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Four ways to get your game ready for the summer

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I have to admit, I am very spoiled when it comes to golf and the weather I have chosen to work in and around all my career. Personally, I detest cold weather: playing in it and teaching in it STINKS. Therefore, I have always lived and worked during the winters in Florida or Southern California and the weather is always conducive to improving your golf game no matter what month of the year it is. After doing this for the past 15 years or so, it hit me that not everyone plays golf in the winter on green grass and in short sleeves!

As I type this article I am on vacation in Vail, Colo., where we used to spend our summers. It is 38 degrees outside and snowing and it dawned on me that I have become too soft. I remember as a kid growing up in Memphis and playing golf all winter long. The best time was when the lakes froze over and I wouldn’t have to worry about hitting the ball into the water whatsoever: it would just bounce to the other side. Sometimes, I could even gingerly step out and hit it back to the land without a penalty. This is what most of you deal with on a yearly basis. Therefore, I wanted to help you get your “summer game” back as soon as possible.

There are four things that you must focus on to get your game back that I want you to remember for this season (in no particular order):

  • Physical Fitness
  • Long Game
  • Short Game
  • Equipment and Set Makeup

Physical Fitness

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Now I know what you are thinking. I’m not asking you to spend an hour per day in the gym after doing nothing all winter long, but I am asking you to work on a few things you might have neglected that will really improve your golf.

  • Stretching: Please take the time to get on some type of stretching program that will “remind” your muscles as to what they should do to hit golf balls again. You can find sources like www.mytpi.com or google “golf stretching programs” in efforts to find a program that will help break the rust off of your physical movement.
  • Swing a Heavy Club: Now, I did not say swing all out or see how fast you can move a 10-pound driver. The goal here is to swing it SLOWLY and fully a few times a day. We are trying to loosen up and stretch your golf muscles a little bit at a time. At NO time do I want you to swing fast with a weighted club. Just loosen up.
  • Treadmill: Because golf is a walking game and relies on ground reaction forces during the golf swing, I would suggest walking on a treadmill a few times a week and gently working up and down inclines through various programs on the machine itself. We are not going for a new land-speed record while doing this; we are trying to strengthen your legs and improve your endurance. There is nothing worse than playing on “tired legs.”

Long Game

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Everyone wants to know how to get your long game back when you begin again, but sadly most go about it incorrectly.

  • Ask your teaching professional to provide you with a photo of the correct setup he’d like you to emulate from the front and down-the-line views. Practice this for a few minutes nightly so you can “remember” what you should feel at address.
  • Ask your teaching professional to provide you with a photo of the correct grip that he’d like you to utilize. Practice this on your chair while watching TV. This will remind your hands to do the right thing when you hold on to the club.
  • Next, go to the practice range or an open field and work on the following drill to re-learn “connection.” Hit balls 30-to-60 yards with a towel under your armpits with the feeling of everything working together. You want hit the ball solid, flat and in a consistent direction in regard to the ball’s curvature. It’s here that you will discover how the body, hands and the club works together.
  • Finally, when you can hit the ball solid again and have an idea of where it is going (it shouldn’t take too long), it’s time to to take a lesson! Seeing your teaching professional after working on your setup, grip and connection will allow them to fine tune your plane, transition and face-to-path relationship at impact so you can hit the ball effectively once again.

Short Game

PAUL LAWRIE 3 SHORT GAME AREA JUNE 2013

Your short game should be broken down into two parts: regaining feel with your pitch shots and then putting. The other parts of your short game will come back quickly, but I don’t want you to waste your time working on things that will repair themselves like chipping from a few feet off the green.

  • I would suggest finding grass that will perch your ball up so you can focus on hitting the ball solid first. Just hit a few pitches from about 20 feet to 80 feet. Your goal is to hit those shots solid and in the direction you want.
  • Once you can hit the ball solid, the next phase is to see if you can land your ball in a hula-hoop-size area that will encourage your ball to finish next the pin.
  • After hitting these simple half-in-the-air, half-on-the-ground pitch shots, the next phase it to back up and work these shots from slightly longer distances and repeat.
  • Next, work on your putting, however, do not work on short putts! I only want you to focus on long lag putts, big breaking putts and super-fast putts from across the green. It’s here that you will regain your lost feel from not playing in the winter.
  • After you can lag these three types of putts, then it’s time to take a short game lesson!

Now that you have honed in solid contact and feel, now you can work on your mechanics and short putts after you have had a refresher lesson.

Set Makeup and Equipment

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Are your grips slick? Are your wedges worn? Do you have a gap in your iron yardages? Are you missing a club or hybrid that you need?

These are just a few of the things that I suggest you fix before your first real summer round. These are things that you can easily be amended if you take a few moments to inspect your set and see a club fitter.

Don’t think you are good enough to make due without a certain club or gap in your yardages? The pros don’t, so why should you?

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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.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Break80

    May 29, 2014 at 10:57 am

    Once again, top notch advice, for free at that. I would say this is great for anyone wanting to regain feel, whether it’s from a seasonal layoff, a week layoff (like us floridians), even playing too much can lead to a desensitized feel of where the golf club is head, especially w/ the full swing. I think I’ll give this a go today to hopefully re-establish more feel in my game. Thanks for the article.

  2. Jeff Irwin

    May 27, 2014 at 9:33 am

    Snowed down in Gunnison, CO too but warmed up to 43 so got in 18 in the afternoon. Easy walking with nobody on the course. That speeds up the game for sure.

    • Tom Stickney

      May 27, 2014 at 10:54 am

      We played all spring long when I worked in vail. No one arrives until June!

  3. nikkyd

    May 26, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    I live 20 miles north of duluth , mn on the northshore of lake superior. I was in duluth today, top of the hill was 90°, and by the lake it was 75°.there is still ice on the lake and people are sunbathing on the beach already haha. Gotta love northern golf! Seriously, it looked like the north atlantic out there today

  4. Chris Miller

    May 26, 2014 at 10:11 am

    I would recommend against swinging a heavy club prior to playing. It requires a different motor pattern than the normal golf swing, because it requires a sequence and recruitment of muscles different than when you swing a regular golf club.

    As for stretching, static stretching before golfing not only increases risk for injury it will decrease your performance. A better alternative would be to include dynamic movements for your pre-golf warm-up. However, participating in a stretching regimen, yoga or Pilates program on days you do not golf help to maintain your flexibility.

    • Tom Stickney

      May 26, 2014 at 1:16 pm

      Anything is better than just grabbing your driver and swinging away for sure.

    • Philip

      May 26, 2014 at 5:45 pm

      For myself, I tried the weighted ring on my clubs, but didn’t like the feel and discovered it messed with my swing a bit.

      For stretching I used to do static (now only do yoga type stretching at home), but found I could still pull muscles and it didn’t seem to real help that much. For the last two years I have been doing a 10-15 minute dynamic routine and haven’t injured myself since. Plus, in a pinch I’ve found I can go straight from my dynamic stretch routine to the tee and my game is ready to go – I don’t need 3-5 holes to warm up.

  5. paul

    May 26, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Stretching, swinging a heavy club slowly, sounds good to me. I went to see a golf fit physiotherapist and she did a tpi assessment on me and gave me exercises to strengthen me weaker golf muscles. Gave me a physical golf handicap of 2. Now I have fitness goals to help my year start off better. Just shot my best 9.

  6. Cris

    May 26, 2014 at 1:45 am

    Stretching? Swing a heavy club? I respect your knowledge of the golf swing, but you’ve evidently stepped out of your area of expertise dispensing fitness advice.

    • Tom Stickney

      May 26, 2014 at 9:52 am

      I guess my exercise science degree in college means nothing?

      • nikkyd

        May 26, 2014 at 5:29 pm

        Tom, i swung e heavy club all winter long and i tell you what, ive gained 10 mph of clubhead speed and every shot i struck this year is effortless.and for the most part straight. I think it is a great tip.

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Instruction

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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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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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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