Golf Faults And Fixes
Is your golf swing in need of a fix? Our top tips will help you improve your golf swing and take your game to the next level.
Wake Up Your Game! Sometimes golf just isn’t fair. Professional baseball has Spring Training. The NFL and NBA have training camps and a handful of preseason scrimmages. But golf? Well, it’s up to each and every professional to get their game on track on their own and show up ready to compete at the highest level. There’s no organized stretching sessions (Can you see Tim Herron or Phil Mickelson showing up?), no group mental conditioning, no preseason practice tournaments. Professionals are left to prepare by themselves. |
Caddy Knows BestFive key tips learned from a PGA Tour caddy As a golf instructor and PGA Tour caddy, I’ve seen my fair share of
golf swings, ranging from the sweet rhythms of the best players in the
world to the herky-jerky moves of the frustrated first-timer. Yet
despite the huge gap in natural ability between the novice and the
professional, I’ve learned it’s not uncommon for the world’s elite
players to struggle with a few of the same mechanics and
course-management issues that a casual 18-handicapper might face during
a round. The swings of touring professionals may be more advanced, but
nobody is ever really immune to the occasional swing flaw or mental
mistake. We’re all human after all.
|
L.A.W.S. RevisitedMatch your swing to your body type for maximum performance Not all athletes or golfers have an extreme body type. Instead, a great
number of players fall into the “in-between” category, meaning they
have a relatively “average” build with a solid combination of
flexibility and strength. If you have this type of body, you need to
develop a swing that takes advantage of both attributes, not just one
or the other. This body type is best suited to a Leverage swing. |
Swing Thoughts That Really WorkThink your way to a better golf swing now Old-school golf instruction is full of imagery that was originally
created to help players make what were perceived as the the proper
moves in the swing. In those days, many of the technical aspects of the
golf swing weren’t completely understood, largely due to the lack of
video technology that exists today. Instead, players mostly relied on
feel, natural talent and repetition to hone their technique and overall
game. Not surprisingly, the average scores of recreational golfers
barely ever improved significantly, other than what was delivered by
technological advances in equipment and golf course conditioning. |
Finishing SchoolLook at the end of your swing to find and fix hidden flaws Basically, there are only two positions in the golf swing: the address
and the finish. Everything else is a motion and, as such, difficult to
analyze. But the finish is static and allows for serious self-analysis.
If you know what to look for, then how you end your swing can give you
some good ideas of what’s going on in your motion. |
Match The Circles Good golfers give the impression that their forearms suddenly cross over through impact, but the swing is so fast that it fools the eye. What little forearm roll there is begins in the backswing with a gentle clockwise rotation of both forearms, a motion that reverses itself as the club swings back to the golf ball. |
Face The FactsVisualize slice and hook causes to eliminate them for good The precision required to hit an absolutely straight golf shot is so great that, for all intents and purposes, such shots don’t exist. For that very reason, every golfer is either a hooker or a slicer. You may only hook or slice a little at times, but your shots do have a pattern. Even the game’s best players favor a fade or draw. |
Flaws And Fixes 2004Cure common faults by getting to the source Even golfers with technically sound swings make mistakes due to poor execution or bad decision-making. But on the whole, golfers with solid mechanics are able to consistently play solid shots because their technique allows them to do so. |
Fancy FootworkA good golf swing begins from the ground up Just how important are the feet, legs and hips? Well, some argue that they are the heart and soul of the golf swing. In fact, it was Byron Nelson who brought us the idea of “flexing the shaft with the lower body.” Jack Nicklaus also has repeatedly said that the swing begins from the ground up. Then why, despite advice from two of the best golfers who ever played, does the average golfer try to “muscle” the ball with his or her upper body? |
Swing Extremes: Knee Action In order to deliver the golf club powerfully into the back of the golf ball, you must maintain a firm base with your lower body and create a powerful backswing coil. This coil results by turning the upper body against the resistance of the lower body. Good players facilitate the creation of coil by maintaining the gap between the knees on the backswing (right). They unleash the energy stored in the coil by closing the gap on the downswing. |
A Lesson On LearningHow to be a good student at your next golf lesson Why is it that some golfers improve dramatically and rapidly while others, no matter what they do, fail to advance beyond the level of novice? As a golf instructor who has given more than 10,000 golf lessons over the past eight years, I’m here to tell you why: Achieving successful results from a golf lesson begins and ends with you, not the instructor. An effective golf instructor can only do so much and is only as good as the student allows him or her to be. Hence, the first step to becoming a better golfer begins with becoming a better student. |
