For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Swing Theory
Develop great rhythm and tempo in your golf swing by practicing bunker shots
Jul 4th
Practicing bunker shots can improve your rhythm and tempo
Bunker play. What comes to mind for you? Does it fill you with fear? Do you think, “how many shots will it take to get out”?
This is one of the areas that amateur golfers practice the least. And it’s one area where the average golfer can really save a ton of strokes. So practicing bunker shots can save you shots and has a number of extra benefits.
- Bunker shots become much easier.
- Lose the fear of being in a green-side bunker.
- Help with rhythm and tempo.
- Smooth out your swing.
What were the great players of the past thinking when they played golf?
Jun 1st
Ever wonder what Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Jackie Burke Jr and other great players of the past were thinking while playing golf? What would be it be like to in their heads as they prepared to hit a shot, and how would it differ from the way many players approach the game today? Eben Dennis had the chance when he was younger to spend some time those legends, and learned from them how they approached the game.
They were using their feel and imagination not thinking about their backswing or swing plane. They were artists with the club being their paint brush. They played golf and not golf swing. They understood the tools they were using like a carpenter understands his. They developed routines that would allow them to repeat how they prepared to play the shot at hand. They prepared for the golf course as if it were a chess match. As Hogan once said a golfer playing golf without feel would be like a deaf man trying to play the piano by ear. They knew the equipment was built for ease of use and respected its value.
Most from that era also learned to play during the wooden shaft era and if they swung too hard they would break the clubs so they stayed with that feeling when steel shafts came along and allowed players to slash at the ball without penalty of a broken club. They also understood as many of the best players do today that the golf ball just gets in the way of going forward toward the target instead of hitting at it like most players do. The best understood that you can control the club effectively only from your fingers and that everything supports what they do.
In short they were doing little thinking and mostly creating.
Fore! Golf Marathon at Crystal Springs
May 24th
On Wednesday, May 19th, I played in the golf marathon for the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation at Crystal Springs resort in New Jersey.
It was one of the best golf experiences I have had in my life. The resort is beautiful and the Crystal Springs golf course is a very challenging layout. Although it’s not as long as some other courses, you must keep the ball in play and on the fairway. And even if you manage to hit the fairway you need to be in the correct side of the fairway. There are very few flat lies on the fairways and even less of them in the rough. The rough is full of punishing grass moguls that make it difficult hit good shots to the large, but fast undulating greens. This course has some of the largest greens I have played on, but you must be in the right part of the green to have a good putt at birdie or even par.
Besides the beauty and difficulty of the golf course, the whole day was so much fun. Once I checked in with Rob Pritts of Back9Promotions, the man behind the golf marathon, we got some breakfast and an opportunity to meet some of the other golfers and participants including about 10 players from the New York Jets. I ended up playing with 3 of the Jets, 2 of them for over 50 holes of golf.
On the radio talking about Game Sense
May 23rd
Yesterday, May 22nd, ZenChili was on the radio in Hawaii talking about Game Sense. Here’s the link to the radio show.
http://www.hernco.com/golfclub/ac51522.htm
To buy game sense or to get more information about it go to www.gamesensegolf.com.
Today’s Round – swing changes and surprising strategy pay off
May 14th
Today I headed up to play Richter Park Golf Course, one of the public course gems in Danbury, Connecticut. I was unsure of what results I was going to get as this morning I decided to implement some swing changes. I also upon arrival at the course, took my 4 wood out of the bag. This club has been giving me trouble recently as the shaft has a completely different flex than what I am now used to in my irons. I decided that I did not even want to be tempted by it.
After hitting a few wayward drives (two that went OB on me) I decided to also leave the driver in the bag the rest of the round. I just wasn’t feeling comfortable with it and it just wasn’t working well with the swing changes. Besides Richter Park is not so long that I would miss the driver. So I spent most of the round teeing off my 18 degree Cobra Baffler pro hybrid and decided that I would play the par 5s as 3 shot holes.
I was hitting the hybrid probably 20 yards behind where I would normally hit my driver and so much straighter. On one hole I went hybrid – lob wedge and ended up about 8 feet from the pin slightly above the hole. The only hole where driver would really have made a difference for me was 18. I thinned the hybrid and ended up with 205 to the back of the green, to a green perched roughly 15 yards above me. I would have proffered a shorter second shot but that’s golf.
I was pretty amazed at how well the swing changes worked. My irons were crisp and very straight. I ended up with an 81 that could have been even better had I left the driver in the car from the beginning. I had 2 drives that went OB on me, and without those penalties the score could have been much lower. However, my irons were crisp, as were my wedges. I had really solid distance control all day and I’m excited for what these swing changes will bring.
Golf Event: Help children who have a parent with late stage cancer
May 5th
In a few weeks I will be taking part in an amazing event to help the Jack and Jill Foundation.
As you can imagine being diagnosed with a late stage cancer is a tragic event. Even more so, when a parent has young children. There are countless memories that they will never get to share. Graduations, weddings, first jobs, first apartment and untold more.
The Jack and Jill Foundation steps in to help children with a parent that has been diagnosed with late stage cancer to have an opportunity to get a vacation from the cancer, and to help them create some lasting memories. I am very proud to be a supporter of the Jack and Jill Foundation and I hope that you will join me. Click here to see a video of what this foundation is doing.
On May 19, I am participating in the FORE! Jack and Jill Golf Marathon. This is a one day event of golf and fun to help raise funds to so that the foundation can meets its goals of helping as many children as possible who are going through these incredibly difficult circumstances and who are going to experience a tragic loss.
New strategy for effortless golf has surprising results
Apr 29th
Today was one of the great practice sessions. Even though I set out to do something I was practicing on the simulator, I ended up going in a completely different direction with my driving range session.
At home I had been practicing with the driving range portion of my golf simulator. I noticed that I had difficulty squaring the face, but once I concentrated on having an inside path and getting the face slightly closed at impact I hit beautiful draws.
I wanted to see how that would translate on the driving range I go to, to hit actual golf balls. So I started out doing that, and quickly got bored of it. I followed an intuition I had and instead practiced in a different way.
I started with the pitching wedge and picked out a target about 75 yards away. And the thought I had in preparing for the swing was this “What is the smoothest slowest full swing I can do to hit it to that target 75 yards away.” So I felt the smooth swing in my body, and then did the same thing with a golf ball. That smooth swing created a gorgeous pitching wedge shot. It arced high, and went right at the my aim point but effortlessly carried to 130 yards.
Jim Furyk talks about being a feel player
Mar 23rd
Furyk plays an approach shot to the 7th at Copperhead during his fine opening round.
After his win at the Copperhead Golf course at Innisbrook, Jim Furyk spoke to Michael Breed on Monday night’s “The Golf Fix.” Jim Furyk mentioned that his father has been his only coach throughout his career and that Fuyk considers himself the least mechanical player on tour.
Here are some of the things he said when asked about being a feel player.
“I let my dad worry about the golf swing, for me its a feel issue. I worry about setup and putting myself in a good position.”
HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE STATE OF INSTRUCTION TODAY
Mar 4th
By: Buck Mayers
One plane vs Two plane, Natural Golf, Lever Golf, Rotary Swings, Swing the Handle, Swing the Club Head, The Dog Wags the Tail, The Golfing Machine, Stack & Tilt, The 5 Lessons, Swing Like a Pro, and ON and ON. Are they right or are they wrong? Can we argue that many observations and opinions have not helped many golfers become better? It is obvious that ideology, methodology and opinions contribute to success. The better question is…have golfers improved consistently with all the technology, fitness, mental training improvements available? The answer is NO!
Why? The communication and information of “how to teach” typically has ideas and methods, the “what” to teach is most often opinion based and pseudo science. The physics and laws of motion are what they are. If you can skip a rock off water, you have experienced the laws of motion subconsciously. Playing golf is a right brain creative process. My meaning here is that understanding what you see and feel leads to a sound swing. A sound swing does not lead to understanding. The brain controls the body, the body controls the club and the club controls the ball.
What have 3 dimensional swing technologies brought to golf? – CLARITY AND EDUCATION. Outside of equipment, fitness, mental aptitude and creative short game skills, we now have measurable, quantitative, scientific documentation of how the golf club and body move in space effortlessly, efficiently, and according to the laws of motion. Are there differences in the machine? We know from personal ball flight, conditions, body traits and mental strategies, styles may vary accordingly. However, why you hit it solid, straight or far according to physics will remain the same.
Whether you shank, top, hit off the toe, hit fat, slice, pull, push, hook, hit it too high or low, we now can tell you why. 3 dimensional video will enhance understanding, visual and sensation awareness or feel. The clubface, club path, angle of approach, centeredness of contact, and speed are the only influences of the ball’s flight. 3 dimensional video arms every student and teacher with the cause of the effect – PERIOD! The swing is an action where certain things are caused to happen and certain things are allowed to happen. Faults arise in trying to cause what should be allowed.
Rickie Fowler – a result of consistent coaching
Feb 27th
Gotham Golf Blog has a really good post about Rickie Fowler.
One of the important points in the post is how Rickie Fowler has stuck with one coach throughout his career. He hasn’t bounced from style to style and philosophy to philosophy. I think too many golfers bounce around trying different ideas. True, it can lead them to something that eventually works, but it also may confuse them and actually hinder their learning. When somebody goes through so many ideas, tips, etc, it becomes hard to find your unique style and refine that.
I think there are too many people claiming they have THE answer to the golf swing. There needs to be a match between the instructor and the student, and the swing should be based on the things that makes that student unique.
