2023 July

I found 3 surprising opportunities that fired up Brian Harman to win The Open. They are not what you are thinking. He has NOT been winning for many years, but his game has recently been improving in spit of his aging body at 36. He has finally rejuvenated his game after 20 years of trying to find the magic again.

The most important fact that we should pay attention to, is that he never stopped trying to find perfection in his game and we should all do the same. These 3 points were critical for his success.

1/ An Unpleasant Inspiration
On day 3 of The Open, he started his day leading the field. Unfortunately, he made 2 early bogies in his round. Most golfers may see this as the end of their good fortunes and continue to crash and burn. Fortunately, a hostile fan heckled Brian with the comment: “ Harman, you haven’t got the stones to win” . Those vicious words were enough for Brian to turn around his day. It put fire in his belly. It not only inspired him on Saturday but carried him to victory by 6 strokes.

2/ Sticking to His Strategy
Harman had decided that the pot belly bunkers were the evil plague that destroyed the rounds for so many of the pros. He decided to select clubs on every hole to hit short of the bunkers. Most of the greens were surrounded by those bunkers so he also used high shots onto every green to avoid them. Even more important was his skill to hit long iron shots safely to the greens.

3/ Always Searching for Success
In recent years Brian was making a good income from golf but he wanted to find perfection. Knowing that his putting was letting him down, he found an old Golf Training Aid in his collection of golfing paraphernalia. He called it a “silly mirror”. He was “cutting” his putts and used the mirror to help him put a “baby draw” on his putts. [These are very strange words to describe any putting motion when the object is to hit putts STRAIGHT.]

After the US Open, Brian started using his training aid as a reminder to improve his putts. His putting heated up even more at Hoylake, where Harman led the field in strokes gained putting (+11.57 for the week). He sank 58 of 59 putts from inside 10 feet.

GOLFSTR+ may be the Training Aid that will kick-start your game with 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Can you learn from Scottie Scheffler’s swing? He recently returned to World Number 1 with 6 wins since February 2022. He achieved this feat in spite of his wild footwork during his swing. Most swing lessons tells us to finish in balance. Scottie does this but his feet are flying throughout his swing. Should you attempt to duplicate his fancy footwork?

Scottie adds a lot of motion to his footwork during his downswing in orderto add more power. Others, like Rory McIlroy, achieve the same distance with a balanced finish using a more conventional golf swing.

I found this interesting review of Scottie’s swing in a recent blog:

[The defining trait of Scottie Scheffler’s golf swing is his footwork. During his downswing, his trail (right) foot slides towards his left. Greg Norman did something similar, and Scottie himself says it’s become a way that helps him feel athletic through the shot. His feet slide in the same direction as the club when it swings through, which helps transfer his weight and prevent a left miss.

It’s a move that may have been coached out of a player in a bygone era. But Scottie and his longtime coach, Golf Digest Top 50 coach Randy Smith, built around it. And therein lies the lesson, said fellow PGA Tour player Michael S. Kim on Twitter: “Find your best swing, don’t copy others.”

Kim’s point is a good one: That rather than caring how something should look, the ultimate goal is to meld a swing to your unique body. Everybody is slightly different, which means they’ll be more prone to swing the golf club in slightly different ways.]

In the long run Scottie may wear out body parts or he may lose his magic touch for direction control as his body tires out during each round of 18 holes (as noticed in a recent tournament).

Scottie’s spectacular record may inspire you to try his technique or your own unique swing features for distance and direction control. If that’s not working, you can always convert back to a traditional swing the way that Rickie Fowler got his game back on track.

Before you try to innovate a new swing, you should learn the basics by practicing with GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Over 10 years ago, I developed GOLFSTR+, a golf training aid to remind me to keep my leading arm straight during my backswing. I knew that I had a winner when I started playing a round of golf at Indian Wells Golf Resort in Palm Springs, CA while wearing my GOLFSTR+. After hitting a number of greens in regulation, I removed my training aid and soon lost my magic. Practicing and playing with GOLFSTR+ was a great start for my future golfing success.

I had learned that if I kept my leading arm straight, I could generate more distance, but my limited flexibility was limiting my backswing. In every round while playing without GOLFSTR+, I found that I would start bending my leading arm to increase my backswing to gain more distance. That bent leading arm would eventually destroy the consistency of my hits.

If you have been reading my recent blogs, you will be aware of my testing program to roll my leading arm elbow clockwise so that it faces up my target line during my setup.

BINGO: I now realize that this leading arm muscle roll is creating a strain in my arm that locks my leading arm straight DURING MY BACKSWING.

This is the miracle that I have been searching for to create consistency in every shot for distance and direction control. I just have to remember to set up with the elbow roll for every shot. I may add a 2 to 3 foot takeaway waggle for my driver but I definitely have to take my time to add a full backswing and a cocked wrist for lag at the top.

Many of the best pros and most of the female pros make a slow and controlled backswing as it has very little impact on the speed of their downswing.

Practice your lead elbow roll wearing your GOLFSTR+ for every shot and you will quickly see improvement in your drives and fairway shots. You will overcome the feeling of a strain in your leading arm as your swing becomes more consistent. Of course, you still need to transfer your weight as you execute your downswing and complete your follow-though. GOLFSTR+ reminds you to keep your leading arm straight. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

This is the fourth in a Series of simple adjustments that you should explore to improve your game. Your swing thoughts should be embedded in your brain so that you don’t need to hash them out every time you setup for your next shot. Rushing your backswing will destroy your performance.

Avoid an abbreviated Back-Swing: Use a 2 or 3 foot takeaway waggle to feel the right rotation of my shoulders and hips before you start your actual swing. It will give you a new feeling for the start of your swing because you are making this wake-up move with your shoulders and NOT just your arms.

Add enough time in your backswing: Your speed and cadence will depend on how easy it is to keep a straight leading arm, to rotate your shoulders and hips as you add wrist lag before your transition. You will be amazed as I am that when you take more time for your backswing you can create a lot more power and distance.

Shallow Your club at the top: Haney, Leadbetter and Ballard are all teaching golfers to loop their club down at the top of their swing to shallow the club and avoid slicing from over the tip swings. Bowing your wrist down at the top will help you shallow your swing.

Avoid Early Extension: Swing through your ball with the transfer of weight to your leading foot so that your iron sweeps the grass after impact and your driver launches upward after it passed the bottom of your swing. We all want to extend our knees after impact but you can’t afford to get excited and extend them too early. Use your knees to push forward instead of rushing to spring up.

Your successful golf swing is all about timing. When you get it right you will experience a wonderful feeling of euphoria and your ball will launch like butter. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to get that feeling with a straight leading arm. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com