Golf In New York City Blog

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 YodaIn 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

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”.

If you play golf, you create divots — it’s part of the game. However,
if you create divots, you should also repair them — that’s part of the etiquette of the
game. Repairing your divots ensures that the golfers who follow you have the same level
playing surface you had when you started your round.

A number of different methods are used to repair divots, and each of
them is designed to make sure that the type of grass growing around the divot fills in as
quickly as possible.

Some courses ask that you simply replace your divot. In this case, you
should replace it in the same direction that it came out and firmly tamp it down.

On courses whose tees and fairways feature actively growing
Bermuda grass, you will often be asked not to replace the divot, but rather to fill the
hole with sand the golf course provides. In this situation, fill the divot and then tamp down
the sand so it is level with the surrounding area.

At some golf courses in the North that feature ryegrass and in the South
where dormant Bermuda grasses are overseeded, you may be asked to fill the divot with a
sand/seed mixture. Again, it is important to tamp the sand down so the seed will
germinate.

Be sure to ask about the local procedure when you are playing at a newcourse.

Information Supplied by Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

One of the most common mistakes golfers make is letting go of the club with the last
three fingers of their left hand at the top of the backswing. This allows the golfer to
feel like the club is swinging back further and helping increase distance, but in reality
causes a loss of control and diminishes your ability to hit the ball on the sweet spot.
Look at your glove. If it is wearing out at the heel pad you are losing control of the
club. Monitor this during your practice. At address hold the club firm, not tight, with
the last three fingers of your left hand. Let your left thumb and pointer finger in
addition to your entire right hand feel loose. Turn your shoulders and swing the club to
the top of the backswing. Your fingers will tighten naturally! Do not allow the fingers to
open.
Now hit the ball without regripping the club. With each swing try to accelerate the club
through the ball to a balanced finish. Practice this until you have control of the club
from beginning to end. If you hold the club too tight or too loose at the beginning,
control of the club becomes impossible.
There is no doubt that strong hands will help your golf. A good strengthening drill is to
squeeze a soft ball whenever you can. This can be done at home while watching television
or even at work when talking on the telephone. Give it a try — you’ll see the
improvement!