The Ghost in the Mindset

    In my observation the average player is either short of the cup or missing on the low side when they putt, afraid that they won’t make the come-backer if their ball goes by the hole.

    The ghost in the mindset whispers to them that 18 inches past the hole is excessive while two inches short is a “gimme.” And since the player does not expect to make the putt, two putts becomes the safe standard. Basically the golfer who holds this costly past-the-hole bias, is doomed to two or more putts. This subconscious bias is exposed only by record keeping.

   Two Interventions for Past-the-Hole Bias

    The first step in the intervention process is to keep records of your putts – how far short or long, high side of the cup or low. This brings your bias up from the murky depths into the light of day. The rule of the healthy golf mind is: "Intervention begins with understanding."

    The Hop Drill

    Second you need to train yourself to hit aggressive putts by using the hop drill where you lay a shaft across the hole with the goal of striking the putt just hard enough to hit the shaft and hop over it into the cup or just a few inches past should it miss.

    After enough repetitions using this drill your brain will understand how firmly you must hit your putts. In general I think it’s bad practice to die putts into the hole because if you let up just a fraction under pressure, you'll leave it short. Firmness has room for error since the cup is 4 1/4 inches from back to front so a firm putt can be two inches shorter than planned and still go in.

    So the intervention process for making more birdies in particular and more putts in general is to [1] adopt the concept of firmness and let that rule all attempts [2] engrain firmness by using the hop drill pictured below.

Make sure the shaft on the ground does not lay at an angle to you line of roll i.e. the arrow is perpendicular to the shaft. Also check that the shaft is flush with the ground. Note how the face is downward to the ground to promote flushness.

It didn’t go in but I know the speed was correct because it hopped the shaft.

The controlling concept here is called the Window of Vulnerability [WOV].  Research from Johns Hopkins University shows that to learn a new skill, it’s not enough to simply practice it – in addition you must allow enough time to pass for the brain to encode the information.

Researchers found that during this critical time frame the brain's internal model of the task physically shifts from its initial location [zone 1] in the front of your brain to the pre-motor areas in the parietal lobe near the back of the head [zone 2]. Basically learning a motor skill like the takeaway is a two step process that starts in one area where the learning is fragile then moves to another area where it is much more resistant to change. The good learner knows this and structures the lesson accordingly.

Neuro-Plasticity is a Plus

Please note that this fragile period is of great value for it gives you the opportunity to over-write your disk i.e. while in zone 1 adjustments can be made to the new template. If at some point early on you couldn’t write over newly learned stuff how would you prune it of error? By the same token a certain amount of stability in our motor response repertoire is essential. Thus in the initial laying down of golf tasks the learner as well as the teacher must expect new memories to be vulnerable during the over-write period. Here is why Duane’s promise of exact repetition is so important for it is repetition of the task that conveys to the brain that this particular template is ready and should be moved from zone 1 to zone 2 where it becomes a stabilized motor template otherwise know as “I learned it, so what’s next!”

Thus to promote super learning each lesson must have an anatomy [a structure] and a biology [a dynamic that is alive and unscripted]. Each lesson must be choreographed so that it matches the way the brain learns. No amount of talent will over-come a deficiency in the human learning protocol.

Just returned from doing to clinics at Reunion Resort in Orlando and Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, F.  These are two beautiful resorts and wonderful golf courses.  I had a great time and the students that took advantage of this opportunity for a tune up came away with valuable information.

The Power Crouch

To get the most benefit out of this article takes a bit of leg work – both figuratively and literally – but I can assure you it is worth it when you see one of the most remarkable golfers on the planet. His name is Manuel De Los Santos, a three handicap. I believe that by studying his swing you will understand how power is produced. The secret is coiling the upper body then setting up a wall and driving across it at high speeds.

To see a demonstration of this principle go to youtube.com and type in Le swing de Manuel de los Santos Avril09.

[You can stop the video by clicking the start button -- the second swing is in slow motion.]

When you look at the video note how he flexes his leg to start the downswing. This “power crouch” is the same technique Tiger uses to generate much of his power. Most amateurs do exactly the opposite i.e. they start back to the ball with stiff legs that deaden their body. 

Santos comes out of his crouch with a power-packed straightening of his leg that fires his club at the ball. You know he’s swinging in an arc around his body because to keep from falling down he hops in the direction the force is taking him -- around behind him.  

A Power Image

The release of the club-head to the ball is not a “make” but a “let.” By this I mean that while it would seem that the 90 degree angle formed by your front arm and the club shaft must be forcibly straightened by conscious effort, this is not case. In fact if you try to make this angle go straight it will ruin your swing. As Santos shows us you must rely on physics,  namely the conservation of momentum to get the job done. His swing may be long but he doesn’t control it with his arms and shoulders – they work beautifully but the trigger for the release of the club is the snap of the lower body.

Here is the image: A horse and rider approaches a six foot jump at full gallop and suddenly the horse stops dead – the rider picks up the momentum of the stopped horse and is “released” over the wall at high speed. The club-head is the rider and the upper body plays the part of the horse while the wall is the front leg and hip. Your goal is to use your legs correctly so a collision occurs as you run the right side of your body over the resting left side. The result of this collision is a “Santos release” – full, complete and with no fear.

    Drill:

    Take your normal address posture with a tee’d up seven iron. Then pull your back leg about 12 inches behind you and balance on the toe with your heel in the air and all your weight on your forward leg. The idea is to make you a one—legged golfer for a few swings so you can feel the power of establishing a wall to hit against. From the top of your swing make sure the first move down is a flexing of the front knee -- then at impact allow the leg to straighten as you release the club over the leg – and of course as with all your full swings, keep rotating.

     You’ll probably never hit it as far as Santos [he regularly drives it 300 yards] but by swinging one-legged you’ll understand how power is generated. And remember that power comes from technique so swing under control and be sure to ask your doctor if it’s ok to do this drill before you attempt it.

Predator or Prey?

In a study of I.E.D. detection researchers found that troops who were the best at spotting hidden bombs tended to think of themselves as predators on a hunt rather than prey being stocked. First-rate training builds confidence and when you see yourself as the competent hunter your stress chemicals work for you i.e. instead of overwhelming your capabilities to respond effectively the stress chemicals enhance them. If you’re good at being a predator, then under the heat, the butterflies are flying in formation rather than dive bombing.

The Predator Package

The pump of the hunt, the confidence in the outcome and the excellent preparation and training all place the predator in control of the situation, its rules, and eventually the outcome. As Tiger Woods said after an important loss “I didn’t play well, I didn’t have my A game today -- but there will be other days.”  They can run from the Tiger but they can’t hide. 

And if your DNA determines you’re a predator, you are provided with a predator package complete with a specialized visual apparatus

Everything with their Head Down Gets Eaten

In addition to the psychological differences between predator and prey there are also physical differences, the major of which is that predators are built with their eyes in front of the head while prey have their eyes to the side. Prey, mostly herbivorous, have much better peripheral vision so they can spot a predator as they munch in the alfalfa patch while predators intent on pouncing see much better straight ahead – they augment their weakness in peripheral vision by a sophisticated pivot system that extends the range of side vision – the neck.

Paying Your Dues: The Predator’s Mindset

Of course in a civilized society we satisfy much of our DNA imprint through sports where lesser players can develop the predators’ mindset through hard work, determination and training.  Along with the emotional and physical machinery conferred by evolution comes a learned mindset that must be developed – in any given circumstance a predator can become prey and a prey can turn the tables and become a predator.  “This is why they play the game” as ESPN announcer Chris Berman likes to say.

I train a number of golfers who want to be tour players and it is a key moment when one morphs from prey to predator.   An important part of 'paying your dues’  as a golfer is this maturation process. I took a very raw rookie to watch a tour event and after seeing all the great players I asked ‘well, what do you think’ – the response was ‘I can beat them.” About the same time I asked another of my players to describe her performance in a tournament and her response was “I saw Paula Creamer in the parking lot getting out of her BMW; she’s bigger than I thought.”

One predator in training, one prey in waiting.

                           Walk Or Take A Human!

The Center for Disease Control predicts up to 40% of Americans could be infected with the Swine flu; The World Health Organization says 2 billion infections worldwide Possible. Given twenty six million golfers that's 26 x 40% = 10,400,000 golfers who could get the flu.

I teach at the PGA Learning Center in Port St Lucie, Fl. and every winter thousands of golfers visit us to take lessons and play our three championship golf courses so for all the golfers who are on the road during the flu season I reproduce below some advice I give to my touring professionals on safe travel:

 Precautions:

     *As soon as you enter a new hotel room, spray with a virus/bacteria killer. Blast every surface including light switches and TV remotes. And don't forget the shower curtain, pillows and head backboard. Spray your room as if the previous occupant had a deadly, communicable disease -- who knows, it could be.

   *The only time you should let your skin touch the bedspread is when you strip it off and throw it in the corner. Hotels rarely wash bedspreads and studies show they contain human leavings such as urine, feces and vomit. Blankets are no prize either -- use your bathrobe for a blanket. 

   *Let your shower run 30 seconds before you step in -- bacteria build up in the shower head and the first 30 seconds or so is a spray of germs.

   *Never accept maid service -- the service may inadvertently reintroduce germs into your newly sanitized environment. And every time you return to your room it’s a good idea to spray again because your clothes, hair, hands etc. can download germs into your space.

    Remember the old joke: Two germs are talking about going cross town and one germ asks the other: "Shall we walk or take a human?"

 *Wash you hands frequently and scrub them aggressively. While hot water and soap is helpful the most effective part is "the scrub" because those critters dig in and can only be dislodged and rinsed down the sink by 20 seconds or so of "rubbing and rinsing."

   *When you use a public restroom turn off the facet with a paper towel - this prevents re-infection of your hands then open the door with that towel.

   *Most germs are housed in the mucous membranes of the nose and when you have a cold its easy to get some nose fluid on your hands -- then you shake hands with someone and now they have your germs and of course vice versa. Actually its best to not shake hands at all. Instead use the "knuckle bump" tour pros use when they make a birdie. Even if you do download some germs you don't see many people with their knuckles up their nose.

   *One of the most diseased part of your trip are the menus in the restaurants. They almost never washed and everybody paws them. If a table turns 80 people in a night during flu season what are the odds that one of those has the flu – at 40% of our population the number is 32. Carry pocket size Purell and use it just after you hand the menu back to your waiter.

 *I suggest you wear a golf glove when you travel. This gives you one hand that’s germ free so when its time to eat you take off the glove and use your germ-free hand.  Finger foods like peanuts and foods you hold in your hand like sandwiches are an invitation to infection. Does it look strange to wear one glove -- perhaps, but better weird than sick.

  *Never eat at a buffet. They are a breeding ground for germs. A person wipes his nose on his sleeve then reaches across the potatoes for the corn. His fluids drip off his sleeve into the buffet food and under the hot lights the germs multiply until you come along an hour later and take a heaping helping.

* The worst thing you can order when you travel are salads. If there are six ingredients [chicken, lettuce, egg, tomato etc.] that means someone had to touch all of them and if s/he is sick, you will be too.

*And stay away from kids, bless their little hearts. Don't touch them and don't sit next to them. Since their immune systems aren't fully developed, kids are the Tiger Woods of germ carriers.

 Are There "Not's" In Your Putting?

For an enlightening experience go to any practice putting green and watch golfers putt. In actuality what you'll see is golfers practicing missing putts! It goes something like this: they throw down three balls and from 15 feet they leave the first putt short, pull the next two, push the fourth and crash the fifth attempt 10 feet by the hole. And its not long before the brain gets the message "the chances of a putt going in are not good so I'm not going to make many putts today." Thus the golfer goes to the course perfectly prepared to miss everything but the gimmees and the knockaways. He or she has "nots" in their putting.

Statistics show that on average a tour player misses about 54% of the six foot putts he attempts over the course of a year. And that's on perfect greens! So what chance does a weekend golfer have from 15 feet on bumpy, overused practice greens, where the cups are rarely changed? Keep track of how many putts you make in a putting session and I'll bet you it's less than 20%.

You can change this around simply by following these guidelines: 1. Practice distance first and most. 2. Always end your putting practice by making four or five short putts in a row.

1. Practice Distance: If by some magic (or some practice) you always had the right distance on your putts, you'd be a heck of a putter. Most three putts occur because of poor distance not bad direction. Look at it this way, unless there's a huge, slippery break, it's hard to miss a putt left or right by six feet but it's easy to leave one six feet short or long.

To develop your touch for distance lay out three shafts on the putting green at intervals of 10, 20 and 30 feet. Then drop three balls and putt to the shafts. First putt all three balls to the same shaft.  Next stroke a ball to the 30 foot shaft then the next ball to the 20 and the last to the 10. Then change the intervals between the shafts. Notice that you are not putting to a cup and therefore have not "seen" a ball not go in. There's no "not's" in your putting using this technique. You may have putted long or short of your shaft but you haven't "missed" in the traditional sense.

.

2. Finish up by seeing the putts go in the hole: Just before you end your session find a level three footer and ram four or five putts dead center into the middle of the cup. Then go play golf knowing that you can putt up to three feet from anywhere and then make it.

Make the Right Choice to Score Low

Around the greens the trick is to pick the shot that gives you the best chance for success. Take for example the short shot in the accompanying photos. Here is what I am faced with:

* The ball is 30 feet from the hole;

* The ball is sitting up in a perfect lie;

* There are 36 inches of ½ inch fringe between the ball and the putting surface;

* The surface is flat all the way from the ball to the hole.

This is a relatively easy shot but you have to be careful not to make it “too easy” by not considering all you options. Don’t simply pull your “favorite” chipping club and slap away. Here is how you should think about your options:

• You could select a lofted club, say a lob or a pitching wedge, but you’ll have to take a swing long enough to hit the ball about 15 feet in the air and roll it another 15 feet after it lands. Remember the grass is clipped short so you run the risk of the clubhead digging into the turf behind the ball leaving the ball way short -- a terrible result for a shot this easy so the lofted clubs are out.
• You could select a mid-iron—say a 5 or 6-iron—and take a much shorter swing creating a greater margin for error s so that the ball carries a foot or two onto the green then rolls the rest of the way to the hole. It’s a safer shot than the choice above but the risk is that since you have to clear the fringe you hit it too hard, running the ball well past the hole. Percentage wise this is not the best choice either.
• You could putt the ball. A good choice but the ball has to roll for almost 36 inches through ½ inch fringe before you reach the putting surface raising issues about exactly how hard to hit it.
• The best choice is to chip the ball with a 3 or 4-wood using your putting stroke as  detailed below.

The ball comes off the face of the fairway wood without side spin so it holds its line all the way to the hole. This shot requires a very short swing, as shown in photo 1 (059) and with such a short swing, little can go wrong. Another advantage with the fairway wood is that you can keep the clubhead low to the ground going back and coming forward, making it easy to make solid contact with the back of the ball. The worst that can happen is a slight scuff which will only take a foot or two off the expected roll.

The loft of the fairway wood also insures that the ball will jump before it rolls so you don’t have to negotiate the full 36 inches of fringe as you would if you putted. Take a look at photo 2 (052);  I have so much confidence in this shot that I have removed the pin. You should sink a significant percentage of shots like this, almost as many as you would putting on the green from the same distance.

One last tip about this shot: arch your wrists downward when you address the ball so that the heel of the clubhead is slightly off the ground. This will minimize the amount of the clubface exposed to the grass and further eliminate any possibility of a scuff.

Help me, T.J.! I'm pushing my irons 
  
T.J.,
I was wondering if there are any practice tips to help me correct a push with my driver and my irons. I am not slicing, I am just hitting it straight right. Any help.
Allen T., via email

Dear T.J.,
 
My goal is to have a good repeatable full swing, so I spend lots of time working on my full swing.  Some people  say, "Drive for show and putt for dough.” I always respond: “You can’t putt from the tee box.” I’m shooting somewhere between 97 and 102, and I have broken 90 on a par-70 course, but that hasn’t happened in a while. Can you take a look at my swing and let me know how I can improve?

Patrick A., San Juan, Puerto Rico

P.S. You might notice I’m wearing flip-flops — they are the FootJoys of tropical golf.

Golf is played on the inside rims of your feet — and you can’t do that wearing flip-fops! Stop your video just before impact and you'll see that you're "nailed to the right side.” Your right knee is straight up and down and your weight is still on your right side. That’s at the speed of a 7-iron so it’s going to be compounded with a driver. Just before impact, your weight should be left and your right thigh should be slanted toward the target so that you're on the inside rim of your right foot. This will allow you to release your core, which in turn releases the clubhead. But if you’re wearing flip-flops, you won’t ever get there.

The Takeaway: Lose the flops, gain a release.

Best, T.J.

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Perfectly Clear

[PGA champion Rick Beem displays his no-fear hip turn commonly called the "hip clear" by keeping his hips rotating from the start of his swing through to the finish. He's playing the first hole at this years Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. It features trees on the right and water on the left both of which you can see from the tee when you play the hole.

The problem is that its difficult to rotate your hips toward the trouble. This creates a diabolical situation where the natural or intuitive move [in this case to stop the rotation of the hips toward the trouble] actually causes the ball to end up in the trouble. Thus the quickest way to pull it left is to stop turning left -- one of the little traps that make this game so interesting.]

Everyone that Can Play Does This

There aren't many things in a quality swing that you can point to and say "everybody that can play, does this well." Fred Couples grip is strong, Tiger Wood's is neutral while Jose Maria Olazabal uses a weak grip. One player stands more vertical at address while another bends over. Some experts like Craig Stadler take the club inside and loop it over the top, another group take it back and through on essentially the same plane [Fred Funk et all] while others take the club back slightly outside and loop it back to the inside at impact [Jim Furyk, Jay Haas ect..] So much for uniformity!

 My book The LAWs of the Golf Swing describes how swing mechanics such as grip, takeaway and swing plane must differ depending on how the player is built.   

But when you see player after player in the position of our tour model Rich Beem, it's an indication that while the iron clad rules are very few in golf, here is one of them: You must rotate you lead hip behind you in order to sling the clubhead past you.

Bad Lessons All Around

This player is almost at impact yet her hips look as if she's still at address. She's lost her wrist cock much too early and will have to hold on for dear life to prevent the ball from going left. On a good day she can expect pulls and pull slices. On a bad day she'll pull hook it which will teach her not to release the clubhead -- bad lessons all around.

Get Hip

The efficient use of the hips is the major reason professionals hit the ball so far with so little effort yet I'd estimate that the average player has less than half the hip rotation of a skilled player primarily because they overuse their hands and arms.

It's no surprise then that pros like Rich Beam have learned to overcome the natural urge to use their hands and arms to speed up the club. 

Own It at the Top

You would think watching the likes of John Daly and Phil Michelson that the longer the arm swing, the faster the clubhead goes but that is not always or even usually the case for the average player. In fact it often just the opposite -- the longer the swing the less the power.

Granted some pros have long swings but because of their flexibility and technique they only sometimes come to disaster whereas a less accomplished golfer with an over-swing is rewarded with high scores at the end of almost every round. The bottom line is that what is one players power source is another players power leak and it is control of the club that marks the difference.

The key to controlling the overswing is first and foremost an understanding of a simple concept: To play good golf you must own the club at the top of the swing. Clubs that twirl around like a weathervane in a storm at the top of the swing are the signature of mismanagement and should be brought to heel as follows.

Turn with your Chest

As you take away the club, focus on turning your chest away

from the target. Your arms, hands and club are just along

for the ride. This creates the controlled backswing plus the coil

you need for power and accuracy.

 Keep your Target Arm Firm

You create an overswing when you collapse your target arm and fold both your elbows on the way to the top of your swing. Instead, maintain a firm front arm and try to keep your hands as far away from your head as possible. This produces maximum width and control .

 With both elbows bent and his hands collapsing back toward his head this young man better be prepared for a long day of "hit-and-hunt."

Tour pro Hunter Mehan definitely "owns the club" at the top of his swing. He has not allowed his hands to drop back toward his head -- they're are as far away from his chest as possible creating maximum swing width.

Take Back Control of Your Brain

An effective strategy for maintaining control of your mental landscape comes from Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz in his book "Brain Lock" which outlines a procedure to take back control of the brains of patients debilitated by obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Last week I outlined the first two steps dealing with taking a new swing thought, i.e. cocking the wrists, to the course as summarized below:

Step 1: Re-label

Identify the disruptive thought [the warning "you're cocking the club too late"] and label it as out-of-date.

Step 2: Re-Attribute

Re-attribution is a take off on the theme "if you can explain it, you own it." The explanation of the warning thought you receive in our example is that it is a normal part of  the NO/GO system every brain has.

Step 3 Refocus:

During this step you focus your attention on retuning to the template of the new swing mechanic that you learnt on the practice range. In our example of the wrist cock, the refocus thought is "cock the wrists sooner." After each warning signal you return to the template by using a combination of a mental thought replacement [early set] and a physical act i.e. a practice swing focusing on an early wrist cock.

In the refocus stage you must be active. This is a prepared intervention strategy that prevents unwanted thoughts from controlling you . The logic is that these are your thoughts and are therefore  under your control.

Step 4 Repeat:

 The Gap

There is an incubation period necessary to install new learning so a time gap exists between the old learning [in our example late cocking of the wrist] and the new learning [early cocking of the wrists.] During this gap the message system is still sending warnings based on the old learning i.e. you'll get a NO signal when you try to cock your wrists early.

The key here is to repeat the template learning while you are in the gap in order to engrain it as a habit. The more you repeat it the sooner it will take the place of the old learning template and the sooner the NO signals will stop. Until then be patient.

This step recognizes the importance of repetition of the template until it is so deeply imbedded that it replaces the old learning. At this point if you were to reintroduce the old style wrist cock it would trigger a warning signal.

The Sequence summary:

   When an unwanted thought intervens into your mental landscape:

Step 1: Re-label by tagging the new thought as being based on out of date information i.e. old learning.

Step 2: Re-attribute by acknowledging its origins in your NO/GO warning system.

Step 3: Re-focus by going directly back to the new learing template instead of tinkering.

Step 4: Repeat by recognizing that a new piece of learning is installed by doing it again and again until the NO signals stop.

BUMP AND RUN 

 Here is a situation that you have probably faced at least once in your last round of golf—a twenty yard shot from a tight lie to a green that slopes away from you. Under these circumstances even if you hit a perfect lob shot, the closest you could get is 15 feet past the hole. The idea is to use enough loft to get the ball off the grass before it starts its roll to the hole. Even though it will be airborne as soon as you hit it, it won't look that way -- in fact it will look like a putt rather than a chip. Also note that you should be close to the ball, a very similar posture to your putting stance.

This shot is like a chip in that your weight starts, stays and finishes on your front foot to insure that you make contact with your hands leading the clubhead. Unlike a chip however the ball is positioned just forward of the center of the stance (about off the logo) creating a flatter angle of attack and less spin.

Also, to produce more power you should employ a partial wrist cock on the backswing. Cocking your wrists with a synchronized slight turning of the of the chest adds force as required so you can hit the bump and run shot up to 80 yards when you have to keep the ball “under” heavy wind or to fit other conditions such as hard, fast fairways and greens.

Remember that you should never try a shot on the course that you haven’t practiced so take a bucket of balls to a practice green area and experiment with this shot before you try it on the golf course. Once you get used to how the ball reacts in varying circumstances the “bump and run” with the rescue will save you lots of strokes. 

Summary of the basic mechanics are as follows:

1] Weight on the front foot

2] Ball position off shirt logo

3] Use a slight wrist break with a tad of chest turn

Don't Cheat on Your Coil

I'm cheating on my coil and I'll pay the price in loss of distance. The ball may go straight but it will be short of target.

A bigger shoulder turn translates into receiving the "true value" of the club i.e. I get the distance I plan for. Golf is a game where surprises are not good.

Lazy House Guests

Your muscles are like lazy house guests, they just lay around content to do nothing until you force them to get moving. And nowhere is this propensity to be lazy more prevalent then when you move the club to the top of your swing.

It only Weights a few Ounces

Please remember that your club weights only a few ounces so if your goal is to "get it to the top" then you can simply hoist it up there with no attention to creating coil, i.e. turning the top of your body at least twice as much as you turn your hips.  

In photo 1 I've made an OK turn but the ratio of my hips to shoulder is not what it should be. Although I haven't measured it I'd estimate that I've turned my hips 45degrees and my shoulders 80 degrees -- less than the 2 to 1 I'm capable off.

Rule of Thumb -- 2 to 1

Now everybody is a bit different in flexibility--some might be very flexible and turn their shoulders 100 degrees,  others a little stiff and turn them only 75 but the rule of thumb is that to maximize your power you want to turn your shoulders at least twice as much as you rotate your hips while keeping the spine angle you started with at address. In fact some on of the tour pros like Tiger and VJ Singh exceed this guideline by making huge shoulder turns.

Double Up

In photo 2 I've "doubled up" for a 2 to 1 ratio and you can see how much more torque I've produced in my coil as evidenced by the increased number of wrinkles in my shirt. I'll hit my irons 10 yards more and my driver 20 yards farther from the position in photo 2 vs. the one in photo 1.

Coil Exercise

The key to power and accuracy lies in a relationship where the shoulders stay perpendicular to your spine during your backswing. To better understand proper shoulder turn, do the following exercise: Take your normal setup and then stand up straight, with fully extended arms so that the club shaft is parallel to the ground. Keeping your feet flat on the ground, make a back swing and stop when your hands are over your toe line. You should feel your hips turn slightly in response to the pull of your shoulders. When you do this, you'll be able to sense the tension in your back between your shoulders and hips. That's the beginning of  "coil."

A good coil stores energy when you make your backswing, then releases it on the forward swing but without a proper shoulder turn you can't coil enough to generate the power you need.

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GET THE CORRECT GRIP PRESSURE

Hand pressure is one of the most important, and yet, most overlooked aspects of the swing. Most golfers grip the club much too tightly with the four fingers of their top hand reducing the mobility of their wrists.   

During the swing, excess pressure from your hands cuts down on the sensory input to your brain, which can’t feel the correct wrist cock on the backswing or make the natural adjustments to maintain the proper wrist angles on the downswing. Under these conditions, even properly “trained” hands are rendered almost useless and you have a civil war -- right vs. left.

The index and middle fingers are for clutching while the other two are more for touch. The thumb of course is the Great Grasper that combined with the last two fingers allowed our ancestors to fashion some neat tools. We are used to grasping important objects very firmly -- and that can turn into a death grip when you have the ultimate survival tool in your hand -- a golf club.

How to get the correct grip pressure—Think "hold," not "grip"
On a scale of one to 10, where one is much too light and 10 is a death grip, your hold on the club should be a five.

The major pressure point in your grip is the pressure exerted by the big joint of your lower thumb on the big joint of your top thumb. Picture a quarterback taking a snap for an image to guide the correct positioning of your thumbs. Your overall hold pressure should be light enough to allow your wrists to cock 90 degrees at the top of the backswing but firm enough that you don’t have to rearrange your hands on the downswing. I use the term “hold” rather than “grip” to promote a more moderate approach to hand pressure.   

Note: Your new hold may feel too light but your hand-feel coordination system will make all the adjustments necessary during the swing to stabilize your club -- if you start with the correct pressure you'll end with the correct pressure.

       No-Backswing Swing

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