2015 May

John Daly was featured on the Golf Channel a few weeks ago. Of course they showed his huge backswing but John also shared the most important tip that he has always used for chipping tempo. He demonstrated how he hits balls with his leading arm only, every time he practices.

Most right handed golfers have less control with their left hand and arm so this tip is not something that will be easy in your first attempts. Even John pointed out that it is difficult to connect perfectly with the ball with every practice swing. His goal is to hit shots up to 30 yards. His focus is on rotating his body as he swings through the ball. If you don’t rotate your body to finish your swing, you will not be successful with the single arm swing.

Chipping seems to be the easiest shot in golf but when the pressure is on and we want that perfect chip, our bodies seem to freeze up. We seem to go into an arms only swing mode. Our practice swing may be perfect but when we step forward to hit the ball our mind and body go into freeze mode. How often are your chips fat or thin? What causes this?

John explained that we are forgetting to:

•shift our weight

•get our body to rotate through the ball and

•finish facing our target.

John’s practice technique uses only his leading arm to develop these habits:
1/ Take your club back far enough to let the weight of the club do the work.
2/ Use your swing tempo to manage the acceleration of the club (don’t rush it in the transition)
3/ Coil and then release your hips, shoulders and arms as you shift through the ball
4/ Ensure that your leading elbow is straight throughout the swing (back and forward)
Finish facing the target

[Point of Interest: Jason Palmer is a 30-year-old professional golfer who just earned his 2015 European Tour Card by overcoming his chipping yips by hitting with his only his right hand for all chips and sand shots of up to 50 yards. This is the opposite hand from Daly’s practice plan but the single hand hit must be doing something to fool the brain. Possibly some of us have a disconnect between the right and left side of our brains because the right half of our brain controls the left side of our body and the left half of our brain controls the right side of our body. COULD THERE BE MORE TO THIS STORY?]

Practice hitting many balls with your leading arm only as it may take 20 or 50 hits before you find some consistency. John also uses his one hand swing practice for fairway irons and sand traps. Adding your trailing arm will give you more club stability and consistency but you need to keep the same tempo and finish to achieve success.

GOLFSTR+ is the ideal chipping aid. It controls your straight leading wrist and limited lag in your trailing wrist when you are chipping. You should use it to practice chips with John Daly’s practice plan. Buy it today on www.golfstr.com

These Weekly Golf Swing Tips are often summaries of comments by Professional Golf Instructors. This week I am pleased to share comments directly from a GOLFSTR+ user. Scott Mohn (Traphill, North Carolina) expressed his successes in a way that brings back my memories of the FEELING for my perfect hits.

Golfers talk about being in the “zone” where the swing and power seems to be so effortless as the ball travels to its target. I am finding this zone more consistently when I focus on shoulder turn in the backswing and not rushing the transition as I press forward in my downswing. It’s a rhythm that gives me a strange feeling of control for the perfect swing and balanced finish. I hope that Scott’s comments will have the same impact on you too.
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[Scott is a senior and plays 100 rounds of golf a year so he has a real passion for this game.]

“I still clearly remember hitting my first very long drive when I was a kid. There was a very distinctive feeling associated with that drive. But I was never really able to find what led to that feeling despite trying many things. I actually accidentally duplicated the feeling on perhaps a half dozen occasions over my fifty years of golf. But I could never get it when I was trying to accomplish it.

GOLFSTR+ gives you the “FEELING” so practice with it and enjoy the feel of 6 control points in your swing with every club in your bag.

After using your training aid I now tend to believe that special feeling was a result of a long, smooth backswing where the arm and shoulder motions were coordinated and the lead arm was extended straight for a much longer time than is normal for me. This was probably the result of the big shoulder turn which allowed the lead arm to stay straight, extended away from my body, on a much longer than usual backswing.

I often try to describe that feeling to friends. I talk about the long extended backswing and then – nothing! I have no recollection of the downswing. It came without any conscious effort. The drive was at least 40 yards longer than any I had hit or would ever hit again on that hole. Using your aid today brought me closer to that feeling than I have ever come before as a result of conscious effort. And I hit a number of long straight drives and was much more consistent than I normally am when practicing with the driver.

Please feel free to add my comments to your testimonial page. I have signed up for your weekly tips.
I also watched the linked videos of the music video producer and found them very helpful. I would have saved five minutes putting the aid together if I had watched the video first. [Following is the video that Scott mentioned showing the assembly and 6 swing fixes ] 

So, Will, I think you have something! Thanks for you imaginative invention. Good luck with it!
Regards, Scott”

I want to thank Scott for allowing me to include his comments in our weekly blog. I hope that his comments will inspire you and others to buy a GOLFSTR+ and practice with it often.

Please pass this on to your friends so that they can experience the perfect swing feeling too. Buy your GOLFSTR+ today on our website: www.golfstr.com

If this is true, why do we bother to follow-through to finish our swing?  When the ball leaves the club face, will the follow through swing path have a magical force to guide the ball?

At the TPC Sawgrass we saw Kevin Na drop his club and flip out in disgust within a second of completing his swing on a number of occasions. In one case he hit a fat tee shot on the 17th hole (The Island Green Hole), which landed about 12 feet from the hole. Even Kevin was embarrassed by his reaction when he saw his successful outcome.

As it turns out, your follow-through has everything to do with the result of your swing. Your mind needs to be focused on getting to a perfect, balanced finish and holding that position for at least 2 seconds (according the golfing greats like Ben Hogan).

Rory McIlroy swings up the target line and holds his finish pose for at least 2 seconds in perfect balance.  You should too.

What is really happening? If you program your mind to finish your swing with your belt buckle facing your target, you won’t lose control of your swing. Your focus should NOT be on a violent swing down to the ball but on swinging through impact with a “peaceful” balanced finish.

NOTE: Swinging a golf club with your arms and forgetting about shoulder rotation in the backswing and weight shift in your follow through may be killing your game.

Working on a balanced finish will give you 2 key motions in your swing:
1/ A swing path that will move your club up the target line whether you are trying to hit a straight shot or a draw or a fade. We have all seen Bubba Watson lose his footing and balance after he makes a wild recovery slice or hook.  That just proves that conventional shots really need to be finished in balance. Bubba really is in balance after he completes most of his shots.
2/ Weight shift that will allow your iron to connect with the ball first before you connect with the grass or take your divot.

Swing path and weight shift must be correct to allow you to keep your balance after impact. If your swing path is out of line you will fall left or right of your target line. If you don’t transfer your weight forward, you will lose your balance backwards (causing mishits and topping the ball).

Focus on finishing your swing and you will not be dropping your club in disgust. Don’t forget to practice with GOLFSTR+ For Every Swing in YOUR Game. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Why not make this the season the one where you drop your handicap by 5 strokes? It’s easy! Just figure out your “SCORE KILLER” and get rid of it. Sure wish it was that easy but it can be if you know what shot is killing your score and then work on a solution.

You don’t really need motivation to lower your score. We all want to enjoy this game and get lower scores or we would not be playing this wonderful game. The challenge is to improve your game to take a few bucks off your buddies for bragging rights or to win your next match.

Where to Start: Play a few rounds of golf and keep track of each of the following to determine your SCORE KILLER (HINT: Determine what caused your highest over par holes.)

TPC Sawgrass was an amazing event where there was no room for a SCORE KILLER, especially on the 17th.

-Driving Accuracy: Count your fairways hit. [A ball hit OB or behind a tree or in the long rough will cost you more than 1 stroke because you are losing distant and waste a shot to get back in play.]
-Approach shots or Greens in Regulation (GIR): Missing the green on your approach shot is the worst SCORE KILLER. A miss in the deep rough or a sand trap will just compound the problem. [If you have a long approach shot (with the odds of hitting the green at 1 in 10), wouldn’t it be better to miss short of the green and then make an easy pitch or chip to within 6 feet of the hole?  Give yourself a chance and avoid the blow-up scores.]
– Short Game: What’s your up and down percentage? Chipping it close for a single putt can save your game.
– Count your putts per round. This is a separate game that you should be playing with yourself in every game. Avoiding 3 putts can avoid those blow-up holes.
– Head Game #1: You may just have a “head game” like mine. After a run of pars and birdies, I feel invincible. Increasing your swing speed on your next swing is not a good idea when you are on a winning streak.
– Head Game #2: The opposite is also a problem. I saw Jerry Kelly in the Players Championship hit a shot in the water. The coverage showed him cursing and complaining to his caddy all the way down to his next shot which he hit short of the green. He then commented again about his water miss and promptly hit a thin shot over the green. His body language and his constant muttering told the whole story. He just let a bad shot create 2 more bad shots and a double bogie. Are you doing the same thing?

Keeping track of the weakest part of your game will force your score to drop. You may need to take a lesson from a PGA Professional to sort out a correction for your SCORE KILLER. The fact that you are paying attention to your SCORE KILLER will definitely improve your outcome.

Practice with GOLFSTR+ to straighten out your bad habits. Buy one today on www.golfstr.com

Yes, the K. I. S. S. Principal applies to your golf swing too.  Adding extra motion and angles in your swing make it impossible to consistently hit the ball.  Too many golfers end up with a combination of a baseball and golf swing.  Of course you want to avoid mishits: topped balls, fat hits, slices, hooks and shanks.  Practicing with a training aid like GOLFSTR+ will help you eliminate extra bends in your wrists and elbows. That’s a good starting point if you ever want to hit consistent golf shots.

I received another blog from Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf that reminded me why the right swing is so simple. Here are their key points:

Hank Haney endorses the single swing plane for more consistent hits. Your score will only drop.

1/ Avoid Swaying Back in Your Backswing – There is a weight shift in your backswing but your goal is to limit any sway in your backswing. Focus on body rotation.

2/ Keep your trailing elbow close to your side in Your Backswing – It will force your shoulders to rotate and give you more distance without trying to kill the ball.

3/ Avoid Head Bobbing – You may have seen the pros, especially Tiger Woods, dropping his head significantly during his down swing. This head bobbing should tell you that you are using a lot of unwanted motion. Tiger is trying to eliminate this and you should too.

4/ Keep Your Trailing Knee Flexed – Your trailing knee must remain bent during your setup, backswing and  downswing to impact.

Starting with the right setup for each club and adjusting for the level of the ground is critical to help you avoid unwanted motion in your swing.
Ball Position: Move your ball forward from the center of your stance as you change from high irons to your driver.
Grip: The V formed between your thumb and first finger on both hands should be pointing in a parallel direction toward your trailing shoulder.
Set Your Hands Ahead of the Ball (especially for Irons): Start with your hands ahead of your ball when you address the ball. Doing this helps you get back to the same position at impact. It helps you bottom-out your swing beyond the ball as you shift and rotate to finish your swing.

Practice Makes Perfect!   Buy your GOLFSTR+  on our site today at www.golfstr.com