2014 January

Why not consider taking a more controlled swing with a longer club to hit more greens in regulation?  Golf Digest wrote a great article about how Justin Rose is getting the most out of his 3-Wood.  I just wanted to share the key points.  You may find (like most golfers) that you often need to use fairway woods and hybrids to reach greens and lower your score.

Swinging every club at 80% and in full control with a smooth transition and balanced finish are the key factors to lowering you score.  Too much emphasis is placed on club head speed and distance.  Save that for your driver.   Trying to get the most distance out of every club is for the professional.  Calm down and enjoy the game.

Justin Rose said that his 3 wood is the most important club in his bag.  It sets the tone for his day.  You hit driver on the upswing and catch irons and wedges with a downward blow.   “A 3-wood demands a neutral strike: You can’t be steep or shallow.”

Setup: He takes a very balanced position.  Then he squeezes his shoulder blades together and lets them relax so that they feel very wide.   (Try this as a wake-up call to your brain for your next great swing.)

This is the key move for Justin Rose in his downswing.  FREEZE this key image in your brain.

Key Move: Let the Arms Drop   “When I start the downswing, I let my arms drop halfway down as my shoulders stay closed to the target. I often rehearse this move as part of my pre-shot routine. It counteracts a tendency I’ve had of unwinding my shoulders too early (does this sound familiar?), which forces me to slow down so the club can catch up at impact. The harder I try to rip a shot, the more this problem shows up.

By dropping my arms to start down, my wrists naturally hold their angle with the shaft (in a 90 degree lag position), and it’s easier to approach the ball from the inside. As you can see here, my back is still facing the target. From this point, my hips will whip through in unison with my arms. It’s an incredibly powerful and stable feeling.”

Casting the club from the top is a major downfall for weekend warriors.  Dropping your straight leading arm, holding the lag in your wrist (at 90 degrees) and shifting your weight forward (almost lunging) are so critical to create distance (without trying to kill the ball).

Want to Swing Like Justin Rose?  Use your GOLFSTR+  to train for straight leading arm in the backswing and downswing.  Use it to create lag in your wrist at the top of your backswing and then to hold your wrists in that position as you drop your arms.  GOLFSTR+  can help you with Every Swing in Your Game.  Practice with it and learn to enjoy your game as your scores drop.

We just had a very successful PGA Merchandise Trade Show in Orlando, FL.  Many more golf stores are placing orders and stocking this amazing golf Training Aid.  Ask for GOLFSTR+  at your local golf retailer.  (pronounced Golf-Stir and stands for GOLF STRaight).   Or buy it on-line at www.golfstr.com

Why is it that your practice swing for a chip shot is so easy to make, but you still end up shanking the ball or stubbing the grass behind the ball?  Unfortunately we are not machines.  Repeating the practice stroke should be so simple but our brain is getting in the way.

Chipping is composed of 3 issues: club selection, amount of backswing and cadence (or tempo).  Of course you also need to practice the proper limited wrist lag in the backswing and a flat leading wrist in the follow-through for the perfect direction control.   Practicing with GOLFSTR+ will help you learn these motions.

Club Selection
Choose a club that will get your ball on the green where you don’t have to worry about a bad bounce on the fringe or run up to the green.  You can only determine the distance of the roll based on practice and experience so take some time to get a feel for the percent of your shot that will travel through the air as compared to the distance traveled during the bounce and roll on the green for each club.  [Green elevation and undulation also affect the roll-out.]  Remember that the higher the loft in your club, the shorter the roll out.

Amount of Backswing
The swing always needs to be accelerating (not decelerating) through the point of impact.  Again you need to get a feel for the distance that each club will carry the ball in the air.  Check out the flight distance for each height of backswing FOR EACH CLUB.  Keep the same cadence and acceleration for the practice swing and when hitting the ball.  [SUGGESTION: Focus on 3 clubs (like 7, 9 and pitching wedge) to really feel comfortable with these clubs.]

Consistent Cadence
This is the critical factor causing your mishits.  If you brain is not comfortable with the club that you chose or the backswing needed for the distance that you plan to hit, you will end up shortening the backswing and rushing or decelerating the swing.   RESULT: Fat hits, blading the ball or the dreaded hosel hit.

Without confidence in the club that you chose or the height of the backswing, your brain will try to make corrections for everything that can go wrong.  BINGO!  Your brain gets in the way of your perfect hit.

SOLUTION: Gain confidence with each club so that you can make your chip swing exactly the same as your practice swing.  Revolution Golf suggested using a count of “1” in the backswing and “2” as you swing through the ball.  Make the perfect practice swing and then say  >1>2  to override any panic thoughts during your chip.

Practice chipping with GOLFSTR+  to generate a limited lag with your trailing wrist in the backswing and to prevent leading wrist cupping in the follow-through.   Check out the new video on the GOLFSTR home page to see all 6 uses for GOLFSTR+.

Golfers are always looking for the magic triggers to make the perfect swing.  You want the money shot EVERY TIME.  A few of the blogs that I received this week boil it down to 3 components: setup square, hip shift to start the downswing and finish the swing in balance.

Last week our SWING TIP focused on learning to Swing Like a Pro.  You need to learn the right motion and then practice to perfection with a training aid.  GOLFSTR+  is a great choice to develop your muscle memory for Every Swing in Your Game.

Your setup, timing and balance are all so important to deliver the right motion for the perfect swing.  A lapse in focus or burst of adrenalin will destroy everything.  Your job is to focus on the 3 components:

SETUP SQUARE: For right handed golfers the right hand grips the club lower on the club than the left hand.   This distortion causes your shoulders to open slightly toward the target.  It’s your job to allow your trailing shoulder to drop slightly to compensate for the lower grip and to keep the alignment of your shoulders in the direction of the target.  Shoulders, hips and feet all should line up in parallel lines [unless you are setting up for a draw or fad].

HIP SHIFT: To initiate the downswing you need to start shifting you weight to the leading foot.  Trahan calls it the “bump”; Hogan calls it the “lateral movement”; Dow Finsterwald (1958 USPGA Championship winner) said “you have to move your hips to the left”; Robert Cotter of Instant Golf calls it the KEY and  Andy Anderson of Swing Secrets refers to the “shift” (but never start by turning your hips or you will come over the top and end up slicing or pulling the shot).

Hold your finish in balance and enjoy the view as your ball lands on your target.  The pause that refreshes!

FINISH IN BALANCE:  If you correctly shift your weight to your leading foot during the swing and finish without a left arm “flying” chicken wing, you should be standing in a photo finish position and enjoying the flight of your ball.  Get the right tempo so that you can hold your finish position in balance until the ball lands.

The swing is so easy when you focus on the basics.  You need the mechanics of straight arm in the backswing & through impact, flat wrist in putting, chipping and backswing as well as a controlled lag for chipping, fairway shots and drives.  Training with GOLFSTR+ will help with muscle memory for all of these swings.  Now it’s up to you to execute the timing and proper weight shift.

Ask for GOLFSTR+  (pronounced GOLF-Stir) at golf retailers or buy it on our website: www.golfstr.com.   Now available without shipping and handling charges.

Enjoy

You may not realize this but if you don’t swing like a pro, you will never lower your score.

Recently I have been golfing with many different golfers.  I love to watch how they attack each swing.  Some are crazier than others and I know that I am not close to perfect so I just love to observe and try to keep my mouth shut.

We have all seen Tiger, Phil and Rory with their wonderful swings and we can see that they are all different.   They have conventional golf swings which produce consistent hits.   This video shows Rory McIlroy’s Swing in amazing slow motion .

Jim Furyk is a good example of a pro with a wild backswing.  Nick Price has one of the fastest backswings on the planet.  John Daly has a double jointed backswing.  Steve Stricker has a limited back swing.  I’m listing these examples to highlight that the golf swing can be completed in different ways but it is the downswing and follow through that creates success on the golf course.

If your swing mechanics are wrong, you will never develop a consistent game.  The game of golf is a game of consistency and perfection.  Mishitting one shot on each hole will continue to generate double and triple bogies.

If you don’t have a “square stance”; have the right grip (strong or weak?); understand how to open your club face (just to mention a few) then you should read books on golf swing technique, watch a slow motion video of your swing and take golf lessons from a pro.  Professional Golf Instructors can instantly see your swing faults.

GOLFSTR+ is designed to help you with “muscle memory”.  This will only be useful if you are trying to swing like a pro.  Repeating the correct swing using a training aid that reinforces the correct motion will turn into success on the golf course.  CLICK HERE:  Try it, you’ll like it!