Remember the Basics.

I have a German colleague and mentor, who is probably one of the smartest people in the world. Over the past few years his research has involved golf and in particular the study of the motion of putting. A year or so ago I asked him after all of the study and work had he discovered a secret to playing golf. He said that he had. I was in great anticipation of some remarkable insight when he shared that the secret was, and I quote, “To get out of your own way”. I went on to thank him and suggest that was no great insight and I could have figured that out for myself. His reply was brilliant, “So why don’t you use it?” So in honor of my friend, here are some tips to help you get out of your own way.

Find the bottom of your swing. The most important fundamental in golf is positioning your body so that the ball is at the apex of the arc of your swing. This is more easily achieved if you will use the club to tell you where to stand rather than placing your feet first and searching for the ball. Remember when preparing to make a shot, the sequence is club to the ball first, and feet last. Not feet first and twist your upper body to position the club. This seems like a simple tip and it is something that every accomplished player understands, but, even with this knowledge, most of us will revert back to our feet first habit.
Swing the club, instead of trying to hit the ball. Since most of us don’t have the ball in the correct position when we swing, we have learned to try and hit at the ball rather than swing the club and let the ball get in the way. Most struggling players come to a stop at the ball rather than swinging the club all the way to the finish. This slows you down at impact and the effort to steer the club often puts the club in a twisted position at impact, causing directional problems even if we do get the club on the ball. End result – short and crooked.

So now you have been reminded of the two most important fundamentals. What do you do with them? This is the getting out of your own way part. The next time you play or practice, try this. 1. Set the club behind the ball and point the face at the target. 2. While you are looking at the clubface and without moving the club, take your stance so your body is perpendicular to the face. 3. Make a full swing! No hit, no try, no what ifs, just swing. Don’t judge the results, just keep doing the same thing. The results might shock you.

Driver Fits

One of the most popular services we offer at the United States Golf Academy is a 30 minute session on how to find the correct settings for your new adjustable driver. We think that the invention of the adjustable shaft for drivers could be one of the most beneficial technological advancements we have seen. Unfortunately, like all good things it depends on how you utilize it.

The most common problem we see is a player that slices the ball off the tee. When you use technology to solve the slice you limit your ability to get better. Why? Golf is a side on game and the spin of a draw golf shot best matches the rotation of the swing and golf club. In other words the best golf swings produce a right to left ball flight for right handed players and the opposite for lefthanders. All good players can draw a golf ball, although they may chose not to, while poorer players often play a fade or slice because that is all they have. So as an example of a techno fix, you buy a driver with a draw bias, or an adjustable driver set to a closed position, to correct the slice. Then you come to one of our schools to improve your swing. Unfortunately, our job is now to teach you to hit the ball left with your new driver, because your best golf swing when using a draw bias or closed face driver, should hit the ball left. That is what the driver is built to do! It is a tough assignment because as we see an improvement in your swing, you see the results of a ball out of bounds left. You think we have lost our minds because we are encouraging a swing technique that produced poor results. Because we are all result oriented, you fall back to a swing that steers the ball into the fairway sacrificing the speed and potential distance you could utilize with the better swing.

The advantage of an adjustable driver is that it allows us to improve your golf swing and enjoy good results, without having to buy a new driver every time we see some progress. We start with an adjustment that gives you the best results for that day. If it is a bias for a draw, good! Keep working on your swing to hit a bigger draw. When the ball flight is out of control adjust the driver to a new setting that has less bias. Don’t stop there. Keep going! You will know you have gone too far when you can’t hit anything but a low push or fade. We call this technique “bending the left out of the shot” and what you will see is an increase in distance every time you can make an adjustment away from a draw bias.

Major Grooves

The Masters Tournament begins this week and because of its status as a major tournament and tradition it is always a very significant golf event. For me, this year’s event is more important than ever and not for the reasons you might think. This will be the first major tournament held where the players will be required to play wedges without the benefit of the high spin grooves. The new wedge regulations have been the topic of debate at the United States Golf Academy since the rule was announced. How much impact will the change have on professional players? So far the results on tour have been mixed, with some examples of miss played shots around the green, and wedges shots that fly unpredictable distances due to the lack of spin, but the Tour players have not yet played conditions like they will face at Augusta.

While it is not something the everyday player gets to experience, there is no question that playing in major golf events has been easier because of the increased spin created by the modern milled grooves. The penalty for hitting a tee shot in the rough is lessened because the high spin grooves allow the players to have more control out of longer grass. But maybe more important is the difference in the control a tour level player has when playing green side shots. Over the past few years I have seen hundreds of shots from around the greens at the Masters that would not be possible without the help of the golf club. The speed and firmness of the greens combined with the reduction of spin will make for some very difficult up and downs. Even if it is subtle, a couple of feet here or there can really make a difference when you play a golf course with greens like Augusta. Five feet is a lot tougher than three. Next week we will discuss the effect of spin on the everyday player’s wedge shots from the rough and around the green. So your home work for this week is to watch some of the tournament to have a better understanding of the pros and cons of spin groove wedges.

Another reason I think the tournament will be important is a sentimental one. This year is the first that two of the game’s greatest players and gentlemen will be the official starters of the event. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus together again and even if it is only for one swing, it will do the game a lot of good to see them together. These are two guys who professionally always judged their actions on what was best for the game, rather than what was best for them. As a former employee of Arnold, I know of a couple of instances where he walked away from some very lucrative opportunities simply because he felt they were not in the best interests of the game and I know Jack did the same. I hope seeing the two of them together will remind the fans how great the game can be. Maybe this is a tall order for just one swing, but I think these guys are up to it.

Women’s Golf Academy

It is not going to shock anyone to learn that we live in a world heavily influenced by advances in technology. This is certainly no surprise to those who have followed the new discoveries and game altering changes realized by the game of golf over the past 15 years. Of course, most obvious to the everyday player has been how technological advances in golf equipment have stretched the physical boundaries of the game. But it is technology used behind the scenes, and the data that can be collected analyzing how a golf ball reacts when struck with a golf club, that will truly revolutionize the game.

The United States Golf Academy was one of the first golf schools to make the investment in the diagnostic equipment available to study a golf ball in flight. After thorough research the Academy purchased two Trackman Pro ball flight monitors. This “radar based” technology tracks and measures every parameter that influences a golf ball in flight with amazing accuracy. Trackman is considered the industry standard in obtaining ball flight measurements and this information combined with legislated limitations on golf equipment provides a clear understanding of the distance a ball can fly when a particular golf club is moving at a certain speed. For example, if a driver is moving at 75 mph at impact the best one should expect the ball to carry is around 165 yards. At 90 miles per hour the carry increases to around 215. Using these base statistics allows us for the first time to measure the efficiency of method, equipment and most important the combination of the two.

While the original goal of the Academy was to use the measurements as a guide to fit and test golf equipment, they were surprised by the additional discoveries the data provided. The process began by comparing different swing techniques to the ball flight information. The swing methods were grouped by considering two parameters, swing plane and club head rotation. In other words, how does the direction the club approaches the golf ball and the amount the clubface opens and closes while it is in motion, affect the speed and spin the ball has in flight. As the Academy analyzed the ball flight data from their Trackman Pro ball flight monitors and compared to the video tape of the swings, one thing became apparent very quickly. Depending on a players needs, certain combinations of technique and equipment were much more effective than others. Nowhere was this more noticeable than when evaluating women’s golf swings using standardized women’s golf equipment. Based on these studies the United States Golf Academy has recently made a strategic decision to offer the United States Golf Academy for Women. This was not a decision that was made lightly, but as the studies continued the need for a different strategy for the women’s game became obvious. The Academy could no longer take methods and techniques created with a man’s game in mind and try to apply them to women and will release their findings at the Academy for Women beginning with the 2010 golf season.

Line up the Logo: Help or Hindrance?

It is very popular on the professional golf tours for players to use the logo on the ball to help them line up putts. Most enhance the logo by using a marker to darken the line. Tiger Woods has used an enhanced line on the ball to help his alignment for as long as I have watched him play. I am sure his success using a line is the main reason it is so popular with the other players on the tour. Regardless of the popularity, we have measured over 5000 putts this season alone at the United States Golf Academy and have very clear evidence that using a logo as an alignment aid is not for everyone.

The first problem is that the player has to get the line down accurately. Any line, either on the ball or on the putter, is a reference to the target. If the reference is inaccurate, you place yourself in a situation where a good stroke rolls the ball in the wrong direction. The confusion this causes and the subsequent efforts to compensate can ruin a good putting stroke.
The second problem we see is the difference in perception between sighting the line from behind the ball and the way the line appears when you stand to the side preparing to make the stroke. The line often looks like it is pointed in the wrong direction as you stand to the side. The player has to remember that you don’t see as accurately side-on as you do looking down the line. You have to trust the line even if it doesn’t look right. Once that reference is in position, that line becomes the directional target, and where you think the target is no longer matters. This is easier said than done.

Finally, there is a problem that will probably surprise you. Players that have a straight line as a visual reference on their putter often have a difficult time matching the line on the putter to the line on the ball. The putter is pointed in one direction, while the line on the ball is pointed in another. This is a recipe for disaster and is very common. In fact, it is so common that we have coined the phrase “visual interference” to describe it.

Our recommendation for a line on the ball is to give it a try, but don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work for you. You are not alone.

Late Season Tip

A frequent customer of the Academy stopped in this week. As we were chatting, he made the comment I hear far too often. “I am getting ready to put the clubs away for the season”, he said. This was not some great revelation; I hear similar comments every day. But some reason, hearing it from him struck a nerve. This person had put serious time and effort into getting his game to another level this season. He had made an equipment change, and worked very hard on developing a routine and some consistency in his swing. He analyzed his putting stroke and developed a method that was best for him, and not a copy of a method that worked for someone else. To sum it up, he had made himself a better player, and had a plan to become a greater player than he ever imagined he could be at the beginning of the summer. When I questioned his logic of putting the clubs away, his response was, “Winter is coming, whether you like it or not. What else can I do?”

Don’t put the clubs away. At least keep them where you can pick one up and pretend you’re playing golf. Now is the time to break some bad habits, most of which are not found in your golf swing, but in your preparation to swing the club. So, every once in a while, as you walk through the garage, practice your routine. Take a club and pretend you are going to hit a ball at a spot on the wall. If you can do this on a tile floor that can show you parallel lines, even better. Go through the motions of preparing to hit a shot, even to the point of starting your backswing (take it away slowly). Remember to work from the ball back. Aim the club first, then check your grip, align your shoulder s, and finally, take your stance and set your feet. I cannot stress enough the idea of placing your feet after everything else is lined up. If you can break the habit of planting your feet first and twisting into position, you will eliminate a number of problems. For example, the problem of where the ball is positioned in your stance is solved because if you set up in the proper sequence, the golf club will tell you the appropriate place to stand. If you can make your pre-shot routine a habit this winter, I promise a fast start next spring.

Happy Birthday to the King

If you follow the golf world at all, you are probably aware that Arnold Palmer turned 80 years young on September 10th. As hard as it is for me to believe he is 80, it is harder still for me to believe it was 28 years ago this summer that I went to work for him at Bay Hill. When a guest of the United States Golf Academy sees some of the pictures on my office wall of the two of us, their first question is always the same: “What was it like working for him?” So as an answer to that question and my way of a birthday tribute to him, I thought I would share a couple of personal stories.

Mondays were practice days for Arnold and my day off. I knew if he was home, I could expect a phone call at around 9:30a.m., asking what my plans were for the day. In all my years of working for him, I never missed a practice day, but he always called and he always asked, just like every time was the first time. He never assumed or took anything for granted. So we would spend Mondays together. He would hit a few and then ask what I thought. If I offered some advice, his reply was always the same: “Why?” It took me awhile to realize that it was his way of teaching me. If I offered a thought on what he was working on, I had better be prepared to explain myself. Even today, when I give a lesson, I am always sure to know why I am offering the advice. So I share that advice with you. Never try something new with your swing without a clear and sensible reason why, and if the source of the advice can’t answer the question, don’t try it.

Those who know me well have been subjected to hundreds of Arnold stories. But my favorite is one that is very recent. As part of his birthday celebration, the Pittsburgh Pirates had Mr. Palmer throw out the first pitch at a recent game. I saw him on television and so I called his office the next day to leave him a birthday message and congratulate him on looking good on the throw. His secretary Gina accepted the congratulations for him, and shared that he had been practicing on making a good pitch for a couple of months. At 80 years old and with all his accomplishments, the King is still working to make his best effort, and for those paying attention, still teaching.