2017 September

If you are suffering from inconsistent hits you may find that your practice swing is perfect but your actual swing at the ball is changing. Moving forward to that little white ball may be changing your physical and mental outlook. I’ve seen many golfers (including myself) change their setup and swing as they move up to the ball. It seems that our minds has a mental “rush” to hit that ball harder and further.

A consistent swing starts with a great setup and a PERFECT PRACTICE SWING. Unfortunately I can see a change come over my playing partners. It’s like the Grim Reaper takes over their bodies as they tense up. The longer they stand over the ball, thinking about their 20 swing thoughts, the tighter they get.

Here are 2 changes that you should be doing to make sure that your PRACTICE SWING is identical to your ACTUAL SWING.

Justin Thomas won the Fedex Cup and $10 Million because he did not tense up or lose his focus. So Keep Your Swing Consistent and Stay Loose.

A. Make Sure that Your Physical Setup is Consistent
I just discovered that I have been changing the drop of my arms every time I move forward from my practice swing to my actual swing. Reaching out with my arms is a bad idea. Almost every golf instructor (except Moe Norman) tells us to drop our arms straight down from our shoulders to grip the club in your setup position.

Unfortunately, pros that I have been watching during tournament telecasts appear to be stretching their arms forward toward the ball. This may be a distortion from the TV camera but it was sinking into my mind as a good position for me. During my swing my arms were returning to the correct dropped position directly below my shoulders and this was often causing fades or mishits off the toe of my club. This is just an example how one small change can cause problems.

B. Don’t let your Mind Tense up Your Body
The longer you stand motionless over the ball, the greater the chance that you will freeze up and loose the natural rhythm of your practice swing.

Your swing really is like a simple dance step. You should be using a waggle to avoid freezing your hips or shoulders. I love to use the Rickie Fowler, Mike Weir or Justin Thomas waggle. Its just a rehearsal to start rotating my shoulders (with a straight leading arm) as I point my club head at my imaginary target line extending back from my ball. A training Video by Alex Elliott Golf  not only uses this motion but he also points the butt of his club at that line throughout his backswing to stay on one plane.

What a great idea to minimize angles in your swing. Ben Hogan and Mike Bender both use the concept of pointing your club head and then the butt of your club along the plane of your target line to eliminate angles.

Consistent hits builds a confident golf swing. Duplicate your practice swing and minimize your angles with a relaxed swing for more consistent golf. Learn your consistent rhythm by practicing with GOLFSTR. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf  has provided a lot of the inspiration for many of our blogs. We hope that this condensed version of their Top 10 Tips will help you too.

1/ Take Your Time: The best golf swings are those where the speed develops gradually as the club accelerates from the transition down to the point of impact.

2/ Pick out a Specific Target: Whether you are driving or putting, focus on a specific target to let your eye trick your body into automatic pilot to hit that point.

3/ Relax Your Grip: Your grip should be relaxed (just enough to avoid throwing your club) to avoid tensing your muscles to promote club head speed for more distance.

4/ Quite Hands in the Takeaway: Your takeaway should be controlled by your shoulders without caulking your writs.

5/ Play to Your Strength: As you chose your club for each shot, build confidence in the outcome by deciding what works best for you.

6/ See the Club Hit Your Ball: Watch your club as it impacts the ball to generate the power and direction that you need to reach your target point.

7/ Stay Perfectly Still While You are Putting: Your knee caps never sway as your shoulders rock back and forth to swing your putter in a constant tempo.

8/ Don’t Slide: Your shoulders and hips need to rotate around the axis of your spine as you keep your pressure on the inside of your trailing foot through impact.

Finish your swing & admire your shot. This is why we play this wonderful game!

9/ Finish the Swing: Complete your swing by accelerating through impact to a balance finish for control of consistent hits.

10: Have Fun: Golf is fun if you enjoy your successes and understand your mistakes to make improvement every time you play. Find the joy in every part of your game.

If you see these tips as a check list to improve your game, you are on the right track. [Suggest you print this list to read as calming reminders before you play!]   You have the right mental attitude for GOLF. You are trying to make improvements every time your play this wonderful challenging game. That’s why we play this game so don’t lose sight of it when your game starts to go sideways.

Life is a challenge.  The game of golf is a mental exercise to build confidence for your future personal success. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve your success and make your game more fun. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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Think of your arms as having 2 different functions during your golf swing.  Your straight leading arm provides the power and your trailing arm provides the direction control.  If you don’t understand what is happening during your swing, you will never take control of your game.

Your leading arm should be straight throughout the backswing and downswing.  As long as you are only rotating your hips and shoulders (around your spine axis) with a minor hip press up your target line, you will consistently connect with the ball.

Your mind only has time to think about 2 thoughts:

1. The direction of your straight arm takeaway as your trailing arm pulls to create lag (90 degree bent leading wrist) at the top of your swing.
2. Your down swing initiates as the instep of your trailing foot presses your hip forward and your arms release from the inside to up your target line.

Here are a number of  great slow motion examples of the golf swing. 

Each pro does it a little differently but the basics are always the same.

If you let your trailing arm create the PROPER plane for your swing, you can avoid those nasty hooks and slices:

1/ Your trailing hand grip on the club should be lighter than your leading hand or it will dominate the rotational release of your club at impact.  Your leading wrist needs to be relaxed to whip through the release for more power and distance.

2/ Your trailing hand grips the handle below your leading hand so that you automatically tilt your shoulders. You want this natural shoulder tilt to launch and power your drives up.

3/ Your takeaway should be initiated with your shoulders (no wrist action) straight back on a high plane.

4/ Lag is caused by the bend of your trailing elbow as you pull your leading wrist up to the top of your backswing.

5/ As your powerful leading arm starts your downswing, your trailing arm and shoulder should pull your club in a slight loop to swing from the inside to outside across your ball.  Think of your trailing elbow almost grazing your ribs as you swing from the slot: inside to outside.

These are exaggerated comments to help you visualize how your trailing arm controls the swing plan and direction of your hit.  Your hips lead the downswing but your swing will happen naturally if you let your trailing arm control your inside to outside path.

Master this motion to avoid slicing your ball and get a lot more power up your target line.  Practice with GOLFSTR+ for every swing in your game.  Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

We swing a golf club in a circular path to hit a golf ball straight. This should be an easy task considering that the ball is not moving (as it is in baseball). We are only faced with 2 issues: Club Face Direction and the Swing Path Direction. Unfortunately in golf the impact has to be perfect every time. If you don’t learn what causes the shape of your shots, you will never lower your scores.

Golf-Info-Guide.com by Thomas Golf recently provided a nice summary to understand the cause of ball flight and a great solution to shape our shots. It’s easier to plan for a draw or a fade than it is to hit a ball perfectly straight. And of course the dreaded straight ball happens when you least expect it.

First you need to understand what causes the Duck Hook and the Push Fade. [All comments are described for right handed golf clubs.] Then you can master your swing.

Duck Hook:
Club Face direction is the cause for 85% of the ball direction at the start of the ball flight. If you are swinging with a violent in-to-out swing path (across the face of the ball at impact) and your club face is pointing to the left (at impact), your ball will start left of your target line and will curve further left. A closed stance, tight grip on your club and a powerful rotation of your trailing hand at impact are all contributing factors.   SOLUTION A square stance; a light, neutral grip and a relaxed swing are all required to avoid the Duck Hook.

Push Fade:
This problem is caused when your club face is open at impact and your swing path is crossing the ball on a right to left (out-to-in) direction. To avoid this swing:
-Don’t try to steer the face of your club up the target line. Your hand rotation needs to rotate the club face through the point of impact.
-Avoid the slice swing path. If your take-away is too far to the inside you will tend to loop your club up on a higher swing path for the downswing. At the transition you are most likely casting your club out, chopping down and hitting the ball on an outside-to-in swing path.

Jack Nicklaus completed his high plane backswing (shown in red) with a flying elbow. Then he used his trailing arm to pull down and  swing from the inside (yellow arc).

SOLUTION –The right swing path is to take your club back on a higher plane only using shoulder rotation (without bending your wrists). Then loop your club back at the top of your swing as you bump your hip forward; release from the inside “slot” and up your target line. Your club will be traveling on an inside-to-outside swing path at the point of impact. [Think of grazing your side with my trailing elbow as you swing from the inside.]

Practice Solution to Understand the Wrong and Right Swing Path
1/ Hit 5 Block (Push) Shots: Intentionally swing from the inside and PUSH each ball to the right by swinging from the inside-to-out with an open face on your club.
2/ Hit 5 Hook Shots: Swing with a in to out swing path and turn your right hand over your left hand to close the face of your club.
3/ Hit 5 Shaped Shots: Swing to create a 5 yard, left to right draw. Swing from the inside-to-out AVOIDING an aggressive finish as you roll your hands and finish in a balanced position.

Test your swing to create a draw or a fade at the driving range. As you learn to control the draw or fade you will learn to avoid the Duck Hook and Push Slice. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for more power with your straight leading arm. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com