Top Ten Shots of 2010

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The PGATour season came to an end after the Children’s Miracle Network Classic this weekend and PGATour.com has compiled a video of the 10 best shots of 2010. What were your favorites?

I must say I am surprised that Phil's shot on 13 at Augusta wasn't there, but the shots they have selected are more than adequate. Enjoy!

2010 PGATour Season Notes

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Well - that's a wrap! The season finished with a whimper in Orlando today and I turned my thoughts to the year that was 2010. Tiger, Dustin, Rickie and players from Britain seemed to dominate the headlines this year and here are a few of my selections from the year with a handful of stats and predictions that should be of interest to you.

Player of the Year:  Dustin Johnson

Player of the Future:  Rory McIlroy

Money Leader:  Matt Kuchar $4.9 big ones

Best Day (in golf) of the Year: Phil's win at Augusta (closely followed by Ryder Cup Monday!)

Most Dominant Performance (in an event that matters):  Louis Oosthuizen

Feel Good Win of the Year: Robert Garrigus at Disney after giving up 3 shots on the 72nd hole at Memphis.

Sneakiest Player/s of the Year:  Retief Goosen (3rd in stroke average and 2nd in top 10's) and Bo van Pelt (13th Money)

Biggest Faders (player/s who started strong and vanished by mid year): Geoff Ogilvy, Phil Mickelson and Camillo Villegas.

Best Finishers (player/s who finished the year on a good note):  Matt Kuchar

Biggest Flops of the Year:  Tiger, Sergio, Padraig, Baddeley, Mike Weir and Boo

Biggest Surprise of the Year:  Matt Kuchar, David Duval (106 Money) and Jeff Overton (12 Money)

Best Hitter of the Year:  Joe Durant by a mile (1st in GIR and 2nd in FIR) Interestingly enough Joe also produced the most spin off the driver on tour...

Best Golf Course of the Year:  St. Andrews (The wind was a nice cherry on the top!)

Longest Yardage for Putts Made in any Round: 190' Fredrik Jacobson (Think about that...!)

Best Putter:  Brandt Snedeker (None of the top five putters were in the top 130 in GIR rank)

Consecutive Sand Saves:  Luke Donald 18

Holes Without a Three Putt:  Padraig Harrington 227 and counting...

Consecutive Fairways Hit:  Nick O'Hern 34

In a ten week span from April 29 - July 4 only two US golfers won on the Tour!

Rickie Fowler at the Memorial (Getty)

Player I would most like to be:  Rickie Fowler

Player I would least like to be:  Tiger Woods

Major Winners in 2011:  Retief Goosen (Augusta), Lee Westwood (Congressional), Rory McIlroy (Royal St. Georges) and Dustin Johnson(Atlanta)

Brightest Stars of the Future:  Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Matteo Manassero

Players to Watch in 2011: Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Ricky Barnes

Here are the Top 10 Shots of the Year according to PGATour.com

Thanks so much for your readership and support - I recently had my 100,000th hit here! Oh, and feel free to call me out on any of my selections or predictions for 2011....

Shaft Angle at Impact II

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Read the original post HERE After more research and some great input from several excellent instructors I have quite a bit to add to the previous post. There are even a few additional golfers I have found to add to the "zero" club (no change in handle position from address to impact) - there has been so much fantastic input that I just had to share it.

Jonathan Yarwood makes a great point in identifying the difference between irons and the driver:

I think that there has to be a raise of the shaft with a driver due to the nature of the sweeping hit off a tee. However, if you look at players like Pricey, the driver became their nemesis, as they got the plane too low to get it flying with the new equipment. Sergio struggles to flight the driver too. Trevino too at times. With a driver, some ’swing and freewheeling’ is required through the hit allowing the club to raise somewhat.

Mark Costaregni, my fellow teacher at Atlantic Golf Club in NY, and senior teacher with Jim McLean at Doral says:

I think you are spot on with this, we have studied shaft plane at address vs. impact and only a few return the handle on plane!!! Fulton Allem also returns it on plane. I remember some footage of Sergio actually UNDER with the handle!!! I believe this is a benchmark for pure greatness in striking. Also it seems the real power hitters tend to get the handle up at impact because of the leverage factor.

Thanks for the addition of Fulton Allem to the list Mark. Fulty has always been a fantastic ball striker and was a prolific winner in South Africa. At Doral they have a fantastic resource in that the best players in the world come to them every year and that leads to a superb bank of swings to analyze and evaluate. I would have to agree with you when you say "pure greatness in striking".

There were multiple questions regarding shaft droop or bowing and even some skepticism about whether any golfer could achieve the "zero" impact position - however the pictures don't lie. Here is what I have noticed:

  • The average shaft angle with a 7 iron at address is around 54 degrees; the average lie angle of a 7 iron is 63 degrees. That allows for 9 degrees of droop/bow in the shaft at impact even with the handle returning to the exact same position at impact - as a result golfers DO NOT need to lift/raise the handle in order to account for the curvature of the shaft.

  • I have found that the golfers who get the handle in the "zero" position (zero degrees of change from address to impact) through the hit tend to have what appears to be less droop/bow in their shaft. This is due to the fact that their hands/arms swing into the ball on a lower (more shallow) plane that more closely matches the plane the clubhead travels on. The lower the arm plane coming into impact, the less difference there is between the arm and clubhead plane and thus less droop/bow in the shaft.
  • Thus, the higher the hands are positioned through impact the more the shaft tends to curve downward.
  • That being said, if you can return the handle to its address position, you should not need to flatten your irons (unless they are too upright already!) due to the fact that the shaft will droop less.

The next time you are playing a "well worn" golf course take a look at the divot patterns on the range or a shortish par three.  Keeping in mind that most golfers are right handers, you'll see most of the divots are in the shape of a trapezoid. This is due to high hands and excessive droop in the shaft getting the toe further into the ground than the heel.

Here is an excellent drill to illustrate how any golfer can work towards achieving this ultimate impact position. If there ever was a drill that would make you hit it like Hogan, this is it.

Reed Howard, an fine young golfer illustrates how to perfectly execute this drill. Does this look like Ben Hogan or what?

A point to note: the line drawn on the photos of Moe Norman is not the original shaft plane line. The shaft plane line is drawn along the shaft at address. I am not sure what the yellow line in the photos represents, but it does act as a good reference point.

The select list of golfers who belong to the zero club are:

  • Moe Norman
  • Ben Hogan
  • Nick Price
  • Lee Trevino
  • Vijay Singh
  • Joe Durant
  • Carl Pettersson
  • Sergio Garcia

The golfers who are very close (within two degrees), but not quite there:

  • Trevor Immelman
  • Lucas Glover
  • DJ Trahan
  • Boo Weekley
  • Paula Creamer
  • Sean O'Hair

All very good ball strikers in their own right!

I have only ever personally witnessed two golfers "naturally" return the handle to its original position. They are - Lindsay Renolds and Michael Koulianos. Both superb ball strikers!

Try the drill - strive for zero - and know that if you get close to it you can only get better!

I really believe that if any golfer can work towards getting into a better position (zero!) at impact they can only improve their ball striking and increase the enjoyment they get from the game.

Keep working!

Shaft Angle at Impact

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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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Read Part II of this article HERE

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

Sean Foley Golfer Stats

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Here are some interesting stats gathered from PGATour.com regarding Sean Foley's top students. The moral of the story appears to be - it's not easy to make great golfers better! It'll be interesting to see how Tiger's statistics change over the next few years.

(Please note, this information has been compiled by a golf professional other than myself)

 
                               
PARKER MCLACHLIN                            
In 2008 McLachlin won on tour and did not work with Foley, 2009-2010 with Foley              
                               
      2008 Tour Rank   2009 Tour Rank   2010 Tour Rank          
Driving Distance   286yds 105th   279yds 157th   269yds 191st          
Driving Accuracy   58% 157th   54% 173rd   54% 180th          
Greens in Regulation   62.50% 159th   58% 182nd   53% 194th          
Total Driving   176th 176th   184th 184th   193rd 193rd          
Ball Striking   178th 178th   183rd 183rd   193rd 193rd          
Proximity to Hole   36ft  154th   39ft 182nd   41ft 194th          
                               
                               
HUNTER MAHAN                             
Mahan did not work with Foley in 2008 during the PGA Tour season; started in the 2009 season      
                               
      2008 Tour Rank   2009 Tour Rank   2010 Tour Rank        
Driving Distance   290yds 75th   297yds 28th   291yds 56th          
Driving Accuracy   66% 62nd   65% 74th   68% 34th          
Greens in Regulation   69% 7th   68% 19th   68% 33rd          
Total Driving    23rd 23rd   7th 7th   2nd 2nd          
Ball Striking   8th 8th   4th 4th   11th 11th          
Proximity to Hole   34ft  48th   34ft 55th   36ft 142nd          
                               
                               
SEAN O'HAIR                             
Sean began working with Foley at the Canadian Open in 2008.                  
                 
                               
      2007 Tour Rank   2008 Tour Rank   2009 Tour Rank   2010 Tour Rank    
Driving Distance   296yds 34th   291yds 69th   293yds 46th   288yds 84th    
Driving Accuracy   64% 79th   60% 138th   61% 123rd   64% 74th    
Greens in Regulation   67% 23rd   64.40% 113th   67% 27th   67% 59th    
Total Driving   8th 8th   112th 112th   66th 66th   51st 51st    
Ball Striking   9th 9th   111th 111th   42nd 42nd   48th 48th    
Proximity to Hole   35ft 68th   34ft 48th   34ft 55th   35ft 109th    
                               
                               
JUSTIN ROSE                             
Justin began working with Foley mid 2009                        
He currently ranks 6th in total putting 2010; 2009 ranked 143rd and 2008 ranked 186th. He works with Dave Stockton on putting,  
                               
      2007 Tour Rank   2008 Tour Rank   2009 Tour Rank   2010 Tour Rank    
Driving Distance   288yds 96th   286yds 103rd   288yds 90th   286yds 104th    
Driving Accuracy   63.90% 95th   64% 90th   64.8 79th   66% 57th    
Greens in Regulation   65.70% 58th   61% 170th   66% 83rd   66% 88th    
Total Driving   89th 89th   197th 197th   66th 66th   58th 58th    
Ball Striking    63rd 63rd   197th 197th   71st 71st   70th 70th    
Proximity to Hole   34ft 33rd   34ft 60th   35ft 92nd   33ft 26th    
                               
                               
STEPHEN AMES                             
Began with Foley in November 2006                        
                               
      2003 Tour Rank   2006 Tour Rank   2007 Tour Rank   2008 Tour Rank    
Driving Distance   285yds 99th   289yds 88th   282yds 154th   283yds 133rd    
Driving Accuracy   66% 109th   62% 101st   67% 47th   62.70% 103rd    
Greens in Regulation   68% 34th   66% 58th   64% 86th   65% 96th    
Total Driving   125th 125th   87th 87th   107th 107th   160th 160th    
Ball Striking   82nd 82nd   68th 68th   94th 94th   134th 134th    
Proximity to Hole   33ft 21st   34ft 44th   34ft 49th   32ft 6th    
                               
                               
      2009 Tour Rank   2010 Tour Rank                
      287yds 94th   282yds 138th                
      65% 73rd   66% 57th                
      67% 30th   67% 66th                
      62nd 62nd   107th 107th                
      40th 40th   84th 84th                
      35ft 77th   35ft 100th                
                               

To read more on Sean Foley and Tiger Woods click HERE

Ryder Cup Rain

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I have always wanted to play golf in Wales in October.....? To bad, because the golf world was so ready for this event. Looking forward to it getting going. (Pics compliments of @paulazinger)

This is how Paddy deals with a little pressure combined with a little precipitation - this guy must have nerves of steel to be napping now! (Pics compliments of @ianjamespoulter)

And there is golf being played in Wales today......

Euros looking good so far. No signs of any fear factor!

Ryder Cup Notes

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Tomorrow starts one of golf's greatest events - The Ryder Cup. Here is a brief overview of the event and once again a few of my mindless musings.

Some pertinent sites to visit:

Take a look at who is playing and their Ryder Cup records:

Team Europe:

Lee Westwood – 37 World ranking: 3 Ryder Cups: 6 - played 29 - 14/5/10.  (won/halved/lost)

Martin Kaymer – 25 World ranking: 6 Ryder Cups: 0

Luke Donald – 32. World ranking: 8 Ryder Cups: 2 - played 7 - 5/1/1.

Rory McIlroy – Age: 21. World ranking: 9 Ryder Cups: 0

Graeme McDowell – Age: 31. World ranking: 13 Ryder Cups: one - played 4 - 2/1/1.

Edoardo Molinari – Age: 29. World ranking: 15 Ryder Cups: 0

Ian Poulter – Age: 34. World ranking: 16 Ryder Cups: 2 - played 7 - 6/0/1.

Padraig Harrington – Age: 39. World ranking: 22 Ryder Cups: 5 - played 21 - 7/3/11.

Miguel Ángel Jiménez – Age: 46. World ranking: 26 Ryder Cups: 3 - played 12 - 2/3/7.

Ross Fisher – Age: 29. World ranking: 27 Ryder Cups: 0

Francesco Molinari – Age: 27. World ranking: 32 Ryder Cups: 0

Peter Hanson – Age: 32. World ranking: 42 Ryder Cups: 0

Team USA

Tiger Woods Age: 34 World ranking: 1 Ryder Cups: 5 - played 24 - 9/2/13.

Phil Mickelson Age: 40. World ranking: 2 Ryder Cups: 7 - played 30 - 10/6/14.

Steve Stricker Age: 43. World ranking: 4 Ryder Cups: 1 - played 3 - 0/1/2.

Jim Furyk Age: 40. World ranking: 5 Ryder Cups: 6 - played 24 - 8/3/13.

Matt Kuchar Age: 32. World ranking: 11 Ryder Cups: 0

Dustin Johnson Age: 26. World ranking: 12 Ryder Cups: 0

Hunter Mahan Age: 28. World ranking: 14 Ryder Cups: 1 - played 5 - 2/0/3.

Zach Johnson Age: 34 World ranking: 19 Ryder Cups: 1 - played 4 - 1/1/2.

Bubba Watson Age: 31. World ranking: 24 Ryder Cups: 0

Rickie Fowler Age: 21 World ranking: 33 Ryder Cups: 0

Stewart Cink Age: 37 World ranking: 35 Ryder Cups: 4 - played 15 - 4/4/7.

Jeff Overton Age: 27. World ranking: 48 Ryder Cups: 0

Some interesting facts:

  • Team USA has 21 majors compared to Team Europe's 5
  • Team USA has no players with winning records, while Team Europe has 4!
  • Celtic Manor and the city of Newport paid $1 billion to host the event.....not really, but they were close

My thoughts:

  • I believe the most powerful person involved with the Ryder Cup to be..........

Mrs. Doubtfire err, Colin Montgomerie! Simply because he is the only person involved who has the ability to single handedly cause a team to lose. The unfortunate thing is that he only possesses that power over his own team, but hopefully he'll only be putting out fires instead of starting them.

The winner will be......

Team Europe in a landslide! Monty will manage to stay out of the way, Tiger will be horrible and Dustin and Ricky will just not be enough to overcome the Euros as Poulter and the Molinari's manhandle the "Yankees"! The reason - can you picture Tiger, Phil and Stewy wearing the above pictured hair pieces? And that's just it - camaraderie and kinship. I get the feeling the Euros want to be together as a team, whereas the US side is put together as a team, they have to deal with being together.

Nothing can beat good old fashioned team chemistry!

Enjoy the golf and thanks for checking in.

Shinnecock Hills - None Better!

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After being priviliged to play Shinnecock Hills recently for the second time I now firmly believe it to be the finest golf course I have ever played. And I've been fortunate to play most of the best in the world.

Since its original design by Willie Dunn in 1891, updates by Charles B. Macdonald, Seth Raynor, Howard C. Toomey and William S. Flynn have transformed a fairly treeless, sandy landscape into a golf utopia. Shinnecock Hills has hosted U.S. Open championships in 1896, 1986, 1994, and 2004.

The thing I found so appealing about the golf course was it's simplicity; the greens almost seemed like 'magic carpets' that the designer had unfurled and laid down at the end of each fairway. Nothing overly complex or tricked up, just simple and subtle elevation changes that all seemed to fit.

The bunkering was decidedly plain too - and I mean that in the most positive light possible. Golfers of just about every skill  level would be able to extricate their golf ball from every bunker on the property. What a breath of fresh air - no trickery!

The whole golf course played that way - nothing overdone, just good old fashioned golf. In fact, it may have the finest par four (#14) and par three (#11) in all of golf!  Strike the ball correctly and you should have an excellent opportunity to shoot your handicap. The golf course could not have been more different than the way it appeared on Sunday in the carnage of the 2004 US Open when Goosen defeated Mickelson.

I absolutely love this golf course - so much so that I have a new favorite.

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Tiger Woods and Sean Foley

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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

Atlantic Golf Club

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Situated in the Bridgehampton on Long Island in New York, the Atlantic Golf Club is a special place. And it's not only the golf course that makes it special.

The Director of Golf is Rick Hartmann and I could not think of a better personality to provide New York's financial and entertainment elite an exceptional all-around golf and membership experience. An excellent player in his own right, Rick oversees a well-seasoned staff that seems able to anticipate every golfer's need.

The caddy program is second to none! I have never seen a caddy yard as deep as the one they have at Atlantic - I don't believe it is possible to get even a mediocre "loop" there. Rocco Casero, the caddie master, seems to have the magic touch when selecting his team.

The Golf ShopThe course is beautifully maintained by longtime superintendent Bob Ranum. Bob always seems to be trying to find a way to improve the course and it's playability. From reshaping the traps to altering the cut on the fairways, nothing seems to be too much for Bob and his crew to provide a fun, playable and spectacularly well maintained golf course.

The Rees Jones design was opened in 1992 by Lowell Schulman and was greeted with rave reviews. The course has been softened (made more player friendly) in certain areas over the years and I really like the direction it seems to be headed. A more enjoyable and pleasing experience for golfers of every level. The fairways are generous enough, but make sure you don't misfire as the infamous Atlantic fescue awaits your wayward Titleist. There are enough difficult holes to keep you paying attention (2, 4, 5, 10, 18) but they are nicely balanced by a handful of interesting and imminently playable holes (6, 8, 11, 12, 17). My favorite holes are the 4th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th. The 4th is an almost exact replica of the famous 13th hole at Royal Portrush and at over 200 yards into the prevailing wind it is just as brutish. It really is thrilling to be able to strike the correct type of shot that finds this green.

This month a few fortunate golfers will have the privilege of competing in the US Mid Amateur Championship at Atlantic Golf Club - they are in for a treat, and a stern challenge. I know Rick and Bob and Rocco are looking forward to playing host - something they do so well.

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

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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

The 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits

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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....

  • 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.

  • 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?

Putting: Distance vs. Direction

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 I always ask my students which is more important in putting: distance or direction? I am pleased to report that about 60-70% of them correctly side with distance. Think about it this way; are you more likely to hit a 30 footer 10 feet beyond/short or 10 feet wide of the cup? Hopefully your answer is beyond/short, because if it was wide you have serious additional issues.

Much of the information I read on putting today is directionally oriented; the arc of the stroke, face rotation and balancing, path and face and so on. Is this information correct and valid? Yes! I just don't believe it should be the priority. Think about the last round of poor putting you had (hopefully you cannot remember!) - I can almost guarantee you it was due to poor distance control. When you practice focus on speed control as a priority and you must start to encounter better results. Good distance control comes from; a solid and centered strike where the appropriate amount of energy is transferred to the ball and a backstroke that closely matches the through stroke (most golfers are short back and long through!). Here are a few things that will help.

Watch the HD video lesson HERE

Drills and Teaching Aids that Work:

This is an excellent drill to help you acquire the feel of a solid strike: Gather a dozen balls in the center of a green and quickly and casually “hit” them back to a point off the side of the green -- just like when you are clearing a putting green by hitting all the balls off the green with your putter.  Do not emphasize a target; don’t take time to set up; just pop the balls off the face of the putter. When done correctly, you should be able to feel how efficient the stroke is.  There should be a minimal amount of follow through, the strike should feel crisp, and the sound should be louder than what you are accustomed to. When I see a golfer struggling with the putter, they are almost always overemphasizing the “stroke” element and have lost the concept that there needs to be some impact or “hit.” The problem most often is that their motion is long, slow and overly mechanical.  You should be able to sense the ball compressing off the putter face.

An excellent training aid that conveys the feel of the correct strike on the ball in putting is the Ball of Steel from Eyelinegolf.com - each ball weighs 5x what a golf ball weighs and you had better transfer energy efficiently if you want to even have a chance of making a 3 footer with the ball steel. I have found it works really nicely when alternating between a real ball and a heavy ball, but be sure to stay within three feet. After using this teaching aid your putting stroke will be more compact and efficient and thus more consistent.

When putting key in on distance first and your results will improve dramatically - I guarantee it!

Ball of Steel product TOUR   

 

To purchase the Ball of Steel click HERE (be sure to use the code IMPACTBOOK for a discount)

 

Speedchain - Dynamic Power for Golf

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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

 

Impact Drill: How to Stop Scooping

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This is a version of a drill that I have presented many times, but each time I use it, it impresses upon me the importance of a proper strike on the golf ball. In using Trackman I have come to learn that the correct attack angle (an upward or downward hit) with an iron should be anywhere between 2 and 5 degrees down. If you have ever topped shots or alternated between thin and heavy strikes, you are more than likely getting scoopy through impact and this drill is right up your alley.

This drill will get you to do the following through impact:

  • Get the weight shifted onto the front foot
  • Lead the hands ahead of the clubhead
  • Hit down on the ball
  • Take divots in the right place - after the ball!

All you need is a small piece of one of those swim noodles that all the kids like to use in the pool. Secure the strip of noodle into the ground by pressing tees through the center as illustrated. It may take a little experimenting, but eventually you'll find the appropriate distance to line the balls up from the noodle. Before long you should start to see a consistent line of divots occurring on the target side of the golf ball - a positive sign! If you find yourself hitting a few of the dreaded "hosel rockets" your grip is too weak; Essentially you now need to scoop the face in order to square the clubface through impact. Get it stronger!

Some additional drills to help with impact:

Pitching Help

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When it comes to the shortgame it is vital that the golfer strikes the ball and the ground on every shot - and preferably in that order! Golfers run into trouble when the club contacts the ground before the ball, particularly with a closing clubface as the leading edge will dig into the turf. There is no quicker way to deplete confidence than to start  alternating between bladed and heavy pitch shots.

A helpful drill is to practice hitting 40-60 yard pitch shots with an 8-iron. Try to get the ball up in the air, with a slight cut action and have it land softly. This will give you the sense of keeping the face open and using the bounce of the club correctly. It will also prevent the wrists from being overly active. A feeling to key in on is the sense of swinging to the inside after impact (as pictured below). Be sure to keep the face open or looking up while the club tracks to the inside as this will prevent the leading edge from digging.  This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite drills!

Golf Grip Guidelines

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Here is an excellent method to ensure that your grip stays in the fingers and favors the strong end of the spectrum.

Remember - a strong "ish" grip helps the handle get in front of the clubhead at impact and encourages all golfers to keep their hands passive through impact.

Have a friend draw a "channel" on your glove diagonally across the base of the fingers (as illustrated left). Be sure that the guidelines are not too high up in the palm - if this is the case the wrists will have a hard time setting the club and the grip will always look weak.

When gripping the club be sure to position the handle along the lower of the two guidelines - this will make sure that the handle does not sneak up into the palm.

Be sure that once your glove hand is positioned on the club you can see at least two knuckles and the V formed between the thumb and the index finger is pointing to the trailing shoulder.

As we saw with Louis Oosthuizen and his glove - you can draw or write whatever you want on any part of your equipment, in any color too!

For additional information on the grip:

Louis in a Landslide!

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 Claret Joy!

Louis proved all the naysayers wrong! He held the lead in the Open Championship from the 7th hole on Friday and never once looked like he would relinquish his grip on the coveted Claret Jug. With the victory South Africa has their 20th major championship and he becomes the fourth South African to win "Champion Golfer of the Year" honors.

Paul Casey, the nearest challenger, was no match for the diminutive man from Mossel Bay. Shrekkie, as he is nicknamed, showed no sign of wavering on Sunday as he split the fairway early and often. He did exactly what was needed - stay ahead of the pressure (three shots or more) and never gave Casey any hint that he had a chance. That eagle on nine must have hurt!

Here are a few observations from the event:

  • The shot tracker feature off the 17th hole was phenomenal. A great idea that got even better when shown from the fairway. I got to a point where I could tell where balls would end up just by watching the tracker from the tee.
  • I think the 17th hole played a little too long and I believe the chaps at the R&A would agree. They showed their thoughts by not putting the flag beyond the Road Hole Bunker once.
  • Tom Watson did a fantastic job in the booth. He was the only one who came close to pronouncing Oosthuizen correctly, although it did look like John Daly picked out his outfit for Sunday.
  • I enjoyed the addition of Rocco Mediate on the telecast - he was fresh and unrehearsed.
  • Tom Weiskopf was insightful, but very dreary and slow and I felt he took away from the experience.
  • Ricky Fowler is a golfer for the future! What a great turn around after his poor start.
  • St. Andrews is the finest golf course on the planet - in my opinion. For almost 150 years it has withstood the challenges from the games finest and still continues to stand tall.
  • After the butchering of "Oosthuizen" by all who attempted it, the Champion Golfer will from now on be referred to as Louis - to go along with Tiger, Phil and Ernie!

Some may have thought the Open was drab, but I absolutely loved it. What can be better than a fresh young star winning on the best golf course in the best event?

Watch Louis' swing in slo-mo HERE and HERE

The 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews

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The Home of Golf

How many of golf's greatest have traversed the bridge crossing the Swilcan Burn?

There will not be birdies flying at the 17th hole this week after the venerable R&A added an additional 50 yards to this already very difficult hole.

The par-5 14th hole could be heaven or hell this week for the golfers. The latter if they happen to find their ball in Hell Bunker!

I would love to be in the "auld grey toon" this week for the Open Championship - in any capacity. Just to be able to get a sense for not only the event, but the place as well. I'd love to simply see those bunkers - from Beardies, to Ginger Beer, to Cottage, Road and the feared Hell. It seems that the saying of Bobby Jones has never been more true,

Too much ambition is a bad thing to have in a bunker.

I look for TW to win this week and I hope for firm fast and windy conditions. Whatever we get - enjoy!