FINGERTIP
1: THE SWING
The
golf swing should be built from the ground, up. Although
it is important to have a
well-balanced stance, I would like to discuss the lower part of the
golf
swing.
If the left arm is
viewed as the
hour hand on a clock, with the center of the clock being the left
shoulder,
then at address the left arm hangs vertically, and points to the
“6” on the
imagined clock face.
If a right handed
golfer makes a back swing so that his hands are at his right shoulder,
the left
arm is parallel to the ground and facing the “9” on
our
clock.
I feel the best
practice with all
clubs is
done with the left arm only going back half-way, or less.
The
golfer using this method will always be
able to feel where the club is, where the club-face is, how the swing
rhythm
is, etc.
The
rhythm of the golf swing should be short back, long on
the follow through.
The golfer should
feel an acceleration of the hands, arms and golf club on the forward
swing.
A “9
o’clock”
back swing should
have a full finish.
The club should
make the wind whistle somewhere between the “6” and
the
“3”.
Hit irons, and woods
this
way.
You will gain a great
deal on
confidence in
knowing your are aligned properly. The
short swing will promote solid ball contact and consistency. The
game is mostly partial swings
anyway.
We all could be better
with
less than full swings.
Most of you
struggle with shots from 100 yards and in. I
see too much practice with full, wild swings. Shorten
your swings and you will be able to
practice longer, and a great deal better.
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FINGERTIP 2:
THE
SHORT GAME
Perhaps
the most exciting aspect of golf is the short
game.
Almost every shot is a
new
experience that requires imagination and skill. The
lie of the ball, the amount of green available for landing
the ball, wind conditions, and green speed are just some of the
variables to
deal with.
With such a variety of
many
shot requirements, we don’t need to vary the fundamentals of
the
three strokes
we use:
the Putting Stroke, the
Chipping
Stroke, and the Pitching Stroke. The secret to hitting successful short
shots
is to adhere to the basics of these three strokes, and let club
selection
determine the height and roll of your shots.
Here
is a
brief review of
the short shot fundamentals.
The
Putting Stroke is an arm stroke. The
ball is played off the left heel, so the club makes contact with the
ball at
the bottom of the swing.
As in all
shots, the club is held where the left arm hangs. You
may use a putting stroke with a fairway metal-wood, a putter,
or any iron in the bag.
The ball will
roll most of the way to the target. It
is simple to learn to purposely “skull” or top the
ball
with a wedge, using a
putting stroke. You are always better off using a putting stroke if you
can.
When
the grass is heavy around the ball, or there is a sand trap or other
obstacle
in your way, you will not be able to roll the ball.
If
you decide to Chip the ball, the ball is played off the
right
foot, with the hands held by the left leg. The
weight is on the left foot, and the ball will be
struck with a
descending blow.
It is important to let
your right writs hinge on this chip shot so the club head is above the
ball at
the top of the short backstroke. I
will
use a 6-iron through a lob wedge for this shot. I
will chip when I want the ball to run more than 50% of the
distance to the hole.
I will choose to
chip rather than pitch if conditions allow.
At last resort, I will Pitch the
ball.
This is a high, lofted
shot that
will spend most of it’s time in the air, and will run only a
short distance
once it hits the ground.
This is the
hardest of the three short shots to master and execute.
The
ball is played off the left instep, and
a loose, writsy, up-right hand and arm swing is employed.
You
should use only a sand wedge, or lob
wedge for this shot.
The fundamentals
of this swing are similar to those used in sand traps around the
green.To
review, play the ball by the right foot for a running shot, and off the
left
foot for a high shot and putt.
Be
consistent with your short shot set-up, and you will hit effective
short shots.
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FINGERTIP
3: DRAW AND FADE
I
was
watching the first PGA Tour event from Hawaii, and heard an interview
with
David Duvall.
He said that he would
play this first event, the Tournament of Champions, but that he would
skip the
next event, also in Hawaii, the Hawaiian Open. He
said that two weeks playing in the wind would do
“damage to his
swing”.
I thought this was an
unusual
comment, and since David was not asked to explain how he could
“ruin his
swing”, I thought I would try to give you my interpretation
of
his
thinking.
Most of us would love to
spend two weeks in Hawaii, instead of one, and the more golf we play,
the
better we swing. First, we must understand that great golfers
tirelessly work
to develop a consistent shot pattern. Since
it is almost impossible to hit a golf ball straight
all the time,
the tour player either favors a draw (controlled hook), of a fade
(controlled
slice).
Like the great Ben
Hogan, David
Duvall is a left-to-right player.
A fade is a very accurate shot because it
will only move slightly to the right in flight, and it will land softly. With
the increasing firmness of greens and
fairways on the Tour, and particularly in the major championships,
keeping the
ball from rolling too far is desirable. A
fade will not go as far as a draw, because of the lack
of roll.
A draw has over spin,
while a
fade has more
back spin. But here is the “Rub”. A
fade tends to fly higher than a draw, and is thus greatly affected by
the
wind.
David must change his
game when
playing in the British Open, and on other occasions when the wind is
strong,
because a wind-blown fade can be a disaster. David
can play the ball in any fashion required by the
course, as is
evidenced by his win in last years’ British Open, and his
play at
Augusta, a
“hookers” course.
But he doesn’t want
to change his most reliable ball flight pattern unless it is necessary
to do
so.
Years ago Lee Trevino
said he
didn’t like Augusta because it favored a draw, and he had
learned
to play a
fade. We all would be better players if we decided to play the ball
with a
certain flight pattern most of the time. Next
month I’ll discuss the things that make a ball
fade and draw, and
explain why certain body types tend to aid in the shaping of golf shots. |
FINGERTIP
4: THE DIRECTION
The golf
ball seems to have a mind of its own, leaving the clubface is unusual,
unplanned directions.
However, ball
flight laws tell us that the ball will only travel where we have made
it go.
When we understand the
ball flight
laws, we
will be able to evaluate our swing, and make corrections.
As a teacher, I hear
inaccurate excuses for
missed shots from well meaning husbands and friends.
I
hear, “You looked up”, or “you
swayed”, or “you picked the club
up”.
Simple reference to the
ball
flight laws can stop much of this misinformation.A golf ball that is
hit on the
club face, will start either on line with your target, to the left, or
to the
right.
If the ball starts off
line, the
club must have been facing in that direction. Once
a ball has left the club face, it will fly straight,
or curve left
or right.
If the ball curves to
the
left the golf club is closing after impact. If
the ball flies to the right, the club is opening after
impact.
The explanation of high
or low
shots
requires a little further explanation. A
high shot will result with a steep angle of decent,
where a low shot
will follow a shallow approach angle of the club.
By controlling the club face, ball movement right and left can be
controlled.
By working on the angle
of
approach to the ball, the height of your shots can be controlled. Ball
position at the set up can change where
your shots start.
If the ball is moved
more to the center of the stance, the ball will start more to the right. Moving
the ball farther left at address will
force the ball to start farther left. Thus,
arm rotation, angle of approach, and ball position
should be the
key factors in your practice if you want develop a consistent shot
pattern. We
all need to practice with ball flight laws in mind to eliminate our
errant
shots.
Keep this in mind the
next time
you practice or take a lesson. |
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