Good Winter Drill - The Pivot Drill
Perform as Often and Precise as Possible. Constant Motion. Do Not Strain or Push Muscles. Practice Tempo as you do These Drills.
| Set Up: |  |
|
| Back Swing: |  |
|
| Impact: |  |
|
| Finish: |  |
|
January 3, 2008
November 6, 2007
Ben Hogan’s book, Five Lessons-The Modern Fundamentals of Golf Turns Fifty!
Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf
Hogan, who became a golf professional at 19, dedicated the next twenty-five years to becoming arguably the greatest golfer of the twentieth century. No one, except for possibly Tiger Woods, worked harder on improving his or her golf game. His legendary book gives us Ben’s thoughts on learning and playing the game. Although many of today’s golf gurus have written books and devised methods based on Hogan’s theories, why not get it from the master himself?
Hogan developed a systematic approach to learning and mastering golf’s fundamentals. He arranges the information into five lessons. Each lesson is complete with wonderful drawings and great drills. This book is filled with simple and great advice. A great tip is to bring a pencil and paper with you when you practice and keep a record of your thoughts.
The book’s first lesson starts with a focus on the grip. At the beginning we find, “GOOD GOLF BEGINS WITH A GOOD GRIP.” Hogan believed the player’s only contact with the ball is through the clubhead, and the only direct physical contact with the club is through his hands. In the golf swing, the power is originated and generated by the movements of the body. As this power builds up, it is transferred from the body to the arms, which than transfers it through the hands to the clubhead. In a good grip both hands will act as “ONE UNIT.”
This pressure should be "active," the kind of pressure that makes your hand feel alive and ready for action. Some golfers grab hold of a club so ferociously they look like they’re going to twist the grip right off it. There’s no need for overdoing the strength of your grip. In fact, there’s a positive harm in it: you automatically tighten the muscles in the left arm and create too much stiffness. A grip that is too tight will also immobilize the wrist. A secure, alive, and comfortable grip is what you want, for, as the weighted clubhead is swung back, the fingers instinctively tighten their grasp on the shaft.
In golf there are certain things you must do quite precisely. The grip is one of those areas where being half right accomplishes nothing. On the other hand, when you practice and eventually master the right techniques, gripping the club correctly comes easily. Hogan devoted 19 pages of his book to the grip. He did not take the grip for granted! GOOD GOLF BEGINS WITH A GOOD GRIP.
Hogan warns us about proceeding too fast. For at least a week, he suggests, “ PUT IN 30 MINUTES OF DAILY PRACTICE ON THE GRIP. LEARNING THESE NEXT FUNDAMENTALS WILL THEN BE TWICE AS EASY AND TWICE AS VALUABLE.” The next lesson focuses on the fundamentals of the stance and posture. Hogan devotes 24 pages to this area.
Hogan writes, “The proper stance and posture enable a golfer to be perfectly balanced and poised throughout the swing. Only then will his legs, arms, and body be able to carry out their interrelated assignments correctly”. He works from the feet up. Width of stance, foot position, elbows, arms, weight distribution, knee flex, hip bend, and erectness of the back and head are all discussed and precisely described. “The fact that an apparently insignificant detail like the position of the left foot can affect your entire swing for better or for worse is an intrinsic part of golf.” Hogan suggests using a full-length mirror at home to develop these moves.
The First Part of The Swing is his third fundamental. Hogan emphasizes the importance of the waggle. For him the waggle was the bridge that linked the address with the start of the golf swing. The waggle is like a miniature practice swing. It is done with the left hand. Hogan devotes five pages to the waggle.
The order of movement in the backswing is hands, arms, shoulders, and hips. “Actually the hands start the clubhead back a split second before the arms start back. And the arms begin their movement a split second before the shoulders begin to turn. As a golfer acquires feel and rhythm through practice, the hands, arms, and shoulders will instinctively tie in on this split second schedule.”
The shoulders start turning immediately. The hips do not. You want to turn the shoulders as far around as they will go. Your head remains stationary. At the finish of the backswing your chin should be hitting against the top of your left shoulder. Hogan claims to have worn out his golf shirts at this spot. There are great drawings illustrating the amount of shoulder turn opposed to the amount of hip turn.
He also introduced the golf world to the concept of swing plane. For Hogan swing plane was, “simply described an angle of inclination running from the ball to the shoulders”. Not very simple is it? Hogan devotes seven pages to the backswing swing plane. As you look at the drawings this concept is very well described.
The second part of the swing is Hogan’s fourth fundamental. “The downswing is initiated by turning the hips to the left. The shoulders, arms, and hand in that order release their power. The great speed developed in this chain action carries the golfer all the way around to the finish of his follow through”.
Hogan talks about the plane of the downswing, which is different from the plane of the backswing. When the golfer is on this less steep swing he must hit from the inside. It eliminates the over the top error. It also allows for maximum strength and club head speed.
“Imagine that, at address, one end of an elastic strip is fastened to a wall directly behind your left hip and the other end is fastened to your left hip bone. As the shoulders turn the hips on the backswing, the elastic is stretched with increased tension. When you start turning the hips to the left, the elastic will snap back to the left with tremendous speed. Same thing with the hips”.
“The main thing for the novice or the average golfer is to keep any conscious hand action out of the swing”.
Lesson five is what else, summary and review!
Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf stresses the technical parts of the golf swing and forty years later is still a must read for any serious golfer.
August 8, 2007
Lynn Blake One Day Golf School
A One Day Golf School with Lynn Blake and Bill Castner August 17 or August 18 2007 at Hyatt Hills Golf Course Clark, New Jersey
To sign up for this fantastic golfing opportunity please download and complete the application form at Castner Golf
Lynn Blake,GSED, aka Yoda
In the summer of 1980, Lynn was an avid amateur golferwho had hit the wall in his study of The Golfing Machine® His only recourse was to telephone the author, Homer Kelley. Thus began the student-teacher relationship that was to last until Mr. Kelley’s death in February 1983. The instruction reached its pinnacle in January 1982 when Homer invited Lynn to attend his weeklong Golf Stroke Engineering Master Class. The invitation was extended to a select group of only five. In January 2006 Lynn served as Lead Instructor teaching 28 PGA professionals at the two-day regional conference of custom clubmaker Henry-Griffitts. Lynn holds 2007 PGA TOUR Player Instructor credentials and he worked with Brian Watts, Brian Gay, John Riegger and Jay Williamson. He also teaches Meghna Bal, 2007 All India Ladies Amateur Champion. In August 2007, Lynn Blake Golf, LLC, will conduct the Barclays Classic Golf Academy at the Barclays Classic, Westchester Country Club, NY, the first of the historic Fedex Cup Series playoff events. Simultaneously, the company will conduct for the PGA TOUR the LBG Golf Academy presented by Gillette exclusively for the sponsors of the Barclays Classic at Hospitality Village. Of his recent accomplishments, he is most proud of LynnBlakeGolf.com, a website he feels is destined to revolutionize the world
of conventional golf instruction.
Bill began playing golf as a teenager and was fortunate enough to have been taught by many great teachers including Tom Strafaci, Carl Lohren and Mike Hebron. In 1983, Bill earned his Class A membership into the Professionals Golfers Association (PGA). Bill has served as Head Professional at various courses in New York and New Jersey, including the Golf Club at
Mansion Ridge, Colts Neck Golf Club, LaTourette Golf Course, Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course, and the Randalls Island Golf Practice Center. He is also a member of the New Jersey PGA Junior Committee and a former instructor with the National PGA Junior Golf Academy. Bill has coached many talented junior golfers helping to bring their games to a level that will prepare them for collegiate golf. Bill’s personal teaching philosophy is to take the strengths of each person’s swing and mold them into a repeating and natural motion. Bill believes that there is no such thing as "The Swing," however there is a "BEST" swing that will work for each individual. By developing the golf fundamentals, each student will find their best golf swing. This swing will produce a consistent ball flight. Bill’s commitment to his students is to assist them in aximizing their enjoyment of the great game of golf!
For Additional Information Please Call Bill Castner at Castner Golf or call (917)208-5197
To sign up for this fantastic golfing opportunity please download and complete the application form at Castner Golf
July 12, 2007
Golf Tips - Using a Clock to Help You Score Better
With the digital age upon us and young people using the cell phone to tell time, this concept may be obsolete in a few years. In the meantime use these ideas to help your golf game.
Aiming Point:
Draw a clock dial around the perimeter of the ball. Place the ball where the six is exactly in the back of the ball and twelve is facing the target. For maximum compression of the ball you must, hit the ball on the seven. That is the back inside portion of the golf ball.
Hit the ball on the seven not the six. The clubface also must be faced slightly to the right at impact. The ball is on the clubface about one four thousandth of a second. During this time it is programmed as to how it flies. As the ball rides on the club the face rotates. It closes. The ball leaves the club when the face squares. Hit the ball at the seven on the clock dial with a downward blow.
Much has been written lately about compressing the golf ball. Golf balls are made to bounce. Drop a ball from shoulder height onto any hard surface and watch it come back almost too full height. A golf ball is much livelier than a baseball or basketball. This bounce is what enables the ball to fly so far. In order to utilize the bounce built into the ball, you must compress it. You can only compress it if you hit the ball at the seven on the clock dial with a downward blow.
Aim and Alignment:
Imagine a clock lying on its back on the ground. The target is at the twelve. The golf ball is in the middle of the clock.
Start with the club. You must aim the club face exactly at the twelve. Imagine a line running from the ball to the target. This is the target line. Place the club head behind the ball with the sole (bottom) of the club perpendicular to this target line.
Next set your feet. The back of your heels should be parallel to the target line. The right foot should be aimed straight at the target line. The left foot should be turned out slightly.
Now align the shoulders. A line running across your shoulders should be aimed at the eleven on the dial. Many golfers mistakenly aim this line at the twelve. This is a closed position and causes many swing errors. Insure that your shoulders are aimed at eleven on the clock dial.
Finally, when you swing, feel as if you are swinging toward the one on the dial. This will give you the inside out impact that is most desirable. Your club will not actually swing to one. There is a difference between feel and real. When you feel as if you are swinging toward the one the club head actually swings down the target line.
Pitching:
This method is listed in Dave Pelz’s wonderful “Short Game Bible”. Imagine you are standing in a clock. The golf ball is on the ground at six on the dial. Your chest is the middle of the dial. The twelve is directly above your head.
With all of your wedges figure out how far the ball flies when you swing back to 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. These should be finesse swings. That is, no hit.
Concern yourself with your left arm. Practice without a club in your hands. Place your right arm behind your back. Teach yourself the feeling of swinging your left arm until it points to 7:30. Then practice swinging your left arm to 9:00. This 9:00 is when your left arm is parallel to the ground. Then finally all the way back to 10:30. 10:30 is the top of a full swing. If you swing past this point you are over swinging.
Now practice with both hands. Grip the club and set up. Feet fairly close together with your weight distributed equally between your feet. Do not concern yourself with the wrists. Let the centrifugal force handle the wrist action. Practice swinging your left arm to 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. Then swing through. Hold your balance.
Develop four shots, 7:30 finesse, 9:00 finesse, 10:30 finesse, and 10:30 power. A finesse swing is done without a hit. It is a smooth graceful motion. A power swing employs a hitting action through the ball.
Now that you have the technique you can start to measure. See the chart. Learn how far you hit each wedge with each time. If you have four wedges you will develop 16 yardages that you can easily hit the golf ball.
When you are playing you can determine your yardage and pick the club and time that will get you there.
Putting Clock Drill:
On the practice putting green, use six golf balls. Start from three feet out. The hole is the center of the clock. Place a ball at the two, four, six, eight, ten, and twelve positions on the dial. Now go around the clock and make each putt. If you miss one, start over.
By practicing your short putts this way you will have to take into account the subtle slopes and breaks of each ball. Each putt will be slightly different.
Once you become good at the three foot putts, do the same drill from four, five and six feet out.
Download Bill’s latest golf tip “Using a Clock to Help You Score Better”.
