Full Swing

Sweet Spot: Jerry Kelly

Solid short-game performance is key for any competitive golfer, and an absolute must for those fortunate enough to play on the PGA Tour. Jerry Kelly, who ranked 16th in scoring average with nearly $1.5 million in earnings after 15 events (as of mid-July) knows this fact well, as illustrated by his proficiency at saving par after missing a green in regulation (he currently is second on Tour in scrambling). The basis of Kelly’s success is solid fundamentals, which include a forward-leaning shaft resulting from his hands leading the clubhead through impact, a slightly open stance that allows his arms to extend through impact without any breakdown of the left wrist, and a stance that places the majority of his weight on his left side. These three factors combine to create a descending blow and rock-solid contact time after time, the key to predictable distance control and successful chipping. Check out Kelly’s technique and try to emulate it–you’ll leave yourself shorter-par putts and shoot significantly lower scores.

1. Shaft Bend
The left wrist is flat and the right wrist is bent back. This alignment was created at address with the hands slightly forward of the clubhead and preset in the impact position. They will maintain this position during the entire stroke, fulfilling the most important chipping fundamental–a forward-leaning shaft at impact.

2. Knee Keys
The knees are slightly flexed and pointing in the same direction as the feet. They will remain flexed throughout the stroke, which will keep the club traveling in a steady and repeatable arc. The swinging of the arms may move the knees, but the knees will not move independently.

3. Weight Matters
Kelly’s feet are close together, his toes are pointing in front of the ball, and the majority of his weight rests on his left foot. Starting with his feet in this manner helps to quiet the lower body and fulfills one of the fundamentals of good chipping: forward weight placement. This will create a slightly descending blow, eliminating the tendency to scoop.

4. Soft Shoulders
Kelly’s shoulders are down and very relaxed. Tension is a killer of good chips and must be alleviated to ensure success. This softness in Kelly’s shoulders trickles down to his arms and hands and allows him to relax through impact and concentrate on his target while controlling the distance of the shot._Ê

5. Open Hips
Like his feet, Kelly’s hips are slightly open to the target at address. Choking down on the handle allows him to bend over more comfortably, enabling his arms to hang down freely from his shoulders. The open position of the hips allows the arms to remain extended past impact and helps prevent any breakdown in the wrists.

6. Face Control
The clubface is directly in line with a flat left wrist. Notice how both the wrist and clubface have rotated away from the ball. They’re both staying on plane and will rotate back to impact and through to the finish just as a door would when swinging open and closed.

Jerry Kelly plays the new Cleveland CG10 wedges. For information on the CG10 lineup as well as Cleveland’s other Tour-quality wedges, visit www.clevelandgolf.com.

PGA professional and Senior Instruction Editor Brady Riggs instructs at Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Van Nuys, Calif._Ê

Floating Heads That Swivel, Too

You hear it all the time, especially during golf telecasts: Look how still Freddy keeps his head, or Jack has made a career out of keeping his head still. The trouble is, when you put the videotape in slow motion, the heads of good players do move. In fact, they must in order to accommodate our anatomy. When you keep your head still, it hangs over your front shoulder at the top of the swing, like a turkey peeking over a log. A riveted head won’t accommodate a full shoulder turn and, more often than not, causes a reverse weight shift, with your weight stranded on your left side (right for lefties), just the opposite of where it should be.

In a good backswing, the head swivels away from the target as it floats at the top of the spine. During the forwardswing, the head retraces its steps–yet remains between the shoulders–as it swivels toward the target. The goal is to keep your head centered on the top of your spine, the extension of which is your neck. Thus, the head, neck and spine remain stacked atop one another throughout the swing.

Just Say No
Your first two vertebrae form a flexible framework that allows you to move your head independently of your body. The first cervical vertebrae is called the atlas, the second is the axis. The atlas allows the head to move up and down in the nodding motion that signifies yes while the axis permits the head to rotate around the neck in the shaking motion that says no.

Nodding yes during your swing encourages your spine to move up and down, a dangerous move that changes the effective length of the club, making it longer as you bob toward the ground and shorter as you straighten up. Consistency falters when you nod yes during your swing. In short, you want to keep the atlas quiet while the axis does its thing, and try to say no.

The Correct Way To Look Up
Because the spine is tilted during the swing, the head appears to travel up and down when it moves correctly, Ê la Annika, the poster child for a floating head. She uses her axis (the no motion) but keeps her atlas (the yes motion) stable until after impact. Thus, her head rotates around her neck sans any up-and-down action. This allows her to look over the ball rather than under it as it leaves the clubface.

To experience the role the axis plays in your swing, stand upright with a pen in your mouth and rotate your head from shoulder to shoulder. Notice how the pen stays level as you rotate. Now tilt your spine as you would at address and rotate your head as above and you’ll see that the pen moves not only around, but also up and down.

The key here is that the up-and-down motion of the head results from the tilt of the spine, and if you keep your spine angle while you swing, that part of your head motion will take care of itself. Any independent bobbing of the head leads to losing your spine angle, a fact that promotes two valuable conclusions: 1) Using the atlas before impact ruins your swing and 2) so does not using the axis.

How Much Float?
The path the head follows depends on individual characteristics. Flexible players have much less head float and inflexible players have much more. The key is to let your head float with your body turn. Just how much depends on your body build. If you’re thin like Charles Howell III, the float will be slight. Medium builds such as Brad Faxon demand a bit more, and if you have a thick chest like Darren Clarke, your head should float noticeably.

The Preturn
For many years, Jack Nicklaus has counseled golfers not to move their head when they swing. Before you implement this bad advice, remember this: Nicklaus is famous for rotating his head as a trigger to start his swing, so by the time he reaches the top of his swing, his head, in effect, has rotated in order to stay in the middle of his shoulders.

_ÊIf you have trouble getting the float right, try precocking your head before you swing, i.e., rotate your head until your chin points to your back foot. Then start your swing by turning your front shoulder to your chin. Try this especially if you have a big chest and a thick neck.

Summary
_Ê Trying to keep your head from moving will lead to a reverse weight shift and a reduced coil. Fat shots and the fire-and-fall-back followthrough are the ungainly results of holding your head still.
_Ê To execute a solid pivot, your head must float and rotate with your spine, keeping its position in the middle of your shoulders.
_Ê Allow your head to rotate through impact so you look over the ball, not under it, as it flies away from the face.

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

Dare To Flare

Flexibility is a critical element in the golf swing and should play a significant role in determining what type of setup you adopt. In particular, the position of the left foot is strongly impacted by flexibility level. This is key, because left-foot positioning can affect several swing characteristics, including backswing length, hip turn and subsequent torso rotation through the ball. Knowing your body and choosing the correct left foot position can have a noticeable effect on your swing speed and shotmaking ability, so give it some careful thought and get ready to experiment.

If you’re less flexible, try positioning your left foot at a 45-degree angle to your stance line (three to five inches open to the left, for right-handed golfers) at address. This will tighten up your hip action and provide more torso rotation and speed through the ball. Although it might feel a bit strange at first, utilizing the 45-degree left foot position will allow you to produce greater clubhead speed without additional effort. If you’re more flexible, on the other hand, place your left foot at a 90-degree angle to the target line. This will add a touch more lateral hip motion to your downswing, which will slow down the rotational speed of your hips, providing more stability and fewer overaccelerated, out-of-control swings. Finally, if you’re a senior or someone who’s lost a significant amount of flexibility, you should try positioning your left foot at a 20-degree angle to the target line. This will reduce the amount of torso turn to the top of the swing and will maximize rotation through the ball. To help you determine what position best suits your physical ability and swing type, take a closer look at what each position does and what type of golfer it can benefit.

90_¡ To The Target Line
If you position your left foot at 90 degrees to your target line (or at a right angle to your stance line), it will allow several things to happen. First, it will allow you to make a better and longer backswing turn by freeing up your hips on the way to the top. But you also can suffer a loss of distance because you’ll lose the torque and tension you create in your backswing by overturning your hips in the backswing.

The second thing this foot position does is allow for a full pelvic slide through impact. In other words, it makes it easier for you to slide your hips targetward faster during the downswing. Thus, it keeps those short irons on-line better by helping your body get out of the way on the downswing so the club can work down the line longer.

The only negative aspect of the 90-degree foot position is that it inhibits the torso’s rotation through impact. Remember, a square left foot promotes a pelvic slide, not a pelvic turn. This foot position, therefore, should be used mostly for maximizing distance in the shorter irons where a steeper downswing path–and a path that stays down the target line longer–is required.

45_¡ To The Target Line
If you turn your left foot out about three or four inches (or 45 degrees) from perpendicular, you’ll discover the foot position most professionals use. It’s the most common left-foot position by far since it allows a full turn of the torso and balances the amount of pelvic sliding and turning. I recommend you play 70 percent of your full-swing shots from this position.

The 45-degree position is used mostly for swings with the mid-irons. Swings with these clubs require a certain amount of pelvic sliding to clear the body and give the club freedom to work down the line through the impact zone.

20_¡ To The Target Line
This foot position is about the maximum amount you can comfortably turn out your left foot (about six to eight inches from 90 degrees) and still hit a golf ball. This is one of my favorite foot positions because it does many different things, including greatly inhibiting your hip rotation and minimizing upper-body turn to the top. The result is a shorter, more controlled backswing. This is good for golfers who can’t seem to control their hip or shoulder rotation to the top and who typically overswing.

Another benefit of the 20-degree foot position is it guarantees virtually no pelvic sliding on the downswing and a ton of rotation through the ball. This will maximize your rotation and centrifugal force production through impact, allowing for greater distance with less effort. Try it, and you’ll be amazed how easy it is to turn through the ball, and how much faster you’ll be able to swing. Tour pros use the 20-degree left foot all the time, particularly on long-iron, driver, and fairway wood shots.

Tom Stickney is the director of instruction at the Club at Cordillera in Vail, Colo. For more of Tom’s instruction, visit www.tomstickneygolf.com. Check out his entry in our Top 10 Best Swing Tips Ever.

4 Critical Angles

If there’s one thing a seasoned golf instructor can do, it’s spot a solid setup, even from 50 yards away. One look is all it takes for an experienced teacher to recognize athleticism and balance. The reason why? Any instructor worth his or her salt will stress the fundamentals of a solid setup if solid results are what the student seeks.

A proper setup requires a number of things. I’m sure you’ve been taught them all. Over my many years of teaching, however, I’ve learned that there are only four that truly matter. These magical setup elements are comprised of four different angles. If you can learn and attain these four angles at address, you’ll positively affect your contact and shotmaking skills.

The four angles are: Spine bend, spine tilt, hip bend and knee flex. Each angle plays an equal and important role in helping you create an athletic and balanced address position and enables you to swing the club with precision and power. You’ll also find that if you focus on the four angles, the remaining setup elements take care of themselves.

1. Spine Bend

Your body’s forward bend toward the ball is crucial. More important, however, is the amount of bend. Most amateurs bend over far too much; my recommendation is to err on the tall side. If a number must be assigned to the amount of forward bend, I’d use 25 degrees from vertical. This will vary between taller and shorter players but, nevertheless, it’s a decent average.

When you’re bent forward correctly (left), your shoulders, knees and feet should line up vertically. I call this being stacked. Too much forward bend will typically put your shoulders too far forward and not stacked up well over your knees. During the swing, our subconscious mind senses the bend is too drastic and will intuitively protect the body–whether we like it or not–and decrease the amount of bend. In other words, stand up. A too-deep bend places so much strain on the lower back region that the auto response is to rectify that and stand out of posture._Ê Furthermore, an improper forward bend restricts the turn, which by itself can destroy the desired path and power delivery system into the forwardswing and beyond.

The New Basics

In this article, we’ll take a look at what I like to call the get set position, or what’s more commonly referred to as the top of the backswing. Properly achieving this position supplies the power. Most amateurs make the mistake of never getting set, instead shifting into a reverse pivot or simply sliding laterally away from the target. Either of these moves will result in a great loss of power. In order to unload and_Ê properly return the club back through impact with balance and rhythm, you must have a good get set position.

If you follow the steps and perform the drills outlined in this article, you’ll find yourself set up to generate a stronger, more powerful golf swing.

Upper Body
_ÊAt the top, the left shoulder should be turned under the chin and hover above the right knee. Allow the left arm to extend naturally and fully.
_Ê
Lower Body
Your weight should be on your right side and on the inside of the right foot–over the arch, not the toes or heels. Point your left knee at or behind the golf ball.

Perfectly Set
Notice how I’ve maintained the spine angle I established at address. This is key, along with an extended left arm, a folded right arm and a shaft that lies above the right shoulder.

Batter Up
A solid, loaded get set position should feel very much like you’re about to skip a stone across a lake. Getting into this stance will allow you to deliver the club properly into the back of the ball.

Incorrect “Get Set” Positions
Unnaturally extending the left arm or overly bending the right can lead to big problems in trying to make solid contact. Trying to keep the left arm too straight will lead to lifting or spine angle changes on the way back. Over-folding the right arm invariably leads to an early casting of the club. Both moves sap power.

“Get Set” Drills

Umbrella Drill
Not only must you make a good body turn during the get set phase of the swing, you must also make sure that the arms and hands swing properly and in harmony with your rotation. The arms and hands supply the radius of your swing and control on which planes it travels back and through.

Try the umbrella drill to check that your arms and hands are in the right positions throughout the swing.

Step 1: Place an umbrella in the ground on a 45-degree angle, or one that mirrors the shaft angle at address.

Step 2: Swing the club away, allowing your body to make a good turn. Once your left arm is parallel to the ground, the wrists will have cocked into position. What you should notice is that the clubshaft now parallels the angle of the umbrella, and that the butt of the grip points toward the target line.

If you’re successful in swinging the club into this position, you’ll find that the club will travel perfectly up the swing plane and help you more easily attain a solid, loaded at-the-top position.

Rotation Drill
Assume your regular address position. Place a club across your shoulders. Now, start to turn your shoulders back until your left shoulder is over your right knee. Notice that the hips have turned half as much as the shoulders, that the right knee is still flexed and that the left knee points behind the ball. That’s a good turn. Starting from the ground up, transfer your weight back to the left side as you uncoil toward the target. You should finish with your chest facing the target, your right toe supporting your balance and still with a slight tilt to your spine. Ingraining a solid turn is that easy.

Canadian PGA professional Jeremy Taylor is the head instructor at the Arnold Palmer-designed Whistler Golf Club, located at the world-class Whistler Resort in British Columbia, Canada.

My Favorite Drills

If you want to truly improve your golf game, it’s going to take practice. By that, I mean good practice. A great way to ensure your practice time is useful is to incorporate some drills into your regimen. This will not only help train your golf swing and cut out faults, but also make for a more interesting session out at the practice facility. In the following few pages are a few of my favorite drills, each designed to help fix your game in a hurry.

1. Baseball Drill

The Baseball Drill is a great way to practice both leveraging your body against the ground through the hit and ensuring you make a proper turn. To start, address the ball normally. Then, as you take the club away, lift your left foot just as a baseball player does before making a swing. This will force your weight to your back foot on the backswing. Once you reach the top of your swing (middle left photo), plant your right foot (middle right photo) and initiate the downswing with the arms.

Because you made a good turn on the backswing (you had to because only one leg was on the ground), you should feel as though your left leg is planting force into the ground through the downswing. Because of that, you want to keep your left leg firm at impact to ensure that you not only hit the ball consistently, but also prevent any power leaks. If you practice this drill often, you’ll kiss that dreaded reverse pivot goodbye and hit better shots in no time.

2. Backwards Drill

Can’t stop duck-hooking and/or slicing it? You’re probably swinging from too far outside the target line to back inside the target line. This means the clubface swipes across the ball, producing either a big slice or a wicked duck hook (if the clubface is closed.)


As you can see here, because I’m swinging with an extreme inside-to-outside swing path, my hands must work overtime to be square to the target at impact. When you give this drill a try, stick with ¾ swings and allow for an abbreviated finish. The goal is to feel the clubhead moving from inside to outside and to get the hands to rotate more effectively.

To practice the fix, try the Backwards Drill. Simply set up to the ball as normal, then adjust your right foot so it’s well behind you (relative to the target). This’ll situate your body in an extremely closed position. As you take the club back, at the top of your swing, your back should be facing the target. Make about a 3__ã4 swing, and work on both swinging from inside to outside the target line and letting the hands rotate as much as possible. The ensuing ballflight should be a huge draw that starts way to the right and draws back toward the target.

3. Flat-footed Drill

A great way to ingrain a proper turn is to practice making a few swings with your feet planted on the ground. This will prevent you from lifting your body upward as some golfers do when they lift their left heel off the ground on the backswing. In addition to that, golfers who lift instead of turn the body also tend to lose the needed forward spine tilt in the upper body, which results in all sorts of inconsistencies. If you fall into that group, consider making some normal swings (go as far as you can without lifting your left heel) and keep both feet on the ground. This will force you to turn without lifting, and might also help you add some flexibility along the way. Also, keep the right heel planted as you finish to feel a centered rotation.

4. One-handed Takeaway

Looking for more power? The perfect drill for you is the One-handed Takeaway Drill. Assume your setup as normal, then remove your right hand and initiate the backswing with just your left arm. As you rotate back, you should be able to keep your left arm fairly straight, as long as you keep turning. If you aren’t turning enough, you’ll have a difficult time extending the left arm and keeping it taut. Once you’ve maxed out your turn without any left-arm breakdown, take hold of the club with both hands and make a forwardswing all the way through to the finish.

This is a great drill for adding width to your arc and more turn to your backswing. As for trying it with a ball, give it a shot (though, it’s an effective drill even if you don’t plan on making any hits).

5. Visualization Drill

Be honest with yourself: How confident are you during those few critical seconds before you hit a golf ball? Most amateurs swing with a hit and hope mentality, where fear tends to be the overriding force in one’s swing. Don’t hit the water. Don’t slice. Don’t hit it fat. And so on!Instead, as you practice (and play for the matter), try to visualize the best possible result you can think of. Rehearse the outcome in your mind a few times, and let yourself totally relax and build confidence in your shot.

seeitgolf

To really ingrain a positive mental picture, consider taking advantage of some of the best players in the world and watch as they demonstrate perfect mechanics for you. That’s the thinking behind the innovative seeitgolf system, which began its initial effort with the rhythmic mechanics and near-flawless putting stroke of the PGA Tour’s Aaron Baddeley. Using a series of slow-motion imagery and graphics, golfers can spend about 15 minutes watching a video of Baddeley’s stroke from various angles, with a smooth music track, bold graphic overlays and repetitive views of the golf ball being struck, rolling and dropping into the cup. The goal, according to seeitgolf, is to ingrain a positive mental picture in the mind of the golfer before he/she heads out onto the course, and cut out all those negative thoughts and doubts before and after you make a stroke.

Sounds cool, right? It is. And perhaps the coolest part is that the seeitgolf video can be viewed on portable devices such as an iPhone or iPod, as well as on a computer or via DVD.

More seeitgolf videos are in the works to, again, enhance a player’s positive mental picture and cut out negative swing thoughts and doubts. In other words, See it. Feel it. Trust it.

To learn more and/or to buy the seeitgolf system, check it out online at www.seeitgolf.com.

Jeff Yurkiewicz, PGA, is the head instructor at the Grayhawk Learning Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. Find info at www.grayhawkgolf.com.