For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Posts tagged Swing Theory
Review: Powerchute
Dec 28th
Powerchute
For the past month I’ve worked with a swing trainer called the Powerchute. I’ve given it an extensive test and the results are in.
What is the Powerchute?
It’s a swing training aid that aims to increase clubhead speed and lag, and improve timing and lag. In addition it strengthens the fast twitch muscles.
New DVD available with the Taly Mindset
Sep 15th
There’s a new video that now comes with the Taly Mindset. The opening credits, certainly set the stage.
The Taly Mindset is a device that challenges conventional thinking in golf. It was invented by an engineer who loved the game of golf and wanted to play better. You can read my full review here. The device is now used by many touring pros and teaching pros across the country. One of the most famous teachers who routinely uses the Mindset to teach is Lynn Blake.
The DVD is a big improvement over what used to come with the Mindset. Although the pamphlet the came with it before gave some indication as to how it should be used, it really was not detailed enough and left questions unanswered. It left it up to the golfer through trial and error to figure out what to actually do and how to do it.
The new DVD answers the questions that every golfer needs answered when using the Taly Mindset. If you can understand the thought that went into the development of the Taly Mindset then you can learn to use it effectively. And it will change the way you approach golf.
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.
Twelve Days at the Academy (Golf Channel)
Dec 7th
Since this blog is focused on getting better, let’s take a look at the Golf Channel’s 12 Days at the Academy. What I have been doing is recording the shows onto my DVR and then watching them for the most solid information. Since we all are all working on different parts of the game and we have different strengths and weaknesses you may not agree entirely with me on my assessment.
The episodes I have so far are: Michael Breed, Brandel and Frank, Martin Hall, Greg Normal, Mediate and Ballard, Annika Sorenstam, and Sean Foley.
Strong Episodes
For me, the two most impactful episodes have been Brandel and Frank and Sean Foley.
Review: Vharness
Aug 27th
The Vharness is a swing trainer with the goal of teaching anyone to swing like a pro. The Vharness is endorsed by Rocco Mediate, who I think is a brilliant spokesperson for this product because of how well heconnects with average golfers. He looks like a guy in your foursome. But of course he has tremendous game. His performance at Torrey Pines in the US Open made him a household name. He plays what seems to be off the shelf game improvement clubs. He doesn’t have the fluid easy motion of a Fred Couples, or the power of JB Holmes or Bubba Watson. These reasons though make him ideal as a representative of this product because he, of all tour players, looks the most like an average Joe, and almost everybody can relate to him.
So does the Vharness achieve it’s lofty goal of teaching anyone to swing like a pro? No, but it is an excellent swing trainer, and if used effectively especially with some guidance from an instructor it can really help the average golfer to feel their swing better. Frankly I don’t think there is a single device that can teach anyone to swing like a pro. Swinging like a pro requires coordination, talent, strength and flexibility. Provided you have those things, with a good instructor and dedication you can learn to swing like a pro. What I did find is that the Vharness can enable you to not only create a better swing, but really feel what it feels to swing better.
I have a number of swing trainers in my collection, and they all fulfill different purposes. I’ve been using the Vharness for about a month. I wanted to give it a full test before I wrote about it. The Vharness is definitely different from my other swing trainers. It gives me feedback that I never got from anywhere else and really helped me to understand and feel my swing better. It almost acts as a sensation amplifier and you really feel what the club head, path and hands are doing.
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.
Control distance with trajectory
Mar 30th
There are many excellent reasons to learn to control your distance with trajectory. Here are some of my favorites:
- Not every shot is a full shot. The more you can learn to master partial shots, the more control you’ll have approaching greens.
- Dealing with the wind. Lower trajectory shots fly better in the wind and are less likely to be taken off line. Have a short shot and it’s a windy day? Take more club and use a partial shot to take the wind out of play.
- Helps your short game. Partial shots are all about feel, control and imagination, learn to do this and it will make your wedge game and short irons so much more effectively. It will also open up more of the green enabling you to play safer shots to tucked pins and still get the ball close.
- Learn solid contact. Partial shots require you to stay within yourself. The more you practice these the more you’ll learn to feel how a solid shot feels. Trust me, it transfers to your long game and full shots and makes you a better ball striker with every club.
30 Day Challenge – Day 6: Can I hit more greens in regulation?
Feb 17th
The past few days I have talked quite a bit about things I have been doing with the driver. Things that astounded me. Today I really wanted to focus on how I can hit more greens in regulation, which means improving my iron play and approach shots.
One of the most frustrating things in golf for me is to hit a great drive and follow it up with a lousy iron approach. It really bugs me to have placed the ball in perfect position and not get home. I don’t know if it’s happened to you but I always feel like I wasted a good opportunity when that happens.
I can only imagine how many more greens I would have hit if I could have just improved on that shot and how much more it would have changed my scores and my handicap.
So how can I hit more greens in regulation?
30 Day No Swing Video Challenge
Feb 12th
Today was a very interesting day. I spent the afternoon with the Head Professional for Sterling Farms Golf Course, Rob LaRosa. I went there because I had just won a Project X driver shaft and I wanted to be fit so that I would know which shaft to get from them. The afternoon though evolved into much more than that.
The conversation turned to different teaching philosophies and the impact of technology on the way that golf is taught. Rob knows that I am a big fan of video analysis. I record and anlyze almost every day. And I have learned a lot of from it. Through the analysis I have learned a lot about the golf swing.
However, I think it has robbed me of feeling the swing. When you look at the PGA tour there are a number of players who achieved their early success and rise to the top as feel players, and who later lost that as they worked with much more technical and position oriented teachers.
We talked about the way the game has been taught recently, with the proliferation of video analysis and the impact that has had on the game. I think there are other players like me, who may have become too reliant on video analysis and reaching certain positions rather than playing the game by feel and understanding at the kinesthetic(mind body feeling) level what their body is doing.
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.
