Andrew Rice Golf » 84 degree secret

Free “It’s All About Impact” Golf Seminar

Andrew Rice — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:11:17 +0000

On Monday, April 19th I will be offering a free Golf Seminar to anybody who has purchased or purchases “It’s All About Impact” - my recent golf instruction book. The seminar will take place at the Learning Center at Berkeley Hall in Bluffton, SC from 10AM-12PM.

For the cost of a book you get a two hour seminar included? That is correct!

Topics that will be covered include:

The 84 degree secret and why it matters
The correct shoulder pivot
Fundamentals for the Impact Driven golf swing
Impact Position basics
Take home exercises and drills for long game and short game

The 84 Degree Secret

As an added incentive to attend, and of course purchase the book, all attendees who purchase additional books will receive a voucher for a $75 golf lesson (one hour) with Andrew Rice – that is 50% off the regular rate of $150!

In order to purchase your copy to ensure your place in this insightful golf seminar please go to www.itsallaboutimpact.com and make your purchase today. If you have already purchased the book and plan on attending please let me know by emailing me at andrew@andrewricegolf.com.

Please be sure to bring your copy of “It’s All About Impact” to the seminar so I can personalize it for you. I hope to see you all next Monday and “GET YOUR PLAID ON” this week!

Golf Instruction News

Andrew Rice — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:03:16 +0000

: Berkeley Hall Learning Center

Here are some instructional updates:

The Berkeley Hall Learning Center has just been completely upgraded! We have just had all our computers upgraded with the latest software from V1 Golf. Students will now be able to view a summary from their golf lesson online in their own V1 locker or on their smartphone. Students will even have the ability to upload their lessons onto Facebook for all their friends and family to see. The changes at the Learning Center include an expansion of our indoor putting capabilities, two Casio EX-F1 Exilim 300 frame per second cameras (for amazing high speed footage of the golf swing!) and the ability to view your golf swing on a 50″ HD screen.

Casio EX-F1 Exlim Camera

I will be holding a complimentary Swing Seminar based around the information in my book, “It’s All About Impact” at Berkeley Hall on April 19th from 10AM-12PM. The seminar is free of charge to anybody who purchases a copy of the book at www.itsallaboutimpact.com or from me in person. During the event I will address both the long and shortgame elements discussed in the book, along with a graphic explanation of the 84 degree secret. As an added bonus all golfers who attend the seminar will receive a one time coupon for a $75 golf lesson with Andrew – that’s a savings of $75!

This Friday, on March 5th I will be participating in Hilton Head Golf Week at Sea Pines Resort. They are having an Instructional Day with great local teachers like Doug Weaver, John Farrell, Krista Dunton, Tim Cooke and our own local legend, Rick Barry. The cost is $25.00 per person and all proceeds benefit the Heritage Classic Foundation. Please come on out and support a great cause and your local community.

Verizon Heritage 2009 Champion Brian Gay

I am excited to announce that I will be running a Spring Junior Golf Program at Berkeley Hall. This program will run from Wednesday March 17th to Saturday May 15th. Young golfers (8-18) will have the ability to work on their games for three hours each week in preparation for the summer tournament schedule. We will meet every Wednesday (4-5PM), Thursday (4-5PM) and Saturday (2-3PM) and the group will be limited to 6 students. The costs will be as follows: Three Hours per week $550; Two Hours per week $450; and One Hour per week $ 350. All students that attend the program will receive instruction on the complete game of golf including fitness, nutrition, equipment, on-course play and tournament preparation. If you happen to know a young aspiring golfer who might be interested please feel free to forward this information to them.

For further information on lessons, pacakges and golf schools please contact me at (843)247-4688 or andrew (at) andrewricegolf.com

Ben Hogan’s Dynamic Golf Swing

Andrew Rice — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:59:20 +0000

If you have been following this blog you more than likely have heard about the 84 degree secret. Let’s take a look at how this line applies to the swing of Ben Hogan. It is important to remember that top golfers generally are flush up against the 84 degree line prior to any part of the body initiating the downswing. Some of the golfers are not necessarily all the way to the top of the backswing when they initiated a dynamic downswing, i.e. their hands and arms were actually still completing the backswing while their bodies (hips and legs) had already begun the downswing. A dynamic move is when one part of the body is travelling in the opposite direction to another part of the body. Starting the lower body forward while the arms and club are still going backward creates energy or snap in the swing – just like when a whip is cracked.

Ben Hogan with the Club at the Top

Ben Hogan Approaching the Top

Let’s look at the swing of Ben Hogan. In the first illustration notice how he is just about against the 84 degree line with his right side and his swing appears to be the correct length. This is due to the fact that his arms and club have not completed the backswing, yet his body is about to start its move to impact. In the second illustration Hogan has completed the backswing with his arms and club, yet notice how far his mid-section is off the 84 degree line. This is because he is already halfway through the downswing with his body. I have read many an article about Hogan’s so-called reverse pivot, but he did not have a reverse pivot, merely a very dynamic swing.

It is this dynamic motion that allows golfers to have what appears to be a slow and easy swing, yet efficiently generates tremendous speed in the clubhead and causes the ball to go a long way.

If you try this in practice start with small swings with a 7 iron. Focus on the rhythm of the shot – it should almost feel like you are making miniature figure 8’s with your body. Well, you could either do that or take some rumba lessons!

Thanks for reading and please feel free to post your thoughts and questions.

Evidence of the 84 Degree Secret

Andrew Rice — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:34:02 +0000

Perhaps two of the sweetest swings in all of golf – Mickey Wright (who gets my vote as the best swing of all time!) and a young Ernie Els.

Both these golfers are at or approaching the top of the backswing. Notice how their right side is flush up against the 84 degree line.

These illustrations are just two of the 45 that you will see in “It’s All About Impact“. They will all sell you on the idea that preparing the body to get to impact is what the focus of the swing should be. After all, there are many ways to swing the club, but only one way to hit the ball!

The 84 Degree Secret

Andrew Rice — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:01:32 +0000

The 84 Degree Line at Address

The manner in which the body works through the swing is integral to achieving a proper and productive impact position. In fact, body motion is the prime fundamental for striking a golf ball correctly. By pivoting and loading the body correctly in the backswing, you set off a chain reaction that automatically directs your body to where it should be at the moment of truth: impact!

Let’s start with the prime objective: To have your body weight 80% or more forward at impact while delivering a downward blow (at least with the irons and fairway woods) with your head over the ball.

In researching the great golfers, it quickly became apparent to me that there was something eerily similar about the manner in which they all pivoted or rotated their bodies to the top of the backswing. Their arms and clubs, however, were doing quite different things. I drew a straight line up the outside of each player’s back side. This way, when each player approached the top of their backswing, I could focus purely on their body movement.

The result was uncanny. Not only were the majority of the back side lines I drew at exactly 84 degrees – almost every player stayed not only inside that line, but flush up against it just prior to initiating the downswing. They were flush up against the 84 degree line prior to any part of the body initiating the downswing.

A few interesting points:

In the past I taught golfers to get the weight into the back foot in the backswing. The 84 degree line does not advocate a reverse pivot, or moving the weight to the target in the backswing; it merely encourages keeping the weight centered throughout the wind up.
I do believe the 84 degree line to be vitally important to any player’s game, because it keeps the body from straying too far from its final destination – impact.
The more the body moves away from the target in the backswing the greater the distance it must travel in the downswing to get the weight onto the front foot.
The 84 degree line also allows a player enough space to develop the necessary power for the shot without driving too far forward and in front of the ball.

The 84 Degree Secret is applicable only to iron swings. The reason for this is, as the stance gets wider, the line remains at 84 degrees, but that line gets pushed further from the golfers’ center, making it very difficult to get the full back side to press up against it.

With my new understanding that the golf swing is — or should be – all about impact, I now see that getting the body into proper position at address and at the top of the swing allows it to then glide down into a sound hitting position.

Set that chain reaction and allow the rest to happen.

: The 84 Degree Secret

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts on the 84 Degree Secret.

Swaying in the Golf Swing

Andrew Rice — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:46:36 +0000

I have come to learn that golfers mean different things when they talk about a sway in the golf swing, but they can really only mean one of two options: a lateral slide or shift with the upper body, or the same move with the mid-section or lower body in the backswing. Both flaws will prove to be detrimental to quality golf shots.

In studying greatest golfers in the game, it became quite clear that there are many different ways to position the arms and club face throughout the swing, but almost every great player pivots the body to the top in a similar fashion. The great news is: the better the body position, the better the arms and club face position. I have often seen a frustrated student, striving for the perfect plane or look to their swing, suddenly have tremendous success simply by improving their body motion.

Here are examples of the two most common errors in pivoting the body and interestingly, both mistakes involve lateral movement:

Hip Sway

In this example, the golfer sways the hips away from the target in the backswing. In order to deliver the club to the ball correctly, there should be very little to no lateral motion in the backswing. In this case, the hips are going to need to drive very aggressively in the downswing, which most often leads to the upper body dropping back too far through the strike.

Upper Body Sway

In this example, the golfer moves the upper body laterally off the ball in an attempt to turn the shoulders or get behind the ball. The shoulders pivot on a flat plane, the arms lift in getting to the top, and as a result, there is very little chance this golfer will get back over the ball by the time impact occurs.

These two mistakes can be fairly easily eliminated by a: practicing the drills described below, and b: employing a good dose of patience and self-determination during the process.

It truly is amazing how, when the body works correctly, the arms and the club are given openings or slots to fall into. It’s even more amazing how, most often, those are the correct slots to deliver the club onto the back of the ball.

Drill 1:

For this drill you will need a basketball/soccer ball. Assume your address position by placing the side of your back foot against a wall. Fold your arms across your chest, and position the ball between your head and the wall. Pivot your shoulders and hips, without losing the ball, paying attention to the feel you have at the top of the “backswing.” Hold for five seconds to assimilate this feel, and repeat. This drill will clearly provide you with the sense of a stationary upper body as you pivot into the backswing.

The Basketball Drill

A complementary drill to the basketball/soccer ball version: Place a shaft in the ground outside your back foot and run it up the outside of your leg at approximately 84 degrees. Be sure to hit shots off a low tee in order to maintain a consistent ball position so that you will not need to move the shaft after each shot. This drill will assist in reducing a lower body or hip sway.

The 84 Degree Shaft Drill

Thanks for reading and I hope these ideas help you and your game!

The 84 Degree Secret Explained

Andrew Rice — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:06:26 +0000

It Starts at Address....

The most interesting discovery I made when studying the top golfers of all-time for Its All About Impact has been the 84 degree secret. It is uncanny how different all their swings are yet the vast majority of them find a way to obey this important element in the swing.

Please keep in mind that the 84 degree line is only important as it pertains to impact. It serves to position the weight correctly throughout the swing so that the body can easily fall into the proper impact position.

As you view the picture above picture a line running up this golfers right side (left as you view it). The line forms an 84 degree angle off of vertical (90 degrees). The line should run up the outside of the right leg, cut through a portion of the shoulder and just barely graze the side of the head. When studying swings I started to use this line to isolate body movement and quickly found it to be a good guide for the address position and as a player approached the top of the backswing.

At address the head should not break the line. I noticed with golfers who had too much tilt at address this was quite prevalent and they all had a difficult time assuming the proper impact position once they had started poorly. Notice the picture below.

Too Wide and Tilted

Another common fault was breaking the 84 degree line in the backswing with too much lateral motion. This fault very often originates with too much tilt at address. Try to feel centered over the ball throughout the backswing. Keep in mind that this can be done while still maintaining a sense of loading into the back side or leg. Note that this is not stack and tilt, which I believe to be a much more extreme approach. Notice the picture below.

Too Much Lateral Motion

I have found that an excellent drill that conveys the appropriate feel is the ball drill pictured below. Position your back foot up against a wall and place a basketball or soccerball between your head and the wall. Crossing your arms across your chest, pivot into your back side feeling the wind and torque in your core muscles. Hold the position at the top to absorb the sense or feel you have. This is what the body should feel like when it is correctly positioned to compress the ball at impact!

84 Degree Drill

A Great Impact Position = Compression

Andrew Rice — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:32:23 +0000

: Tiger makes an Impact

We have all heard the sound of a properly struck golf shot: the ball squeezing off the face and fizzing toward the target with the divot flying and the ball penetrating the air with a seemingly single-minded purpose. This is the sound of compression! This is golf acoustics at it’s finest.

The compression of a golf ball only comes from a well executed, subtle, downward blow on the golf ball. A strike where the face is square and the path is straight. The easiest way to achieve compression is by getting into a great impact position. Here is how:

Set up with the stance width fairly narrow and the lead eye over the ball. The ball position should favor a little more back than forward.
Remain fairly centered over the ball in the back swing. Obey the 84 degree secret!
Drive the weight (hips and thighs) onto the front foot without getting the head forward of where it started. This is what I refer to as body curve!
Trap the ball by leading with the handle into the hit. The hands must beat the club head to impact. With the weight comfortably favoring the front foot this creates the descending strike on the ball which in turn leads to compression!

Notice the uncanny similarity between Vijay and Tom in the illustrations. While they have each already impacted the ball it does appear that the handle of the club got beyond the ball prior to impact as they both achieve the appropriate amount of body curve.

A recipe for compression!

A great strike on the ball is a necessity when you play a course like the players will face in the 2009 U.S Open at Bethpage Black. The long and punishing test is designed to expose any ball striking flaws that may exist.

Here are a few U.S.Open notes:

Newsday.com has some great up-to-the-minute news and photos – Long Island style!
What does Hank Haney do while watching Tiger hit every single shot of the last two weeks? I think he was in every picture I saw of Tiger.
I find it interesting that there have already been four withdrawals. If my game or body was not in top shape I think I’d stay home too!
I predict a winning score of -5 and I predict someone in a red shirt will win!