Posts Tagged ‘golf magazines’

Club Gapping- Why and How

March 31, 2011

Determining the distance you hit each club in your bag should not be a guess or done by comparing to your buddy.   Every month I look at the What’s in the Bag article in Golf Digest and see a PGA Tour Pro featured.   They always list carry distance for each club in the bag.   I can guarantee they can relay these carry distances off the tip of their tongues.

Why is then that the average golfer struggles to know how far they hit each club in their bag?  

1. The assumption that there is 10 yards of distance between each iron in their set.   This is rarely exactly the case.  

2. Very few players have actually measured the distances they hit their clubs.   Why it’s so important to use a GPS or range finder to determine the exact distance to the pin or front of the green, but not know exactly how far you hit your clubs is really a head scratcher. 

3. Until recently there has not been an easy accurate way to measure this accurately. 

4.  Most players go by their best ever shot to determine what iron to use, grossly over-estimating how far they hit the ball.   That is why so many PGA pros say they would recommend the average player use more club into the green.  

5.  Carry distance and total distance are not determined.   Carry distance is more important, but most players rely on total distance, because that’s what they see when they get to the green. 

6.  It takes too long to do this outside with a range finder or by walking it off.

We are starting a Club-Gapping program at Totally Driven.   This is how we are going to do it:

1.  Use an accurate Launch Monitor.  In this case we chose the Foresight Golf GC2, because many industry experts have told us this is the most accurate indoor launch monitor, and it has club gapping software built into it.

GC2 Software

2.  Do the Club-Gapping in a controlled environment.   Outdoors is not controlled, as elevation and wind come into play.   Setting up the Launch Monitor for no wind and a level shot allows for accurate numbers.

3.  Use the golf ball you use on the course to measure.   Using range balls at a driving range is not going to give you accurate numbers.   These balls spin and launch differently than the balls you play and many of them are in poor condition.

4.  Measure carry distance.   This is difficult to do outside.   Many years ago the PGA Pro would have their caddy out in a field so they could measure where the ball landed.

5.  Take a good statistical representation of each club.   We do ours in an hour and ask that the player hit at least 5 and preferably 10 shots with each club.   NOTE:  It’s best to measure every club, as it’s quite common to have loft variances between clubs.

What to do with the results?

1. Know and use the carry distance for each club.   How far the ball rolls out is important, but that is more variable and is effected by tilt of the green, wind direction, hardness of the green and elevation changes.   Carry distance is effected by elevation and wind direction, but not tilt of the green or hardness of the green.   Knowing what club you need to carry a trap or hit to land in the middle of the green is much more reliable and should be more pertinent to your golf game.

2.  If your gaps are too close together or too far apart, consult your local Professional Club-fitter for a loft/lie assessment and/or to look at your set make-up.

3.  Determine how wind effects your shots when outside.   Rule of thumb has been for every 10 MPH of wind (when into the wind) you need one more club.   Is that accurate for you?   How about downwind and sidewind?

4.  Are you playing the right golf ball?   Again, consult your PGA Professional or Club-fitter if you are unsure if the ball you are playing is best for you.

5.  Use the information, don’t rely on what your playing partner is hitting.   Check your ego at the door.   It’s more important to hit the right club, not to hit a seven iron because everyone else is.   The bottom line is shooting the lowest score possible and if you’re not hitting the correct club for the distance, you are only hurting yourself.

Andy Thompson,

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

651-578-0501

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Coaching-vs-Instruction

October 28, 2010

At a recent AMF seminar that included many of the top golf instructors in the world, I listened to Rick Jensen speak about the way golf is taught compared to other sports.  It was very eye-opening as well as was his book, “Easier Said Than Done” which goes into great detail about the subject.

Golf has typically been taught in one hour increments on a driving range with an instructor sometimes using video equipment that allows the student to see their swing on screen.  Most often positions in the golf swing are explained and worked on with the player expected to work on some prescribed drills before coming back for another lesson.

Expectations from students are usually to have the instructor give them a tip or two to get rid of their slice or to help them hit the ball more consistently.  If not from an instructor, players will seek advice from tips in golf magazines, books or other players.  The emphasis is usually on fixing the problem quickly and easily.

Now, think of any other sport.  Football, baseball, tennis, hockey, basketball or track.  None of these sports are taught in a similar manner.  Nor are the players looking for a quick tip that will make them immediately better.   It is understood that it takes time to develop skills and it is often not easy.   The focus in these other sports is developing skills and working on taking these skills to the playing field eventually.  I don’t remember anyone teaching me positions of  a throwing motion or a tennis backhand.  Other sports are not taught with every position of the motion scrutinized such as golf.

So, why does golf need to be different?   Jim Furyk, Lee Trevino, Moe Norman, Arnold Palmer and others have shown that there are many effective ways to swing a golf club.   Obviously these players didn’t have an instructor that was hung up on creating a good looking swing.  These players didn’t care what their swing looked like either.   They just wanted results.   In other sports we look at results more than technique.  Think of Rod Carew, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.   Each has their own stance and way of swinging at a baseball.  Each is (or was) effective.   Some football running backs run standing fairly erect and others are bent over more. 

This isn’t to say that golf instruction is not needed.   To the contrary, golf is not an easy sport to learn.  Skills need to be developed, just like any other sport.   The main problem is that for some reason golfers think they can get better quick if they find one good tip, work on it for an hour or two and then take it to the course.   Can you imagine a baseball player expecting a quick tip and then expecting to walk into the batters box and be able to hit Cliff Lee within a week?  It’s not going to happen.   It’s not going to happen in golf either.

That’s why golf needs more coaches and less instructors.   The key to golf is getting the ball into the hole as quickly as possible.   It’s about results, not style.  It’s recognizing short-comings and working hard (it’s almost never easy) to correct them.   It’s putting in hard work ingraining skills, practicing in ways that will transfer to the course and finally taking it to the golf course.   If you think that hitting balls a half hour before teeing off is practice, think again.   You will never be able to make a change that quickly.  

Sean Foley/Tiger Woods-Coach and Student

While the best players in the world have a golf coach (0r coaches), the rest of us has an instructor.  Ever thought about that?   The average golf handicap has not changed in over 50 years.  Isn’t it time to try something new??

Lynn Anderson

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

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Golf Improvement in One Hour

October 20, 2010

At Totally Driven we are not big proponents of quick fixes or golf swing tips that will instantly dramatically improve someone’s game.   While it would be great if this were possible, it rarely works that way.  Skills need to be ingrained over time and need to be transferred from practice to the course.  Invariably, this is more difficult to do than what players are looking for.  If golf swing tips worked, the average handicap would be falling like a rock with the plethora of tips available in golf magazines.

We have recently had some great success after working with a player for one hour (or less).  It actually has happened twice with the same player.   Here’s the story:

Jeremy, an 11 handicap comes in January of 2010 for an iron fitting.  During the fitting it was obvious to me that he was over-swinging and his tempo was way off.   Dynamic testing was showing very erratic impact for an 11 handicap. 

I decided to get Jeremy on video to show him what I was seeing.  I wasn’t looking for positions or anything like that, I just wanted him to see how out of sync his swing was.   After playing back the video in regular speed, he kind of got it.  The next step was to have him use the Tour Tempo Micro Player.  http://www.tourtempo.com/ As he had a pretty fast tempo I started him right at 21/7 for tempo and showed him how to use the device.  It took us twenty minutes or so before he got the hang of it.   After I videoed his swing while using Tour Tempo, I showed him the comparison.  Now he really got it.  The results were dramatic.  His swing was in sequence better and looked like more of a single digit player.  We were also able to finish the club-fitting without a hitch as he was making much better contact.   Jeremy bought a Tour Tempo Micro player and book and we ended out tweaking his current iron set to suit his needs.

In April Jeremy set up an hour lesson just to make sure he was still on track.   This lesson involved ingraining the Tour Tempo drills and making sure the 21/7 was the correct tempo (it was).   Jeremy was using the device and working hard, the only issue was hitting the Tour Tempo beats properly.  We never talked about grip, set-up or positions at all.  He was very pleased and ready to start the season.

In July Jeremy signed up for one of our Power Clinics.   This was a group clinic which Lynn Anderson conducted.   The clinic is designed to show people where power is generated in the swing and teach them how to tap into it.  We’ve had great success in these clinics with people gaining 10-20 yards of distance by the end of the 90 minute class.  We utilize Tour Tempo as part of the Power Clinic also.

We didn’t hear from Jeremy again until October 14th when he came in for a driver fitting.  He said that he had a fantastic year, that his handicap had dropped to 5.4, he had been driving the ball long and straight and that it was all due to Tour Tempo.  He said he had been struggling with his driver recently and wanted to get fit for a new one.  I did as before and started doing the driver fitting until I saw he was getting poor results with any combination I put together.  He was hitting a big slice and getting no distance.  While his swing looked better than last January it still looked like he was over-swinging and his tempo was off.   Jeremy stated that he had the Tour Tempo tones “in his head” and swore that he had that down.

I asked Jeremy if he would be willing to spend a half hour with Lynn Anderson to look at his swing.  He agreed and Lynn video-taped his current driver swing and also a swing with an iron.   Lynn immediately hooked up the Tour Tempo player on speaker so she could hear the tones and she set it for 21/7 and had Jeremy swing to the tones.   He wasn’t coming close to hitting the second beat and was rushing down to try to hit the third beat.   After working with him for about 2o minutes he was able to get the tempo down correctly.   Lynn showed us both his video at the start to the video after using Tour Tempo and it was mind boggling how improved it was.   Not only was his tempo better, his positions were much improved.  He went from an open club-face at the top to square, and from a flipping position at impact to a near perfect position.  We all knew the driver itself wasn’t the issue so we sent him on his way.  Here is the email response I received four days later:

“Andy, Thanks for the lesson the other day I worked on tempo for three range sessions and went out and shot 74 yesterday! I haven’t broke 80 in two months so it felt great! I hit 1 bad iron shot the whole round. That is called getting results from a golf lesson. I wont be going anywhere else. Driver power starting to come back too. Thanks again, Jeremy”

Now, we know this isn’t going to happen all the time.  Jeremy is a hard worker and worked for three practice sessions to get the tempo ingrained, plus this was something he had been successful with during the summer so he was in reality re-learning the skill.

It’s been our experience that the only quick fix lessons we have had success with are:  Tour Tempo for full swing (and even then some refreshers are sometimes in order) and putting and chipping lessons (which often deal with tempo issues).   It’s amazing that tempo is rarely taught, even though you can walk down any driving range in the world and pick out good players from poor players by just watching their tempo.   Try it some time.  I’ll bet you can guess someone’s handicap within 5 strokes just by watching their tempo.

We’re planning on showing the before and after swings from this last Tour Tempo lesson on YouTube in the next week or so.   I’ll add the link to this blog later.

Andy Thompson

Totally, Driven

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Backswing- How Long?

February 17, 2010

During our Totally Driven Distance Improvement Assessments we often see players trying to create a longer swing than their body is capable of.  This often results in an out to in swing path that actually reduces their distance.  This long swing usually results in the player coming out of posture, incorrect sequencing and many other swing flaws.

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

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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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