Turn Practice Into Planning
Think about what happens on your worst shots… usually filled with doubt, fear & confusion about what your are going to try to feel. This always makes it impossible to commit to the shot and your body therefore does not know what to do. Hence the wild jumping seizures we have at the ball! Without clear directions and intents, anything can and will happen.
Ever wonder why you take a practice swing? What are you thinking about? Are you actually hurting your chances at success? Turning your practice swings into planning swings can give you a great head start towards visualization, target orientation & commitment… and therefore, success!
Let’s use the “Planning Swing” to help clear up our intent for our body… Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about technical thoughts and positions. I’m talking about creating a clear image for the body via visualizing the entire flight of the ball from launch to peak and into the landing point. Follow this to the end of the ball’s path on the green and you’ve now made a clear decision about what you want to happen with the shot.
Let this decision dictate which lofted wedge you will use, even the style of motion. NOW, as you make your “Planning Swing”, feel the speed of the head at the bottom as it brushes the turf. Connect a visualization of trajectory to this speed so that when you feel the correct speed it also corresponds to your plan for the shot. Step into the ball, give a last look at the Landing Point and when you return your eyes to the ball you should maintain a clear picture of the target in your ‘minds eye‘. Let your body react to this and you will find success in abundance.
Ever wonder why you take a practice swing? What are you thinking about? Are you actually hurting your chances at success? Turning your practice swings into planning swings can give you a great head start towards visualization, target orientation & commitment… and therefore, success!
Let’s use the “Planning Swing” to help clear up our intent for our body… Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about technical thoughts and positions. I’m talking about creating a clear image for the body via visualizing the entire flight of the ball from launch to peak and into the landing point. Follow this to the end of the ball’s path on the green and you’ve now made a clear decision about what you want to happen with the shot.
Let this decision dictate which lofted wedge you will use, even the style of motion. NOW, as you make your “Planning Swing”, feel the speed of the head at the bottom as it brushes the turf. Connect a visualization of trajectory to this speed so that when you feel the correct speed it also corresponds to your plan for the shot. Step into the ball, give a last look at the Landing Point and when you return your eyes to the ball you should maintain a clear picture of the target in your ‘minds eye‘. Let your body react to this and you will find success in abundance.
Perfect Path with Core Connection
I used to have a difficult time putting, specifically, getting the ball to start on the line intended. Although, the club face has the biggest effect on starting line, the club’s path can have a huge effect on the club face!
There are too many people who have their arms far away from their body where they have no support from the core, just flailing around. The core will provide support and stability and help create an excellent path. Think of this scenario as similar to carrying a serving tray out of the kitchen… clearly your elbows will be against your side creating the support needed.
Now let’s use this drill to help feel the connection to the core…. Stand vertically and rest your lower body against a chair or half wall. Please hold the putter straight out so that the shaft is parallel to the ground and then slide the putter towards you until your elbows rest against your sides. They should not be pressing into your side but kept soft. Now rotate your shoulders around your spine while keeping the shaft parallel to the ground. There will no longer be any tilting of the shoulders, only pure rotation. You should feel your elbows sliding against your core.
Next you should move into good posture with minor flex of the knees and a good hip hinge while keeping your shoulders back so you don’t get too rounded. Your arms/club should fall down to the ground while your elbows maintain soft contact with your sides. Now use the elbows and your core to guide your stroke to a perfect path!
There are too many people who have their arms far away from their body where they have no support from the core, just flailing around. The core will provide support and stability and help create an excellent path. Think of this scenario as similar to carrying a serving tray out of the kitchen… clearly your elbows will be against your side creating the support needed.
Now let’s use this drill to help feel the connection to the core…. Stand vertically and rest your lower body against a chair or half wall. Please hold the putter straight out so that the shaft is parallel to the ground and then slide the putter towards you until your elbows rest against your sides. They should not be pressing into your side but kept soft. Now rotate your shoulders around your spine while keeping the shaft parallel to the ground. There will no longer be any tilting of the shoulders, only pure rotation. You should feel your elbows sliding against your core.
Next you should move into good posture with minor flex of the knees and a good hip hinge while keeping your shoulders back so you don’t get too rounded. Your arms/club should fall down to the ground while your elbows maintain soft contact with your sides. Now use the elbows and your core to guide your stroke to a perfect path!
Sequence the Bounce
As you know, I’ve been focusing heavily on wedge play with many of my videos. Throughout all my sessions with players I’ve come to find the most useful drill for players of all levels. We began using it only for helping people to feel what it means to use the bounce, but have come to apply many different actions that occur with this.
Please try hitting short 5-15 yard wedge shots using only your trail hand…. right hand for rightys & the left hand for leftys. Put your lead hand in your pocket to give it a place to go.
As you begin swinging your arm and the club, you will find that the best results will come when you Allow the arm/hand/club to fall back to the ball in the downswing with the effort of gravity. Basically with no effort at all. Poor contact or balls that go crazy high will be from too much effort or ‘hit’ to the motion. Please apply this feeling to all soft pitch shots.
Now! Let’s take a look at what your body has been doing in the meantime. HIt a few more shots paying close attention to how little your lower body has been moving. If your legs are still moving, pretend they’re in a barrel of molasses. The legs are only allowed to React to the swinging of the arms and should never lead the motion in any direction.
Generally speaking, we’ve found that the better players need to focus on the body motion and the higher handicapers need to focus on the effortless gravity of the downswing, however, anyone may benefit from both.
Now go have fun making great contact and hitting those soft high pitch shots! Bounce is your Friend!!
Please try hitting short 5-15 yard wedge shots using only your trail hand…. right hand for rightys & the left hand for leftys. Put your lead hand in your pocket to give it a place to go.
As you begin swinging your arm and the club, you will find that the best results will come when you Allow the arm/hand/club to fall back to the ball in the downswing with the effort of gravity. Basically with no effort at all. Poor contact or balls that go crazy high will be from too much effort or ‘hit’ to the motion. Please apply this feeling to all soft pitch shots.
Now! Let’s take a look at what your body has been doing in the meantime. HIt a few more shots paying close attention to how little your lower body has been moving. If your legs are still moving, pretend they’re in a barrel of molasses. The legs are only allowed to React to the swinging of the arms and should never lead the motion in any direction.
Generally speaking, we’ve found that the better players need to focus on the body motion and the higher handicapers need to focus on the effortless gravity of the downswing, however, anyone may benefit from both.
Now go have fun making great contact and hitting those soft high pitch shots! Bounce is your Friend!!
Foot Pressure & Loading Drills
The image here shows the information gathered by our Boditrak Pressure mat. Notice the rectangle on the bottom which is showing 51% of the pressure on the left foot with the other 49% on the right foot. The rectangle on the left shows the foot pressure of the left foot being 41% on the toe and 59% on the heel. The right side rectangle shows 50/50 heel to toe pressure.
Notice the white dot in the middle which is your center of pressure and the white line is the trace or path of your center of pressure.
The drill discussed in the video has been extremely helpful for two problems in particular; sway and to much toe foot pressure at the top. In both situations the foot pressure is getting out of control and we are unable to load the trial leg to maximize power and control.
By putting a couple tees under your trail shoe, you will gain a much greater focus and awareness of your foot pressure. This can be a great introduction to using better footwork, balance, etc, etc. For this drill, let’s put the tees under the inside of your trail heel and as you make your back swing focus on smashing the tees into the ground. This will give you a much better chance of maximizing your load into the trail leg.
Notice the white dot in the middle which is your center of pressure and the white line is the trace or path of your center of pressure.
The drill discussed in the video has been extremely helpful for two problems in particular; sway and to much toe foot pressure at the top. In both situations the foot pressure is getting out of control and we are unable to load the trial leg to maximize power and control.
By putting a couple tees under your trail shoe, you will gain a much greater focus and awareness of your foot pressure. This can be a great introduction to using better footwork, balance, etc, etc. For this drill, let’s put the tees under the inside of your trail heel and as you make your back swing focus on smashing the tees into the ground. This will give you a much better chance of maximizing your load into the trail leg.
Posture & Club Fitting ~ Player of the Month, Keith Morris!
Congratulations to Keith Morris, who is our February Player of The Month. Keith’s transformation is a great example of how posture, and poorly fit golf clubs can drastically effect your golf swing. Without knowing if the posture was a result of the poorly fit golf clubs, or the golf clubs were fit the way they were because of the poor posture, both needed to be corrected in order to achieve the necessary changes.
Keith did a great job of committing to the changes and training with the K-Vest to really nail down the posture change with the newly lengthened clubs. He was able to feel taller at address, more athletic, and less weight/pressure in his toes over the ball. Once his posture corrected, Keith was able to make the necessary changes to his club path by ‘feeling‘ like his arms were “lifting straight up and outside” during the takeaway. It is very important to note here that what a player “feels” during these changes is what we really focus on, creating a very personal feel to achieve the necessary change is what players will latch on to and have an easier time repeating.
Once his posture was in a better position, Keith was now able to take advantage of his great athletic ability and route the club to the ball from the inside, it has been awesome to see such drastic changes and great results, both of which are attributed to Keith’s hard work and commitment to improving his swing and golf game.
Pitching Uphill to Front Flags
The pitch to an uphill green is a shot that we encounter fairly regularly throughout a round of golf, not only here at Oakmont but at courses everywhere. This shot can become extremely simple if played the correct way with the appropriate club. The first key to navigating this shot is to choose the correct club… since you’re likely on an uphill slope you won’t need to automatically reach for the lob wedge as the slope you’re on will add loft to the chosen club. As seen in the video, a nice soft shot was hit with a very simple motion using a 54 degree wedge.
The second key is understanding that you do not have to hit a spectacular flop shot in this situation, even to a front pin placement. Try to keep the motion as simple and easy as possible, just as you would a standard pitch shot. We like to see a fairly quiet lower body, and limited wrist and hand motion for these shots, allowing the momentum of the club to control the downswing. I consider it a successful round if I never have to try the risky flop shot, the odds just aren’t in anyone’s favor!
The second key is understanding that you do not have to hit a spectacular flop shot in this situation, even to a front pin placement. Try to keep the motion as simple and easy as possible, just as you would a standard pitch shot. We like to see a fairly quiet lower body, and limited wrist and hand motion for these shots, allowing the momentum of the club to control the downswing. I consider it a successful round if I never have to try the risky flop shot, the odds just aren’t in anyone’s favor!
Lastly, try to use the slopes on the green to your advantage, look for slopes that can help you funnel the ball towards the hole. Your best option may not always be going directly at the flag. Here on the 4th green we used the slope to the left of the flag to help us funnel the ball towards the hole, avoiding the right side of the green where the backside of the bunker would have kicked the ball away from the hole.
As with all shots in golf, select the shot or technique that is easiest for you to commit to and therefore execute successfully!
How to Putt Super Fast Greens
This time of the year in Southern California we are fortunate enough to see some of the fastest and purest putting surfaces which creates fun and exciting playing conditions. These speeds require some changes in the way you navigate yourself around the golf course in order to; make sure to stay below the hole, judge the release of your chip shots, and perhaps the most important of all… adjusting your putting lines to match the speed of the greens.
It is important to note a few things while making these changes; acknowledging that although the greens are extremely quick the ball will actually be taking more time to get to the hole, therefore allowing the putt to break more. Equally important is remembering that a putt will break the most at it slows down which is why you’ll see the majority of the break during the last third of the distance. So make sure to allow for more time and therefore more break to give yourself the best chance at holing putts on fast greens.
When reading downhill or side hill putts, be sure to look for what we call “the fall line”. This line is the true downward direction of the slope, the point at which the putt rolls absolutely straight downhill. When you can determine this, as shown in the video, you can work backwards from the fall line to your ball and use it to funnel your ball into the hole.
As the weather gets colder and the greens continue to speed up, use this knowledge to give yourself an advantage on the greens and make more putts!
It is important to note a few things while making these changes; acknowledging that although the greens are extremely quick the ball will actually be taking more time to get to the hole, therefore allowing the putt to break more. Equally important is remembering that a putt will break the most at it slows down which is why you’ll see the majority of the break during the last third of the distance. So make sure to allow for more time and therefore more break to give yourself the best chance at holing putts on fast greens.
When reading downhill or side hill putts, be sure to look for what we call “the fall line”. This line is the true downward direction of the slope, the point at which the putt rolls absolutely straight downhill. When you can determine this, as shown in the video, you can work backwards from the fall line to your ball and use it to funnel your ball into the hole.
As the weather gets colder and the greens continue to speed up, use this knowledge to give yourself an advantage on the greens and make more putts!
Hit Straighter Drives with Gear Effect & Spin Axis
Spin Axis (right handers)
It is incredible the effect ball contact has on shot shape, and knowing this can help you understand why a ball flies the way it does!
We must first understand what happens with the ball that creates shot shape… Although some of you may have heard in the past that a ball has backspin and side-spin, but this notion is incorrect. A ball may only spin in one direction and will do so around around a lone axis. Think of a rod running through the center of a ball and the ball will spin around this rod.
It is the tilting of this spin axis that causes a ball to curve in different directions. A great visual is to imagine an airplane’s wings as it banks into a turn… as they tilt to one side, the airplane’s flight will slide off in that direction. This is the exact same concept with the golf ball’s spin axis.
The red/white circle is the Center of Gravity for Gear Effect
Although the orientations of club face and path at impact have a great effect on spin axis, the gear effect can often override or enhance these effects! When the ball contacts the face somewhere other than the Center of Gravity, it causes the face to change its orientation; Toe impact will cause the club face to open and heel impact will cause the face to close. The opening & closing of the face is what affects the spin axis. This is because during impact, the ball and face are connected like two gears.
For a great visual aid, please make a fist with both hands and connect your knuckles like gears. As you push both gears away from you, your right hand will turn to the right and your left hand will turn toward the left. This is toe contact causing the spin axis to tilt towards a draw. Now try pulling your gears/hands towards you to help grasp the concept of heel contact and a fade spin axis.
What’s the big ‘Take’ from this? If you are working on your driver, you Must know where the ball is contacting the face in order to have the correct fix! Please pick up some Dr. Scholls foot spray to use for finding out where you make contact.
For a great visual aid, please make a fist with both hands and connect your knuckles like gears. As you push both gears away from you, your right hand will turn to the right and your left hand will turn toward the left. This is toe contact causing the spin axis to tilt towards a draw. Now try pulling your gears/hands towards you to help grasp the concept of heel contact and a fade spin axis.
What’s the big ‘Take’ from this? If you are working on your driver, you Must know where the ball is contacting the face in order to have the correct fix! Please pick up some Dr. Scholls foot spray to use for finding out where you make contact.
What is Guided Practice?
Guided practice is the most efficient way to spend your time on the practice field accomplishing your goals. Remember this… if we all were doing what we ‘felt’, then we’d all be Jordan Speith! So how do we get into these funky swing moves? Since what we feel is rarely what we do, if something goes wrong, we will find a way to correct the issue without knowing if this new ‘fix’ is going to cause additional problems. It’s then quite plausible that when the new problem pops up that we will find a new ‘fix’ thereby creating additional problems.
This searching fix for one minor issue has now caused many different problems when all we really needed was a coach’s eye for the first problem!
Guided practice is one of the biggest components of our programs because it helps ensure that you are continuing to work with the correct feeling. It also allows us to insert ‘game like’ challenges into your practice habits. These challenges are very much like the skills tests often found in the tv show, The Big Break. The pressure applied to the game and brain in these skills test will help develop your new skills faster so that they may be applied to the golf course.
In our new Guided Practice program, we will be relying heavily on skills tests to direct your practice focus and then validate your progress. For instance; we recently did a skills test for a player with their distance wedges from 100 yards. During this we noted that the player consistently missed their shots to the right of the target so we spent 15 minutes of block practice working on a fix for the right miss. This was followed up by another skills test with the exact same parameters where the player scored a much higher point total, thereby showing the player they’d practiced the correct things and proving that they could take this new skill to the course with confidence!
This searching fix for one minor issue has now caused many different problems when all we really needed was a coach’s eye for the first problem!
Guided practice is one of the biggest components of our programs because it helps ensure that you are continuing to work with the correct feeling. It also allows us to insert ‘game like’ challenges into your practice habits. These challenges are very much like the skills tests often found in the tv show, The Big Break. The pressure applied to the game and brain in these skills test will help develop your new skills faster so that they may be applied to the golf course.
In our new Guided Practice program, we will be relying heavily on skills tests to direct your practice focus and then validate your progress. For instance; we recently did a skills test for a player with their distance wedges from 100 yards. During this we noted that the player consistently missed their shots to the right of the target so we spent 15 minutes of block practice working on a fix for the right miss. This was followed up by another skills test with the exact same parameters where the player scored a much higher point total, thereby showing the player they’d practiced the correct things and proving that they could take this new skill to the course with confidence!
Player of The Month ~ Justin Mooney Wedges
Having a great wedge game can be the saving grace for those days when your swing just isn’t quite right. A bad miss is still a par when you can get it up and down from inside a trash can!
Let’s go over a few of the keys to a great wedge game starting with the setup.
Too many people will put the ball back in their stance which will cause the club to come into the ball with a steep angle of attack. This will lead to chunks & skulls. Please put your ball position, at worst, in the middle but certainly favoring further forward.
Let’s also take a look at where your sternum points (imagine a laser shooting out of your chest.) at address as this will be where the ‘low’ point of your club arc contacts the ground. If this point is behind the ball you’re in for a tough go of it. Please set this sternum point roughly 6″-8″ ahead of the ball.
Although your weight distribution should be very balanced at address, some people may need to put more weight on their lead foot to compensate for some of their tendencies. One of our swing keys is to keep the lower body extremely stable, therefore, we don’t want to get too off kilter with weight distribution.
The overall swing motion of the pitch shot is almost the opposite as that of a full swing… In the full swing you want the lower body leading the entire downswing, however, in a pitching motion the downswing should be lead with the club and upper body. You may feel as though the club and arms begin the downswing with a ‘gravity falling back to the ground’ type of feeling… allowing the lower body to merely ‘respond’ or ‘react’ to the motion of the upper body and club. You may even ‘feel’ like the lower body only moves when the upper body(through rotation) pulls the lower body through the shot.
As always, feelings can have different affects on different people, depending on their current tendencies. Please check out the video of Justin Mooney for a more accurate view of what actually happens. It’s only through lots of experience that you see how evident that what we ‘feel’ is not always what we are actually ‘doing’. Justin has done a great job of mastering the low spinner shot which has turned his wedge game into a serious strength and a leg up on the competition!
Let’s go over a few of the keys to a great wedge game starting with the setup.
Too many people will put the ball back in their stance which will cause the club to come into the ball with a steep angle of attack. This will lead to chunks & skulls. Please put your ball position, at worst, in the middle but certainly favoring further forward.
Let’s also take a look at where your sternum points (imagine a laser shooting out of your chest.) at address as this will be where the ‘low’ point of your club arc contacts the ground. If this point is behind the ball you’re in for a tough go of it. Please set this sternum point roughly 6″-8″ ahead of the ball.
Although your weight distribution should be very balanced at address, some people may need to put more weight on their lead foot to compensate for some of their tendencies. One of our swing keys is to keep the lower body extremely stable, therefore, we don’t want to get too off kilter with weight distribution.
The overall swing motion of the pitch shot is almost the opposite as that of a full swing… In the full swing you want the lower body leading the entire downswing, however, in a pitching motion the downswing should be lead with the club and upper body. You may feel as though the club and arms begin the downswing with a ‘gravity falling back to the ground’ type of feeling… allowing the lower body to merely ‘respond’ or ‘react’ to the motion of the upper body and club. You may even ‘feel’ like the lower body only moves when the upper body(through rotation) pulls the lower body through the shot.
As always, feelings can have different affects on different people, depending on their current tendencies. Please check out the video of Justin Mooney for a more accurate view of what actually happens. It’s only through lots of experience that you see how evident that what we ‘feel’ is not always what we are actually ‘doing’. Justin has done a great job of mastering the low spinner shot which has turned his wedge game into a serious strength and a leg up on the competition!
