BradleyHughesGolf.com
Page 7
Why Did I Now Become a Teacher Of The Game?
Ben Hogan said "The Secret Is In The Dirt".....obviously hinting that dedication and hard work and perseverance are contributing factors in a golfer's success.
Whilst today's breed of golfer's very much follow this thought and work hard in many different areas of fitness, nutrition, stretching and mental work as well as practicing the golf swing-- they have become FAR too reliant on outside aid.
It has become increasingly apparent that there are very few golfers on the professional tours of the world who know their swing, own their swing and can work out any kinks in their swing.
Every player has a "guru" who slap them on the back, helps clear their mind, gives them one thought to focus on and it seems the world is at harmony again......until the next day!!
If the pros don't know how to control their own swing any more even with all this so called advanced technology equipment and computer screens and hi speed definition videos and 'guru teachers' ....what hope does the average golfer have?
Even the golfers whose names we always hear mentioned out loud by golf commentators as having a 'picture perfect swing'...or having a 'pretty swing'....obviously are at a loss about how their swing functions .....because if they did we would be seeing them pipe drive after drive down the fairway and not be hitting the very average 12 greens in regulation per round or less.
Fairway driving percentages on today's golfing tours is an absolute disgrace. These are meant to be the best players in the world and they can not even hit half the fairways in regulation.!!!
It is the misleading information these players are receiving on so many different fronts that offer them little solution but to accept their mediocrity in the tee shot department no matter how hard they practice at it to get better and improve their chances.
My belief is that if someone received tuition from me and worked just as hard on what I ask them and show them to do, then I would basically phase myself out of any need they would have of me.
That probably sounds crazy..to phase myself out.....but great golfers don't need to continually search and search and hope and hope that they will one day get it and be able to strike the ball day in and day out on a piece of string.
Jack Nickluas only visited his coach Jack Grout at the beginning of each season for a tune up. You shouldn't have your name on your golf bag if you don't know what makes your swing tick. If you have to put in an SOS call to your swing guru every time something little goes amiss, then you shouldn't be making a living from golf.
My goal is to show golfers everything they need to know... I believe I can honestly answer any question they would put forward and base my answer on knowledge and not on guesswork. There will be no guinea pigs in my golfing stable. What I will show people is true, proven, absolute truths of the swing and it's pressures and it's intentions based on a wide variety of different looking swings belonging to the golfing giants of the past 100 years.
The pros now days seem to practice so much to somehow find something, instead of practicing to refine and build on what they should long ago have had in place that works so well
Can I back up my statements with evidence?...
Absolutely.........
When I was 14 years old I shot a 9 under par 64 on my home course which had hosted two Australian PGA Championships.
On my 15th birthday I played a major Australian PGA Tour event, not with an invitation, but by beating the professionals in the qualifying event.
I shot a 10 under par round of 62 in my first ever round on the European Tour at Fulford GC in England in The Benson & Hedges International of 1989.
I won almost every major Amateur event in Australia before I turned professional.
I won my third event as a professional beating Greg Norman's record at the time of winning in his fourth event he played.
I have played in all four of golf's Major Championships...Ten Majors in total
Two time Australian Masters Champion with a record score in 1998 of 24 under par breaking Greg Norman's tournament record by 5 strokes
Australian Tournament Players Championship Winner by a record 12 strokes
I ranked 4th in the Total Driving Statistics on the PGA Tour in 1998 behind Hal Sutton, David Duval and Duffy Waldorf with Nick Price in 5th position
Presidents Cup International Team member
World Cup of Golf Australian Representative (twice)
Played US PGA Tour (8 years) Europe (4 years) Japan (3 years) and of course my native Australian PGA Tour for 20 years
Why should people listen to my ideas about ball striking prowess?
The majority of my golfing success came in the era of persimmon woods, blade irons and high spin balls....where the swing ingredients had to be so precise to make good contact of the ball on the correct trajectory with the desired accuracy.
I have played right through the spectrum of technological advances and have seen it all and been associated with the games greatest players of the past 25 years from all corners of the globe.
The first time I won the Australian Masters in 1993 I hit 63 greens in regulation for the week out of 72 holes....that is over 87% and in the final round under the intense pressure of tournament golf I hit all 18 greens in regulation as well as the playoff hole that I would win the title on
When I won the Australian Masters in 1998 with a record score I hit all 18 greens in regulation in the 1st round and the 3rd round and hit 65 greens in regulation for the week at an average of 90%
The Huntingdale course which held The Australian Masters event is not a pitch and putt course.
It is long. It is very tight from the tee with unplayable lies and lost balls more the order of the day than a chip out or a viable approach to the green being available. The greens are hard and fast and guarded by bunkers.
You had to really golf your ball around that course and the tournament's Wall of Champions include Greg Norman (6 times), Bernhard Langer, Mark O'Meara, Gene Littler, Peter Senior, Craig Parry, Colin Montgomerie, Graham Marsh.....
I played US Open venues very well because the setup of the courses required driving accuracy, greens in regulation were the object and par meant something.
What Happened..? Why Do We Not See Precision Any Longer?
I honestly believe today's golfer's have less knowledge of the 'true' golf swing than at any other time in history.
The great champion golfers of the past 20 years are now still playing and competing on the Champions Tour...or...they have made so much money from the sport they don't need to go out and teach and pass down their knowledge first hand to up and coming golfers...they just build golf courses or retire away to their rocker on the back porch and enjoy the life they yearned for after all those years of travel and tournaments.
The players we see in today's generation have missed out. We have skipped an entire generation of true golfing knowledge.
Instead of fantastic world class golfers passing down their first hand knowledge .....we now have instructors who have no basis for teaching other than getting a degree online or from a classroom, reading books for ideas and owning a computer and a hi speed camera to download swings and draw lines all over the screen in an attempt to try show the student they know something about the golf swing.
My Objectives....
I am undertaking the task of trying to rectify this lack of true instruction. Up until I was 26 years old I had rarely had a lesson.
We had coaches for our Interstate Team matches but nothing major was ever undertaken during those days, as these coaches knew we all had ability and just needed nurturing .
I eventually succumbed to gathering a coach and listening and trying to learn. My natural swing became very technical and much more difficult to repeat. I lost my true swing and my swing dynamics through instruction that took away my feel for MY swing.
How Did I Learn What I Believe Is Correct?
It has been through my retiring from tournament golf over the past 2 years and searching deep within the look and feel of my younger swing and then looking over my older swing in the same manner and establishing the differences between the two and the pros and cons of the two and researching thousands of videos and books and interviews with the game's greatest....listening to what they say, watching what they do, even asking them questions in person has enabled me to figure out in what way, shape or form my swings over the years resembled the great ball strikers.
It has taken me a while but I feel very good about my instincts and understandings. I used to play by feel. That is important. I know how the swing is meant to feel, especially when that was at a time of arguably my best golf.
Then later on I played by mechanics and computer screens and instruction from outside sources who were observing the swing based on scientific thoughts or observations by the 'gurus' of that era..
By being exposed to both ends of the spectrum and used both processes in the world of high drama tournament golf, I have a very good sense of what works, what doesn't, what is bogus, what is possible and what should be listened to and what should immediately be discarded.
It is because of all this and events in my life that shaped who I am, that I have now formed such strong opinions.
My early golf swing was certainly structured around the best dynamics that the truly great ball strikers show with their motions.
Interest in plane lines, early setting on the backswing, big muscle swinging...well I went a bit downhill after that- I had my moments but the game became so much harder on a daily basis...trying to swing based on what a computer or an instruction manual said I should do.
You can only really teach what you can do.....My experience has shown and proven I can do and feel the true golf swing and have a larger understanding of what the key ingredients to a successful swing for power and control is. This is what I will teach and show you to do...based on fact..not on fiction
Why My Teaching Works....
I have had amazing success with my students. I have actually had one student drop his personal best score from around 120 down to a 75 !!!! This happened in the space of approximately 18 months from first lesson to the score posted.
Most of the work was done by the student themselves. I only visually saw them maybe 10 times over the course of that 18 month time frame. They put in the work based on what I showed them and the results were amazing.
That's why my instruction methods work so well. Because I view the individual. I view what they have readily available in their swing and what area of their swing we can utilize or what we need to improve. I then show them the best method of training their swing to allow them to achieve what can best help them.
Like a music teacher. I teach them the chords....one by one.
Imagine if you sat at a piano or someone handed you a guitar and slapped a piece of sheet music in front of you and said..." play this"...It would be one big mess.
Just like the golf swing can be one big mess when bombarded with too much at once.
I promote the right feels. I describe why they are important for you and why they may be necessary for you and then show you the perfect routine to be able to train the action to become instinct and part of you without having to think about them individually as time progresses.
So you learn the important chords....THEN..you learn how to put them together.
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GOLF SWING MYTHS.....
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THE GRIP
The golf grip...how we set our hands on the club... is one of the most talked about topics in golf instruction.
His grip is too strong....His is too weak... That's neutral with the V's pointing here or there
I would say out of all the lessons I have given I have probably only ever changed the grips of a handful of people.....a handful!!!
The grip needs to be based on how the arms hang from the shoulders, and so long as the forearms aren't twisted out of position when the grip is taken, most people are in decent shape......to BEGIN with
As history again has shown us...there are all types of different golf grips that the great players have used with outstanding results.
Trevino, Azinger, Couples and Langer- strong grips
Hogan, Nicklaus and Bill Rogers- weak grips
Palmer, Norman, Els, Faldo- neutral grips
This only goes to prove that there really is no standard grip that guarantees success..The grip can come in many shapes and sizes and angles and pointing V's
The only must I teach my students about the grip is we need to start off with a tight knit unit-- the hands need to be close together, whatever grip type you like to use. This is necessary so the hands work as a unit and not independently.
The great professional golfers had such a wide variance in their grips. They had a swing pattern or feel that DICTATED THEIR GRIP FOR THEM....that's what I teach my students.
I will show you the correct swing motion and how to train it until it becomes second nature and your grip will then find you.... very easy
That's why I don't waste a student's time by trying to tell them within the first 5 minutes of a lesson that they need to grip the club in such and such a way.
By changing someone's grip in the first 5 minutes ...well....we are then pretty much wasting the next 55 minutes as they will have no chance at swinging properly.
Here's what I do...... I teach them what impact and path mean and what they are meant to feel like.
They learn this at regular speed with a regular golf club. No tracing plane lines or shining flashlights up a wall. We are playing real golf here.... not searching for marbles under a sofa.
We use a real golf club and we swing it!!
I show them my routine for teaching such a thing and enhancing that motion. What I show them and the way I do it...actually MAKES them change their grip on it's own accord to suit the sensations of the strike that I teach them.
The students almost ALL to the man alter their grip to a much closer ideal on their own with little or no input from me... I show them the how, set them on the right path and then let them learn.
The learning curve is rapid because I teach them things they can feel and utilize daily when they practice or play and even at home . I force their body to learn rapidly by the way I teach.
If you know what the golf swing is meant to feel like...then it becomes easier to repeat and also easier to repair.
Too many golfers have excelled with entirely different looking swings. Some not classic looking...BUT...if you know what to truly look for and understand the logic behind their motion well it is not hard to deny why they were so great at the game of golf...even with a swing that people laughed at or thought amusing.
SO....in summary....THE GRIP.... is not as important as most would make it out to be...
Because ....people are different.... we all have different size hands, different finger thickness, different strength of fingers and wrists, different forearm angles that manage which way our hands can or can't turn.
I will let you learn your true grip as we progress along....there is a time and a place for that stuff....but it isn't within the first few minutes of a lesson. !!
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THE HEAD....keep it still???
SPINE ANGLE......keep it the same???
We always the common response when a golfer hits a poor shot....
"Ohh...I moved my head....no wonder I didn't hit the ball properly"
This is one of the absolute biggest misconceptions about the swing ever made up.
Our head is attached to our shoulders....Our arms are attached to our shoulders..
Our hands are attached to our arms..... Our club is attached to our hands.......
If one thing is moving......shouldn't all of them move?
The head IS NOT the center of the swing....It HAS to move....let it move.
If your weight is moving from one side to another and downwards also isn't it only logical that the head AND the spine have to move along with that transfer.
The greatest Major Championship winner in the history of golf- Jack Nicklaus
talked about always keeping his head still when he swung the club...DID HE?
ABSOLUTELY NOT- His head goes down and backwards (brown line) and his spine angle changes considerably (blue line)
Lee Trevino- drops his head considerably down into the impact arena
Moe Norman- renowned for his ball striking abilities drops his head down and backwards throughout the swing
Gary Player- down and backwards increasing his spine tilt into impact
Want more evidence? .... How about Ben Hogan and also the great Tony Lema
Lema's head moves backwards as shown in relation to the tree and building in his background...his spine tilt increases considerably through impact.
The flat left wrist at impact becomes a result..not from being an objective we strive for.... It happens with the correct swing sequencing and acceleration
So if all these great ball strikers move their head and change their spine angles throughout the swing...WHY would we want to do anything different?
This notion totally disproves the idea of staying centered over the ball and keeping the weight forward to help improve the strike.
One of the greatest photos of a world class golfer showing how the weight should actually be over the right foot on the approach to impact is of perhaps the greatest driver of the golf ball ever in the persimmon age of golf- Greg Norman
Even though we hear all the golfers say they drive towards their left side from transition and get their weight onto their left side into impact......
WHERE do the scales in the background show the weight positioned?
65% of The Shark's weight is STILL on his right side with the club head 12 inches from the impact position.....he has spine tilt and is holding the flex of the shaft into the strike.....it is little wonder he was such an impressive golfer and especially an unbelievable driver of the golf ball.
If the greatest ever all did it in a particular manner...why would we want to attempt anything different?...this is why theories such as stack and tilt are ineffective, especially with the longer clubs....the proof is there for all to see...IF you know what to look for.
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Tiger Woods recently undertook swing surgery in an attempt to improve his ball striking.
The picture below shows the poor results of mis information about trying to keep the body ahead or on top of the ball...or 'centered' as they are calling it today.
Having his caddie Steve Williams hold a club in alignment with his head to monitor his head movement and try not to move down or backwards is no good.
You only have to look at the clubface, which is markedly closed only a a foot or so after impact...and see the right arm thrusting and straightening the club outwards from the body and 'off plane' after impact.
If you think keeping the club on plane coming down is relative...then you are well and truly mistaken....keeping the club 'on plane' through the strike and beyond is the only true relevance to having consistent control of the ball.
A better way to put it is this.....
To keep the club on the "true plane" where it matters, you need to feel like the club is NEVER on plane.
We can take this one step farther and view a video from the recent Tavistock Cup that was held in mid March 2011.
The result of keeping the body centered and on top of the ball is hindering any opportunity Tiger has of coming in from a shallow path and using his entire body in the correct sequence of events.
The resulting divot here is what you would see at your local public course.
You can stick as many gloves under your right arm as you want and it won't help stop this over active thrusting...because Tigers swing DNA and what he wants to feel and needs to feel are totally against this new idea of swinging the club
This new move is not working....and doesn't work......we now see a huge assortment of popped up drives and huge snap hooks and a few pushed shots also.
The variety of contacts from different angles is vast and the extra work the hands have to do to time this new sequence Tiger is trying to achieve is difficult for anyone, let alone him.
It pretty much becomes 'pot luck' when the face strikes squarely and the ball goes where he wants it to go.
Add in the fact that tremendous delofting of the club is occurring and we now are witness to large distance control issues for the iron approaches.
This staying centered and on 'top of the ball' also puts more pressure on Tiger's impaired left knee.....as I have shown above the majority of the weight should be on the right side coming into impact....
To be keeping the weight farther left puts intense pressure on that leg and we see the steep approach and hand flip to try save the shot.
The pictures below show just how much weight Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan had behind the ball and on their right side at impact.
Why would we want to do anything different?
It really irks me that instruction of today claim to have based their teaching methods on the game's greatest- and many use Hogan as their thesis as he has been revered throughout time- .... Yet they teach polar opposites to what the greats did.
Other great golfers below Steve Jones, Sandy Lyle. Larry Nelson showing the same procedure with weights in the background showing us the ground forces at these stages of the swing and the ratio of them from right foot to left foot. It may feel like the weight moves left...but this shows an entirely different picture and a true one.
If you want to be able to bring the club around your body into impact what foot should the majority of your weight be on to help achieve this?.....correct as shown
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THE SWING PLANE..................
What Is It ?......Where Does The Swing Plane Really Matter?
So...we can't watch a golf telecast or the Golf Channel or even read a golf magazine without some reference to the swing plane.
The internet is covered with swing plane theories and ideals based on someone drawing lines from the ball upwards to the shaft, or the hands, or the grip or the shoulders and making the call about whether or not someone's swing is 'on plane'.
I mentioned this earlier on Page 5 about the backswing......The backswing doesn't really matter.
The backswing is a movement of the club allowing us to find the true path down and into the ball. History proves the club head, shaft, or grip does NOT have to be on 'plane' whilst the backswing is in progress.
Yet all we hear today is instructors and commentators talking about keeping the butt of the club pointing at the ball going back and coming down.....WHY?
Anyone who thinks the club has to stay on plane going up and coming down does NOT know about the golf swing....You may think that is a far out remark....
BUT...... IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE
Let's look at a few players of today's era who according to the 'knowledge' of these instructors and commentators show exemplary swing plane based on today's thoughts about the path the club should take. We will look at the downswing first.
Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson Ernie Els
Each of these downswing approaches show an 'on plane' ideal where the butt of the club is pointing at the ball as they are swinging the club downwards from the top.
---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- ------
Now let's look at some of history's greatest ever ball strikers and see what they do.
Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Moe Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino,
Tony Lema, Byron Nelson, Gary Player
NONE OF THEM.......have the butt of the club pointing anywhere near the ball
Should we then really believe that today's computer aged golf instruction is well founded and based on fact?
TRYING to keep the club on plane is catastrophic to the main part of the swing
IMPACT and BEYOND
The only time we 'really want the club on plane' is through impact and beyond
...being taught otherwise is the ruin of good ball striking abilities for many
That's why we see very sub standard ball striking quality throughout the world these days even with the 'latest and greatest' hi tech equipment
The post impact protocols are SO important to the swing....it gives us an x-ray of exactly what happened before hand.
Golf instruction has entirely missed the boat on the true demand of ball striking excellence.... There are many factors to improving your ability but if you think the swing is over once the ball has been struck-- you are way off base..
I teach this in an easy to understand and an easy to program manner... ANYONE. can achieve great ball striking capabilities with the correct information.
You can always keep doing what you are doing now and maybe 'luck out' a few times and play well....but consistency will always be so difficult to find.
I treat students as long term projects.....not just someone I can stick a band aid on and improve them for a few days. However...the harder the worker the quicker the swing changes will allow them to improve.
I look long term and base my beliefs on real great ball strikers shown above and what they did with the swing and my experience as a high level professional golfer allows me to pass these sensations on to my students.
Golf can be as hard as you want to make it.
It really isn't as hard as some think.
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CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Ben Hogan said "The Secret Is In The Dirt".....obviously hinting that dedication and hard work and perseverance are contributing factors in a golfer's success.
Whilst today's breed of golfer's very much follow this thought and work hard in many different areas of fitness, nutrition, stretching and mental work as well as practicing the golf swing-- they have become FAR too reliant on outside aid.
It has become increasingly apparent that there are very few golfers on the professional tours of the world who know their swing, own their swing and can work out any kinks in their swing.
Every player has a "guru" who slap them on the back, helps clear their mind, gives them one thought to focus on and it seems the world is at harmony again......until the next day!!
If the pros don't know how to control their own swing any more even with all this so called advanced technology equipment and computer screens and hi speed definition videos and 'guru teachers' ....what hope does the average golfer have?
Even the golfers whose names we always hear mentioned out loud by golf commentators as having a 'picture perfect swing'...or having a 'pretty swing'....obviously are at a loss about how their swing functions .....because if they did we would be seeing them pipe drive after drive down the fairway and not be hitting the very average 12 greens in regulation per round or less.
Fairway driving percentages on today's golfing tours is an absolute disgrace. These are meant to be the best players in the world and they can not even hit half the fairways in regulation.!!!
It is the misleading information these players are receiving on so many different fronts that offer them little solution but to accept their mediocrity in the tee shot department no matter how hard they practice at it to get better and improve their chances.
My belief is that if someone received tuition from me and worked just as hard on what I ask them and show them to do, then I would basically phase myself out of any need they would have of me.
That probably sounds crazy..to phase myself out.....but great golfers don't need to continually search and search and hope and hope that they will one day get it and be able to strike the ball day in and day out on a piece of string.
Jack Nickluas only visited his coach Jack Grout at the beginning of each season for a tune up. You shouldn't have your name on your golf bag if you don't know what makes your swing tick. If you have to put in an SOS call to your swing guru every time something little goes amiss, then you shouldn't be making a living from golf.
My goal is to show golfers everything they need to know... I believe I can honestly answer any question they would put forward and base my answer on knowledge and not on guesswork. There will be no guinea pigs in my golfing stable. What I will show people is true, proven, absolute truths of the swing and it's pressures and it's intentions based on a wide variety of different looking swings belonging to the golfing giants of the past 100 years.
The pros now days seem to practice so much to somehow find something, instead of practicing to refine and build on what they should long ago have had in place that works so well
Can I back up my statements with evidence?...
Absolutely.........
When I was 14 years old I shot a 9 under par 64 on my home course which had hosted two Australian PGA Championships.
On my 15th birthday I played a major Australian PGA Tour event, not with an invitation, but by beating the professionals in the qualifying event.
I shot a 10 under par round of 62 in my first ever round on the European Tour at Fulford GC in England in The Benson & Hedges International of 1989.
I won almost every major Amateur event in Australia before I turned professional.
I won my third event as a professional beating Greg Norman's record at the time of winning in his fourth event he played.
I have played in all four of golf's Major Championships...Ten Majors in total
Two time Australian Masters Champion with a record score in 1998 of 24 under par breaking Greg Norman's tournament record by 5 strokes
Australian Tournament Players Championship Winner by a record 12 strokes
I ranked 4th in the Total Driving Statistics on the PGA Tour in 1998 behind Hal Sutton, David Duval and Duffy Waldorf with Nick Price in 5th position
Presidents Cup International Team member
World Cup of Golf Australian Representative (twice)
Played US PGA Tour (8 years) Europe (4 years) Japan (3 years) and of course my native Australian PGA Tour for 20 years
Why should people listen to my ideas about ball striking prowess?
The majority of my golfing success came in the era of persimmon woods, blade irons and high spin balls....where the swing ingredients had to be so precise to make good contact of the ball on the correct trajectory with the desired accuracy.
I have played right through the spectrum of technological advances and have seen it all and been associated with the games greatest players of the past 25 years from all corners of the globe.
The first time I won the Australian Masters in 1993 I hit 63 greens in regulation for the week out of 72 holes....that is over 87% and in the final round under the intense pressure of tournament golf I hit all 18 greens in regulation as well as the playoff hole that I would win the title on
When I won the Australian Masters in 1998 with a record score I hit all 18 greens in regulation in the 1st round and the 3rd round and hit 65 greens in regulation for the week at an average of 90%
The Huntingdale course which held The Australian Masters event is not a pitch and putt course.
It is long. It is very tight from the tee with unplayable lies and lost balls more the order of the day than a chip out or a viable approach to the green being available. The greens are hard and fast and guarded by bunkers.
You had to really golf your ball around that course and the tournament's Wall of Champions include Greg Norman (6 times), Bernhard Langer, Mark O'Meara, Gene Littler, Peter Senior, Craig Parry, Colin Montgomerie, Graham Marsh.....
I played US Open venues very well because the setup of the courses required driving accuracy, greens in regulation were the object and par meant something.
What Happened..? Why Do We Not See Precision Any Longer?
I honestly believe today's golfer's have less knowledge of the 'true' golf swing than at any other time in history.
The great champion golfers of the past 20 years are now still playing and competing on the Champions Tour...or...they have made so much money from the sport they don't need to go out and teach and pass down their knowledge first hand to up and coming golfers...they just build golf courses or retire away to their rocker on the back porch and enjoy the life they yearned for after all those years of travel and tournaments.
The players we see in today's generation have missed out. We have skipped an entire generation of true golfing knowledge.
Instead of fantastic world class golfers passing down their first hand knowledge .....we now have instructors who have no basis for teaching other than getting a degree online or from a classroom, reading books for ideas and owning a computer and a hi speed camera to download swings and draw lines all over the screen in an attempt to try show the student they know something about the golf swing.
My Objectives....
I am undertaking the task of trying to rectify this lack of true instruction. Up until I was 26 years old I had rarely had a lesson.
We had coaches for our Interstate Team matches but nothing major was ever undertaken during those days, as these coaches knew we all had ability and just needed nurturing .
I eventually succumbed to gathering a coach and listening and trying to learn. My natural swing became very technical and much more difficult to repeat. I lost my true swing and my swing dynamics through instruction that took away my feel for MY swing.
How Did I Learn What I Believe Is Correct?
It has been through my retiring from tournament golf over the past 2 years and searching deep within the look and feel of my younger swing and then looking over my older swing in the same manner and establishing the differences between the two and the pros and cons of the two and researching thousands of videos and books and interviews with the game's greatest....listening to what they say, watching what they do, even asking them questions in person has enabled me to figure out in what way, shape or form my swings over the years resembled the great ball strikers.
It has taken me a while but I feel very good about my instincts and understandings. I used to play by feel. That is important. I know how the swing is meant to feel, especially when that was at a time of arguably my best golf.
Then later on I played by mechanics and computer screens and instruction from outside sources who were observing the swing based on scientific thoughts or observations by the 'gurus' of that era..
By being exposed to both ends of the spectrum and used both processes in the world of high drama tournament golf, I have a very good sense of what works, what doesn't, what is bogus, what is possible and what should be listened to and what should immediately be discarded.
It is because of all this and events in my life that shaped who I am, that I have now formed such strong opinions.
My early golf swing was certainly structured around the best dynamics that the truly great ball strikers show with their motions.
Interest in plane lines, early setting on the backswing, big muscle swinging...well I went a bit downhill after that- I had my moments but the game became so much harder on a daily basis...trying to swing based on what a computer or an instruction manual said I should do.
You can only really teach what you can do.....My experience has shown and proven I can do and feel the true golf swing and have a larger understanding of what the key ingredients to a successful swing for power and control is. This is what I will teach and show you to do...based on fact..not on fiction
Why My Teaching Works....
I have had amazing success with my students. I have actually had one student drop his personal best score from around 120 down to a 75 !!!! This happened in the space of approximately 18 months from first lesson to the score posted.
Most of the work was done by the student themselves. I only visually saw them maybe 10 times over the course of that 18 month time frame. They put in the work based on what I showed them and the results were amazing.
That's why my instruction methods work so well. Because I view the individual. I view what they have readily available in their swing and what area of their swing we can utilize or what we need to improve. I then show them the best method of training their swing to allow them to achieve what can best help them.
Like a music teacher. I teach them the chords....one by one.
Imagine if you sat at a piano or someone handed you a guitar and slapped a piece of sheet music in front of you and said..." play this"...It would be one big mess.
Just like the golf swing can be one big mess when bombarded with too much at once.
I promote the right feels. I describe why they are important for you and why they may be necessary for you and then show you the perfect routine to be able to train the action to become instinct and part of you without having to think about them individually as time progresses.
So you learn the important chords....THEN..you learn how to put them together.
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GOLF SWING MYTHS.....
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THE GRIP
The golf grip...how we set our hands on the club... is one of the most talked about topics in golf instruction.
His grip is too strong....His is too weak... That's neutral with the V's pointing here or there
I would say out of all the lessons I have given I have probably only ever changed the grips of a handful of people.....a handful!!!
The grip needs to be based on how the arms hang from the shoulders, and so long as the forearms aren't twisted out of position when the grip is taken, most people are in decent shape......to BEGIN with
As history again has shown us...there are all types of different golf grips that the great players have used with outstanding results.
Trevino, Azinger, Couples and Langer- strong grips
Hogan, Nicklaus and Bill Rogers- weak grips
Palmer, Norman, Els, Faldo- neutral grips
This only goes to prove that there really is no standard grip that guarantees success..The grip can come in many shapes and sizes and angles and pointing V's
The only must I teach my students about the grip is we need to start off with a tight knit unit-- the hands need to be close together, whatever grip type you like to use. This is necessary so the hands work as a unit and not independently.
The great professional golfers had such a wide variance in their grips. They had a swing pattern or feel that DICTATED THEIR GRIP FOR THEM....that's what I teach my students.
I will show you the correct swing motion and how to train it until it becomes second nature and your grip will then find you.... very easy
That's why I don't waste a student's time by trying to tell them within the first 5 minutes of a lesson that they need to grip the club in such and such a way.
By changing someone's grip in the first 5 minutes ...well....we are then pretty much wasting the next 55 minutes as they will have no chance at swinging properly.
Here's what I do...... I teach them what impact and path mean and what they are meant to feel like.
They learn this at regular speed with a regular golf club. No tracing plane lines or shining flashlights up a wall. We are playing real golf here.... not searching for marbles under a sofa.
We use a real golf club and we swing it!!
I show them my routine for teaching such a thing and enhancing that motion. What I show them and the way I do it...actually MAKES them change their grip on it's own accord to suit the sensations of the strike that I teach them.
The students almost ALL to the man alter their grip to a much closer ideal on their own with little or no input from me... I show them the how, set them on the right path and then let them learn.
The learning curve is rapid because I teach them things they can feel and utilize daily when they practice or play and even at home . I force their body to learn rapidly by the way I teach.
If you know what the golf swing is meant to feel like...then it becomes easier to repeat and also easier to repair.
Too many golfers have excelled with entirely different looking swings. Some not classic looking...BUT...if you know what to truly look for and understand the logic behind their motion well it is not hard to deny why they were so great at the game of golf...even with a swing that people laughed at or thought amusing.
SO....in summary....THE GRIP.... is not as important as most would make it out to be...
Because ....people are different.... we all have different size hands, different finger thickness, different strength of fingers and wrists, different forearm angles that manage which way our hands can or can't turn.
I will let you learn your true grip as we progress along....there is a time and a place for that stuff....but it isn't within the first few minutes of a lesson. !!
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THE HEAD....keep it still???
SPINE ANGLE......keep it the same???
We always the common response when a golfer hits a poor shot....
"Ohh...I moved my head....no wonder I didn't hit the ball properly"
This is one of the absolute biggest misconceptions about the swing ever made up.
Our head is attached to our shoulders....Our arms are attached to our shoulders..
Our hands are attached to our arms..... Our club is attached to our hands.......
If one thing is moving......shouldn't all of them move?
The head IS NOT the center of the swing....It HAS to move....let it move.
If your weight is moving from one side to another and downwards also isn't it only logical that the head AND the spine have to move along with that transfer.
The greatest Major Championship winner in the history of golf- Jack Nicklaus
talked about always keeping his head still when he swung the club...DID HE?
ABSOLUTELY NOT- His head goes down and backwards (brown line) and his spine angle changes considerably (blue line)
Lee Trevino- drops his head considerably down into the impact arena
Moe Norman- renowned for his ball striking abilities drops his head down and backwards throughout the swing
Gary Player- down and backwards increasing his spine tilt into impact
Want more evidence? .... How about Ben Hogan and also the great Tony Lema
Lema's head moves backwards as shown in relation to the tree and building in his background...his spine tilt increases considerably through impact.
The flat left wrist at impact becomes a result..not from being an objective we strive for.... It happens with the correct swing sequencing and acceleration
So if all these great ball strikers move their head and change their spine angles throughout the swing...WHY would we want to do anything different?
This notion totally disproves the idea of staying centered over the ball and keeping the weight forward to help improve the strike.
One of the greatest photos of a world class golfer showing how the weight should actually be over the right foot on the approach to impact is of perhaps the greatest driver of the golf ball ever in the persimmon age of golf- Greg Norman
Even though we hear all the golfers say they drive towards their left side from transition and get their weight onto their left side into impact......
WHERE do the scales in the background show the weight positioned?
65% of The Shark's weight is STILL on his right side with the club head 12 inches from the impact position.....he has spine tilt and is holding the flex of the shaft into the strike.....it is little wonder he was such an impressive golfer and especially an unbelievable driver of the golf ball.
If the greatest ever all did it in a particular manner...why would we want to attempt anything different?...this is why theories such as stack and tilt are ineffective, especially with the longer clubs....the proof is there for all to see...IF you know what to look for.
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Tiger Woods recently undertook swing surgery in an attempt to improve his ball striking.
The picture below shows the poor results of mis information about trying to keep the body ahead or on top of the ball...or 'centered' as they are calling it today.
Having his caddie Steve Williams hold a club in alignment with his head to monitor his head movement and try not to move down or backwards is no good.
You only have to look at the clubface, which is markedly closed only a a foot or so after impact...and see the right arm thrusting and straightening the club outwards from the body and 'off plane' after impact.
If you think keeping the club on plane coming down is relative...then you are well and truly mistaken....keeping the club 'on plane' through the strike and beyond is the only true relevance to having consistent control of the ball.
A better way to put it is this.....
To keep the club on the "true plane" where it matters, you need to feel like the club is NEVER on plane.
We can take this one step farther and view a video from the recent Tavistock Cup that was held in mid March 2011.
The result of keeping the body centered and on top of the ball is hindering any opportunity Tiger has of coming in from a shallow path and using his entire body in the correct sequence of events.
The resulting divot here is what you would see at your local public course.
You can stick as many gloves under your right arm as you want and it won't help stop this over active thrusting...because Tigers swing DNA and what he wants to feel and needs to feel are totally against this new idea of swinging the club
tigerdownimpact031511 from Golf Aus on Vimeo.
This new move is not working....and doesn't work......we now see a huge assortment of popped up drives and huge snap hooks and a few pushed shots also.
The variety of contacts from different angles is vast and the extra work the hands have to do to time this new sequence Tiger is trying to achieve is difficult for anyone, let alone him.
It pretty much becomes 'pot luck' when the face strikes squarely and the ball goes where he wants it to go.
Add in the fact that tremendous delofting of the club is occurring and we now are witness to large distance control issues for the iron approaches.
This staying centered and on 'top of the ball' also puts more pressure on Tiger's impaired left knee.....as I have shown above the majority of the weight should be on the right side coming into impact....
To be keeping the weight farther left puts intense pressure on that leg and we see the steep approach and hand flip to try save the shot.
The pictures below show just how much weight Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan had behind the ball and on their right side at impact.
Why would we want to do anything different?
It really irks me that instruction of today claim to have based their teaching methods on the game's greatest- and many use Hogan as their thesis as he has been revered throughout time- .... Yet they teach polar opposites to what the greats did.
Other great golfers below Steve Jones, Sandy Lyle. Larry Nelson showing the same procedure with weights in the background showing us the ground forces at these stages of the swing and the ratio of them from right foot to left foot. It may feel like the weight moves left...but this shows an entirely different picture and a true one.
If you want to be able to bring the club around your body into impact what foot should the majority of your weight be on to help achieve this?.....correct as shown
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THE SWING PLANE..................
What Is It ?......Where Does The Swing Plane Really Matter?
So...we can't watch a golf telecast or the Golf Channel or even read a golf magazine without some reference to the swing plane.
The internet is covered with swing plane theories and ideals based on someone drawing lines from the ball upwards to the shaft, or the hands, or the grip or the shoulders and making the call about whether or not someone's swing is 'on plane'.
I mentioned this earlier on Page 5 about the backswing......The backswing doesn't really matter.
The backswing is a movement of the club allowing us to find the true path down and into the ball. History proves the club head, shaft, or grip does NOT have to be on 'plane' whilst the backswing is in progress.
Yet all we hear today is instructors and commentators talking about keeping the butt of the club pointing at the ball going back and coming down.....WHY?
Anyone who thinks the club has to stay on plane going up and coming down does NOT know about the golf swing....You may think that is a far out remark....
BUT...... IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE
Let's look at a few players of today's era who according to the 'knowledge' of these instructors and commentators show exemplary swing plane based on today's thoughts about the path the club should take. We will look at the downswing first.
Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson Ernie Els
Each of these downswing approaches show an 'on plane' ideal where the butt of the club is pointing at the ball as they are swinging the club downwards from the top.
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Now let's look at some of history's greatest ever ball strikers and see what they do.
Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Moe Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino,
Tony Lema, Byron Nelson, Gary Player
NONE OF THEM.......have the butt of the club pointing anywhere near the ball
Should we then really believe that today's computer aged golf instruction is well founded and based on fact?
TRYING to keep the club on plane is catastrophic to the main part of the swing
IMPACT and BEYOND
The only time we 'really want the club on plane' is through impact and beyond
...being taught otherwise is the ruin of good ball striking abilities for many
That's why we see very sub standard ball striking quality throughout the world these days even with the 'latest and greatest' hi tech equipment
The post impact protocols are SO important to the swing....it gives us an x-ray of exactly what happened before hand.
Golf instruction has entirely missed the boat on the true demand of ball striking excellence.... There are many factors to improving your ability but if you think the swing is over once the ball has been struck-- you are way off base..
I teach this in an easy to understand and an easy to program manner... ANYONE. can achieve great ball striking capabilities with the correct information.
You can always keep doing what you are doing now and maybe 'luck out' a few times and play well....but consistency will always be so difficult to find.
I treat students as long term projects.....not just someone I can stick a band aid on and improve them for a few days. However...the harder the worker the quicker the swing changes will allow them to improve.
I look long term and base my beliefs on real great ball strikers shown above and what they did with the swing and my experience as a high level professional golfer allows me to pass these sensations on to my students.
Golf can be as hard as you want to make it.
It really isn't as hard as some think.
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CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
