Golf Tips by David Reid
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David owns and operates Flying Diamond Golf Services. He provides private and group golf lessons.
June 2010
I had a litle golf trip to mid west Michigan the first week of May and had fantastic, early season, cheap golf. We stayed in Mackinaw City one night and had jaccuzzi rooms, breakfast and golf with cart at Black Bear just north of Gaylord for the sum of $ 35.00.
We then stayed at Manistee National Resort, just south of Manistee, which has two 18 hole courses. Our stay was 3 nights, two continental breakfasts, and 72 holes of golf with carts for $230.00/person. A superb early season mini vacation. A long drive, almost 2,500kms, but well worth the effort and with gas on the US side at 77 cents/litre, why not!
We also played Hemlock Golf Club in Ludington and Arcadia Bluffs in Arcadia. Hemlock was in fantastic condition and had ragged edged bunkers and lots of huge waste bunkers where grounding the club and removing loose impediments is allowed. Arcadia is one of the top 3 or 4 courses I have played for scenic beauty. It’s a links style course with sod walled bunkers, ridges and mounds separating generous fairways, roller coaster greens and Lake Michigan views from every tee. For the $75.00 early season green fee ($185.00 peak) this is a track well worth visiting.
Although we had an early opening to the season in Thunder Bay this year, as of this writing we have had virtually no warmth and only a small amount of rain to green things up. Let’s hope by the time this hits the press we are in full “green” mode. Hopefully, all you senior golfers out there have tried a couple of the drills I provided last time and have seen the potential for keeping the swing in order. I am a real stickler for the basics as you well know. Your swing is as unique as you are as an individual. Whether you swing like Jim Furyk or Ernie Els you still have to have the best possible grip etc. to make the swing repeatable. That is the first great secret of golf, and the second is this: once you have a club in your hands you can hit the green with, hit one good shot.
The good short game player has a huge advantage over the average short game player. The short game is easy to practice, it takes little strength and is the quickest way to improve your average score. Think about it. How many greens did you hit in regulation last time out? I will bet it’s no more than 50-60%. If you could get up and down on 75% of those holes you can improve your average score by 4 or 5 shots. Give yourself this up-and-down challenge next time you venture out for a practice session.
From around the practice green chip or pitch and putt out 10 times. Set yourself a target score based on your present skill level: example, 25 shots would be a 50% up and down percentage, 20 shots would be a 100% up and down rate. Choose a variety of lies within 10 yards of the putting surface from apron to rough, uneven lies and short sided situations. Experiment with hybrid chips, lob shots, and running shots. Gain confidence around the green with several clubs to give you knowledge of what your options might be given the situation you face on the course. You will never tire of this challenge because it offers never ending variety, challenge and most importantly, measurable results.
Until next time, keep it on the short grass.
David Reid, Master Teaching Professional.
May 2010
Early Season Drills For Better Ball Striking All Season
In this article I will give you some universal drills that might be good for you to improve your ball striking and “train” your body to make better swings in 2010. Some you may know and that’s fine. Ensure you are doing them correctly for full benefit.
1. Feet Together Swing - with this drill simply keep your feet together with a natural flex to your knees and hit balls with a mid iron. This will help synchronize your arm swing with your body turn. It will also help you swing in balance. You may be surprised at how far and straight you hit shots with this drill. Gradually move your feet apart to normal width and get the feeling of being connected during the swing.
2. Impact Drill - this drill will provide that descending blow which is essential for consistent iron play. Take an 8 iron and set up normally, then go to the impact position with hands forward, weight on the target side, hips open, shoulders still parallel to the target line, head in line with the ball. Now take the club back as far as possible and hit the back of the ball while retaining as much of the impact position as possible and go to a natural finish position. You should get nice crisp contact and create a divot on the target side of the ball. Do this a few times then take normal swings and get to that impact position.
3. Release Drill - this drill allows you to feel the natural release of the club head by making one handed swings. You do not have to hit balls with this drill just feel the club release. Take your normal set up and grip. Now remove the lower hand and support the back of your upper hand and wrist with that hand. Make as full a swing as possible while maintaining the support, don’t let the hands separate. Do this several times until you feel the natural release. Grip normally again but remove the upper hand this time and support the back of the lower hand and wrist. Make as full a swing as possible, just as before and begin to feel the natural release again. With only one hand on the grip the release will happen, believe me. Now take your normal grip again and feel this release with both hands on the club. I guarantee this will reduce your grip pressure and give you more speed through the ball.
4. Step Through Drill (Gary Player) - this is a weight transfer drill. The objective is to hit balls and step through with your trailing foot almost like you are going to stride down the fairway. This gets your momentum going to the target. It should be a natural step. You should not have to shift weight after the ball is gone to take the step.
5. For those of you who are chronic slicers try the Split Hands Drill. By taking your normal grip and separating the hands by 2 or 3 inches you can be more forceful in turning the upper hand over through impact. This will help you feel the forearm rotation needed to deliver the club face more squarely into the ball. Remember that the greatest influence to curving golf shots is the position of the club face at impact.
See You On The Range
April 2010
Greetings once again to my senior golfing friends. It looks like we could have an early season opening as the 9 hole Dragon hills course opened a couple of weekends ago for some unheard of March golf. March golf, in Thunder Bay!
As we gear up for the season a pre season check of equipment is always in order. Look for wear on those graphite shafts especially where they may rub at the top of your golf bag. If you see the surface paint is worn off and you feel a slight depression, the shaft will be weakened and can potentially break at that location. This would be a good time to replace it with a “senior” or “regular” shaft. Remember that there are no universal specs for all shaft companies. One company’s firm shaft might be a regular flex for another company.
You also want to check those grips. If you play once a week, you should consider replacing grips at the beginning of every season. Many of you play way more than that so refresh those handles accordingly. It’s a cheap way to make the clubs feel new. If grips get worn and slippery you will be automaticaly increasing grip pressure and we all know that tension is a killer to your golf swing.
Proper warm up and some core strengthening exercises will always help in reducing injuries, maintaining fitness and ensuring we don’t lose too many yard to the new seniors joining our ranks. Leg lifts are pretty easy to do for stregthening the abdominals. Lying on your back with knees up like you are sitting in a chair and then rotating the hips bringing the knees side to side is good for the lateral abdominals and can assist your pivot.
Spring time is also a time to focus on the fundamentals. I know, I know you’ve heard it all before but you know them. Grip, alignment, stance, posture and ball position. These are the foundation of your golf swing but they probably don’t get the attention they deserve. When I teach a beginner, I tell them it will take 20 minutes a day for three months until the grip is consistently applied, perfectly correct and feels natural. The fundamentals we can change if they are not correct. It always comes back to fundamentals. Changing the fundamentals is what changes the golf swing over time.
If it’s time you had a fundamentals tune up. You know where to find me.
See You On The Links
June 2009
This week senior golfer, I pose this question to you. What do you think has made the biggest difference in todays game versus 50 years ago? Many will propose that the biggest difference is technological advances made by equipment and yes you would be partially correct. We have gone from persimmon, to titanium and composite club heads; we have progressed from steel shafts to graphite; we now have very forgiving perimeter weighted irons; putters have moved from simple blades and mallets to computer generated technological marvels of design, science and weight adjustable precision instruments. Golf course maintenance machinery and agronomy now provided conditions that would drop the jaws of long past champions in the sport. The biggest advance however has been the ball itself. The last 8 or 10 years there has been a ³new improved² Pro V1c from Titlest every year. Longer, straighter, more durable, better trajectory, more of everything for your game.
I was re-reading Ben Hogans first book, Power Golf this week. The book was written in 1948 and I have the pocket edition, first printing 1953. Now Hogan was a legendary golfer as you all know and won 64 professional tournaments including 9 majors, in a professional career that spanned some 37 years from 1930 - 1967. His second book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf is in its 64th printing. Power Golf however, was where he revealed his playing yardages for his clubs and swing. He provided a regular, maximum and minimum yardage scale for each club. The three distances for his 7 iron were 135,160 and 125 yards respectively. Here is arguably the best ever ball striker (along with Canada¹s own Moe Norman) saying his regular swing 7 iron shot was 135 yards!
Much of this development however has taken place relatively recently in the game’s history. To point this out, I look to the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. We still remember him right? In Golf My Way, first published in 1974, Nicklaus puts his 7 iron under normal conditions at 140-155 yards. Tour players of today are pulling out a 9 iron or pitching wedge from that range depending on the amount of spin they want. I think this is all the evidence needed to convince you that the biggest and most significant change is the golf ball, period.
May 2009
In my previous article we discussed the parts of the body and their role in the golf swing and I provided you with the “L” drill to work on the role of the arms. This week I can further your understanding of the mid section of the body in general. The mid section is of primary concern since I mentioned it must maintain the levels in the golf swing, that is the level of the head, hips and knees to impact. It must also follow the proper sequence and that is to turn-transfer-turn. I believe that training the body to get to the impact position is paramount to the golf swing and a drill which will help us feel the impact position will be beneficial in understanding its importance. The “impact drill” is designed to do just that. It trains the body to feel the impact position especially with irons. Use this drill with a 6 or 7 iron
As compared to the set up position what should the impact position look like?
1. The majority of weight should be clearly shifted to the target side and the leading leg is somewhat “posted” as a rotational axis.
2. The hips should be open to the target but the shoulders are relatively parallel to the target line.
3. The club shaft is leaning toward the target since the hands are ahead of the clubhead and ball at this point.
4. The head has not moved closer to the target than the ball.
Keeping your body at this impact position take the club back as far as you can and hit the ball. You should realize a lower more penetrating flight and get a sensation of really trapping and compressing the ball. You will definitely create a divot on the target side of the ball since you will be creating the descending blow required by the iron swing. Once you hit 3 good shots with this drill then make some full swings with one thought. Once you get to the top of the swing, get your body to impact.
This drill will also create the sensation of the lower body initiating the forward swing which is an absolute must for consistent ball striking.
Have you read the latest Golf Magazine? If so, you read about the “no back swing” putt, chip and pitch method. Can¹t say I will endorse that one! But, as they say, never say never.
April 2009
Last time I offered some advice on set up changes for the senior golfer to maintain the level of our game or at least assist us in doing so. Remember however, that these are not hard and fast ‘rules’, they are only suggestions that you can try.
Let¹s discuss today, parts of the body and their role in the golf swing as I see them.
THE ARMS
Provide Width by extension not “straightness”.
Provide Speed when combined with the wrist hinge and body turn.
Create proper Path for delivery of the club head to the ball.
THE BODY
To Respond to the swinging of the club.
To Retain its original levels and posture.
To Follow the proper sequence ( Turn Transfer Turn ).
ROLE OF THE LEGS
To provide a Base for the set-up.
To Resist on the back swing. (not restrict!)
To Lead & Support the forward swing.
ROLE OF THE HEAD
To be Clear to “see” the target.
To Go where the body takes it, lateral movement is acceptable, vertical
movement can be trouble.
To Stay behind the ball through impact.
So how do we apply these principles in the swing itself? Well here is my favorite drill to emphasize the role of the arms. From a good set up, get the feeling of fully turning your chest away from the target as your hands reach shoulder height. You should get the impression that your hands are still in front of your chest. You also need to have the lead arm and club shaft forming the classic L position with the club shaft pointing to an extension of the target line behind the ball. In creating the L let the lower hand feel more active and this will give a natural folding of the trailing arm with the elbow close to the body. Do this a few times and then hit some balls with this L drill swing, repeating the L at the finish of the forward swing. It may surprise you how much speed is created with this ‘half swing’ and you will really feel the hinging and unhinging of the wrists. At the end of this swing be sure to have the chest facing the target. This assures the body is turning in sync with the arm swing and good ‘connection’ between the chest and upper arms is felt.
As you lengthen the swing you will simply allow the hands to go above the shoulder to their full swing position while the L is maintained.
March issue
This is the first in a series of short articles aimed at the senior golfer. So dust off those clubs and start preparing for a new season.
Learning is a life long endeavour and as you know there are new and repeating theories about the golf swing in every monthly golf magazine. Most of you are readers so what golf books or magazines have you been reading this winter? Have you been adding to your knowledge of the golf swing? Have you resigned that your best golfing days are behind you? Fear not.
We seniors, including myself, must adapt our golf swing to the aging body that we inhabit. We no longer have the flexibility of a 25 or 30 year old but we still have plenty of game left in us. Don¹t get too excited by the new theories taught by the leading golf teachers to the young and upcoming Andy Kim¹s and B J Holmes and the “secrets” of the latest Masters Champion. Remember that the basic building blocks of golf are and always will be in the basics and it becomes more important to the senior golfer to adapt these basics to play your best when the season starts.
So, what changes should the senior gofer make to keep their game in shape.
1. Use a stronger grip. First ensure the grip is mostly in the fingers and then turn the top hand so that you can see perhaps three fist knuckles at the address position.
This position of the top hand will help to have the club face either square or closing relative to the target line at impact and help you hit the longer drawing golf shot not the weak high fade.
2. Close the stance slightly and narrow up the width of the stance a little.
The closing of the stance will assist you swinging from slightly inside to along the target line at impact and allow the hands to release more efficiently. Narrowing the stance will allow an easier turning of the hips on the back swing.
3. Let both your feet point outward at address.
This will allow you to make a slightly longer back swing which tends to shorten with age.
4. Place the ball a little ahead of center when using irons.
This allows us to shift more weight to the target leg and will give one the opportunity to make better ball-club contact achieving a lower more boring trajectory.
5. For the driver tee the ball high and forward.
You need to get your launch angle up around 13 or 14 degrees as your swing speed slows. If you are contemplating a new driver make sure it is a 460cc model with at least 10.5 degrees or more of loft.
Remember the swing is about basics.
Till next month….Dave