August 2008 Golf Digest

LESSON 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.
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.

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.)

THE BASIC SPLASH OUT—Step 1-ok. Step 2-no. Never have the idea of swinging down. Step 3-ok.

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.

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.

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?

GIVE YOUR PUTTS A BREAK—Ok.

USE THE 14 CLUB RULE—Ok.

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.
--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.
--Regarding Rick’s description of swaying, I can’t imagine anything that is more compatible with Manuel’s teachings.
--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.
--Regarding space, don’t try to keep the hands away from you. Instead, don’t try to unnecessarily bring them towards you.
--Regarding hanging back, allow the forward swing to shift your weight to your right foot.
--Regarding casting, the hands are for holding the club. The unhinge on the forward swing due solely to the centrifugal force of the swing.
--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.
--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).

100/90/80

Breaking 100
HOLD THE BALLONS—looks good but guarantees little

POINT THE CLUB—you don’t need to extend the finger—just swing so the club winds up pointing at the target.

ROTATE—Ok.

FINISH—Good.

Breaking 80
CLIP THE TEES—don’t be mislead to think there is a “flat spot” at the bottom of your swing.

TRAJECTORY—Ok.

February ‘08 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary

This month's articles

-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.

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.

TOUGHEST PUTT IN GOLF—Ok.

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.

HITTING PURE IRON SHOTS—I love Annika’s game. Skip this article.

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.

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.

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.

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.

MY BUNKER BLAST—OK. I think you’ll find equally satisfactory results without making the backswing more vertical than normal.

Breaking 100
CAST YOUR LEG IN PLACE AT THE TOP—Ok.
GRIP THE GRASS WITH YOUR FEET—Ok.
SWING LIKE YOUR SLAMMING YOUR CAR DOOR—Ok.

Breaking 90 Randy seems to imply that its more about distance than direction—don’t get sucker-punched. Direction first, distance second!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

SWING FROM A GOOD FINISH—Ok.

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.

BREAKING 70—Ok.

December '07 Commentary

This month's articles

3-WOOD OFF THE TEE—Ok. (expect play all clubs in the center).

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).

BEAT THE ELEMENTS—Good thoughts about the effect of the elements.

ESCAPE FAIRWAY SAND—Ok.

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.

THE EASY WAY TO SHAPE SHOTS—Ok. For a more extensive discussion of this see Manuel’s book (page 178).

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.

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.

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.

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.

June ’07 Golf Digest Instruction Commentary

This month's articles:

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

Golf Digest May 2007

This month's articles

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-GET IT CLOSE BY GETTING WRISTY—Read the warning at the bottom of this article.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-HOW TO FIX THREE BACKSWING KILLERS—Let’s make this simple. Keep your balance.

-WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM A SNAPSHOT—Ok.

-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).

-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.

-TRUST YOUR ROUTINE—absolutely.

-HOW TO BUILD A REPEATING SWING. Get ready this is going to be wild!
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.
Three-point stance—Just sole the club correctly and that will position you correctly.
Climb a ladder—the top yellow line is 3 inches below his shoulder.
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.
-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.
-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.
-TRANSITION—don’t drop your arms (that’s a linear direction). Swing them (that’s circular).
-DOWNSWING—Ok.
-Key Checkpoint—“…mostly arms”—ONLY ARMS!!!
-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.
-Balance—“…stay balanced”. You can’t “get shifty (i.e. shift your weight) and stay balanced.
-Release—Ok. Release is something you “let” happen, not “make” happen.
-THE FULL SWING—
1) ok
2) ok
3) ok
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.
5) ok
6) ok
7) the shaft is not perpendicular to the ground because he shifted his weight
8) ok
9) the shaft is not perpendicular to the ground and doesn’t need to be

-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.

-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).

-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.

-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.