Will Curry

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

Your backswing involves your arms, hips and shoulders. You will love the distance with your new drives when you get the combination right. Many golfers have purchased GOLFSTR+ expecting that it would answer their prayers. In fact the backswing has 3 key components and GOLFSTR+ is the perfect guide to help you practice.  You need to change your old swing habits for longer and more consistent hits.

1. Take-away:  When you complete the takeaway with 2 straight arms to bring your shaft parallel to the ground, this forces your shoulders to rotate to about 70+ degrees from the target line. Shoulder rotation generates at least 25% to your distance. If you don’t have this flexibility you should be doing a gradual exercise program to allow for this stretch. Yoga is ideal but whatever you do, make the change gradually.

Sean O’Hair is demonstrating the first critical move in your backswing: Both arms straight to force the rotation of you chest 70 degrees away from the target line.

2. Straight Leading Arm: Keeping your leading arm straight through out your backswing will give you 2 benefits: A wide arc to  rotate your shoulders and hips and a consistent distance back to the ball at impact. Most professional golfer keep their leading arm straight and you should too.

3. Wrist Cock and Tucked Trailing Elbow: I received a great article from Golf-Info-Guide.com by Thomas Golf which inspired this blog today. Use your trailing hand to pull the shaft of your club into a 90 degree angle from your leading arm at the top of your swing.  Keeping your trailing elbow tucked close to your side (avoid the flying elbow), will automatically create lag on the right swing plane.

Holding this lag position to initiate the downswing is the only way to create a whipping action with your club head at the point of impact. It allows you to accelerate your club head at about 4 times faster than your arms at the bottom of your swing. You should hear a whooshing noise in your practice swing. Get it right and your distance will increase significantly (without swinging your arms any faster).

GOLFSTR+ is a great training air to help you learn Straight Arm and Lag in your backswing. Buy it TODAY on our website at www.golfstr.com

Adding lag in your backswing by opening your trailing hand FINGERS may be killing your swing. Two days after I played an amazing low round of golf, I returned with every expectation of a wonderful repeat performance. Unfortunately, the harder I tried the worst my drives, woods and hybrids got. For some reason, I was salvaging my game by hitting wonderful short iron shots. Why were the long clubs all spraying to the right and killing my game?

My flexibility, straight arm swing rotation and transition were allowing me to hit longer than I normally hit but my direction control was some how messed up.

Fortunately, after a few bad rounds of golf, I saw a swing control video by Martin Chuck (Revolution Golf Tips) where he was trying to demonstrate the importance of limiting the arm separation at the top of the back swing. His demonstration using a ball was NOT a good one because your arms must separate as the trailing elbow bends to pull the club into the lag position. When I saw this video, I realized that I was opening the grip of my trailing hand at the top of the backswing to create EXTRA LAG. This loose grip with my trailing hand was causing extra arm separation and creating TOO MUCH LAG.

A great image of Sam Snead with his trailing arm bent to his side and creating lag with both hands gripping for control. [Unfortunately I could not find the Arnold Palmer example.]

My mind was forcing a greater lag and wrist hinge in order to get more distance with each of my longer clubs.  That was a big mistake. Don’t kill the benefit of lag in your backswing by loosening your hands and losing control of your club. You need a continuous grip on your club through impact. Your trailing hand needs to drive your club head through impact to finish your swing.  You need a square club face at impact.  A weak trailing hand grip at impact will allow an open face and your ball will spray to the right.

I’m glad I sorted this little change out. Paying attention to the right grip and right swing will only reinforce your mind and your game. When you swing correctly you will have more control and lower scores. To help practice every Swing in YOUR Game check out GOLFSTR+: www.golfstr.com

Golf is a game of perfection. Jordan Spieth was almost perfect during his amazing Masters victory. We all strive for this every time we play. In reality, the game is won by the golfer who makes the fewest mistakes but we don’t like to dwell on the negative so I have listed habits that will help your game.

We play this game to get outside, to be with friends, to get some exercise and to energize our minds away from work. Every swing of a club creates a good, bad or ugly result. If you want to enjoy this game why not focus on the “good” and let’s get rid of the “ugly”.

Jordan Spieth won the Masters because he kept his head focused on each shot.  (He made fewer mistakes than the rest of the feild).

1. Arrive early. Relax Your Mind. Stretch your body. Hit some practice balls. Putt to get a feel for the green speed. Manage your food and water intake.

2. Positive Mental Attitude: Focus on each swing and what you want to achieve on each shot in your mind.

3. Duplicate your Practice Swing: For any swing you should learn from your practice swing. Make a perfect swing with a follow-through that ends in balance. Then repeat it with your golf ball.

4. Anyone can hit a second attempt: Play a round of golf where you have the option to use a second ball for every shot and use the best ball. Doing this will build confidence that you can make the shot so do it right the first time.

5. Pick a point where you want your ball to land and then choose the right club and swing to get it there.

6. Start your down swing with your hips on every shot (except your putter). Bottom out your irons after the ball. Focus on this to get your body through the swing and your belt buckle facing your target.

7. Take control after a poor shot. Don’t let your mind take over. Forget about making miracle shots. Stay in control and swing for the shot that you know you can make.

8. Consistency for the perfect swing is all that matters in golf so limit your maximum swing speed to 80% to keep your swing under control. You are not a professional golfer so make a point of watching LPGA tournaments where the ladies crush it with an effortless swing [better than most weekend warriors].

9. Challenge yourself to hit more fairways & greens in regulation. On your score card for each hole, place a dot in the upper left for fairways hit off the tee and a dot in the upper right for greens in regulation. Make it a goal to increase these numbers in every round you play. [Tracking your putts is another good way to drop your score.]  Play these personal games during every round of golf to keep your mind focused.

10. GOLF is a game of preparation and focus. Practice with a training aid like GOLFSTR+ to eliminate faults in your swing. Build muscle memory to eliminate your bent leading elbow and your cupped or bowed wrist. Limit your lag in chipping and control your lag for power, distance and consistency in your drives and fairway shots. CLICK HERE to check out GOLFSTR+.

GOLFSTR+ is the perfect solution for Tiger’s “Chip Yips”.

Successful pros hit about 14 out of 18 greens in regulation on every round. With Tiger’s attempt to hit longer drives he’s hitting fewer fairways and fewer greens in regulation. This is adding a lot of pressure on his chipping perfection. In the last 6 tournaments that Tiger entered (before the 2015 Masters) he was 33 strokes over par.

Unfortunately the more pressure you put on yourself the greater the chance you will miss-hit your chips.  Lydia Ko at 17 just tied the LPGA record at 29 rounds in a row under par.  She has no nerves.  She does not understand pressure.   The yips are definitely caused by pressure.   We have 2 suggestions for Tiger & every recreational player in the world.

1/ BUILD CONFIDENCE in your chipping two ways with  GOLFSTR+.   [GOLFSTR: sounds like Golf-Stir]

Fat chips are really blowing up Tiger’s scores in his last 6 tournaments. Don’t let chipping yips mess up your game too.

a. Limited Lag on your Trailing Wrist: GOLFSTR+ is shaped to limit your lag in your chipping backswing.  Get to the right position as you shift your body forward through impact. Take sufficient backswing to let the momentum of your club do all the work in your forward swing. [Don’t rush the downswing to avoid fat chips.]
b. Flat Leading Wrist: Place GOLFSTR+ on your leading wrist to learn to keep it straight in the follow-through. GOLFSTR+ locks your leading wrist flat. Seeing the result when you practice with GOLFSTR+ will give you more confidence when you play without it.

2/ ELIMINATE BAD THOUGHTS: Think the word “ONE” in your back swing and “Two” in your forward swing as you make your PERFECT PRACTICE SWING. Get the cadence right.  Make sure that you use enough backswing to let the momentum of your club head take your ball to your target landing point. Then step up to your ball and duplicate the exact same swing as you say “ONE, TWO” in your mind.

We are hoping that Tiger is secretly practicing with GOLFSTR+. Pay attention to Tiger’s perfect chips at the 2015 Masters this week. We hope his drives, approach shots and pitches are also on track.  Of course he should be using GOLFSTR+ to practice for Every Swing in His Game.

PGA Trainers are telling us that their students are having great success improving their chipping by training their students with GOLFSTR+. CHECK OUT all the uses for GOLFSTR+ in this quickie video 

Buy this training aid on our website today by CLICKING: www.golfstr.com

Understand the direction of your club face and swing path to control your game. Professional golfers do this and you should too. It’s that easy.

Pros like Jack Nicklaus visualize the impact, flight and landing area before each shot. Bubba Watson has never taken a lesson. He just figured out what caused the ball to rise, sink, draw or fade. He plans this for every shot that he makes. I also noticed that Michael Breed just released video lessons which focus totally on the point of impact. You need to understand what you are doing to a ball to cause it to move left or right and up or down.

Each of the following comments are described for a person hitting with right handed clubs. [I had to describe it this way as I am a left handed person who hits with right handed clubs. If you think this is strange then you should try playing golf with this inverted mind.]

Bubba Watson is the master of ball flight and distance. You really need to focus on club face and swing direction to get it right every time.

Face Orientation and Swing Path: The orientation of the face of your club at the point of impact causes 80% the initial direction of your ball. An open face pushes it right and a closed face pulls it left. Your swing path only causes 20% of the initial direction. If your swing path is out to in, your ball will fade or slice away from you. If your swing path is in to out, your ball will draw or hook

Swing Thoughts: You also need to understand why your best effort to keep a ball away from water on the right will invariably cause you to tighten up your grip which shorten your arms so that the ball slices to the right and into the water. By sweeping across the face of the ball to hit the ball left we tend to open the face and allowing the ball to slice right (toward that magnetic water). The correct motion is to ensure that you are hitting a draw shot by coming from the inside to out and swinging straight up the line slightly to the right of your target.

Relaxed Grip: A tighter grip (as in “grip it and rip it”) causes 2 problems which often result in a “duck hook”: A tight left hand grip pulls the club face closed at impact. Closing the club face directs the ball to the left. Compounding this problem is an excessive inside to outside swing path. Bingo, another Duck Hook! To avoid this, lighten your grip so that your leading hand does not pull the club face closed before impact. Don’t kill the ball with a violent inside to outside swing. Swinging from the inside is the preferred path but let the club do the work to cause a gentle draw.

Fat Hits: When you rush your swing from the top on any swing (drive, iron, pitch or chip), you will not give your body time to shift forward to allow the bottom of you swing to bottom out at the right point. Rushing the downswing with your arms will kill the shot. Let your legs and hips pull your shoulders through the shot.

When you focus on the right solution in the right frame of mind you can solve each of these problems. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to build confidence in your swing. Get the right feel and enjoy the right shot. www.golfstr.com

Have you ever played a round of golf where every hit is so clean and easy. Sure you may hit them long over the green but who cares. You don’t expect perfection in every swing but it just happens. Then your next round is a disaster. Your drives, your approach shots, your chipping and your putts are just not happening. Do you ask yourself, “Who was that person playing yesterday?  How do I get him back? ”

I am like every recreational golfer who loves this game but I publish these weekly swing tips so I tend to focus on what make golfers tick. I know that I have my good and bad days – and I often wonder WHY?

For the past 3 months I have been observing golfers as they play past our lani (screened porch for Northerners). It’s painfully obvious that at least 75% of the golfers may have taken lessons but they need to practice what they have learned. There are so many ways to watch the correct swing:  on YouTube; on the Golf Channel and by watching tournament golf on TV.   GOLFSTR+ is a great practice aid to help you correct 6 swing faults but it won’t help you just sitting in your golf bag.

The next time you play a round of golf, don’t you wonder which version of YOU will show up?

With all of this support you would think that everyone should be able to play a reasonable game of golf. So why is it that you occasionally experience an “out of body experience” where your game is shockingly great.

What causes a great round of golf for anyone, whether you are a pro or an amateur? If you have learned the skill to swing a club correctly there are only 3 other issues that you face on the golf course. You and every professional golfer need to overcome these GAME BREAKERS before you will have a good round of golf:

Flexibility: If you want to hit longer shots, your body needs to be flexible. You can’t expect to be successful in golf with brute force. An aching back is even a worse problem. Your neck, spine and hips need to be flexible. You need to work on this with proper exercise or just accept your limitations and limit your rotation to achieve an acceptable result. Bending your leading elbow might work for you but if you want consistent results, work on a straight arm swing, wrist lag and a powerful release at the point of impact.

Mental Outlook: If you are frustrated over your last shot and you try to compensate for a poor shot by swinging harder, you will not like the result. This game tends to compound anger so you need to understand that problem. Get over your last shot. Realize that you need to relax your grip and swing without trying to kill the ball. It’s that easy.

Focus: When your mind is at ease and your muscles are relaxed you can now focus on the right swing to get the result that you want. Focus only on the draw or fade or height of the shot based on your stance and the wind condition. Great pro golfers take their minds into the moment of each swing. There is nothing else on their mind. Your lessons and practice can all result in perfect shots every time you swing a club.

Next Week’s Swing Tip is about Understanding the point of Impact to Control Every Shot.

Buy your GOLFSTR+ today on our website:  www.golfstr.com

Should your head be moving during your swing? Mark Richmond who writes the Consistent Golf blog studied 23 of the most recognized golfers. He found exactly the same tip that we published by one of our GOLFSTR+ users. Terry Scanlon (St Andrews, Scotland) said: “keep you left ear (leading ear) behind the ball until impact when driving the ball“.

Mark Richmond wanted to verify the statement: “the average PGA Tour player moves his head only one inch during the swing”.

Adam Scott is shown here keeping his head in the same line-up with the ball during the backswing until impact. This seems to be the ideal swing thought.

Of the 23 golfers that he studied, when swinging the driver, all of them drop their head lower at impact but only 3 barely moved their head out of the original alignment during the swing:
• Adam Scott
• Phil Mickelson
• Jack Nicklaus

Most of the golfers shifted their heads 1 to 4 inches back during their backswing.

Only 3 of the 23 golfers in the study had their head forward before impact:
• Moe Norman
• Gary Player
• Arnold Palmer

Your forward hip press should start the transition of your club at the top of your swing but your head should remain relatively still until impact. Test your swing by standing with the sun behind you and watching your shadow.

Don’t get the wrong idea! Your whole body is in motion during your golf swing. Freezing your body and swinging with your arms will guarantee that you will dig your club into the ground well before the ball. Making the perfect practice swing and then duplicating that swing is the key for success in this sport. I’m not sure why a little white ball causes the mind to freeze-up but when you solve that problem, I guarantee success.

Relax your mind & body, focus on duplicating your practice swing, start you downswing motion with your hip and keep your head behind the ball. Of course you should practice with GOLFSTR+ FOR EVERY SWING IN YOUR GAME.

ENJOY