February ’08 Golf Magazine

This month's articles

Sergio’s Power Lag—Lag happens. It’s not something that we need to add to our list of things to do. Look at what happens when you throw a ball over hand. At the end of your throwing backswing you will find that your wrist has flexed. As you start your forward swing of your throw, you will find that the wrist stays flexed. It continues that way until you arm is near parallel to the ground. At that time the wrist un-flexes and the hand, forearm, and arm form a straight line. You did not hold the lag nor release the lag. Instead it is a function of the motion. The same is true with the golf swing. Now do this experiment. Make a forward throw and try to manage the lag. Hold it for as long as you can and release it when you think it would be best. Did this help you throw further? No! Nor will attempting to manage the lag during the golf swing. The only thing that you can do regarding lag is to interfere with it. You can do this in one of two ways: 1) have your wrists so stiff that they cannot release (ball goes low and right), or 2) use your hands (hand action) in an attempt to try to hit the ball with the clubface (the prematurely diminishes the lag (see photo on page 107).

Lag it to tap-in range—I never hit a lag putt. I want to give myself a chance to make every putt. Peter’s drill will not help you get the ball closer to the hole. It will help you identify as to whether your swing plane is parallel to the target line.

Hit a reliable draw—There are two fundamentally different ways to draw the ball: change the swing, or change the setup. Jim is a proponent of the former. Heartland is a proponent of the latter. If you want reliability I think it is a no-brainer to believe you could better manage making a setup change than making a swing change.

Create more clubhead speed—In no way will ankle action increase your clubhead speed. What Paul is actually saying (re-read the article) is that his prescription will inhibit a forward sway (inset photo). Or, you can simply not sway when you swing and leave your ankles do whatever it is they do.

Add yards to your irons—Shifting your weight does not make your swing longer. Check it out for yourself. It does do a great job of making your contact much less consistent.

Straighten out your hybrids—The shaft angle on all clubs is the same. That is to say when you have the club soled properly so the club face has its correct amount of loft, the shaft will not be leaning forward (toward the target) or backward (away from the target). This is why all clubs are played from our center.

Quit hanging shots to the right—I like Rod’s objective, but there is a better means to check if you are rolling the clubface open during the backswing. Here it is:
From the address position swing the club back till the shaft is parallel with the ground. Now look at the clubface. Are the grooves pointing vertically toward 12 o’clock or are they leaning toward 1 or 2 o’clock? Next, finish the backswing so the shaft is parallel to the target line. Without changing the orientation of your clubhead and keeping it parallel to the ground, shift the club so the shaft is perpendicular to the target line. Then (without twisting the shaft) set it down in the address position. If the clubhead has the same orientation as it did before you began your backswing, then you did not turn the club on the backswing.

Putt with the Edge of your wedge—Brady’s instruction about the use of the wedge is functional. However, when you have this shot, rather than using the bottom edge of the wedge, try using the bottom edge of your putter. You’ll be much more comfortable making a putting stroke with a putter and the outcome will be more predictable.

Chip it close from an Uphill lie—Ok.

Stop leaving it in the sand—Rick says that a player leaves the ball in the sand because, “Your bunker swing is too shallow.” However, his 3 step solution makes no change to the “shallow-ness” of the swing.

Create Perfect putting impact—Perfect impact would be contacting the ball with the center of the clubface and the clubface square to the target line. Robert’s instruction addresses neither. Instead what this drill does is promote a de-lofted putter face working against the design by the club manufacturer who puts 3-5 degrees of loft in the putter.

Make a smoother stroke—When you count, make the cadence even and the volume of each number the same. Be aware if you say the word “three” louder than one or two. Also don’t setup the putter wrong. Chuck has the putter sitting on its heel instead of properly soled.

Fix pop-up slices—Disregard this article. If you have this problem, a sure fix is to observe the shaft and clubhead during the first four feet of your backswing. Spend some time training yourself that your forward swing should retrace that portion of your backswing.

How to dominate Par 3’s—I like Retief’s thoughts strategizing about these holes (comments 1-3). With regard to shaping shots, while Retief relates body movements to such shaping, remember it is club movement that shapes shots. Disregard his swing tips.

Private Lessons
Stay loose for more yards—ok
Reach the green from fairway bunkers—Ok.
How to shape shots by feel—Feel is related to how the body feels. Such feelings are one step removed from what shapes the shot—the club. Always work on being aware of what you want the club to do.
How to check for power leaks—Ok.
Use different clubs for chipping—Ok.
**I think this is the first time I’ve ever found most (let alone all) of these Private Lessons to meet my approval!

November ’07 Golf Magazine Instruction Commentary



This month's articles

-HOW TO HIT YOUR IRONS ON THE SWEET SPOT—Dave describes this instruction as a solution to the fact that 95% of shots are short of the target. Ask yourself this question, when you are making a shot is your intention to get the ball “to” the target or to make it go beyond the target. The reason for short shots is that is what we are intending—and that’s not a problem. Being two feet past the cup is no better than being two feet short. Yes, only balls that have enough speed to go beyond the cup have enough speed to go in.
The above notwithstanding, Dave’s drill is beneficial for any player who is not making center contact. However, before you round up a two-by-four, hit some shots while paying attention to your balance. You may find that center contact will require nothing more that keeping your balance during the shot.

-MAHAN WITH A PLAN—This story-behind-the-story here is that you can will with almost any ball flight as long as you are consistent. (P.S. Consistently straight is better than consistently right.)

-MAKE SOLID CONTACT FROM A DIVOT—I like what Brady has to say but think it is a little more complicated than necessary. Setup with the ball one or two balls back of center. Doing this de-lofts the club and in so doing lowers the leading edge of the club so the shot will not be bladed. From this setup make your normal swing.

-STOP SWING OVER THE TOP—This is classic. It adheres the widely taught (and highly illogical) maxim, “When you have a problem with the club swinging incorrectly don’t fix the club’s motion, fix the body.” Get a chuckle from this article and quickly turn the page.

-STOP PUSHING THE BALL—Déjà vu all over again. Got a problem with the club? Fix the body. Turn the page.

-HIT GREENS FROM THE ROUGH—First of all, always make your first goal to put the ball back in play. Sometimes your lie will allow you to go for the green. If the lie is workable (ie. the path along which the club travels to the ball is not through grass that will greatly slow and deflect the club AND the path along which the ball will exit is also clear of such grass), then think about the green. The more lofted the club, the sooner the ball will get above the grass. You can play this shot with the ball one or two balls forward in your stance.

-BUILD A MONEY STROKE—Look at the sequence of photos at the bottom of the page. Notice how de-lofted the putter is at impact. Putters are designed to put the best roll on the ball when they have 3-5 degrees of loft. Ironically, there is nothing that will make the ball hop and skip more than hitting down on the ball.

-HOW TO ADD 10 YARDS TO YOUR DRIVES—Don’t tell Brad, but you don’t hit the ball with your backswing. Having a wider backswing guarantees nothing regarding the forward swing.

-PERFECT ADDRESS—Turn the page.

-MAKE SHORT CHIPS EASY—I don’t know how this is suppose to fix the problem Michael described.

-THE SETUP SECRET FOR MONSTER DRIVES—If you say so, Jon. Why this creates “monster” drives I’m not sure.

-PUTT FOR BIRDIE EVERY TIME—Ok.

-HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST DRIVE A GOD ONE—This is a warm up? This is suppose to get you loose and ready? Dana’s drill is useful for a session on the range if you suspect your swing is off-plane but not as a warm-up. This is a very specific drill for a very specific issue not a warm-up confidence builder.

-10 TOUGHEST WEDGE SHOTS—This article describes the statistical results of ten different shots comparing the use of a sand wedge to a lob wedge. It does not teach you how to pay the ten shots.

-CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR MORE POWER—This is very subjective. It doesn’t hurt to experiment on the practice tee.

-SET UP FOR SUCCESS—Look at the drawing on the lower half of the second page (red bars on the shoulders). Look at how the artist drew the shaft in line with the left arm. Now look above at the three setups for mid-irons, woods, and short irons. Do any of the three have the shaft in line with the left arm? Sloppy, re-hash, of bad info.

-HOW TO HIT WEDGES FROM TIGHT LIES—Ok.

-RUNNING YOUR APPROACHES—Ok.

-BE ON YOUR TOES IN THE SAND—Put simply, keep your balance. Leaning backwards during your forward swing increases the distance between your center and the ball. The result is that you will make contact high on the ball.

November 2007 Issue

November ’07 Golf Magazine Instruction Commentary



This month's articles

-POSITIONS “A”. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s cut to the chase. This is the next version of a long list of articles prescribing the “body positions” of pro vs. amateur. This may be one of the worst of the lot because it is based on one high handicapper and one pro. There is discussion of their body but not one word about the club. Not one word about the tool that determines ball flight. If golf was scored on style and body positions this would be a landmark article worthy of your study. Since golf is scored by and enjoyed for ball flight, this article is worthless.

-HOW TO MAKE LONG HOLES PLAY LIKE SHORT ONES—This is another in Dave’s interesting analysis of golf statistics. He’s good at this. I like Dave’s analysis but not his recommendation. The problem he suggests is that amateur golfers attempt to hit longer drives on longer holes and wind up hitting poorer drives because their added effort distorts their swing. The solution he offers is a band aid. Instead, learn to make your swing consistent regardless of distance.

-HOW TO HIT PIN-SEEKING IRONS—And why does this technique make you more accurate? This article describes one way to produce a knock-down shot but does not offer one word about why a knock-down is more accurate than a normal swing.

-HOW TO BLAST ONE FROM A BUNKER DOWNSLOPE—This is ok, but think twice about spending time practicing this versus making 3-4 foot putts.

-6 WAYS TO FIX EVERY BAD SHOT—David should have titled this “6 Ways to fix every bad shot that is caused by strange body movements.” Read the first ten words of each of the 6 problems. All of these are strange body movement problems. These solutions have not benefit for problems from things like a problematic grip or poor alignment.

-HOW TO ATTACK WITH YOUR SHORT IRONS—I want to ask you to look at Brian’s two photos on the left. Lean to the right at address and then sway to the left on the back swing? That’s a sure way to make a simple shot more difficult. Brian also offers that prudent advice to “hit down on the ball”. That’s icing on the cake.

-SWING YOUR BAG TO STOP YOUR SWAY—I want to see Peter use this with one of his students. He wins the “creative but silly” golf instruction award.

-MOVE YOUR LEFT SHOULDER, ADD YARDS—Why is the yellow arrow longer in photo #3 than in photo #1? Does Bob have an elastic collar bone? Notice that the butt of the club in photo #3 is 15 inches (approx) from the center of his body and the club 4 feet. What is the chance of the club head arriving at the center the same time as the butt of the club? Answer: Slim and none. It appears to me that this is a sure way to have the ball go to the right.

-HOW TO STRAIGHTEN OUT YOUR PUTTS—Anne offers a great alternative if you don’t have a golf ball handy. If you do, then use it. Stretch a string out on the green (or carpet), place the ball inch from the string, and then make the putt. If the stroke is good and the blade is square at impact, the ball will roll parallel to the string.

-STOP SLICES (AND HOOKS!) WITH YOUR FEET—The idea behind this instruction is that if I put the body in a strange position I can force the swing to be different. Here is an alternative: Leave the feet in a normal position (each foot perpendicular to the target line and the toe line parallel to the target line), then swing the club correctly.

-HOW TO TURN YOUR SLICE INTO A DRAW—(I’d be more impressed if Steve taught us to turn the slice into straight). Here is the first article in this issue that deals with the club. I can’t imagine how this works but it might be fun to give it a try.

-BENCH YOUR SWING—This article deals with the club also. Nice. When doing drill 1 use a 5 iron instead. An eight will probably hit the ball too high.

-4 EASY WAYS TO BE A MORE CONSISTENT BALLSTRIKE—Can the formula for “hitting everything better” be reduced to : 1)shorten your backswing, 2)back a bigger hip turn, 3)Swing slower and with more arms, 4)release with your chest? I don’t think so. Again this is all body stuff and doesn’t deal with the essential role the club plays.

-USE YOUR TRIGGER TO INCREASE FEEL—Control of the putter results from: having a correct grip that squares the club face, swinging the club, have the putter aligned so the swing rolls the ball to the target. Forget the finger.

-IMPROVE YOUR CHIPS FROM THE ROUGH—Ok

-CURING WRISTINESS—Ok

-RELAX YOUR RIGHT ELBOW—Ok

-STAND TALL FOR A BIG TURN—At address, anything more than a slight knee-flex will restrict your back swing. The only knee flex that is appropriate is that which is necessary to sole the club.

May 2007 Issue

This month's articles

-CATCH THE WAVE--Dear Golf Magazine Editors, Welcome to the past. Listen to Manuel de la Torre 20 years ago or look at his 2004 DVD and you’ll hear him explain the “tidal wave” effect for bunker shots.

-DON’T LEAVE UPHILL WEDGES SHORT—When you are playing from an uphill lie there are two strategies: spine perpendicular to the hill (like Dave in photo #1), or spine vertical (like Dave in photo #6). If your spine is perpendicular the club will not go into the ground after impact. If the spine is vertical it is likely (depending on the grade of the hill) that the club will take a heavy divot or imbed in the hillside. Regarding being short, do this: imagine the normal trajectory of the club you want to use for the shot, then look at the grade of the hill and add that much trajectory to your normal flight, if the added trajectory directs too much of your swings energy upward rather than forward, choose a lesser lofted club.

-DO YOU KNOW 53 YARDS WHEN YOU SEE IT?—Do you know thirteen yards when you see it? Do you need to know the yardage between you and me if we were playing catch? No. Why not, because our tossing is regulated unconsciously by our vision not a consciously by our knowledge of yardage. Have a friend close their eyes and try tossing a ball various yardages as per your instructions. Now have them do the same thing with their eyes open with makers at those same yardages. Being able to estimate the yardage and being able to send the ball there, uses two different parts of your brain. Yardage is not helpful when you are making partial swings. It is only helpful when you are choosing clubs for full swings. (Look at Dave’s answer to the first question in the upper right hand corner of page 41).

-LASER TREATMENT—DON’T BUY THIS!! Like all your swings, a putting stroke is circular. When you swing this device the laser lines will immediately shine to the right of the target as you start your back swing and will immediately shine left as you pass the impact point. This device is based on a will cause people to try to bring the club straight back and straight through—very unnatural and unnecessarily difficult.

-HOW I STOPPED HOOKING, ONCE AND FOR ALL.—If your grip is too strong or you roll your hands during the swing you can have hooking problems. If your grip is neutral (v’s formed by your thumb and forefinger are pointed at your shirt buttons), and you allow your arms to rotate you will not have a hooking problem. Hogan created his own way of compensating—most players will find its more difficult.

-LONG ARMS ARE THE LAW.—Ok.

-SWIVEL YOUR HEAD FOR EXTRA DISTANCE.—This is a sure formula for hitting lots of shots to the right. Simpler and better is to allow your left arm to fold. This promotes a longer backswing and therefore more time for the club to accelerate.

-MAKE A WEAK EFFORT TO ESCAPE SAND.—Unnecessary.

-GIVE OUR SHORT PUTTS A “POP”.—How much of a pop? The swing is not “poppy” it is very smooooooooth.

-THE NATURAL.—Pay attention to the words “homegrown”. This is a code word for “this swing is so unusual that you’ll almost never see even professionals try it”. Look at J.B.’s club position in photo 3. From an address position, put your club in this position. The clubface is either delofted, facing to the right, or both.

-HOW TO HIT THE PERFECT CHIP.—There is so much wrong with this instruction its almost not worth the trouble.
Wrist Flat—The wrist is the hinge between your hand and forearm it can’t be flat. If the back of the left hand and the forearm are flat (i.e. you could lay a ruler across them), you will find that the club head is severely trailing the handle of the club and the club face aligned severely to the right.
Toe Closed—Todd writes “…your hand should be passive” and then goes on to say, “smoothly rotate the club”. Passive but active? How much should the club be rotated and when?
Weight forward—To fix hanging “back on your right side”, Todd wants us to hang on our left. Why not fix the hanging by making it simple and just be balanced?
Shoulder down—Look at Todd on page 60 in step 4. Is his left shoulder down?
Bottom Line: Use your normal setup and swing the club correctly.

-POWER FROM THE GROUND UP.—So the problem is a handsy swing, and the solution is to check the hips? How does this fix handsy? Do all handsy players have their hips out of place?

-HOW TO MAKE PITCHES BITE.—The ball doesn’t care if the wrist hinge quickly or if the club stops abrubtly. Its simple a matter of clubhead speed + clubhead loft + the type of ball you are using. Use a spin ball (Pro V1), and your most lofted club, and that’s all the spin that anyone can create.
P.S. the grooves do get worn on wedges and therefore they impart slightly less spin.

-HOW TO ROLL WITH THE RIGHT SPEED.—So the problem is that you are unsure how hard to hit a putt. Gary says that practicing rolling it over a pencil will improve your ability to know how hard to hit a putt. Or will it teach you the speed needed to jump a pencil? This is cute but absurd. Most missed putts result from the player concentrating on the ball instead of remembering where the cup is.

-BETWEEN CLUBS?—Ok, but this takes practice.

-2 = SAND ESCAPES.—Unnecessary

-HOW TO MAX OUT YOUR IRONS.—The problem that T.J. describes is “lack of crisp pure feel”. I’m really not sure what that means, are you? Regardless of what it means, do we ever want to contact the “inside lower quadrant” of the ball? From the address position, re-position the club face so it is up against the “inside lower quadrant”. Notice how the clubface is aligned to the right. Is that were you want the ball to go? Look at the small photo where the cup is in the air. Note the divots. T.J. took two shots. The divot for the this shot appears shallow and straight (not against the “inside lower quadrant”). The other divot is and deep and to the right—I think you are likely to get that kind of result from this kind of instruction.

-HOW TO CONTROL EVERY SHOT—Rotating the clubface affects the trajectory and direction of your ball flight. Rotating your hand (“knuckles down”) rotates the clubface. You can over-rotate and under rotate if you begin trying this technique. Be ready for a lot of practice and a lot of under and over cooked shots. Are you into simple? If you want the club face open or closed at impact just pre-set the club at address by rotating the shaft to the left for a hook or rotating it to the right for a fade and then grip the club while it is in that orientation. Now make your normal swing with no need to manage the rotation of your hands during the swing.

-THE CAN’T MISS PUTTING GRIP.—Somebody get Tiger on the phone and let him know he will never again miss a putt. I tried Brad’s suggestion. I could still be as wristy as I wanted.

-A NEW GRIP THAT STOPS YOUR SLICE.—Somebody get Cobra on the phone and tell them to trash all of those offset drivers they make for slicers. I certainly think that the “old way” that Brad describes is a problem but I am able to slice the ball with either of these grips.

-HOW TO STOP PULL-SLICING LONG IRONS.—As long as players focus on the body they won’t fix the pull slice. Dom’s suggest will only result in a pull slice that doesn’t start as far left and finishes further right. Fix the club not the body.

-USE YOUR HEAD FOR EXTRA YARDS.—(see above)

-PRIVATE LESSONS
SQUAT FOR POWER.—At the address position there is a specific number of inches from your swings center (just above your sternum) to the ball. If you squat the number of inches decreases. You will either hit the ball on the heel or hit it fat. No squatting. No swaying. The ball falls from between the knees because the left knee rotates toward the target.

PUTT WITH A FULL FOLLOW THROUGH.—The swing is a pendulum action. If the club swings back to 8 o’clock, it only has enough energy to swing forward to 4 o’clock. We don’t want the follow through bigger and never smaller.

SWING YOUR WEDGES AT 90 PERCENT.—Great advice for all our clubs (85% might even be better).

BUTT OUT!—You spin is not straight. It is “s” shaped. At address our objective should not be to have our butt out but instead to be balanced and relaxed.