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.

April 2007 Issue

This month's articles

-HOW TO SWING FROM THE TREES—Ok
-Ask Pelz—Before you try Dave’s approach regarding focus, try it when you are tossing a ball. What you will find is that for your tosses to at all be close to target, your mind’s focus must be on the target—not speed and distance. Whatever works for you tossing will work very well for your putting.

-LOOPY LOGIC—People make way too much out of the loop in Jim’s swing. Yes, it is unusual. No, you would not want to try to put a loop in your swing. Instead of looking at the loop, let’s look at the club as it moves through the bottom 1/3 of the swing (8 o’clock to 4 o’clock). There you will see that Jim does with his golf club just what every other good swinger does. Note: Because Jim plays the ball forward in his stance, he must slide his body to his left so that his center is aligned with the ball. If he had not taught himself to setup this way, he would not have to slide and add that variable to his shots.

-UPHILL ESCAPE—Ok. But be advised that setting up on an uphill shot with a sand wedge will send the ball very high. Your swing will have to be bigger than you might think if you have not practiced this. An alternative strategy is to use a PW or a nine.

-HOW TO HINGE YOUR WRISTS—STOP!! Martin has the hinges strapped on his wrists incorrectly. The left is ok but look at the right in the bottom picture. See how the hinge strap on his right forearm is no longer pointing at his right elbow. It’s twisting—and that’s not even with the club all at the top of the backswing. Martin is using the wrong hinges. Our wrists are ball and socket hinges. This illustration would be a little better if the hinge on the right wrist was mounted on top of the wrist like he has the left one.

-HOW TO BE FIRM WITH FAST DOWNHILLERS—It sounds desirable but what does “firm” mean? Hitting a ball on the toe of the club will not impart as much force as it will when you hit it on the center. So when you have a putt like the one on page 72, how much bigger of a swing would you want to make when you hit it on the toe? This takes a LOT of practice to develop a whole new knowledge of judging speed off the toe. Eden is right the ball won’t go as far when it comes off the toe. What Eden doesn’t tell you is that you now need to learn a whole new base of knowledge to judge toe shots in addition to judging center shots. It’s not worth it. Keep it simple. You can still put them in the cup on downhill putts when you hit them off the center. When you hit it off the toe, it feels anything but firm.

-IRONS IN THE MISFIRE—David is correct about many players aiming left of target. But it’s not because of the off-set. Players align left even with their putters—which have no offset. Use Manuel’s approach to alignment (page 35).

-HOW TO PRACTICE LIKE A TOUR PLAYER—I have never seen an article more superficial and misguided than this one.

-CHOKE DOWN TO KEEP IT LOW—Choking down shortens the length of the club and therefore lowers the club head speed. Shortening the swing will also decrease club head speed and therefore distance. How does choking down affect the loft of the clubface? It doesn’t—so choking down does not make the ball flight lower.

-DOES YOUR PUTTER MAKE YOU MISS?—Your putter does not and will not make you miss—ever. However, your putter can misfit you to such an extent that it makes putting more difficult than need be. Many players use putters that are too long for them.

-THE TURN SECRET—The only guarantee for not coming over the top is to have the back swing over the right shoulder and then have the club retrace the path of the backswing during the forward swing.

-TIGHTEN YOUR STAND TO BUST BIG DRIVES—Read the last sentence. What is says is true. What it doesn’t say is why this stance will make you hit it further. The reason it doesn’t is because it won’t. On the other hand, an extra wide stance can restrict your turn and keep you from making your fullest swing.

-STOP SLICING IN 5 SECONDS—Tom makes a good point as to how the toe of the club should be vertical but this is not the cause for most player’s slicing. If you see your shot ballooning high and to the right, Tom’s fix may be right for you.

-POWER UP WITH THE O FACTOR-- Try this: 1) stand at address with the club wresting on the ground, 2) leaving the club rest on the ground, turn your hips as fast as possible, you’ll see that the club does not move 3) the hips are independent of your arms. You can turn them as fast as you want and it adds nothing to the swing speed, except at the very end of their turn at which time they are twisting your torso to the left. Turn to page 172 and make a careful comparison of the clubface at address and at impact. The clubface is open and looking to the right. The only thing the O Factor will do on this shot is get the player to say, “Oh, no!”

-PRIVATE LESSONS
-Show the putter face the hole—The old wives tale is trotted out once again. One foot after impact the putter face will not be looking at the hole. The swing is circular. The moment the club passes impact the face begins looking left—on all swings. The putter does not need to, nor should you try to make it travel straight back and straight through.

-WATCH THE ELBOW—Forget the elbow. Focus on the club. Swing the club over your right shoulder (junction of shoulder and arm) with the shaft parallel to the target line. Then just re-trace the path for the forward swing. Wherever the elbow is during this swing is where it needs to be.

-WHEN BAD CONTACT IS GOOD—Actually this article has it exactly backwards. In heavy grass the grass catches the hosel, slows it down, and the toe quickly passes it and shuts the club face. Its why we hit a lot of grounders out of taller rough. On hardpan, plan to hit the ball thin and miss the dirt altogether.

-FOR MORE DISTANCE, LET THE DRIVER GO—This could be helpful for some players.

-THE HIGH TROUBLE SHOT—Rather than learn a new swing, just open the clubface before you grip it and play for the ball to travel to the right of your target line.