April 2006 Issue

This month's articles

-HOW TO PUNCH IT OUT FROM THE WOODS-Simple, nice!
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HOW TO MAKE PERFECT IMPACT – Mike is going to generate a lot of lessons with this article—lessons fixing the problems the article creates! Just consider one of his suggestions: lean the shaft of a 5 iron forward about 15 degrees. The loft on a 5 iron is about 25 degrees. If you lean it forward 15 that cuts the loft to 10 degrees. That is less than a 1 iron. Look carefully at the photo of Mike swinging and you can see that the face is nearly vertical.
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TAKE A WALK TO SHAPE YOUR SHOTS-Ok.

HOW TO SHOOT YOUR LOWEST SCORE EVER-I’m guessing Mike did not come up with this title. While the total of eight sentences are reasonable in their content, I don’t think they are adequate to satisfy the title. Improving you short game is always a good investment of your time.

IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND – Coop is right, its all in your mind. By all, I mean psychological barriers as well as misunderstandings about how to swing the club. If it’s a psychological barrier that is keeping you from playing better, his 3 steps may help. If you alignment is poor, grip is wrong, or swing is off-plane these three steps are not the answer.

HOW TO PITCH IT CLOSE FROM A TIGHT LIE – Take a look at the yellow arrow representing the flight path the ball will travel. Does it look like that ball is going to stay on the green? Rick’s description of usual mistakes is a good one. However, the solution to that problem is not to create another problem. Leading with the handle de-lofts the club face. Don’t go from one extreme to another. Swing the club and the head and handle will arrive at the ball together and the loft will allow the ball to land softly.

5 MORE KEYS TO SOLID WEDGE PLAY – Ok.

ASK THE TOP 100
ANGER MANAGEMENT – Initiating any thoughts of a bad shot is a bad idea. Actions are the results of thoughts. Bad actions always have their origins in bad thoughts—either bad mechanics or bad emotions.
TIGHT LIES – Ok. The real problem is that players believe that their swing should create a divot. The correct image is that a swing brushes the top of the grass.
COVER DAMAGE – Ok.

SHOULD YOU CHIP WITH ONE CLUB OR MANY? – Ok.

TOUCH THE FLAG FOR STRAIGHTER SHOTS – Ok.

NOW WHAT? – Target selection, setup and visualization are ok but don’t complicate this by trying to change your swing (e.g. steep swing, hold the club face up).

HOW TO GET CLOSE FROM THE SAND-There is no Tooth Fairy and while Mike’s suggestions are good ones, getting close takes a lot more than Face, Base, Pace. Be reasonable, getting close from the sand results from knowing “how” to play from the sand and then spending time getting experience in making sand shots.

HOLE MORE CHIPS! – I love Dave’s empirical approach to golf research. The chipping math is novel. I’m not so enamored with his instruction. He doesn’t give us the analysis of why the ball needs to be “off the back ankle”, the follow-through need to be 20% longer, and why the blow needs to be descending.” Could it be that there really is no reason? It could.

HOW TO MAX OUT YOUR BACKSWING – Kip gives a reasonable solution to the problem of a backswing restricted by a chin. The title to the article makes it sound like this would help everyone and always results in “perfect rotation” (whatever that means).

THE NEW BASICS – I was unable to find reference to any “advances in equipment” that would alter the setup basics.
• I checked my 1952 edition of Ernest Jones “Swing the Clubhead” and confirmed that Brian’s grip is indistinguishable from the photograph of Ernest’s grip.
• The “new posture” may be new but it’s too vague to be useful. All of the “mid-shoulders over kneecaps” stuff is a backwards approach. Instead, set the club to the ball and take a stance where your arms hang freely and your weight is balance in your feet.
• The “new alignment” is the old alignment but ignoring the feet. Even if (that’s a big “if”) the feet may not “affect your swing nearly as much” what’s the reason to ignore the foot alignment?
• While the reference point for ball position in the “new ball position” is the bottom of the swing versus your feet, the objective is still the old drone of “back for shorter clubs front for longer clubs”

MAKE TIME FOR A DRAW – For every swing the club approaches the ball from inside the target line. If you want to draw the ball, don’t attempt to make swing changes. Merely reposition your hands on the club orienting the v’s (formed by thumb and forefinger) to aim further toward your right shoulder.

HIT YOUR PITCHES TO ANY GREEN - The strategy here is to learn three different shots. A better strategy is to learn one swing and simply use clubs of different lofts to achieve the desired trajectory.

PASS THE LIE DETECTOR TEST – Ok.

USE A PUTTING GRIP THAT FITS YOUR STROKE –
• GATE SETUP – Ok.
• STRAIGHT STROKE – For sanity check, just try this. Use a string or strip of masking tape as your target line. Notice how difficult it is to move the putter so that it’s center mark never leaves the line (even more difficult on a long put). Fortunately, the putter does not need to stay on-line to make the ball travel along your target line. It only needs to swing in the direction of the target (like all your clubs).

OVERCOME TENSION – Ok.