Practice Plan

Yesterday, I spoke with Gorillaswing while he was in the middle of his practice session. Asking Gorilla’ “what are you working on” he replied:

 

“…my setup and takeaway, I started hitting balls using the setup drill you gave me**and now I am setting up normal and checking to make sure I can take it to the course…I started hitting some squirrelly shots but then I felt my hands coming over the top… so now I am trying to pull my hands straight down….”

 

How do you know when you are done practicing?

 

“I don’t know. When I am tired?”

 

Two weeks prior to this practice session Gorilla’s and I worked together and focused on cleaning up his takeaway (the results of this practice are available on this blog). As his coach I know that getting to a more conventional takeaway position will change all the following positions and the timing or his golf swing; which are both expected and desired, despite his minds desire to recreate the old positions. Assuming he was able to change his takeaway in this practice session it is no surprise that he would begin to feel an “over the top” move because he is an OTT player (over the top of the plane line). With a conventional takeaway he can now feel that he is not swinging through the plane he has set in the takeaway. Identifying the feel is instrumental in changing from an inefficient swing pattern; however, Gorilla’s err was attempting to a new fix to this feeling. What I would have like the G’man to do is to only focus on a proper takeaway. Like the snowmelt that eroded the Arizona desert into the Grand Canyon, persistent repetition of a proper takeaway will reshape Gorillaswing’s backswing, transition, and recoil without the need to add new swing thoughts.

 

The question now becomes how do you continue to practice when the shot shape looks so poor and impact isn’t feeling great.  First you must determine if you are indeed recreating the corrected move when over the ball? In this example the desired takeaway position. There are only a few ways to be sure: video, a trusted friends eye, or a drill. Odds are if impact isn’t improving you are missing your new position/s or you are reaching the new position but your mind is compensating with the old swing. If the former, then you must simplify the practice to only work on the desire position. In this case Gorilla should have abandoned full swings and only hit ¾ shots - swing back until his lead arm was at 9 o’clock / parallel to the ground.

 

 

 

Gorilla Try this drill and let us know how it works

 

 

PPMS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Allright Michiganders

I know some of you were on the course this weekend; what happened?

What did you work on? Tell me about your feels and results.

Who's is your SRM?

The covers of GOLF DIGEST and GOLF magazine feature Tiger, Phil, Dustin Johnson, and Bubba who ever just moved into number one in the world. All tour pros are great and have swings unique to their athleticism. It is easy to marvel at these swings, try to copy their positions, and analyze why their action is ideal or unconventional, but what swing shape do you aspire to recreate.

I believe it is critical to have a Swing Role Model; why reinvent the wheel?

A Swing Role Model can ingrain an image of the correct path to and from the ball by way of visual learning. Using your imagination to envision a specific position may be a more powerful swing thought for you on the practice tee than "do this", "don't do that", "turn this way", "maintain a ___", etc.

A SRM helps to sort out the profusion of "golf tips" available in the scuttlebutt of your weekend 4-some. In measuring your swing against a pro you should ask yourself is my SRM working on what I am trying. For example under Sean Foley Tiger is trying to keep his left ear on the ball throughout the backswing, if Tiger is your SRM, then you can ignore advise on turning your left shoulder over your right toe. Or if Ben Hogan is your man then you better be starting with the ability to hook the ball or Hogan's 5 Lesson: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf  will having you slicing it off the course in  no time.

My swing model is Stuart Appleby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYNRs9Vcxkg

I have always struggled to complete a lateral move behind the ball and into the left (in fact I believe that this move should be avoided); like Appleby I naturally make an aggressive hitting motion at impact, and I have a similar build to Appleby for these reason Stews my guy.

In selecting a swing model it is important to consider 3 things:

1. Your natural athletic tendency even if its a technical swing flaw.
2. Your build v. the SRM's build.
3. The consistency with which the model swings; ie don't copy Bubba, Big John, or Rickie Fowler.

So.....Who you got?

A Moving Swing Arc

Slippy Bone and Harmony,

Here is a diagram that shows the importance of working the shaft of the club up during the takeaway, now all great golfers move the arc behind the ball to some degree but they do this while working the club up and on plane to the plane set at address, they then move their lower body forward past the ball in transition. I thought the engineer in you would appreciate this diagram, but maybe I should have sent it to Barb first so you could copy it.

Your power source for the takeaway

Reading the April issue of Golf Digest Tiger's new guru, Sean Foley, describes the role of the legs as "shock absorbers" that "absorb the motion you are about to create" I think this is spot on but it begs the question; what motion are your legs supporting?

In order to complete the takeaway on plane the shoulders must power the first third of the swing. Turning parallel to your belt the clubhead will move exponentially to the distance the shoulders travel. Once you begin to turn the shoulders try to keep your right shoulder (for righties) as far away from your left knee as possible. This will stabilize your lower half and allow you to maintain right knee flex. That's correct by focusing on right shoulder left knee separation you will maintain the proper right knee flex
.
Any thoughts?

Ppms
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Slippy FOO!

Happy Birthday Sip

Here is yours swing, you need to get the club working up immediately after the ball, keep practicing the drill I gave you, placing a tee 10 inches behind the ball. And forget "slow and low" - The Golden Bear

Train in Training

Train
follow youtube link for video


Your swing comes to you pretty naturally and you have great body action, checkout  how well you hold your depth indicated by the white line on your butt. Maintaining depth is important to the golf swing because it allows the club to work back in front of the body without the obstruction of the body. Golfers who struggle with this move lose their spine angle through impact clearly by your final frame you have maintained your spine angle which allows you to return the club dead on plane.

Gorillaswing

How does this sequence look for you?

I took your last frame and moved it to three

Gorilla 1st lesson - Takeaway-4/23

Gorillaswing


video at youtube

Well Gorillaswing I don't think you are cured yet but I know that you're not as far off as you think. You worked on setup and takeaway and will see that these adjustments in this early stage of your action have already created counter balancing changes in the backswing for the positive.

Stepping back, there are 5 stages to the golf swing: setup, takeaway, backswing, transition, and recoil. Setup is static and occurs prior to address, the setup creates the required angles for you to coil the body and club together away from the target on plane. The takeaway is summarized by its completion when the hands have reached belt high (when viewed from down the line). Backswing, transition, and recoil were not discussed but we can see the results of an improved setup and takeaway in the photos of your completed backswing.

Morning Joe

Tis the season of new club purchases and dreams of single digit handicaps.

So you purchased an shinny new driver over the past few months and are ready to start bombing it down the fairway? It’s time to redefine your goal on the tee. With the driver in hand I want you to try to hit every tee ball on the green. The driver is the one club in your bag without a speed limit, it has one specific purpose, going deep. If you want to hit fairways grab a 3 wood (which I suggest getting 1 in. longer than std) or hybrid but when you have a driver it’s time to go for the glory.

If your caddie hands you the big dog be a long drive champion, imagine yourself flying the ball all the way to the green. Swing for the fences frees up your rotation allowing you to complete your swing liberated of speed restrictions. Don’t overdo the idea of speed there is no need to add speed with any quick violent moves the length of the club will create more than enough energy your job is to not slow it down.

One last thought, pick your holes they all don't require a 300+ drive.

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Aim

After a mini bar-crawl a friend and I found ourselves flinging darts in Howell's Bar with a couple regulars. Having had a dart board in my dining room throughout college I consider my self better than average, I didn't expect to go 17 - triple 17 - 19 in my first round. For each toss I would stare intently on the hole that I wanted the dart to plug into. Thoughts of arm movements, plane, and speed never entered into my process.  When I missed my target my focus had invariably slipped to and area or color rather than a definitive hole.

Aiming is more than a step in your pre-shot routine, aiming is the intentional focus on a target. Think of a sniper, if he aimed his rifle and proceed to look at the trigger while he fired; how accurate could he be? In golf we look down at the ball but our focus must be on the mental image of our target. Deep focus on the target frees up the body to make an athletic turn back and through the ball.  Ice Hockey provides a great example of a target focused movement;  NHLers stare down their target as they fire slap shots. Here Alex Ovechkin is about to reach impact and his aim is clearly not the puck.

Do you think he cares what position his right arm is in during the backswing?

When practicing or playing remember the goal is where you aim not the ball; free your mind from the sight of the ball and imagine your target while in mid-swing. Your backswing and follow through will become more free flowing and connected.

ppms

Morning Joe

In 1879 Thomas Alva Edison caught lightening in a bottle when he used simple sewing string that he carbonized as a filament in what would become the modern light bulb.  Edison had tried countless materials as filament including human hair, what Edison new above all was innovation came from building upon a foundation of knowledge. Contrary to popular belief Edison only improved the light bulb; 50 years prior to 1879 the electric light bulb was invented by Humphrey Davvy.


Finding the most efficient and athletic motion to execute the golf swing doesn't not have to be a guess and check adventure. Using the swing models and teachings of tour pros you can innovate not invent a golf swing that fits your limitations.

Chip v. Pitch - after thought

Worm burners, Matchbox Cars, and Darth Bladers!


Pitch shots that zip across green snail high and at a bottle rockets pace are the result of  flipped club faces. In an effort to elevate short game shots armatures will turn the leading edge skyward at impact, in doing so they stop the grip end from moving and decrease the chances of the ball finishing anywhere near the hole. Chipping encourages the handle of the club to athletically continue past the ball before contact is made resulting in a descending blow that pinches the ball between the turf and face of the club - pro contact. Achieving pro contact in chip shots will teach the student the feel necessary to transfer pro contact to the rest of their bag.


A golfer who adopts a chipping short game methodology will find that in time they are creating more spin then ever before, once this sensation is observed the golfer can then meld pitch shots to their short game arsenal.


So, in time the art of spin control is best learned by learning how to play without spin around the green.

Chip v. Pitch

"Why didn't that check?" 

"Awe...Release, I can't believe that stayed there?" 

Odds are these golfers are using poor technique but even if they had the ability to execute perfectly why impart spin and bring in an unnecessary variable? Struggles around the green are agonizing, setting aside putting woes for a later article the following essay defines a chip shot, pitch, the application of each, and why all amateurs should eliminate spin from their short game vocabulary.

Pitch- a shot executed from a distance that requires less than a full swing with the golfers most lofted club, the carry distance exceeds length of roll. The Phil-flop is a pitch, bunker shots are pitches from the sand, and 60 yard bitting wedges are pitches; when hitting pitch shots the golfer must gage spin, hang time, and distance to execute a shot.

Chip - a shot played from off the green where the golfer attempts to land the ball on the green (typically) with little or no backspin allowing the ball to roll out to the hole. To hit predictable chips the golfer must determine how much speed he/she wishes to impart on the ball. 

Learning how to Learn the Golf Swing

Your learning style  directly correlates with your ability to score. Much has been said about on course golf attitudes and sports psychology I believe golf is a game learned on the left side of the brain and translated to right side for athletic performance. This translation is no easy task and in my humble opinion is the cause of double digit handicaps.

Good Morning Joe

Good Morning

Over the past week you viewed your swing in slo-mo video and by your own account you have are disappointed. As you work to change the shape of your swing you must make sure you keep a couple things in the forefront of your mind: