Golf Addiction Blog

I was way off

Until I read this month’s Golf Digest, I presumed my shoulders needed to swing on a flat plane (parallel to the ground) to achieve a flat, inside-out swing arc.  I’ve been working on this recently, but my swing hasn’t improved.  Today, I learned Matt Kuchar greatly improved his consistency when he steepened his shoulder angle.

Being stubborn (what does a PGA pro know that I don’t!), I cross-checked this idea with Ben Hogan’s 5 Lessons.  Sure enough, Hogan’s plane of glass visualization requires a sizable shoulder angle to imitate.

To stay on plane, the shoulders have to dip at nearly the same angle as the plane itself.  The plane of a short golfer is about 45 degrees, which is quite a bit more shoulder angle than “flat.”  Hogan advises a steeper plane for taller golfers, which further increases the shoulder angle.

One tip can never completely fix a golf swing, but replacing something universally wrong is a good start.  Physically, It’s been very difficult to keep my shoulders level when the club goes up and down.  I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore.

What’s par on this hole?

The guy I played with hit his first two shots a total of 40 yards.  As he approached his third, he asks me “What’s par on this hole?”  What’s the difference to you, guy?

Turns out he wasn’t a terrible golfer, but that had me smiling.

Hands ahead of club

Two weeks ago, I worked on my short game at the range and pitch and putt.  For short shots, I focused on to taking a shorter backswing, accelerating through impact, and keeping my hands in front of the clubhead at all times.  I learned these tips from a pro at Golf Manhattan, and they are echoed in Phil Mickelson’s DVD.  The practice paid off the next day when I firmly broke 90.

I didn’t get to play last weekend, which breaks a streak I had going since February.  Guess I’ll have to make up for it this weekend.  I’m hoping we get some rain so the course will be less crowded.  :-)

Like a baseball swing

Last time on the course, I hit some amazing shots when I concentrated on my hip turn.  Today, I went to the range intending to ingrain such a hip turn.  My secondary goal (as usual) was to flatten my swing arc.

As I was nearing the end of my session, I was still a bit out of sync.  I was working on my two keys when suddenly it hit me: a baseball swing is flat, and power comes from the hips and lower body.  My swing thought became “swing like a baseball bat” and I started hitting straight and long.

I was never any good as baseball, but channeling my rudimentary baseball swing may be the key to improving my golf swing.  One principle of a good golf swing is starting the downswing with the lower body.  A baseball swing intuitively starts with the lower body.  And it would be impossible to duplicate my steep, outside-in swing path with a baseball bat, unless I was bunting down the third base line.

A note of caution: I’ve never claimed to be a teacher, but I certainly would not recommend a “baseball swing” swing thought to someone just starting out.  This would undoubtedly lead to disasters like whiffing and topping.

Is it the shoes?!

I’ve past the tipping point of wanting something badly enough and am about to place my order for TRUE shoes.  They are spike-less, ultra-lightweight and supposedly crazy comfortable.  For some reason, this excites me greatly and I’m about to shell out more money than I’ve spent on golf shoes in my lifetime combined.

Driver mishits: solved

Starting the middle of last year, I’ve occasionally been hitting annoying, short, rolling drives.  They sound ok coming off the club, but die quickly and roll 100 yards (if I’m lucky).

What became obviously today is I’ve been hitting the ball off the bottom of the clubface.  This part the of the face, about an inch below the sweet spot, is dead.

The solution?  Tee the ball higher.  Seems obvious now, but it took me half a year and 16 holes to figure it out.  With the ball teed properly, I crushed my last two drives.

Golf Digest Tip: Stay grounded

In this month’s Golf Digest, one tip that stood out to me was using the ground for power.  Throughout the swing, amateurs tend to reduce their ground force, whereas pros increase it.  If they were standing on a scale, the pro’s weight would increase throughout the swing while the amateur’s would decrease.

I guess this is what people mean by “coming out of their swing” (a close cousin to lifting one’s head up).  Instead of staying down, they lift off with either their feet or upper body.  Not only does this make it impossible to properly hit down on the golf ball, but it saps any power they might have had.  Maintaining ground pressure throughout the swing seems like a great swing thought.

Mixed emotions

My excitement over the impending golf season was abruptly curtailed today with thoughts of 7 hour rounds.  I was looking for courses to play on Long Island, as those in Brooklyn and Queens are crowded and poorly maintained.  Unfortunately, the few I found within an hour’s drive are just as crowded and poorly maintained as those in New York City.  It seems I’m going to have to get a little creative this year to avoid the crowds.

Even par?

I took advantage of President’s Day by playing a round of golf - virtually of course at Golf Manhattan.  The simulator is a lot of fun and very worthwhile during the winter.

I should be encouraged that I finished even par after 12 holes.  However, there’s no way I would have actually finished even par on a real course.

1. At least three of my shots were wicked slices.  I’ve hit enough slices to know that the result on the simulator wasn’t nearly as wicked as it would have been in real life.
2. Anything inside nine feet on the simulator is a gimme.  My putting was surprisingly good, but I’ve seen pros miss plenty of nine footers and I’m sure I would have too.
3. There no bad lies.  One of my drives landed in what looked like pretty thick grass on the side of a hill.  It would have been impossible to advance the ball more than 100 yards out of this, if I could even find it.  But in the virtual world, a well hit 6 iron put me on the green in two.

Despite these shortcomings of the simulator, even par is pretty good.  Perhaps my game hasn’t dropped off as much as I thought it would in the off-season.  Hopefully with some practice in the next few weeks I’ll be ready to go when the snow melts and the courses open.

It might be time for a lesson

I went to the range yesterday with specific things to focus on.  A few poor shots later, I made some adjustments started hitting better shots.  Shortly thereafter, I decided something else was wrong and tried to fix that.  And so it went until my large bucket was empty and I left the range confused and unimproved.

I haven’t played since November so I shouldn’t be surprised by erratic results.  Still, it might be time for a pro to tell me what I actually need to work on, rather than change things around every five swings.

Does that say 50 degrees?

Yes, it does appear the weather will inch into the 50s later this week.  A much welcomed trip to the range seems imminent during lunch hour.