September '07 Issue

This month's articles

-CHIP AWAY AT CHUNKY SHOTS—Chunky chip shots are not the fault of the club. So the solution to chunky chips is not choosing a different club. Using a fairway wood for chipping is fine but it won’t eliminate the chunks.

-FADE IT OR DRAW IT—This article almost has it right. Changing the grip will change the orientation of the clubface at impact. It is not a matter of changing the thumb position (although that’s close), instead it is a matter of rotating the left hand grip in total. Take your normal grip. The slightly loosen your grip pressure and rotate the left hand to the right to have the clubface impart hook spin at impact. Or, rotate it to the left to have it impart slice spin. Rotate the entire hand, not just the thumb.

-SCRAMBLING—I never argue with Dave’s statistical reporting. However, I find myself less accepting of his recommendations. In particular, I think Dave is mistaken in his recommendation for having “two targets” ( a landing target and a final target). To understand why, try this: Find a target about 30 paces away to which you will toss a ball as close as possible. Make the toss and then ask yourself if you were concentrating on the final target or on a landing target. If you are trying to toss it as close as possible, you will find that all of your attention is on the final target. Your brain works the same way when it is directing the performance of your golf swing.

-LAND BUNKER SHOTS WHERE YOU WANT THEM—“..your toe line points no more than twenty degrees left of target.” Huh? I’m supposed to bring a protractor with me into the bunker? How am I supposed to measure twenty degrees? The answer is that you don’t have to. First you only need to align left if you open the clubface at address (which is not necessary). If you choose to open the clubface (to add more loft), adjust your alignment with the club face looking to the right of the target, your feet aligned to the right and the target splitting the difference.

-HOW TO LOB IT TO A TIGHT PIN—Ok.

-How to hit driver into the wind—Any time our address position has the club to the left of center, we are adding loft to the swing. Therefore Gary’s initial address position is already a problem for hitting into the wind. The adjust he makes is excessive. Begin by positioning the club in your center, then if you want to lower the trajectory either tee the ball lower or slightly (remember the driver only has a few degrees of loft to begin with) close the clubface and align it to the right of the target.

STOP LEAVING SHOTS IN THE SAND—The image of a stone skipping across a pond portrays the stone on the surface of the water. If the wedge stays on the surface of the sand, you will blade the shot.

MAKE SWING CHANGES STICK—First, regarding the drill be sure the forward tee is not on the target line. Remember the swing is a circle and the moment the club passes impact its circular path takes the club head left of the target line. Second regarding transitioning from practice to play, it should be remembered that the result of training aids is for us to change our mind regarding what we want to do with the golf club. Keep that as your objective when you are practicing and give yourself a few weeks of practice before you expect to see the change be your “go to” swing.

-QUITE COMING OVER THE TOP—Mike’s suggestion is ok and you may find it helpful. However, if you want to go to the essence of the problem, it is that the forward swing is not on the correct path. My suggestion is to make a backswing and watch the club as you VERY slowly return it the address position. As it approaches the address position come to know the path it is taking. Repeat this until you can visualize this path. Then mentally watch an image of the club return along this path during your swing. Your brain is wired to respond to that image by performing the action you are seeing in your thoughts.

-GET YOUR SWING BACK IN SYNC—I think this is unnecessarily difficult to take from practice to play.

-TWO FOOLPROOF PUTTING KEYS—Ok.

-TURN UP OUR POWER—Allow the body to respond to the circular swing of the club. The result is just the right amount of turn at just the right time.

-THE NO-BACKSWING SWING—Let’s cut to the chase. The only value in the no-backswing swing (NBS) is the subtle matter of putting yourself in the correct position at the top. Look at STEP 2. Just make a backswing that satisfies these criteria and then the NBS has no benefit.

-HIT THE SAND TO THE HOLE—Some shots the sand “may” carry to the hole. On most shots (yes, even the ones where the ball stops next to the hole) the sand will carry well-short of the hole.

-BLOCK OUT SLICES—THERE IS NO RELEASE IN THE GOLF SWING!!!!!!! Ok, I guess I got that out of my system for the time being. This article diagnoses the problem correctly (i.e. the clubface should not stay square to the target line after impact). The solution is to keep the path of the club circular through impact as it passes to a toe up position with the club shaft appearing to point at the target.

-STOP CASTING YOUR CLUB—The solution to casting is not in the legs or shoulders. The solution is in the hands. Casting is the result of using the hands to unhinge the wrists. Instead the unhinging should be the result of the centrifugal force of the swinging motion.

-MASTERING THE KNOCKDOWN WEDGE—Ok.

-SHORT IRONS NEED DIVOTS—If your short irons are producing “high soft shots” then they are producing exactly what they were designed for. This article effectively delofts the clubs and turns a pitching wedge into an eight iron.