One of the key differences is that in baseball there is no backswing.  In golf, we often get in a position at the top of the swing which makes it difficult to make an athletic baseball like movement through the ball.  Getting to a “torqued” top of the backswing position would look very similar to a hitter waiting for the pitch.  Weight is on the inside of the back foot and ready to push forward.

Harmon Killebrew Swing Sequence

Look at the sequence of Harmon Killebrew, who hit over 500 home runs in his career.  His hips rotate rotationally while his hands stay back.  The shoulders start to move before the hands.   Also notice that the hands are ahead of the bat prior to impact (in golf this would be called lag).   No flipping of the hands at all, and at impact the hips are rotated about 90 degrees from the start of the swing.  Weight is now transferred almost entirely to the front foot.

Of course these are the things you need to do to hit the golf ball a long way also.   If you practice baseball swings and gradually change the plane of the swing for golf, you’ll get the feeling of proper sequencing and home-run power for golf!

Lynn Anderson,

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

The group consisted of 20 women of all ability levels.  The common link I observed at the start of the clinic (I went along to help Lynn and  Betsy out) was golf swings that lacked dynamics and power.  Nearly every player was swinging quite slowly on the backswing with swings that were quite long with very little use of the lower body.

Lynn and Betsy went right to the core of the problems.  They had the gals learn how to  get their hips initiating and turning on the downswing in ways they had never experienced before.  I could see light bulbs coming on all the way  down the line.  A number of  drills allowed everyone to find a way “to get the feel of this”.

Next there were drills to introduce speed to the golf swing.  Everyone was amazed at how the combination of speed and getting the hips moving created more speed at impact.  As I observed a few of the players were grumbling that they wanted to hit some balls to see how far they could hit it.   Betsy and  Lynn had a plan however, and they stuck to it.

Next was the Tour Tempo drill.  They put a CD in a Boom Box that introduced the Tour Tempo tones to all twenty players.   All players worked on getting their swings to hit the tones at the correct timing.  Many of them struggled in the beginning as their swings were way too long.   Little by little they started getting the timing down.   What was amazing is that the golf positions and swing planes improved for many of the players without any work on this at all.  

Finally we brought out golf balls (with the Tour Tempo Player still going).  I’ve never seen so many looks of amazement after 90 minutes of work.  About a third of  the group was hitting the ball 20-40 yards longer than they ever had before.  All but two of the others were making much better contact with improved distance with a much better looking golf swing.  The two players that struggled were having a hard time getting the timing down, but still hit intermittent shots  much longer than when they started.

It really had the three of us shaking out heads at how quickly the group progressed.   Individual golf lessons are effective, but improvement comes slow.  This was done with 20 people in 9o minutes.   We’ll be having more Power for Women Golf Clinics in the future (the one Tuesday 6/22 with Lynn and Sheryl Maize at Crystal Lake Golf Course is already filled).  If  they keep going like this the guys better look out!

Andy Thompson,

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

When he went through the Power Evaluation in January, we found a number of power leaks.  His Titleist Performance Evaluation showed he had a number of physical issues.  His fitness handicap was 24.4 so not so good.  His swing was very steep and he produced a downward attack angle with the driver that had him producing tons of backspin.  When we looked at his swing we saw a reverse spine angle at the top and a flipping move at impact.  Dick had been recently through a series of golf lessons at a local big box store and had not made any improvement.

After 3 months of hard work we are happy to report that he has added 50+ yards to his driving distance.  Progress on the program was slow (he didn’t make significant improvement until the last three weeks), but the improvement was very dramatic.  Dick worked his TPI Program at home and worked on his swing at Totally Driven.  Here are his before and after numbers:

1/19/10

Ball Spd         Launch Angle        Backspin          Carry           Total

134                  11.1                            4347                  197                210.7

4/12/10

144                   11.2                           2648                  231.7             263.5

Dick had a vacation during this period, so essentially he gained over 50 yards of distance in 3 months.  Note that we used his current driver for both tests.  Originally we thought we would probably need to fit him into a new driver because of the excessive backspin rate.  While we were able to capture about 5 more yards with a new driver he opted to stay with the one he had.

As players finish their programs we will continue to report results.  If we keep getting results like this we’ll be very happy!

Andy Thompson

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

If you workout now, good for you, but what I am talking about is developing the specific physical elements that are specific to the golf swing.  This is referred to  as “Transfer of Training Effect”.  Implementing a general workout is not good enough.  Specific golf training needs to cover mobility, flexibility, stability, balance, strength, and power relative to the golf swing.  Transfer of training effect has been around the industry for awhile.  It makes a lot of sense if you just think about it.  I have my clients work on core strength and power in golf posture.  By doing the traditional core work you think of lying on the ground and doing crunches.  My question to you is where in the golf swing do you get to lie down?  The answer is never, at least that I can think of, so why train in that position?  Yes, there are going to be times where I may lay you down to get you to feel something and then stand you up.  Same concept when you lay on a bench to do a lift of some sort but by lying down you disengage your core, glutes.  As a golfer that is disastrous to disengage your core and glutes.

If you are really serious about making any permanent swing changes you need to have a golf fitness expert evaluate your physical condition and build a program based off your results.  I guarantee you this WILL make a difference in your golf game!

Lynn Anderson

Totally Driven

After our club-builder Jon Weedman put together the clubs including SST PURING the shafts we called the customer to set up an appointment to have us loft and lie the clubs.  We always loft/lie after the clubs are built and test multiple clubs on a lie board to make sure the set is done perfectly.  The process was going along fine other than the irons were more irregular than normal as far as loft/lie.   After bending the first two irons with no problem, I had something very unusual happen.  The third iron snapped apart in the loft/lie machine.  Now, I am very experienced at loft/lie of irons.  Not to say I have never broken one before but it is extremely rare.  But these were supposed to be forged Mizunos that should bend easily and smoothly.  Of course, I felt terrible and offered to replace this for the customer with a new one.  Of course, now I had to  finish the rest of the clubs, so I carefully started the next one.  To my surprise, even though I was very careful, the next club snapped also. 

Now our builder Jon and I remembered where the clubs had come from and were more than suspicious (as well as feeling awful).  As Jon looked at the clubs closer it was very apparent the workmanship was poor on the heads.  The bore on the  heads was irregular, leaving a very thin side and a thick side.  Of course the clubs had both broken along the thinner wall. 

Check out the thin wall on the right side of each club

Loft Lie comparisons below:

Purchased from Mizuno      Customer A                 Customer B

 3 iron -21/60                          21/60.5                         21/61

4 iron  - 24/60                         24/62.5                        24/59.5

5 iron – 27/61                           29/62.5                        28/60.5

6 iron – 31/61.5                         31/63                          30.5/61.5

7 iron – 35/62                            36/63.5                          35/61

8 iron – 39/63                             42/61.5                          40/61

9 iron – 43/63                             44/62.5                          43.5/63.5

PW -       47/63.5                         48/65                              48/65

For those of you who aren’t familiar with loft and lie specs, the column on the left (purchased directly from Mizuno by Totally Driven) were quite close to factory specs – not perfect, but close.

The irons from customer A (two broken clubs) and customer B (his friend) were both very irregular with lies angles not graduating upwards  consistently and lofts up to 3 degrees out of kilter.   Needless to  say it was very apparent to us (and the customer) that both of these sets were not Mizuno irons after all.  They were almost definitely counterfeits.  On closer inspection, even the paint fill color was not quite the same as a true Mizuno iron. 

Hosel lengths different-no serial #

After looking closer we also saw that the hosel lengths were not the same and that the real Mizuno iron has a serial number on the rear of the hosel and the other does not.

Now, I’m not writing this to embarrass these customers.  In fact, we feel bad for them.  These are not the only counterfeits we have seen or suspected.  It is  becoming more common.  Player A not only decided to replace the two broken irons, but to have  us order a whole set from Mizuno.  He could not live with knowing that 6 other irons were not really Mizuno’s ( and probably not even forged irons based on how they broke).  The overall expense was considerable, but he said it was a good lesson learned.

So, for those of you who like to buy clubs  from EBay or other online sources, beware.   If the price is too good to be true, the clubs are probably not “real”.  Even if the price is  about what you would expect, I would just caution- buyer beware!

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

Ernie Els - Slow Tempo- I think not!

You would be surprised to hear that Els and Couples actually have a much faster tempo than almost any of us.  If you’ve read the book “Tour Tempo”, you know what I’m talking about.   While their swings look silky smooth, PGA pros have a much quicker tempo than it looks. 

The effortless swing of top players comes from a few things.  First of all, these players usually don’t re-route the club in either direction, they stay in balance and they have perfect sequencing of the golf swing, utilizing their lower body to initiate the downswing.  All of these things add up to effortless looking swings that produce tons of distance.

Most of us have very slow backswings and then rush our downswings.  The reasons for this are many, not the least of which is advice to take the club back low and slow.  A long, slow backswing often creates an out of balance swing that results in re-routing and improper sequencing of the golf swing.  If you don’t sequence properly your swing will look fast, but your speed at the ball will be slow.

A properly sequenced golf swing is built from the ground up, with the hips pulling the shoulders and hands along for the ride.  This looks slower than it is because the speed in the hands is building gradually and doesn’t reach its highest rate until near impact.

Want to hit it further?  Improve your tempo!  We can help!!

www.totallydriven.com

You can actually find cast blades, forged cavity backs and even some very forgiving forged irons. The difference is really in the manufacturing process. Forging involves literally pounding or compressing a soft piece of carbon steel in its solid form, from which the head is made into the designed shape, after which a number of other machining steps are necessary to complete the process. Casting involves turning the metal into its molten, liquid state, after which it is poured into a mold to form the head design. From there the cast irons also go through some additional steps to finish them.

It ends out that forged clubs are more easily adjustable for loft and lie (which is helpful if your swing is undergoing changes), but also are softer and wear a bit faster. Cast clubs are more difficult to adjust, but may wear a bit longer particularly in the grooves.

If you have a cast iron and forged iron with exactly the same shape and specs in the two heads, and the heads are both shafted to the same exact specs (including shaft alignment), hitting the same ball, the shots will fly identical distances and many players would never know the difference. Some however can distinguish, and like the “softer feel” of a forged club. It really becomes more of what looks and feels best for the individual and then practicality. Most golfers know deep down when their game is not up to playing a blade or tiny cavity back iron (whether forged or cast).

Ultimately, getting the irons properly fit with the correct grip size, length, lie- angle, swing-weight as well as shaft weight, flex and bend point needs to be done regardless of the head chosen. Then depending on your ability, angle of attack, ball flight, thin or fat tendencies a club-head that meets your needs should be selected that meets your eye as well.

This is where Totally Driven’s  professional club-fitting expertise will greatly enhance your decision making and help answer any additional questions you may have.

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

Why do so many golfers overswing?  Read any golf magazine and you will find tips on increasing shoulder turn to create more distance.  Golfers are just doing what they are told.   This is not a problem if the player is flexible enough to swing to parallel without coming out of posture and over- rotating the hips.

Here are some keys we have found to determine if you have limitations that would prohibit you from getting to parallel in your backswing (effectively).

1.  What is the flexiblity in your thumbs?  Can you do this?

Can you bend to 90 degrees or more?

If your thumb bends to less than 90 degrees you have limited flexibility in your thumb.  If you reach 90 degrees you have good flexibility and over 90 degrees is great.  If you can’t bend your thumb in this manner to 90 degrees or more this will limit the amount of backswing you are capable of.  Thumb flexibility is also a big advantage when trying to create lag in the golf swing.  Here are some exercises to improve thumb flexibility: http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8114450/hand-stretches-hand-exercises-physioadvisor.htm

2.  Wrist flexibility.   If you can’t bend in this direction close to 90 degrees you have limited wrist flexibility. 

This is the direction the the wrist needs to cock during the golf swing and if you are limited you won’t be able to effectively get to parallel in the backswing.  Here are some exercises to help increase this flexibility.  http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8113750/wrist-stretches-wrist-flexibility-exercises-ph.htm

Sergio Garcia- Flexible thumb and wrist= lots of lag!

3.  Hip flexibility.  Many players have limited hip flexibility thus making getting to parallel impossible unless you over-rotate your shoulders and take your hips along for the ride.  The problem here is that often the player is now out of position to make a good downswing. 

So if you have limited flexibility in these areas you have choices.   You can learn to shorten your swing (you will probably not lose distance as JB Holmes has shown us) or you can increase your flexibility through some hard work.  Or you can continue overswinging which creates inconsistency, poor mechanics and usually undesirable results.

As always, we’re here to help.

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

This particular player is a 2 handicap, but does this mainly by being a good iron player with a solid short game.   When he came in his distance off the tee was the biggest limiting factor for him.  Below are his before and after numbers on the launch monitor:

Ball Speed  Backspin  Launch Angle  Carry Dist  Total Distance   Side Spin

12/7/09

137.6        3089                 8.9 deg               207.0         235.4 yds         R680

2/6/10

145.8       2735                   10.9 deg             236.3         266.8 yds        R491

Obviously, the results after 7 weeks of work are outstanding.   He gained 8.2 MPH ball speed and over 30 yards in total distance while also reducing his sidespin.  So how did this happen?

Number one, we had a dedicated player who puts in the work necessary to improve his game.   Secondly, we determined where his power leaks were and created a plan of attack specific to his needs.

In this particular case when we did the evaluation a number of things stood out.  His major swing flaws were an over the top move with a pronounced slide during his downswing.   On the K-Vest his sequencing was not in the correct order.  Instead of hips leading thorax leading hands, his downswing started with thorax then hips then hands.   His X Factor was 39 and didn’t improve during the swing (we would like to see a higher X Factor that increases during the start of the downswing).  His power testing showed that he lacked power in his legs while his thorax and core strength was good.  He also failed a number of physical Titleist Performance tests that directly correlated with his golf swing flaws.

Titleist Performance Testing

We started this player on a Titleist Performance Institute workout that was specific to his needs.   He was not able to make an efficient swing because his body wouldn’t allow it.   Once his workouts were under way we started working on biomechanical feedback on the K-Vest.  He was in weekly with work in between sessions as we then moved to some drills to  increase speed and improve his swing.  

K-Vest Biomechanical Drills

The results speak for themselves, but the reality is we feel he still has more distance to be gained.  His slide is much improved, but not gone thus his attack angle is improving (as noted by his improved launch and spin numbers and pictures at impact).  Next week we will retest on the K-Vest as well as Power Test in order to further measure progress. 

Could this have been done by just giving this player golf lessons?   It’s doubtful that this much progress would have been made.  This player has worked with some top golf instructors in the past and distance has always been an issue.

The good news is we are only halfway through his program.  We fully believe this player will be hitting the ball consistently 280 yards by the golf season – a full 45 yards improvement!

Andy Thompson, www.totallydriven.com

We were able to pick Jamie’s brain a bit and found some very interesting information.   First of all for those who don’t know, Jamie is only about 6′ tall and 170 pounds wringing wet.   No one would think he is the longest driver on the face of the earth by looking at him.   Also, Jamie is about as non-technical as you can get.  He doesn’t like to see his swing on video and doesn’t want to talk about positions of the golf swing.  

Jamie Sadlowski, not big but powerful

Being from Canada, Sadlowski was a hockey player before he was a golfer.  Interestingly he played hockey left handed and swings a golf club right handed.   It’s been my experience that generally the longest drivers of the golf ball who played hockey played both sports from the same side.   Jamie actually started playing golf cross-handed with his left hand low on the golf club.   He said he could hit it well over 300 yards this way.   Art Sellinger explained that Jamie has very flexible wrists that would allow him to be able to not only play cross-handed, but get to a John Daly like backswing position with his club well past parallel at the top of his swing now.  His workouts are focused on flexibility and developing speed more than strength.

We saw Jamie hitting a 30″ long driver 320 yards.   This is 4-5 inches shorter than the average putter.  His club-head speed with the driver is 150 mph and ball speed is 215 mph.  Art said Jamie has been hitting the ball 400 yards since he was 16 years old.   He also hits the ball pretty darn straight.  We never saw a huge slice or hook.

What did we learn about how to increase distance in the golf swing?  First of all, raw strength or size is not a prerequisite for hitting the golf ball far but focus on developing speed is important.  Secondly, a natural swing may create more power than a pleasing on plane, positionally taught golf swing.  Also, cross-training may be beneficial.

We’re striving to learn as much as possible so that we can help everyone we work with to hit it long and straight!

Andy Thompson, Totally Driven