Instruction

Clark: The value of quick fixes

Published

3 years ago

Oct 30, 2021

“Quick fixes” have a certain connotation in swing corrections. And it is true that some teaching is done on the basis of band-aids. However, we have to consider that instant remedies have two important functions in all of our golf games.

Quick fixes can act as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding during a round

I have seen many, many rounds ruined because the player had no idea how to stop a persistent miss. When someone slices, shanks, or hooks the ball on the first hole and is still doing it on the last hole, it is clear that player did not know the cause or at least a temporary fix for the problem. He or she did not have the requisite box of band-aids. Without that, scores can balloon well past what they should have been.

Related: Clark: Beware of trying random swing suggestions!

The other value of a quick fix is to witness an immediate change in ball flight

We all react to the flight of the golf ball. Slicers swing left, those who hook swing right (right-handers), and so on. Swinging away from your trouble shot is a very natural impulse, and cannot be corrected unless the undesired ball flight goes away. The list is long, and every teacher has a bag of tricks to stop certain poor outcomes. You as the player need to access your own list.

Slicing as an example

Habitual slicers invariably swing over the top. Here are just a few examples one might try to instantly get rid of a slice: stronger grip, a good amount of release (supination, pronation), be sure the grip is very light pressure, well into the fingers of your hand, never the palm, etc.

I have never seen anyone who could not turn the golf ball over. It might go left to left, but that’s the point — let it. Soon, the player will do just what he/she has been doing: swinging away from the miss; in this case more out to the right or more from the “inside.” This will be a re-action just as over the top was. In my experience, I have seldom seen a swing change effectuated if the ball flight or outcome does not change.

This is why I take time to give my students an education in impact — what causes what! Without that knowledge, the best we can hope for flying by the seat of the pants is to get lucky. But if in any given round or practice session, one knows what caused what, it can be stopped in a hurry. Tiger once referred to this as “owning” your swing. You do not need Tiger-level talent to own your swing. More knowledge of what causes what will help.

Another benefit

Another advantage of being able to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding is staying present in your round. There is nothing more frustrating or distracting than continuing to make the same mistake over and over. The ability to “fix” any given problem keeps one in the game and thinking positively. The same applies to situations where a player cannot, under any circumstances, hit the ball into a certain area.

The classic example is water bordering one side and a wide open area on the other. The only way to make a big number in this case is to hit the ball in the water. Just knowing how to hit the ball deliberately away from trouble is a great advantage — but again, it takes knowledge of impact, what causes what in your swing.

I have seen more rounds ruined by players hitting the ball out of bounds, when they had an airport on the other side of the hole. Sure, you may hit it in the rough on the left — or even over to the next fairway — but you can save a score from there. You cannot do it from the bottom of the lake!

The importance of causality

When you are working on your game or with your coach, take time to learn what causes what in your swing. We all make poor swings, sometimes at inopportune moments, but you do not have to do it all the time if you can be more aware of how to correct an issue right on the spot. Sometimes, the biggest difference between an 80 and a 90 is missing the ball in better spots and knowing how to do it. The potentially disastrous round can be saved by playing away from trouble and having the presence of mind to do it.

Do not be afraid to go to extremes

If you think your grip might be weak, go excessively strong and see if the ball flight changes. You can always modify it later. If you are hitting fat or thin shots, try an extreme adjustment in your posture. You can always modify it later.

The list is endless, and this approach can be a round saver — at least!

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Instruction

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

Published

1 week 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

1 month 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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