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March to your own beat like Pat Perez

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One of the greatest success stories in recent years on the PGA Tour has been the resurgence of Pat Perez… you know, the guy who once tomahawked his 3 wood down the fairway on 18 at Pebble Beach. Personally, I love that kind of fire and emotion in a player (within reason), because it shows he truly cares. And let’s be honest, Perez is a fan favorite, a draw, and he’s great for the game whether you like him or not. I think he’s great.

One thing about Perez is that he dances to the beat of his own drummer, just like Grayson Murray and many others who have found success in professional golf. But that does not mean he is aloof or rude, as some may think, it just means he does his own thing when the majority goes another direction. I encourage golfers, or just people in general, to have a little more of this individuality. It’s easy to follow the masses, but that doesn’t always lead to success or happiness.

I like the fact that after his victory at the CIMB Classic he said that he won’t change a thing; he won’t work out, he’ll continue to have a crappy diet, and he’s unapologetic about either. And why change? He stuck to his guns and it’s worked for him.

This leads me back to the golfer of today. All too often we change to the popular club just because everyone else is using it, or get the hottest new set of irons because we see others having success with them. It’s important, however, not to follow a trend, but to assess YOUR game and decide what’s best for you. If you need to play irons with a little more forgiveness, but purchase a “players iron” because your buddy has them, this will only hinder your improvement. Also, don’t feel pressure to change out your 10-year-old driver if the new equipment doesn’t help much; at the end of the day, who cares how many sky marks are on your driver if it helps you find fairways! The scorecard doesn’t care how new your clubs are, that’s for sure.

The same goes for instruction, or your mental game. If you’ve found something that works for you, don’t look to the masses for conviction that it’s best for you. Often times, teachers or coaches want to fit you into a swing mold, or a mental state, in order to fit in with the masses. Imagine if a swing coach told Furyk to change his move, or told Pat Perez to become less passionate and eat better; maybe those players would not have found the success they have.

Remember to chase YOUR dreams in the way that suits you best. Combine this with hard work, and you’ll be the one laughing in the end.

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Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. UYNWARH

    Oct 30, 2017 at 4:53 am

    Salty salty. Everyone so salty. Haters be haters. Keep swinging Mr. Perez!

  2. Dave Doesitall

    Oct 29, 2017 at 6:58 pm

    I think it’s great the way Double P carries himself.. I’m pretty sure he could care less what anybody thinks. The great thing about him and this article is the fact your can carry yourself anyway you want in the good old USA… Sure their are consequences, but if you don’t care about them then whop de frickin do…If people want to emulate him that’s their choice. If people want to ridicule him, then that’s their choice. If people want to raise their kids like him, then that’s their choice. It’s time for everyone to wake up and accept all sorts of people and their personalities.

    • C.B.

      Oct 30, 2017 at 2:27 am

      You would know, you terrorize everybody here every day with your incessant nonsense with so many pseudonyms

  3. Jose Pinatas

    Oct 29, 2017 at 4:23 pm

    Amen bro… The conformists are dead!!! March to your own beat.. Double P is flame….. So many people agitated by people wanting do do there own thing these days… Man if you as a person is happy, then who cares about what others think… American way brah!!!

    • C.B.

      Oct 30, 2017 at 2:29 am

      Don’t you know it’s you? with your …… you just can’t stop using these …… dots……. huh? Just go away man or go see a psychiatrist in Hollywood, may be they can use your multiple characters in some Hannibal Lecktor movie

      • Dave Doesitall

        Oct 30, 2017 at 4:46 am

        Peace not war brah……………..

  4. Mr.X

    Oct 29, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    Pat “3-wood” Perez > Tiger “DUI” Wood

  5. TexasSnowman

    Oct 29, 2017 at 9:55 am

    I think PP is a spoiled jerk. Winning a few/many tour event does not make one a role model to be emulated.

  6. Tommy

    Oct 28, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    I forgot to mention the de rigueur Harley. You can’t truly be a tool like Perez without one of those. What a surprise. A custom Harley-Davidson, imagine that….so original. He tries pretty hard for someone who “doesn’t care what anyone thinks”. All I see is someone trying really hard to draw attention to himself, marching to the beat of every other tool in town. Not original Tom. I guess that explains why all the dentists, accountants, and realtors can’t wait to buy their “original” lifestyle, just like Pat does.

  7. Vancouver Mellencamp

    Oct 28, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    Lol at Pat Perez being a draw.

  8. Tommy

    Oct 28, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    Where have you been TS? ”Do it your way” “march to your own beat”, “don’t care what anybody else thinks”. That’s original? It’s so normal now that it’s boring. There are so many idiots like him around that the “conformist” is the original these days. Pat Perez is a rich, spoiled baby and you think he’s cool…good for you. I can send you to plenty of places where EVERYONE is like him; rude, boorish, profane, and not original…at all, especially trying as hard as he does to appear that way. Have you never been to Las Vegas? He’s like a cookie-cutter Las Vegas douche. You can go there and find thousands of PP’s there on any weekend. Wow, a 2000 hp GT-R. So cool, if you’re fifteen. Throw clubs if you care. Only on WRX..

  9. BIG STU

    Oct 28, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    One of the best written articles I have seen on here in a while. Right or wrong I have always marched to the beat of my own drummer in golf as well as life. I do things my way period right or wrong! That goes for my equipment too. Any one who knows me on WRX or in real life will tell you that. Some folks must have a boring life following the mainstream around.

  10. maxdist

    Oct 28, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    “One of the greatest success stories in recent years on the PGA Tour has been the resurgence of Pat Perez… you know, the guy who once tomahawked his 3 wood down the fairway on 18 at Pebble Beach. Personally, I love that kind of fire and emotion in a player (within reason), because it shows he truly cares. And let’s be honest, Perez is a fan favorite, a draw, and he’s great for the game whether you like him or not. I think he’s great.”
    ——————————-
    Tiger!! Where are you Tiger??!!!

  11. Isac

    Oct 28, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    Video of pat Perez tomahawking his three Wood?
    ?

  12. jerseychris

    Oct 28, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Right. Is Pat Perez using any 10 year old clubs? This sight becomes more and more useless.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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