Pitch Shot from Greenside Rough

25 11 2011

What if I told you that you did not have to be perfect to hit a shot out of greenside rough?  You would then approach the shot with confidence.  Remember Tom Watson’s famous shot on the 71st hole of the 1982 U.S. Open?  Bruce Edwards, his caddie, said “Get it close” to which Watson responded “I’m going to hole it!”  And so he did.  Obviously Watson did it under the utmost pressure as he was battling Nicklaus for the victory and he was tied with Jack at the time.

The truth is that although these shots appear challenging, they are not that difficult.  I teach a forgiving short game technique on these shots where you slide the bounce of the club under the ball.  If you maintain constant loft on the club, the bounce will slide along the grass fro 10-12 inches providing a huge margin of error.  Take a practice swing and you will see the length of the brush mark.

Next time you get this shot, follow these steps:

1)    Take a lofted club like a lob wedge or sand wedge

2)    Play the ball forward in your stance

3)    Weaken your grip which will help keep the clubface open

4)    Firm up your wrists to keep the club from twisting in the grass

5)    Hit behind the ball

6)    Make a big swing

Distance control will come through practice.  Your confidence will grow as you increase your repetitions. Give yourself different lies and targets to simulate real golf conditions.  You have the forgiveness built in to the club and technique.  Go do it!

Josh Zander


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Categories : game improvement, golf, golf instruction, pitch shot, short game, video

The One-Plane Backswing

16 06 2011

By now you have probably heard the term “One-Plane Swing.”  The term was coined by my mentor Jim Hardy and has become part of the golf vernacular.  In the past, the one plane swing has been described as a flat swing.  Ben Hogan is the most famous example of this type of swing.   In his book, “Five Lessons, the Modern Fundamentals of Golf”, Hogan showed us that great image of the pane of glass.  At the top of his backswing, he shows how his left arm is on the same plane as his shoulders.  In his book, Ben Hogan stated: “At the top of his backswing, his (the golfer’s) left arm should be extended at the same angle as the glass.  Actually, his left arm would brush against the glass.”  This is what Jim Hardy describes as the One-Plane Backswing.  In other words, the left arm and shoulders are all on “one plane” at the top of the backswing.

In my video, I have demonstrated how to build a one-plane swing.  How do you know if this style of swing is correct for you?  Get in front of a mirror and look at your profile as you are hitting away from the mirror.  Make a backswing and hold it at the top.  Now look back at the mirror.  If your left arm is online with your shoulders, you are a one-planer.  If your left arm is higher than your shoulders you are a two-planer.  If you are one-planer, you should study this video in order to make your motion more fundamentally sound.

One of the best methods of learning is watching great players.  These days, the internet provides us with countless videos that we can use as models.  My favorite modern day one planers are Hunter Mahan, Sergio Garcia, and Trevor Immelman.  Tiger Woods is a great one planer when he hits his famous “stinger”.  The one-plane swing seems to be a trend on the tour these days.  This does not mean it is the only way to be successful; it is just one way to play golf.  As a teacher, I make sure my students stick to the fundamentals of a one-plane swing if they are one-planers.  There is a lot of confusing information out there.  Some of it is right for one-planers and some of it is correct for two-planers.  Figuring out which one you are will help you keep things simple and enjoy great golf.

Josh Zander

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddz-Pxj5WTU


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, video

Trap your Wedges

3 05 2011

Trap it! No, that doesn’t mean put it in the trap. It means that great wedge players trap the ball between the clubface and the ground. The compression they create leads to wonderful distance control.

The biggest mistake I see amateurs make is to make full swings with their wedges and hit sky balls. Their distance control is too variable. The same swing with a 56 degree wedge  might produce anywhere from a 60 to 100 yard shot. This is not acceptable. After all, you are relying on your wedge to put you in range to make a putt and make a birdie or save par.

The reason for this inconsistent distance is because of the loft on the wedge. The increased loft leads to the ball rolling up the clubface at impact. This is much like what Phil Mickelson wants when he takes a full swing with a lob wedge and hits the ball 10 feet. Well, we don’t want this when we are trying to hit an 75 yard wedge shot. Tour players de-loft the clubface 20 degrees when they hit their wedges into greens from 75 to 125 yards. That means that they are turning their 56 degree club into a 36 degree club which makes the loft more like a 7 iron. The ball comes off with a penetrating flight and stops quickly due to backspin.

Make sure your technique is fundamentally sound with your wedges. First, make sure you keep your weight more on your front foot when you hit. As a right-handed golfer, I think about turning around my left leg. This guarantees that I will hit the golf ball before I hit the ground. This compression leads to very solid contact. Secondly, make a shallow 3/4 type swing into the ball. This shallower angle helps the ball rebound off the face as opposed to crawling up the face. Lastly, come into impact with a forward leaning shaft which de-lofts the clubface. This results in fantastic distance control. Never make full, all out, swings with your wedges. There is no need to. After all, if you need more distance, there is always a longer club you can use.


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction

Grip it and Rip it

23 03 2011

Before you can rip it, you have to grip it. There are so many ways to grip the golf club and you need to find the one that works best for you. My recommendation is to match your grip to your desired ball flight. If you like to draw the ball, you should favor a stronger grip. If you want to fade the ball, go with a weaker grip. The “old school” way of shaping shots was to make the same swing and just change your grip on the club. I heard Nick Faldo one time making fun of Colin Montgomery’s golf academy. I am paraphrasing but he basically said, what they teach you there is turn your hands one way to hook it, turn your hands the other way to fade it and somewhere in the middle is straight. Now that will be $1,000! Can it be that simple? That might me a slight oversimplification because there are so many other factors involved but the concept is very true.

For those of you who have read my blogs before, you know that as an instructor, I will only make an adjustment to a student’s technique if it improves the ball flight or the quality of the impact. If you are already hitting it solidly and straight, don’t change your grip! Just because it is not neutral does not mean it is wrong. Paul Azinger and Freddy Couples both have extremely strong grips and they hit it great. I hope they never change. The golf swing is a mixture of all kinds of angles and in Paul and Freddy’s case, the strong grip matches the other aspects of their swings creating a neutral impact and a correct ball flight.

I want to make this blog helpful so if you don’t have an instructor, follow these simple recommendations as to when to change your grip:

Make your grip stronger if:

1. You are slicing

2. You have thin contact

Make your grip weaker if:

1. You are hooking

2. You have deep divots

Your grip is your one connection to the club. Making a change can be a difficult experience. If you decide to make the change, bring a club into your house and do your repetitions away from the golf course.

Now go grip it and rip it!


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, video

Posture

17 12 2010

Maintaining your posture is known as an important fundamental to a good golf swing. I completely agree with that statement with one exception. It is only important to maintain your posture if you have a “one plane” swing. A one plane swing has your left arm on the same plane as your shoulders at the top of your backswing. This is more commonly known as a flat or more rounded golf swing. You can almost think of this as a baseball swing that needs to be bent over in order to hit the ground.

If you have a “two plane” swing or more upright golf swing, please do not maintain your posture! Your left arm is in a higher position at the top of your backswing which already gives you an angle to hit the ground. Bending over during the downswing will lead to deep divots. You should also stand more upright at address if you have a two plane swing.

When you watch a video, read an instruction book or receive a tip, make sure it will help you with your impact or ball flight or it is not for you. There are many fundamentals out there that apply to different types of golf swings. It is up to your PGA professional to clear up the confusion and guide you on the correct path. Next time you take a lesson, tell your instructor about your impact and ball flight. Armed with this information, your teacher can help you understand the fundamentals that apply to you.


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Categories : ball flight, full swing, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, video

A Simple Lesson Learned from Stats

29 07 2010

The coach from a top women’s golf program was talking the other day about how the detailed statistics from MySmartGolf helped one of her players in a very simple but important way.  This particular player was not getting up and down from off the green as often as a player of her ability should.  That could have been seen using any stat program but only a unique feature of MySmartGolf pinpointed the problem.  The shot tracking showed very clearly that virtually all of the player’s chip shots finished short of the hole.  This was a simple problem with a simple solution which the player quickly addressed.  As a result, her up and down percentage increased accordingly.  Sometimes we just need someone or something to help point out the important information and MySmartGolf can do that.

Most golf statistics programs tell you only what percentage of the time you get up and down successfully.  MySmartGolf gives you much more information such as where your short game shots finish and why.  This is the information you need in order to improve your short game.


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Categories : chip shot, game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game, short game

Do the Opposite to Improve

10 07 2010

If you do the exact opposite of what you are currently doing in your golf swing, you will improve. It sounds bizarre but it is absolutely true. I spend my day on the lesson tee diagnosing swing faults and figuring out what the opposite is to come up with the correction. I am all for fast results. I don’t believe in my students getting worse before they get better. If they are able to rehearse the opposite move of their mistake, they are on their way to improving their swing. There are many drills and exercises that I may prescribe but they all have the same intention, to get the student to feel the opposite of what they are currently doing until they get to a neutral impact.

John Jacobs, a famous English golf instructor, explained that the sole purpose of the golf swing was to make a correct impact and that the method employed was not important as long as it was repetitive. The bottom line is that anything you do in your golf swing will affect your impact. If your impact is too steep causing fat shots, toe hits, pulls, and slices, you need a shallowing move to neutralize it.  If your impact is too shallow causing thin shots, heel hits, pushes and hooks, you need a steepening move to neutralize it. The good news is that you don’t need to remake your entire swing to hit the ball well.

Those of you who have endeavored to fix your swing understand how difficult it is to change. You have to exaggerate the correction in order for it to appear in your swing. This is one of the reasons why video is a teacher’s best friend. The student may feel like you are making a drastic swing change, but when viewed on video, the change appears very subtle. You have to feel like you move a mile to move an inch. The body likes to revert to old habits and subtle change does not break a habit. If I show you what a correct position is during a swing, and you rehearse to that position, the change will come very slowly, but if I exaggerate and show you the opposite, you will arrive at the correct position very quickly. Fast improvement is a student’s best friend. I may show you what I want the swing to look like in the end so you are familiar with the goal I have in mind, but I will get you to that goal by making you rehearse the opposite.

The key to this process is to get the correct diagnosis of your swing fault. Once you determine what it is, the opposite move will get you to the correct position in the shortest period of time. Do not be afraid of overdoing the correction. If you do, it is a lot easier to get back to neutral. I like to get my students who slice to hook it right away. From there, hitting a straight shot is easy. Most of you have full time jobs and practice time is precious. This method will get you to your swing change faster. Get on the road to a correct repetitive impact!


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Categories : game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game


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