Archive for December, 2009

The Secret is in the Dirt

December 31, 2009

I just read a very interesting e-book authored by Mike Maves.  The book is titled “The Secret Is In The Dirt”.   For those of you in the know this is the famous quote Ben Hogan used when referring to what made him so successful.   Known as one of the best ball strikers of all time Hogan has long been alleged to have had a secret to the golf swing that has not been given to anyone else.

Maves says that the secret has been there all along in Hogan’s seminal classic “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” written in 1957 and still the all-time best-selling instructional book.  While many articles, blogs, books and forums have been written concerning Hogan’s secret, this new book goes into great detail in not only explaining what the secret is, but why it was there for all to see since 1957.   While Hogan is a focal point there is much in the ebook about Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and others who have also shared some of Hogan’s moves.

The e-book is unique in that it includes many videos to support the text.  As well as being insightful the videos are humorous in their own way as they show the author explaining his theories while hitting balls into a lake.  His dog and the uninformed cameraman add to the story (if you have some patience).

You can find the ebook at this site:  http://www.secretinthedirt.com/ 

Included are two videos with PGA Tour Pro Steve Elkington and the author.  If you are follower of golfwrx forums you will recognize the author as sevam1 who has some enormous followings to his posts there.

Totally Driven has already started experimenting with the conclusions in the book (with positive results).  Next, we will further test the “secret” by using our Pure Balance Force Plate to measure the effects.  

Pure Balance Force Plate

 

(HINT: The secret has alot to do with footwork and how you use it to your best advantage).

Well worth the read and $25!!

Andy Thompson

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K-Vest Results-Tour Pro vs Average Player

December 18, 2009

Totally Driven has had the privledge of working with Justin Smith, a Nationwide Tour Professional.   Justin is mainly working on golf conditioning right now, but we took some time to gather some baseline results by putting him through our Power Assessment.

When comparing Justin to an average of the players who have gone through our Power Assessment we found some interesting differences.  First of all to get an understanding, Justin regularly hits the ball 300 yards and has Ball Speed of over 160 MPH on the launch monitor.  He is however working to improve his golf conditioning, mobility, stability and balance in order to improve on this and his swing in general.  Justin is very aware of his swing issues (we all have them) and what he needs to work on.

When measuring Justin’s power sources, he was fairly balanced between his legs, core and shoulders.   His numbers were just slightly below what we would consider PGA Tour level.   The average player who has been measured at Totally Driven is not balanced at all, meaning one or more of these power areas is deficient.   The players most lacking in distance/power were also quite low when we measured their power sources (up to 50% lower than Justin in some cases).

When we tested Justin on our K-Vest which gives us very detailed 3D information about his swing, more things came to the surface.  Justin’s swing sequenced perfectly with his hips leading the downswing, followed by his thorax and then his arms.  Sixty five % of others who have been tested at Totally Driven had poor sequencing (downswing not in the proper order).  

Kinetic Sequence Example on K-Vest

Poor Sequencing -Hands First

Justin had an “X” Factor of 31 degrees.   This measures the difference between the shoulder turn and the hip turn.   We want the shoulders to turn more than the hips.   The PGA Tour average is an X Factor of 50 degrees, so Justin has some work to do here.   Our average of the others tested was 30 degrees of X Factor.   What we have seen here is that most players are over-rotating the hips (as Justin is doing also) which creates a limited “rubber band effect” because there is less torque being applied.

A more important measurement is how much (if any) the X Factor increases from the top of the backswing during the downswing.   The PGA Tour average is a 13 degree increase.   Justin had a 7 degree increase.   The only players we have had with more than a 5 degree increase were all professionals.   44% of our players tested actually had a decrease in their X Factor during the initial start of the downswing.   These players were not starting their swing with the hips (which increases the rubber band effect).

We also found that Justin had some physical areas that needed improvement.   From Titleist Performance testing and power testing compared to the K-Vest we found that there was a direct correlation from the physical issue to the swing issue.   We found the same thing with virtually every player we tested.   In other words, for most players there is a reason you are swinging the way you swing.   The golf swing is often developed around what your body is capable of.

Justin shared with us after we were done.  “My swing hasn’t changed in the last ten years.  My swing flaws are still there and it’s difficult to make them go away.   I now realize that I need to work on my body first.  It’s too bad the general public doesn’t realize this.   The PGA Pros do.  I now know that the only way to improve my swing positions is to work on my body first.”

More to come..

Andy Thompson and Lynn Anderson

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Best Way to Improve at Golf

December 17, 2009

Most players don’t have a clue as to what needs to be done to improve their game or reduce their handicap.   Even fewer know how to do it or are committed to working on the right things.

We see seven main elements to golfing proficiency.

1.  Properly Fit Equipment

2.  Long Game- Full Swing

3.  Short Game- Chipping/Pitching

4.  Putting

5.  Mental Abilities

6.  Physical Capabilities

7.  Course Management

Of these, it seems that most players gravitate to new equipment as the way to improvement.   Why is this?  Well, advertising is very persuasive.    The latest technology sounds good and after all getting new equipment is easy (other than the cost),exciting and fun.   Unfortunately, most players don’t go through a proper fitting to insure the new clubs are suitable.  

The next thing on the list for most players is working on the full swing.  Again, most players don’t do this correctly either.   Reading the latest golf tip in a golf magazine and working on that or just beating balls is what most people do to improve.   The reality is neither is very effective.  The tips in the golf magazines are usually pretty good, but are they good for you?  With as many ways as there are to successfully hit a golf ball, there is more of a chance that trying a tip would hurt you than help you.   Beating balls is great to enhance motor learning of how you are already swinging.  It’s not a great way to improve (check out our last blog on motor learning to find out why).

The other five elements combined don’t seem to get more than 10% of most people’s focus.  That’s a shame as in our mind, any of the seven elements could be holding you back from becoming a better player.

Here is how we feel golf improvement can best be attained.

1.  Figure out what needs to improve.  You can often just do this yourself or ask you playing partners (they’ll usually know and be quite honest about it if you ask).   The problem is it is very difficult to determine if  a physical issue or equipment issue is holding you back.   Most players focus on the swing (it’s more fun) than golf exercise.  The reality is if you have a physical problem, it almost always will have a direct negative influence on your swing.  In other words, if you don’t fix the physical issue, you’ll likely not improve.  So, best is to have a qualified professional assess your game including physically.

2.  Go after your weakness (whatever it is) with good solid methods and  desire and you will almost assuredly improve.

So, every golfer has their own weakness and their are a number of ways to address the issue (some better than others).   That’s where Totally Driven comes in.   We can help access your game and create solid methods to help you improve.  In many cases we’ll guarantee it!

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New Miura Irons/Wedges

December 16, 2009

Totally Driven is happy that Miura has given us a “sneak peek” at some of their new products that will be coming out in 2010.  

The CB-501 irons will have slightly more offset than the CB-202 irons, but will produce a slightly lower ball flight.

2010 Miura CB 501 Irons

Very playable product with unique Miura forging.

New Miura Y Wedge.     This interesting new design features  a very unique sole grind.  According to the rep this is very functional.  More to come as we get more information.

Miura Y Wedge new for 2010

 As always these products are built at the famous Miura Forging house where tolerances and manufacturing processes are unique.The new Y wedge has a very unique sole design which is said to be very functional.   More to come!

2010 Miura Y Wedge

Check out www.miuragolf.com to learn more about the Miura story!

Multiple lofts of new Miura Y Wedge

Pretty unique isn’t it?  We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about these unique products.

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Motor Learning for Golf

December 11, 2009

Improving your golf swing is best done by improving your motor skills.  Motor learning is movement and pattern retraining.    There are alot of ways of doing this.   One of them is not beating balls at the range or golf dome, which unfortunately is what most players do.

Here are a few examples from the PGA Championship at Hazeltine:

Coach showing the feel of a position

 Here, the swing coach is trying to ingrain the feel of a particular move. 

Positional reinforcement

Here, the coach is showing the position required.   The player kept repeating this until it felt natural.

Using training aids

Here is an example of using training aids to improve motor learning.   This player had more gadgets than anyone we saw.  This time he is using a ball between his arms to help him get the feel.  He hit balls with the ball in place, then without.

Motor learning can be done many different ways.   You can swing with a baseball type swing.   You can use resistance tubing, throw sidearm, use training aids to show how to route your swing or many more.

The key is knowing what to work on and then know how to motor learn the new movement or retrain the pattern.  There is no better time to work on motor learning than the off-season.  In Minnesota our offseason is much longer than in other parts of the country.   This can actually be an advantage as most players can’t effectively make swing changes during the golf season because they don’t motor learn correctly.   This is usually caused by a results oriented mentality which often kicks in before the motor learning is complete.

Personally, my best season on the Mini-Tour was when I came back to Minnesota and did motor learning training without the pressure of trying to make the cut.   When I returned, I was a better golfer because I worked on the right things and retrained the positions/patterns so that they felt natural and easy to repeat.

The most important thing is to diagnose the problem.  At Totally Driven we have multiple ways of getting there, but one of the best is by using our K-Vest 3d device.   This shows much more than video and is far superior to using the naked eye.   Once we determine the main problem to work on we use motor learning drills to help the player “feel” the change and ingrain it.   We do this before we move on to the next issue.

We are really moving away from individual golf lessons because they often don’t work.  Someone looking for a quick fix typically won’t take the time to correctly motor learn the new pattern.   We like to ingrain changes by seeing the player multiple times per week.   One time is typically on their own using swing aids, video or K-Vest to motor learn.   The next we check and then move on to the next thing.

Check out our programs at:  http://www.totallydriven.com/index.php

Lynn Anderson, Director of Instruction

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