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Richard’s Quick Tip:
Practice Your Game
Correct hip action is very important. A lot of golfers tend to
slide the hips back then forwards, rather than rotate them. This
has several undersirable effects. First of all, in the
backswing, it pushes your weight on to the outside of your back
foot. This can play havoc with your balance and severely reduce
your chances of making solid contact. Secondly, it makes it more
difficult to achieve a full shoulder turn and the swing becomes a
lateral movement sideways rather than a turn and coil. This
loses you a lot of power. Third, your head inevitably moves
backwards too. Your head should ideally be pretty still, and
inch or two’s movement to the right is okay to encourage the
shift of weight on the back foot. Any more is potentially
dangerous. If then you slide forwards your head gets ahead of
the ball before you make contact. This too loses you power and
is likely to result in a block that goes straight right.
These are some of the techniques Sensei Mark uses in the Body
Golf Full Swing video.
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Quote of the Week:
"It is not the straining for great things that is most effective;
it is the doing of the little things, the common duties, a little
better and better."
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
1844-1911, Writer
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Golf quote of the week:
One minute you're bleeding. The next minute you're
hemorrhaging. The next minute you're painting the Mona Lisa.
Mac O'Grady, describing a typical round of golf
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Questions and Answers by Teaching Pro Mr Joe DeLorenzo THANK YOU
for taking your time to answer these Joe.
Joe is also available for private lessons. "For private or group
lessons in Chicago's northwest suburbs, contact Joe at
golfwithjoey@yahoo.com
A Bit of Golf Trivia
For golfers who have established official handicaps, is the
average handicap index over or under 18? (answer below)
Joe,
First, congrats to Richard on the best golf website I have ever
seen!!! Three years ago my handicap was 17 now it is 31! I simply can not
resist looking up and hitting from the top. I go to the driving range
and my swing is fine but I can not take it to the course. After fifty five
years of golf maybe its time to give it up. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Best regards, Bob Schuessler
Hello Bob,
Hitting from the top and looking up are both related to a
"reverse pivot" which results in your weight ending up on the wrong
foot. The
Body Golf videos have some excellent drills that will surely correct this,
like the toe drag drill and step-thru drill, both of which will assure
that you finish with all your weight on the front foot. Once you can do
that, it will be easier to keep looking at the ball spot after contact. Also,
you must realize that on the range there is no pressure while on the
course the fear of a bad shot will make your muscles behave differently. On the
range you are swinging every few seconds so it is easy to get into a good
rhythm, while on the course you are only swinging once every several
minutes, so be sure to take a few practice swings before every shot. Don't give
up, just swing easy and make good contact on every shot. Even if you bogey
every hole, that alone will get you back to your original handicap.
Best of luck.
Joe
Joe,
Just thought I would write to with regard to your answer to
Andrea regarding where rakes are to be left, in or outside the bunkers. If you
check the Rules of Golf Decisions book Rule 34 Misc/2 you will see that it
is recommended that the rakes be left outside the bunkers. The
decision is further expanded to explain the reasoning for the decision.
Lou Spado
Hello Lou,
Good catch, thanks for keeping me on my toes. The operative word
is "recommended", so it is not mandatory. It might be interesting to
take a count of how many courses prefer to leave the rakes in the bunker
against how many courses prefer to leave the rakes outside the bunker,and
let me know who wins. Most of the courses in my area have the rakes in
the traps to make it easier for the guys who have to mow the grass.
Joe
Joe, I play almost 5 days a week at our local country club, it is
right across the field from my farm here on the Upper Shore of Maryland,
anyway, when I take a practice swing I also get a divot. I was told by an
instructor as well as some golf magazines, that a practice divot is a good
indication of whether your club face is square and if you are on line to your
chosen target. I personally get the satisfaction of knowing that I am
making a good swing. What is the proper practice routine, pros, am's hackers.
I
was admonished by a semi-regular playing partner, it really bothered
me to be criticized about practice divots during the round, that is why I
am writing you now. Much thanks for whatever answer you give.
Ron Jordan
Eastern Shore Maryland
Hello Ron,
The range is a better place to take practice divots, not the
course. If everyone took a practice divot for every shot, and then another
divot for the real shot, the course would be pretty hacked up. Watch the
pros on TV, they do not take divots on their practice swings. A divot can
show you the swing path, but it cannot show you whether or not the face of the
club was square to the ball at contact. Sometimes you can mis-read the
divot. On a well-struck shot that goes straight at the target, the divot
might point a little left of the target (for a right handed player) because the
club, after striking the ball, is curving inside by the time it reaches
the ground. Another way to look at a divot is to see if it is deeper
near the toe end, if so, your lie angles may be too flat and that may lead
to a push or a slice.
Joe
Joe,
I would like to know your thoughts on what set of tees to use. I
am a 70 y/o novice (h/c25) with distance problems. Was informed that you
should hit from shorter tee box on long par 4's if you are a senior or have
a high handicap. Appreciate your response. Thanks
Norman Kuzel
Hello Norman,
If you are playing against others, then use the same tees they
use. If you are not in competition and you just want to shoot the lowest
possible scores, then by all means use the forward tees. If you do not
care so much about scores, and you would rather get your money's worth of golf
shots, then play the back tees. It all depends on what your goals are.
Any long par 4 will play like a par 5 for everyone except the longest hitters,
so if it is important to you to have a chance for a par 4, then go ahead
and move up, especially if it is against the wind.
Joe
Question for the Evil Twin:
Jody, what is your favorite exercise?
Answer: I follow the Zig Ziglar method, after you take a bath,
pull the plug and fight the current.
Answer to the trivia question (above): The average handicap index
is 17.3
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Outmoded Traditions and Rules
by
Mac Stevenson
Any change that speeds up play without adversely affecting
anyone’s game should be implemented immediately. Golf’s greatest
enemy is slow play.
One of the oldest traditions that should go by the wayside is the
honors system on the tee. Whoever gets there first and is ready
to tee off should do so. The only exception to this is serious
tournament play when the player who makes the low score on a
previous hole tees off first; she has the honor.
Another way to speed up play is to go ahead and hit from the
fairway when you‘re ready and your companions are delayed,
whether you’re out or not. This is just common sense. If your
fellow players are looking for a ball in the rough 30 yards from
you and you’re ready to hit, proceed. Don’t walk across the
fairway to help them find a lost ball and then have to walk back
to your ball and hit it. Use some common sense.
How many times have you hit your tee ball right down the middle
and found--to your utter dismay--that your ball had come to rest
in an old divot, leaving you with no shot.
Admittedly, this doesn’t happen often, but you shouldn’t have to
play your ball as it lies when you end up in a fairway divot.
Just because this rule is as old as the hills doesn’t make it
right.
Occasionally you’re going to end up in a huge gash of a divot
that really leaves you with nothing more than the option to chip
it out. That’s not fair when you’ve hit a good drive down the
middle. And the rebuttal that life isn’t fair doesn’t stand up.
Like so many things, the issue isn’t as clear-cut as it might
seem. The question that begs to be answered is: Who is going to
decide whether or not the ball is in an old divot or just a low
place in the fairway? In amateur golf, the player’s opponents
should make the judgment. If the guys you’re playing with agree
that the ball is in an old divot, you should get a free drop of
one club length no closer to the hole.
Now, if you encounter this situation in the rough, that’s just
too bad. Any problems are deserved if you hit it off the fairway
and you’re not entitled to any kind of relief.
Golf course superintendents could do their part by marking the
spots where some inconsiderate cluck has left a huge divot in the
fairway. Deep divots take a long time to heal and the replacement
sod often gets caught in the mowers and torn out, leaving a
handicap right in the middle of the fairway. If those fairway
divots were marked as ground-under-repair, there would be no
question that a free drop should be allowed.
The officials who are in charge of the rules of golf are by
nature a bit on the stodgy side to begin with, and when they
become completely inflexible and show a lack of common sense,
it‘s time for a change. Just because a rule has been on the books
for over a century is no justification to keep it as is. Golfers
shouldn’t have to hit out of unrepaired fairway divots.
The present USGA Handicap System is based on what the people in
charge refer to as your “potential”. It’s too complicated and it
doesn’t reflect what your true handicap should be.
Under the present system, your worst scores are thrown out and
only your good scores are recorded. That’s just stupid. Every
stroke and every round should be posted and averaged over a
period of time. The stipulation that you can’t record more than a
double bogey on a hole is just ridiculous. If you have a horrible
hole, it should count.
If you have a handicap of 10 on a par 70 golf course, that should
mean that your average score over a period of time is 80. The
USGA has made it so complicated that trying to read their manual
is like trying to read the fine print in an insurance policy. It
would be to everyone’s benefit if the present system were junked
and replaced by a simplified and fairer system.
There’s nothing so permanent as change, and golfing rules and
traditions should be under constant scrutiny.
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Richard’s Thoughts
Your Golfing Mental Game
Many golfers make the mistake of treating golf as a purely
physical game. Nothing could be further from the truth.
While the main functions of making a shot might be physical in
nature, the end result depends on what thought has gone into
playing it.
Consider a simple chip shot from just off the green. It is
relatively easy to practice the mechanics of the shot to obtain
consistency of swing and accuracy in where you land the ball.
The problem arises when you actually have to do the shot onto an
actual green not the same practice green you have been using for
two years. All of a sudden you are looking at a different
picture with a lighting fast slope that is undulating and perhaps
even taking an over hit pitch into a lake or bunker. Now it is
about where you land the shot and how much it will roll or turn
and not necessarily how far you pitch it.
Picturing the actual shot; the ball landing, jumping up,
spinning, rolling forward, taking a curve etc is not easy to
master. It needs skill, imagination and most of all the patience
to actually stop and think about what is going to happen after
you hit the ball.
The mental approach to a shot is never better observed than when
a golfer faces a hazard. How many times have you hit a six or
seven iron unerringly towards the marker on a practice ground
with never a moments thought. Stand on a tee with a small lake
or pond between you and the green and you just know you are going
to top the shot and go for a swim. Even worse is when the pond
or lake if to the right or left of the fairway ... here comes the
hook or the slice.
The question you have to ask is why do I suddenly hook or slice
on this particular hole when I have been playing straight down
the middle for the rest of the round.
Normally the answer lies in your frame of mind when you are about
to play the shot. If you do not adopt a positive approach and
picture a successful conclusion to the shot then it is nearly
certain that tenseness and stress will creep in to your swing.
Picture a positive outcome (really picture the shot that you want
to see) and you are more likely to relax and play a good shot.
Not only are you picturing a positive outcome but you are putting
yourself into a positive frame of mind.
THINK ABOUT IT....IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT BEFORE THE SHOT AND YOU
KNOW IT MAKES SENSE.
The mental game is very important in golf.
Until next week…good golfing!
Dr Richard Myers
www.thinkandreachpar.com
www.superbabysitting.com
864.675.0038
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