Make Spin

I think this might be my first tip that I'm posting here since I re-vamped things a little bit. Over the last couple of days here in Niagara Falls, Ontario we have been experiencing some gorgeous nice weather. For the first time in a while I found myself with time and feeling decent enough to get some practice in. A nice change... quality me time with different irons and a new driver. Both Tour Edge Exotics.My two sessions were a bit different than each other where yesterday I added some short game work to the 4 hours worth of practice I spent. With my lack of playing time this year I honestly feel like I lost another year and with a lack of play if one aspect of the game can go in downward spiral quickly it's green side play. Yesterday I was employing balls from OnCore Golf and a Cradlz by Stinger device that I received to test and review. Watching some video of my pitching I saw a mistake that I didn't feel like I was making. So I thought that since it was fresh in my mind I would talk about it.

Photo: alexandertothgolf.blogspot.com

It happens almost every round that you play. You've missed a Green In Regulation and what's worse is that you've short-sided yourself a little. If you're on the fringe things aren't so bad because you definitely have the use of your putter at your disposal to hole it out or get it close. But you aren't on the fringe and there is too much real estate between yourself to utilize a specialty shot like a "Texas Wedge". So there you are and you take a wedge... or iron (green side doesn't automatically make it a wedge shot) and you've seen the guys and gals on Sunday afternoon on the various tours chip and make the ball stop. You try the same thing but instead you hit your chip and run it well past the hole. What happened to the spin?

Photo Credit: alexandertothgolf.blogspot.com

In a lot of cases two things might have occurred. The first option is that your club head got ahead of your hands and you flipped. The second option is a very, very good possibility. You decelerated on the stroke. Regardless of the distance for the shot you have to make if there is one thing that you you should never do is decelerate or give up on the shot. This is what I observed on my play back. While there was no lack of enough "swing" to make the shots I was making... I was clearly tentative. In order to get the spin that you require you have to accelerate through the ball... much like a driver or any other full shot. The combination of "trapping" the ball by having your hands lead the way through the ball and acceleration is what creates the spin. A deceleration will put "lazy spin" on the ball meaning that it will want to spin but it's almost like the golf ball says "Ummm... no!" and upon hitting the putting surface it just skips along. Accelerate and make that ball check. Below is a quick list of the set-up to achieve the spin.

1. Open up your stance slightly.
2. Weaken your grip. (If you normally see 3 knuckles on your top head lean more towards 2 or less)
3. Your ball position should be off of your trailing ankle. If you need to pop the ball up a little bit place it more towards the lead heel.
4. Place 90% of your weight on your leading side.
5. Pre-set your hands ahead of the ball. Doing this programs the hands or handle of the club to get through first.
6. If the shot is your basic chip rock the shoulders like a putt. Do not let your bottom hand "take over the stroke". Light grip pressure.
7. See the shot... rehearse the shot  and get a feel for how much stroke you need. Practice the acceleration. (Pre-Shot Routine)
8. Reset... step in to the shot by repeating 1-6.
9. Make the shot.

Do not do this. Deceleration causes a lack of spin and makes you prone to chunking chips and pitches. Not to mention coming up short.

I hope that this helps you lower your score by a stroke or 3.

Until The Next Tee!

The Most Telling Training Aid That You Have... But Never Knew It

Truth be told, this first tip is so obvious that you might give yourself a smack of the forehead and think.. "why didn't I think of that". Have you been on the range working on your game and you're just randomly watching balls sail left or right? Sure, you might be striking the ball okay but that direction.. it's not even close. This tip is particularly great if you're a golfer who fights the slice.

If you were to line up 10 golfers I would almost guarantee that 9 out of 10 of them would be wearing something in common. Sure they are wearing shirts and bottoms but we have to look closer at the equator. Their belt. The belt is such an under rated piece of equipment and the fact is that our belts can tell us a lot about what's going on with our ballflight. Leaving shots out to the right? Hit your next shot and hold your finish and pay attention to where your belt or navel are pointing. Chances are it's pointing right in the general direction where your ball landed. If you have your belt pointing to the right (if right-handed or left for a left-handed golfer) chances are you slid (lateral shift) and you never cleared your hips. Keep this in mind.

Note: If your belt is pointing right and you hit a hook you have to know that you either lost connection, spun out of the shot or had a cast at the top.

Hope this helps.

Until The Next Tee

Fundamentals

Too often I've seen it or talked to golfers about their swing issues. Yesterday, while in a practice session I was working next to a 23 year-old athletic type that also works with my coach. He's a relatively new golfer but I think that he could be a terrific golfer. Unlike me, he's young and is not cursed with "T-Rex arms" but the struggle was definitely real yesterday. Thins and fats aplenty were his demise. Misses that I have struggled with at times as well. I was asked by my coach to keep an eye on him to make sure that he was getting enough down turn on the way back. His shoulder turn was definitely sufficient and for the most part he was staying "centered" throughout the swing and through the ball. So I'm watching him and then I saw something that I've struggled with until I really targeted the issue late this summer.

All too often golfers get caught up in trying to solve a miss that they're encountering, but they actually don't know what the real reason for the miss is. So they start searching for a fix, whether it's through watching Youtube or reading a golf publication. Suddenly, they are just inundated and develop "paralysis by analysis" often making things worse because they are looking for an issue that's far too grandiose. Frustration on most occasions sets in.

Always remember to check out your fundamentals. Fundamentals like grip, posture and ball position are three key fundamentals that if not paid attention to can most likely be the root cause of the miss. It's very easy to become complacent and not even think about them. In Brandon's case yesterday it was the grip. I noticed his grip in his top hand and he was very much in the palm. This issue causes a few things which really is a "Domino Effect".

1. Tightness of the hands creating a lack of wrist hinge
2. The same tightness makes you pull the club back with your hands as opposed to turning back with your shoulder.
3. Because you have pulled back with your hands, you now have made a bad situation worse by now introducing a "lateral shift" pulling you off of the ball.
4. Your brain and body react and now your shifting back towards the ball in an effort to compensate.
5. Now at the point of impact you either "flip" the club head as your bottom hand takes over causing a thin hit or more likely you hit it fat as your body is clearly on the "downrange" side of the ball.
6. You finish... not in balance.

Just think... all of this because of one fundamental being a little bit off. Golf is a constant reminder of "Newton's First Law of Physics"... For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Remember golf is supposed to be fun and you can only have that if you have your... FUNdamentals.

Until the next tee.

A "68"

As I sit here reflecting on life in general... and of course golf I can't help but think that playing golf again is a lifetime away. At the moment, the temperature here is -20*C or with the exchange rate for my American friends and readers -4. Now that I think about it hmmm a "68"... Nice score!!! (see I told you that I was thinking about golf). So what is someone like me to do on a day like this?

I think that one option is quite obvious seeing that I'm writing this article as my Labrador "Muskoka" is uncontrollably whining after getting a scent and "the call of the wild". It's a day that sees me not heading to a dome to work on things and as much as I should go to the gym to workout I am choosing not to take part in that endeavour either partially because I need a rest. So what I will do today on a day that is neither fit for human nor beast?

Short game... I will work on my short game. As important as our full swings are, the short game is the money maker. Yes, we need to put the ball in play but when we're missing our targets we need the short game to be...as the cool kids say nowadays "on fleek". Truth be told, I cannot believe that I just worked that into one of my entries. I know that I have written on this topic before on my website (alexandertothgolf.com) and there is no doubt that it is an important topic. My point today however, is that no matter what... there's always a will and a way to work on this aspect of our games.

I am currently in the middle of testing a SeeMore Putters Corona Del Mar that I seem to be rolling better than anything I have rolled before. To do this mid-winter I am using a Big Moss Augusta Putting Green (review posted click on link below) that I was very fortunate to have tested and not only did it test well... it became an integral part of my practice regimen. They roll as true as a green... a well conditioned green. If you don't have one... look them up or roll putts on your carpet or alternative type of mat. They key is that you're putting time into your... putting. (see what I did there?). While you're at it... grab a wedge and spend time working on your chipping too...you'll thank yourself for it. If you have an impact bag (which I do not) work on your wrist angles going into the ball. You can do this also by gentling going into something firm (a pillow or a piece of wood or bottom of your sofa)  making sure that you're club does not get past your hands through impact. Don't be "flipping out".

Basically, the moral of the story is just don't sit on your "collective keesters" today or tomorrow. Even if you're housebound in -20* weather doing some "California Dreamin'" while watching the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am take some time during commercials and practice. Who knows... maybe you'll shoot a "68".

Until the next tee.

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