==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 53 Date 05/19/08 ==================================================== ==================================================== Equipment - Books - DVD's ==================================================== BirdieBalls and Lesson Expectations BirdieBalls In the last newsletter I mentioned that I had just received an order of BirdieBalls in the mail and was going to report on them after more testing, here is the report. I really love them and I've now included a segment of BirdieBall drills in all of my chipping lessons, not just for junior and inexperienced students, but for students of all abilities. Here's the essence of why I'm using BirdieBalls: the ball flight of the basic chip that I teach is one that elevates according to the loft of the club being used, has backspin, checks upon landing, then rolls out to the target. Some students tend to either skull the shot or hit it with slight overspin, which is not what I like to see for normal short chips near the green. When you practice with a golf ball it's sometimes hard to actually see the type of spin - or lack thereof - on short shots like these. There are three major benefits that I have found with this training aid. Benefit 1 - With the shape of the BirdieBall, the first benefit is that students don't try to scoop the shot because it's not a round object, and trying to help the shot into the air is a mistake I see made very frequently, especially on short chip shots. Benefit 2 - The second benefit, and perhaps the most important one as far as I'm concerned, is that students can actually see the backspin on the flight of the BirdieBall after it's struck. You can tell if it has been struck with good technique, which shows a pure backspin, or whether the technique is off a little, which may impart a little right to left overspin if the hands released at impact, or too much left to right side spin if the shot is cut with an outside in swing path and/or open clubface. When my students then move on to drills with the actual golf ball, the technique learned with the BirdieBall drills carries over and I am seeing remarkably good results. The BirdieBall allows the students to see and feel the results of good technique much better and faster than drills done with the golf ball only. Benefit 3 - I personally have worked it into my own practice because it helps me focus on refining my technique rather than being fixated the result, which is the third benefit. I give this training aid two thumbs up, one for delivering the goods, and one for value. You can find BirdieBalls at most retail golf stores like Golf Galaxy or online at http://www.birdieball.com If you decide to buy, I would recommend the package where you get a dozen BirdieBalls and the strikepad, I think it retails for around $43 or so. If your chipping is not up to par (pardon the pun) give me a call to set up a chipping lesson and experience the BirdieBall firsthand. Lesson Expectations Here's a quick comment on lessons and expectations, it should apply to whomever you take lessons from. When you take a putting and/or chipping lesson from me, I will say without reservation that you will be a better putter or chipper after the lesson than you were prior to the lesson. For those students that were very poor at the start of the lesson, the improvement is usually fairly dramatic. The better the golfer at the start of the lesson, the less dramatic the improvement, but there will definitely be improvement. The reason I can say with confidence that you will show improvement, is that during the putting and/or chipping lesson we do enough drills and repetitions to actually start building muscle memory for the technique. With these two types of swings, there is economy of movement coupled with a short swing. This translates to students learning the correct technique relatively quickly. With more practice you will get even better, but you should have a basic understanding of what to do after one good lesson. When you take lessons for longer swing technique such as pitching, the mini swing, and the full swing, it takes more repetitions - done correctly - to build the muscle memory. Since there are more moving parts it's fairly unusual for a student to make dramatic gains immediately after a lesson. The improvement is there but it's more gradual, and it's directly related to the amount of practice that a student does after the lesson. I had a student last year, a very motivated female golfer who loves the game and is a better than average golfer, who was a poor chipper because she was never taught proper technique. It was hurting her game, so she decided to take a lesson. Here are her own words on the results of our chipping lesson: "I want to thank you again for all of the time you spent teaching me how to chip. I practiced all of last week, and then played nine holes with a friend. I want you to know that I actually shaved TEN STROKES off of my usual score. I can honestly say that at least six of those strokes were due to improved chipping." http://www.bataviacc.com/testimonials.html I know that this sounds like the hype you see on TV Ads for Ginzu Knives (I own several sets - I have weak sales resistance), but it's not - it's the truth. Most golfers probably can't expect dramatic results like hers, but you can and should expect quick improvement from any "short swing" type lesson. I reinforce my lessons with an email to the student going over what we did during the lesson, which provides an outline for practice. If you want lessons call or email, if you need a set of Ginzu Knives, also call or email. (Just kidding about the knives, they were all "gifted" to relatives) Next issue I'll review a couple of DVD's that offer different advice on the golf swing: The 8 Step Swing by Jim McLean, retails for around $29.99 and The Truth About Golf by A J Bonar, retails for around $89.95 for a package of DVD's ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Fat Shots ==================================================== Fat shots can occur because of excessive body movement and a static body, causing a choppy downward swing. Think about starting the swing with a slight lateral movement of the hips towards the target. See below for a great drill. ==================================================== Golf Tip : Weight Shift ==================================================== This is one of my own original modifications to what's referred to as the folded arms weight shift drill, and it's been working great, enjoy! A vast majority of my students' swings (before lessons of course) either have no weight shift on the takeaway, have too much weight shift on the takeaway, have a reverse weight shift on the takeaway, and have incorrect weight transfer or no weight transfer on the downswing transition and at impact. Here is a simple and easy drill you can do anywhere to help build muscle memory for a correct weight shift at takeaway and at impact, the two most critical areas for weight transference. First of all let's define "bend" as a forward or backward movement from the waist, ie: bending forward or backwards, and "leaning" as a side to side bending movement. If you stood erect and tried to touch the outside of your right knee with your right hand, you would need to "lean" to the right to do it, whereas you would "bend" over to tie your shoes. Here's the drill: it should be done with crossed arms, and it should be done extremely slowly at first, then progress gradually up to normal speed with emphasis on absolutely perfect technique. Step 1 - stand erect, feet shoulder width apart, and imagine a ball positioned as a golf ball would be for a 7 iron shot, placed in the center of your stance. Now turn your shoulders very slightly towards your rear foot without leaning towards the rear foot. Key: The "without leaning" part is very important. Step 2 - now, shift your weight laterally to your rear foot very, very slightly, and while doing so your upper body should move laterally to the rear very, very slightly. Most of the weight on your rear foot should be on the inside half of the foot. The weight distribution on your rear foot should be 2/3 rds on the inside half of your foot and 1/3 on the rear half of your foot. You are digging in for a coil. Your head has also moved laterally slightly to the rear, and your head should now be behind the ball instead of even with it like it was at address. You should feel a very slight tension in the upper inside half of your rear thigh, it's tension from the coil and it's a good thing. It usually means that the weight distribution on your rear foot is correct. If you let the weight go to the outside of the rear foot, there will be no sensation of coiling tension. However, some people are so flexible that they can be doing this correctly but not feel the tension. That's OK too. Key: The vast majority of golfers shift way too far back onto their rear foot - do it very, very slightly. It's a shift not a sway, the difference is in the amount of lateral movement. Shift good - sway bad. Do step 1 and 2 with an erect back and straight knees 5 times, slowly, then add steps 3 and 4. Steps 3 and 4 relate to the forward weight shift and staying behind the ball Step 3 - after you have gotten to step 2 and paused, slightly bump/move your hip laterally forward towards your front leg, so that your weight shifts to your front leg. Keep your shoulders turned. This is important - at this point you have not shifted weight from the upper half of your body yet, so there is a slight leaning of your spine towards the rear side. Maintain the slight backwards lean momentarily and keep your head slightly behind the imaginary ball. Step 4 - Now, a fraction of a second after the hip bump, rotate your shoulders forward to the same degree that they were rotated back, upper body still slightly leaning slightly towards the rear leg. Allow your upper body weight to transfer more fully onto the front leg and let your body turn pull your body and shift your weight until it is 85% on the front foot. Your back heel should come up off the ground slightly, your rear foot should start to pivot slightly, and your head should still be slightly behind the imaginary ball. This crucial step simulates the rotation and weight shift just prior to and at impact, one of the most critical moments in the swing. The objective of the drill is to do it with good golf posture, but learning it from an erect stance helps you to get there. When you can consistently do the 4 steps above slowly and perfectly when standing erect, then do the drill with a bent back and flexed knees, in other words do the drill in good golf posture as if you were set up for and hitting a golf shot with a 7 iron. Here are some of adjustments to the drill for when it is done in good golf posture: Step 1 - back is now bent forward slightly, knees stay flexed, it's very important to not lean either towards the rear foot or the front foot when you turn your shoulders. The shoulder turn stays perpendicular to the spine, which is bent (tilted) forward with a flat back. Do not rotate your shoulders parallel to the ground. Step 2 - when you shift your weight, keep your rear knee flexed the same amount as it was during setup, do not let it straighten up and do not allow the weight to shift onto the outside of the back foot, keep the weight distribution 2/3 rds into the inside (instep) of the foot. Key: The weight moves to the back foot and leg laterally from the hips, don't lean towards the back or front foot as it shifts. Step 3 - make the weight transition forward very slight, maintain the slight spine lean towards the back foot to keep your head behind the ball. Sliding the lower body forward and keeping the upper body slightly back with the head behind the ball causes the slight backward lean, that's how we want to create it, not by a deliberate lean. Key: The weight moves to the front foot and leg laterally from the hips, don't deliberately lean towards the back or front foot as it shifts. Just keep your upper body still as the lower portion moves. Step 4 - your front knee will start to straighten out a bit, that's OK. Your back knee should still remain somewhat flexed, even when the rear foot starts to pivot at the end of step 4 The completion of the backswing, downswing, and forward swing have a couple of more elements relating to weight shift, arms, hands, and club position, but they can't work correctly unless the particular steps above steps occur within the proper sequence of the overall swing. If you can master this drill, you are well on the way to developing more power and more consistent squareness of contact with the golf ball, both of which relate directly to more distance.