Posts Tagged ‘nick price’

Maintain Body Angles for Consistency

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

Shaft Angle at Impact

Nick Price - Address to Impact

All I can say after doing the research for this post is WOW! This is something that is really interesting and I’ve never really delved into it before. In looking at the illustrations above and the photos below you will see what I am referring to – it is very rare for any golfer to return the shaft/club at impact to the same position it occupied at address (when viewed from down the line).
In fact so rare, that I have only found four golfers who do it more often than not. The amazing thing is that this group of golfers is a collection of some of the finest ball strikers that ever played the game. They are Lee Trevino, who Jack Nicklaus claims is the best hitter he ever saw, Ben Hogan, Nick Price and Sergio Garcia

Lee Trevino

I have included the picture of Tiger Woods from 2000 below to illustrate where most PGA Tour caliber players return the shaft to at impact. Notice how his handle is above where it started (on the red line) at address. 

Tiger Woods (2000/Harmon)

Out of the four golfers I have found to get the shaft completely back to the line it appears that Sergio might be the least consistent at always returning the shaft back to the line, but as noted above, he does so more often than not.

Sergio Garcia

Another interesting point to note is the golfers who are very close to returning the club to the line: Vijay Singh and Joe Durant (who has led the Tour in GIR stats 4 times and finished in the top 12 for the last dozen years!). In fact looking at the stats Joe Durant is a much better hitter than Tiger Woods – and consistently so!

Ben Hogan

Two additional golfers who may get the club onto the line but I was not able to find enough quality footage on were Sam Snead and Moe Norman (I found these images on Moe HERE and it looks pretty close). Certainly no slouches in the ball striking department either!

So, the next time you are reviewing your swing, pay particular attention to your impact position, but more specifically where your shaft is at impact relative to where you had it at address. There’s a good chance you’ll be above the line (and zero chance you’ll be below it!) but do what you can to lower the shaft angle at impact in order to dramatically improve your ball striking and accuracy. Plase check back soon as I will be filming a few drills soon to help you get closer to a truly great impact.

Any thoughts? Any other golfers who you think might get the club to the line? Evidence? Please chime in.

To learn more about better ball striking check out THIS 

End of Season Sale – Impact Book is now 30% Off

I have known Andrew Rice since he was a young man growing up in Southern Africa. I have always been thoroughly impressed with Andrew’s dedication and passion to play, teach, and constantly discover the intricacies of our great game. I know you will benefit from his diligent pursuit of finding the most efficient manner in which to play the game and produce results. The quest for improvement at every level of golf is never ending, but I am sure you will find Andrew’s thoughts to be an efficient way for you to achieve your potential.

Nick Price – Hall of Fame Member and Three Time Major Winner

The book has done very well for me this summer and as a thank you to all who have read this site and put up with my rants here is an opportunity to buy the hardcover version for $18.87 or the eBook for $11.17! I have had the book on sale before but never at these numbers. If you have purchased the book already why not pick up a few copies for friends or that golfer in the family who just doesn’t get it?

Give it a try – you will not be disappointed.

To purchase the hardcover book or eBook click HERE

Even as a youngster, I focused on the strike. I would go down to the beach and practice hitting the ball first and the ground second. Andrew has laid out a solid framework for every golfer to improve their ball-striking.

Ian Woosnam – Masters Champion and Ryder Cup Captain

“It’s All About Impact” Update

Book Cover

Many of you have inquired about where to purchase the book. It’s about to be available – I promise!  It is finished and is at the printer in Ohio and will be in-hand the second week in December.

Getting the website www.itsallaboutimpact.com (it’s not up yet, so don’t click here!) up and running has proven to be about as challenging as writing the material for the book, but it should not be more than a few days before you’ll be able to purchase the hardcover version as a pre-publication.  Keep an eye on this space!  The pre-publication sale will run during the month of November and will feature a signed first edition plus free shipping!  All books will be shipped in time for Christmas.

 We will also offer an eBook version for those of you who do not wish to deal with shipping and don’t mind reading on the computer.  This is a great option for golfers looking to get their hands on the book ASAP and international readers in particular.

As many of you know I will need all the help I can get in promoting this book – so please, please let all your friends, family and “desperate” golfing buddies know.  I need your word of mouth.  In fact, if you forward a link (http://www.andrewricegolf.com/?p=988) to this post to 10 or more friends I will send you a FREE electronic chapter from the book.  Simply CC andrew@andrewricegolf.com and I’ll gladly send you your free chapter!

This is what Nick Price had to say about the book after seeing it for the first time:

“I have known Andrew Rice since he was a young man growing up in Southern Africa. I have always been thoroughly impressed with Andrew’s dedication and passion to play, teach, and constantly discover the intricacies of our great game. I know you will benefit from his diligent pursuit of finding the most efficient manner in which to play the game and produce results. The quest for improvement at every level of golf is never ending, but I am sure you will find Andrew’s thoughts to be an efficient way for you to achieve your potential.”

 

Nick Price Three-Time Major Champion

Nick Price Three-Time Major Champion

I know the information in this book will make you a better golfer.

The Shoulder Pivot in the Golf Swing

An important factor in getting the body into position for a great impact is the manner in which the shoulders pivot.  Far too many golfers are trying to turn too much and get their lead shoulder behind the ball.

When the left arm is parallel to the ground (for a right hander), the right forearm is always slightly above it (when viewing from an image captured at waist height). I found this to be true for all of golf’s best.  In some cases the right arm is against the side (Hogan, Snead) and in others it is away from the side (Nicklaus, Norman), yet due to the method in which the shoulders were pivoted, the right was always above the left.

 It is vital for the shoulders to pivot on a relatively steep plane. Price

Notice Nick Price’s right forearm and how it is comfortably above the left. This is all accomplished by pivoting the shoulders on a fairly steep plane. The higher the right shoulder, the higher the right forearm and so on…

In a correct pivot, the left shoulder’s first move is down and then slightly across. This is in direct contrast to what most golfers attempt to do with their shoulders, which is:

a. turn them as much as they can and

b. get the left shoulder behind the ball.

 Very seldom do any of the top golfers get their lead shoulder very far behind the ball (notice Price’s lead shoulder!) when pivoting into the backswing (with an iron); an interesting observation when considering the fact that there should be little to no lateral movement with the head and upper body. 

 A point of interest: the best ball strikers tend to move off the ball very, very little (Faldo, Price, Hogan), and the golfers who relied more on heart and amazing short-game ability (Player, Ballesteros) tend to move off the ball slightly.

The fact that there is little to no lateral movement with the upper body seems to encourage the shoulders to work on that steeper plane.

You can also have tremendous success when you give golf betting a swing. Your new found swing can turn into extra money for more time on the course. 

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