Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘lee trevino’

A Loss of Angles leads too....

Have you ever struggled with shots that just don’t seem to go where they should? The ball always seems to leak right or hook left. Today’s post strives to get at the root cause of why your golf swing is so reliant on timing.

One of the more frequent mistakes I see golfers make is to stand up or lose their body angles through impact – the “stand and deliver” move! The loss of body angles or posture causes the body to stop rotating and as a result the hands now assume the responsibility of squaring the clubface. Remember – if the body does not rotate to clubface square, then the hands will help out. This move is very difficult to time, especially under pressure, and often leads to the hands overworking or flipping through impact. If the hands rotate the clubface too early the shot misses left and if they’re a touch late, then the shot misses right. 

...Overly Active Hands through Impact

Consistently straight shots are achievable only when the clubface is being squared via the rotation of the body through impact.

An indicator that you are losing your body angles through impact is that your divots (if you are even taking any) are always deeper on the outside than the inside. They are toe deep. (A big reason why an “active” fitting is not always the best way to go!)

A good method to ensure that the body continues it’s rotation through the hit is to work on maintaining your posture or spine angle that is established at address. Hit little pitch type shots with an eight iron trying to feel that your torso stays down over the ball while clearing through the strike. A good feel is to try and sense that the hands are low through impact – they should feel like they are actually lower at impact than they were at address. You may even have the sense that the toe of the club is higher at impact than the heel. Try this DRILL

Maintain Posture Angles through Impact

This is something that all of golf’s greatest ball strikers have in common – Nick Price, Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan all did a fantastic job of maintaining their posture through impact. This allowed them to take the hands, and timing, out of the equation – a recipe for consistently good golf shots.

Passive Hands

Body Angles | Andrew Rice Golf

Thanks to reader Chuck for this enlightening article posted by Bradley Hughes from www.bradleyhughesgolf.com:

 FLAT LIE ANGLES - 
          The Reason and Logic Of The Greats

I know from personal experience in a question asked directly to Lee Trevino that he used clubs that were at least 3 degrees flat in lie angle from the old standard.
Doug Sanders also informed me in the interview I recently did with him (on page 2) that he had his clubs flattened down so the toe sat down and the heel would never strike the ground first.
If we look at Ben Hogan’s club that is in USGA Golf House Museum it is close to 6 or 7 degrees flat in lie angle when compared to clubs of the same length and loft of today.

If flat lie angles were the choice of the game’s best ball strikers throughout history then WHY do manufacturers insist on putting upright lie angled clubs in the hands of golfer’s today?

• The upright clubs make the player come steeply into the ball on descent.
• The upright clubs tell the body stall and insist that the hands flip through impact to try and square that upright lie angled club with the ground.
• The upright club straightens the right arm away from the body and increases clubface roll throughout the shot making timing a huge problem.
• Upright lie angles deteriorate the swing by not stressing the importance of swinging the golf club behind and around the body and rotating through impact with the correct body effort and sequence.

Too often we now see golfers throwing the club through impact – pushing the club head off to the right of the target or throwing the clubhead left of the target with their hand roll – flipping the club face over by hand action trying to correct the mistake.
Today’s clubs should all come with a warning label:
    “Swing Deterioration And Poor Mechanics Possible By Using This Club”

 Add the fact that the shafts are too long and the swingweights and overall club weights are too light and it is little wonder we don’t see ball striking mastery on any level any longer. Remember: Feedback of the club and the swing is necessary for improvement to take place. That’s why golfers are not improving. They don’t know the difference between a good strike or a bad strike of the ball because the permieter weighting and large sweet spots don’t allow such reference. The equipment golfers are using is NOT designed to help them adjust their swing to the correct efficient motion.

Bradley Hughes

Very well said Mr. Hughes. I have an inkling as to why manufactureres insist on making clubs lighter and more upright…… Firstly, the clubs are more upright as it causes the faders, who happen to be the majority of golfers, to reduce the amount of curvature of their shots. Notice I never said anything about improving their swings – the upright lies in fact encourage these golfers to continue swinging the way they always have. And secondly, the light weight leads to more speed which creates a Wow! factor when they first hit the clubs. The lighter the club the faster you can swing it. You also, however, relinquish a measure of control over the clubhead and a feel for the club.

So the slicer who tries his buddies new 7-iron and hits a straight bomb over the green is amazed as he has never hit the ball that straight and that far before – he simply must have a set!

As with most things it comes down to $$$$! Don’t get sucked in and allow yourself to be enticed with new gimmicks. Know your numbers (length and lie) and play something you like the look of and can feel.

 View the HD video lesson HERE

I often talk to golfers I teach about how they play the buried lie out of a sand trap and more often than not they say they used the closed face method to get the club to dig the ball up and out onto the green. This method works fine if you don’t have much of a lip or plenty of green to work with, but how do you handle this situation if you have a short sided pin or high lip to clear?

Here is a great method I got from Lee Trevino:

• At address the weight should be well onto the front foot
• The ball should be in the center of the stance or slightly back
• The hands should be forward of the ball and very low
• The idea is to get the “V” formed between the hosel and the sole of the club to delve down into the sand and lift it up and out of the sand

•  Notice how the clubface remains open so as to impart some height and softness to the shot
• The hands need to be very low  at address to get the toe up in the air and the “V” exposed to the entry point
• The swing is steep with a sharp downward attack into the sand
• There is no need to overpower this shot as, when executed correctly, the ball should pop out with some height and softness.
• There should be very little follow through

Notice how low the hands need to be here

View the HD video HERE

Additional information on Buried Lies:

Tom Watson: Buried Lies: Pick The Right Club: Golf Digest

Video Golf Tip | Buried Lies in Greenside Bunkers

Golf Tips for a semi-buried lie – Rod Lidenberg PGA

Free Golf Lesson – How to Play from Various Bunker Lies

Butch Harmon

David Leadbetter

• Watching the AT&T on Sunday looked like the King (Tiger) was taking his young Prince (Kim) out for a little schooling.
• Anyone got an over under on the number of days before Carolyn Bivens is out as the LPGA commissioner?
• Why when a golfer sets up with their body aiming left it is an ‘open’ stance and when their clubface is aiming right it is an ‘open’ face?  Blame the Scots and single malt whiskey for that one.
• I have a feeling Paddy Harrington will be back in contention at next weeks ‘Open’ Championship.
• A claim could be made that Phil has choked away both majors so far this year!?

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