August 2008

August 24, 2008

CURVE ON COMMAND

If you want to take your scores even lower, you’ve got to be able to control the spin on your golf ball, and that means being able to curve it when you want to. This skill is called “working” the ball, and it takes practice. But most low-handicappers don’t rehearse this part of their game correctly—they’ll hit 20 draws in a row, then hit a bunch of fades. This practice sequence doesn’t realistically represent what you’ll face on the course. In golf, you only get one chance, not 20. That’s why I recommend the Diamond Drill. The Diamond teaches you how to work the ball “on demand” using the geometry of the setup.

Geometry At Address
Draw:
1. Aim your clubface at the target.
2. Align your body to the right of the target on the line you want the ball to start.
3. Swing your arms along your body line.
4. Finish the swing with the butt of the club angling toward the target line (for a hook, finish with the shaft lying horizontal to the ground).

Fade:
1. Aim your clubface at the target.
2. Align your body to the left of the target on the line you want your shot to start.
3. Swing the club on your body line.
4. Finish the swing with the butt of the club pointing straight down toward the ground (for a slice, point the butt of the shaft to the left of the target line).

Straight Shot:
1. Aim your clubface at the target.
2. Align your body parallel left of the target line.
3. Swing the club on your body line.
4. Finish with the shaft parallel left of the target line.

Now, use the Diamond Drill and simply rotate your setup to change the curve of the shot. For example, hit a fade, then a draw, then a straight shot. Should you fail to produce the correct spin on the shot, continue the rotation—don’t take a mulligan.

The Diamond Drill
• Arrange four balls in a diamond with two feet between each ball. The top ball of the diamond should be on the target line. Tee up the rear ball—this is the one you’ll hit.
• Your task is to hit three balls per series: one that starts over the right ball and curves back to the target; the second goes directly to the target over the front ball; and the third shot starts over the left ball of the diamond and fades back to the target.
• Use a 5-iron on a tee, and once you’re successful, off the ground. Then change to a driver.
• If you can do three series in a row perfectly with both clubs, head for the Tour.

Here are some key concepts that will help you:
• Make sure you imagine the shot by seeing, feeling and actually describing it to yourself.
• Program in the curve you want with your practice swing followthrough. For the draw, finish with the back of your right hand (for right-handed golfers) looking at the sky and the handle of your club tilted toward the target line. It’s the opposite for a fade.
• Match your grip pressure to the shot. For a fade, tighten your hold on the club in both hands, but increase it the most in your left hand so the face stays open. To draw the ball, decrease your grip pressure. This will activate your wrists, giving them the flexibility to work the clubface into a slightly closed position through the hitting zone.

Dr. T.J. Tomasi is one of the most widely published authorities on the golf swing. He teaches at Nantucket Golf Club and in Port St. Lucie, Fl. during the winter months

(Photography by D2 Productions)

July 2008

July 15, 2008

Chip From The Sand

 

Part of being a skillful player is “reading” the situation, choosing the right shot and then being able to execute that particular play. Taking into account all your options is important, but most golfers never consider the versatility the game allows. For example, when faced with a bunker shot, most golfers think “blast.” But in some situations, thinking “chip” may produce the better result.

There are three conditions that should trigger your consideration of the sand-chip. The first thing is your lie. If the ball is sitting up so you can get the clubhead cleanly on the ball, the chip is a possibility. The second factor is the height of the lip. The sand-chip features a low trajectory, so you can only use it if the bunker has a very low lip. The third factor is the location of the pin—the sand-chip will run with very little spin, so it’s ideal when there’s a lot of space between the ball and the flag.

The sand-chip also is the shot of choice when the pin is on a tier where it would be all too easy to hit a normal bunker shot a foot too short and spin it back down the slope, leaving you a long, difficult putt up a steep slope.

When all three of these conditions are present, you’re primed to make your chip from the sand.

Three Adjustments
Unlike the regular bunker shot, where you take sand before you contact the ball, the idea of the sand-chip is to catch the ball cleanly, then take a bit of sand. To carry out this “ball-first” mandate, you need to make several adjustments to your normal chipping technique.

First, choose enough loft to clear the lip of the bunker. Select a club that will land the ball about two paces on the green, where it will run the rest of the way to the hole. That being said, don’t err by choosing too much loft—use the least amount of loft that will still carry the ball over the lip.

Next, raise your club on its toe to make the shaft more upright, like your putter. The advantage of the heel-up method is that it lessens the chance of your clubhead catching the sand. With the shaft more upright, you’ll have to stand closer to the ball with your eyes over the target line.

Third, turn in the clubface slightly until the top line of your club is perpendicular to the target line. This “toed-in” position squares the clubface to the target and discourages sidespin—the enemy of all chips.

The Technique
Play the ball opposite the back foot and with your hands forward so that the shaft points at your lead shoulder. This helps ensure a low, running shot that tracks like a putt. Open your stance and bend from your hips with your elbows bent and flared out from your sides, similar to how they bend in your normal putting posture.

The stroke is made with little wrist break and by keeping the majority of your weight on your front foot. The fixed wrists allow the butt end of your club and the clubface to move together back and then through the golf ball. The most common error is to drop down into the ball in an effort to lift it into the air. This destroys ball-first contact. Make sure you keep your spine angle intact until the ball is well on its way.

The chip from the sand requires a technique that needs to be practiced before you use it on the course. To accelerate your learning curve, draw a line in the sand in front of the ball (on the target side) to remind you to take sand only after contact with the ball is made.

PGA professional Dr. T.J. Tomasi is regarded as one of the top 100 teachers in America, and is one of the most widely published authorities on the golf swing. He’s currently teaching at The Nantucket Golf Club and in Port St. Lucie, Fl. during the winter

June 2008

June 1, 2008

What To Do with Your Back Elbow

 

Collect three teaching pros in a room and ask them the correct position of the trail elbow at the top of the swing and you’ll probably get three different answers –[1] let the elbow flay away from the side; [2] keep it pinned to your side and [3] position it somewhere in between.

 

Add me to the mix and there is a fourth answer: all three could be right as long as the elbow position matches up with the rest of your swing.

 

Below are three tour players all of whom handle the trail elbow quite differently at the top of the swing. Our Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has it pointing straight down while Fred Couples has it almost horizontal to the ground. Robert Gamez is in the middle with the slant of his elbow equal to his spine angle -- a position most often taught to beginners.

 

Which is correct? In the exact and measured world many like to image, one position is correct while the other two are wrong but in golf where a good swing is a perfectly matched ensemble of compensations, an error for one is the savior for another or said another way: the same swing mechanic can be Magic for one player but Tragic for another.

 

 It all boils down to this: be careful how you mix and match swing mechanics. Some mechanics fit together quite nicely to produce good golf shots and some do not. The trick in building and keeping a good swing is knowing which combinations fit together. 

 

If you’re a decent player already [under 15 handicap] and you’re trail elbow is flying or extremely tucked to your side, it may not be the problem. If your handicap is higher than your playing profile [age, fitness, frequency of play/practice, etc.] then check out your elbow, it could be mis-matched with the other key elements of your swing.

 

 

 

   Robert Gomez

  Fred Couples

Robert Gamez has the traditional match -- Trail forearm parallel with spine angle. 

Fred Couples flies his elbow creating a much greater angle than his spine. He'll have to re-slot that elbow coming down, a compensation he performs quite nicely. 

 

 

Paul Azinger hugs his elbow to his side. There's not a lot that can go wrong from this position but you must have a very strong core to maintain distance .

 

 

April 2008

April 15, 2008

Golfers are Iced on Every Shot

 

Last week we saw how the Philadelphia Eagles called a timeout to give the opposing kicker time to think about his kick. They also ran a video on the jumbo screen showing the three field-goals he missed two weeks earlier against Seattle.

  

Why would they do such a thing? Well if you’ve been around sports at all you know that what’s on your mind turns into what’s on the field. You don’t tell your pitcher that all he needs is three more outs for a no-hitter; and you make sure your race-car driver has his “lucky baby shoes” hanging from the mirror for the years most important race. And when your player makes the final club selection, as his caddy you tell him he’s pulled the right club even if you told him to hit a different club just five seconds ago.

 

The Next Step is up to You

 

Why is the brain so fragile? Well it isn’t—its just doing its job. You have a data base of experiences that the brain scans when its time to make your swing. Now you may have experience hitting a six iron well to a lightly guarded green in calm conditions but if the wind is blowing and the green is surrounded by water and the club championship is on the line, your brain gives you a warning that you need to make some adjustments—as well it should. But once warned the next step is up to you.

 

Some golfers take note of the trouble and make adjustments then confidently pull the trigger. Others are so intimidated they can’t make a good swing.  For some, a warning is a piece of information, for others it’s a harbinger of failure.

 

What’s Your Picture Of: The Target or The Trouble?

 

How do you make sure that the warning is used as a piece of information that helps create a correct balance between where to hit it and where not to hit it?

Every player has the power to make the trouble recede to a manageable size in their minds eye. The last thing you want is to have to hit into a scary picture. But the good news is that with a little attention, you can place the target in the center of your mental picture making it a friendly picture to hit to.

One way to practice this is by closing your eyes and make the trouble physically shrink while you watch. Or, if you’re into computers just click the minimize icon and the trouble goes into a very small box at the bottom of the screen.

Which T Do You Choose?

Can this sort of thing be done? -- absolutely but it takes training. When Tiger Woods was six his dad asked what he thought about while he swung. Tiger's answer was “I see where I want the ball to go, Daddy.”

Of the three T’s, The Trouble, The Technique and The Target, Tiger chose the correct T—and so can you.

March 2008

March 7, 2008

 

Flex Time

We have seen that if you stiffen your back leg during the backswing so its ram-rod straight, your body tilts out of balance making it tough to re-flex the knee just the right amount in time for impact. It’s much more consistent to simply keep the same flex both back and through as our model is demonstrating.

Starting back to the ball establish your front hip as the rotational center by shifting your weight to your front side and keeping your back leg flexed through impact. Notice that both knees are flexed and how athletic our model looks just before impact. Switch a tennis racket or a baseball bat for the golf club and our golf pro could segway directly to that sport because there is a common “athlete’s posture” that promotes balance and power.

 

Staying in your flex makes your downswing arc more rounded and instead of the club head dropping steeply to the ball, it can stay on its shallow arc all the way to impact. At this point the shaft should be pointing at the ball.

 

Because our model kept the flex through impact it allowed his core to rotate completely until it actually points to the left of the target after the ball is gone.

 

December 2007

December 19, 2007

 

       No-Backswing Swing

          The fast new way to hit more solid shots

Click on this link to see the No Backswing Video:

                  http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,1651955,00.html

 

 Join GOLF Magazine's National No-Backswing Study

You've read the story and seen the video. Here's your chance to put the No-Backswing Swing to the test.

Click on this link to take the test:

                   http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction/article/0,28136,1653619,00.html       

                          

 

 

 

 

 

December 1, 2007

For further information on The No Backswing - copy the link below to Golf Magazine.com

www.golf.com/golf/gallery/article/0,28242,1652959-3,00.html

For information on The L.A.W.s copy the following link to Golf Tips Magazine.

http://www.golftipsmag.com/instruction/faults-and-fixes-lessons/l.a.w.s.-revisited.html