December |
January |
Febuary |
April 2005 |
December
The Dreaded Shank
with a shanked shot, the ball is hit from the hosel instead of the clubface. For that to happen, the club head must be further away from your body at impact than at address. This caused by throwing the club head away from the your body at the start of your downswing, so that it swings through the hitting zone on an out to in path...
To Fix This Problem:
Curing the shank relies on eliminating the destructive path of attack into impact. Place a head cover or an empty ball-box just behind the ball, 3 inches outside the target line. Then hit a shot with a short iron. The obstruction makes it necessary for you to swing the club toward the ball on the correct
path, leading to solid contact between the center of the clubface and the ball. If the old swing fault reappears, the club will hit the obstacle before it reaches the ball.
January
Heavy or Fat Chips
Heavy contact is the result of trying to help the ball into the air rather than letting the loft on the clubface do the work. Employing a scooping action causes the club head to pass the hands prior to impact and to strike the ground before the ball- hence a fat chip.
Generally a divot is taken behind the ball although this will not be the case if the ground is hard. To fix this problem keep your hands in front of the club head into and through impact. To do this, as you start your downswing maintain the angle in your wrist it should remain constant through the hitting zone. The bottom of the swing arc should now coincide with the ball producing a clean strike and the smallest of divots after impact.
Febuary
STRIKE AND HOLD DRILL FOR PUTTING
DRILL:
1)Strike a 10 foot putt and hold your follow through position.
2)Follow the putt only by rotating your head and eyes.
3)Hold your shoulders parallel to your line and just follow the ball with your eyes until it comes to rest.
RESULT:
This teaches you three important things:
1)It will keep your body still avoiding excess body movement that can be disastrous in putting.
2)It will keep your body parallel to the line of the putt.
3)It will also help you get good optical feedback by following the ball all the way to the finish with your eyes in the proper position.
April 2005
ELIMINATING SLICE DRILL
REVERSE THE ROLES FOR SLICERS.
MOST SLICERS DO NOT USE ENOUGH TURN IN THE BACKSWING AND TO MUCH IN THE DOWN SWING. WHEN THE UPPER BODY DOES NOT RELEASE AND THE LOWER BODY TURNS, TOO QUICKLY YOU CREATE AN OUT TO INSIDE SWING CREATING SLICE.
TRY THIS DRILL
GET INTO A SLIGHTLY CLOSED STANCE (LEFT FOOT IN FRONT OF THE RIGHT FOOT) AND MAKE SOME SWINGS WITH A 5 IRON GOING HALF WAY BACK. SWING THRU HOLDING YOUR FINISH. WHAT YOU SHOULD FEEL IS THAT YOUR ARMS ARE GETTING OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR BODY ALLOWING YOU TO RELEASE THE CLUB. WORK THIS WITH YOUR IRONS FOR A WHILE UNTIL YOU START HITTING SOME SLIGHT DRAWS, THEN GO TO THE BIG STICK AND LET IT GO.
