June 2007 Issue

This month's articles

-MY BEST TIP—Kenny Perry. Kenny says his best tip was to keep his right foot planted for pure contact. But read the quote below the photo and you’ll see that the secret was not the right foot but balance. You can keep you foot down and still loose your balance. It’s not the foot, its balance that is vital for pure contact.

HOW TO STOP TEE TOPS—Rick is on the right track but slightly off. The target line is a straight line. The swing arc is circular. Don’t imagine the club head “riding the rail”, this will cause other probems. Instead, while you are swining, imagine that the desired trajectory is low (a foot or two off the ground.

MAKE A HEADS-UP PLAY FROM DOWNHILL LIES—I love Dave—for stats not for technique. On a downhill lie with your shoulders parallel to the incline of the hill, the swing is unchanged. There is no need to make your forward swing more or less step. Dave is correct that this will produce a lower trajectory. His “stepping forward” move is reminiscent of Gary Player, who did this for a while (but not for long). Stepping forward invites a weight shift, a resulting loss of balance, and ultimately poor ball flight.

OLDER AND WISER, BUT BETTER? Interesting speculation, but the wrong conclusion. Dave’s data correlated the age of a player with their handicap. He found older players have higher handicaps. However, he only asked how old they were but did not ask when they started learning.

YOUR SECRET POWER ANGLE—Here we go again—a secret!! “If you do it right, your swing will feature the five power positions pointed out here.” I am assuming these positions are at impact. So try these, set a ball on the ground and set up in your address position. Now begin moving your body to the “five power positions.” Can you do it and still have the club face at the ball and square to the target line? I couldn’t. This is one of those articles that don’t describe what is really going on.

SIMPLIFY YOUR SWING—If good body motion would control the ball, Martin might be on to something. But it doesn’t. Ball flight is determined solely by the club movement. Forget this article.

HOW TO HIT FOOLPROOF DRAWS AND FADES—Mike gives a good description of how to change your swing to create draws and fades. However, that’s the hard way. Instead change your setup and keep the swing the same. At setup, merely regrip the club with the face slightly open to produce fades and slightly closed to produce draws. See Manuel’s book for details and the DVD for examples.

STOP HITTING WEAK PULLS—Here again the solution to problem ball flight is “body movement” instead of club movement. Fixing the body assures you of nothing. A pulled shot is nothing more than the club’s swing path not being in the direction of the target. Think about the clock face and move the club from 7 to 6 to 5 and the pulls are gone.

HOW FARE BACK IS TO FAR—Another way to ask the question is how far do you want to hit the ball. If you want it to go shorter then do things to shorten your back swing. If you want it to go further, then do things to lengthen it. Keep your balance, don’t open your grip at the top of your back swing, and allow your left arm to fold. However far back you can go is the right length for you.

STOP YANKING YOUR CHIPS—There is no Santa Claus and no club squares itself. Above is an article about pulling. Yanking could be thought of as pulling. The solution is the same.

HOW TO FEEL THE PROPER SWING PLANE—Ok.

USE YOUR TILT TO CURE YOUR SLICE—The ball slices because of the club’s movement. Fixing the body does not necessarily fix the club. Fix the club, forget the body.

A SIDEHILL SECRET—In principle this is ok. In application it is too imprecise. Spend some practice time on the sidehill lie. Tape the longest golf tee to the face of a wedge (it will look like a rocket ready for blast off. Set up on the sidehill lie. Now look where the tee is pointing. The more lofted the club the more you will find it pointing left. You can’t use the tee in this manner during competitive play, so learn to determine visually where the clubface is looking when you are on a side hill. Line the face of the club up with the target and then set yourself to the club.

HOW TO STOP MISSING THE SWEETSPOT—You can carefully do everything John is describing and still hit it off the toe or heel. Contacting the ball on the sweetspot depends on three things: Correct setup at address, making a swinging motion, maintaining your balance.

HOW TO CREATE SQUARE IMPACT—Whoa!! David is suggesting that your right palm mimics the angle of your clubface. So would our right hand be in different positions on the club for clubs of different lofts?

HINGE RIGHT FOR CRISPER IRONS—Dom suggests one hinge for full swings and a different hinge for half swings. What about ¾ and ¼ swings? And what about 3/8 or 5/8 swings? The wrists should hinge the same for all shots.

MORE YARDS, LESS EFFORT—Someone once said there is no Santa Claus. Presuming that the clubs contact with the ball is similar, the swing that is faster will produce more distance. I hope that doesn’t surprise anyone. Despite Brian stating, “ You don’t need extra swing speed to max out your distance”, if you look at his Impact-First drill it encourages stronger (I am guessing he means faster) body rotation (i.e. more speed).
If you look at the other drill, it “links your arms to your upper body so they can deliver power simultaneously” (I think that means speed too).

HOW TO STOP IT QUICK FROM THE SAND—Ok.

HOW TO BE PITCHER PERFECT—Notice that Anne says you’ll get “extra distance”. That be me ok for your driver, but do you want extra distance for your pitch shots? The reason Anne says that is for this drill to work you must close the club face and thereby deloft the club. When you use a wedge it will have the loft of an 8 iron. This drill is really a first stage fix for players that are too handsy. But it is not a recommendable way to chip.

10 WAYS TO SAVE 6 STROKES—
Popped up my tee shot—Ok.
Dead pulled my drive—Tim identifies the problem ok, “swung from outside”, but then overcomplicates the fix. Take a slow practice backswing that takes the club over your right shoulder. Note the path of the club during its firs 12-24 inches of backswing. Return the club along that path during the forward swing.
Hit a wicked slice/hook—Ok. From Tiger’s perspective the club is pointing at the target and the toe of the club is up.
Hit that long iron super thin—In the scenario that Tim set up, the fix is to maintain your balance through impact.
Hit a short iron short and right—Hitting it fat most often is fixed only when the player can swing the club instead of wanting to use the right hand to make the clubhead hit the ball. Seldom is hitting it fat the result of balance. The solution Tim offers will cover up the problem but won’t fix it and it will cause you to deloft the club making your approach shots come into the green on a lower, hotter trajectory.
Topped a fairway wood—The situation that Tim setup is uncommon. Most times topped fairway woods come from the player’s concern about getting the ball up. When that is in their thoughts (even a little), they will use the right hand to try to make the ball go up which instead tops the ball.
Hit that bunker shot fat—Keeping the face open on your sand wedge does not, cannot ensure that you will not hit shots fat. Also, try and have the trailing edge of the wedge enter the sand instead of the leading edge—its impossible.
Flubbed that flop shot—A flop shot has the blade of the club so open that it requires an inordinately big swing. Such a swing is psychologically frightening to make the ball go such a short distance. This takes a lot of practice. Without that practice you may well decelerate the club because you can’t get comfortable with such a big swing for a short shot.
Bladed that chip shot—Tim may be identifying one reason chip shots get bladed, but its not the most common. The most common is that the player uses the right hand in an effort to hit the ball up and in doing blades the shot. The cure is to always visualize the ball flight as being low (even with a wedge). The right hand won’t get active and you won’t blade shots.
Shanked that chip—If you are out on the course and begin getting afraid of shanking, simply do this: if the ball is roughly 16 inches from your toe line, imagine a tee that is just to the outside of the ball roughly 18 inches from your toe line. When you swing ensure your club does not clip that imaginary tee.
PRIVATE LESSONS
Get yourself in trouble—ok if you have a lot of time to practice and your shots from normal conditions are acceptable.
Pitch it close from a downhill lie—this instruction is ok if the downhill is moderate. However, don’t let your hands lead or else the blade will be out of square and the ball will fly to the right.
Start at the finish—ok
Tips to hit hybrids—Hybrids are designed for the same swing as all the rest of your clubs.
Make good putts on bad greens—Position your sternum directly in line with the putter shaft.