For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Fundamentals
Rickie Fowler – He gets it
Feb 25th
Watching Morning Drive this morning, I was in total agreement with the comments that Brandel Chamblee (@BrandelChamblee) made about Rickie Fowler.
“You understand the best way to play golf, this is my opinion, is to go out there and try to hit shots…You know,it’s the big lie to me, that you can go out there and swing perfectly. And I understand why guys do it. I mean literally they’re trying to play this game in the most organized fashion, there’s so much money out there, and if you can stay on tour a long time, you can get ridiculously rich. So what are you gonna do? You’re gonna work out, you’re gonna get a sports psychologist And you’re going to take all these lessons ’cause you want everything to be perfect. And Rickie’s like ‘No, I’m gonna go out and I’m gonna hit golf shots. I’m gonna hit it high, I’m gonna hit it low, I’m gonna draw it, fade it.’ And I know it’s because of the way he was taught the game. His teacher was very much into hitting golf shots. And that’s why he plays fast. Because he’s not out there thinking about a pre-shot routine, and he’s not out there thinking about swing mechanics. He’s out there thinking about golf shots.”
There’s a ton of wisdom in what Brandel said this morning. This is why Rickie is the future of golf. And I think he is going to stun us with what he is going to accomplish in his career.
Lessons from Riviera
Feb 22nd
Watching the coverage on both Golfchannel and CBS, I was surprised to see how short the ball was flying at Riviera. Considering it was in the best shape that the announcing team has ever seen it, it must have been a combination of the low temperatures, sea level and kikuya grass, that shortened the distances for the pros.
I was honestly shocked at the number of shots that were coming up short, as well as the clubs that players were using. One a shot of 160, you’d normally expect 9 irons, however, not only did we see a lot of players using 8 irons, but even 7 irons.
The drives on the 290 yard par 4 tenth were coming up short even from an elevated tee.
The lesson here, be careful with your club selection and really take into consideration factors such as the temperature, sea level and local grasses. Short shots at Riviera were made worse by the sticky kikuya grass, that made the ball hop straight up or even backward.
How to make swing changes stick
Jan 12th
Recent experience has taught me that you need two things to make swing changes stick. Practice and time. Now while these may seem self evident there is more going on behind the scenes in the subconscious mind than meets the eye.
We’ve all heard the phrases “Practice makes perfect” and “Perfect practice makes perfect”. We all know that tour players have practiced all their lives to get the level they are at. The thing is that they are not always practicing the same things in the same way. They have built up enough skill level, that as they dial one thing in, they can work and address another part of the game.
What am I getting at?
As amateur golfers we don’t have the luxury to practice to practice like a tour player. In fact, for most of us, we rarely get to practice. I’ve tried to combat this by investing in some things that bring the practice home, and while that does address much of the problem, there is another part of practicing that has to be thought through as well.
Practice Games
Nov 4th
Now that it’s getting colder in the North East, I find that when I go to the practice area at my golf course that there is no one there. The place is deserted. Still, I want to keep getting better so I’m spending a lot of time. I’m using a couple of practice games that make practice really interesting and add some significant challenge.
I call the first game:
Pin Seeker
The objective is to get the ball as close to the hole without going more than gimme range past. Here are the rules.
Get to know your tendencies
May 10th
While I’ve been playing pretty consistent golf, I have not been practicing my long game as much. I think one of the things that happens when you play a lot of golf without going to the driving range is that you can start to get into some bad habits. For me, it was with my setup. I noticed it yesterday in my first driving range session in a while.
The first thing I noticed was that my setup didn’t feel right. After a bit more careful thought I determined that it was my shoulder alignment. My shoulders were a bit open. I had to consciously set myself up properly and once I did that my shots straightened out bit and the ball would start either right on line, or slightly right of target and draw back in.
I think it’s important to know what our tendencies are and to try to develop better habits. My shoulders opening up at address is a tendency that I have and it creeps back in if I don’t watch my setup. It can also creep into my putting and send putts off line.
However knowing that it is a tendency allows me to be on the lookout for it and the place to make those changes is on the practice tee. If you build good habits on the practice tee you can take them to the course.
30 Day Challenge – Day 5
Feb 16th
Practice in the tundra
Well not a tundra, but the driving range was covered in about 6 inches of snow, and more snow was coming down as I was hitting balls. I turns out I was the last customer before they closed for the day. To top it off , the heat was not working.
So what did I do?
I hit balls. I hit one large bucket of balls and kept focusing on my hands and shot shape. The past 4 days I was practicing with only a lob wedge, 8 iron and driver. Today I got a little bit more variety. I hit some 5 irons as well as a fairway wood (4w to be exact).
I find it truly amazing that what I do with my hands has so much of an effect. I tried a very interesting little drill. With the driver in hand, I alternated between hitting high cuts and high draws. So I would hit one high draw, then one high cut and rinse and repeat. It was pretty cool. I had never had this amount of control with the driver. Occasionally my high draw, would go straight and not really draw back, and occasionally the high fade would stay a bit left. Still I was not disappointed by that. I was thrilled that I could get as much consistency as I did.
Managing Expectations on the Golf Course
Feb 10th
Have you ever been so excited to go to the golf course because your practice sessions have been going great? You tee it up, and wham, OB. Uh oh, this could be a long day.
Expectations can lead to frustration on the course. Managing them properly is the best way to play your best golf.
Golf is played one shot at a time. Anything that takes you out of that is asking for trouble. Coming to the course with expectations that you are going to play great because you were striping it at the range can lead to disappointment. If you don’t manage your emotions properly, that disappointment can quickly escalate and throw your entire round off.
Pulling with the left side to eliminate the weak slice
Feb 6th
In the same way that someone is right handed or left handed, a golf swing can be dominated by either side. Most amateur swings are right side/arm dominated. You can see this in the over the top moves and the flipping action of the club face. This is typically considered pushing and results in a weak slice.
Conversely a golf swing can be more left side/arm dominated. This is typically called pulling and results in more consistent ball striking, and improved golf ball launch conditions.
Both ways can be effective provided the player plays to their tendencies or has practiced enough to know what the swing is going to do. However, I think left side/arm dominated can be more consistent based on the work I have done with my swing, and from what I see from the average golfer.
I’ll refer to left side dominated swings as pulling, and right side dominated swings as pushing.
Video showing Taly – eliminating the flip
Feb 2nd
I came across this video on YouTube and I wanted to share this. For those of you who read the review of the Taly Mind Set, I wanted to provide a real world scenario of how it used to help golfers improve their swings. In this video Lynn Blake, the famed TGM teacher (The Golfing Machine), has a clinic and each student has a Taly Mind Set. Take a look at how he teaches and what he teaches. It is simple but effective. Similar to the drill I talk about in the article on achieving left wrist supination.
Enjoy and of course let me know if you have any questions about this.
Achieving left wrist supination in the golf swing (Drill)
Feb 1st
Ben Hogan was right that the best swings in the game have this supination action at impact. It allows the club to come into the ball square.
But many players do not fully understand how to achieve this supination. Here is how you can begin to get this feeling in your swing.
One of the most important things I have discovered about this supination is that it is NOT achieved by the wrists or the small muscles in the hands. The wrists are too weak to force this position and too weak to overcome the huge forces that the swing is generating. The way to achieve this supination is to use the large muscles of the body properly in the golf swing.
That sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it? Here is an image of the left wrist supinating, but you can’t force it to happen. You allow it to happen by doing the right things in the swing.
