Jan 3, 2010

The Ultimate Gift

The best gift that I can give my Blog followers is not about how to hit a golf ball better. The Ultimate Golf Gift to me is a perspective/attitude about the game of golf.

I have recently challenged my playing partners to recall their favorite shot of the day after the round as we are sitting down for a drink. My favorite shot is usually not a drive. Although the drive is one of the easiest and most important shot of each hole. If you lay 2 hitting your 3rd shot from the tee (OB or lost) than the rest of the hole is most likely going to be a double or higher. My favorite shot is where I was challenged by a tough lie or hit a great long putt that just rolled by the hole or basically anything I visualized, felt and trusted and then I somewhat achieved the type of shot I was attempting. This is what is fun about golf to me. The reason I ask players what was your favorite shot today is because I get tired of hearing all the negative self -destructive recounts of all the failures of the day. Golf is not about failures, it is about successes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The facts are: the game of golf is difficult.

This is givin that you understand what it is you are trying to do in a golf swing. Most people do not even know that. One of my favorite sayings from my old boss at Tedesco CC goes like this. "Most golf information is transferred from player to player and the problem with this transfer of supposed golf knowledge although well intended is that they don't really know what they are talking about and they don't really care." You would think that your golf knowledge at the Country Club level would start from the golf pro and that it branches outward but it does not.

I hear people talking about how many birdie putts they missed that day and how they
should of ' could of' may have' and must of. Here are the facts on putting. The best putters in the world on the PGA Tour make about half of their 6 ft putts in competition on Thursday thru Sunday and the conversion rates get worse the further you get from the hole. We can thank Mr. Pelz for these great statistics. So if the best putters in the world convert only half of their 6 footers as a group average than why would you expect to make all of your 10 footers for birdies. If the best ball strikers in the world who all they do all the time is play and practice golf, hit on the average 14 greens in regulation then why do you beat yourself up if you miss a green.

The facts are that golf is a difficult game chocked full of challenge and this is assuming that you know how to hit a golf ball: most of you do not. I'm not trying to be mean in saying this. The good news is the bad news is wrong. It is not that difficult to learn the basics of grip, posture, alignment, and then creating motion in your clubhead. The problem is very few people are asking, thus condemned to their own swing thoughts. 10 percent of my golf lessons are people telling me how to hit golf ball and I question their motivations for a lesson. Thus, the quote in my favorite quotes blog. "If you are paying someone for their opinion then shut up and listen".

Golf is not a game of rush-rush and and hurry-hurry and finish. It's not about worrying about what the group in front of you or behind you is doing or not doing. Pace of play is incredible over-focused on at the Country Club level. One perspective I would like my blog followers to embrace is: Enjoy your round, enjoy your playing partners and enjoy the challenges that this day of golf will present. Don't get lost in the mentality of why is this group ahead of us so slow or what are they doing and why don't they let us play through. I suggest that if you fall prey to this mentality each time you go to a golf course that you are playing too much golf and need to take a break. Get in pace! Whatever it is, play the game.

Carpe diem

Dec 23, 2009

Boxing, Baseball and Golf

This is a post about consisting of some further thoughts on power. Tiger says he feels like he is throwing a big right uppercut. The Golf Channel describes it as keeping your right arm bent on the downswing until impact. Jim Hardy describes it as baseball homerun hitters are pull hitters. He further explains that power is created when the arms stay closer to the body. I'm going to describe it as a powerful right hand punch starts with your upper right torso (shoulder). Pull your arms in tight and bent like you are a boxer--hands up. Now make a punch with your dominate hand. Hopefully your shoulder will rotate back and your arm will stay bent as you powerfully move your shoulder forward and then the last thing that happens is your arm extending outward towards the target. Compare this motion in a power sense to only extending your arm with no shoulder involved in that same punch. This is the same difference in power you can have in your golf swing. This is why every right handed tour pro ends their swing with the right shoulder being their closest body part to the target. Compare this right shoulder action to your horizontal swing and become more aware of the role your right shoulder can play in your golf swing.

Dec 10, 2009

Catch and Release

I'm 41 and have been playing golf since I was 10. For the longest time I never really understood what a release was. I heard people talk about it but if you had asked me to define it on paper I would have failed. Here is what Dictionary.com has to say:

To free from confinement. To be free of anything that restrains.

Without getting into what it is exactly that the hands, arms or body do in a release, let's put a definition to how release applies to a golf swing. If the goal of a golf swing is to create motion and translate it to a golf ball, than a release could simply be defined as the non-hindrance of that motion. I think it is a little more than that though.

In past posts I have said that release and lag are inter-related. The better/deeper your lag the better your release.

You can experience this by swinging horizontally. With a good golf grip: create an angle which is the natural result of a good grip and then as you are swinging back and forth continuously create a deep lag on your down swing/forward swing and notice as your hands get to where the ball would be how the centifical force takes over and your arms will actually slow down while the club whips through. If you tie the words "catch and release" you might start to understand how lag and release are inter-related.

Become aware of the horizontal nature of a golf swing. Thanks to a friend of mine Jon B. who let me watch a tape made by Jim Hardy called "The Plane Truth for Golfers" I have become more aware that golf is a 'Side-line' game. Jim likens golf with Baseball and Tennis where the ball is to the side of us and contrasts it with 'In-Line' games like Bowling, Darts or Billiards.

Because golf is a side-line game off he ground, we have to consider both the horizontal and vertical natures of the golf swing. Think about the horizontal aspect of the golf swing sometime when you are doing the 4 foot tee drill (swinging continuously back and forth horizontally) and let it seep into your golf swing.

I have stated that the biggest problem with golfers is 'flipping it' or that there is an element of "trying to help the club get back to the ball' which hinders your centrifical force. Helping the club to get back to the ball hurts your golf swing and shot results. It's not that you do not use your hands-they are on the club. Is is just that most golfers over-use them and they over-use way too early in the downswing. This is why Pro's are always asking you to relax your hands and arms . This is the biggest part of the counter-intuitive side golf. This is why most golfers hit it poorly. This is why on little swings that are not sitting up that they are hit either fat or thin.

The hands in the golf swing need to be used like they would be used to throw a baseball. When you throw a baseball a long way you hold it lightly and have a lot of body action and the hands are the last thing to react and are reacting to a lot of coordinated body movement. one of my favorite sayings in is: "When the body stops the hands take over--so... keep your body/arms moving".

Dec 8, 2009

Golf is a game of Opposites

I like the word opposite because it is catchy and implies there is a counter-intuitive side in the game of golf. A more accurate phrase though would be that golf is a game of action and reaction or cause an effect.

The biggest opposite is creating motion from non-motion. We stand at a ball completely still and than have to make an athletic move. Watch a NBA player like ShaQ sometime on the free-throw line. He can do so many things in motion that are fluid and athletic but when it comes to full stop on the free throw line in starts to look awkward. It can be challenging to create motion from
non-motion but it is just a skill that a golfer has to develop.

One way to achieve this is to look at the top of your backswing as the start of the swing. A big backswing does not necessarily create power. Balance creates power. Balance creates the ability to move athletically through a golf ball. No matter what you do eventually there is a change in direction of the golf club in a swing. So much emphasis is placed on the backswing that we forget to hit a golf ball. As a far as I know, the ball has never lied to me. It tells me exactly how good my action was on that swing. It tells me where my point of contact was on the club face and the direction of the club face at impact. The golf ball responds perfectly to all of the above information. I have never hit a golf ball on my back swing. I hit the ball on the downswing. My only focus on the backswing is to stay balanced and load the gun. I were to lose my balance and rhythm on the back swing than making a good athletic move on the downswing becomes more difficult. The goal of the backswing is to load the gun--not to shoot the gun. The shooting comes on the downswing. Visualize baseball players waiting for a pitch. The all have one thing in common--they are balanced on their back foot ready to create motion and be athletic when the pitch is coming.

Down is up. To get the ball up into the air the club has to move downward through the ball. The only way to get the ball onto the loft of the club is for it to be moving downward through the ball. There is no loft on the leading edge of the club. A properly hit golf ball off the ground would include a divot forward of where the golf ball was. This is the evidence of a properly hit golf ball off of the ground. If you cannot make a divot forward of the golf ball than you are a flipper. If you are a flipper than you have a lot of potential to hit a golf ball way better, cleaner and farther by learning to understand the nature of flipping. Why you do it and why it doesn't work. Flippers can get away with hitting shots if they are sitting up but crumble into the fat and thin world with shots that are sitting down.

The cause and effect of lag and release. Entire books could be written on this topic alone but if you want to experience this phenomenon than just swing a golf club horizontally and notice what happens. Notice how your hands just hold the club. Notice how you will naturally create lag on the downswing (forward swing) and then how your hands and arms respond to this lag. Notice how you athletically can sense no need to help the club to get back to and through a ball on a four foot tee. Learn to allow these same physics to apply to your golf swing.

Dec 3, 2009

Superfluous Motion

It is entirely possible to try to do to many things with your body while hitting a golf ball. It is possible to lose your natural coordination by trying to swing too big and too full and too fast. We have all hit those "zippy" effortlessly powerful shots and any reasonably competitive person has to ask them self. "Hey Self", How do I do that more often?

If you want to see efficient swings go to any PGA Tour event and be amazed at how much energy is transferred into a typical golf shot while the swing is fluid and apparently effortless. Sure you can always find a few slashers out there but the overwhelming majority of players hit fluid smooth shots most of the time.

I believe that most of the power in the golf swing is delivered from the arms and hands. Sure the arm bone is connected to the shoulder bone and knee bone is connected to the thigh bone... We all know the saying.

Stand at the golf ball with a club at address and recognize that this is basically your starting position and your impact position. All motion you make in your back swing and downswing basically moves back into your address position.

The most efficient way to do this is to have a lot of arm/hand motion with your body supporting. I am constantly amazed how solidly it goes by just keeping your body still and hitting 70% shots using mainly my arms and hands and just letting my legs do what they do to support and my shoulders and torso doing what they do to support. It is this type of porportionality that makes a golf swing look smooth and is efficient.

Good arm swing creates a shoulder turn. To learn good arm swing --learn what each does naturally with only one hand on the club. Here is a four phase drill.

A) Swing right hand only back and forth with a club creating lag and release naturally.

B) Swing left hand only back and forth with a club creating a toe up position at waist height on both back swing and follow through.

C) Swing two clubs -- one in each hand duplicating what you just practiced with A and B one foot off the ground and one foot away from each other swinging harmoniously with each other back and forth continuously.

D) Swing two handed with one club back and forth continually re-creating the feels that you developed in A B and C.

This four phase drill will make you aware of arm swing and will most likely make you have a great shoulder turn while perserving your balance and centeredness.

Try this for 10 minutes a day and relate it to how you naturally swing horizontally and you might discover that they are very similar.

It is entirely possible to overuse your body and sacrifice all the natural athletic power available to you.

Whoosh equals club head speed and when I try to max out my whoosh horizontally I find that I do it with my arms and hands mostly with my body supporting all of this. This is precisely why I'm saying that most of your power in your golf swing should come from your arms and hands.

Nov 24, 2009

Creating Club Head Speed

Creating speed with your golf club is not a strength issue--it is an angle issue. The first thing I make beginning golfers become aware of is the whoosh of the club. I will have them swing the club back and forth horizontally listening for the whoosh (club head) and will gradually ask them to increase the sound of the whoosh (increasing their club head speed) . I rarely have to tell them how to do it because when it is done horizontally it is athletic and natural. The things that happen horizontally are the things that you want to translate into your golf swing. You will notice horizontally that your hands are just holding the club and your arms are relaxed. You will notice that creating lag and a deep angle on the downswing is natural and easy. You will notice that your hands rotate over one another where the golf ball would be if it were a four foot tee. A release is not something you force to happen. A release happens in response to good angles and good action on the down swing.

One of my favorite sayings is: If golf were played with 4 foot tees than I would not have a job because everyone would instinctively know how to swing a golf club. The action of the golf swing is exactly the same as the horizontal swing but it is a little more difficult to do on the golf plane which is more vertical due to the ball being on the ground.

I only said a little more difficult--not a lot more difficult. The main reason people don't create much club head speed in a golf swing is because they are thinking about anything but creating speed. Thoughts like 'keep your head still' or 'left arm straight' or some extraneous swing thought like pause at the top tend to take one away from creating club head speed.

Once you get over the concept that you can control the club and that you can guide the ball than you can start to just let the ball get in the way of good motion.

The problem with most golfers is not that they cannot do it. It is mostly that they are not trying to do it and are wrapped up in some swing thought that is control based and they are not getting any whoosh. Motion is inhibited. Trust me--control is an illusion. To hit it straight the club has to swing in a circle and the club head is only square for an instant.

It is easy to lose sight of the Forrest through the trees. There is so much golf talk and swing analysis out there today with your golf buddies and golf magazines and the Internet but I believe anyone can create good motion and good action by just becoming aware of it and sticking with it long enough to develop the skill.


Here is the drill to let what you already know how to do athletically get into your golf swing.

Stand at a teed up ball with your driver. Lift the club up horizontal to the ground and swing it back and forth creating your natural action and motion. Increase your whoosh each swing. Without thought or more than 3 seconds elapsing set the club down and hit it with the goal of translating the horizontal feel into the golf swing.

It is important to remember that their are things that are really important in the golf swing and things that are less important. This is just a guess but creating motion might be one of those things that is really important and deserves your athletic attention.

Nov 13, 2009

Golf Swing simplified

Remember that the goal of golf club manufacturers and golf magazines is to sell you their product. Try not to be confused by all the rhetoric.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine how many words are used by the 10,000 experts in the world of golf and how they would describe what happens in a golf swing. Next, imagine all the rest of the golf world trying to explain to their buddy's what they do and what they just read in "x" publication. Its important in today's world to be able to filter information.

I believe that it is more important to get good at a few things and develop them rather than fish for a swing thought that fixes everything.

The first thing is to look at your golf club as a tool, like a hammer or screw driver, and figure out what the tool is designed to do. The second thing you have to do is recognize that golf is a skill and it needs to be developed and practiced so that you can have a level of consistency when playing.

This is what I do...

I swing right handed and hit little 10 yard chips. I let they club do its job and I pay attention to the ball flight and the solidness of the shot. When the shot starts going like I want: I pay attention to the feel of the shot. After doing this right handed for a while I then use both hands and then try to get the same solidness and feel as I had achieved with only the right hand. All action is the same in solidly hit golf balls whether it be a little swing or a big swing. The feel of the action through the ball just happens more quickly on bigger swings.

Repeat as necessary.... until you can shoot the score that you desire anywhere.

Caution:

Of the 500 or so lessons I have given in my life about 95% of he people have "flipped it" to some degree ranging from extreme to a little. Flipping it is the overuse of the right hand in an effort to help the ball get up in the air or to get the club back to the ball. The evidence of a flip is either a fat or thin shot. The hands are on the club and are used in the golf swing. Most people tend to over use them unfortunately. The hands in the golf swing are more passive than active. A properly hit golf ball requires the club to be moving slightly downward through the ball, leaving a divot forward of the ball. If you cannot make a divot forward of the ball: you probably flip it. The palm of the right hand should feel like it is facing the ground on the downswing before impact.

Skills that are required to hit a solid right hand little shot are:

1) Learn that the golf club has to be working downward through the shot.

1.5) Learn that in the race back to the ball (on the downswing the ball is a finish line) between the club head and the handle. The handle wins every time.--Eddie Merrins

2) Learn to just hold the club--not squeeze it

2.5) Learn to let the loft of the club get the ball up in the air--not your right hand helping it up.

3) Learn to feel comfortable with your right palm facing he ground on the downswing.

4) Learn to allow the club to swing. This includes the right wrist being relaxed and the right arm free to rotate.

5) Learn to hit through the shot and let the right arm follow through.


This is only an attempt to share what I do and how I look at a golf swing after playing for 30 years. I caution myself not to become paternally righteous about this concept. (If you do what I do you can hit it like me) Maybe you can or maybe you cannot. I don't know...

This is just a simple concept I wish to share. Start small and build up.