May 2006 Issue

This month's articles

-HOW TO PRESSURE-PROOF YOUR PUTTING. The bi-line for the article is “Focus on the process, not on the result…” This bi-line is the best part of the article. By the way, if you focus on the apex of the break in a putt, you’ll tend to leave the putt short and at the apex. The rest of the article is ok.

THREE EASY PIECES. Eddie’s instruction provides a novel alternative to much instruction about how the body moves during the golf swing. That notwithstanding, it is far easier to focus on one thing than three. When you create a swinging motion in the club all of the motions that Eddie wants you to “make” happen, happen automatically as a result of the swing. One piece (the swing) is even easier than three (body motions).

NOW WHAT. Mitchell does a good job here with one exception. Instead of adding loft by cupping your wrists in the back swing (very difficult to manage), either take a more lofted club or open the club face and adjust your alignment to the left.

INCREASE THE LAG. Want to populate the right rough with a dozen new balls? Then try out this instruction. When you try to delay the lag, the club face will likely be facing to the right at impact. Lag occurs not because we are keeping our wrists from unhinging. Instead, the lag that we can see in slow motion video is the delay between the beginning of the forward swing and the point at which the swing has created enough centrifugal force to cause the wrists to unhinge. As our arm speed increases the amount of lag will increase. You don’t manage the lag—just swing the club.

STEEL VS. GRAPHITE. Ok.

DOWNHILL PUTTS. Ok.

HOW TO MAKE A PERFECT BACKSWING. I like Donald’s point about the body and the arms being in sync. However, the instruction is overly complicated. Simply swing the club and monitor your body’s movement. With as little tension as possible, the body will respond with an in-sync shoulder and hip turn as your arms swing the club around you. Watch for the difference between the body “responding” to the swing vs. “initiating” action not caused by the swing.

HOW TO STOP PUSHING THE BALL. Ok. I think a player would find it easier to simply make the club go to a toe-up position when it arrives at the 3 o’clock position (like Martin has in the large photo). Fix the club –not the body.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A CAREER ROUND. Ok.

HOW TO AVOID SLOPPY LAY UPS. Ok.

HATE BUNKER SHOTS? Ok.

KNOW HOW FAR YOUR CHIPS WILL GO. Mike makes a good suggestion. Distance control is the result of your mind making the right response to the distance it sees to your target. The “ladder” is a bon fide way to give your brain (unconsciously) the experience from which it can learn to respond with the right sized swing for a shot.

HOW TO RIP YOUR DRIVES. Tom must never have looked at this photo. The distance from the ball to the yellow line is more like three inches than one. Further, using the yellow line as a reference point you can see that the ball is not aligned with his armpit but closer to the logo on his shirt. I would say maybe Tom was having a bad day, but I see that this is also in his book. Suffice it to say, a golfer could set up exactly as Tom has suggested and hook and slice the ball all day long.

HOW TO MASTER THE SAND. Dave is great at gathering statistics and explaining the physics involved in a shot. When it comes to instruction he gets confused. In section number 2 he describes that “bounce and scoot” are the key to distance control. Sorry Dave, with all other things being equal, swing speed determines the distance. And, other than in extreme circumstances, the sand wedge has plenty of loft without opening the club face a “little”.

POWER UP YOUR GRIP. The way you position your hands on the club (your grip) either works or it doesn’t. There is no “powering up”.

MAKE SOLID CONTACT ON PUTTS. The putter swings like a pendulum. The end of a pendulum does not move along a horizontal line as this article suggests. It moves along a curved (circular path) line. Disregard this instruction.

NAIL YOUR RELEASE. You can’t nail what doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as release. When a player has tension in their hands, wrists, and forearms the body cannot respond appropriately to the swing. Attend to tension. Don’t try to “nail” something that doesn’t exist.

CONQUER UNEVEN LIES IN BUNKERS. Ok.

MAKE THE RIGHT DIVOT ON SHORT-IRON SHOTS. The “right” divot is one that results from the ball pushing itself upward off the club face at impact. Pushing itself up, results in the club being pushed down. The more lofted the club, the more up the ball. The more up the ball the more down the club. The more down the club the more divot will result. You don’t attempt to make a divot. A divot is the result of lofted clubs at full swing speed.