November 2006 Issue

This month's articles

-The Pelz Files.
CHANGE YOUR GRIP TO PRODUCE A SMOOTH PUTTING STROKE.
This is a sad example of the state of confusion that exists even in highly regarded experts. Note that the “situation” is pulling and pushing putts. But “Why it Works” makes no mention of pulling or pushing but instead refers to neutralizing wrist movement and a smooth putting stroke. Disregard.

HARD-PACKED SAND—Dave wants us to have a wedge with minimal bounce but then tells us to open the clubface which then adds bounce. If the sand is hard-packed you can’t slide the club under the ball. Disregard.

PUTTING WHILE LOOKING AT THE HOLE—Disregard.

RESEARCH AND DATA—Ok.

PERSPECTIVE—Ok.

STOP THE TOPS!—Most topped shots are the result of hand action. If the topping is not from this cause, Michael’s solution could be helpful.

WHY I CAN’T MAKE PUTTS?—Ok, but there are other important factors as well as these that Rick mentions.

FULLY LOADED.--I like this swing. Good setup (ball is a little to far forward), good balance at the top, body responding to the swing.

LEARN TO TURN.—Mike is telling players to “make” the turn happen instead of “let” the turn happen. The turn is the result of swing the club over your back shoulder and then swinging it over your front shoulder. You should maintain your balance until the travel of the club past impact pulls you around and pulls you onto your front foot.

BALL BEARINGS.—I had my hopes that finally someone would explain “why” we should even consider addressing the ball in differing positions. But, again I was disappointed. The reasons I never find a good reason is that there is no good reason. The club belongs positioned in the middle of your stance—period.

HOW FAR FROM THE BALL? More info than you need, but pretty good. Here’s how to keep it simple: grip the club with both hands, sole the club behind the ball, center yourself on the club, the (without moving your head, shoulders, arms or club) set your feet so that your weight is balance equally between both feet and near the balls of both feet. Whatever distance that produces between you and the butt of the club is the correct distance.

GIVE YOURSELF THE GREEN LIGHT. Way to complicated with too many variables (eg. “so open the face a few degrees”). While standing at the ball, imagine the flight and roll of an eight iron. Ask yourself will this work? If not go to a nine, etc. Choose a club that will produce the needed flight and roll without any swing changes.

CREATE LAG POWER. Here again we have a confusion over what to “make happen” and what to “let happen”. Lag is not something we make. Lag is the result of your arms (elbow to shoulder) swinging along a smaller circumference and the clubhead swing on a larger one. Traveling a shorter path (like a race car on the inside lane), the arms will arrive at 9 o’clock sooner than the clubhead. This is how the lag occurs. However, the arms are transmitting motion to the club and soon it will catch up with the arms. The same phenomenon occurs when you toss a ball over handed. Your arm moves forward while your hand holding the ball appears to lag. You don’t have to do anything to create this lag you let it happen.

FEEL YOUR WAY TO BETTER PUTTING.—Good. The objective is not to establish feel but instead to give you unconscious brain the opportunity to compare its expectation with reality. Your unconscious does all the calculating when you make a partial swing. It decides how big the swing needs to be. It wasn’t born with this ability—it was learned. Just as with any skill, your unconscious can improve its ability to decide upon a stroke for a give shot. This will help it adjust it make better guesses when you putt.

HOW TO LOFT IT FROM THE SAND.—This is a simple and reasonable way to add loft to the shot. Its only drawback is that it calls for you to guide the club into the sand during the swing. Using de la Torre’s approach you take care of the entry point in the setup.

ENTER SANDMAN. Ok.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF THE FLATSTICK STROKE. Unnecessary. If you were going to improve your underhand tossing accuracy, would you work on trying to make your backswing the same size as your forward swing? No. By definition a swinging motion is a back and forward arcing motion with the size of the forward motion determined by and similar in size to the backward motion. Again here is the “make” and “let” confusion. “Make” the putter swing and “let” the back and forward actions be similar in size.

WHAT’S NEXT?—This is great. Dana uses ten sentences to attempt what generally takes an hour or two of demonstration and supervision. Nice attempt, but too simplistic and too presumptuous that these 150 words can effectively foster a golf swing.

IN THE THICK OF THINGS—Practice is the operative word. The kind of shots being described are seldom the object of an hours practice session. I would put it this way: choose a club that you could imagine would create the flight and roll you want, make a few practice swings in comparable heavy grass getting familiar with what its going to take get the club to move through the grass fast enough to get the ball to your target, now attempt the shot. These are very unpredictable don’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t come out perfect.

IS YOUR SWING OUT OF DATE? Is Brady Riggs out of his mind? While there are constantly changing ideas about optimizing the golf swing, it isn’t hard to find swings on tour that look like the “old” swings and it isn’t hard to find “old”,even “very old” swings that look modern. More importantly this whole article is about body position. The physics of the club and ball have not changed and won’t. Learn the movement of the club and you’ll have a swing that has no expiration date.

NEVER SLICE AGAIN!—Golf Digest has provided good service to the golfer in researching the slice effects of club face angle and swing path. This is good information.

FIX YOUR PATH.—Your mind directs the body which in turn moves the club. Until you change your mind about the path of the club, you can do these drills for months and never fix the path. First, remember that your path (good or not) is a habit. To change a habit you have to intentionally and consistently choose an alternative behavior. The best fix for changing your mind about path is to swing the club back over your right shoulder and then slowly and perfectly return it along that same path. To make the path change visually more apparent, swing the club back ten inches from the address position. The clubhead will barely be off the ground and you will be able to notice that it did not go straight back but started to trace a circular path. Mark the location of the toe of the club with a tee. Now finish the backswing. Before you start the forward swing look at the tee and recognize that your swing must bring the clubhead on a path inside that tee.

HOW TO THINK AWAY YOUR SLICE.—Nice try doc but none of your suggestions deal with either path or face angle.

FIX YOUR FACE.—We don’t want to have to manage the club face during the swing. That’s what Michael is teaching you. The hands at the top of the backswing are interesting, bu the moment of truth is what happens at impact. To adjust the club face at impact, instead, work on your grip. Position the hands on the club so that the centrifugal pull of the club will square the club for you. Start by making sure the V’s formed by your thumbs and forefingers both point to your center (i.e. shirt buttons).

BLAST A TEE.—Waste of time.

STACK YOUR DECK—At impact the body will be positioned very similar to the address position. What is critical is that the club is at the address position. In the YES photo Micheal has the club out of position and is either delofted or out of square. The shaft should be pointing at his shirt buttons.

THE TOP 100 SOUND OFF ON SLICING. Jane got it right—fixing a slice is about fixing the motion of the club. Both David and Carol wanted to fix the body.

Get it in sync.—
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT.—“..your right hand and clubface should face the ball”…duh! Anytime your ball goes forward (right, left, or straight) the clubface is facing the ball.
STAY IN YOUR SHOES.—David says don’t swing more than you can swing…duh too!
PULL YOUR POCKET.—David says don’t stop your hips—keep them turning. If you swing the club guess what that swing causes? Turning. Turning at the right time and to the right amount.
HINGE YOUR WRISTS—Ok.
THE SWING MIRROR—Whoops. On the left David’s club is about his right shoulder. On the right, his club is below his shoulder.
STAY CENTERED—Don’t make this too complicated. Just stay balanced till after impact.
PUT YOUR CLUBS TO WORK!—Band-Aids that may or may not help. Fix the swing.

BACK-OF-THE-BUNKER BLUES—Ok. But don’t try this if the front of the bunker has a high lip. This shot comes out low. Also, you don’t need to avoid the sand wedge unless the ball us physically contacting the back lip.

NO SHANKS!—The fix for the shank is sometimes misunderstood. In this article, the fix is focused on the body. First the problem is that the hosel of the club hit the ball. The fix is to concentrate on making a swing that will have the toe of the club contact the ball. This will feel radical but it eliminates hitting a second shank.

PUTT WITH YOUR SHOULDERS—Ok. Putting with your arms works much better.

CHEST BACK, HANDS HIGH—Forget the body. Look at the illustrations and observe the club.

SHORT AND SWEET—The drill mentioned in the article is good for improving your repertoire of shots. However, it has nothing to do with improving your control and consistency.