Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘hank haney’

Tiger and Foley

Here is an excellent article that I came across that explains a little more about Sean Foley and his relationship with Tiger Woods and Stack and Tilt’s Bennett and Plummer:

(Robert Lusetich/Fox Sports)

Sean Foley has “no interest” in getting Tiger Woods to swing as he did in 2000, when the world No. 1 had arguably the greatest year in the history of golf.

“That was how he learned to swing, and he had great success with it but it was penal on the body and dependent on timing,” said Foley, who’s working with Woods this week at the Deutsche Bank tournament outside of Boston. “It was pretty looking, but it just wasn’t the most efficient way to swing.”

Woods won four straight majors from the middle of 2000 to April, 2001, but it came at a cost.

The way he snapped his left leg on the downswing, Foley and Woods agree, caused serious damage to the knee, which had to be reconstructed in 2008.

“This is nothing against Butch (Harmon, who was Woods’ coach at the time) but trying to go back to that would be a huge mistake,” Foley said. “Plus, he can’t rotate like he did when he was an elastic kid. He’s nearly 35, he doesn’t have that body anymore.”

Instead, Foley has Woods more centerd over the ball throughout his swing, putting less stress on his body and, judging by the jump in fairways and greens hit last week at The Barclays, leading to improved ball-striking.

Woods has stopped shy of anointing Foley as his new coach, but on Thursday he again spoke glowingly of how much better he was playing since starting to work with the 35-year-old Canadian three weeks ago.

“I’m hitting the ball much better, hence I have more confidence,” Woods said. “I’m driving the ball much straighter, hitting the ball a little bit farther, especially with my irons, and those are all positive signs.

“It’s just a matter of, as I said, making it a little bit more natural, and that’s just reps.”

Although Woods has been careful not to criticize the unorthodox teaching methods of his previous coach, Hank Haney — he made a point last week to note that they won six majors together — Foley isn’t as diplomatic.

“Let’s be honest about this, it’s not like he was flushing it with Hank,” Foley said. “I think he hasn’t been happy with how he’s hit it for a very long time.”

Indeed, Foley has spent much of their time on the range together ridding Woods of what he calls “counter-intuitive moves introduced in order to offset something else that didn’t need to be there.”

What Foley, who is enjoying the challenge of taking on golf’s most recognizable name, has in common with Haney is that they both quickly became aware that Woods is a lightning rod.

Foley’s teaching philosophy wasn’t of particular interest to anyone outside the small world of golf swing nerds until he started working with Woods.

Now, he’s at the center of a whisper campaign that accuses him of stealing his ideas from two colleagues, Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett.

Plummer and Bennett developed a system of hitting a golf ball called Stack and Tilt, which calls for players to keep their weight on their front leg throughout the swing.

Though hailed as revolutionary, it was met with derisive condemnation by the teaching establishment. Nonetheless, several players who switched to Stack and Tilt won on the PGA Tour, giving the method legitimacy.

Foley admits that he enjoyed discussing the intricacies of the swing with Plummer and Bennett, whom he likes and respects, but ultimately, he credits them with “maybe 5 percent” of the inspiration behind his own, very similar, swing ideas.

“Andy and Mike are very bright guys, but how much of what they teach is Mac O’Grady?” Foley said of golf’s Bobby Fisher, a tortured genius who’s spent years breaking down the secrets of golf.

“And how much did they take from (Sam) Snead and (Ben) Hogan? And how much of it is taken from (Isaac) Newton?”

Foley says his swing ideas were developed over 15 years. He said he learned when still a teenager trying to copy the swing of Curtis Strange — who swayed off the ball on his backswing — that keeping the weight more centred worked better.

He then studied the swings of great players in history and noticed they didn’t make dramatic weight shifts away from the ball either.

“Mike and Andy aren’t reinventing the wheel,” Foley said. “Like me, they watched old school players hit it good and realized there was something to what they were doing, but they didn’t invent the 1950 golf move.”

The most obvious difference between Stack and Tilt and Foley is that all the players taught by Plummer and Bennett swing very much alike.

Foley’s three highest-profile students (before Woods), Sean O’Hair, Hunter Mahan and Justin Rose, don’t swing anything alike.

“Stack and Tilt is one method of swinging,” Foley said. “If it’s such a great system, then why are people coming for a ‘watered-down version’ from me?”

Foley finds it amusing to hear that he’s being derided as the “flavor of the month” on the Tour practice range.

“If I’m flavor of the month then I’ve been flavor of the month for ten years,” he said. “I’m doing what I was supposed to do, I really believe that.

“There’s a sense that this was what I was meant to do, and here I am. But this is not fixing world hunger, this is getting people who are already very good to hit a golf ball better.

“I suppose my point is that I’m not a guru, and I’m not some guy who (BS’d) his way to the top. I’m just who I am.”

Very interesting!

To learn more about better ball striking visit www.itsallaboutimpact.com

To see how Sean Foley’s other students have fared click HERE

Here are a few interesting tidbits from the recent PGA Golf Trade Show:

• Loudmouth Golf has definitely gone way too far! Their line is turning into a veritable assault on anybody’s unfortunate retinas. Blatantly obnoxious!

Would you be seen dead in these?

Just in case you were wondering they even have a handy dandy matching jacket that goes with these.

• As much as I don’t  agree with Hank Haney ’s teaching philosophy I do like the latest putting aid he has created (I even like the name they chose!):

The Putting Impact System

This system is available from Eyeline Golf  (enter IMPACTBOOK for a discount).  To putt better the putter face must be square at impact – very true!  TrackMan experts have found that the clubface plays a much bigger role in where the ball goes than the path and this becomes even more of a factor at lower clubhead velocity like in putting. This teaching aid works and I like the ball liner that is included in the package.

• V1 Golf remains cutting edge as they continue to pull tricks out their technology laden sleeves. This year students will be able to not only view their lessons online (this is not new) but they will be able to upload those lessons to Facebook to share with their friends and even download the all new iPhone V1 Golf application at iTunes.

• Another excellent putting aid from Eyeline Golf (enter IMPACTBOOK for a discount) is the Putting Laser+. Use this training aid indoors to get a sense for how the face opens and closes in the stroke while the path should remain on a straight back and through.

The Putting Laser +

• During my time spent walking the floor I saw quite a few golf celebrities including David Leadbetter, the aforementioned Hank Haney, Gary Gilchrist, Dottie Pepper, Duffy Waldorf, Anna Nordquist, Paula Creamer, Nancy Lopez, Mike Shannon, Rick Smith, Mitchell Spearman and Jim McLean. It was almost like being at the Grammy’s….

And lastly, if you are travelling to Orlando and plan on staying in the International Drive/Lake Buena Vista area I would highly recommend the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. Beautifully refurbished and a steal at the Priceline price of $85 a night! And if you love sushi don’t miss Tiger’s favorite sushi stopover in Amura.

Whether it be putting, chipping or the full swing (see Charles Barkley) a bad case of the yips is enough to drive anybody away from the game.  I have had the yips (putting) and once you have them I believe you always have them.

Bernhard Langer

Here is how the yips get started:

• Poor technique leads to negative results.
• The excess of negative results creates an overload of negative expectations in the memory bank; ‘mental baggage’ so to speak! The brain essentially tells the body, “Only bad things can and will happen!”
• Eventually the brain/nervous system develops an impulse twitch/flinch in response to the impending negative outcome. Once a golfer gets to this stage the trouble begins.

A yip is the brain responding to an adverse event. I believe it is just like a dog that has been beaten; every time anybody lifts a hand to the dog it will flinch and cower in response to the pain it is anticipating, but has not yet felt.  And yips in golf is exactly the same way!  The brain flinches at the expectation of a ‘failed’ outcome.

No matter what you hear, I firmly believe the yips cannot be cured. Look at Bernhard Langer, I regard him as having one the strongest minds in the game, yet he was not able to conquer the yips, he merely found a way around them.  You cannot overcome them with better technique, lessons, positive thinking or hard work.  In fact the more you work at beating the yips, the more you ingrain the belief that you have them.  A golf instructor once said that the yips should stand for “Yes I‘m Putting Super!” Not necessarily the best thing to think when standing over a four footer.

This is excellent information from European teacher Denis Pugh but he does seem to stress better technique as an avenue towards overcoming the yips.  I wish it was different, but I wholeheartedly believe that the yips cannot be overcome.

Here is how to work around the yips, because without brain altering surgery you will never be able to forget you have them (I know this from experience!):

• Try alternate equipment.  The long and belly putters are great additions to the game and they have allowed many yippers to continue playing golf.  I’m all for that!  I have even got chipping yippers to go to left handed (you will need a lefty PW in the bag!) and even eyes closed.  Hey, they both worked better under the gun!  Leave your pride at the door and try something radically different; your nervous system has no baggage when you try something completely new.
• Experiment with various grips. From cross-handed, to the claw, to the paintbrush – try them all until you find something that is semi-comfortable and then learn how to play with it.
• If you have full swing yips (like Sir Charles!) then the only way to go is cross-handed or try to play opposite handed.

Sir Charles Barkley

A note regarding Hank Haney and Charles Barkley: Hank approached Charles’ problems as if they were swing based. While I would agree the problem originated as a technical one, it had been left unattended for too long and had now manifested itself as a mental hitch.  No amount of swing upgrade would overcome the flinch Charles exhibited halfway through his downswing. In my opinion the only way Charles will get better is to do something radically different; I would start with cross handed and if there was no success there I would quickly switch him to left handed.

If you happen to have the yips in any area of your golf game I feel your pain.  Work around them by trying something radically different. I believe you will be thankful you made the switch!

Things to Ponder:

• This swing is perhaps the funniest swing I have ever come across and it is real. Turn the sound up and listen to the supporters and friends in the background.  The latest swing to come out of Egypt and take the tour by storm…..?  There might be a yip in this one!
• A note to Heath Slocum: Did you not ruin the greatest playoff in the history of golf by making that putt at the Barclays?  I don’t think Tim Finchem or anybody from CBS is going to speak to you for the rest of time. Good luck getting a good tee time from here on out!  I would have loved to have watched the “other four” go at it in sudden death!

Enjoy and please don’t beat your dog!

The Cover Shot

It has been a long road, but “It’s All About Impact” is finally with the editor and should be ready to go to the printer in 30 days if all goes according to plan.  Cindy Whitman, my editor has encouraged me to take a look at my writing and after she is finished tweaking and “grading” my work this book will be something that every golfer needs to have - a book that is completely true to it’s name, a book that really is all about impact!

This book has been written to show all golfers’ what style elements they can do without and what functional elements are integral to soundly struck golf shots.  What is pretty and what works?  Forget about form and focus all your attention on two simple keys that make all the difference in the world.  The same two keys that every great golfer has had in their golf swing – no matter how different their swings might look!  This book is about ball compression; trapping the ball; squeezing the ball off the turf; ball striking and really not much else!  Yet it will help your iron play, driving, pitching, chipping, sand shots and even putting because the strike and impact is what great golf is all about.  If you can hit the ball correctly, it will go straighter and further, more consistently and I haven’t met a golfer who does not want that in their golf game.

Do you know what makes up a correct impact position?  The same position Padraig Harrington has been working to improve all year.  Do you know what the primary factors that influence impact are?  After reading this book you will have a clear picture and understanding of what is required to hit the ball like some of golf’s all-time greats.

  “It’s All About Impact – The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It” will be available as a presale at this website on September 30th, 2009.  All readers who purchase their copy as a presale will receive a signed edition and have their shipping charges (within the USA) covered.

 If you do not have enough time to work on your game; if you are overwhelmed by the amount of technical information about the golf swing; if you regard yourself as a feel player; if you have taken a golf lesson and only regressed and yet you still want to get better then this book has been written on your behalf.

The book will be released online in November 2009.

•  While Tiger is very good for golf I thought it was fantastic to see Y.E. Yang take him down yesterday (in a major and while playing with him!). What a gutsy display!  Congratulations to Y.E., his coach and my former teaching associate, Brian Mogg and all of South Korea!
• I believe the win at Hazeltine will be worth $25 million to Yang!  As the first Asian born golfer to win a major it certainly has the potential to be the most lucrative golf tournament ever won.
• Lee Westwood was the bridesmaid of 2009, similar to what Ernie Els experienced in 2000.  I do believe the nine logos he wears above the waist might pay him enough to get over the agony.
• If only the “Big Uneasy” (Ernie Els) could have made a putt this year. He very well might have won two majors…..
• I still believe that Tiger Woods is a strong-minded, modern day version of Seve Ballesteros.
• What’s the over/ under on days until Hank Haney is shown the door? I do not think he’ll see the light of 2010.

Thanks for reading and please subscribe to this blog in the box in the top right corner of your screen!

The Lodge at Doonbeg

Ireland is my favorite country in the world to play golf in and nowhere in all of Ireland is the combination of luxury and pure Irish links golf better than on the west coast of Ireland at Doonbeg.

The golf course, designed by Greg Norman, is a true links gem with nine holes going out and nine more bringing you home.  The course plays 6,885 yards from the back tees and it has everything from pot bunkers, to undulating greens, exciting, driveable par fours and treacherous par threes.  The five par threes are exhilarating with the shorter 9th, 11th and 14th leading the pack.

The 14th at Doonbeg

The  signature 14th hole plays to 111yards from the back tees and I have hit every club in my bag from a seven iron up in to the green.  Or at least the vicinity of the green!  As you can tell from the picture above it really is a case of do or die!  While the ocean is in view from sixteen of the eighteen holes it certainly does not come into play (on all of them!) and all skill levels should be able to have a fantastic day of golf.  There are five different sets of tees offered.  Other than one questionable green complex (#12) I thought all the holes were memorable,  very playable and interesting.  Actually quite a rare combination.

From a golf vacation perspective Doonbeg’s location in County Clare is excellent as you are in close proximity to Shannon airport and the esteemed Ballybunion and Lahinch links courses.

While the course has been known to abuse a few of it’s guests you will not experience anything of the sort at the Lodge at Doonbeg.  I have had the privilege of spending a handful of nights within her solid stone walls and I have never experienced a finer hotel in all my travels.  The food, bedding, customer service and attention to detail are second to none!  Oh, and the view is not too bad either!  Should the Guinness not have done the trick after the round, the ladies, and gents if you prefer, have access to the world class spa to soothe away those few too many swings out on the course.

Terri and I will travel with a group of  ‘friends’ to Doonbeg later this year to compete in the Norman Trophy.  We cannot wait to experience all the luxury and links Doonbeg has to offer.

For more golf in Ireland please click.

The 9th at Doonbeg

Things to Ponder:

• The other day my son asked asked me why I had a Bobby Jones haircut?! That boy is getting crazy about golf….
• My prayers are with the Mickelson family at the moment. Occasions like this make me realize what truly is important. Tell someone you care about that you love them!
• Look for my pick this week, Mr. Ian Poulter, to dominate the field!
• Thanks to you all for feedback on my post “Family Golf” – I appreciate the words of encouragement.
• Charles Barkley is a funny man, but Hank Haney has had no chance from day one! You cannot cure yips with instruction!  The only hope Sir Charles has is cross handed (my choice) or left handed. End of story!
• Anybody out there know of some secret links golf destinations please let me know.