Instruction
Take the coaching route to more successful golf
Above: Shankar’s Flightscope session was part of his coaching program.
I’ve thought for a little while now that the golf industry’s traditional paradigm for game improvement was flawed. I’ve been playing competitive golf for 23 years and I know that my journey as a player has involved a lot of patience, discipline and time. I was always learning and trying to improve, but it seemed to me there were so many skill sets to be mastered that there literally wasn’t enough time in the day to practice them all. To me, that is what makes the game so great – it’s a lifelong project.
For a while now, the industry has tried to convince recreational golfers that a new driver or a swing tip will be the difference between their current inconsistency and the golf of their dreams. The golf swing is a complex motor pattern, however, and improving it involves a constant cycle of solid information, guided repetition and feedback. Never mind that 70 percent of our strokes are taken within about 50 yards of the hole.
All of this is why I started to change over to a coaching model this year, and as a result I’ve seen more success with my students. In exchange for a client making a long-term commitment, I gave them a substantial discount and additional services. A key ingredient was an account on Edufii – the coaching app of the future that lets athletes and coaches track progress and communicate in a distraction free setting.
Above: The Edufii app is available for iOS and Android devices.
All of the client’s videos and notes are kept in a timeline for the coach and athlete to review whenever they want. I also use ShotbyShot.com, what I believe to be the most complete analytics program in golf, to track stats. As a result, my clients improved at amazing rates because we approached their game from a global, long-term perspective.
Here’s one example. My client Forest started playing golf last year and committed to a full season of coaching this year. Over the next three months we worked on his full swing, short game and putting. We had several on-course playing lessons where I gave him my thoughts on strategy and saving strokes. We also looked at his current set of clubs, added a SeeMore putter to improve his alignment and stroke, cut his driver down to 44 inches and got rid of his 4 iron. From April to July, Forest went from shooting in the 130’s to breaking 90. Twice. And he’s excited about the next frontier – breaking 80 by the end of next season.
I think a big part of my job as a coach is to grow the game by helping my clients improve as fast as possible. With all of the talk recently about the number of people leaving golf, maybe we can stem the tide by focusing on a long term and realistic approach that will help them enjoy this great game more, and by giving them a sense that their hard earned money is well spent.
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Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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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.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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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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Josh
Dec 21, 2014 at 6:22 pm
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TheLegend
Oct 28, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Hey paul Any recommendations for a coach that would use Edufii near sacrimento ca?
Chris
Oct 14, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Great Article!
Chris
Oct 14, 2014 at 1:50 pm
Great Article. I am excited to start an approach like this. I feel shorter more frequent connection with a Golf Pro would help my game immensly. Any recommendations for a coach that would use Edufii near Hartford, CT? Edufii really needs to make it easier to find coaches near you….
Paul Kaster
Oct 15, 2014 at 11:38 pm
Hi Chris, George Connor is a great coach and a good friend of mine. He is the Director of Instruction at Gillete Ridge and can be reached at [email protected].
Adam
Oct 12, 2014 at 11:37 am
This a great article Paul and spot on for me. I’ve been taking lessons for years and have stalled at a 9 handicap. Can u recommend someone in San Diego, CA with this teaching philosophy
Thanks
Paul Kaster
Oct 12, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Thanks Adam. There are two people who come to mind. Sheri Hayes is a fellow Proponent Group member and offers coaching programs at the Riverwalk Center. Her website is http://sherihayesgolf.com. Michael McLoughlin is the San Diego Director of Instruction for the 5 Simple Keys system and a great guy. His email is [email protected].
paul
Oct 9, 2014 at 11:57 pm
I think going from instructing to coaching is just a fad that our culture is into right now. In 10 years we will see articles that say “what we really need to do is give lessons! Then people will get better and play more”
Paul Kaster
Oct 10, 2014 at 10:42 am
Thanks Paul, but I think coaching programs are the future. I structure my programs to incentivize clients to come on a regular (weekly or bi weekly) basis because improving at golf takes regular feedback and guidance. It also puts me in control of the “curriculum” because I can advise a student on what they need based on long term observation and my expertise. With lessons put the consumer in control of what they choose to work on and how often they come for help, which is why they are not as successful at creating long term improvement.
Chris
Oct 8, 2014 at 11:50 pm
I’d like to have a coach, it just seems hard to find one. If you know any in San Jose, CA let me know
Paul Kaster
Oct 9, 2014 at 10:38 am
Chris, I recommend you contact Ken Helwig. He is located at the Los Lagos golf course and is a Dr. Rick Jensen and Henry Brunton Certified Coach. Their education programs are the best out there.
Dan
Oct 8, 2014 at 3:56 pm
I couldn’t agree more with the long-term coaching idea.
I’ve had a lesson every year for the past 3 years and I’m in my 4th year of golfing overall.
I have improved, but every time I go for a lesson the same thing happens. One old habit slightly crept back, and I developed a new habit that’s affecting my success.
Problem is right before each lesson I’m unaware of the new problem…thus just keep trying to over correct the main point of my prior year lesson. I think having continual feedback and checkins over a golf season would do wonders (drop 8-10 strokes) for my game.
Paul Kaster
Oct 8, 2014 at 10:28 pm
Thanks Dan. I’m glad you liked the piece. Remember that learning to play better golf is about technique (short game, putting and full swing) but also course management and emotional control. If you can find a coach who can help you with all of these things, you’ll really be in business.
marcel
Oct 9, 2014 at 12:26 am
hi Paul – great article. I am big fan of coaching and fitness. I have here in Sydney AAA+ coach George Serhan I cannot be happier with. Im 36 yo 5.9 hitting 7i 170 yrds; 4i 202 yrds. With fundamentals I learned I can apply more power and speed.
marcel
Oct 9, 2014 at 12:37 am
and I play PX 6.0 Bridgestone j38 CB
Paul Kaster
Oct 9, 2014 at 10:32 am
Thanks Marcel! I’m sure George would be very happy to hear that. Those are great numbers with a quality set of clubs! Keep your eye out for the new Bridgestone J715 woods and J15 irons. They’re really good!
marcel
Oct 13, 2014 at 1:14 am
BTW Brigestone clubs rules!!! I’m BIG Snedecker, Kuchar and Couples fan… once I hit Bridgies i did not want to play anything else! Looking forward to new Bridgies!!! Cant imagine they can improve anything on them… the wedges are the best things ever made!!!
Bleh
Oct 8, 2014 at 1:27 pm
“With all of the talk recently about the number of people leaving golf”
Those people were never really into golf to begin with. We’re just going back to the normal level where we should’ve been in the first place. Not a big deal. Golf is and always will be a niche sport for the well-to-do, a hobby for most, not the kind of sport where it will or should ever be as big as soccer. You have to examine how big soccer has become in the US and globally, especially for the families with their kids playing it.
Paul Kaster
Oct 8, 2014 at 2:57 pm
The municipalities and counties that have dedicated resources for decades to make golf affordable for their residents would probably disagree with you about whether the game is just for the rich. It shouldn’t be, and it isn’t. We in the golf community are aware of soccer’s succes, and understand some of the limitations golf has because of cost factors. PGA Jr. League has been very succesful (I’m the assistant coach for the NJ team that made it to the national championships this year). But, I hear from golfers all the time that not knowing how to get better is a big limitation on why they become ambivalent about the game. There are a lot of players who would put their time and resources toward improving if they trusted the results would be there in the end.