practice

The Most Important Golf Shot

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The reason why you should spend more time practicing your short game than your swing is not because the short game is more important. It’s because the short game is more complicated. You have short chips, long chips, pitches, and they’re all different kinds of shots. On the other hand, you have one swing. So spend an equal amount of time on each kind of shot, and you’ll have it right. (Then there’s putting.)

What I’m saying is that you should practice shots, not phases. Then I got to thinking, how would you allocate your time between these shots? You would certainly want to spend more time on the ones that are most important. But which ones are the most important?

I listed six shot types (swing, long pitch, short pitch, chip, sand, putt) and compared each one head to head. That’s fifteen comparisons. In the spreadsheet below, I wrote in the cell the most important shot, in my opinion, between the one in the column head and row head (click to enlarge).

Shotcomparison

You can see that “swing” came out on top all five times. You have to jump around a bit, but chip came out on top three times. Because “sand” is 0 does not mean it has no importance, but that it is the least important shot of the six.

This list tells me how I should prioritize my practice: swing first, putting second, and so on. It does not tell me how much time I should spend on each shot type. I would suggest working on all of them at least a bit, and spend extra time on the one(s) you are having trouble with at the moment.

This is my take based on how I play right now. Ten years ago, when my swing was less accurate, I was hitting more short pitches into greens than chips, so those shots would have been in different order. As far as sand goes, I’m hardly ever in a bunker.

You might want to make up your own shots type and run your own comparisons. It would show you how to spend your practice time wisely.

rhythm and tempo

Build Natural Rhythm Into your Golf Swing

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It is a fact that when the rhythm of your swing is right, it is a lot easier to hit the ball consistently well. You can count it out, and I have written often on that method. There is another method, which is perhaps easier in that it follows an energy that is universally available and is always the same — gravity.

My previous post alluded to this in helping you make your swing feel like it is one continuous motion, not two motions connected somehow. In this post, I want to go into more detail on the gravity-assisted swing to show you how it creates proper rhythm. We’ll do that by refining the transition.

The backswing should be thought of as making the clubhead float upwards, not of lifting it upwards. This style of taking the club back ensures that the golfer stays relaxed. Tension is the enemy of sound movement.

When the backswing has reached the limit that the golfer has selected for it, the backswing movement comes to a gentle, but definite halt. Though your body has stopped moving, your mind might feel like there is still movement in that direction.

The club will still feel like it is floating, and for split-second, it is. At the apex of its flight, when it is moving neither up nor down, it feels weightless in your hands. The handle places no pressure on the palms of your hands at any spot. Now comes the key to achieving natural rhythm.

As the club comes down, the hands must come down with it in such a way that the neutral feeling inside them remains unchanged. If you move down too early, it will feel like you are pushing down on the handle. If your hands are late, you will feel the handle shifting inside your hands a pressing upwards on your left palm.

Your hands must move so they follow the weight of the club. By doing this, the club begins dropping at a constant speed, the acceleration due to gravity. If your hands get the right feeling every time, your rhythm will be the same every time.

Gravity alone is not enough to build up the amount of clubhead speed you need to hit the ball a reasonable distance. You add to that speed with your body turn. At no time, though, can you turn your body so fast that your are leaving the club behind.

There is a third factor in acceleration, leading with your left side. Your left hand should get back to the ball before the clubhead does. Actually, this does not accelerate the swing. It prevents the swing from being decelerated as would be the case if the right side were to push the club through the ball. That actually slows down the swing.

So this is what you practice — letting the club float downwards from the transition so the  neutral feeling in your hands does not change, adding on your body turn without it getting out of harmony with the feeling the hands, and leading the club through the ball with the left side. The half wedge swing from the previous post is the drill to use to learn all of this.

If you master this kind of downswing, the improvement in your ball-striking will be amazing.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.

golf swing

The Golf Swing Is a Continuous Motion

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In my previous post, I said that the golf swing is best described as a continuous straight line motion, and I described the straight line concept. This post explains what I mean by continuous.

If you could start out swinging the club toward the target, loop it around in a full circle, then hit the ball, the swing would be literally continuous. But it’s not. You swing the club back in one direction, stop, and swing the club through the ball in the opposite direction.

Since you’re changing directions, you have to stop moving in one direction before you start moving in another. In that literal sense, in the physical world, the swing is not continuous. It starts, stops, and starts again.

Your mind, however, is not limited by physical reality. If you consider the swing to be a continuous motion, it is. If you interpret your movement back and movement through as an unbroken movement, it is. I say, you should interpret your swing that way.

The importance of doing that comes when you make the transition between the backswing and the downswing. That transition has to be as smooth and connected as possible. The start of the downswing has to be at the same speed and with the same feeling of movement as at the end of the backswing.

For example, this is exactly how you pound a nail into a board. You take the hammer away, let it ease to a stop, and start back toward the nail the same easy way.  You strike the nail in what feels like one stroke, not two.

Similarly, the golf swing accelerates steadily beginning with the takeaway. Smooth acceleration is not interrupted by the transition.

Practice this feeling by making a half wedge swing. Take the club back to where your left arm is parallel to the ground. At that point, let the club float in the air as it comes to a stop. The next instant, when gravity pulls the club down, just follow with your hands, so gravity pulling the club downward and your turn pulling it through accelerate it in tandem.

In the end, it should feel like this was one movement, not two. When your transition connects the backswing to the downswing, you will hit the ball much better.

In my next post, I will show you how to fine tune the transition to give yourself perfect rhythm and smooth acceleration into the ball.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.

health

A Solid Core for Golfers

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Golf is not a walk in the park, though it looks like one. The golf swing is an athletic movement, which requires physical strength to perform correctly, and to avoid injury.

The physical foundation of the swing is your core, or the trunk and the lower back. Do these exercises three times a week to develop it. No equipment is required.

Exercises 1-3 strengthen your abdomen. Exercises 4-5 strengthen your back. You must do both groups to be balanced.

1. Abdominal crunch – Lie down on your back, both knees bent. Elevate your upper back so your shoulder blades are off the ground. Hold for five seconds and lower your shoulders to the ground. Start with three times and work up to ten.

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2. Plank – Get into a push-up position, with your body supported by your toes, and your forearms instead of your hands. Make sure your body line is straight. Hold for 30 seconds and work up to two minutes.

plank_web

3. Side plank – Lie on your side. Raise your body off the ground and support it on your forearm and underside foot. Make sure your body line is straight. Hold for ten seconds. Do five times on each side. At first, you may wish only to raise your upper body off the ground.

side_plank_web

4. Butt squeeze – Lie down on your back, legs straight out. Clench your buttocks and hold for ten seconds. Try not to squeeze your thighs, too. Do five times.

5. Prone pointer – Get down on all fours. Raise your right leg and stick it straight out behind you. Raise your left arm and stick it straight out in front of you. Hold for ten seconds. Lower and switch to left leg, right arm. Do five times on each side, work up to twenty.

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See this post for flexibility exercises.

 

golf swing

My Swing Keys for 2014

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Lately I have been hitting the ball very straight. This is because I have been paying attention to a few simple swing keys. They might be worth anything only to me, but just in case they’re not, here they are:

1. 3:1 rhythm. Three counts to the end of the backswing, one count back to impact. Often, just doing this is enough to produce a good shot.

2. Start the club back straight away from the ball. My pet swing flaw is to take it back inside.

3. Take the club back to control. This means to take the club back only so far as I still feel a connection between the clubhead and the ball. The clubhead knows where the ball is and how to get back to it. If I make my backswing to long, I lose this connection.

4. The left hand leads the club into impact. You might think this would leave the clubface open. It does only if your body is too far ahead of your arms. 

When I get these four things right, I hit the ball right where I’m looking. 

Here’s to low scores in 2014.

[April 2018 note: These four points evolved into Six Fundamentals of the Recreational Golf Swing.]

people

Jack Fleck (1921-2014)

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The man who defeated Ben Hogan in the 1955 U.S. Open died today at the age of 92 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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Fleck was an outstanding ball striker, but an indifferent putter. He came to the Olympic Club confident and knowledgable, having played many rounds there. He was one stroke off the lead going into the Saturday 36-hole final.

With several holes to go for Fleck, Hogan was in the clubhouse with a two-stroke lead. On the 72nd hole, Fleck need a birdie 3 to tie Hogan. He got it, to get into a playoff the next day.

Fleck had a one-stroke lead on the final hole when Hogan slipped hitting his drive, and ended up with a double bogey 6, securing the victory for Fleck.

Fleck, who began and ended his career as a teaching pro, did not receive the adulation a National Open championship normally received, one, because he beat Hogan, and two, he was an unknown.

He got a set of Ben Hogan irons just before the Open, with the blessing of Hogan himself.

Fleck won only two more tournaments on the PGA Tour.

His autobiography, The Jack Fleck Story, describes the payoff shot by shot.

putting

Leave Approach Putts Next to the Hole

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The main reason you have three-putt greens is that you leave your first putt too far from the hole. That has to do with touch; some days you have it, and some days you haven’t a clue.

There is a way to always have it, though. When you move the putter back, your body changes shape. Some muscles contract, other muscles flex, and if you are aware enough, you can feel all this. The trick is to identify the physical sensations that are related to a certain size of backswing, which is the regulator of distance in putting.

I will describe my own sensations as an example. Yours might be different.

I keep my upper arms close to my body, but not touching it, at address. When I take the putter back and feel my right upper arm start to press against my right side, that is the length of backswing for a putt of about 15 feet.

When I take the club back farther than that, and feel a stretching on the right side of my torso, near the hip, that is a backswing for about a 30-foot putt. If I continue to take the putter back beyond that sensation, I will eventually feel the same kind of stretching in my torso on the left side. That is the backswing or a 40-foot putt.

There’s one I left out, because it’s subtle. When I take the putter back past the pressing of my upper right arm, but before I feel the stretch on my right side, there is a point of what feels like ease, like a natural place to stop swinging the club. That backswing hits the ball just over 20 feet.

With these longer putts so calibrated, I never have to guess how hard to hit a putt. I just read my own body.

I developed these indicators on the practice green at my driving range. Most golf courses I play on have greens faster than that one. All I need to do is re-calibrate each sensation on the practice green at the course, before I tee off, and I’m ready.

Relying on your mind to “feel” the length of the stroke leads to inconsistency from round to round. This method gives you something that is tangible and repeatable to gauge its length. The more of that you can put in your golf, the better.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.

 

 

practice

Practice Golf as You Play It

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When you go to the range, you need to work on two things–your technical skills, and your mental skills. The third phase of golf, playing skills, can’t be practiced. You learn that “on the job.”

You can, however, practice the first two at the same time if you do this one thing: never hit the same shot with the same club more than two times in a row.

After you hit your 7-iron twice (and you are hitting it to a target, aren’t you?), put that club down and take out another that is somewhat different, such as a long iron or a sand wedge. Hit two shots with that club and switch again.

If you’re practicing around the green, hit a chip twice, then pick a different target that makes you use a different club.

With the putter, again, don’t hit the same putt more than twice in a row. Hit a few three-footers, then go to a few 20-footers, for example.

Mixing  it up like this accomplishes two things. First, it keeps you from getting into a groove. After a while, you might be hitting one good shot after another, but that doesn’t help you learn that shot.

When you play, you have to set up your mind for making a shot because you only have that one chance to get it right. Banging out one ball after the other, even if they’re all good shots, skips that critical mental process.

Second, you can go the other direction. You have to set up your mind for each shot when you play, but you can’t overdo it. After three or four good shots at the range you might start thinking about it, and start tweaking what needs to be left alone.

Good performance in sports is based on trusting your training. Learning how to trust is just as important as perfecting your physical skills.

So you don’t have to hit only two 7-irons, or any other club,  and call it a day with that club. Just hit your two shots with it, and work with a few other clubs before you go back to it.

They say to practice as you play, and this is one way to do that.

Visit ww.therecreationalgolfer.com.

golf swing

Short Irons and Bad Backs

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I was playing golf today, and I noticed that while my drives are going about 220 yards, and my 4-iron went 170 yards, I had a full shot into the green from 118 yards and I hit a full 8-iron.  That’s not very far for that club, given what I’m doing with the other two.

It struck me, though, that the reason is that I have to take care of my back when I swing. When I hit the longer clubs, I can stand more upright, which puts less stress on my spine.

But with a short iron, I have to bend way over (I’m 6’6″ tall). That puts a lot of stress on my spine, so I’m unconsciously reluctant to swing too hard.

If you have a bad back, and I know there are a lot of you out there who do, too, take this into consideration.

The more you bend over, the more of a load you place on your lumbar spine. Therefore, the more easily you need to swing a golf club in that posture.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.

 

people

Dr. Frank Jobe (1925-2014)

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You know who this guy is. He is the one who invented Tommy John surgery to repair the elbow of baseball pitchers. John, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, had a useless left elbow until Jobe took an unneeded ligament from John’s right wrist and grafted it in place in John’s left elbow. After healing as complete, John went to win 146 more major league baseball games.

The real name of the procedure is “ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction while using the palmaris longus tendon.” Let’s just stick with Tommy John surgery.

But this is a golf blog, so where’s the connection? Jobe did pioneering work in the role of different body parts in the golf swing. You can look them up at PubMed, a clearing house for medical journals.

He also wrote a book of exercises for golfers, titled, 30 Exercises for Better Golf. Golf is an athletic event. You need to have the right muscles developed to play it well, and to play it injury-free. This book tells you how to do that.

Golf is hard on the back. It’s hard on the elbows and shoulders, too. As we age, we loose flexibility, especially in trunk rotation, which causes us to lose power, which causes us to try to make up for it harmful ways. Keep the golf muscles strong and flexible, and the effects of aging are diminished.

All these are good reasons to be prepare for golf by being in shape for it.

I have read all the golf exercise books I can find, but this one is by far the best. Get it, use it. And thank Dr. Jobe for helping us stay healthy.

 

Little Differences That Make a Big Difference in How Well You Play