Instruction

Why golfers from the South no longer have an advantage

Published

9 years ago

Feb 9, 2015

It used to be accepted opinion that if you lived above the Mason-Dixon line in the United States, your chances of becoming a professional golfer were slim-to-none.

That’s no longer the case. New technologies such as Doppler Radar launch monitors — i.e. FlightScope and Trackman — can help turn inside golf into a serious range session, and studies that support playing multiple sports have changed the outlook that playing year-round golf is required.

Top-end simulators equipped with new-age launch monitors have created indoor facilities where players can work on their short games through the winter, allowing golfers from the North to even the playing field. They may actually have it better than their Southern brethren.

PaulKaster6 The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) recently released a report that said a majority of elite athletes play multiple sports well into high school. They also concluded that the love of activity and the love of sport were the two main reasons elite athletes achieve what they do.

If you’re a junior golfer training to become the next Rory or Tiger, it may be even better to play basketball all winter while having a weekly golf lesson with your coach, and occasionally practicing and playing games like Tic-Tac-Toe on a simulator.

PaulKaster2

In any case, it would be better for most of us to work on our swing when we’re not playing tournaments, rounds or worried about shooting a score.

Technology has changed the way people gather and process information, and this, of course, applies to golfers. Many of my clients say they enjoy lessons on a simulator more than lessons outdoors because of the feedback they get. The simulators now have the same features of a Flightscope or Trackman and give immediate feedback to the player in terms carry, roll and ball flight on a large, high-definition screen.

A friend of mine, Alejandro Duque, who directs the Costa Rican junior golf program, created an indoor academy in San Jose and spends much of his time teaching on simulators.

If you’re serious about your game, there are great options out there for winter training. The right combination of rest, recreation and preparation when it’s cold will help you play your best when the weather finally turns.

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Paul Kaster

Paul Kaster was selected by U.S. Kids Golf as one of the top 50 Kids Teachers in the world in 2017 and was named by Golf Digest as one of the top teachers in New Jersey for 2017-2018. He learned the game on Chicago’s only 18-hole public golf course, Jackson Park G.C., and went on to play Division I college golf, and on mini tours including the Tar Heel Tour (now EGolf Tour), and the Golden Bear Tour (now Gateway Tour). After suffering a wrist injury, he left the golf business to pursue a career in the law but after passing two bars and practicing for several years decided to return to golf to share his passion for the game and for learning with his students. He is a a level II AimPoint certified putting coach, a member of Foresight Sports’ Advisory Board, Cobra-Puma Golf’s professional staff, Proponent Group, and is a National Staff member with the SeeMore Putter Company. Paul coaches his clients out of a state of the art private studio located in Little Silver, NJ, featuring a Foresight GC Quad simulator and putting software, K-Coach 3D system, and Boditrak pressure mat. His studio is also a SeeMore Tour Fitting location and features a fully adjustable putting table that Paul uses to teach putting and fit putters. Website: www.paulkastergolf.com

21 Comments

BillJoy

Feb 16, 2015 at 3:42 am

It’s absurd to see how technology has changes people by making them a kind of robots!!! I dont even understand what is it like cheap golf courses when you can have it tete a tete and outdoors !!

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Andrew

Feb 14, 2015 at 6:01 pm

I’m guessing that the 24 people who clicked the “shank” are from the ‘South.’ Definitely nothing like actually playing golf but I do agree that technology (video, Trackman, etc.) can provide somebody with better tools for creating a god swing.

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Bogus

Feb 11, 2015 at 8:33 am

The south will always have an advantage. Sim golf, trackman, any thing that involves a computer…whether it’s a tool or something to “take you to the next level”, it’s peanuts in the grand scheme of things. Faldo hit a skinny high cut under pressure to win majors, the numbers on that shot would make a trackman coach puke, but it worked! It’s one thing to help promote the game to children in the north during winter, but if you’re expecting even a small amount of real talent to come out of there, not a chance. There are kids in India playing with hand me down clubs that would show you touch and finesse that can’t be taught in a dark room and a sim screen. This mentality is bleeding into so many sports now…basketball players are doing advanced agility drills that have no relevance to team play but can’t set a good screen or realize when to double team. I hope we stop the techy non sense before the essence that makes golf beautiful is fully lost. We already have lost many of our beloved playing partners to their cell phone addiction, I refuse to play with someone who uses a cell during a round of golf. Old is gold.

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- Beer and cigar guy
  
  Feb 11, 2015 at 12:17 pm
  
  Perfectly said
  
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- MartyMoose
  
  Feb 11, 2015 at 5:00 pm
  
  I use my phone for GPS yardage. Is that acceptable?
  
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bunty

Feb 11, 2015 at 3:14 am

one thing this website always delivers is an over zealous comment about a fairly rudimentary topic. thanks Steve.

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- Steve
  
  Feb 11, 2015 at 10:59 am
  
  Another thing this website always delivers is a comment that adds nothing to the topic, thanks bunto.
  
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  - Beer and cigar guy
    
    Feb 11, 2015 at 12:18 pm
    
    Perfectly said.
    
    Reply Report comment
Zipperman

Feb 10, 2015 at 3:11 pm

This article should be titled “Northern Golfers are at Less of a Disadvantage”.

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Never

Feb 10, 2015 at 1:19 pm

Nah. It’ll never be as good as hitting off real turf and going outside to play on a real course, hitting awkward shots from all kinds of lies, conditions, and situations. Their swings might be fine from training, but their overall game and touch will never be really that good.

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Duffner's Waggle

Feb 10, 2015 at 10:35 am

The Plight Of The Southern Golfer…..been sayin this for months =)

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1100687-the-plight-of-the-southern-golfer/

You could have at least given me an acknowledgement haha

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- Paul Kaster
  
  Feb 10, 2015 at 10:50 am
  
  Funny coincidence Duff. Opening day is right around the corner!
  
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Steve

Feb 10, 2015 at 8:10 am

The author is clueless that is obvious. Want to compare a 45 minute lesson on a sim to playing real 18 hole golf? Playing a couple rounds a week year round or hitting on a sim. This guy makes it seem that simulators are only in the north part of the country. Quess what in the south you can get a indoor lesson and then go play 18. In the south there are more sport options for kids to play in the winter soccer, baseball, basketball, lacrosse tennis, swimming, track.
Why do most touring pros live in warm weather states? If they could just hit off trackman year round? They need real course practice. Is indoor practice teaching real course management, bunker play, uneven lies, trouble shots. I will take the Kid that gets it around the course, not the one practicing their swing plane

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- Paul Kaster
  
  Feb 10, 2015 at 8:40 am
  
  Thanks for your constructive criticism Steve. If you focus on the USOC report more, I think you’ll get my point. We are learning that playing golf all year round is more likely a recipe for injury and burnout for juniors than success. Touring pros are not in the developmental stages of their careers. Children shouldn’t specialize until their early to mid teen years.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Steve
    
    Feb 10, 2015 at 2:10 pm
    
    You still make little sense by implying that kids that play golf in warm weather states only play golf. And that kids in Northern states play multi sports. When in reality more sports are available to play year round in warm weather states. And your title states why golfers from the south no longer have advantage. So you think it’s not a advantage being outside playing all sports, including golf year round? Where in the USOC does it say that kids in warm weather states will burnout from sports and kids in cold weather won’t. Is that your spin. You mention Tiger, what other sports did he play up into high school? Wow you must really be trying hard for people drink your kool aid, that there is no difference hitting into a net and playing golf
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Alan
      
      Feb 11, 2015 at 12:07 pm
      
      Steve he’s selling himself and his business just like every article on this website.
      
      Reply Report comment
Hellstorm

Feb 10, 2015 at 4:09 am

There are more indoor options for sure up here in the north but the places described in this article with all the fancy monitors are way overpriced and tough to get real access to. The golf-dome is a joke. The winter is terrible for the golf game but at the same time, it also allows you to take a break and spend some time evaluating the game from the mental side, which also seems to help a bit.

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marcel

Feb 9, 2015 at 11:28 pm

one day! radar and big room… and fun

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Chris

Feb 9, 2015 at 8:01 pm

Golf domes have been around forever. It would be interesting to see stats that back up your claims about “previously accepted” beliefs about the majority of pro golfers coming from warm climates. What about Arnie and Jack??

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- JT
  
  Feb 9, 2015 at 10:36 pm
  
  First golfer I thought of when I read that line was Palmer. The other thought was that there is no substitute for game play in real conditions. Would anyone say Hogan would’ve been better if he’d “dug it out of the range mat?’ Laughable premise, especially considering just as many legit pros grew up in northern states.
  
  Reply Report comment
other paul

Feb 9, 2015 at 7:03 pm

Its working for me.

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Instruction

Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?

Published

2 days ago

Apr 24, 2024

Shawn Clement

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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Instruction

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

Published

4 weeks ago

Mar 29, 2024

Terry Koehler

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.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

2 months ago

Mar 4, 2024

Shawn Clement

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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