Swing Solutions

Casting your club from the top of your backswing is the NUMBER ONE REASON WHY YOU LOSE DISTANCE! Last week our Swing Tip helped you with the 3 moves to rotate your body and create wrist cock at the top of your swing.  This preparation is wasted if you don’t hold the wrist cock as you start your down swing. Punching the butt of your club down from the top of your swing is a critical starting point for LONGER DISTANCE.

A tip from GolfLink Swing Tips by Chuck Cook (instructor to such PGA Tour greats as Payne Stewart, Tom Kite, and Corey Pavin) described this motion as a Punch Drill. He described it as swinging under a tree limb and releasing your wrists through impact. This image is a little strange but you need to train your mind to get this right.

Learning to punch down with the butt end of your club is easy to do in slow motion. Unfortunately there are 3 things happening as you transition from your back swing to your forward swing:

1/ as your club reaches the top of your swing, you need to use the forward momentum to press with your trailing leg and start your hip rotation in the forward direction.

2/ your arms reverse direction and lead the down swing with the butt of your club.

3/ you need to visualize Ernie Els with his gradual acceleration. Slow in the transition and accelerating as you swing down and releasing your cocked wrists as you whip the head of the club through impact.  [YouTube video in appreciation from GOLF-Monthly.co.uk ]

Practice this in slow motion to get the punching motion correct. Unfortunately the momentum of your swing to the top can’t be duplicated in slow motion. Momentum is caused by the mass and speed of your club head. That’s why it is so difficult to start a golf swing from a dead stop at the top of your backswing.

AHA MOMENT!  ALERT!   What else can I say to get your ATTENTION!
To learn to control the speed of your transition, holding lag at the top and acceleration:  Practice with a flat souled shoe on your right foot (works best with a rubber soul on a wet mat or grass) and a golf shoe on your left foot. If you rush at the top and cast your club early, your right foot will slip back away from the ball. If you hold your lag and control your  acceleration from the top you will be able to stay in balance throughout the swing.  [YOU WILL KNOW WHEN YOU ARE DOING IT CORRECTLY WHEN YOU ARE STILL IN BALANCE OVER YOUR LEADING FOOT AS YOU WATCH YOUR BALL DISAPPEAR OVER THE HORIZON – – – just kidding but you get the idea.]

I got this tip from Robert Ryley in Minnesota.  He discovered this while playing in flat bottomed running shoes.   He had to slow down his swing at the top and hold the lag in his wrists in order to keep  his balance.  BINGO: He dropped his handicap from 16 to 4.   WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Try this tip at the range or while you play a round of golf on wet grass (or while the morning dew is still on the grass). And don’t forget your GOLFSTR+ For every swing in your game: www.golfstr.com

Tiger Woods was on the Mike Douglas Show with Bob Hope showing off his golf swing when he was 2. The straight arm swing was the only swing that Tiger learned. Unlike Tiger Woods, most of us started our childhood swinging a baseball bat where a bent leading arm is normal. Keeping your leading arm straight in the backswing and down through impact will help you hit more consistently.

GOLFSTR was designed to remind you to keep your leading arm straight in the backswing. It’s a great product to help you reprogram your brain. There are 3 fundamental which you need for success with the straight arm swing:

1/ Stretch your leading arm across your chest. For right handed golfers, reach your left arm across your chest at shoulder height, place your right fist behind your left elbow and slowly stretch your arm toward your shoulder line.  [As seen on a training video on Golf-Info-Guid by Thomas Golf: How to Keep the Leading Arm Straight!!! : CLICK HERE]

2/ Learn the limit of your backswing body rotation. Standing with your feet flared and spread shoulder width, clasp your hand or a club and rotate your 2 straight arms to the right coiling your hips and your shoulders.

Henrick Stenson is shown pulling his wrist to a 90 degree cocked position with his bent trailing elbow.

3/ Learn to lag your wrist at the top of your swing.  With your arms in front of you, using a normal golf club grip (with the V between your right hand thumb and first finger pointing to your right shoulder) cock your wrists to the right to form a 90 degree angle between your straight left arm and the club shaft. Your left wrist must remain flat in line with the extension of your arm.  Now as you reach the top of your swing you can cock your wrist the same way by pulling with your trailing bent arm.

Accept the fact that you have limitations in these 3 motions. Fortunately with practice you can gradually stretch these limitations to improve your power. Your backswing is the combination of these 3 motions and using a bent trailing elbow to pull your flat leading wrist into a 90 degree cocked position at the top of your backswing.

Remember, this is not like your windup with a baseball bat. So accept your limited rotation and start playing more consistent golf. To help you improve, practice with a GOLFSTR+.  Available at a limited number of Golf Retailers and on our website: www.golfstr.com

Every golfer who buys a GOLFSTR+ would love to golf as well as Lydia Ko : only 17, 5’ 5” and consistently shooting under par on 6500 yard courses. Her demeanor is as consistent as her perfect swing: calm and controlled. She learns from her misses and enjoying the thrill of every shot. Pay attention to Lydia Ko and every swing in your game will improve.

After watching Lydia win another tournament I was pleased to see the GOLFWEEK Approach Shots blog by Beth Ann Nichols.  Her blog reported that only weeks after turning pro, Lydia moved from New Zealand to the Orlando, FL area to work with Sean Hogan and David Leadbetter (also training Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen). Sean is working on adding to her low fad shot by teaching her to work the ball up and down and side to side. The article covered some of her basic training exercises that we all should be using:

Palm-push Drill: Pull your leading straight arm as you rotate your chest for an improved backswing.  It’s a great stretching exercise to learn the straight leading arm swing.

1/ Warm-up Palm-push Drill: She loosens her upper body by pulling her straight leading arm in the backswing motion. She crosses her left hand above her right wrist and stretches back and through simulating a swing. This achieve the same rotation that Michael Breed talks about with 2 straight arms in the takeaway to rotate the chest. Of course GOLFSTR+ is a great trainer to achieve this straight leading arm swing as you play 18 holes.

Step Drill: In practice to improve her draw, Lydia steps into her swing like a baseball batter or pitcher.

2/ Hit the Draw using the Step Drill: As she takes her backswing she is lifting and shifting her left foot back to her right foot (like a baseball pitcher winding up) and then swinging from the inside. “The step drill really promotes a draw because it drops the club to the inside on the way down,” Hogan said.

3/ Swing Focus Flow Drill: To keep her natural rhythm Hogan has her lift her club forward of the ball and taking the club back over the ball to complete her backswing and then swing through impact. Ko even uses this in her pre-shot practice swings to stay loose.

4/ Building Consistency with a Stability drill: Hogan uses a shaft in the ground and leaning against the right side of her leg to prevent swaying to the right. This keeps her weight forward as she completes her swing.

5/ Short Game Practice to Stir Creativity: He challenges her to create different shots with different clubs from various locations around a green to promote creativity.

6/ Putting focus on a Shortened Backswing: Ko practices with a tee in the ground behind her putter to restrict her backswing and force the acceleration of the swing up her intended line.

These are all great training tips.  Of course GOLFSTR+ should be used to practice Every Swing in Your Game too.  Check it out at www.golfstr.com

I could not believe this either but the hip motion in the short game swing for many successful professional golfers is different than the long game swing. Wow, was this a shocker when I saw this promotion for James Sieckmann’s Phase 5 System (instructor for Watney and 13 others). He learned the secrets by his close relationship with Seve Ballisteros, a master of the short game.

There really is a POWER swing (which I described in last week’s Swing Tip) and a FINESSE swing. The POWER swing uses shoulder and hip rotation in the back swing then leading the swing with your hips in the down swing. The FINESSE swing (where you don’t need power for chip and pitch shots) is a shoulder and arm backswing with minimal rotation or shift of your lower body until you follow through.

In your short game, if you are hitting a lot of fat shots (where your club digs into the ground before the ball) you may be rotating your hips in the back swing and rushing the swing with your arms so that the bottom of your swing is before the ball. You can also recognize this problem if you end up with your weight on your trailing leg or if you top or blade the ball by flipping your wrist at impact.

Keep a quiet lower body with limited hip rotation in the back swing.

To improve your SHORT GAME, simply eliminates hip rotation in the backswing. It’s a calm and relaxed swing with a cadence where you let your club do the work.
1/ Your stance is narrow. Your ball is in the center or slightly back from center of your stance. For right handed players, grip with the V between your thumb and first finger on your right hand pointing to your right shoulder. Hands are ahead of the club. The balance on your feet is slightly forward.
2/ Use your shoulders and arms for the backswing (minimal hip and chest rotation) and let your club pull your arms, shoulders and then your hips through to your finishing position (chipping is a low finish, pointing at the target and a longer pitch is a high finish).
3/ Avoid taking a backswing that is too low or too much from the inside. You don’t want to put any side spin on the ball.
4/ To create a high shot or flop shot your need the club face open to allow the angle of the club to lift the ball. Your stance needs to be open for these shots.
5/ Rushing the swing causes a “down cock” or break of the wrist so that your club head never catches up to your hands causing fat shots. Commit to the height of your backswing during your practice swing and then repeat it when you make your shot.
6/ For green-side bunker shots, use a FINESSE swing. Your lower body needs to be still to ensure that your sand wedge enters the sand just before the ball and bottoms out and reaches maximum speed after the ball position. Make sure you finish the full swing.

When chipping practice the lag in your trailing wrist backswing and your flat leading wrist in your limited follow through using your GOLFSTR+. Buy one today. Great Christmas present for any want-to-be golfer.

Back-swing and rip it!  There is no time to run your mind through 100 swing thoughts. Unfortunately some of those lingering thoughts are the reason why you mess up the occasional shot. Ideally you need to get a feel for the perfect swing. You need a simple, repeatable way to make it happen every time. Why not clear the clutter out of your mind and make every shot count?

Every week I see a number of new ideas to help us swing more consistently and hit longer. I agree that they are all important to understand and practice. That’s exactly why we developed GOLFSTR+ for 6 different swing problems. It helps you learn to take control of your body so that you get a feel for the right swing and see the result when it’s done correctly. It lets you feel and see success with a straight arm, a flat wrist and wrist lag. You need to build confidence in your swing by seeing your success as you practice.

Are you one of these golfers? You have a perfect practice swing. But when you move up to that little white ball, your mind and body freeze up. You forget to press through the ball. You leave most of your weight on your trailing foot. You need to finish your swing by transferring your weight and body over your leading foot.

During the few seconds of your swing your mind does not have time to think about every detail:
• getting your club to the correct backswing position
• pressing your hips forward before you release your wrists through impact
• and finishing with your weight on your leading leg and chest facing your target line.

As you practice to get the right FEEL for each shot you need TRIGGER WORDS to lock in that feeling: “Swing Back and Down” are NOT good thoughts for the higher handicap golfer.

SOLUTION:
You need trigger words in your mind to use when you take your practice swing. Then use the same trigger words for your backswing and follow-through.

In your mind use the trigger words: “Straight – Lag” in the backswing and “press” to start your downswing.

1. In your takeaway say “Straight” as a reminder to keep both arms straight to force the rotation of your chest.
2. Up to the top say “Lag” as you pull your club into a 90 degree LAG position with your trailing bent arm.
3. To start your downswing say “Press” as you start your hip rotation and weight shift to your leading leg.

Started your down swing by rotating your hips so that you will end up in a balanced position over your leading leg and your chest facing your target. Once you get this feeling grooved into your mind, you won’t need the trigger words but you will enjoy this wonderful game a lot more as you lower your score.

Hank Haney is showing Stephen Curry (NBA Basket Ball star) how to start his swing with his hips.   I don’t make this stuff up!

Here is a promo video by Golf Digest for Hank Haney with the 5 Minute Fix (“hands and arms are outracing the body”) you have to start with your hips: Push your hips through and the rest will follow.  CLICK THE IMAGE.

By the way: “Bob’s your uncle”?     Wikipedia: to conclude a set of simple instructions.       In French “et voilà!”.  (and there you see it!)

There are 2 pressure shots in golf and both require a calm and effortless swing: Putting and Chipping. Unfortunately, when the shot is so easy and there is so much pressure to be precise,  many of us get the YIPS. Hunter Mahan choked on a 2010 Ryder Cup chip that lost a match. Of course it was a yip that he will never forget. You need to understand what takes over your mind and body to mess-up these shots?

First you need to understand why you feel this pressure and why your muscles and mind react the way they do. Both of these shots are finesse shots. They require soft hands and a good feel for the shot, the roll of the green & the loft of the club (for chipping). The pressure is all in your head. When you drive a ball or hit a fairway shot there is a lot of room for errant shot. When chipping or putting you have 1 shot to get your ball close to the hole. You expect perfection. THAT IS PRESSURE and that is where the YIPS come from!

My favorite weekly blog from Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf  summed up the solution in 2 words: CONFIDENCE and PRACTICE.

CONFIDENCE: Golf is a game of memories: the good ones and the bad ones! Unfortunately our last poor chip or putt is a hard memory to overcome. A lack of confidence creates self-doubt: “Stiff shoulders, arms, wrist and fingers choke the club and limit freedom of motion.” You need to realize when this is happening and snap out of it. Take your mind back to the perfect swing.

When Chipping learn to avoid the YIPS by using GOLFSTR+ in your backswing (#4) and follow-through (#6).

PRACTICE: The Golf-Info-Guide blog reminds us that you need to learn the skill of chipping by practicing. It’s not going to happen your you have one shot under pressure on the golf course.  Learn the shot with different lofted clubs. Understand what works. Relax your hands and don’t rush the swing.   Let the weight of the club do the work as you accelerate through the ball to a straight arm finish with your club pointing to your target.

>Narrow your stance with the ball in the center of your stance and weight forward on your leading foot

>Hand grip should be a 4 out of 10 with your hands forward of the ball at address and at impact (shaft is leaning forward). This is especially important when you have a tight lie in front of the green.

>The swing is a downward blow, taking a slight divot forward of the ball as you rotate your chest toward the target.

>Don’t rush the swing: 1/3 backswing with limited wrist break and 2/3 follow through with no wrist break.

GOLFSTR+ is the ideal golf swing training aid to help you learn limited lag in your trailing wrist (fix #4) and a flat leading wrist in your follow-through (fix #6). Check it out today or buy it as a gift for your friends for Christmas. Great Stocking Stuffer.

As a break from our Weekly Golf Tips I just wanted to share these 2 interesting stories about the love of golf.

#1      50 Shades of Golf
Four guys have been going to the same golfing trip to St Andrews for many years. Two days before the group is to leave, Jack’s wife puts her foot down and tells him he isn’t going. Jack’s mates are very upset that he can’t go, but what can they do. Two days later, the three get to St Andrews only to find Jack sitting at the bar with four drinks set up!

“Wow, Jack, how long you been here, and how did you talk your misses into letting you go?”

“Well, I’ve been here since last night..  Yesterday evening, I was sitting in my living room chair and my wife came up behind me and put her hands over my eyes and asked, ‘Guess who?”

I pulled her hands off, and there she was, wearing a nightie. She took my hand and pulled me into our bedroom. The room had candles and rose petals all over. Well she’s been reading ‘50 Shades of Grey’.On the bed she had handcuffs, and ropes! She told me to tie her up and cuff her to the bed, so I did.

And then she said, “Do whatever you want.” So— Here I am!

[Dream on and don’t get any bright ideas from this.  At least my wife thought it was funny.]

GOLFSTR+ is a training aid that you can feel when you wrist is flat in the backswing. NO cupping or bowing allowed. It helped Michael Yu.

#2      Another success with GOLFSTR+
Michael Yu of Santa Clara, CA recently purchased a GOLFSTR+ from our website after a golf lesson at GolfTEC.  He discovered GOLFSTR+ at GolfTEC in a Golfsmith store on Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara/ San Jose.  Moe Morgan, his instructor,  used a GOLFSTR+ to help him stop cupping his wrist in the backswing. “It improvement my swing and also helped stop my flying elbow.”  He said that he just “needed some muscle memory” to see the improvement and get out of his old habit.

GolfTEC provides about 1/3 of all golf lessons in the US. GOLFSTR+ samples have been sent for review and possible retail sales. Many of the GolfTEC training centers are in Golfsmith retail outlets so this will be a great way for you to test and purchase GOLFSTR+ in 2015 if their evaluation is successful.

In the mean time you can still buy GOLFSTR+ with 6 swing fixes the same way 4,000 others have from our Store Page on our website   www.golfstr.com

Public Announcement: If you know someone who is in their 20’s and trying to find their way in life, check out this book The20Project.  It was  just released by our daughter with chapters from 20 others who shared their experiences to achieve success.    It’s a great Christmas Present if you want to help someone find their way in life.

All profits are donated to a support high potential students each year in Zimbabwe, Africa.  

How often do you hit a perfectly straight shot? If you are like most golfers you aim up the middle of the fairway and often miss it. Why not understand your normal ball flight (draw or fade) and use it to your advantage. That way you can hit more fairways and greens. Why not take the guess work out of your ball flight?

Even if you don’t have a consistent ball flight you should create one. Pros tend to swing from the inside to create a draw for more distance. If you find it difficult to create a draw, you should move your trailing foot back an inch or two off the line which is parallel with your target line. Your ball should also be in line with your leading heal to ensure that you connect as your club is swinging from inside to out.

There are 3 reasons why balls don’t like to go straight:

1. You swing a golf club in an arc. If you are not impacting as you swing through the bottom of the arc and up the target line, you are headed for somewhere other than straight.
2. Your clubs have different lofts and shaft lengths. Any miscalculation in the bend of your waist or position of your feet will send your ball into Never, Never Land.
3. The ground is rarely level. This is another angle which you need to factor into your setup and swing. Even the teeing areas can have side slopes which you should try to avoid as you setup your drive.

Plan the shape of your shot and visualize how you are going to land on your target.  This golfer is planning for a fade.

Why not take the doubt out of your swing and plan to control the direction of your club at impact. A draw, fade, push or pull may all give you a problem result if you start by swinging directly at your target. Wouldn’t it be better to understand your swing and choose to execute the shot that would give you the highest probability of landing on the fairway or green? The pros plan for this and you should too.

Your brain causes you to setup for each shot based on your past experience and all of the clutter that you have learned over the years playing golf. You can’t afford to let this affect your next shot.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR GAME
Sort out if you get more distance with your draw or fade. Set a plan to shape your shot with each club and shape of the ground. This routine requires swing skills that you acquire by reading golf swing tips, by taking golf lessons, by practicing with your GOLFSTR+ and by arriving at the first tee relaxed, stretched out and warmed up.

Most important you need to take control of your game and decide on your ball flight (draw or fade) before your swing. Jack Nicklaus visualized the shape of each shot before he stepped up to the ball. You can do it too!

CLICK HERE to buy your GOLFSTR+ today and take control.

A tension free straight leading arm swing will give you longer drives and fairway hits. By extending your arm during the backswing you are maximizing the arc and width of your swing. A wide arc allows you to generate more power. Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf  reminds you that this does not mean a “bolt straight stiff arm”.

We need to minimize tension in the golf swing. A relaxed arm helps you relax your wrist and generate the whipping action for more power as your club releases through the ball.

To maintain a relaxed left arm (for right handed golfer) you need to start with a “soft” arm at address. Your arm can’t be stiff and shaking. Golf-Info-Guide suggests that you learn to relax you leading arm by gripping you club only with your relaxed leading arm and with your elbow facing your left hip. Now practice taking the club away only with the left arm keeping it tension free but extended. Let your body rotate back and then through the shot as you complete the swing and then fold the left arm after impact with the ball.

Rory McIlroy has an amazing straight arm swing. Guess what? It’s tension free and delivers amazing distance.

Then practice with 2 straight arms in the takeaway to lesson the load and rotate your chest about 90 degrees from your target line.  Wearing GOLFSTR+ on your leading arm just reminds you to keep your leading arm straight and there should really be no extra muscle tension during the takeaway as most of the work is done by your spine and shoulder rotation.

Practice keeping your left arm soft at address and the tension free feeling should flood into the rest of your swing. This is not a violent sport. You need to trust that your relaxed wrists will generate club head speed to create surprising distance.   Practice with your GOLFSTR+.  Buy one today and tell your friends about this amazing 6-in-1 golf swing training aid.

Knowing how to read greens will lower your score. Reading your divot may be just as important. It’s a great way to understand where your swing may be in trouble.

Pay attention to the direction and depth of your divot. For your iron shots you should be taking a thin divot up to the length of a dollar bill just beyond the point where your ball was resting. If you are falling back during your swing you will never take the right divot.

This is a summary of what you can learn:

Take a straight divot up to a dollar in length just beyond your ball position.

1/ Too Deep: You are swinging with TOO STEEP of a swing. Bending your leading arm in the backswing and creating too much lag angle will cause this problem. Using GOLFSTR+ to train for straight leading arm in the backswing is a great solution. CLICK HERE for this great brain trainer.
2/ Too Deep at the Toe: You are swinging “over the top” from the outside to the inside of your target line. (Standing too upright can also cause this problem.)
3/ Too Deep at the Heel: You are swinging too severely from the inside to the outside of the target line. (Swinging too flat at a low angle can also cause this problem.) Swinging from the inside and straight up your target line will give you the preferred result.

NOTE: Your set of clubs, length of arms and legs will all affect your swing. A professional club fitter should be consulted to ensure that you are starting with the right equipment.  For more detail on reading divots and corrective measures Click Here:  Reading your Divot: GOLF-INFO-GUIDE by Thomas Golf.

And of course your can always purchase a GOLFSTR+  to improve every swing in your game.   WWW.GOLFSTR.COM

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