Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘impact’

The Deserving Champion

Here are a few of my thoughts after witnessing the PGA Championship:

• Martin Kaymer played like a champion and he thoroughly deserved the title. Don’t forget the up and down on the 72nd hole he had, not to mention the stunning two he made at 17 in the playoff. I love to see talented, hard working youngsters breaking through. Well done Martin, Louis and Graeme!
• You would think the PGA of America could have one of their 28,000 members to follow the final group so as to avoid what happened on the 72nd hole. I do not blame anybody for the incident and it is certainly Dustin Johnson’s responsibility to know where he is playing from, but let’s have a little foresight here….

See the bunker....?

• Whistling Straits has more bunkers than all the courses in Africa (not a true statement, but it just might!) and it needs to get pushed off the edge of Wisconsin and into the lake! In fact while they’re at it they can push another future PGA site, The Ocean Course at Kiawah into the ocean too. The last time I checked golf was meant to be fun and you couldn’t pay me enough to play those two courses in particular. They are both horrible!

• How about this picture posted at PGA.com of some kids building sand castles in a bunker! How many majors will this ever happen at? I guess that’s what happens when you have 1000 too many bunkers.

Bunker Play.....

• Poor Nick Watney – what started as such a promising day turned into a demoralizing experience. I hope he can come back from this.
• Dustin Johnson is a tough kid and I believe his 72nd hole nightmare will only steel his attitude towards greater heights. I firmly believe he will come back better than ever from this.
• I like the way Bubba played the playoff, but he simply must opt to miss long on the final hole versus a shot that has the potential to be short – especially since Kaymer had a poor lie in the rough.
• For all the focus on Tiger I don’t believe he seems to be swinging any better YET. Every time I saw him on day 4 he finished with his right shoulder high from the clubhead being trapped behind him and seemed as wild as ever. I do think his change to Sean Foley is an excellent choice and he will get better under his guidance. And no Sean Foley is not a Stack and Tilter, just an instructor who understands that all swings are unique unto the individual and everything in the swing should be directed around impact.

• A little insider info is that Tiger called up Foley right after he and Hank parted ways and asked Foley to drop all his other students (notably Mahan and O’Hair) and start teaching only him. Foley said, “Thanks, but no thanks!”
• I’m sure it’s just me, but the PGA Championship is really starting to feel like the fifth major – and there are only four! It just does not appeal to me in the unique manner each of the other three majors do. Anybody up for starting a petition for only three majors?

View the HD video lesson HERE

 The speedchain is a tremendous teaching and training aid for just about any golfer looking to get a sense for what the body should be doing throughout the golf swing. And by now you should all know I am a big fan of getting the body to work correctly. While it may not be the easiest aid to use and “operate” it is superb at communicating the feel of the transition and downswing.

Ben Hogan has long been admired for his dynamic golf swing and the effortless ease with which he drove his weight up onto his front foot.  It often looked like he was “cracking a whip” when he swung a club. Training with the speedchain will get you to sense the hip drive and weight shift - just prior to – the arms and the club completing the back swing. A necessity for delivering maximum power and snap into the back of the ball.

The speedchain is made up of a sturdy grip attched to a length (20′) of chain where the links get bigger and heavier as they extend out away from the grip. The weight of the chain forces the body to work as efficiently (correctly!) as possible. I would recommend using or purchasing the XX Strong Model (for all golfers) as the heavier chain limits the amount of whipping in the terminal end of the chain – it just seems a little safer.

Here’s a teaching/training aid that is guaranteed to help your swing and as a bonus it offers an excellent core workout as well - I cannot recommend it enough!

FYI – I am in no way affiliated with the manufacturing or selling of the speedchain.

 For more information on Speedchains and purchasing click HERE

View the HD video lesson HERE

Correct Foot Action through Impact

Correct foot action throughout the golf swing is indicative of a body that is working well. A body that works well will create the opportune space necessary for the arms and the club to get into the slot – the delivery point where the club has virtually no choice but to do the right thing through impact.

Here is breakdown of what to look for:

As the club gets into the delivery position the outside of the back foot raises up off the ground – it banks in towards the target. The heel should not be coming off the ground at this point. The foot works in this fashion due to the forward, sliding/driving motion in the hips.

At impact the heel should start to roll off the ground due to the fact that the hips have driven as far forward as they can and now they have started to rotate. It is this rotation, and only this rotation, that gets the heel to begin ascending.

Into the finish the foot is fully rolled up onto the toe due to the hips fully facing the target. Because the hips drive to the target to start the downswing and rotate to the target to finish the swing the heel on the back foot will never move away from the target.

Here is a very good drill to give any golfer a greater awareness of what the feet are doing throughout the swing. This drill will not only improve your footwork, but also how you shift and transfer your weight throughout the swing. Here it is:

The Bottle/Heel Drill

 If executed correctly the finish should look like this with the bottle still standing due to the proper “bank and roll” action of the back foot.

A Square Face at the Top

It is important to understand that the angle of the clubface will influence a golfers’ ability to get into a proper impact position.  Athletic instinct will always compensate in order to position the face squarely (or as squarely as possible!) at contact. Thus, a square clubface will allow any golfer to naturally assume a world class impact!

There are three good check points that occur prior to impact to observe the position of the clubface.  As these check points get closer to impact they tend to have a greater effect not only on the impact position, but also the outcome of the shot. Here they are:

Going up:

An Open Face

- Here the face is looking more towards the sky than is optimal

Ideally the clubface should be vertical to slightly tilted down here with the clubhead covering the hands.

A Closed Face

- In this situation the clubhead has lagged a little behind the hands and arms with a slight “draggy” start to the swing 

-The arms are moving in and close to the body as the handle stays inside the clubhead

At the top of the backswing:

An Open Face at the Top

- Also notice the cupping in the back of the left wrist

A Closed Face at the Top

- The left wrist position is quite flat and may even become bowed

Coming down:

Open Face Approaching Impact

 - The weight will invariably stay back as the golfer tries to position the body to aid in squaring the face

Closed Face Approaching Impact

-There must be a loss of body angles through the hit in an attempt to deter the face from flipping closed

-Practice hitting high, cut up 8-iron shots that travel 50 yards to overcome this fault

Here are two important tidbits to remember when it comes to your clubface:  The grip is the primary determinant of clubface angle and a Swingyde (mention keyword RICE for a discount) is the best teaching aid to improve your clubface.

Swingyde

Additional articles regarding the clubface:

After listening to a golf commentator indicate that Ian Poulter’s back leg was way too straight this week I just about fell out my chair. Did he not notice that Poulter was in the process of picking up his inaugural US win and $1.5 million! Two weeks ago I heard similar comments about Dustin Johnson and his arm and wrist position at the top of the backswing. Perhaps they did not notice that he happened to win his 3rd event as an under 25 golfer.

Sam Snead at the Top

What would most golf instructors do with the swing of Sam Snead?

As a golf community we get so caught up in the “correct way” to swing that we lose sight of what is the correct way to hit. All that seems to matter to us is the look of the swing and golf’s greatest champions are proof that looks have nothing to do with results. (Just like in life actually!) Function will always trump form and substance always wins out over style! Let’s start to focus on what makes the golf ball go and get to work on that. There are many elements in the golf swing that are negotiable, like straightening the back leg, or lifting the left heel – just look at Sam Snead above. The key is being able to know which elements are non-negotiable, which are the key parts to the swing where the laws of physics must be obeyed. They all happen to occur in and around impact. Here are the most important ones:

• Get the weight onto the front foot (80+%) at impact.
• Keep the head over or just behind the ball at impact. This means that the weight shift onto the front foot must occur by driving/shifting the hips and mid-section towards the target. This move leads to what I call body curve.
• If the body is positioned correctly, the hands will lead the clubhead into the hit creating a downward blow.

For more information like this please visit www.itsallaboutimpact.com