your swing. It’s always circular.<br /><br />CHIPPING TO A BACK PIN—Classic de la Torre but no need to “play the ball back just behind center”.<br /><br />“UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN POWER—As we noted in Ernie’s article above, tension almost always creates problems. It is peculiar that Jim says to “maintain a soft right knee” (a knee is a bone!) but “flex the right knee”. Then he concludes by saying “relaxation assists fluidity” and “Focus on flexing”. I’m not sure what Jim means but tension is most often a negative.<br /><br />FIX YOUR FOCUS—This article suggests a strategy for keeping yourself from negative thoughts. That’s a good idea. But a better idea is to implement a strategy for focusing on positive thoughts.<br /><br />TREVOR—This is classic “swing key” instead of “swing cause” babble. Trevor does things with his body to remind him of what he wants to do. These things do not cause the improvement. Trevor’s logic is that if he gets his body to do certain things that the shot will be better. Remember, shots only improve if the club movement improves.<br /><br />HOW TO START YOUR SWING—This instruction is so riddled with problems its hard to know where to start (and even harder to invest the time to review it). Here goes. First, Jerome wrongly presumes that the body has to “wait for the arms and club to catch up” during the back swing. They don’t have to catch up. They are traveling faster and so therefore arrive at the same time. Second, note his instruction in the fourth paragraph that says, “without moving your hands from their address position.” Notice the second photo in the sequence of photos labeled “GOOD”. His hands have not remained in the address position. Third (and there are yet other problems with this instruction), notice the last photo in the sequence. The backswing is shorter and the club face is open, meaning the ball will not go as far and will be sprayed off to the right. Maybe this article should be titled, “how to start ruining your swing.”<br /><br />-BREAKING 100/90/80/70<br />Master the impact zone—Bobby’s observation regarding where the club should reach the bottom of its arc, has a lot to do with ball placement. If you play the ball back in your stance, the bottom of the swing will be forward of the ball.<br /><br />100—I couldn’t agree more with Bobby’s quest to make chip shots that are not chunky. I couldn’t disagree more with his strategy. Chunky shots are primarily the result of one thing—using the right hand. Players will use the right hand when they are trying to “get the ball up” and when they want to create a hitting action instead of a swinging motion.<br /><br />90—Set up at address. Now, leave the club head resting behind the ball while your hands and the grip of the club move to the left of your belt buckle a few inches. Notice how the club face gets either delofted or aiming to the right. For a player like Clampett, he won’t let the club face aim to the right so instead his club is delofted at impact. Notice how later in this article he said it took him three to get out of the bunker. If you are delofting your clubs you loose loft and that’s a problem for deep bunker shots and other shots as well. Lag happens in the swing during the initial phase of the forward swing. However, by the time the club reaches the ball the lag is gone. (see Bobby’s photo on page 172).<br /><br />80—If Vijay had done what Bobby reports (contacting the ball with the driver on descending part of the swing arc, the ball trajectory would not have been 50 feet in the air. <br /><br />70--Regarding the aiming point, let me know who you find that can see the first ten feet of the flight of the ball as it leaves the tee at over 100 mph.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-19613559031722532882007-09-18T13:17:00.000-05:002007-09-18T13:18:11.209-05:00October ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –<br />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.<br /><br />Hit it high from the sand—trajectory is determined by club loft (not how you set your hands).<br /><br />The long and short of the belly putter—Ok.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Watch you hands—Ok.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The art of the layup—Ok.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />3 steps to a better short game—<br />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.<br />Long Chip—Ok. (no need to open the stance)<br />Basic Pitch—Ok.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Finding your swing hardware<br />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.<br />Marking the V’s of your hand is a good visual. V’s should be pointing to your center.<br />Whoops. Regarding weight, keep it balanced.<br /><br />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.<br />Setup for putting is very important. The chalk line works well.<br />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).<br />Putting on the yardstick is great (it has to be level).<br /><br />80—Stay Afloat. Ok.<br />The swing plane dowels are tricky to setup correctly. Consult an expert or just swing the club over your right rotator cuff joint.<br /><br />3 Bonus Scoring Tips. Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-38607272031810970822007-08-13T16:59:00.002-05:002007-08-13T17:04:39.063-05:00September 2007 Issue<br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –<br />ANNIKA SORENSTAM—WHAT STARTS THE SWING?—Annika’s comments about “one piece” are good but can foster a notion of rigidity. Manuel puts it this way, “everything starts together, stays together, and returns together”. Regarding the clubface rotation Annika is exactly correct. The article is fine until the last sentence. Don’t try to manage the body’s movements (turn left shoulder). Instead manage creating a swing and allow the body to respond to that motion.<br /><br />JIM MCLEAN—NO MORE TOE HITS—“The arms loose their extension?” Is Jim proposing that the arms get shorter? Is Jim proposing that centrifugal force isn’t pulling the club away from you? Toe hits most commonly result from two causes: The first is that the player has their weight on their toes at address, the second is that their arms are reaching rather than hanging, and the third is that the swing path is radically outside in. Look to these first.<br /><br />TIGER WOODS—WHERE DOES YOUR GAME NEED HELP—Putting your improvement efforts where they will do the most good makes good sense. Use scorecards from prior round to help you identify where you are loosing strokes. You can also recruit a pair of trusted eyes to watch you make various shots.<br /><br />TIGER WOODS—FIND THE FEEL—Ok.<br /><br />TOM WATSON—ACTIVATE YOUR LEGS—Ok.<br /><br />BUTCH HARMON—DON’T GET SNAGGED—Ok.<br /><br />JIM FLICK—LIGHTEN YOUR GRIP—Ok. If you choose to lighten your grip, be sure it remains light through the swing. Tightening at impact will create errant shots.<br /><br />ERNIE ELS—HOW TO READ ROUGH—Ok.<br /><br />HANK HANEY—TURN ON YOUR CHIPS—First, you can’t be too focused. You can be focused on things that won’t be helpful. Second, don’t turn. Instead allow the swing to turn you.<br /><br />STARE IT DOWN FROM 100 YARDS—I know David won’t loose any sleep over this, but his instruction makes things so difficult. For instance, telling Charles to have “some” forward lean of the shaft. Iron loft is measured in degrees. Every inch that you lean the club forward are degrees of loft you are changing. Even Charles cannot expect to lean the club the same number inches each time.<br /><br />LEFTY / RIGHTY—Disregard.<br /><br />SWING WITH THE RIGHT ARM ONLY—If David is trying to get Charles to feel the “release” by using this drill, what benefit would Hogan have in having three right hands. Would the release be three times better? I don’t think David quite connected the dots between right hands and releasing—besides, there is no release in the golf swing. Swing a ball on the end of a string and ask yourself where the release happens.<br /><br />CONTROLLING DISTANCE—So when Charles is at 90 yards does he then have to decide whether to hit it long from the 10 o’clock position or short from the 9 o’clock position? This is ridiculous. Charles should reflect on how he makes a putt roll 8 feet versus 18 feet. He would find that it has nothing to do with the o’clock position of his putting stroke. Instead he would find a much better means of controlling his shots.<br /><br />STACK AND TILT PART 2—It hasn’t gotten any worse but it hasn’t gotten any better. First, here are our comments from the June Blog when we reviewed Part 1:<br />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.<br />Our comment regarding Part 2 is this: I have no doubt that these instructors can move their body in the manner they are describing and hit good shots. However, those same good shots can be made without attempting to learn the choreography. Make the club swing correctly and the body will make movements that support the swing. Most players attempting to learn this choreography will do more damage to their game than good.<br /><br />BREAKING 100/90/80<br /><br />PICK THE RIGHT SWING FOR YOU. If either of swings Jim demonstrates looks appealing—check your eyeglasses. It either look appealing but you aren’t wearing glasses, may you need them. For the record Manuel teaches a one plane swing.<br /><br />BREAKING 90—If you are clear on what Jim means, I would be interested to hear from you.<br /><br />BREAKING 80—The idea of “firing the right hand” sounds forceful. The fact of firing the right hand more likely results in fat shots and ball flight that is left of target. As Manuel puts it, the hands are for holding and the arms are for swinging. Notice that in neither photo is the hand in a “fired” position. Instead, the hands are in the same position (relative to the forearm) as they were at address.<br /><br />SCORING TIPS—<br />BREAKING 100—Do you want the line on the ball to be “on target” or close. If you want it accurate, you’ll need to lay down on your belly to eye it up. Don’t embarrass yourself. Line your club up with your target not with the line on the ball.<br />BREAKING 90—Ok.<br />BREAKING 80—Almost. Here’s how it actually works: 1)Close the clubface to the degree you want it to hook, 2)align the clubface to the direction you want the ball to start, 3)the body should then be position so it is centered on the club shaft. Then make your normal swing.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-28350570699752413872007-07-12T22:45:00.001-05:002007-07-12T22:46:46.936-05:00August ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary<br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –<br />Brett Wetterich—Brett’s swing is Brett’s swing. Not to be copied by anybody else. He plays the ball so far forward in his swing that he needs to radically sway forward in order to allow the club to square. On the back swing he takes the club outside (i.e. at 9 o’clock the shaft is not parallel with the target line. At 3 o’clock he has a massive “reverse C” in his posture that he won’t be able to do as he ages. We can admire his long drives—but don’t mimic his technique.<br /><br />EXTEND FOR POWER AND ACCURACY—Tiger makes a valid observation but we have to be careful not to misinterpret it. When you find that the club has extended fully during the forward swing (beginning at 6 o’clock) and your grip is correct, you will find that these are your best shots. The extension is not something that you “make happen” but instead is one that you “let happen”. It is the result of your wrists being tension free which in turn allows the club to extend as it is subjected to centrifugal force.<br /><br />HOW TO SPIN IT FROM THE SAND—The more interesting point would be how “not to spin it from the sand.” With the loft of the sand wedge it is impossible for the ball to get airborne and not have spin. Since it is your most lofted club it will always import the most spin from the bunker. Tiger’s technique for increasing the spin may work for him but are unnecessary for 90% of the shots you will be making. Keep it simple to keep it working.<br /><br />MAKE YOUR PRACTICE SWING COUNT—Annika has not been playing as well recently has she has in the past. In speaking with a well-known authority on playing well, he advised that he believed Annika was doing too much conscious thinking about “how to make the swing” during her shots instead of “what she wanted the club to do”. Notice in step 1 she says to “focus on making it a true rehearsal.” But then in step 2 she says, “this is not a real rehearsal; but….” Then in step 3 she says “focus on the shot at hand”. What we may be seeing in Annika’s game is the effect of focusing on her mechanics rather than on the shot at hand. I don’t find this to be a compelling argument for adding a practice swing to your pre-shot routine.<br /><br />FAIRWAY SAND—Ok, but I think Manuel’s approach is simpler and therefore more reliable for players who don’t regularly practice their sand shots.<br /><br />DON’T HANG BACK—The suggestion is a good one for any shot. However, the solution is not to “transfer your weight to your left foot on the forward swing.” The solution is to keep you balance until the club passes 6 o’clock and pull you to your left side.<br /><br />BREAK YOUR SCORING BARRIER<br />Breaking 100—when you move the ball position to the left you add loft and contact the ball with the club face looking left.<br />Breaking 90—Ok.<br />Breaking 80—Too complicated. Use Manuel’s approach.<br /><br />INTERVIEW YOUR INSTRUCTORS—Ok.<br /><br />ON COURSE TO GOOD HEALTH—This article confuses health with an effective golf swing. It is more misleading than it is helpful. It’s premise is that if you do healthy things with the body that your golf will improve. Remember, the ball only cares about what the club is doing—not about what the body is doing. There’s a difference.<br /><br />BREAKING 100/90/80/70<br /><br />SWING THE CLUB—AMEN!<br /><br />100—<br />STARTS WITH PUTTS--More info about the drill than about swinging but ok.<br /><br />THEN GO TO CHIP—Oops! Here is the old idea of hitting the ball with a descending blow—wrong. Look at the photo of Bob chipping would you describe the club as descending or swinging forward? Obviously it’s moving forward.<br /><br />90—<br />CREATE A PITCHING SWING—Bob does not explain why the ball should be “off the left heel” (and in the photo the ball looks more centered than left). Bob does not explain why you should “Keep your weight left..” I would suggest that he doesn’t explain it because there is no reason for it.<br /><br />HOW TO HIT YOUR HYBRIDS—Ok, but… Bob says to play the ball toward the left heel. Notice in the photo with the red shaft how much Bob has had to sway left in order to position his center over the ball. Swaying makes the swing unnecessarily complicated. Position the club in your center for all normal shots.<br /><br />80—<br />CONTROL YOUR LONG IRONS—Ok, but… Bob produces draw and fade by changing his swing. It is much better to have one swing but change your setup to produce draw and fade.<br /><br />70—<br />PRACTICE YOUR LAGS—Ok.<br />SWING DRIVER SMOOTHLY—Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-10097864505169895422007-06-23T19:00:00.000-05:002007-06-23T19:02:23.304-05:00July ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary<br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –<br />LUKE DONALD—in the swing sequence, notice how Luke has positioned the club in the front of his stance (his belt buckle is behind the ball). Because he has, he now has to slide his body forward. Notice in frame 5 the belt buckle is not even with the ball. This repositioning of the body requires timing and therefore is a source of imprecision. If you hit balls (lots of them) every day you can achieve this timing. But the swing will never be as good as if you did not have to time the hip slide and instead just set up with the club in your center.<br />EXTEND AND RELEASE—there is no release in the golf swing!! When we see photographs we can get the impression that at one point in the swing the club suddenly does something called release. It doesn’t! The unhinging of the wrists from the top of the swing is a gradual and continual process with the wrists getting full unhinged about two feet before impact and staying that way till about waist high in the forward swing. The extension is not something you “make happen”. It is something you “let happen”. The pull of the club just before impact and through 3 o’clock causes what looks like extension.<br />FACE THE TARGET—this is a very important and almost universal response of the body to a swing.<br /><br />SHORT SAND SHOTS—Ok.<br /><br />IMPROVE YOUR TURN—Rick is suggesting that YOU are responsible for the turning of the torso. This means you have something extra to do during the swing. Manuel suggests that instead of taking responsibility for turning that instead you make this matter much simpler. Instead of considering turning as a “make happen” item, consider it a “let happen” item. The turn of the torso proves to work much better if the turn is merely the torso’s response to your swinging the club.<br /><br />HOW TO HIT IT HIGHER—There are two things that can make a given club send the ball higher: open the club face or play the ball for forward in your stance.<br /><br />TURN YOUR CHEST—Not. Look at the position of Tiger’s left arm in the first photo (it is pointing at 8 o’clock). Now look at his left arm in photo three (it is pointing at 6 o’clock). Yes his chest moved but the arms moved much more than the chest turned. Use the arms to swing the club. Let the body respond.<br /><br />SPEED UP ON SHORT PUTTS—Here is David’s version of putting something in the “make happen” column that belongs left in the “let happen” column. Instead of trying to produce some contrived short backswing, long forwardswing stroke, merely swing the putter. A swinging putter ALWAYS accelerates as it approaches the ball. If accelerating on short putts is the problem David suggests it is, then swinging is the solution.<br /><br />WIND = BREAK—This is a great insight into the high-level strategy of a tour player. Unless you are in low single digits, your practice time will be better spend elsewhere.<br /><br />SWING TO A FINISH—There is not a lot the Butch has to say about the swing that I would fully agree with. However, this article is the exception. There are few things that are more helpful and can fix multiple problems like swinging to this finish—club hanging over your left shoulder with the right foot fully turned and up on the toe. The only exception I take to Butch’s comments is his instruction to “shift to your front side as you move down.” First, I would suggest that you don’t need to shift your weight, merely let your body respond to the pull of the club as it passes impact. Second, it is helpful to think of the swing as going around you instead of going “down.”<br /><br />OPEN THE FACE SLIGHTLY—Jack’s point is interesting. I am going to check with Manuel on this one. If you want to get his perspective, drop me an email.<br /><br />LOFT YOUR PITCHES—Everything here is ok except for comments about ball placement. If we place the ball slightly back of middle the club begins being delofted.<br /><br />FIND THE SWEET SPOT—Finding the sweet spot is a great idea. Thinking the hips play a role in that is misguided. Whether the club comes from the inside or outside, you can hit the sweet spot of the club.<br /><br />JOHNSON’S STROKE IS ODD, SOLID. Zach uses a See-More putter. It gives the player a visual aid in making sure that the player executes a swing rather than dragging the putter (having the hands ahead). Hank may think this is odd. I think it is technically perfect.<br /><br />TIGER TIPS<br />ADDING TOUCH—I don’t know what Tiger means by “Adding Touch” but the text of this article seems unrelated to its title<br />GETTING TO THE TOP—The type of grip you use (interlocking, overlapping, or ten-fingered) may feel right for you but does nothing to assure that the club is in the best position at the top of your swing. The wrist is a hinge. Hinges are neither flat nor un-flat. The angle formed by the back of your left hand and your forearm should be the same as it was at address. Shoulder turn and eye position—ok.<br /><br />UNTANGLE YOUR SWING—this is such a potpourri of instruction, I am not sure what to make of it. In the section marked “Drills”, I did like the “step 3” drill.<br /><br />BREAKING 100/90/80<br /><br />MASTERING IMPACT—right away this title brought up red flags for me. Confusingly, the very first sentence says that focus on making contact with the ball instead of making a good swing is a major problem. So the title for this instruction really should be Mastering Swinging.<br />100—PRESENT THE BALL—ok<br /> SLIDE THE COIN—ok<br /><br />90—The focus of this instruction is making shots where you have a tight lie. Mike wants you to swing so the club enters the dirt after the ball. This means the direction is downward. This is not helpful. It causes the player to deloft the club and hit fat shots. Instead, when you have a tight lie, assume that your objective is to make the ball go forward low along the ground. When you do this the loft of the club will provide the trajectory.<br /><br />80—The sound of their shots is different? This means that standing on a driving range with his eye’s closed he could pick out the 70’s shooters? I don’t think so. Johnson says that when he uses the visualization of the ball going under the park bench he can hit the ball solidly. Does this mean that anytime he hits the ball with a higher trajectory (like a sand wedge) that he cannot achieve a solid feeling? Delofting the club as Johnson is doing in the park-bench drill makes the contact feel more solid because the face has less loft and you have to hit it harder to get it to go the same distance but with less loft. Regarding the swing path, Mike is suggesting that you learn to swing the club back along one plane and the forward along a different one—for what reason. There is no reason--unnecessary complicationGolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-28249665105401085182007-05-20T17:43:00.000-05:002007-05-20T17:49:47.883-05:00June ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary<br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –<br />TIGER WOODS. SWEEP OUR 3-WOOD--Tiger’s comments for the 3-wood are appropriate for swing with any club in the bag.<br />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.<br />TOM WATSON. HOLING A TOUGH CHIP—Practice pays.<br />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.<br />BUTCH HARMON. PITCH FROM ROUGH—Accelerating the club through the ball is a characteristic of swing and should be expected for every shot.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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?<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />BREAKING 100/90/80/70<br />See your Full Game—Try this and see if it is useful. I could not find a value.<br />100—ok<br />90—ok<br />80—ok<br />70—okGolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-72320847045224250812007-04-13T16:45:00.000-05:002007-04-13T16:48:22.480-05:00Golf Digest May 2007<br /><br />This month's articles<br /><br />-BLAST FROM DEEP BUNKERS—This instruction is ok but learning how much to open the face and how big the swing should be takes practice. This shot requires no change in swing but does require some experience from practice. It’s an unusual shot, so put it at the bottom of your practice list. P.S. You don’t need a 64 degree wedge. You can rotate the face of any wedge to achieve maximum trajectory.<br /><br />-WHY DO I STRUGGLE FROM UNEVEN LIES—This is ok except for Fix No. 3. Choose a club with more loft. If the downhill is gentle, align your shoulders to the slope of the hill. If the downhill is step, play the ball back in your stance and align to the left of the target. Like the bunker shot above, these situations need to be practiced so you can have experience from which you can draw.<br /><br />-ESCAPE CLEANLY FROM DIVOTS—When the ball is in a divot, the lie is different than when it’s sitting on the grass in the fairway. Accept that. Then accept that the club will contact the ball just below its equator. This will result in the trajectory of the shot being lower. That’s ok, you can still make it go straight and all the way to the green. No swing change is necessary.<br /><br />-HOW TO PUNCH UP YOUR POWER—The club is on the ball for .0003 of a second. Anytime anyone suggests that you “time your swing” thank them and then forget anything you heard. When you swing the club always gets square to the target line directly below your center-the swing times itself. Second, Martin’s idea is to “punch” or put linear energy into the ball. This will prompt you to flex your muscles but will slow down your swing. The swing is circular—keep it that way.<br /><br />-HOW TO PLAY ON-TARGET CHIPS—Carefully read “The Solution”, notice that it says at set up to keep the shaft in line with the left arm. No take out a straight edge (you can use a business card) and lay it along the shaft of the club in these pictures. Do you ever see the club aligned with his left arm? No. Turn the page on this article.<br /><br />-GET IT CLOSE BY GETTING WRISTY—Read the warning at the bottom of this article.<br /><br />-How to control your turn—Let’s make this quick. Look at the club in the photo in the top right corner of page 61. Note how it is not pointing to the target but is pointing to the left. Now look at the photo No. 3. Note how the club is not pointing left but instead is parallel with this toe line. Same turn but two different positions at the top. We are not interested in controlling the turn. We are very interested in controlling the club. Forget this article.<br /><br />-TRY A FORWARD PRESS FOR SMOOTHER PUTTS—Michael needs to watch the high speed photos taken of a ball coming off a putter face—it has backspin. Since all clubs have loft (even the putter), every shot leaves the club with backspin. You cannot put topspin on a ball unless you contact it above the ball’s equator. Regarding the forward press, look at the full length photo of Michael at address. Look at the putter face relative to the yellow line. See how the putter face is out of square. This putter face will send the ball to the right of the target line. Forget the forward press. The putter has been designed to put its best roll on the ball with the shaft vertical not leaning forward.<br /><br />-COPY THAT—I like the idea but the devil is in the details. Annika swings the golf club. An uninterrupted swinging motion will turn your right side to the target. Don’t make this happen by trying to turn. Let it happen as a result of an uninterrupted swing.<br /><br />-OPERATION DESERT ESCAPE—Too complicated. No swing change. No grip change. When you setup begin by hovering the club directly above the ball. Center and balance yourself to the club. Now relocate the clubface to just behind the ball and resting on the ground. This setup will make the lowest part of your swing right under the ball. Therefore the club will contact and propel the ball before the club reaches the sand. In other words, play this like a fairway bunker shot. The ball will travel on a lower trajectory.<br /><br />-LOW DRIVES FOR LOW TEES—The driver face has “roll”. It is not flat. It has more loft higher on the face and less loft lower on the face.<br /><br />-TURN LEVEL TO STOP HITTING FAT—The number one reason for fat shots (9 out of 10) is the use of the right hand to make the club face “hit” at the ball. Use the arms only.<br /><br />-STOP DIPPING TO STOP PUSHES AND HOOKS—Isn’t this silly. For a million dollars and hitting a thousand golf balls don’t you think you could find a way to dip and still hit it straight? Yes. That’s because pushes and hooks have to do with the club not the body. Fix ball flight by fixing the club’s motion not the body’s.<br /><br />-HOW TO FIX THREE BACKSWING KILLERS—Let’s make this simple. Keep your balance.<br /><br />-WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM A SNAPSHOT—Ok.<br /><br />-HOW TO BE CLUTCH—There’s a difference between focusing on what worries us during a round and focusing on what we want the club to do. Focus on what you want not on what you don’t (that works well off the course too).<br /><br />-HOW TO TURN KNEE-KNOCKERS INTO TAP-INS—If this works for you great. But, for tap-ins the arc of the swing is so small it appears as though the putter head is tracking the target line (i.e. straight back straight through). Be careful that this tip doesn’t ruin your swing with the putter and degrade it into a straight-back straight-thru pushing motion.<br /><br />-TRUST YOUR ROUTINE—absolutely.<br /><br />-HOW TO BUILD A REPEATING SWING. Get ready this is going to be wild! <br />PRE-SWING—Keep your spine straight….your spine was made “S” shaped. You cannot (and better not try) to keep it straight. Look carefully at the photo. The yellow line is straight is is back? No.<br />Three-point stance—Just sole the club correctly and that will position you correctly.<br />Climb a ladder—the top yellow line is 3 inches below his shoulder.<br />TAKEAWAY—Move the shoulders and nothing else…look at how the shaft is in line with his left forearm. Now look at the front view of the setup on the preceding page. See how the club shaft is not aligned with the left forearm. So when he says the shoulders move and nothing else, he is not doing what he is saying.<br />-Key Checkpoint—club shaft, and hands are in line with your belt buckle. Look at the last photo in that series of four—again he isn’t doing what he is saying.<br />-TO THE TOP—“its not how far back the club is at the top”…huh? The further back it is the more time for acceleration before it contacts the ball. (take a look at Tiger on P. 79). It’s much less as to “how” you take it back but “where” you take it to. You want as full a backswing as is easy for you with the club on plane at the top.<br />-TRANSITION—don’t drop your arms (that’s a linear direction). Swing them (that’s circular).<br />-DOWNSWING—Ok.<br />-Key Checkpoint—“…mostly arms”—ONLY ARMS!!!<br />-IMPACT—Uh-oh. Look back to the previous page. Notice step 6 where he says, “You’ve done it right if, once again, the club, shaft and your hands are in line with your belt buckle. Now look at the impact position on page 124. He’s not doing what he told you. The reason he isn’t is because he can’t. The reason he can’t is because he “gets shifty” That left wrist is bowing. When it does the clubface gets deloft and/or out-of-square.<br />-Balance—“…stay balanced”. You can’t “get shifty (i.e. shift your weight) and stay balanced.<br />-Release—Ok. Release is something you “let” happen, not “make” happen.<br />-THE FULL SWING—<br />1) ok<br />2) ok<br />3) ok<br />4) the shaft is not perpendicular to the ground and there is no reason why it is better to have it stop short of being parallel.<br />5) ok<br />6) ok<br />7) the shaft is not perpendicular to the ground because he shifted his weight<br />8) ok<br />9) the shaft is not perpendicular to the ground and doesn’t need to be<br /><br />-ADD WRIST ACTION ON EXTRA-LONG PUTTS—This is disastrous instruction. If you are tossing a ball (underhand) is there ever a distance where “wrist action” would be helpful? Use the same swing, just make it bigger.<br /><br />-DIVIDE YOUR BALL IN TWO—focusing on parts of the ball guarantees you nothing. Keeping your balance will keep you behind the ball. If you want the ball lower setup with the ball further back in your stance (or choose a lower lofted club).<br /><br />-LET YOU POSTURE DICATE YOUR PUTTING STROKE—this is almost correct. The lie angle of the putter defines the angle of the swing plane. The flatter the lie the more flat the swing plane. This has nothing to do with your posture.<br /><br />-FOR MORE LENGTH, LENGTHEN YOUR TARGET—go to the range and find out how far you carry your wedge, 8, 6, and fairway wood. Once you know these you can deduce the rest.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-66060825946650428172007-03-16T13:04:00.000-05:002007-03-16T13:07:08.857-05:00April ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary<br /><br />This month's articles: <br /><br />(We don’t know if there is a reason, but this issue had a disproportionate number of problematic instructional articles.)<br /><br />LESSON TEE –Phil Mickelson I really like Phil’s golf swing. I often find watching it reconnects me with what the club looks like when it is swung well (same for Annika). However, the photos here of course cannot convey the motion of his swing. Phil has several compensations in his swing that make it work. For instance you can see how he has slid lateral to his right before impact. This would deliver the clubface open, but notice at impact how he as rolled his hands to close the club face. That prevents the slice. Don’t try this at home! I would encourage you to disregard all of Rick Smith’s comments about Phil’s swing (yes, I know he is Phil’s coach). Take a look at comment #1. How can you make your right hip “too high”? Your hip is sitting on your leg. Unless your leg gets longer that hip can’t get higher. His other comments are just as useless.<br /><br />FAST HIPS CREATE POWER—By know all of you know that I am a Woods fan. I like his understanding and approach to the swing—EXCEPT FOR THIS. Try this: 1) stand at address with the club wresting on the ground, 2) leaving the club rest on the ground, turn your hips as fast as possible, 3)the hips are independent of your arms. You can turn them as fast as you want and it adds nothing to the swing speed, except at the very end of their turn at which time they are twisting your torso to the left. Let’s look at what Tiger says: “I’ve had to slow my hips down”—is he worrying about hitting it too far? No, when his hips get fast he sprays it right or yanks it left. Then he says “starting your downswing with a “slight lateral move”. What does slight mean? How much? I love Tiger but take a pass on this instruction. Let the swing of the club turn your hips.<br /><br />PRACTICE YOUR FINISH—Because of his extraordinary body awareness and body control, Tiger can manipulate the club during the swing to make it contact the ball in a variety of ways. For us there is a less demanding way to accomplish curving the ball flight. Simply adjust your grip. Rotate your hand position on the grip to the left for hooking and to the right for fading. When you setup align to the right if you are hooking and to the left if you are fading. See Manuel’s book page 178-9.<br /><br />TOES IN FOR STABILITY—Turning your toes in will not make you a bit more stable, it will restrict your turn (which can be mistaken for stability). With your toes turned in you can still shift to the right, shift to the left, lean in or back. The key to stability is practicing staying balance till impact when the forward motion of the club pulls you to your front foot.<br /><br />CHIPPING IT CLOSE--#1 Good. #2 Setting up as Annika suggests delofts the club and reduces spin. With regard to “bounce twice, check, and roll” it depends on which club your are chipping with (SW, PW, 9,8,7, etc). #3 Ok. I prefer square instead of open. It makes it easier to make sure you are not lined up to the left.<br /><br />CAN YOU DO THIS?—I don’t know where Rick came up with this one, but let’s try it. Take your driver, make a back swing, and now turn your head to see if you can see your right arm bent, while you are looking at your right arm see how many ways you can change its position (3,4,10, a lot). Seeing your right arm proves nothing.<br /><br />HIGH AND SOFT—Playing the ball forward and opening the clubface will certainly create additional loft. For the situation Butch has (a lot of elevation and short-sided) you need a lot of loft. However considering adding a 60 degree wedge to your bag if you have a regular need for this shot. Because of the added loft (either from Butch’s setup or using a 60) the swing you’ll need will be surprisingly big.<br /><br />FIND CONSISTENCY WITH BALL POSITION—good idea! Better than Ernie’s “just slightly ahead of mid-point” or “”just back of middle” is to be precisely consistent. Set the club to the ball and center your self on the club—same for all of them.<br /><br />NARROW YOUR FOCUS—another good idea! Never see the ball going up (as you would for Jim’s hula hoop. Visualizing the ball going up is a leading cause for scooping with the right hand. Have a narrow focus. If you want to visualize the ball always see it traveling low (yes, even wedges out of bunkers).<br /><br />HONE THE SHORT WEDGE—I like the last line of this article, “Don’t just use your arms, with your legs stuck in cement.” Use your arms to swing and ALLOW your body to respond.<br /><br />HOVER YOUR CLUBHEAD—Jim says, “With all the success he’s had throughout his career, I’m amazed more golfers don’t use this technique.” Jack was one of very few champions who hovered the club. Don’t do it because Jack did. Do it if it gives you some benefit. Don’t go after what’s right, go after what works.<br /><br />HOW TO BE SNEAKY LONG—take a look and you’ll see how this is “sneaky wrong”.<br />By teeing the ball two inches to the right of your left foot (just under where Stuart is pointing in the photo) the club will be traveling upward and facing left by the time it gets to the ball UNLESS…..you have a big hip slide like Stuart does (see top photo on page 102). By sliding forward he has effectively repositioned his body so the ball is now back where it should have been at address. This weight shift calls for timing your swing and is very unreliable. Set up with your body centered on the golf club and no weight shift and timing is needed. Simpler is gooder. With regard to the flared foot, only do this if you have the anatomical ailments to which Stuart refers. NEVER EVER NEVER think about pulling the club down. Down is linear, the swing is circular. I don’t see anything in this article that will give you extra yardage.<br /><br />TAKE YOUR RANGE GAME TO THE COURSE—<br />Pitch Shots—Ok.<br />Sand Shots—Speed has nothing to do with blading the shot or getting the club stuck in the sand. A full finish will eliminate getting the club stuck in the sand but will not fix blading nor other problems. For many sand shots, the speed of a large swing (full finish) can be more than a short bunker shot needs—you would hit the ball over the green.<br />Chip Shots—When the hands lead through impact the clubface is either delofted or aimed to the right. This is a useful drill but not for this purpose. Disregard.<br />Putting—Chuck says rocking your shoulders to swing on plane is better than pulling it off plane with your arms. On-plane is better than off-plane—who’d a thunk it? Using your arms does not necessitate that you swing off-plane. You can easily swing off-plane using your shoulders—give it a try. Next he says the ball should be under our front eye. Draw a perpendicular line from Chuck’s front eye. It’s over the heel of the putter.<br /><br />Breaking 100/90/80/70<br /><br />MY SECRETS TO CONSISTENCY—Lorena Ochoa<br /><br />STAY IN YOUR ANGLES—This is the way Lorena thinks about keeping her balance. Good idea.<br /><br />RESPOND TO THE TARGET—Perfect. Page 37 in Manuel’s book.<br /><br />Breaking 90—<br />HOW TO FADE IT—So simple. Nothing more is needed. Right out of Manuel’s book.<br /><br />HOW I DRAW IT—Exactly.<br /><br />Breaking 80—<br />PLAY THE NUMBERS—Ok.<br /><br />LIES, LIES, LIES—Good. Note her comments on balance.<br /><br />Breaking 70—<br />LAG IT CLOSE—Ok.<br /><br />MAKE THE SHORTIES—Oops! Lorena says that she takes it straight back and straight through on shorties. That means that she has two putting strokes—straight back and straight through for short putts but an normal swing path for longer ones. I wonder how she decides at what distance to change between them. Maybe 4 feet? But what if it is 4 feet uphill? I would not be surprised to see that she never takes it straight back and straight thru. On very short putts on fast greens the stroke is so short it can seem as though it is straight.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-38731958458998437562007-02-12T14:07:00.001-06:002007-02-12T14:07:27.861-06:00March ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –Jim Flick. Jim is working with two young, highly successful players. While there are things about their swings that make it less reliable than it could be, I wouldn’t change it until it became a problem. Regarding Jim’s 5 principles for teaching juniors, sounds like de la Torre to me.<br /><br />COMPRESS THE BALL—Tiger Woods. As you may know from my past blogs, I am generally in full agreement with most of what Tiger writes—not this time. I can hardly believe my eyes. Hold a golf club at address and turn your left hand knuckles toward the ground. The club quickly becomes delofted and aimed left. While at address, try to position the club so you can feel the ball being pinched between the clubface and the ground—it can’t be done. Sorry Tiger.<br /><br />HOLD THE FACE OPEN—Ok.<br /><br />MATCH YOUR SWING TO THE LIE—Ok.<br /><br />WIDE TO THE TOP—Keeping your right arm straighter will not create “a perfect backswing.” When you “swing” the club backwards, the swinging motion will cause the club to pull away from you—don’t fight it. At the same time don’t try to straighten either arm. That will lead to stiffness and a host of problems.<br /><br />BLOWUP HOLES—Ok.<br /><br />STAY STACKED—Stay balanced till the club passes impact and it pulls you forward. <br /><br />STOP TOPPING YOUR 3-WOOD—Butch puts a little bit of everything into this article. Here’s the key ideas: Topping results from the player concluding that they have to do something other than just swing in order for the ball to get airborne. They will lean toward their back foot or use their hands in a scooping action—both can result in topping. The answer? Practicing your 3-wood without doing either of those.<br /><br />FIND YOUR SWING CHI—The golf swing is a circular motion much like is used for tossing. Take a moment to toss a ball and you will find that the motion doesn’t happen like David presents it. You will find that the first move forward in tossing is with your arms. It’s the same for the golf swing. Regarding “chi”, I have spent a few years practicing Tai Chi and there is little that David describes that has anything to do with chi. <br />Bottom Line: this is old instruction with a new word (chi). Turn the page on this article.<br /><br />HOW TO AVOID THE BIG NUMBER—Ok.<br /><br />PITCHING BASICS—Stan has become very popular amongst golf’s tour players. The only problem I have with his instruction is his suggestion that the swing is in response to the pivot. Notice the comments in the yellow box for the lower photo #10. Try this and I’m sure you will conclude this is not the way the swing works.<br /><br />BREAKING 100|90|80|70<br /><br />100—Tom suggests that the arms should respond to the body. I would suggest that it is just the opposite. <br />Go strong to go long--The answer to a grip that opens the clubface and produces slices is not a grip that produces hooks. If the grip is rotated too far to the left (slice producing), rotate it back to neutral.<br />Swing Connection—This is an example of how to cover everything with clarity in nothing (e.g. “moving your body together”, “and in balance”, “make a full release”, “hanging on”).<br /><br />90—Tom suggests that setup can improve speed. He lost me there.<br />Before the swing: set up for more speed—“Shoulders open cause bad things”, but what does that have to do with speed? “Forearms are level”, but what does that have to do with speed?<br />During the swing: Turn, don’t lift—this can improve speed but has nothing to do with setup.<br /><br />80—Tom suggests that flaring the foot can give you a “few” extra miles per hour. So let’s assume that you are swinging at 90 mph. A “few” can mean three. Three is less than a 3 per cent increase. So if you were hitting it 250, a 3% increase would mean 7 yards—that doesn’t take you from a 5 iron to a 7 iron. It does mean that you had better learn to hit it a little straighter because a 250 drive at the edge of the rough will be in the rough at 257.<br />Flare left foot for faster hips—first I’d debate whether faster hips do anything for yardage, but speed of body movement has to do with muscle. No increase in muscle, no increase in speed.<br />Bump for power—“Small” hip slide. How much is small? Because your right hand is below your left on the grip, your right shoulder is already lower at address. You can tilt your shoulders any way you want and swing the club off-plane (not in the slot).<br /><br />70—“A big shift costs you speed”, but a small hip slide with help? Keep your balance till after impact.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-2765408073181454842007-01-15T20:18:00.001-06:002007-01-15T20:19:59.889-06:00February ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –Tiger Woods. If we look at Tiger’s comments and swing through a “de la Torre lens”, he is making progress. First, it’s the case that when we setup with a fairway wood the shaft is on a flatter swing plane than an iron (simply because the shaft is longer). So Tiger’s swing plane should be flatter. Second, he notes that “I used to make a big lateral move.” That move is getting smaller but it ain’t gone yet. Third if you look at the logo Tiger’s glove hand in the center photo you can see that he is not letting the arms rotate. He is holding the clubface open this produces the fade. This is a VERY difficult way to produce a fade reliably—but that’s why he’s Tiger. I predict that he will change and instead produce a fade by making his normal swing but setting up with the club face open at address. Changes are always better made at address than in mid-swing.<br /><br />BELLY IT WITH A PITCHING WEDGE—Tom’s comments about blading the ball for shots when the ball is against the collar are good. But note the last sentence in the article. You’ll see that Tom is using Manuel’s recommendation that we choose a club that produces the shot we want rather than trying to manipulate a club to create a shot .<br /><br />BEAT THE FAT BUNKER SHOT—Plain and simple, Annika is adding bounce to this shot to make it more difficult for the club to dig into the sand. This doesn’t fix a fat shot. A fat shot is the result of using the hands—adding bounce can reduce the amount of sand you’ll dig but it has nothing to do with fixing FAT.<br /><br />PUTT WITH YOUR LEFT EAR—Good setup instruction (just like Manuel). Putt with your ear??? You should not even be thinking about the sound. All of your mental awareness should be of the visual image of the ball rolling down the line to the target. That visual image will direct your brain to make an appropriate swing. Listening is useless.<br /><br />IMPROVE YOUR FOOT ACTION—The photo’s here are of Hank—not Tiger. Look closely at the clubface in the third photo. The club is out-of-square and looking to the right. You want your ball to go to the right? This is what happens with a sway like Hank is using.<br /><br />PLAY THE 5’S BACKWARD—Ok.<br /><br />LET YOU TILT INCREASE—Stand at address with your driver. Now, without moving the club, tilt to your right an extra 10 degrees (no I have no idea how much ten degrees would be). What you will notice is that as you tilt, the club face loft increases. Forget this one.<br /><br />CLOSE OUT YOUR SLICE—In short, the fix for a slice is a hook? Then, by getting consistent at hooking I will have learned how to hit it straight? And people pay him for this? As David says in the first sentence slicing is from one of two problems. He offers a fix for one and that one may not be the one that is bugging you. Forget this one.<br /><br />FINALLY, A CURE FOR THE YIPS—The latest work on the yips says that the minority of cases are muscular with the majority being mental. The principle mental cause is worry and doubt. Many yippers are able to putt balls from one end of the green to the other (very long putts) without yipping. And they are able to make practice strokes for short putts without yipping.<br /><br />WORK THE BALL OUT OF TROUBLE—Ok.<br /><br />SIMPLIFY YOUR SWING—Simplify is good. Matching hand height is important? Look carefully at Jim’s hands on the left page. Notice how the butt of the club and the heel of both hands is below the dotted line. Now look at the right page. So much for matching hand height.<br /><br />The steps that Jim outlines regarding backswing and forward swing are steps used by an instructor. They are useless if you do not know exactly where the club should be at the top of the swing and how it works its way forward. These drill alone allow for the player to do a number of things incorrectly.<br /><br />The ALIGNMENT stuff is ok for practice.<br /><br />The SPINE ANGLE info is so wrong. Don’t look at the dotted line. Look at Jim’s back. Is it straight? No. The spine in a normal person has an “S” curve in it. It can’t be straight. <br /><br />BREAKING 100|90|80<br /><br />IT’S A CUSTOM-FIT WORLD FOR EVERY PLAYER.—Ok.<br /><br />GIVE AN UPPERCUT.—Unless your driver miss-fits you, there is no need to play the ball forward. Remember, the moment your club passes the middle of your stance, the club is facing left.<br /><br />HIT HYBRIDS LIKE IRONS—Do you see any grass flying in this photo? No, neither do I. So much for needing to “take a small divot after impact.” Hybrids don’t need a special swing. <br /><br />FIND YOUR PERFECT WEDGE-HYBRID MIX—Ok.<br /><br />HOW TO CHECK YOUR WEDGES—For normal shots, every club in the bag should bottom out just like the club on the left. If I wanted to open the club face to add some loft, then the scuff mark on the bottom would look like the club on the right.<br /><br />DIAL IN THE DISTANCE—This article doesn’t have anything to do with distance control.<br /><br />PURE IT WITH THE PUTTER—When you lean the shaft forward you deloft the putter and/or make it face to the right. Forget this article.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-16099916959167166322007-01-07T17:54:00.001-06:002007-01-07T17:55:18.051-06:00January ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –RYAN MOORE. To pre-set or not to pre-set, that is the question. No it’s not. You can pre-set the hands on a backswing an still hit it left, right, high, low, short, or long. For whatever reasons presetting allowed Ryan to circumvent a problem he had as a junior golfer (and a very good one). Only one thing makes Ryan’s swing enviable—he can repeat it. Otherwise this swing has too many irregularities. In Photo 1 on the top row, notice how far forward the ball is position. This requires him to slide forward during the forward swing—otherwise he would hit it high left. In Photo 2 on the bottom row notice how extreme the club is out of position. The shaft should be parallel to the target line. In Photo 5 he is swinging below the swing plane. If he does not invoke a compensating action he will hook the ball left. In the top row on Photo 5, look at the treetop that is positioned just below the zipper of his trousers. Now look at Photo 1—no treetop. As we thought he has had to slide forward. This adds an unnecessary amount of timing and control that makes the swing more difficult. Finally, look at Photo 6 on the top row and you will see how Ryan keeps the ball from hooking. He locks his arms from rotating and hits a push with the clubface looking slightly right and open. This produces that leak to the right that Ryan plays. It works for him (for now), but don’t try this at home.<br />STAND TALL ON LONG PUTTS—How tall? This is one of those silly articles. Why does standing tall promote a flowing stroke? If you look at the “NO” photo, this is not the opposite of standing tall. This is a photo of someone who is bent over too much or has too long of a putter—regardless of the length of putt. So how long of a putt calls for you to stand taller, 15ft, 18ft, 27ft? David then reaches a new height of insightfulness when he reports, “The worst thing you can do for a long putt is to hunch over the ball and make a short, jabby stroke.” So this “hunch/jab would be ok for short putts?<br /><br />FEEL THE DISTANCE—I can’t speak for Tiger but I can for myself and players that have attended Heartland. If someone were to put you in a dark room and ask you to throw a ball to a bucket fifteen feet away, you would find it very confounding. However, if we turn on the lights and you could see the bucket, you would describe the task as being easier. Humans are typically not able to calculate necessary swing speed based on feel but they are remarkable when it’s based on sight. The only other point regarding this article is that Tiger writes that he wants to “imagine” the club is traveling it’s fastest just after contact. While players should employ whatever imagery helps them, for the record, the club is traveling much slower after impact.<br /><br />PIVOT ON CHIPS AND PITCHES—Ok, but don’t focus on the back of the ball. I doubt if Tiger is saying what he really means. First, this can promote “hitting” instead of “swinging”. And second, it takes the target out of your mind. On a shot like the one in the photo, you want to be very target-aware during the swing. If Tiger had the ball in his hand and was rolling it to the flag, you could bet your bottom dollar his attention would be on the target.<br /><br />THRE STEPS TO VISUALIZE GREAT SHOTS—I read this article three times but could not find out how it relates to visualizing. (P.S. Toski’s setup routine was ok.)<br /><br />BEAT THE ROUGH WITH A HYBRID—Ok, but skip the last to steps.<br /><br />PRESSURE CHIPPING—Ok.<br /><br />MATCH THIS POSITION—First, Rick’s clubface is shut. At that 9 o’clock position he is referring to, the shaft of the club should be parallel to the target line and the grooves of the club should be vertical. Second, “you” don’t rotate the club. Your rotator cuff joints (they connect your arm to your shoulder) rotate the club. All you have to do is not get in the way of the rotation.<br /><br />SET YOUR HANDS AHEAD—Regardless of which club in the bag, moving the hands forward of center at setup does just two things: de-loft the club or de-loft the club and make it face to the right. If during that junior event Tom was leaving his putts to the right, this could have compensated for his swing error. Turn the page and forget this “Tale of Tom.”<br /><br />HOW TIGER DOES IT—Sounds just like how we do it—not.<br /><br />LET THE PUTTER SWING INSIDE—sounds like de la Torre.<br /><br />HOW TO PLAY CONSISTENT GOLF—<br />DRIVING—Ok, except for the comment on the flat left wrist. Lay a straight edge along the top of Annika’s left forearm from her elbow to her knuckles. Is the left wrist flat? NO. Let’s let this notion die. The left wrist is not flat relative to the forearm! <br />“U NOT A V”? The path of the club head makes a circle not a “U” or a “V”. <br />SIMPLEST ROUTE—ok<br /><br />FAIRWAY PLAY—Shorten the backswing? Do you want the shot to be shorter? Shifting (sliding) to the left moves the bottom of your swing forward and causes you to hit the ball thin. If you are worried about hitting it fat (as Annika says she is) then this is a good strategy. A better strategy would be to just set up at address with the ball a little forward and then there is no need to try to time a sliding motion.<br /><br />FIND THE BIG AREAS TO REDUCE THE RISK—Ok.<br /><br />DECIDE AND COMMIT—Absolutely.<br /><br />WEDGES<br />Make a compact swing and always accelerate—a swinging motion by definition is accelerate through impact. You don’t have to make this happen—just let it happen.<br />Annika may say she has three swing lengths but this can’t be true. Let’s say her sand wedge at ½ is 40 yards and at ¾ is 60 yards. Does that mean that when she is chipping to a 50 yard target that she will accept being either 10 yards short or ten yards long? I DON”T think so. She may practice ½, ¾, and full swings but her visualization of the target will give her an infinite variety of swing lengths.<br /><br />SET YOUR TEMP—good.<br /><br />MANAGE YOUR ENERGY-Ok.<br /><br />FIX THESE GOLF CLICHÉS—<br />GRIP--Tom has tried a fresh approach to grip. It’s fresh but it failed. Aligning the knuckles with one another does not prevent the golfer from having the hands rotated too far to the left or to the right. It just means that the hands are symmetrical. There is no magic in the knuckles or v’s, its how you use them. What we want to accomplish is putting our hands on the grip so that when we swing the hands respond to the centripetal pulling force of the club head by squaring the club head at impact. Put you hands on the club with the v’s pointing to your shirt buttons.<br /><br />SETUP—jump up 3 times and I bet you don’t always land exactly the same way. Tom is close on this. Here is the way to find your balance. Don’t jump, instead get in a ready position to jump straight up (just a couple of inches). Don’t jump. Check you weight—you’ll probably find that you have equal weight on both feet and that your weight in each foot is positioned just behind the balls of your feet.<br /><br />BALL POSITION—Poor Tom. First of all the center of your swing is the mid point between your shoulders. But let’s let that slide for a minute. Tom says for the driver the ball “should be slightly ahead of your shoulder socket.” Now look carefully at the photo of Tom with the driver. The ball is behind his left shoulder instead of in front of it. Notice how the butt of the driver is at his shoulder and the head is pointing at the ball—but the club is not hanging straight. Sorry, Tom.<br /><br />“And slightly behind your shoulder if you want to make a divot with an iron. For the swing to make a divot, the path of the swing would need to be lowered. How does moving the ball back lower the path of the swing? It doesn’t.<br /><br />BACKSWING<br />STEADY HEAD-yep!<br />WEIGHT SHIFT-yep!<br /><br />BREAKING 100|90|80<br /><br />SHAKE THE RUST OFF—Be careful of keeping your arms straight. Allow the to hang fully extended at address and allow the centripetal force of the swing to pull them straight in the backswing and forwardswing. Allow your elbows to hinge if that is the only way you can make a full swing. There is NO problem in letting them hinge at the top.<br /><br />HACK IT OUT—Ok.<br /><br />LOOK AT THE BALL LONGER—Problem. The rotator cuffs begin rotating the club (any club, all clubs) the moment the backswing begins.<br /><br />PERFECT YOUR POSTURE—Almost. Your forearms are not in alignment with the putter shaft any more than they are with any other club. Nothing prevents flicking at the ball if you want to flick at.<br /><br />ESCAPE FAIRWAY BUNKERS EVERY TIME—Ok.<br /><br />THE DOWNSIDE OF PUTTING—Let’s use common sense here. Look at the photo the putter is contacting the ball above the equator and applying a downward force. This maximizes bouncing not minimizing. This is contrary to the design of every putter made.<br /><br />PLAY TOWARD THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS—Ok.<br /><br />DON’T GET CUTE WITH IT—Ok.<br /><br />ONE WEDGE MANY LOFTS—Ask a mechanic why he has many screwdrivers and not just one. Some players (like Ernie) use one club for all chipping. The logic is that you are better off learning how to use one club than several. It’s logical but it’s just not true. If we were playing Tom for money, do you think Tom would like it if we took away his 6 and 7 iron and told him it would be advantageous to just figure out how to you the 5 iron for those shots?<br /><br />LAG IT AROUND THE GATE—Some players are “curve” putters (Like Tom). De la Torre’s approach to breaking putts is easier to perfect.<br /><br />DISTANCE CONTROL ON TEE SHOTS—Tom may be privy to something. I’ve never heard of a tour player trying to hit a driver less than their normal distance. When the want it shorter, all of them are generally eager to get the 3 wood in their hands.<br /><br />HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF TRAINING AIDS—I have a basement full of them—and that’s where they stay. I haven’t found one that makes learning faster or more certain.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1163266881370241012006-11-11T11:40:00.000-06:002006-11-11T11:47:24.540-06:00December ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br />This month's articles:<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />CUT IT FROM THE ROUGH. Ok, but don’t try it without gaining some familiarity with the shot in a practice session.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />SQUARE YOUR SHOULDERS—Ok, but neither the elbow nor anything else needs to go “straight back” on the back swing. Everything moves circularly.<br /><br />LEFT ELBOW FOLDS DOWN—This article is worthy of the teenager phrase, “Duh!”<br /><br />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.<br /><br />LESSONS FROM LORD BYRON<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />Lesson 5: To the target—good.<br />Lesson 6: Square shoulders—and hips, and feet<br />Lesson 7: Eyes over ball—Scotty Cameron suggests you also try having the eyes slightly inside the target line.<br />Lesson 8: Keep your right arm free—ok<br />Lesson 9: Cut it from the sand—ok<br />Lesson 10: Firm left side—I don’t know about “firm” but the three sentences of related description look ok.<br />Lesson 11: Be careful. This looks less like Byron’s work than the editors. The quote from Byron is pretty good.<br /><br />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..<br /><br />BREAKING 100|90|80<br /><br />HOW TO MASTER THE PAR 3S AND PAR 5S—Don’t get a high score? I think that’s what Dave is saying. Ok.<br /><br />BREAKING 100<br />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.<br />TAKE THE EASY WAY ON—Ok.<br />HOW TO HIT THE BUMP-AND-RUN—Ok, except no need to play the ball back and lean forward.<br /><br />BREAKING 90<br />KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS—Ok<br />Focus on the third shot—Ok<br />Go up one club—Ok<br />Back in play—Good<br />Aim for the center—Good<br />Loft is your friend—Ok<br /><br />BREAKING 80<br />DANCE WITH YOUR PARTNER—Ok<br />USE THE RIGHT TOOLS—Good<br />BE LIKE TIGER—Ok<br />BE WARY OF SMALL GREENS—ok<br />RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT—Ok<br /><br />BREAKING 70<br />PLAY SMARTLY AGGRESSIVE--OkGolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1160848859679959052006-10-14T13:00:00.000-05:002006-10-14T13:00:59.696-05:00November ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE—For the most part, Natalie’s swing is improving. If you look at the fourth frame in the second row, Butch has noted that the club is not in an optimal position. To understand why, just imagine where the club would be if Natalie was going to try to literally throw it at the target. But its not a big problem, she re-routes it on the downswing and gets it moving in the correct direction. The other thing Butch mention’s is the sixth frame in the top row. Natalie’s weight is shifting backward (toward her back foot). This may be because she is playing the ball forward and this is her compensation to try to square the club. When you play the ball forward it obligates the golfer to slide or shift their weight forward for the club to get square to the target line.<br /><br />LINE DRIVES—It’s important to note that his “flat-line tee-shot” is not a matter of ball position but instead is a swing change. Our recommendation is to find ways to produce different shots through changes in your setup not in your swing. This way you can take your time to make the change during the setup and then let your swing happen normally. <br /><br />QUIET HANDS HIT IT LOW—While Tiger is again describing a swing change, he does mention two important factors in a good swing: “take my hands out of the shot” (that leaves the club’s movement to the arms), and avoid the notion of “hitting down”.<br /><br />GAME FACE—The ball responds to the club. The club responds to the body. The body responds to the mind. The mind responds to your thoughts. Control your thoughts to control the ball. Controlling your thoughts requires concentration.<br /><br />ESCAPE THE SAND—Want to make bunker shots really complicated? Here’s a dandy way to tie your swing into a pretzel. And after you practice this for a few hours, go hit some drives and get ready for chaos. Keep it simple. Sand shots only require a chane in setup not swing.<br /><br />MONEY CLUB—Getting your putter fit is important.<br /><br />RIGHT HAND TO THE TARGET—This is a good example of a professional attempting to describe their technique. While Annika says she is uncomfortable with the idea of a “70-80 percent” shot, she is comfortable with swinging back to 9 o’clock and choosing a wedge that will give her the right distance with that backswing. Let’s see if this makes sense. Annika carries four wedges. From the 9 o’clock position that means she has four distances she has available for “less than full swing shots.” I think Annika would be very unhappy if she only had four partial shot distances. The point is she has no idea how far back the club swings and it swings back different distances for the demands of different shots. What’s more, if she wants to she can use any of the four wedges for a 30, 40, or 50 yard shot. And one more thing—avoid swing changes. Your wedges will work fine without having to change your swing.<br /><br />POSITION STERNUM OVER BALL—Look at the lead sentence in the last paragraph. David explains that for him, “the most important thing with a pitch or a chip is that the club hits down on the ball.” Then he explains why, “If it’s back, the club goes down and then up, and you’ll have to scoop the ball to get it airborne…”. With your sternum behind the ball, the ball is effectively forward in your stance. Anytime the ball is forward the club face will have extra loft by the time it reaches the ball and the trajectory will be higher.<br />What David doesn’t mention is that in his shots the crispness comes at the expense of lower trajectory—ok for chipping but ruinous for pitching.<br /><br />PERFECT THE PUNCH-OUT--Ok.<br /><br />PICK YOUR TARGET. Close. At the bowling alley, those little diamonds on the floor are installed to be precisely aligned with the respective pins. Very, very, seldom are a golfer’s intermediate target aligned with their actual target. Pick out your actual target and practice getting aligned to it. (After you have aligned, lay a club along the line of your toes and see how you are doing.)<br /><br />SHOULD YOU BE TEEING IT LOWER?-- Ok.<br /><br />SKILL SET.--Power is underrated? When was the last time you had a bogey because you could not hit the ball far enough vs. straight enough. Direction is underrated.<br /><br />THE SHOTS TO WIN—<br />Off the Tee set you limits. Ok.<br />In the frairway play to your strengths. Ok.<br />Around the green pick the right club. Ok.<br />On the surface lag it a little long. What’s the difference between a little long and a little short? Yes, if its short it has no chance of going in. However, you want to have one strategy that you will use for every putt. Our recommendation is to visualize the putt stopping on the edge of the cup—for every putt.<br />To the practice tee imagine your problem hole. Ok.<br /><br />FIX YOUR PATH TO PURE YOUR IRONS—Way cool! This article is very different from most in that you will find all of Mike’s attention is focused on the club…until the last page. Then Mike falls back into the old mindset of trying to tell us how to move our body. If he would have stopped prior to the last page, I don’t think a golfer in the world would have needed any of the last page info to make the club conform to Mike’s description. Forget the last page.<br /><br />BREAKING 100<br />STEER LEFT TO CURE A SLICE. Since when is a hook a cure for a slice? Besides, a slice is always preferable to a hook. A slice will have a higher trajectory and not roll far after it lands. A hook will roll further (further left) because its trajectory is lower.<br /><br />GRIP THE CLUB LIKE A STEERING WHEEL. If you hold the steering wheel like Rob is in the photo then this should be ok.<br /><br />THE TRUCK PULLS THE TRAILER—Disregard.<br /><br />MAKE A LOT OF SHORT ONES—Can’t hurt.<br /><br />KEEP THE ARMS MOVING—I like this title, but disregard the words that follow. That photo is wild!!<br /><br />BREAKING 90<br />WAIT FOR THE LIGHT TO TURN GREEN--???<br /><br />THE ROAD TO HOLING PUTTS—Ok.<br /><br />HELP FOR HOOKERS—This is backward. Disregard<br /><br />DON’T LET THE CLUB SEE ITS SHADOW—You can use a golf club a lot of different ways. Rob’s swing works for him but I’d take a pass on using it as a model. Disregard.<br /><br />BREAKING 80<br />MAKE YOUR DRIVER 75 INCHES—Use a straightedge and draw a line from midpoint in the shaft through the butt of the shaft. Is that in line with his left arm? No. Disregard.<br /><br />STAY STILL ON PUTTS. Ok.<br /><br />GETTING UP AND DOWN. Don’t try to make a knife do the job of a fork. You have a bag full of clubs to chip with. Learn to decide which tool would be the best for the job. They all are swung the same way (the arc gets bigger as you use more lofted clubs).<br /><br />REINVENTING THE WHEEL. Ok.<br /><br />STEP ON THE GAS FOR POWER. Every club has a purpose. The purpose of a nine is to hit a high shorter shot that sits down nicely on the green. If you deloft it your nine does not do what its designed to do. If its important to boast that you hit your nine iron 140 yards then delofting makes sense.<br /><br />PITCHING TO A TIGHT PIN<br /><br />BREAKING 100—“You have to get used to the idea that hitting down makes the ball go up”. What Steve should say is you have to get used to abandoning science and logic. Disregard.<br /><br />BREAKING 90—Ok.<br /><br />BREAKING 80—Taking a weaker grip does not maintain the club’s loft, it will cause the club to rotate and add loft. The smoothness of your swing has nothing to do with the softness of how it lands.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1158172884414412142006-09-13T13:41:00.000-05:002006-09-13T13:41:24.440-05:00October ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –TIGER WOODS. Shallow is not the answer. Swinging on plane is the answer. Tiger was swinging the club “above the swing plane” and therefore was too steep. This “steepness” causes him to have the club delofted. Now that he is on-plane (the club swings over his right rotator cuff joint v.s. over the base of his neck) the club is not delofted.<br /> BACKSWING—ok<br />COMING DOWN—Tiger is getting close. Notice he considers that his body should start the forward swing but observes how his hips are often “too fast”. The fact is that as soon as he gets to the idea that the arms start the swing, his hips will no longer be a problem.<br />IMPACT—notice how Tiger identifies “catch up either your arms or your body”. This happens when the body starts the swing.<br />FOLLOW-THROUGH—ok<br /><br />GRIP IT OUT IN FRONT. –ok, but have the v’s formed by your thumb and forefinger point to your shirt buttons.<br /><br />THINK “Y” FOR GREAT CHIPPING. I like Annika’s first instruction to “hit a low, running shot whenever you can.” Statistics prove that its more effective than high pitches. Her second instruction, to employ the “y” setup delofts the club and will make your contact feel more crisp because the club face is more verticle. But don’t be fooled, this crisp feel does not translate into getting closer to the hole. The ball is just coming off the club face faster. Use low running when ever you can but achieve that trajectory by using a lower lofted club with a normal setup.<br /><br />PITCH WITH YOUR BODY. Let’s begin by reviewing Butch’s analysis of “the big mistake in pitching”. Yep, its using hand action. That will kill any shot. But Butch’s solution is too problematic. To solve the hand action problem, the best solution is to use the arms to make the club swing. Now you have an action that will produce good shots regardless of the club and the shot you want to make. One other thing (although I’m not sure Butch has carefully considered the matter), its not the ball in the middle of your stance—it’s the club. You’ll also notice that Butch has to align himself to the left because his instruction will make the ball travel to the right. Bottom line…close, but more difficult than necessary.<br /><br />KNEES ARE KEY. Simply….if you play the ball too far forward, you will have to slide laterally to get yourself to a position to be able to hit it straight. Note that Tom has the ball positioned just inside his left foot. Set the club behind the ball and center yourself on the club. No knee bolo-knee is kneeded.<br /><br />Hank Haney.<br />FINISH YOUR FLIGHT. I think Hank may have been in a hurry when he wrote this. “Feel the ball flight with your finish”, what does that mean? The gist of this instruction is body, body, body. It’s not the body that controls ball flight, it’s the club. Forget this article.<br /><br />IS IT THE YIPS OR JUST A BAD GRIP? Ok.<br />HITTING THE BIG DOG. The next to last sentence in this article is VERY important. “Distance is the most important factor when it comes to determining your potential.” Hank has fallen victim to distance-mania. In case you’ve caught this disease which distorts the importance of distance, here’s how to cure yourself. Think back to the last time you bogeyed or double bogeyed a hole. Now ask yourself this question: Did I score poorly because I did not have adequate distance or because I did not have adequate direction control. Rarely is a poor score because of our strength. Hank, its direction not distance.<br /><br />DRIVING WITH POWER. Look at the fairway in the lead photo. See the trees on the right and left? Every yard further you hit the ball is a degree straighter that you must attain in order to keep the ball in the fairway. Working on distance before direction is putting the cart before the horse. Your score will suffer.<br /><br />BREAKING 100. This adjusts the body but not the club path. The problem is with the path not the body. Forget this one.<br />BREAKING 90. Does this mean if I would take four times as long for my backswing that I could hit ball much further? Forget this one too.<br />BREAKING 80. This is a big collection of ideas some of which or none of which may be helpful to you.<br /><br />FIND YOUR BALANCE. Yes.<br /><br />STAY COMPACT FOR CONTROL. I could not find a photo on Holmes, but Wie’s swing is not short. She is all the way to parallel on the back swing. Maybe its because he is from South Africa, but David’s analysis of the baseball back swing is unexplainable. Take a look at Albert Pujols’ swing. It’s much bigger than David’s notion. I hope you know that I am all for improved direction but thinking that sacrificing distance is the answer to better direction is wrong. Improving the swing does not occur just because you shorten it.<br /><br />MY SECRET: THE SIT-DOWN SWING. This proves the axiom, “some secrets are best left untold.” Imagine you were entered into a contest measuring the precision of ball contact relative to the center of the club face. Then imagine that of all the contestants, only you were required to bob down and up and to sway forward when you were swinging. Would you think that fair? I am not sure as to why George or the “panel of experts” saw this as a way to increase power but it is obvious that is a good way to jeopardize precision.<br /><br />MY SECRET: SWING THE SHAFT. Better. Jim’s advice is pretty good. Keeping the hands ahead of the shaft on short shots will deloft the club thereby deprive you of having a high soft-landing shot in your repertoire.<br /><br />SLICE NO MORE! An article like this one by Rick Smith, is a vivid example of the difference between teachers that are the more famous and teachers that are more knowledgeable. De la Torre is less the former and more the latter.<br /><br />Rick’s article proposes that “all slicers have one thing in common: a steep downswing with an open clubface, pointing right of the swing path at impact.” Well that just isn’t so. Look in Manuel’s book and you will find that there are no less than nineteen causes for a slice. <br />DROP YOUR RIGHT FOOT. We already discussed this in the “breaking 100” article. Dropping the right foot is intended to change the swing path. But it doesn’t necessarily do that, we can still swing outside-in. Fix the path, not the body.<br />SPLIT GRIP. Rick begins by saying that these drills will straighten your shots, but here you see him explaining that this will produce a draw. Go for straight not draw.<br />SWING LOW TO HIGH. Again this is about draw not straight.<br />PRACTICE WITH ONE ARM. The key here is what Rick is doing with the club. See how he has delivered it correctly to the 3 o’clock position.<br />LOOP AROUND THE STAKE. How does taking the club outside make the player return it correctly? Does taking it outside tell us where the correct path is? How much over the stake do you swing it? And how much under the stake do you swing it? And how tall should the stake be? If you wanted to toss a ball would it be easier or more difficult if you had to “loop” your swing during the tossing motion. When you look at this carefully, it gets very messy.<br /><br />STRENGTHEN YOUR GRIP. If Rick has a grip for slice, one for hook, where is the one for straight? How does the grip in the third picture produce straight or draw? <br />TEE IT HIGH. Not necessarily<br />CHECK YOUR SHOULDER ALIGNMENT. Ok.<br /><br />GET AGGRESSIVE IN THE SAND. Ok.<br /><br />BREAKING 100|90|80. <br />ONE SWING, ONE THOUGHT. Ok.<br />BREAKING 100. <br />Avoid the pop-up by staying wide. Pop-ups happen not from being too steep but from having the hands severely ahead of the clubhead during the swing.<br />200 YARDS = 2 WEDGE SHOTS. Backspin does not reduce sidespin. Otherwise, Ok.<br />BREAKING 90.<br />KNOCK IT DOWN TO HIT YOUR TARGETS. Who said a lower trajectory produces straight ball flight. Knockdowns assure only lower trajectory.<br />ONE INCH-TWO CLUBS. If you added one inch to your seven iron do you think you could hit it as far as your five? I don’t. This distance produce by a given club is a function of its length, loft, and weight. Choking down to a seven iron length will not make your five a seven. That notwithstanding, I do recommend achieving lower trajectory by using lower lofted clubs versus knockdown swings.<br />BREAKING 80.<br />ELIMINATE SIDESPIN ON GREENSIDE BUNKERS. The setup Josh recommends is puzzling, but the club position shown at impact is what you’ll achieve when you “swing” the club (no strange setup necessary).<br />YOUR RIGHT PALM = THE CLUBFACE. Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1155254664620999722006-08-10T19:03:00.000-05:002006-08-10T19:04:24.636-05:00September ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary <br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />ACCELERATE ON PITCHES. Any time you swing the club you accelerate through the ball.<br /><br />WATSON’S SHORTCUTS. Ok.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />HANK HANEY—HEAVY DUTY. Ok<br />IS IT YOUR STROKE? Ok. Alignment is not the key element. It is one of two: distance and direction.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />TEE HEIGHT. Ok—except don’t , “HIT DOWN SLIGHTLY…”<br /><br />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. <br />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. <br />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.<br /><br />BREAKING 100 | 90 | 80<br /><br />ROLL IT WHEN YOU CAN. Absolutely!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br />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. <br />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”).<br /><br />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.”<br /><br />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. <br />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?<br /><br />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.<br /><br />AVOIDING TROUBLE LEFT. Three good ideas.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1152761214849129132006-07-12T22:26:00.000-05:002006-07-12T22:26:54.866-05:00August ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary<br /><br />This month's articles:<br /><br />ANNIKA’S 3 KEYS. Ok.<br /><br />ERNIE’S EASY TIPS. Ok.<br /><br />BUTCH’S BASICS. Ok.<br /><br />FLICK’S MASTER TIPS. So what is a “slick downhiller”? When does a downhiller become a slick one? This is the kind of subjective, vague, instruction that leads a player into a fog of uncertainty. Disregard.<br /><br />LEADBETTER’S LESSONS. Ross Perot had a phrase during his ill-fated run for President—“It’s the economy, stupid”. My response for David is, “It’s the club, stupid”. (No disrespect intended—only humor). It’s not the shoulder position or the arms, it’s the movement of the club that produces the slice. Fix the club, not the body.<br /><br />WATSON’S SHORTCUTS. Ok.<br /><br />MCLEAN’S SWING FIXES. Jim has almost got this right. Notice how he is playing the ball forward of center at address. In order for him to have a chance to hit it straight, he has to sway forward (lateral movement) so that his center is even with the ball. If he doesn’t sway, he is likely to hit a hook or a block-slice. His conclusion is that the “lateral movement” is necessary. The correct conclusion is that it is necessary when you set up with the ball forward. (Having to sway sets up trying to time the sway…too unpredictable).<br /><br />12 THINGS TIGER TAUGHT ME. #1—Ok. #2—Ok when you have prior knowledge of club selection for given tee shots. #3—Notice that he uses practice swings to create a mental image. #4—Ok for competitive golf. #5—The importance of focus. #6—Learn to trust your decisions. #7—Subjective. #8—The importance of focus. #9—Subjective. #10—Subjective. #11—Ok. #12—Is this really relevant?<br /><br />HOW TO PLAY BETTER NOW AND FOREVER. Unfortunately, the magazine hipped this title and it misleads the reader. I don’t want to downplay the importance of our health, but to put a fine point on it, you can go to any golf course any day and find very healthy specimens who can’t find the fairway and very unhealthy ones who can’t miss it. Our health is not to be undervalued, nor should it be thought of as a way to improve our putting or to fix a slice.<br /><br />THE GOLFING MACHINE. Good information about our body and how we stress it. Unless you have a pre-existing condition, a correctly executed golf swing is fully compatible with the normal motions of a human body.<br /><br />THE BIG C. Use sunscreen. I never teach, practice, or play without a good application of SPF 55. I also am a regular user of lip protector—SPF 15.<br /><br />THE GOLFING BODY—A USERS MANUAL. Strength and range-of-motion are key factors in the club speed you can achieve and thereby the potential (if the swing is correct) distance you can achieve.<br /><br />12 RULES FOR HEALTHY GOLF. Good.<br /><br />BREAKING 100. WHOOPS!!! Randy better check the video. There is no grip so weak or strong that you can’t hinge your wrists (hinging takes place at the top of the backswing). We want the v’s pointed at your center. Regarding speed in putting, distance control is no more important than direction control. Failing in either one can result in a shot that leaves the ball too far from the hole. <br /><br />BREAKING 90. Loose the “landing area”. If Randy would stand on the side of the green and try to toss balls to a flagstick, he would find that his attention was not on a landing area but on the target itself. The same is true for chipping. Regarding a “natural turn” this drill is ok.<br /><br />BREAKING 80. I’m not quite clear on how Randy’s hip replacement applies to golfers who want to break 80. His hip-related comments are ok. Since at address he shifts his center to the left, the ball placement will shift left accordingly.<br /><br />ESCAPING THE TREE LINE. Ok.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632230.post-1150166966775144742006-06-12T21:49:00.000-05:002006-06-12T21:50:54.643-05:00July ‘06 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary This month's articles:<br /><br />LESSON TEE –Annika Sorenstam. Three things to note: simplicity, one swing speed for all clubs, a consistent approach (pre-shot). On the next page her coach notes her rhythm and balance.<br /><br />SQUARE YOUR EYES. Hank is close in this article. While shifting their eyes is not uncommon for reverse pivoters, its not the eyes its shifting the weight that is the problem. Keep you balance.<br /><br />FINDING MORE SPEED. How can you find more speed in your car? It only can go so fast. The same is true for your swing. Before you look for more speed as a means to get more distance, look for distance by improving your swing. Put face tape on the driver and see if your are hitting the ball in the center. An off-center hit can rob up to 15 yards. Then look at your swing size. Is your swing arc as big as you can comfortably make it? Finally, look for the right trajectory. Too little loft means the ball is in the grass too soon. There are many ways to optimize your distance. Trying to swing faster is the most dangerous place to look.<br /><br />COMMIT TO EVERY SWING. If a practice swing clarifies the mental image of what you want to focus on during your shot, then it is useful.<br /><br />PUTT TO A PICTURE ON BIG BREAKERS. One can learn to putt to the apex of the curve in a breaking putt and then have the ball roll beyond it to the hole. This is the more difficult way to accomplish the task. Turn breaking putts straight puts by choosing an alignment target to the side of the cup and putt the ball to the alignment target. The slope of the green will then curve it into the hole.<br /><br />LET YOUR HEEL RISE. If allowing the heel to rise (NO WEIGHT SHIFT), allows you a longer backswing then go for it.<br /><br />ACCELERATE ON SHORT PUTTS. A swinging motion will have you accelerating on all putts.<br /><br />50 FEET TO THE PIN<br />BREAKING 100. Sounds good<br />BREAKING 90. Eight iron is a good club selection but the rest is unnecessary complication in the setup.<br />BREAKING 80. Sounds ok.<br /><br />MY 5 KEYS TO CONSISTENCY. <br />Posture—if you are not comfortable at address, you will be less likely to maintain that posture during the swing. If you don’t maintain the address posture, you’ve changed the shot.<br />Backswing—ok<br />Power—Having a wider stance does not increase your power.<br />Tempo—Tempo and rhythm are two different things. What Adam is referring to is rhythm. Tempo has to do with the elapsed time it takes for the swing. Ryhthm has to do with evenness and smoothness.<br />Balance—Balance is the unsung hero of a good golf swing.<br /><br />THE CHOICE I MADE—not an instructional article but very interesting with many ideas that are compatible with our teaching concepts.<br /><br />SECRETS TO GREAT GOLF—While I have my minor disagreements with some of these 101 “secrets”, this is probably the single best compilation of useful, accurate information I can remember in a golf magazine.<br /><br />Breaking 100|90|80<br />Pick a precise target—from tee to green this is always a great idea<br />Breaking 100—good<br />Breaking 90—Learning to fade is not a good idea for someone wanting to break 90. Firing your right side may be good for boxing. What is better for golf is to ensure that your left and right side are free to respond to your shoulder-to-shoulder full swing.<br />Breaking 80—Swing smooth and maintaining your post are good ideas for every player.<br />Breaking 70—Fear results from us allowing our brain to think about what we don’t want. Use your brain to focus on what you do want.GolfTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13415647570223985694noreply@blogger.com0