Are You Guilty of Practicing Only Swing Technique?

Solution: Use other types of training: competitive, routine, shot shaping, and mental skills.

There is nothing better than the feel of a well-struck shot or the sight of a drive soaring through the air.  Striking the ball correctly is one of the most impressive aspects of the game, especially when you are the one doing the striking.  Perhaps this is the reason for such a preoccupation with the golf swing with both players and coaches.

A constant focus on swing technique, no matter how justified it may seem will be detrimental to the overall development of your game and the ability to transfer your practice to the course.

In order to create a more seamless transfer, other types of practice must be utilised.  When you go to the course, the focus is on scoring rather than swing positions (at least it should be).  Other types of practice include competitive drills; performance in these has a direct correlation to performance on the course.  Ideally you should do some competitive practice a few times a week and record the results so you can monitor your progress.

Routines should be considered to be part of the shot.  As such they should be practiced at every session.  When you practice routines, include shot visualisation, planning, focussing and creating your playing state.  Development of your routines is a skill and should be treated the same as the development of any other skill.

Routines include pre-shot (assessment of lie, target, wind direction and strength), shot (walk-in, looks and waggles, etc) and post-shot (no emotional attachment to a poor shot and full emotional attachment to a great shot).  Shot shaping is useful not only for developing a skill that you can use on the course, but there is an added benefit: noting the shapes that are easy or difficult to play can point to areas that need to be addressed with your swing.  If one shot is difficult to hit (for example a draw), then practicing hitting the draw will positively influence your entire swing.

Mental skills including visualisation, self-talk, goal setting, state management, concentration, etc can all be practiced during any training session.  There is no need to develop them in isolation, as they can all be incorporated into any practice (except perhaps for relaxation).  In fact they are either developed as good habits or bad habits during your practice as you respond to good and poor shots you hit while practicing.

My Challenge to You – develop your own practice plan for a 2-hour session incorporating every type of practice.

Source Peter Knight

Before you pick up a bucket of balls, choose a spot on the driving range and take out a club, think about why you are out here in the first place. The obvious answer is to practice. But by practicing what do you hope to accomplish? Yes you want to play “better.” But unfortunately for most recreational golfers, a trip to the driving range rarely results in effective practice and game improvement. For most recreational golfers hitting balls on the driving range may be little more than exercise.

For many, it becomes an opportunity to further reinforce and practice a misguided swing or an ineffective strategy.

This doesn’t have to be the case, even for recreational golfers. If you are willing to examine your mindset on the range, practice with a purpose and, finally, be sufficiently disciplined to stick to a practice plan you can begin to build an important foundation to begin to play well. Below Continue Reading→

Hank Haney recently said that when he was teaching Tiger Woods he would continually practice “The Nine Shots” on the driving range, a practice drill that is highly effective in mind and body synchronization and increasing your repertoire of shots, which are crucial in lowering scores.

So what are “The Nine Shots”? Haney would have Tiger hit a high fade, a mid-height fade and a low fade and then do the same hitting a straight shot and with a draw, making a total of 9 different shots (not necessarily in that order).

This forms the basis of a great practice or warm-up session. Over time this will give you heightened mind-body awareness in that you are instinctively aware of what your body needs to do to play a shot you are visualizing. There is no conscious control of your swing. The more you can learn to play and practice using visualization and feel, instead of having technical thoughts and letting negative interferences in, the better you will become.

Next time you are on the range, work on The Nine Shots. In addition to increasing your visualization and feel, it will tell you a lot about your swing. E.g. If you are having trouble hitting it high, or hitting a fade, try to figure out why.

Give this drill a try this instead of working on numerous swing drills and hitting to the same target and I’ve no doubt you’ll see the results on the course.

Source Golf State of Mind

There are no shortcuts to getting better. You’re going to have to put in some work. That’s the bad news. The good news is: If you follow my advice, the things you have to do to improve–and make that improvement last–can be fairly simple. I’m a big believer in working on one thing at a time. So to help you get started, I’ve broken down the swing into five segments. Within each segment I’ll give you a single element to focus on. If you work on any one of them, you should begin to see positive changes in your swing.  Continue Reading→

Biggest Practice Mistakes ….and what to do about them

Practicing only swing technique
Solution Use other types of training: competitive, routine, shot shaping, and mental skills.

There is nothing better than the feel of a well-struck shot or the sight of a drive soaring through the air. Striking the ball correctly is one of the most impressive aspects of the game, especially when you are the one doing the striking. Perhaps this is the reason for such a preoccupation with the golf swing with both players and coaches.

A constant focus on swing technique, no matter how justified it may seem will be detrimental to the overall development of your game and the ability to transfer your practice to the course.

In order to create a more seamless transfer Continue Reading→

Good abdominal muscle group tone protects the spine and promotes good coil and recoil, thus producing power in the golf swing.

If you work these muscles in harmony with the lower-back muscles (latissimus dorsi and the glutei muscles), you will succeed in rotating just above the pelvis and maintain good lower-body stability in the swing. This will also result in more power being generated through the lumbar pelvic area.

The majority of golfers who play intensively have tight hip flexors. Prior to carrying out abdominal exercises, golfers should stretch their hip flexors to ensure these muscles are not used instead of the abdominals. These muscles also help to maintain good spinal angle throughout the golf swing. Dysfunction in this area will result in a reverse pivot and, possibly, a sheering or jamming of your back at impact.

Source Ramsay McMaster

All golfers want to hit their tee shots as far and as straight as they can.  For many, this is where the most enjoyment playing the game is found. There’s nothing more satisfying than crushing a drive down the middle of the fairway.  I encourage you then to be aware of the following five keys
when it comes to hitting your driver farther.  Practice diligently and apply it effectively in order to increase your distance off the tee.  It will make the game more fun and you will likely shoot lower scores.  Good luck!

Fundamentals First

Sound set-up fundamentals (grip, stance, ball position, posture and alignment) is the foundation for developing the ideal distance-garnering combination – your maximum clubhead speed through impact along with a relatively square face angle. Understand and respect this. Do your utmost to ensure that you are in an orthodox starting position before you swing. Any errors here will likely manifest themselves by slowing you down and getting the clubface away from being square at the moment of truth – when you strike the ball.

Tilt your Spine to get Behind the Ball, the Reverse “K”

Tilt your spine into the Reverse “K” position. This positioning readies the body to create speed and encourages ideal club delivery possibilities. This is a classic long driver’s set-up.

Set up a Strong Triangle

Establish a preswing set up where a pronounced triangle is evident – positioning of arms and shoulders. The triangle is the strongest geometric shape. This position enables you to be as powerful and consistent as possible when striking golf shots.

Make the Shaft “Sing” through the Hitting Zone

Practicing by swinging your driver upside down – holding onto the shaft and swinging the grip without a ball present. You’re endeavouring to make
the shaft “sing,” creating as much shaft noise or “singing” through the hitting zone as possible. This provides immediate feedback on the amount of clubhead speed being generated as well as where the “singing” is happening relative to where the ball would be during the swing. Then turn your club into the normal position and try to make the shaft sing as intensely as you can through impact when hitting a ball. This drill is designed to create clubhead speed awareness and improvement. Try it. It works!

Finish in Balance, Let the Club Pull you all the way through

I encourage players to be able to stomp on an imaginary soft drink can underneath their back foot at the completion of their swing. Check yourself to see if you are finishing your swing all the way. Can you stomp on a can at the end of your swing?

Source Henry Brunton

Good footwork deserves more attention than it gets, because it’s what puts you in the best position to deliver the club consistently for solid contact.

You should feel the weight transfer in your swing in terms of load on your feet–not just the back or front foot, but where on each foot that weight is falling. It starts with a 50-50 distribution across your two feet at address, with the weight concentrated on the balls of your feet–not the heels.

As you swing back, your weight should transfer to roughly 65 percent on your back foot, specifically on the inside arch area. The first thing you should feel on the downswing is a slight left-hip bump to shift weight from the arch of your back foot to the base of the big toe on your front foot. This move will help you set the club on the correct inside path and prevent the common over-the-top sequencing problem many players fight. Swinging down and through to a full finish–where 90 percent of your weight is on your front foot–will help you make solid ball-turf contact instead of striking the ground too early.

Source Hank Haney Golf Digest

The golf club is held in the hands and feel from impact is felt first through the hands and is then sensed throughout the body. Good golfers are often described as having great ‘hands’ or a great ‘hand action’. this is misleading as it implies that the hands have a role in manipulating the club throughout the swing. While this is true in rare instances, most often the wrists are hinges between the arms and club and, as such, should be free and soft.  One thought you can have to keep your arms and wrists soft Continue Reading→

If you have a hard time getting your tee shots up in the air, you’re giving up serious distance. I’ve got a tip that will help you: Check your stance width. I see so many amateurs who stand too narrow. They set their feet about as wide as their hips, head in line with the ball, shoulders level(below, right). That’s not a stable position, and usually sends the ball short and right.

Try this instead: Take your normal stance, then drop your right foot back a few inches, letting your head go with it. Your spine will tilt away from the target, with your shoulders angled upward(below, left). Now you’re in position to really launch the ball. In fact, you’ll hit it slightly on the upswing without changing anything in your swing. That’ll give you a higher trajectory and more carry distance.

Source Butch Harmon(Golf Digest)