Faults And Fixes

Ten-Minute Swing Changes

The situation: You’re on the range hitting balls, extremely off line and not very solid, with only 10 minutes remaining before your assigned tee time. The remedy: W.O.O.D.—quick adjustments that Work Only One Day, otherwise known as the “quick fix.” These “Band-Aids” are a necessary part of the game and come in handy when you don’t have time to seek out a long-term correction from your teaching pro. The key is knowing what needs adjusting. If you choose the wrong adjustment, things could get worse.

Instead of guessing what could work, let’s look at the basic essentials in the order that will help you find your swing fast and get you back on the right path. Check your aim, posture and balance in the setup. If these are good, move on to the backswing to make sure you’re in position to solidly transition to the downswing. If this component feels right, focus on the downswing sequence of motion, clubhead path and face position at impact. If adjustments in these areas don’t put you back on track, play simple, high-percentage shots that day and seek out your pro as soon as possible.

Change One: Aim
Check your shoulders and hips

Like you see so many golfers do at the range, take one of your long irons from your bag and line up the shaft at a target, with the butt of the grip positioned where you normally play the ball in your stance. Assume your setup with another club. Align your body parallel to the shaft on the ground without looking at your target. If you feel any awkwardness at all, then it’s time to work on your aim.

One of the most common alignment mistakes is poor shoulder and hip positioning, specifically, setting up with shoulders and hips that are open, or to the left, of the target line. Use the club on the ground to set your shoulders and hips parallel to the target line. Once you have this feel, move the shaft three feet forward down the target line and practice hitting shots over the shaft. If this fix works, align to an intermediate target three feet in front of the ball to maintain this feel during your round.

Increase the chance of a solid, on-line shot by setting up with feet, knees, hips and shoulders parallel to the target line. It’s quite easy to allow the shoulders to rotate open at address, so use a club as a guide.

Change Two: Posture
Set your spine correctly and keep it there throughout your swing

Posture errors force compensations, which can wreak havoc on your swing. Check to make sure you’re balanced and in an athletic posture. Most recreational golfers have either too much knee flex or too much curvature in the spine, which makes it extremely difficult to execute a good pivot and maintain spine tilt through impact.

Bad Hunch
Too much knee flex or too much curvature in the spine at address can wreak havoc on your swing by forcing you to make compensations that are difficult to time.

!@#$%
Too much spine tilt at address typically results in the golfer rising up through the impact zone, simply because the hunched-over posture doesn’t create the room for the hands, arms and club to swing under the shoulders. Expect the gamut of poor shots.

Posture Perfect
A solid posture at address features slightly flexed knees and a straight spine. Tilt at your hip joint to bring your arms down and the clubhead to the golf ball without curving your spine.

A solid posture at address features slightly flexed knees and a straight spine. Tilt at your hip joint to bring your arms down and the clubhead to the golf ball without curving your spine.

Posture Fix
Set up to the ball with your feet together and your legs straight. Tilt from your hips, allowing your arms to naturally hang, and set the club behind the ball. As you do this, keep your spine straight. Next, set your feet apart and flex your knees slightly. You should feel very balanced.

Perform the drill again, but this time keep your feet together and make a few swings. This is done to promote balance and rotation in your golf swing. Next, hit some balls with your heels about six inches apart. If your ballstriking improves, this is your drill for the day. Hit every other ball on the range in this manner and use it as your practice swing on the course.

Change Three: The Takeaway
Avoid the dark side: the inside

On bad days, you can bet that your backswing is a little too far to the inside, which forces an over-the-top, outside-in downswing and nothing but weak, glancing blows that curve to the right. Golfers who take the club back with the right (rear) hand are especially prone to an inside takeaway. A low, smooth takeaway with the arms in front of the torso is needed.

To sense what a solid takeaway feels like, set up with the butt of the club in your stomach and choke down on the shaft. While maintaining your spine tilt, turn your hips and swing the club back until your shaft reaches eight o’clock. From here, hinge the wrists so that the club points down the target line. Do this a few times and then hit a few shots with that same feel. If your ballstriking improves, do a few of these “stomach” swings before each tee shot to maintain the proper feel.

Stomach It
In a solid takeaway, the club travels down the target line, not to the inside. The key to this is keeping your arms in front of you as you take away the club. The Stomach Drill helps.

Change Four: Top Of The Backswing
Think left shoulder over right knee

If the club feels out of position at the top, then make sure you’re not reverse-pivoting and that you have control of the club and not vice versa. Grab two irons and place and make swings with both clubs held together. During these swings, make sure your front shoulder turns behind the ball and over your back thigh.

If this is difficult to do, you may be sliding your hips instead of turning them. Assume your setup and place a club across your shoulders. Make a mock backswing, focusing on moving the shaft over your right knee. If this feels different, then your pivot is the problem. Continue making mock backswings with an eye toward turning your left shoulder behind the ball. Once your pivot is good, go back to swinging two clubs, focusing on control and balance. Get the feel for how far you can swing the club back and still control it. Apply this feel to your swing on the course and you’ll be in for a decent round.

Ouch!
The dreaded reverse pivot, where, at the top, the front shoulder hovers over the front knee instead of the left. To get on your right side, make sure you turn your hips, not simply slide them.

Change Five: Start Of The Downswing
Remember, it’s shift, brace and swing

If you’re struggling on the range, it’s likely your swing feels quick and out of control. Timing errors make it difficult to hit consistent golf shots. The key here is to get your lower body in balance and ready to fire as you start the club down the correct path. If you rotate too soon on the downswing, the club will travel outside the desired path and it will be up to your hands to save you.

The correct sequence is to shift first and brace your left foot as your hands start the club toward the golf ball. A simple way to check your sequence is to stop your downswing before your left arm moves below nine o’clock. If you can’t stop the club here, you’ve got trouble. Luckily, we have a drill to quickly erase the problem—the Happy Gilmore.

Tee a golf ball and assume your regular stance. Slide your front foot back and position it next to your rear foot, and set the clubhead between your feet. Make your normal backswing, but on the way down, step toward the golf ball with your front foot. Step laterally and don’t rotate your body until it’s firmly planted. This drill improves timing and facilitates the correct downswing sequence. When you’re able to hit some solid shots in this manner, you’ll know you’re back on track.

Hold It!
If your downswing sequencing is intact, you should be able to stop your hands at waist high. If you can’t, then it’s likely you’re rotating your body too quickly, which is bad news.

Change Six: Path And Face Position
Turn your swing inside out for good

On the range, take a look at your divots. If they’re pointing left, even after making all of the adjustments outlined previously, then it’s time to focus on impact dynamics.

Start by teeing up a golf ball. Place a second peg one tee length in front of your teed ball and in line with the toe of your driver clubhead. This arrangement creates an image of the slight inside-out path on which the clubhead should travel. Make a swing and try to strike 1) the inside rear quadrant of the golf ball and 2) both tees. You’ll find this easier to do if you can keep the buttons on your shirt behind the ball until impact. The key here is to release the hands so that both thumbs point down at impact, instead of rolling through (this requires too much timing, and we’re looking for a quick fix, after all). With this type of swing, your right hand will catch up to your left hand at impact and pass it later in the followthrough as your hips continue to pivot. Your goal here is to hit a slight draw that starts right and works back toward the target. On the golf course, focus on keeping your buttons back longer, which allows you to swing in to out through impact.

A final point to understand is that golf is difficult because the ball isn’t moving. In other sports where the ball is in motion, success depends mostly on athleticism and reaction time, which normally require a single thought. The same should be true of golf: Never allow multiple swing thoughts to creep into your head on the course. Stay focused on your targets and use, at most, a single feel to help you hit better golf shots. If you discover a drill, feel or image that helps you get back on track, stick with it and don’t add additional thoughts. Keep it simple—doing so will provide you with the highest probability of success.

Stay Behind To Get Ahead
If your body or head moves in front of the ball, then you’ll have very little chance of creating the inside-out path common to most good swings. Focus on keeping the buttons of your shirt behind the ball at impact and you’ll fare much better.

PGA professional, top-100 teacher and Senior Instruction Editor Glenn Deck operates the Glenn Deck Golf Academy at Pelican Hill GC & Resort in Newport Coast, Calif., and is a member of the Golf Tips Teaching Professional Network. Check out his entry in our Top 10 Best Swing Tips Ever.

Align The Easy Way

Most of my students struggle with the slice. Many of these golfers have serious swing issues, but the majority certainly possess enough talent and an understanding of the golf swing to keep slices at bay. The problem is they’re trapped into hitting slices because their setup facilitates swinging on the out-in path to which all slices owe their existence.

If you’re prone to slicing, I’ll bet that you set up to the ball with your shoulders aligned too far to the left. It’s a common malady that’s difficult to self-diagnose. Open shoulders at address force the clubhead to come from outside the target line. This path, combined with a face that’s square to the target, imparts the dreaded left-to-right sidespin.

To help my students better align themselves at address, I have them focus on their shirt buttons. The buttons on your shirt can help line up your shoulders correctly and guard against creating an out-in path. In fact, they’re useful for setting up any type of shot shape.

When you want to hit the ball straight, make certain that the buttons on your shirt are square to the ball at setup, and again at and through impact. This will help you hit the ball straight down the target line. When attempting to purposely fade the ball, make certain that the buttons are a little open, or aimed left of the golf ball at address (see illustration), and again at and through impact. This will start the ball slightly left of your target line. Finally, when you need to draw the ball, make certain the buttons are aimed slightly right of the golf ball, and again at and through impact. These simple, visual images work and can greatly assist you in shaping shots out on the golf course.

It’s crucial to be able to turn the ball in different directions. Use your buttons and shorten up those doglegs and create better scoring opportunities wherever you play.

Instruction Editor and PGA teaching professional Barry Goldstein instructs at Polar Shot Golf Center in Johnson City, N.Y., and Inverrary Golf Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is a regular guest on The Golf Channel’s “Academy Live.”

Swing Barefoot For Balance

If your golf shots are crooked or weak, one excellent remedy is to swing barefoot.

That’s right, barefoot. Not only is it fun, it’s powerful in its own way.

After all, the majority of recreational golfers fail to achieve the balance needed to excel at golf or any athletic activity. One of the reasons why most golfers don’t swing in balance is that they swing too hard. A rule I like to impose on my students is “Swing as hard as you want to as long as you finish the swing in balance.”

A balanced finish means that your belt buckle, chest and eyes face the target, with the majority of your weight on the front foot, not hanging back on the rear foot. If you’re not balanced in the finish, it’s likely you weren’t balanced during the swing and, as a result, brought the club into the ball on an incorrect plane and, of course, with less power than you’re capable of generating. More important, if you’re facing left of the target at the finish, you know you made a solid turn through the shot.

A good way to feel good balance is to indeed swing barefoot. Take off your shoes and socks and tee up a 7-iron. As you make your swings, focus on keeping your feet “underneath” your body. In order to attain this centeredness, you can’t take a mad lash at the ball.

Swinging barefoot allows you to feel what it’s like to swing within yourself. You’ll actually hit better golf shots in bare feet than with your shoes and socks on. You certainly won’t “come out of your spikes” trying to kill the ball.

Hitting golf balls barefooted can help you develop good footwork and good balance. The ultimate goal is to maintain these sensations when you lace up your shoes. The grass feels nice, and so, too, will your swing.

Barry Goldstein teaches at Inverrary Golf Club in Florida during the winter months and in upstate New York during summer

Wake Up Your Game!

Sometimes golf just isn’t fair. Professional baseball has Spring Training. The NFL and NBA have training camps and a handful of preseason scrimmages. But golf? Well, it’s up to each and every professional to get their game on track on their own and show up ready to compete at the highest level. There’s no organized stretching sessions (Can you see Tim Herron or Phil Mickelson showing up?), no group mental conditioning, no preseason practice tournaments. Professionals are left to prepare by themselves.

What’s this have to do with you? Like professionals, we’re on our own when it comes to getting ready to play our best, only we have to pay for it. There are no free practice nines, no free range balls. You get what you pay for, making it important that you play your best to get your money’s worth. So, let’s look at few quick ways to help you get your game back on track._Ê

#1 Get Mentally and Physically Ready
Too often, I see students come rearing to play golf by bashing golf balls on the range, expecting to find their swing and work their way back to top form. Truth is, it doesn’t work that way. After a layoff, you want to stretch, strengthen and take care of your body. Start by stretching key areas, such as your back, arms, shoulders and upper legs. Make an effort to stretch every other day.

Second, one of the best ways to develop a smooth tempo, rhythm and feel is to start taking practice swings without a ball. Go outside, put a tee in the ground and make a few swings just as you would with a ball. By removing the ball, the body will swing freer and the mind won’t be so fixated on immediate results.

#2 Remember: P.G.A.
Think: Posture, Grip and Aim
It can help to think of your favorite PGA pro, but that’s not what’s meant by Remember: P.G.A. I mean, Think: Posture, Grip and Aim—the three most important factors to the golf swing. First, check to see if your spine is straight and your shoulders are directly over your feet (see left photo). Then, check your grip using a mirror. Your hands should look exactly like mine, with the back of the glove showing and the fold of your lower thumb and index finger pointing at your back shoulder. Finally, the body should aim parallel to the target, which then allows the clubface to aim at the target. To sharpen your aim, try using an intermediate target to get your clubface on track. It makes alignment a lot easier.

#3 Fast Fixers
Hitting good shots requires a lot of things to go right. Poor shots on the other hand, can be due to one fault.

If you head onto the golf course and the ball is going any which way but straight, odds are the clubface isn’t square at impact. No matter what swing path you have, if the clubface is open at impact, the ball will veer right. If it’s closed, the ball will hook. But fixing the clubface isn’t always a matter of simply adjusting the clubface at address or swinging in a new direction. Often, it’s a matter of poor posture, grip and aim that causes the clubface to be too open or closed at impact. Finally, if you’re hitting shots that fly straight left or straight right, you might have a square clubface but an incorrect path.

Hook Fixes
Posture: Stand taller, closer to the ball, move ball back in stance
Grip: Weaken the upper-hand grip (left hand for righties), apply more pressure in the lower hand
Aim: Swing along the target line. Try to avoid cutting across it or swinging too inside-out

Slice Fixes
Posture: Stand slightly farther from the ball, move the ball forward slightly in the stance
Grip: Strengthen the upper hand, apply less pressure in the bottom hand
Aim: Practice swinging more along an inside-out path relative to the target line

Square Fixes
Pushed Shots: On the backswing, take the club back along the target line for as long as possible
Pulled Shots: On the backswing, take the club back slightly inside the target line and swing to the right on the downswing

#4 Divide Your Time
Practice is not meant to be taken lightly or casually. Stick with a solid routine and work on the shots you find yourself hitting the most during the round. Odds are, it’s the short irons, wedges and woods that require the most attention on the practice tee. Be patient and take your time.

When you do head to the driving range, always bear in mind that every shot should have a target. Don’t just hit balls to get loose. Imagine every practice ball is a crucial shot on the golf course. Also, I recommend that players divvy up their practice time by how often they use particular clubs in the bag. After all, what good is it to hit a bucket of balls with a 5-iron when you’ll likely encounter only one or two 5-iron shots during a round of golf? Try the 40-20-40 rule. Spend 40 percent of your time on short irons and wedges, 20 percent on middle-iron shots and 40 percent on hybrids, fairway woods and drivers. This will help you improve in areas where you need to hit the most shots without compromising the shots you sometimes need to pull off.

#5 Handiwork
For many, most_Ê strokes during the round are wasted within 40 yards. So, practice your wedges with putter-like precision and pick specific targets. A good chip can make a big impact._Ê

A quick and effective way to make sure you’re maintaining a proper clubface angle through the impact zone is to try this simple drill. Grab your sand wedge and stand with your feet together. Simulate the address position, then hinge the club to waist high on your backswing. The toe of the clubface should be pointing directly up, indicating a square clubface. If it doesn’t, practice a few swings until you get used to the correct position. Secondly, do the same for the downswing, and check the position of the hands postimpact. Although the clubface is closed, the toe should once again be pointing directly toward the sky. Do this and you’ll see straighter shots.

#6 Short Game Rules
It may be called the short game, but in actuality, it requires the longest duration of your practice time.

Read the sentence above and burn it into your memory. Your short game includes chipping, bunker play, pitching and, of course, putting, all of which should be practiced every day if you really want to sharpen your game. Begin by paying attention to your putting. Start without a ball, and visualize making a few putts every day. Work your way to putting a few balls down the hall at home or on a local practice green. Do the same with your wedge game, then pitching, bunker game and so on. Whether it’s in the backyard or at a practice facility, staying sharp with your short clubs is key. Also, unlike hitting too many drives, it’s impossible to over-practice your chipping and pitching.
_Ê
Jeff Yurkiewicz is a teaching professional at the Kostis McCord Learning Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. For more, visit www.kostismccordlearning.com.

Caddy Knows Best

As a golf instructor and PGA Tour caddy, I’ve seen my fair share of golf swings, ranging from the sweet rhythms of the best players in the world to the herky-jerky moves of the frustrated first-timer. Yet despite the huge gap in natural ability between the novice and the professional, I’ve learned it’s not uncommon for the world’s elite players to struggle with a few of the same mechanics and course-management issues that a casual 18-handicapper might face during a round. The swings of touring professionals may be more advanced, but nobody is ever really immune to the occasional swing flaw or mental mistake. We’re all human after all.

What mistakes do top players make, and how do they fix them? Let’s take a quick peek at five of the more common physical and mental mistakes I’ve seen the best and the worst golfers make, as well as a few tricks that may help you become a better player.

#1 Play To Your Strengths
Even though PGA Tour players can easily work the ball in any direction, in most cases, it’s usually best to stick with whatever shot comes naturally—no matter where the pin is on the green. In this case, the pin is at the back left part of the green. If I were caddying for a player who naturally hits a draw, I’d advise him to go right at the pin. If my player hits a fade, I’d most likely advise this player to hit the middle of the green and not try and force a draw. Secondly, I’d do my best to assess the slope of the green from the tee, and since this pin doesn’t favor a fade, I’d let my player know where the best spot on the green is for him to roll in a mid-range putt for birdie.

Lesson Learned: Playing great golf isn’t about shaping shots around the golf course. It’s about shaping shots to your strength.

#2 Don’t Neglect Your Routine
Guys like Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard have notorious pre-shot routines that are often scoffed at by the casual observer who doesn’t realize the pressure these players face during competition. Truth is, every great player has a systematic approach to each shot. A pre-shot routine is critical to ensure a proper setup, which, in turn, dictates how the body is positioned during the swing. Better players know that the setup begins with the clubface and works its way up through the body—not the other way around! Therefore, before you address your body to the ball, set the club square to the target, the shoulders parallel, then the feet either square with the shoulders or slightly open. Many amateurs make the mistake of setting the feet first, which leads to manipulating the clubface angle and shoulder positions.

Lesson Learned: Pre-shot routines are key if you want to be consistent. Develop a routine you’re comfortable with, and remember to set the club first before the body.

5 Caddy Tips From The Tour

By Todd Murphy, Caddie for PGA Tour Player Will MacKenzie

Stock Your Bag. My job is about being prepared. If I don’t have something that Will needs, whether it’s weather-related or not, then it could affect the way he plays. I check his bag daily to make sure a lot of the key items are in there.

I count his clubs (a maximum of 14, obviously), and make sure he has nine to 12 new balls every day, five or six gloves, Sharpies, two towels, a yardage finder, a yardage book, bug spray, sunscreen, two rain suits, an umbrella and a medical kit.

Don’t Be Afraid To Back Away. Because playing conditions change quickly, I don’t have any fear of stopping Will mid-swing. Heck, I’ll tackle him mid-swing if I think we don’t have the right club. A little breeze might not feel like a lot, but the difference between hitting it five feet and 10 feet is significant.

Stay Positive. There’s a lot to keeping Will pumped. I’m constantly talking to him, pulling stuff from movies. You know that movie Cinderella Man—the part where the trainer is keeping Russell Crowe’s spirits up? I’ll get right in Will’s face and say, “Is there any place you’d rather be, Willie Mac?” He’ll just look at me and say, “No way, Murph dog!” You know it’s easy to be inspired when you’re playing great, but when it’s going poorly, you’ve got to keep believing in yourself.

Know Your Yardages. The yardage book is my Bible. I’m very methodical in practice rounds, measuring how far Will’s 3-wood goes, etc. But one of the things people don’t realize is that yardage isn’t just numbers. It involves a lot of other factors like lie, weather conditions and energy. Out here on Tour, we play on firm, fast greens, so it’s important to take that into consideration, too.

Be Your Own “Johnny on the Spot.” I’m constantly Johnny on the spot. If it rains, I keep him dry; if it’s hot, I keep him cool. It’s my job to anticipate what he needs, when he needs it. That’s something everybody should do. Especially if you’ve got your bag on a cart, there’s no excuse for not being as prepared to battle the elements as you can be.

#3 Perfect Your Posture
Whether you identify with Ernie Els or Jeff Sluman, Tim Herron or Tiger Woods, having proper posture is critical no matter what body or swing type you have. Good posture leads to proper weight shift and a more fluid release through the ball. Many golfers make the mistake of losing their spine angle through the impact zone. If you lose the spine angle you set at address and strike the ball with a spine that’s too upright or one that’s too flat, the gamut of bad shots can, and will, occur. To practice retaining a correct spine angle, you have to first become conscious of it. I’ve seen some players on Tour during their practice session routinely check their spine angle by addressing the ball and then lifting the club in front of them at address (as shown). Although it seems simple, lifting the club in front of you helps you focus on your body position at setup. As you hold the club in front of you, remember to keep your back straight but not too rigid, your knees flexed and your spine tilted comfortably toward the target. From this position, with your spine tilted, lower the club to the ground holding that correct angle. Do this every few swings to make sure you remember not to address the ball too upright or too flat. It will make a huge difference.

Lesson Learned: How you address the ball dictates how your entire swing unfolds. Take your time, and get used to maintaining correct posture before, during and after you hit the ball.

Equipment Tips From The Tour

Staff Report

1. Shrink Your Putter Grip. Tour professionals routinely play on fast greens, and since they rarely have to hit a putt hard, they’ll fit their club with a skinnier putter grip to promote good feel—an especially vital asset for testy five-footers.

2. Rotate Your Wedges’ Bounce. Part of playing Tour-caliber golf around the world—on varying grasses and weather conditions—is having the right tools. In most cases, Tour pros stick with the same set of clubs, but it’s not uncommon to hear of players changing wedges to better fit specific course conditions. The firmer the conditions, the more players tend to favor low “bounce” models that resist bouncing off the ground.

3. Tip Your Clubshaft. “Tipping” refers to how the shaft is cut before it’s placed in a clubhead, most often in a driver. The standard procedure when shortening a shaft is to cut the shaft from the club’s grip end to avoid significantly affecting flex. Tour pros know that for extra stiffness and a boost of added control, they need to trim their driver shaft at the tip end (where it’s inserted into the clubhead).

4. Frequency Match Your Shafts. Frequency matching synchronizes shaft flex across a range of clubs, usually a set of irons. It works like this: every shaft is put in a device that counts the number of oscillations a shaft makes per minute. The shafts are then cut and fitted until each one oscillates at the same, or desired, rate. Some players prefer more flex in long irons and less in short irons, while others prefer a steeper slope. Some even want the same flex in every club.

5. Repel Positive Ions. Managing negative ions is all the rage on Tour, so bracelets and pendants featuring technology designed to calm the central nervous system (by neutralizing positive ions emitted from computers, cell phones, etc.) have grown in popularity. They claim to help promote a clearer stream of concentration and focus. Whether they work or not, pros are wearing them to gain a competitive edge.

6. Check Your Driver’s Clubface. Tour pros usually carry drivers that are square, or even a few degrees open, to combat hooks and produce lower ball flight. Vijay Singh is rumored to use a driver that’s six degrees open, a strategy that helps him eliminate the left side of many fairways.

7. Change Your Clubshaft. If you want to be like the pros, ditch that stock shaft and opt for a premium high-performance one. The proliferation of aftermarket shafts has boomed and continues to do so, with numerous shaft options for virtually every kind of player. To sort it out, first consider getting fitted by a local clubfitter.

8. Counterbalance Your Clubs. By adding weight away from the clubhead, the club’s balance point moves more toward the middle of the shaft for a more balanced and harmonic feel. Some shafts come counterbalanced, while others can be countered with lead tape.

9. Carry A Hybrid. Yes, even the best players in the world have replaced their long irons with hybrids. Long irons are more difficult to hit today than in previous years, mainly because they tend to be lower (stronger) lofted than they need to be. In other words, your 4-iron today may be more closely identified with a 3- or even 2-iron of 20 years ago.

10. Play The Right Ball. There are many kinds of golf balls to choose from, but today’s best golfers generally play urethane-covered, three-piece models. Three-piece balls consist of three layers: a core, midlayer and cover. The combination of these three components generates low-spin drives and high-spin wedge shots.

#4 Move On!
At the highest level of competitive golf, it’s usually the mental game that separates the winners from the losers. I’ll tell you this, too—there isn’t a player on the PGA Tour who isn’t trying to win every tournament he enters. Anyone who assumes some players are out there to coast from tournament to tournament is mistaken. Every guy wants to win, and it takes a winning attitude to have a chance. Also, it’s just as important to acknowledge that you’ll occasionally hit bad shots, and luck may sometimes work against you. Here’s what the pros do. Immediately after a bad shot or an unfortunate event, most players allow for a few seconds to complain, walk briskly or drop a club (okay, some mash it into the ground). Once that mini-tirade is over, they move on. It’s over and done with, and it’s now time to focus on the recovery shot that lies ahead. Harnessing frustration is never a good idea, nor is it wise to reflect too much on the mistake you just made. Often, when a caddy notices a player in mental turmoil, he’ll bring up a topic, such as family, sports, music, movies—whatever—all with the intention of getting the player to not focus on an error or on trying to force an immediate recovery. This strategy can work well for you, too.

Lesson Learned: You’ll find a calm mind is far more effective than one bogged down in anger. Winning is a positive state of mind.

#5 Shadow Putting
You don’t play on the PGA Tour unless you’re a great putter. Where some Tour players tend to err isn’t so much with mechanics, but in other ways, such as keeping the eyes off the putterhead and maintaining a steady rhythm. My player, U.S. Open champ Steve Jones, uses a simple drill (that he can do anywhere) that kills these two birds with one stone. First, turn your back so it’s square with the sun so you cast your shadow in front of you on the green. While watching your shadow, make a few practice strokes until your body starts resembling a metronome or a “tic-tock” clock. This will help you to keep your eyes off the putterhead and your body during the swing, as well as aid in promoting a smoother stroke.

Lesson Learned: If you feel like your rhythm is off, take a step back and relax by emulating a metronome. Trust me, it works!

In addition to being a professional caddy for 1996 U.S. Open champ Steve Jones, Flavio Castro teaches golf to players of all abilities in Southern California.

L.A.W.S. Revisited

Leverage
Not all athletes or golfers have an extreme body type. Instead, a great number of players fall into the “in-between” category, meaning they have a relatively “average” build with a solid combination of flexibility and strength. If you have this type of body, you need to develop a swing that takes advantage of both attributes, not just one or the other. This body type is best suited to a Leverage swing.

Arc Swing
Golfers come in all shapes and sizes, as well as body types. Though not all players successfully match their swing type to their body type, most better players do. Sometimes this matching comes about by instinct, but often it’s necessary to do some objective analysis to get the right fit. If you’re relatively thin-chested, with long arms, your swing should be long and flowing like that of an Arc player.

Width Swing
The typical image of a good golf swing is one featuring a long, smooth, flowing motion that appears to produce effortless power. This type of swing is nice to look at and can be very effective, but it simply doesn’t work for everyone. If your body type is one that features a thick chest and upper body, with shorter arms and somewhat limited flexibility, your swing should be short and bursting like that of a Width player.

Matching Your Plane Angle And Body Type Is A Must
One of the most basic relationships in the golf swing is between body type and plane angle. Regardless of what other elements make up the game of golf, the swing is about geometry. The lines, angles and arcs of the body and the club must all have a proper relationship to one another if the swing is to provide solid, consistent results. One significant part of this geometry is the angle the club assumes at address in relation to the body and the ground. More specifically, the relationship the sole of the club has to the ground at address (the static lie angle) is important because it needs to be re-created relatively closely at impact (dynamic lie angle) in order to produce straight shots.

It’s essential to note that each club in your bag has a different lie angle, due to their varying lengths. For example, the 5-iron might create an angle with the ground of 62 degrees at address, while the 9-iron might create an angle of 66 degrees. Since your body posture and the plane angle of your swing are largely established by the tilt of the club at address, it’s not truly possible to swing on the exact same plane with every club in the set. Instead, every swing plane will be the slightest bit different. However, you must remember that the simple goal is to return to impact with a similar tilt (although not identical) to that which you established at address. Since the nature of golf club design demands slight variances in the measurement of this angle, it’s critical to tailor your method of re-creating your address angles at impact (and your golf club specs) to your body type.

The three basic body types are Ectomorph, which features a great deal of flexibility, Mesomorph, which combines strength and flexibility, and Endomorph, which features strength and thickness, but significantly less flexibility.

Ectomorph Plane
With hands high, the thin-chested and flexible Ectomorph should make what’s called an Arc swing. The position at the top of the swing for this type of move should have the hands and club over the plane and the front arm slightly over the shoulder line. The dominant power source for this type of player is the length of the swing and a high level of flexibility. This golfer is a “hitter.” If you’re an ectomorph, think about your swing plane in two distinct parts. On the backswing, you should try to reach a high-hands position by taking the club back on a fairly steep plane; on the downswing, the club should flatten to get back on the proper plane. It’s basically a loop that gathers speed along the way.

Mesomorph Plane
The more symmetrically built Mesomorph is best served by a motion that’s categorized as a Leverage swing. This player has evenly proportioned limbs and a fair degree of flexibility, and should strive to attain a position at the top of the swing that mirrors the backswing and downswing planes. The dominant power source for this player is Leverage, so he’s a “swinger.” If you’re a mesomorph, it’s critical that you focus on developing a swing plane that stays true to the lie angle of your clubs at address and impact. Your swing should travel along almost the identical path in the backswing and downswing, with little or no change in plane in the transition or through impact.

Endomorph Plane
The thick-chested Endomorph has relatively short arms and lacks flexibility, but tends to have a lot of strength. To accommodate these characteristics, the Endomorph should make a Width swing, with low hands at the top of the swing and a noticeably low target arm. This player predominantly utilizes muscle strength during the swing and is a “slasher.” If you’re strongly built and lack flexibility, it’s unrealistic to think you can get the best results from a swing plane that requires a high-hands position at the top and a lot of extension. Instead, try taking the club away from the ball on a slightly flatter plane, which then steepens on the way down. Stay compact and let your muscles go.

Hip Action
Several elements have to work together for any of the three swing types to function properly, but the movement and timing of the hips is potentially the most important. The easiest way to know how and when to rotate the hips with each type of swing is to remember that the longer and higher the backswing, the more time you need to allow the hands to drop the club to the plane. In addition, the higher the position at the top, the more lateral hip motion you need to provide this critical time. So the long, flowing swing of the Arc player requires the most hip slide and the most delayed hip rotation, while the short, flat swing of the Width player requires minimal hip slide and almost immediate hip rotation.

It’s not enough to match your backswing or swing plane to your body type; it’s critical that your entire motion from takeaway to impact is properly coordinated. If you look at the best players in the world, you’ll notice that there are a lot of different body and swing types out there, all of which can work on the highest level provided they function together. The Leverage swing is one that’s particularly popular on all of the professional tours, both because it works well with a balanced body type and it’s relatively simple and easy to repeat under pressure. The Leverage swinger concentrates on taking the club back and to the top of the swing, and then back into impact, on the same basic path and plane. This type of swing provides a fairly rotary-looking motion that appears smooth and is aesthetically pleasing. Fred Funk and Annika Sorenstam use this type of swing, and not surprisingly, both are extremely accurate and consistent.

There are also a lot of expert players who utilize the Arc swing, which features a relatively steep backswing and then a return to the plane in the downswing. This move tends to create a bit of a “loopy” look and is generally used by players who are relaxed and languid in their movements. Fred Couples and Lorena Ochoa are good examples of players who utilize the Arc swing.

Not all professional golfers have smooth, seamless swings, as anyone who has watched Craig Stadler or J.B. Holmes play can attest. Both players have large chests and thick torsos, and accordingly, utilize powerful, bursting moves that fall into the Width swing category. These players are the opposite of Arc swingers, with relatively flat backswings that steepen on the way down.

The Leverage Swing
The Leverage player’s balanced and symmetrical body type is well-suited to what’s commonly considered a “Tour” swing. At the top, you’ll notice his elbows are fairly even with each other while the front arm is across the shoulder line so that the club is ready to slide back down on the same plane it travelled in the backswing. The front arm will then retrace the backswing path on the way down, keeping the clubshaft on the same plane throughout the swing. At impact, the rotary nature of the motion produces a relatively quiet release of the club that utilizes the big muscles in the body rather than those in the hands and arms. This simple swing requires very little manipulation of the clubhead.

The Arc Swing
The typically tall, lanky Arc swinger (think Davis Love III) follows a swing path that’s fairly steep and a bit over the plane angle established at setup as the club reaches the top of the swing. Notice how high the hands are as they rest above the shoulder line. This position creates a very long swing that generates power by gathering momentum over an elongated route to the ball. From the top, the Arc player delays his hip rotation and actually slides his hips laterally as he allows the club to loop to the inside, so that by the time the club is midway to the ball, it’s back on-plane and ready for impact. At impact, the Arc player’s front leg is straight and his body usually assumes a classic reverse-C position.

The Width Swing
The Width swinger needs to take the clubhead away from the ball slightly to the inside and then reaches a position at the top of the swing that looks quite low in comparison to the other swing types. Notice how his hands are well below his shoulder line—this is necessary due to an overall lack of flexibility in the torso. By the midway point in the swing, the club comes slightly over the top and becomes steeper in order to get back down onto the correct swing plane (opposite of the Arc swinger). At impact, the Width player has completely cleared his hips, which have started rotating from the very top of the swing. This is an explosive motion that can create a lot of power provided the timing is correct.

When it comes to developing a swing that works for you, it’s important to remember that, in reality, you can’t escape your shape. Though it’s possible to increase flexibility and strength through physical training, of course, there are limits to what most players can do in terms of truly changing their body type. As a result, it’s absolutely critical to be realistic about what your body type is and what you’re capable of physically. It’s tempting to focus on a player or swing type that’s aesthetically pleasing and then try to emulate that motion, but if that swing isn’t suited to your particular physical characteristics, you’re simply never going to achieve solid results with it.

The best way to discover which swing type is best for you is to do an analysis of your body, strength and flexibility levels. It’s also sometimes helpful to watch Tour players who appear to have your similar body type and take note of their particular technique. Ask yourself if this player is taking the club back and through on the same path (Leverage swing) or if he or she is steepening in the backswing and flattening in the downswing (Arc swing) in a looping fashion. If the player is getting steeper in the downswing and coming over the top (Width swing), consider why he or she is using this motion. The more you understand about the different body types and the swings that are best-suited for each, the better equipped you’ll be to improve your own swing. For more on these swing types or to take the LAWs test, visit www.tjtomasi.com.

Dr. T.J. Tomasi is one of the most widely published instructors in the world and now teaches at Nantucket Golf Club. Dr. Jim Suttie has worked with pros like Fred Funk and Loren Roberts. John Callahan teaches at Brae Burn C.C.

Swing Thoughts That Really Work

Old-school golf instruction is full of imagery that was originally created to help players make what were perceived as the the proper moves in the swing. In those days, many of the technical aspects of the golf swing weren’t completely understood, largely due to the lack of video technology that exists today. Instead, players mostly relied on feel, natural talent and repetition to hone their technique and overall game. Not surprisingly, the average scores of recreational golfers barely ever improved significantly, other than what was delivered by technological advances in equipment and golf course conditioning.

Today, good golf instruction should combine an understanding of the proper mechanics of the swing with an emphasis on creating an athletic, natural motion. To help accomplish this task, I’ve come up with some simple but effective thoughts that can help your swing become more natural, athletic and repetitive. Give them a try both during practice and when you’re on the course. After a while, whatever mechanical swing thoughts you might have developed over the years should be replaced with these simpler, more effective ones. Once your mind is free from distraction, you’ll be surprised how much easier it is to make good swings.

Old School
Grip Like You Are Holding A Bird
Like most golfers, I’ve never held a small bird in my hands, so this advice doesn’t do much for me. I prefer thinking of the tension you’d apply when throwing a ball—it’s more athletic, and makes more sense. Think about it—when you throw a ball, you hold it tightly enough so it doesn’t fly out of your hand when you cock your arm, but loosely enough to create speed.

Hold The Tray
The “waiter position” is one to forget—you don’t want your palm facing directly skyward at the top of the backswing. Instead, your palm should be on a 45-degree angle to the ground, which puts the clubface in a square position and maintains the width of the backswing for maximum swing arc.

Setup
To create a more athletic setup, imagine your shoulders, hips and knees in a level position with your weight spread between your feet evenly.
The importance of a solid setup position cannot be denied—if you start out poorly you’ll have little chance of making a solid swing. Some key thoughts for a good setup are “stay level” and “be athletic.”

Many golfers handicap themselves at the outset by making mistakes like kicking in the right knee, dropping the right shoulder or flaring only one of their feet. In the photo at right, notice how my shoulders remain nearly level, with the right only slightly lower than the left. My knees are bowed a bit outward and both feet are flared. This is a key for creating an athletic swing—one that’s rotational rather than a lateral, sliding motion that stresses the back and leads to an ineffective impact position. Equally important is the feeling of being “bouncy” in the legs, with flexed knees and relaxed muscles.

At The Top
The golf swing is an athletic motion that must be made with a dynamic base. Rigid legs can’t provide the same athletic platform as those that are flexed.

The obvious differences in the pictures to the left are powerful evidence of what can happen if the wrong swing thought occupies the mind during the backswing. At the left, I’ve lost all the angles I set at address and any chance to create a leveraged, dynamic attack into impact. Notice how much more athletic I look in the picture on the right. Both knees are flexed, my core has dropped slightly lower and my body is poised to spring into action. This position creates a direct route for my arms and club to the ball from the inside, encouraging a more rotational move with my body all the way to the finish. The thought of squatting is key for creating this type of move.

I encourage my students to feel athletic and balanced at the top of the swing. An important point to remember is that the backswing is designed to set up a powerful and consistent attack into impact. When you think of squatting (butt toward the ground), allow your knees to pivot with your hips as you rotate your way to the top.

A telltale sign of a strong, squatted pivot away from the ball is the backside being close to the ground and pointing at the target (see photo at right). When tension (stiff legs, rigid muscles are evidence) is present, the body becomes weak, powerless and off-balance. Once the thoughts turn to squatting correctly in the backswing, the entire swing becomes significantly more powerful because you’re able to use the ground to push against for maximum leverage. Remember, the top of the swing should feel “heavy and ready,” not “light and tight.”

Transition
A proper transition occurs when the body drags the hands and club into the downswing. Casting and a loss of power occur when the club moves first.

In a body-driven downswing, the club drops to the inside and is powered by the turning of the body and soft, relaxed arms that lack tension.

The key thought for a good transition is “body leading arms,” and not vice versa. A common misconception is that the club should stay in front of the body during the swing. While this is true on the backswing, it’s totally incorrect on the way down. In the photo at left, the body is getting ahead of the arms and club on the downswing by moving first—it’s the engine that’s driving the entire move. This drops the arms, hands and club down without losing any angle between the clubshaft and left arm. If the sequence is incorrect and the club moves first, the body is taken out of its leadership role and the club is cast or thrown from the top.

This leads to a huge loss in power and control over the club’s path into impact. Remember, you want the club to be trailing the body up to and past impact. Leave it back in the transition and you’ll keep the proper sequence solidly intact. From this angle you can clearly see how the arms and club are left back in a somewhat passive manner as the pivot of the body forces them down from the top of the swing. The thought should be “turn and drag,” not “hit.” Notice how my body remains ahead of the arms and club late into the downswing. It’s unnecessary to help the club catch up with my wrists and hands, as that would only create scooping and flipping through impact. Instead, the rotation of my hips pulls the left leg straight, creating a “post” to hit against. Once the arms, hands and club can’t be dragged any farther, they will release through impact naturally and explosively, as none of the stored energy on the downswing was wasted by “hitting at” the ball.

Old School
Swing A Rubber Hose
This is a good thought for the start of the downswing because a steady acceleration of the club on the downswing produces a more consistent swing path and facilitates solid impact.

In contrast, grabbing or snatching the club from the top in an attempt to “hit at” the ball almost always leads to inconsistent ballstriking. Remember to “drag” the club from the top, and your tempo will improve as well.

Impact
The thought at impact should be to squeeze the ball on the clubface as long as possible. This is how good players create compression and power. The relationship between the hands, wrists and club should remain structured and constant through impact—drag the club, don’t flip at the ball.

Without a doubt, the worst swing thought recreational golfers have is to “hit at” the ball. The desire to “hit at” initiates the use of the hands during the downswing, breaking down the proper sequence of “body first, club and arms second.”

In fact, “hitting at” the ball effectively changes the focus from swinging through impact and into the finish to stopping or quitting at the ball. What many recreational players don’t realize is that accomplished players don’t think of the ball as the target, but often try to swing through a spot located several inches past the ball. With this as the goal, they actually get the feeling of the club speeding up through impact (though this isn’t really possible), instead of before impact. A great way to eliminate “hitting at” the ball is to focus on dragging your arms, hands and the club past the point of impact with the rotation of the body, all the way into the finish.

When it comes down to it, solid impact and quality ballstriking is what every golfer really wants. Crisp contact that compresses the golf ball on the face of the club leads to both power and accuracy, plus, this type of impact is what creates the great “whoosh” sound that everyone likes to hear as the ball shoots off the clubface. While it might sound strange, a good thought for creating solid contact is “squeeze the ball on the clubface for as long as possible.” This will give you the feeling of working the entire club, not just the clubhead, through impact and into the finish. If you struggle with flippy impact and glancing blows that produce little power, this is the right thought for you.

Simply put, thoughts like “through, not to, impact” can take your game to another level. Remember that you’re looking for a steady acceleration that keeps the ball compressed against the clubface as it’s propelled to the finish. Any attempt to overaccelerate or whip the club into the ball will produce a glancing blow. Conversely, steering or quitting through impact will never keep the ball against the clubface very long. To help facilitate this “squeezed” impact, your body must drive your arms, hands and club through the ball. When done correctly, the relationship between your torso and the club should remain constant, as should the structure of your arms and wrists. If you manage to keep these relationships solid throughout the swing, you won’t be able to flip the club. Instead, you’ll discover what quality ballstriking is all about, and your full shots and scores will improve dramatically.

Old School
Heave A Bucket Of Water
This is definitely a great thought for promoting a solid pivot. In order to heave a bucket of water past your body, you must first get the bucket behind your body (not above your head), which in turn promotes a more inside-out attack on the forwardswing. In addition, the imagery of heaving a bucket of water should help trigger your lead leg to post or straighten as the hips rotate, a critical and often improperly executed element of a powerful golf swing.

Skip A Stone
The sidearm feeling of skipping a stone is a good thought for the start of the downswing, but a bad one through impact. It’s true that this image can help get the right shoulder to drop down on plane while the lower body rotates out of the way, both of which are desirable movements in the golf swing. However, the sidearm delivery associated with skipping a stone can also keep the right side down too long after impact, inhibiting the release and overstressing the spine.

Finish
Take a close look at the two photos below. If the photo on the right looks like your finish, you don’t have the right sensation of a proper finish, and I’ll bet you’re probably not hitting the ball as well as you’d like. The reason the position on the bottom right looks so hung back and incomplete is that the body quit working the club too early in the downswing. Notice how far back my right shoulder is and how my left hip is closer to the target than my right. These are symptoms of a lateral, sliding type of swing that will produce nothing but glancing blows and generally poor impact.

In the photo on the bottom left, I’m comfortably balanced, with my hips fully rotated and my right shoulder much closer to the target than my left. This position indicates that I’ve worked all the way through impact and continued to power my swing into the finish. Golfers who swing the club “through” the ball generally have this type of complete finish position. In contrast, players who “hit at” the ball very often resemble the photo on the bottom right because they basically stop the swing at the point of impact.

To develop a solid, balanced finish position (it isn’t just for looks—the finish is often a reflection of the entire swing), your thought should be “get the right shoulder to the target.” This image will force you to keep working past the ball and will change your ultimate destination from the point of impact to well beyond it. This is how the pros do it; you should too.

PGA professional Brady Riggs is a Golf Tips senior instruction editor who currently works with numerous top junior, college and professional players. Riggs utilizes state-of-the-art video technology while teaching students at Woodley Lakes G.C. in Van Nuys, Calif.

Finishing School

High Finish
Basically, there are only two positions in the golf swing: the address and the finish. Everything else is a motion and, as such, difficult to analyze. But the finish is static and allows for serious self-analysis. If you know what to look for, then how you end your swing can give you some good ideas of what’s going on in your motion.

Let’s begin with two common finish positions: the high and the low finish. The high finish (see Chris DiMarco for an example) is characterized by high hands and a bit of a flying left elbow (for righties). Typically, the high finish is associated with pushes, push hooks and push fades, as well as thin shots and shots struck toward the heel. While finishing high isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the type of motion needed to create it can cause problems. High finishers tend to swing on a very inside-out path through impact, with the club traveling to the right of the target. Yes, inside out is the preferred path, but when taken to the extreme as evidenced by a high finish, control is minimized.

Why So High?
Developing an overly inside-out swing path is a fairly common mistake, particularly for better players. Accomplished players and other top-level golfers almost never move the club more than a degree or two inside to out, however. The key is to be fairly subtle with this move, not to grossly overdo it. When the inside-out move becomes severe, the most common shot error is a push. When the club comes too far from the inside with a closed clubface, the ball will hook, often badly. In addition, swinging the club too far from in to out will deliver the club below the swing plane, which often prevents the club from striking the ball on the desired, slightly descending path. Shots hit from this position don’t get compressed and often are thinned.

Low Finish
In contrast to the high finish, the low finish results from an overly outside-to-in swing path. Players who develop this swing path typically come over the top of the plane, causing the clubhead to cut across the ball through the impact zone. Divots resulting from this type of swing will run diagonal across the target line and will tend to be fairly deep. An overly outside-to-in swing path often is caused by a downswing motion that’s initiated by the arms instead of the body. When the arms outrace the body through the hitting zone instead of being dragged through, the club comes over the top of the plane and generally comes into the hitting zone on a steep angle. Shots created by this type of move are pull slices (when the face is open through impact), pull hooks (when the face is closed through impact) and shots struck on the toe.

Why So Low?
Since the club is moving steeply and across the ball, none of these shots are typically well struck, and certainly don’t often fly at the intended target. Also, you’ll notice that the arms (photo, right) have a constricted, jammed look in the finish, with little freedom or extension. Because the arms have moved earlier than the body, their action tends to be impeded by the body, and have no choice but to bunch up in the finish (and also through impact).

Lunge Finish
Here’s a common one, thanks to the fact that it’s fueled by an equally common flaw. You know you’ve achieved the lunge finish when you feel that your head is in front of your left (or lead) leg at the end of the swing, or sense that you’re in danger of falling forward. If your shots are thinly struck, or travel unusually low, then you may be a lunger.

Lunging in the finish is fueled by a severe meltdown of the lower body through the hitting zone. Generally speaking, all’s well until the hips stop rotating through impact, causing the upper body (including the head) to get ahead of the ball. It’s a recipe for disaster that destroys one of the all-time great needs of a solid swing: staying behind the ball. Good golf swings are rotation-based, mandating a turn of both the upper and lower body through impact.

Get Hip
To go from Lunger to Langer (as in Bernhard), work on your downswing hip rotation. Specifically, try leading your downswing with your hips instead of your upper body. Place a chair in front of your lead leg and make a few practice swings, being careful to remain in contact with the chair as you turn through impact. Finish with your head directly over your front leg.

Gap Finish
The gap finish is not a pretty sight, nor are the shots associated with it. This finish is characterized by a noticeable, if not obvious, space between the knees (when they should be touching at the finish). While gapped knees at the finish is a disease, gapped knees at address is the sickness.

If you start with a wide stance, you’ll finish with one. And while some may argue that a wide stance sets a more solid foundation and can support a more powerful swing, these individuals fail to realize that the wider the stance, the more difficult it is to rotate. Convince yourself by standing with your feet together and rotating back and forth. Now do it with a much wider stance. Harder, isn’t it? A wide stance actually hinders your turning ability and limits your power potential.

Stop Gaps To clear the gaps, erase them at the start. Adopt a stance that features feet placed just outside your shoulders. Perfect. If you’ve been playing with a wide stance, you’ve likely lost your ability to turn as well. Relearn the habit of turning through the ball by swinging a club with your only right arm. This drill promotes getting your right side through the shot. Your new narrow stance will help. Look for knees touching at finish.

Flop Finish
One of the more sublime poor finishes is the flop, although the faults that lead up to it present concrete frustrations, usually in the golfer’s disgust in watching pull hooks, pulls and pull slices. What’s flopping is the right (or rear) foot. Golfers who allow their right foot to flop at the finish invariably use too much right side through impact (compared to the gap finisher, who uses too little). Overusing the right side leads to cut-across and roundhouse-type motions that, depending on the position of the face, create the gamut of pulled shots. It’s important to note that with the flop finish, the fact that you’re flopping isn’t the fault. Your excessive right-side action is the culprit.

Flip The Flop
You need to work on your shoulder movement (which should be down and under through impact, not simply over). Address a ball then toe your right foot outward. Hit balls from this stance and sense how the flared right foot keeps your right side from rotating too early and mandates your right shoulder move under and through.

Spin Finish
A spin finish occurs when the left (lead) foot spins outward, whereas in a solid finish, the left foot remains planted in the same position established at address. If the left foot spins out and plants in a different position (below sequence), it’s usually an indication that the body has rotated too quickly on the downswing, a move that often strands weight on the back leg. This is a recipe for pull hooks, which always seem to find the absolute worst spots on a golf course. To correct the left foot spin and to ensure that the left foot remains planted, move weight into the left toe on the downswing and then begin rotating your body.

Ease The Spin
To stop the left-foot spin, you need to work on both your rotation and your footwork. Place a shaft to the left of your forward hip, as pictured. Swing to the top, then try to bump the shaft with your left hip at the start of the downswing. As you bump, feel weight transfer into your front foot. Now you’re free to rotate through the hitting area. Focusing on your footwork also may help. In any good golf swing, weight moves from the toes at address, to the right heel at the top, into the left toe on the downswing then, ultimately, to the left heel.

Reverse C Finish
The one-time all-star finish position has been relegated to tragic flaw in the modern era. The reverse-C finish, evidenced by a severely arched back, not only places undue stress on the body, but also is a strong indicator of upper-body hang-back and lower-body slide, neither of which is good.

The golfer who slides his or her legs laterally to the left and too fast through impact suffers the fate of his or her body hanging back (due to its inability to keep up with the legs). And though the legs are sliding forward, weight remains on the rear foot, an awful combination that forces a very handsy impact. Another way to achieve a reverse-C finish is via a reverse pivot. A reverse pivot occurs when you fail to correctly transfer weight to the rear leg on the backswing, instead stranding it on your front foot on the way to the top. From this position, your weight has nowhere to go but to the back leg on the downswing.

To correct the leg drive-fueled reverse C, you need more hip rotation and less slide. To fix a reverse pivot, you need better weight transfer.

Reverse The C
If you have a reverse pivot, try this. Make your ordinary swing while lifting your front foot off the ground on the backswing, then replant it on the downswing. This help transfers your weight to the rear foot then to the front, just like it should. If you’re guilty of leg driving, build more hip rotation in your downswing by making practice swings with a shaft placed outside each hip. In a fundamentally correct swing, your hips should rotate so they never touch the shafts. If you touch, you slid.

Helicopter Finish
Some golfers finish with rigid and tense arms that don’t release through the impact zone. Arnold Palmer did well with this helicopter-style finish, but he also had a tremendous amount of strength, talent and practice time. Most golfers who utilize the helicopter finish also try to extend both arms down the target line after impact in an attempt not to hook the ball. However, a rigid left arm past impact and a hold-off of the release tend to bring a lot of tension—and inconsistency—into the swing.

The biggest problem with this type of finish is it doesn’t allow you to fold and release the left arm, which often results in a lot of push slices. Basically, unless you have such a powerful release of the club that you constantly struggle with hooking, the helicopter release won’t produce solid results and very well might cause you some back and shoulder problems.

Cover Up
The main cause of the helicopter finish is a rigid left arm that tries to extend down the target line instead of moving naturally with the rotation of the body. Use the headcover drill to rid your swing of the helicopter finish. Simply take a headcover and place it under your left armpit, then try to hold it there into the finish. In order to accomplish this, you’ll have to finish lower, with your left arm folding down into your side through impact.

While this drill is great for fixing a helicopter finish, you’ll also find it useful for developing one of the great needs of a solid swing: a proper release of the club. Keeping the cover in place and folding the left elbow almost guarantees the correct rotation of the face through impact.

Hands In The Face Finish
Some golfers tend to finish with their hands in front of their face. The reason they wind up here is that they’re slowing down the rotation of their body and the club too early in the impact area. There are a few causes for this slowdown, with the primary one being a casting motion in the downswing combined with tense arms and hands. Players who rotate properly in a counterclockwise direction—all the way through the shot—will never finish in this position because their arms and the club pass their face area and continue into a full finish.

Relax!
The best remedy here is to make practice swings while consciously trying to finish with a full turn and soft, relaxed arms. When you reach the desired finish position, with your arms bent and folded and the club resting on your back (below right), hold it (it should be easy if you’re relaxed), and let the feeling ingrain itself. Then hit some balls and concentrate on attaining the same, rotated, relaxed finish.

Chest Right Finish
Basically, everything looks good but the chest—it faces to the right of the target. In a solid finish, the chest (along with your head and waist) should point directly at or even left of the target. With a right-facing chest, all signs indicate incomplete body rotation on the downswing. It’s a flaw common to many recreational players, especially on short shots and knockdown plays. Regardless of the club in your hand and the distance you want the ball to travel, never stop your rotation. Every swing deserves a full finish, even from a short distance.

The main problem with incomplete body rotation on the downswing is that once the body stops, the hands and arms take over. Picture a rider on a horse approaching a fence. If the horse stops, what happens to the rider? He’s thrown forward. The same thing happens in the golf swing. The body stops and the hands sling through, usually creating nasty hooks. If you’ve ever hooked a pitching wedge, this is probably the culprit, especially if you were trying to hit a soft shot into the green.

Get Left
A more appropriate finish would include the chest pointing to the left of the target. Of course, this shouldn’t give any golfer the green light to simply rotate the chest violently from the top to get pointed left at the finish. We’ve seen what this error can do with the flop finish. The key is to never allow upper-body rotation to slow down. In fact, the upper body should out-rotate the lower body at the finish until the chest faces left of the target.

Head Behind Finish
Golf Swing 101: When you finish, your head should be directly over your left (lead) leg. Golfers who fail to achieve this position generally fail to get their left side through impact. It’s a common malady because it’s caused by a variety of errors.

Backswing Sway When you sway the upper or lower body to the right on the backswing, it’s almost impossible to get back to the left side at impact. Spinning From The Top If you begin your downswing by simply rotating the upper body, it’s likely you’ll fail to transfer weight to the front leg. Instead, you’ll hang back. Under-Tilting This error occurs when the lead shoulder raises and the rear shoulder dips on the downswing. When you swing too far under, the head is forced to stay back and causes the golfer to come up on his or her toes at impact. Expect a lot of thinned shots. Keeping The Head Still Easily the worst piece of advice ever handed from one golfer to another. In a proper swing, the head rotates with the body and comes up after impact. It never stays still. Reverse Pivot This flaw, which also can create the reverse-C finish, features weight positioned over the front leg at the top of the swing. If weight is on the left side at the top, it’ll be on the right leg at the finish, which leaves you with your head and body behind.

Get Ahead
The head-behind finish indicates such a plethora of errors that there’s no single drill to make a quick fix. If you’re finishing with your head behind, or find yourself in any of the incorrect finish positions detailed in this story, I suggest performing your swing at 50% speed until you can end your swing correctly. Then, make a point of holding your finish for 10 seconds. You’ll ingrain the sense of what a good finish feels like while also improving your balance, rhythm and tempo.

Dr. Jim Suttie is a former PGA Teacher of the Year and is recognized as one of the top 100 instructors in America. He teaches at The Estates at Twin Eagles in Naples, Fla., and at Cog Hill G&CC in Chicago. Special thanks to instruction model Brent Jensen.

Match The Circles

Good golfers give the impression that their forearms suddenly cross over through impact, but the swing is so fast that it fools the eye. What little forearm roll there is begins in the backswing with a gentle clockwise rotation of both forearms, a motion that reverses itself as the club swings back to the golf ball. The guiding concept is that your clubface is squared at impact by the proper rotation of your body as a whole and not by any independent roll of your arms and hands. To take your scores to the lowest levels, this independent rotation must be avoided; otherwise, you may fall prey to two major swing flaws: under-rotating and over-rotating.

Under-rotating produces one of the most annoying shots in golf–the balloon slice. This high, powder-puff shot robs you of distance and typically sails to points unplayable on your right. The problem is that your forearms under-rotate, creating a knuckles-up position at impact where the back of the target hand faces the sky, a position that produces an open, slice-inducing clubface.

Over-rotating produces the rip hook, a low, never-on-line darter that finds some nasty resting places. It’s caused by excessive forearm rotation that creates a knuckles-down position characteristic of a shut hooker’s clubface.

To develop the right amount of forearm roll, and keep the balloon slice and rip hook at bay, match up your circles.

Matching Your Circles
Imagine two one-inch circles, one in the center of your right forearm and one in the center of your left. If both of your forearms are positioned correctly at address, the circles point at one another. When your circles correctly oppose one another, an observer looking down the target line from behind shouldn’t see your front forearm since your back forearm is blocking the view.

Throughout the swing, your forearms shouldn’t touch, but the circles should stay looking at each other. There’s a certain amount of forearm roll both away from and through the ball, but it’s a natural motion that occurs in response to the momentum of the clubhead.
_Ê
The benchmark of proper forearm management is found at impact, where the elbows are the same width as they were at address and the circles face each other. To test this, use your belt to secure your arms at address. Place it just above your elbows and draw it snug, then take some practice swings. It should remain in place from start to finish with no undue pressure on the belt.

Forearm Release Drill
Hitting the ball with your feet together will teach you how to blend forearm and body rotation. Simply allow your body to mimic the rotation of your forearms.

Tee the ball and hit 7-irons with your legs so close together that the insides of your ankles touch. You’re only trying to hit the ball about 50 yards with a slight draw so there’s no need for a big swing. Concentrate on releasing the club with a soft but constant rotation during the downswing. Don’t hold your body stiff, but simply let its turn be paced by your arm swing. When you do it correctly, you’ll feel as if your arms are swinging past the midline of your body with everything–shoulders, forearms, hips, clubface–rotating at the same rate.

The most reliable type of forearm release is a non-manipulative motion that occurs as a result of syncing your arms and body. You don’t try to do a forearm release, rather, you arrange for it to happen.

Summary
_Ê Watching good players gives the impression that their forearms suddenly cross over through impact, but the forearm roll takes place gradually throughout the swing.
_Ê The proper rotation of your body as well as the soft yet inexorable roll of your forearms square the clubface at impact.
_Ê When you minimize forearm roll on the backswing, you get a slice unless you over-rotate your forearms coming down. It’s the opposite for a hook.
_Ê If your shots go one way and then another, it’s probably due to too inconsistent forearm roll.
_Ê When you try to roll your forearms, it’s too easily overdone.
_Ê If your face is open at top, forearm rotation will begin sooner with more extension of the right arm. If the face is closed, forearm rotation is postponed until just before impact.
_Ê At impact, your forearms should be the same distance apart as they were at address, with the circles facing each other.

PGA professional and Senior Instruction Editor Dr. T.J. Tomasi is the director of instruction at Lyman Orchards GC in Middlefield, Conn.

Face The Facts

The precision required to hit an absolutely straight golf shot is so great that, for all intents and purposes, such shots don’t exist. For that very reason, every golfer is either a hooker or a slicer. You may only hook or slice a little at times, but your shots do have a pattern. Even the game’s best players favor a fade or draw. To elevate your improvement, it’s crucial that you determine if you’re a slicer or a hooker. It’s also important that you erase any thoughts of producing a perfectly straight ballflight shot after shot and, rather, earmark the left-to-right or right-to-left shot shape as the one that best fits your game. If you can make this leap and work on controlling spin instead of fearing it, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a better golfer.

Can a hockey stick and a basketball cure your slice or hook? I find these larger items–compared to a golf club and golf ball–help golfers more easily realize the true causes of hooks and slices. If all slicers could imagine the toe of the hockey stick wrapping around the outside half of the basketball, they’d properly close the face and keep left-to-right sidespin at bay. And if hookers could imagine leading the heel of the hockey stick into impact, they’d slow down the excess face rotation that invariably sends their ball to the left.

Hooker Finding your shot shape: are you a slicer or a hooker?
Hit 10 balls with a 5-iron and 10 balls with a driver (20 balls total) and count the shots that curve from right to left (hooks) and the ones that curve from left to right (slices). (Straight pushes count in the hook or curving left category and pulls count in the slice or curving right category.) If need be, chart your shapes–your drives and approaches–on the golf course. After 20 balls, add them up and see which side of the golf course you see the most often.

For all of you who charted a slice shot pattern, don’t dismay–you’re in the majority! Most amateurs fight a slice or, more technically, a clubface that’s aligned or is looking to the right of the direction the clubhead travels as it approaches impact. The key to eradicating the slice is to simply close the clubface. If you don’t close the clubface, you’ll always slice! For you hookers out there, you need to slow down the rotation of the clubface.

He Shoots, He Scores
The first step to eradicate a slice or hook is to change your grip. Slicers need to adopt a stronger grip. Hookers need a weaker hand position. Stronger implies that you rotate your hands to the right, or clockwise, on your grip. In the photos at the bottom right, I’ve placed a red and a green dot on my glove. To close the clubface sooner and eliminate your slice/open clubface, set your hands on the grip so you see the green dot, or more of the back of your left hand at address. For hookers, rotate you hands so that you see more of the red dot.

In addition to strengthening their grips, slicers need to think in terms of closing the clubface around the outside of the golf ball. This will help eradicate an open clubface at the point of impact. To get a better image of this requirement, refer to the photos at right with the hockey stick and soccer ball. In the top photo, notice how the toe of the hockey stick leads the heel so that it can wrap around the outside of the basketball (the pink-colored half) and place hook spin on the ball. This is what should occur as your golf club meets the golf ball. As the clubhead wraps around the outside of the golf ball, the face rotates closed. That’s the key to eliminating the slice. In the release photo at left, notice how the toe of the club is much closer to the target than the heel, and see how my right hand hides my left from view. There’s no way to slice from this position.

When I instruct slicers to hit the outside of the golf ball and wrap the face from there, most reply, Shouldn’t I hit the inside, with the hands leading the clubhead? The answer–yes. But an inside approach won’t do you a grain of good if the clubface is open. Instead, you’ll hit a push slice, which can land farther right than your regular slice! Slicers: strengthen your grip, rotate your clubface around the outside of the golf ball and change your game!

Box Drill The prospect for hookers is much rosier. In addition to weakening their grips, hookers simply need to slow down the rotation of the clubface through the hitting zone. Using the hockey stick and basketball example, the heel of your hockey stick should lead the toe into impact (photo, bottom right) with contact being made on the inside of the basketball (the blue-colored half.) This will stall your natural tendency to over-rotate the face and produce a gentle draw rather than a hook.

Box Drill
Now that we’ve changed your grip and face position, let’s change your path, which does have a lot to do with slicing and hooking. Slicers tend to come too much outside-in and hookers vice versa. All golfers need a path that comes just slightly from the inside. Try the box drill. Take the top half of a dozen golf ball box and stand it on its side. To keep it from falling, push a couple of tees through it and into the ground. Align the box parallel to your target line as shown. With a severe inside-out swing (hookers), you’ll strike the box as your club makes its way into the hitting zone. Strive to groove a swing path that allows the shaft to pass just over the box. For slicers, set up the box on the same line but just forward of the golf ball. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Your goal is to not strike the box post-impact.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Hookers need to stop the clubface from closing too soon. To do this, adopt a thumbs-down approach to impact. In the photos at left, you clearly can see the red side of the paddle with both my thumbs pointing down toward the ground. This type of movement will slow the closing of your clubface, thus eliminating shots that curve to the left. In the second photo, the blue side of the paddle shows. This thumbs-up position is what slicers need to attain (a closing of the clubface).

PGA professional and Senior Instruction Editor Chuck Winstead is the director of instruction at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La., and English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans.