Ten-Minute Swing Changes

Quick Fixes To Save You From Suffering A Bad Day On The Course

The situation: You’re on the range hitting balls, extremely off line

and not very solid, with only 10 minutes remaining before your assigned

tee time. The remedy: W.O.O.D.—quick adjustments that Work Only One

Day, otherwise known as the “quick fix.” These “Band-Aids” are a

necessary part of the game and come in handy when you don’t have time

to seek out a long-term correction from your teaching pro. The key is

knowing what needs adjusting. If you choose the wrong adjustment,

things could get worse.

Align The Easy Way

Most of my students struggle with the slice. Many of these golfers have

serious swing issues, but the majority certainly possess enough talent

and an understanding of the golf swing to keep slices at bay. The

problem is they’re trapped into hitting slices because their setup

facilitates swinging on the out-in path to which all slices owe their

existence.

Swing Barefoot For Balance

Get In Touch With Your Foundation

The majority of recreational golfers fail to achieve the balance needed

to excel at golf or any athletic activity. One of the reasons why most

golfers don’t swing in balance is that they swing too hard. A rule I

like to impose on my students is “Swing as hard as you want to as long

as you finish the swing in balance.”

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 Best

Five 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. Revisited

Match 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 Work

Think 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 School

Look 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 Facts

Visualize 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.