The Best in Golf 9 Pages


by: Steve Fontaine
Valley Golf
Saginaw, MI
copyright 2003 All rights reserved

Introduction

These pages contain the best non time consuming training techniques. If you train before you practice, you bring reliable tools to put into practice. Without training, you bring old baggage.

All training should encompass as much as possible, with the fewest number of drills that it takes to get the job done. The training discussed adheres strictly to the skills you must have to become a good scorer and a good ball striker.
A mirror is the ultimate tool for effective self coaching. Video pales compared to what a mirror can do for you. The ability to feel what you are doing, as you see it, is the best way to true learning. Floor to ceiling mirrors are nice, but training can be just as effective with a tilted mirror from 3 to 4 feet tall. The combined value of all the training aids ever made may not rival the value you can get from effective use of a mirror.

The following materials contain the methods, illustrations and instruction that makes this such a powerful and reliable road map to permanent expert level improvement.


The learning process


Golf training should not be approached in the same way as cramming for an exam. If you train 8 hours a day for 7 days, you've devoted over 3000 minutes to training. Your likely to have better results by devoting 5 minutes a day for 3 months and having only a few hundred minutes involved. When given a chance, most physical things will grow into you over time. Your body, mind and muscles will change in ways that will make them better suited for the tasks that are given to them. This process works on its own time table.

Training that's realistic

A training program that works must first be a training program that you will do. Practice and training should be treated separately. Practice requires balls, while most training does not. The simple rule is: “Train a little everyday. Practice when ever you want to.”
Its human nature for people to be gung-ho and want to do more than what's realistic. They turn training into a burden and then outright quit. Usually in a matter of weeks. Sometimes after the first day. It doesn't have to be hard or time consuming. I strongly recommend resisting any gung-ho urges you may have and limit your training to 5 minutes a day. After 3 weeks or so, you should have a better idea whether you're in it for the long haul. You can adjust your training minutes up and down based on free time
and ambition. Keep in mind that 5 minutes will produce good results. By the way, the 5 minutes a day is for swing training. Chipping and putting are separate issues.

Developing skills through training

Working on your swing, your chipping or putting are much the same. Only the core skills are different. Chipping has one of the simplest training formats. The first chipping skill I ask for is the ability to chip the ball ten yards in the air. I require a smooth, one-speed stroke. Set-up with a middle ball position and find a club that produces a ball flight that peaks around waist high on a ten yard carry. Experiment with the length of your stroke. We want it just long enough that we can reach our distance with a smooth stroke. Start with a 2-foot long target at 10 yards from where you'll be chipping. Chip balls at the target until you get the distance down. Take a small break and start again. While its great to see how many times in a row we can hit the target, our true goal is to be able to hit it the first time. You only get one chance on the golf course. How you do immediately after a break will give you a truer sense of your progress.

Each new day, you will see your ability to chip at or near 10 yards improve. The improvement will be very noticeable. It does not take very many sessions before you can hit your target 7 or 8 times out of ten. This is the first step to becoming a great chipper. The second skill to develop is a good sense of half and double. Using your ten yard stroke as a reference, double it. Do not change your effort level, just lengthen the stroke until you can see and feel the speed of the club head double. Test it and adjust it until you have a pretty good sense of what double is. Starting again, from the 10-yard stroke, cut it in half. Shorten your stroke until you see and feel the club head traveling at half the speed. Over time this sense of half and double becomes very well refined. The more accurate your ten yard stroke, the more accurate a sense of double and half that you will be able to achieve. Now its time to put this training into practice. Call off random distances, 12 yards for example. You know 10 yards, your sense of double will allow you to easily figure out what stroke will produce 12 yards. This is easy. There are only two things you need to know to accurately cover a full range of distances.

Working on carry distance is a very reliable way to train. Ten yards in the air is always 10 yards. How far it goes after it lands will depend on grass type, length, uphill, downhill, soft, hard, wet or dry to name a few. The knowledge you get from playing experience will help you pick the proper landing area for each shot.

We can expand our chipping skills to include a large variety of shots with little effort. We can take the same stroke and try it with different clubs, ball positions and face angles. These shots do not have to be practiced often to be done well. At this point, its more in the knowledge of what will happen, than the actual practice. Your knowledge, along with the 2 main chipping skills, will allow you to perform all of these shots on the first attempt. When your 10-yard shot is well tuned, your entire chipping game becomes more well tuned. Chipping this way takes little maintenance. You don't have to play a lot of golf to stay sharp. To apply this to your swing training, think of the turn as your 10-yard chip. The better your turn, the better your entire swing will be able to become. Putting can also take the same approach.

 

Putting, the game within a game

Putting is different, in that, you need three main skills. First, you must have the ability to putt a ball down a straight line. Imitate the strokes of several good putters until you find one you like. Putt balls down a straight line regularly, even after you have the ability to keep the ball on the line stroke after stroke. If you can't putt a ball down the line, you will never become a good putter. Occasionally, you should putt to a target without a line. The next skill is distance.

While you are putting balls down the line, you should also be working on distance. To start, 15 feet is a good distance. Figure out what would be the equivalent of 15 feet on a real green and putt to that distance. A stimp meter is the preferred method to determine this. Once you have a reliable 15-foot stroke, you can use your sense of half and double to cover a broad range of distances accurately. If you waste a lot of time putting 5 feet and then have a 30 foot putt, the 30 footer is 6 times the 5 footer you've been practicing. Double of something is easy. Six times something is difficult for the best of us. You can add to your skill by finding a green with about a 4 degree slope and putting 15 feet uphill and 15 feet downhill. This will expand your control over distance.

Short putts play tricks on many golfer's eyes. You can prepare for this by drawing a hole at 3 feet and 6 feet on your line. You will then see an accurate image of the ball rolling thru the center of the cup every time you stroke your 15-foot putt.

Hit the breaks

The final skill for putting is the 12 basic breaks. The difficult part to achieving this skill is in finding a place to develop it. If you can find a green that's flat with about a 4 degree slope, place a tee in the center of the flat area. Place tees around this tee at locations corresponding to the numbers on a clock, each tee approximately 15 feet from the center tee. Place a ball between the 6 O'clock tee and the center tee and putt straight uphill to the center tee. Then move to the 5 or 7 and continue to putt your way around the clock. At each number, putt until you have learned the break for that putt. After a few sessions, these breaks will become memory. In real play, you can determine which number on the clock your closest too. Then look to see if the slope and speed are more or less than the green you practiced on. Adjust your line accordingly. This way, you are always working from something you know for sure. There is no rule in golf that says you have to guess.


Swing training

Impact drills were once a very popular building block for developing a good swing. Impact drills have stood the test of time. The old school training technique should not be left out of any training program. In general, an impact drill is a short stroke, in which, the main objective is to produce firm, crisp, square strikes on the ball. If done regularly, good ball striking becomes more and more instinctive. When you take a longer stroke, the body tends to make automatic adjustments that put you in proper position to strike the ball. In theory, you can take your club back to just about anywhere and potentially hit good shots on a consistent basis.
Impact training is most effective when balls are available. The impact drill itself does not require balls, however, it's purpose is for improving ball striking abilities. Having balls to strike between your impact drills will give you the feedback you need to get the most from what impact drills have to offer.
To do impact drills, you need to have something firm to use as an impact bag. Something that will stop the club without the potential to cause injury. A rolled up piece of remnant carpet (preferably foam backed) will work in place of a real impact bag. The back edge of the impact bag takes the place of the golf ball. With a short stroke, strike the bag. If your wrists buckle or you feel a little out of balance, you did not get in a good striking position. The right hip, right shoulder and hands should feel like they are a team, all striking the bag at the same time. You don't want to see how hard you can hit the bag. Only strike it hard enough for you to feel that you achieved a good striking position. Alternate between impact drills and striking balls with the same stroke. It only takes minor adjustments to change your ball flight. To keep your drills a matched set, the backstroke of the impact drill should feel like a smaller version of the turning drill.

Your turn

The best of modern techniques thrive on a good turn. I often say, “The better your technique, the less perfectly you have to perform to hit good shots.” Make the turning drill the dominant force in building your swing.

The best turn in golf is nearly identical to the turn used in an overhand throwing motion. A small difference in posture and a fuller shoulder turn make up the golf version. The right shoulder clears the way for weight to be loaded into the right leg. The left shoulder should effortlessly be drawn back to take its place. Pay attention to the things that make a throwing motion feel natural and try to integrate them into your golf turn.

The turning drill

Start from a normal golf set-up with good posture. Your posture is your balance. Don't just bend at the waist, you'll have too much weight hanging out over the ball. Push your hips and rear back with slightly bent knees. If your rear is pushed back a proper distance, it will act as a counter weight and allow you to maintain your spine angle with perfect balance. Before you start, cock your wrists upwardly until your club shaft is parallel to the ground. Your arms should still be hanging straight down. A paint stick, ruler or short shaft works well in place of a golf club.

The turning motion starts clockwise, as it would in a normal back swing. The right shoulder should lead, but it will be hard to feel because we do not lift or bend the right arm while doing this drill. Turn the shoulders until both shoulders are even with the right hip. Stop here and compare your mirrored image to that of the diagrams. This part of the drill is shoulders only. Don't encourage the hips to turn . They will turn slightly on their own. The arms should not go up and down at all. The hands should keep the shaft pointing to the center of your body throughout the motion. Figures 1A and 1B represent this position. They are the same position shown from two different mirror angles. It helps to imagine a level table top surrounding you. Imagine the shaft resting flat on the table top. When you turn the shaft slides level along the surface of the table as it follows your shoulders. If done correctly your spine angle should never change. From this position you are ready to start the forward turn.

The forward turn should be level. The shaft should remain on the table, pointing to the center of your body, all the way to the finish position. The right leg should support the turn as the left shoulder takes the lead. The left shoulder should not drag or pull the right side of your body. It should lead with only enough effort to clear a path for the right side to come through. Maintain your spine angle and hold it while in the finished position. If you cannot hold your finish, be smoother or adjust your posture at set-up until it allows you to finish in perfect balance. Smoothness should be a priority as soon as you obtain the ability to perform this move. Figures 2A and 2B show the finish position from two different mirror angles. Place these illustrations on the ground or next to your mirror, so you can compare as you train. Make these moves as athletic as possible, don't just go thru motions like a robot.

Why develop the turn first?

The three most important parts of the golf swing are the turn, the arc and the swing path, in that order. If you focus on path first, like most people do, your chances of developing a good turn are slim and none. As soon as you get a good path and then try to turn, the turn throws the path way off. The resulting shots are so bad, that, you stop trying to turn. I'm not saying you can't swing without a good turn. Swinging without a good turn is physically demanding and you have to be exceptionally gifted to produce a consistent and reliable swing. That rules out just about everybody.

The turn is the big equalizer. It allows the less athletic and less coordinated to develop great golf swings. A good turn is easy on your back, not hard on your back, as some would suggest. If there is one thing you want to be real good at, this is it. The turn drill should get most of your 5 minutes. You can take a good turn to most instructors and they'll be able to help you get your swing in shape. If they can't, change instructors. Change several times if you are not getting good results. Golf instruction is a very difficult and challenging endeavor. The world of golf instruction is full of `know it alls' and each one knows something different.

Enemy of the turn

Lifting or turning the head does not cause bad shots, however, lifting the back does. Lifting the back disrupts your path, changes the clubs face angle, slows the speed of the club and takes your body out of impact position. This is an awful lot of bad for just one swing flaw. Engrain the habit of turning and swinging without your back moving up and down. The last thing I would ever say to anyone is “Keep your head down” or “Keep your eye on the ball”. It's much easier for the eyes to leave the ball and return to it than to wrench your body against its will. Too few have the body shape and flexibility to keep their eye on the ball and still make a good golf move. At best, there's only a minuscule advantage to it anyway. Trying to do things you cannot, causes a lot of the up and down or jerky movements that disrupt your swing.

The tendency to raise and lower our backs, as our arms and club go up and down, is the natural enemy to a good turn. If we're going to be investing our time developing a good turn, we don't want to see it destroyed every time our arms go up and down. The set position drill helps to overcome this tendency. When doing the set position drill, you will be able to get a good idea how strong your tendencies are. If the tendency is strong, you may want to add quite a few of these drills to your routine for a while.

Set position drill

To do the set position drill, stand with either your right or left side facing a mirror. Get into your golf posture or address position. While leaving your arms hanging straight down, cock the club up with your wrists until the shaft is parallel to the ground. Cocking is lifting the wrist straight up, the way you would with a cup, when you're taking a drink. Then, lift your arms straight up, allowing the right arm to bend a little, while keeping the left arm straight. This should allow the club to go up and over your right shoulder. The club should be at a right angle, forming a plus sign, over your shoulder line. Don't turn at all. Only lift as far as your body will let you go. Keep the handle pushed out far from the center of your chest. Watch your back, while making this up and down motion. Put some reference marks on the mirror, so you can keep track of how much your back moves. This drill should remain part of your routine, at least, until it is easy to lift the arms independently of the back.

Developing a back swing

Learning the back swing as a two piece motion and then blending it into a single move is easy. Set-up to do a turning drill. Make the clockwise turn away from the ball. From this position, lift your arms up, the same as you would when doing the set position drill. This will put you in a pretty good back swing position. From here, lower your arms back down to the original position and turn back to the center position . Repeat this motion a few times for several sessions. Eventually, you can start with your club in a normal address position. If you are relaxed, your club will seem to flow effortlessly, up onto to your shoulder as you turn. The back swing should start out nearly all turn with very little lift and gradually shift to nearly all lift with very little turn. You will be able to feel this, when you make a good back swing.


The arc will take you there

The arc carries the speed and power of your swing. That's not all it does. It can take over many swing responsibilities, making the swing more automatic and less timing dependant. Much like the turn, if you focus on path first (just swinging at the ball), it is not likely you will develop a good arc. The job of the arc is to create centrifugal force. The force, that makes, all these good things possible. Almost all golfers know what it is, but only a small handful ever learn to use it. It should never feel like you are lifting your club, your muscles and swing will become lost. Keep the hands low and ride the arc. The hands should only come up because the arc has taken them there. The arc will tell your muscles what to do and how to get back.

In our effort, either to control the path of the club or strike the ball hard, we take the shortest, quickest path to the ball. Centrifugal force, as it implies, is formed from a circular motion. The arms must start out swinging or reaching away from the ball and target. It takes longer for the club to get to the ball, but when it finally gets there, it will be moving with a lot more speed and power. The instinct to pull the club toward the ball takes a lot of effort and produces a V shaped arc that's weak and hard to control. Swing and turn, don't pull or drag. Practice this many times, over several sessions, before trying this with any balls. Make sure you know what a good arc feels like and try to ingrain it.

The path to salvation

We're on the home stretch. If you have a good turn and a good arc, its all path, set-up and minor adjustments from here on out. Path is the part of the golf swing that never seems to want to cooperate. One way to approach path is to try to control or guide it with the arms. The other way is to control it with hand angle and position pressure. Most people have little or no knowledge on how the hands can control the path. By default, they elect to control it with the arms. Almost everybody that swings a good arc uses some form of position pressure, whether its consciously or not.

 

Position pressure

Position pressure is simple to understand. Grasp a golf club in the fingers of the right hand (not in the palm). Extend your right arm out, as if, you were going to shake the hand of some one in front of you. Rotate the right hand until the palm is facing up. The weight of the club will be applying a clockwise pressure to your hand. The pressure you use to oppose it is position pressure. You want to keep position pressure on the club at all times, even at address. In order to do this, we must replace the pressure caused by the weight of the club with pressure from the left hand. This will allow us to preload the position pressure and activate the muscles we will be using throughout the swing. This is not a squeezing pressure. The only squeezing pressure we need in our grip is a slight squeeze with the last three fingers of the left hand. When you have a feel for how position pressure works, use it while doing all of your drills.

Position pressure goes to work

If you keep your position pressure constant, it will do several jobs for you throughout your swing. These are the jobs you should see and feel it do. First, it should keep your hands from rolling or turning at the take away. It will keep the handle pointing at the center of your upper body while you are turning. It maintains your triangle and prevents the club from going too far to the inside as it guides the club up over your right shoulder.
On the down swing, it should make the club want to swing straight down instead of out to the ball. This will allow your right side to bring the club out to the ball as you turn. At impact, position pressure braces the club for solid ball striking. Most people feel the arms swinging the club back and forth across the body when they are swinging. I and ball strikers many times better than me feel a sensation very similar to swinging a forehand tennis stroke. The arms are pulled straight down by the turn, creating the sensation of the club dropping, while the right hand comes out to meet the ball. It's not that the arms are actually dropping. It's that the arms are not powering themselves that creates this sensation.

If you do not compromise your turn or your arc, it will not take long to master position pressure. It does require trust and when you have it, crisp, solid shots will come easily.

Chained to reaction

The golf swing is highly reactionary. The simplest example is taking the club too far back for a chip shot. The reactionary part of your mind knows it is back too far, though, consciously you may not realize it. You react by decelerating. Not by choice, by reaction. Once your swing has started, you are continuously reacting to what has already taken place. Follow thru and weight transfer should be reactionary. V shaped arcs cause the hands to pass the ball before the body is in striking position. The reaction is, arms and body either stop or back up. A good arc will have the arms and hands well behind the ball as the hands approach waist high. The mind knows you have to move up, just to get to the ball. Your practically forced to get off your right side and transfer your weight. Your reaction is the product of the situation you put yourself in. Bad swings are created before the swing has even started.

To train or not to train

Training is not for everyone. Fun and satisfaction are all that really matter. Taking raw information and using it to make changes to a swing can be very frustrating. An optimist would look at it as an adventure.
Training is the reliable way to improve a swing. You can work on core skills or moves until they are ingrained and then integrate them into your swing. You can also do the training without any conscious effort to change your swing. Either way will bring noticeable improvement I never suggest to anyone to drop everything they do and start over. Keep your swing and don't try any changes until you know the time has come. True success comes to those willing to put in the time and is not handed out or bought from instant lesson artists.

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