Connect with us

Instruction

GolfTEC: What it is and isn’t

Published

on

What is GolfTEC?

Until recently, I didn’t have a clear answer to that question.

I had the opportunity to visit a GolfTEC facility in Burlington, Mass., earlier this week to learn about the company in general and the way specific locations function, in particular. Having been in the golf business for several years, I was tangentially aware of the 15-year-old Colorado-based franchise prior to my visit.

My assumptions were, basically, that the company was what many golf franchises are: Profit-motivated with hastily trained employees and managers, willing to approve the franchise application of anyone with enough cash to set up shop in a suburban strip mall.

My assumptions were incorrect on every front, and I was incredibly impressed by the company, its philosophy and its practices.

For those as woefully confused as I was, here’s a breakdown of what GolfTEC is and is not.

What GolfTEC Isn’t

A method-teaching franchise: Although GolfTEC did exhaustive research on the swings of over 150 tour professionals and developed optimal ranges they’d prefer to see a player in at various points during the swing, individual instructors don’t attempt to impose any particular school of golf thought on students.

Staffed by unqualified, ill-prepared teachers: At the GolfTEC I visited, three of the four teachers are PGA professionals or apprentices. The teacher at the facility with the least number of lessons given still had over 3,000. Additionally, instructors are certified through GolfTEC training and must complete ongoing education courses.

A place that teaches the full swing only: GolfTEC works with players on developing all facets of their game. For example, GolfTEC has developed the g-Putt system, which uses motion measurement, video capture and biofeedback tones to analyze and improve your putting stroke.

More expensive than lessons with a pro at a private club: Lessons at GolfTEC are priced comparable to those of professionals in the area and typically range between $50 and $70.

A sales-focused company attempting to peddle pre-packaged lesson products: After an initial assessment, a GolfTEC instructor (or “coach,” as the company calls them) lays out a lesson plan based on an individual’s goals, which can range from 5 to 50 lessons.

What GolfTEC Is

A group of qualified teaching professionals with a formula for success: As mentioned earlier, the GolfTEC coaches are qualified teachers. Further (and far from being a mere gimmick) the company has a “Proven Path” to student success. The Path is quoted below, and as you can see its both comprehensive and holistic

The five factors of The Proven Path

  1. Fact-based Diagnosis: An objective analysis using video, motion measurement and a proprietary database of over 150 Tour players.
  2. Sequential Lessons: GolfTEC’s Certified Personal Coaches give easily understood golf lessons that build repeatable skills and lasting results.
  3. Video-based Practice: Learning rates are dramatically accelerated with visual feedback that positively reinforces new swing habits.
  4. Advanced Retention Tools: GolfTEC’s online Player Performance Center provides private 24/7 access to golf lesson history, past swing videos and practice drills that reinforce every improvement program.
  5. Precision-matched Clubs: GolfTEC’s unbiased golf club fitting process filters through more than 1,000 clubs to find the ideal match to each player’s swing.

Focused on the long-term success of students: Swing tips and an annual lesson with your pro are great, however significant improvement in golf (or anything, really) takes a real investment of time and effort. Further, an impressive 95 percent of GolfTEC students report that they have met their defined goals — not merely “improved” — over the long term.

Committed to understanding a student’s swing flaws and deficiencies and explaining them to the student: Not surprisingly, many students don’t know much about how the golf swing (or even the golf club) works. GolfTEC focuses on helping students understand and own their swings, rather than simply telling them what to do differently.

A legitimate challenger to the traditional teaching pro and golf schools: Given the instructional methods outlined here, and the comparable pricing, GolfTEC — with its Proven Path — is positioned to challenge the bastions of golf teaching.

You can visit http://www.golftec.com/ to find a GolfTec near you.

Your Reaction?
  • 32
  • LEGIT4
  • WOW3
  • LOL3
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP2
  • OB1
  • SHANK7

GolfWRX Editor-in-Chief

33 Comments

33 Comments

  1. Srhack62

    Feb 16, 2017 at 11:01 am

    I purchased 10 lessons from Golftec. Having a over the top swing & currently at lesson 8, I’ve been repeating almost the same drills over & over in the lessons w/2 to 3 times a week at the range. For the $ spent ($800). Am not pleased w/results & was not expecting quick fix. Currently have been using my iPhone to video my swing at the range, with some pretty good results. This is the 3rd instructor so far. Recently purchased The Orange Whip & have noticed some positive swing tempo.
    Being a 15 handicap my goal of getting to a 10 seems a way off. Since Golftec my driver is my enemy,luckily I’ve almost always had a decent short game & putting stroke

  2. Pingback: A Forever Home Rescue Foundation | Your Golf Game – Only Better!

  3. Jamie Katz

    Aug 19, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    I’ve taken lessons at a different indoor facility and at a range. Ryan Skoglund at the Burlington, MA GolfTec facility has been my best, most consistent, most flexible, and most disciplined teacher. He has helped me play my most consistent golf at my advanced age of 61. On occasion, he has showed me pro swings, but not to get me to adopt those swings–rather, just to show me aspects of the swing. He’s been flexible in thinking about my swing and has not tried to force me into a formulaic swing. There may be some GolfTecs that are not well run–but when they are well-run with good instructors, there’s nothing evil or improper about what they do, or how they do it. For me, GolfTec has made my golf experiences much better.

  4. JHM

    Aug 13, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    As a former GolfTec customer – i think it all boils down to the quality of the instructor. A good instructor can help you anywhere, and a bad instructor, even with great technology, can do more harm than good.
    With that said, I agree that GolfTec has incredible technology (hear it has gotten better since I left) and also agree that the last thing you shuld be worrying about is what the ball is doing when you are making changes

    • Steve Barry

      Sep 3, 2013 at 5:00 pm

      I’d agree with this. I got a series of 5 lessons as a gift one Christmas from my folks. I was down in NC and after the initial consultation, the instructors first question was “what do you want to improve?” I was taken back because he was concerned with what I was looking for in my golf game and not to impose his system/method on me. My response was I didn’t get a chance to play as much as I used to and the swing I had was very timing dependent. I could shoot even par or 85 on any given day. I said I wanted something more repeatable with less moving parts. Done.

      When I played a ton, I was between 0-2 handicap. When I went to GolfTec, I was a 7. After the five lessons (which I took on my schedule, over the course of 4-5 months), I was right around 4 because my swing didn’t take as much maintenance as it did before. They asked what I wanted, I told them, and they delivered. This was in Cary, NC back in probably 2008 or so.

  5. c

    Aug 13, 2013 at 12:32 am

    If you watch the average duffer at your local range they just rake balls and try to hit them well with no real concept of what they are doing with the club. I would argue that if you want to change your swing seeing the ball flight can actually hold you back. One of the best ways to make a drastic change to your swing flaws is to hit foam balls. The idea being that you forget about where the ball is going and concentrate on changing your motion. Once you have the motion ingrained you go back to hitting real balls. This fits the theory that there are two modes of practice.

    1) practicing real golf, hitting to different targets with different clubs
    2) practicing technique, hitting 100 7 irons in a row into a field

    Most people try to do both at the same time with little success

  6. JOL

    Aug 12, 2013 at 10:25 am

    After an initial swing analysis (purchased at a discount on Groupon) I purchased a series of 10 (?) lessons from GolfTec in Westchester, NY. The season had just ended and I wanted to improve over the off season. The instructor I had was a seasoned PGA professional that knew what she was doing. If you are a visual learner, the video system they have is great. They have both down the line and front shots, with playback modes in normal and slow motion. As a recap of the session, she also provided commentary on the video session that you can access via the internet on your own account. This particlar site didn’t have access to an outdoor driving range. I guess you can argue that not being able to see the actual ball flight has its pluses and minuses, but for me it got old after a while. The end result was that I was much more aware of my swing faults and have had some success at “fixing” them on the course. IMO, a combination of this type of learning coupled with on the course learning would be ideal.

  7. Josh Lymon

    Aug 11, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    Some of this is just copied and pasted from the company’s site… odd.

    • Fred

      Aug 12, 2013 at 3:17 pm

      More than “odd” – kind of a bold-faced infomercial parading as objective reporting.

      • Ben Alberstadt

        Aug 13, 2013 at 10:27 am

        The only portion which has been “copied and pasted” is presented as so and is set off as a quotation. I figured a regurgitation of the core of GolfTEC’s teaching philosophy in my own words was of no greater value then adding the Proven Path wholesale for readers to have a look at.

  8. Jason Burge

    Aug 10, 2013 at 11:25 am

    I purchased a 6 month program at Golftec and noticed significant improvement. I began as a 0 handicap and improved to a +2 fairly quickly. The best part about Golftec are the video practice sessions. Using the video during each practice swing is very effective since you know you’re doing exactly what you intend;ie feel isn’t real. I just wish they offered this service. Although, the instructors are great, I felt that after the 6 months of lessons, I knew my faults and only needed to maintain my swing.

  9. Carlos Danger

    Aug 10, 2013 at 8:25 am

    test

  10. MD

    Aug 10, 2013 at 6:59 am

    I took lessons at Golftec for the past 6 months, first of I ended up with the City Manager (PGA) pro wasted three months of my plan and the practice time I was shooting low 80’s before going there and went up in the 90’s then I switched to another teacher and now he has me trying to do a Dustin Johnson swing with a bowed wrist, it is hard as heck but if and when you connect and can lag you are able to hit the ball pretty straight but again if and when…I wish I never went, I have wasted money and this season down the drain. I can care less about their video and would rather take lessons from a pro at a driving range with an iphone camera at least I can see ball flight and make immediate corrections.

  11. Pretty Ricky

    Aug 10, 2013 at 4:33 am

    I took lessons at golftec. AVG of 90 to avg 82 in 6 months. I wasn’t forced in to any sort of mold, but was taught a swing that could shoot the scores I wanted. Like Matt said- I was way outside on my takeaway, so they showed me zach johnson taking his hands/club inside to show the difference.

    These are the facts – teaching and learning with video is way easier. Practicing solely at the range is a very tough way to ingrain your changes. If you do GolfTEC, you need to buy the practice membership.

    Talk to all the coaches at your GolfTEC, find one you like, and quit reading golf digest hoping for a miracle.

  12. Matt Newby, PGA

    Aug 9, 2013 at 10:33 pm

    Ben,

    Thank you very much for the review. I can tell you 100% that many GolfTEC coaches are faithful GolfWRXers.

  13. Mic

    Aug 9, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Not profit-driven? Puhleeeeze. That concept is anathema to golfers.

  14. Marty

    Aug 9, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    Have to disagree with the payment aspect of it. I am a semi-retired PGA pro and I’ve never had anyone sign a contract and leave a credit card number on file with me so I could charge you a monthly fee for however many lessons you took. While I never “made a commitment” (the instructor used that phrase A LOT.) to the GolfTEC plan, the way the instructor described it, it sure sounded like a method system to me. He said that after they take exhaustive measurements your physical characteristics are then matched with a tour pro so there can be a side-by-side comparison of what the tour pro is doing vs. you. I suppose if I wanted to be a tour pro this would be helpful but I don’t see how this helps old, less flexible, slightly flabby me. I already KNOW I can’t get into a tour pro’s positions, that’s why I taught.

    I will say this though, their video system is the best I’ve ever seen, and it’s hooked up to a Trackman. I would have gladly paid for the time to use their system. I hear that is available at some GolfTEC facilities, unfortunately not at mine.

    • Matt Newby, PGA

      Aug 9, 2013 at 10:43 pm

      Marty,

      I just want to clarify a few points on this. The payment system works a little differently than you described. We do not keep a card on file and then charge based on how many lessons you took. We do offer monthly payment options for pre-negotiated packages. For example if you purchased $1000 (arbitrary round number, not actual pricing) worth of lessons you would have the option to either pay all up front or for example pay $250 down and then 5 monthly payments around $150. This way you can spread the cost of your lessons over time.

      Secondly, while we do use tour players as comparison it is not intended to have you swing like a certain tour player. We just may use an example of someone who does the opposite move in order to show contrast. For example if you have an extremely “cupped” wrist at the top I may show you Dustin Johnson since he is so “bowed”. But then I may use a different player to illustrate a different concept.

      • Marty

        Aug 10, 2013 at 2:57 am

        Thanks for the response, Mr. Newby. I appreciate the clarification on the use of the tour player video. I will stand by what I was told as a payment structure. I never was told how much a lesson cost. I was told that after an initial evaluation a plan would be developed and monthly financial commitment would need to be made and a contract would be signed. A fixed amount was never mentioned and in fact, I had received a Golfsmith gift card for$ 300 from my wife for my birthday and I asked him how many lessons I could get with that. I was told GolfTEC doesn’t work that old way of charging per lesson. To this day I am still unclear as to what the fee structure is.

        • Pretty Ricky

          Aug 10, 2013 at 4:36 am

          Golfsmith and GolfTEC are different companies my friend. Can you use a Starbucks gift card at safeway?

          • Marty

            Aug 10, 2013 at 9:15 am

            My local GolfTEC is located inside of a newly opened Golfsmith. The instructor was willing to take the gift card for the initial evaluation and if there had been thousands of dollars on it I’m sure he would have accepted that as payment for my commitment.

          • Matt Newby, PGA

            Aug 10, 2013 at 2:19 pm

            Ricky,

            Could not help thinking back to the episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia when Mac tries using his Dave & Buster’s card at TGI Friday’s…gave me a good laugh thank you. I hope you are familiar with the show/episode I am referring to.

        • Ronnie Martin

          Aug 10, 2013 at 11:21 am

          Marty,
          You probably went to a franchise that us privately owned, that’s why they have Trackman at some locations and not others. GT is like any other business, it all depends on the instructor. The main drawback with GT, and it’s huge, is that it’s done indoors into a net, with no ball flight feedback. Positions are important , but without the feedback of seeing what the club made the ball do, you’re just excersizing.

          • dunfering

            Aug 10, 2013 at 12:59 pm

            I could be wrong,but I think all golftec’s have ball flight. the ball flight provided at golftec portland is better than being outside in my opinion.

            1. it is coupled with video
            2. it shows what actually happened at impact …your driving range pro still has ball flight laws WRONG.

        • Steve Lippincott

          Aug 21, 2013 at 7:24 am

          Marty,

          Golfsmith and GolfTEC are two seperate entities. You would not be able to use a Golfsmith gift card at any GolfTEC just like you couldn’t use it at Edwin Watts/Golf Galaxy/Anywhere not named Golfsmith. We give a broad view on the fee structure as different centers in different areas off different programs. But on the whole I would say most of my clients in the Tampa area pay around $60 for a half hour lesson with me, whether or not they decide to pay it all up front or finance it with me to avoid a trip to the divorce lawyer ;). We’re not hear to sell them into anything, we’re here to help everyone enjoy golf more.

          Appreciate your comments and interest in GolfTEC.

      • John Aiello

        Aug 14, 2013 at 11:15 am

        It was my experience that at the local GolfTec near my home that the instructor kept overlaying my swing with Tiger Woods in an effort to get me into the positions he gets into (in his golf swing). I am 60 years old. I am never going to have the flexibility of a tour player. I gave up after two lessons because I felt that the instruction was not right for me. I would never go back.

    • Thomas Howell - 20 year instructor

      Aug 10, 2013 at 3:23 pm

      I taught for 14 years before I ever heard of golfTEC and I sounded just like Marty before I truly became educated.

      Marty – The pricing and purchasing is simple. Pay up front for a predetermined plan (that includes X amount of lessons and practice time) or finance it, just like buying a car or house.

      GolfTEC does not use Trackman, WE use Foresight as Trackman is a doppler system that requires 40 yards of tracking range and costs over $20k. Foresight is available at all golfTEC’s thought on a limited basis, for a reason. All you golfers out there trying to “fix” something at the range in full speed motion are ingraining, not fixing. While golfTEC is not for everyone, just most, the results are undeniable. If you are a golfer that does not use video for improvement, or worse, an instructor not using video properly than you simply are not taking advantage of technology and doing yourselves and your students a disservice.

      Obviously I am employed, PROUDLY, by golfTEC as the Regional Director of Orange County in Southern California. Yes, we are indoors, in a bay, into a net, in AC, and intentionally taking ball flight away for a reason. It is misleading. Not only am I a 20 year instructor but also a competitive player and student. Like many uneducated golfers I struggled making swing changes because I focused on IMMEDIATE results vs. permanent change and root cause. The difference? Permanent change is hard and requires dedication, time, money and most importantly FACT BASED FEEDBACK. Quick fixes don’t last because there is no reinforcement and there is a reason that over 80% of professional golfers work with a Swing Coach: Feedback and Reinforcement. Do you really think that Tiger, Justin Rose, Rory, Hunter, Phil don’t use video to make permanent changes? It is a staple in golf instruction and GolfTEC provides the ability for golfers to use video to develop REPEATABLE SKILLS then we train our players HOW to practice on the range. Ball flight is important and so is quality range time and of course, playing. We (golfTEC) have no delusions about this. We simply build a fact based plan to meet golfers goals and if you are a former client that is dissatisfied than I suggest you look in the mirror first. No one is perfect and sometimes a Coaching change is necessary because of communication barriers or personality conflicts. I have fired myself as a Coach and I have taken over several times for another Coach. Also, I have taken 100’s of lessons, some from top 10 teachers, and gained very little because of a method being forced upon me or the Instructor not taking the time to ask important questions to get to know me.

      When a golfer feels they will benefit more from “traditional” instruction on a range, fine. That is an emotional response, not a rational response. There is TONS of data to support our Proven Path to Proven Results approach. Look up every top teaching school in the world and you will see glimpses of our business model but nothing exact as we own our own patented technology. Haney’s schools, Faldo Institute, Annika Academy, Leadbetter, etc. all use video, motion technology and ball flight substitution.

      As a personal Coach and Director of Instruction it is my goal to build educated golfers that enjoy the game more. It is not my goal to turn everyone into a Tour Pro but rather help my students set realistic goals and build a fact based plan to achieve them. This will require indoor instruction, range time, rounds of golf, physical and mental conditioning and statistical analysis that is relative to my respective students goals. Once my students have reached their goals I usually like to see them once a month (roughly) to maintain their games or, we set new goals and put a new plan in place.

      As I mentioned before, we have a business model and yes, we are profit driven as we are not a non-for profit organization. Our profits come from simply being VERY good at what we do. I will not go into detail but our Coaches make more money as clients games improve. We are success driven, not sales driven. Having said that, you must pay for our services. Our founders have created not only the best learning and teaching environment but also a business that rewards top Teaching Quality, Service and student goal achievement. We are not the cheapest lesson in town, just the best. We do not advertise pricing, neither does Ferrari. We do not make guarantees, just promises. We promise to match or exceed your commitment level but, please, don’t come to us with self-diagnoses, preconceived notions or a mentality that this doesn’t work. Over 4 million lessons taught to over 400,000 students in 5 different countries says otherwise.

      Bring us your frustrations, your golfing desires and goals. Let us show you how we can and will help. We will build a plan, make a time based recommendation of how long we would like to work with you and then you decide how you want to move forward.

      I love what I do and I am very good at it. If you are in Southern California and need some help with your game, come see me at GolfTEC in Irvine, CA or any of our facilities in LA or Orange County.

      • Matt Newby, PGA

        Aug 10, 2013 at 6:58 pm

        For Los Angeles GolfWRXers you can also find me at GolfTEC in El Segundo, CA.

      • Marty

        Aug 11, 2013 at 9:34 am

        Mr. Howell, with a couple of mouse clicks I can find out how much a Ferrari costs. I still have no idea how much a lesson costs and the more you guys talk, the more it sounds like signing up for a time share.

        • big meech

          Aug 15, 2013 at 2:58 pm

          its about 350 for 5 lessons

          690 for 10

          900 for 15

          1300 for 25

          something like that if i remember

          I did a couple 15 packs and dropped 3 shots on the first one and 4 on the second. really pleased with the video practice and my coach

  15. Jason

    Aug 9, 2013 at 6:06 pm

    I’m a pretty intelligent individual but I have no idea what tangentially means…..but I’m impressed with you’re vocabulary.

    • Boo

      Aug 9, 2013 at 8:45 pm

      Google it, actually quite commonly used!

      • Jason

        Aug 9, 2013 at 9:07 pm

        I googled it…..wasn’t used logically within the sentence.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Instruction

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

Published

on

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.

More from the Wedge Guy

Your Reaction?
  • 83
  • LEGIT13
  • WOW5
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP4
  • OB1
  • SHANK8

Continue Reading

Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

on

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?

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT2
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

Published

on

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.

Your Reaction?
  • 12
  • LEGIT2
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP2
  • OB0
  • SHANK8

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending