==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 73 Date 10/15/08 ==================================================== ==================================================== Equipment - Books - DVD's ==================================================== I recently received one of a set of DVD's from Clive Scarff, owner of HitDownDammit.com - http://www.hitdowndammit.com I have been corresponding with Clive for quite a while about him conducting a HitDownDammit clinic at BCC and that looks possible for the Spring of 2009. In the meantime I decided to get his E-book and DVD's and look them over. This review pertains to his featured DVD entitled - aptly enough - Learn To To Hit Down Dammit! I have had some trepidation about emphasizing hitting down at the ball in "text only" golf tips because it has been my experience that for classic two plane swingers it can lead to a massive tomahawk chop at the ball. It can be corrected with a brief lesson, but lacking the lesson it has been my belief in the past that the risk - reward ratio is not necessarily there. I prefer to emphasize not swinging up at the ball, or to not trying to help it get airborne with an upward swing plane. I'm still trying to figure out which came first, the reverse weight shift or the upward swing plane. Kind of like which came first - the chicken or the egg. Clive's DVD is an excellent resource for learning and seeing how to hit down on the ball. He explains and shows the errors attached to swinging up at the ball and he demonstrates exactly how to hit down on the ball. Keep in mind that Clive demonstrates with a mostly classical swing in that he allows a shifting of weight on the backswing and forward swing as opposed to a single axis turn for the one plane or rotary swing, but all types of swings can benefit from the overall theory he promotes. You don't need to change the fundamentals of your swing type to reap great benefits from this DVD. It's communicates a specific message to correct a universal swing flaw - swinging up at the ball. Here's one especially helpful thought he emphasizes: "Envision the path down to the ball as a straight line". It's my personal experience that if you envision that straight line, and if you rotate properly and have your weight on your forward leg at impact, you will hit down beautifully on the ball. Clive offers the Hit Down Dammit! plus 3 bonus DVDs plus downloadable ebook for $89.99. I'm giving it two thumbs up for content as well as for value because I feel that this one 45 minute DVD alone, coupled with the E-book, are valuable enough to merit it. With the other DVD's included, it's a no-brainer. It would make a great Christmas gift. You can buy it here: http://www.hitdowndammit.com/ BTW, I don't make anything on sales - I am promoting it just because I think it's a great DVD that should be part of any serious golfers educational library. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Let The Swing Happen ==================================================== After the backswing has been completed, let the downswing happen. Steering on the downswing is a guarantee for bad shot. Clive Scarff ==================================================== Golf Tip : Hitting Down Drill ==================================================== This is one of my own original drills that I sent along to Clive Scarff, he's going to publish it in an upcoming HitDownDammit Newsletter: "Hi Clive, here's a simple drill that I have developed for my students that are reluctant to take a divot, I call it the leaning tee drill: I have the student stick a tee in the ground so that it is leaning towards the target at about a 15 degree angle up from the ground, it looks very flat to the eye. Then I have the student take half swings with a 7 iron and try to hit the tee at the halfway point and take a shallow divot past the tee. Breaking the tee or planting the tee in the ground is good, it means that the swing plane angle on the downswing was correct. Clipping the tee so that it pops into the air is not good, unless a divot is taken after contact with the tee. Clipping the tee without the divot means either a pick or an upward swing plane, neither of which is desirable. If someone is consistently hitting the practice swing fat, I place another tee next to the base of the tee in the ground but a few inches outside of it, so that the student sees that he/she is missing the mark so that we can make adjustments. When we hit half swing shots with a ball after about 15 to 20 reps with the leaning tee drill, they have no problem hitting down. It has really helped my students that tend to be "pickers" get used to taking a divot." Enjoy, Tom