Rhythm is a Hacker

If hips rotate faster than hands,
I will send the ball to the right pushing the shot.
If hands swing down faster than hips,
I will send the ball to the left producing a pull shot.

It is the swing tempo that is to blame,
Why am I busy checking my grip, spine angle and stance?
Swing rhythm is a real hacker,
It creeps in whilst I am golfing tired and asleep.

Learning from Pain

I love practicing in the winter season. Love it because the driving range that I go to provides discount on balls. For the regular "Eagle" size basket, I could get "Albatross" size during the winter season for the same amount of money.

That is a whoopy 250 balls at one shot. For a weekend golfer like me, this is a lot of practice balls. If I pre-swing averagely one swing per ball, I will easily swing 500 times during that practicing period. Swinging these many times only lead me to one result: Extreme exhaustion and muscle pain all over.

Muscle pain has become a routine that I live by on most weekends. Depending on what I am working on, I will get pain from different areas. Of course, this includes pain in areas that is not suppose to be but caused by improper golf swings. I have learned to notice that it is such a good indicator to inform myself if I have done something correctly intended or something wrong unconsciously. For instance, if I am working on spine angle for the first time, I will feel tremendous pain at the lower back afterwards. If I am working on the weight transfer, I will feel pain from the knee areas.

After some time of pain torturing every week, I start questioning what is the point of punishing myself with consistent pain and no immediate result? I was asking this until I read Tiger's thoughts in Golf Digest today: "My whole idea is I will outwork you, so that in the end, I will be better than you." It is then I get to realize the truth behind "No Pain, No Gain." I need to out-pain myself, so in the end, I will be better than myself yesterday.

This is really a painful lesson, literally.

Struggling Waist

"I had paid attention to everything that I knew, I was swinging fine and hitting good shots, what is going on now?!" Golf likes to throws puzzle at me from time to time, out of the blue.

I was swinging and hitting ball badly, disappointed and disturbed. All a sudden a sensation of muscle spasms from lower back snapped me. On other days, I would have not noticed what the difference was, but on that particular moment, doing the painful practice repeatedly had put a lot of strain on the muscle group and it alerted me. I realized then I had a problem of stretching the lower back muscle properly. Even though I cautiously trying to maintain my spine angle and hips rotation, a discomfort lower back muscles had forced me to think I was doing the right movements which were actually improper.

Golf is interesting; it helps me to understand a lot about body movements which I never knew before. What I noticed then was that like any rubber bands, stored energy in muscle group is lost when it is over stretched. How did I know I sprain too much on the lower back muscle? I tried a simple torso rotation; I could not do it smoothly without consciously controlling my upper shoulder turns. This consciousness confused the swing rhythm of my body and hand synchronization. As a result I was not able to maintain a constant spine angle, even though I thought I did and rotated clumsily even though I thought I didn’t.

I have heard over stretching limbs and over swinging turns, perhaps I should add this new vocabulary of over stretching lower back to my little-white-ball’s dictionary.

Putting Speed

The interesting thing in golfing is the shorter the club length goes, the more it demands sensitivity in the golfer’s touch. When it comes to putting, sensitivity of the speed is the ultimate factor.

Just the other day, all the putts that I tried to make, I continuously lipping them out of the hole, the ball just refuse to drop in. It followed the right path, the right line, but it would circle around the edge of the 3 inches hole and roll out in the direction where I least desired it to go. I figure it did not drop into the hole for two reasons: 1. The putt was not accurate enough and the ball touched the edge a bit too much. 2. I had introduced too much force on the ball and the speed did not dissipated when it reached the hole.

If the ball had carried just enough speed when it reached the hole, it would have dropped into the hole as gravity would pull it down.

“Never up, never in” is always a common slogan in putting, yet to satisfy this, the first condition has to met where it has to be accurate enough. Here is the catch, if the ball carries enough speed to pass the hole as “Never Up” suggested, the path will not be right as it might has less break along the line because speed overcomes gravity. Thus, condition 1 will not be satisfied where it needs accuracy. If condition 1 is not satisfied, then “Never Up, Never In” will not be true because there is no chance for the ball to get into the hole at all when the path is off and more than enough “speed” is introduced.

I say to successful read a putt, first determine the speed, and then read the break. Only when the speed is right, only then the path could be accurate.

Within myself

"I want it now or I am going to freak out" has always been my impatient attitude on the course. Unfortunately this is never natural to the game of golf. When I carried such thought to the course, usually I was going to choose the wrong club and performed a swing that spread wider than my posture allowed.

To maximize the distance, I have to apply the maximum strength under the synchronized tempo but swing within myself. To achieve better accuracy, I have to exert a compact swing but swing within myself.

My posture, when ready, is within my two feet, with weight balance transfering from one side to the other during the downswing. Whenever I demand a result impatiently, I am going to throw myself off and the result is as wild as my imagination can leads to.

Swing within myself with maximized effort is the most contradictive logic I could think of. Though like in daily life, I think it is what golf is about.

Golf Scoring

Remember that when I was still a student, I always wonder how some of my fellow classmates scored so well in examinations. When the same people were asked to do a simple project, they were as good as Dumb and Dumber. For the average norms, some people just know how to be good enough to score well in examinations. It is a skill I never master; it is a talent I never comprehend. I wonder if it is the same in scoring in golf….

The objective of golf is simple, hit a ball with a flat head stick and try to roll this ball to the 3-inches-hole couple hundred yards away in least strokes applied. There are many ways to achieve this. Yet to score low, the critical key is to keep the ball in play. Just the other day I played with an experience golfer, he did not hit far and he did not have spectacular shots, not even a good swing and rhythm, but all shots are well managed and he eventually scored lower than me. The truth is, he knows how to score.

As a student, unless I know the subject really well, I will not score well in the examination. If I just know well enough on the subject and I do not have the skill and talent to identify and learn the topics which will be in examinations, I am going to suffer badly. As a golfer, unless I know the swing and master how to apply it consistently, I will not play well in a round of golf. If I just know well enough and cannot consistently carry out the swing sequences, I will be better off just keeping the ball in play, if my ultimate goal is to obtain a lower score.

Wine Unloading Tempo

Two men were unloading boxes of wine bottles from a truck. One man was inside the truck, picking them and loading them onto a raised wheel-ramp where the boxes would slide down to the end of the truck. The second man picked them up and stacked them onto a trolley before they were carried into the store.

The pair worked in synchronized rhythm and the boxes were unloaded efficiently. First man placed box onto the ramp, box slide downward, second man caught it, turned around and stacked it up. It was done in a fast coordinated tempo.
There was this one box, while the trolley was full, second man was busy securing the boxes; the first man did not notice and continued putting it on the ramp. The box slide down, to the end of the truck and straight to the ground. Box cracked and bottles shattered.

This is what happens when tempo is off. If the first man is the lower body and second man is the upper body, or the first man is the torso and the second man is the hands, when one is done faster or slower than the other, bottles shatter.

Both men can work in fast or slow pace, it is the synchronization that matters to a smooth tempo.

First read about this from Golf magazine, found it inspiring. Second time watched it on Golf Channels where Nick Bradley himself promoted his book and idea. Found that he introduced the very critical concepts in modern golf swing, could be extremely beneficial.

Worth the attention spent, I think.

Weight Transfer

I learned the mechanics, I learned the swing path, stance, wrist hinging, shoulders turn, knee bending, spine angle, hips initiation. I learned the rhythm, swing weighting, course managing, lie reading.... Among all these, somehow I have forgotten to learn and figure out the proper weight transfer.

Ohh, weight transfer doesn't come in naturally in golf swings, at least not for me. Without the sequential progress in transferring weight, all the things mentioned above could be as good as rubbish.

Weight transfer is about first shifting body mass from center to right in backswing and than from right to left in downswing and follow through. Practically, this mass is within the body and it relies on me to move this static mass by stressing on different muscle group both right and left sides. However, as interesting as it sounds, I need to perform this "silent" motion through a stable hip. While I feel the body mass is being moved from one side to the other, I should not have acted as I have moved from one side to the other if viewed externally. This is definitely not easy, especially executing this on a driver where swing speed determines distance. My thighs have to be strong enough to support the repetitive movement of this silent motion but my hips have to be stable.

I have to create a motion which does not move, this is as easy as it gets.

To top off the easiness on weight transferring, all this motion needs to be completed in a particular timing of swing or it will be out of rhythm, which will result a bad outcome that is worst enough for me to break the shaft.

All this time, I have taken this silent motion for granted. Yet, I can assure you that 8 out of 10 weekend golfers carry the same mistake as I do but they think that they know this by heart. I say weight transfer did not receive the attention that it should be receiving, for one it is hard to describe, for second it is not an interesting topic. Next time if you see me standing with my feet apart at shoulder width, doing this weird action of hips shifting, don’t laugh, I am doing my weight transfer practice.

Shanking

There are quite a few shots shaping that a golfer can produce. For a high handicapper, among these, many are unintended results.

One of these unintended shots is topping the ball. Topping the ball usually produces a flight that is low but straight, it could loose distance but the damage is usually not severe.

Another type of undesired ball shaping is slicing or hooking. Slice being the most frustrating. Slicing shot is caused by hands extended too forward in front and pulled in to the side. Usually this is done when distance is needed thus more force is introduced, yet it is producing unintended result that goes sideway, causing extreme frustration.

The most severe and unforgiving “shots shaping” is shanking. It lost distance and gained unneeded distance instead, totally missed target and opportunity wasted. Most importantly, it invited tons of embarrassment to the golfer. Shanking is also addictive, it arrived when you are least prepared and it will stick around till you give up golfing. If the root cause of shanking is not determined, it could appear occasionary and embarrassed the hell out of the golfer.

Imagine that when the shanker is standing at the tee box, focusing to launch the ball, pointed the shoulder to the target, aligned the hips, aimed the club face, repeated the routine, waggled the butt, playing partners waiting and there he swung, the ball flew sideway and almost hit the playing partner who is standing in front by 2 feet! When that happened, distance lost, stroke lost, ball lost and accompanied by lot of uneasiness. Confidence is shaken, anxiousness is raised.

Eliminate shanking should be the first priority; It is the most useless “shot shaping” a golfer could have.

Accept in Confidence

The more I know and practice, the harder for me to gain confidence. This is easily reflected in my swing of driver vs irons on the course. On the days I drove well, my irons were less satisfying and vice versa.

A friend told me: "Accept the distance that your driver is far." This is a unique statement and it caught my attention.

What is the real reason behind this so called phenomenon? My explaination is simple, I lack of confidence in accepting the expected truth. On those days that I drove well, I intended to hit my irons better, but the truth was that there was only so much I can produce with the current skill level. I tried to push the limit on the course and that was what caused me to pay for unnecessary mistake(s). From a polarized view point, I could not accept the fact that my driver was already far enough for my skill level, thus I should accept it and play with the recorgnized truth.

When I screwed up my drivers, I tried to be safer in irons and thus my irons were played better. Why did I drive badly at the first place? It was because I tried to produce distance further than my actual norms, again I was lack of confidence of accepting the distance I could actually launch.

This statement strikes me like a thunder. Accepting the fact of how good you are is sometimes as hard as accepting the fact of how bad you are.

“Golf Instruction”

In Wikipedia.com, it cited:

“Anyone can play the game of golf. Golf requires practice and some basic instruction on technique, equipment, rules and etiquette.”
“Golf students have different learning styles. There are Show-Me Golfers and I-Am-What-I-Am Golfers. Show-me golfers are eager to try new ideas, new equipment, new teachers, and new locations. They are the golfers most willing to contemplate a complete rebuilding of the golf swing. I-Am-What-I-Am golfers tend to more conservative in their approach to new ideas and techniques, tend to favor their old clubs and tested instruction techniques, and prefer tinkering with their swing rather than rebuilding from scratch.”
“The most important things a golfer learns are correct posture, grip, alignment and the golf swing itself.” … “Great ball-striking golfers all have great club position at impact and tremendous swing velocity, generated by correct application of the fundamentals.”

I found this short article about Golf Instruction fairly interesting, especially the middle paragraph where it illustrates two types of students, Show-Me Golfer and I-am-what-I-am Golfer.

I believe Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are good representatives of these two types. Tiger abandoned his already successful swing and rebuilt from fundamental up, Vijay is known to be the hardest working golfer on Tour who repeats his practice the most. Tiger is continuing his journey to be the legend, yet Vijay is continuing his faith sliding down the world ranking.

Show-Me and I-am-what-I-am golfing types definitely deserve one to pay attention to.

Two Mentalities

Mentality one: Fundamentalist. I brainstorm my game plan, try to execute it as accurate as possible, once I missed, I try to get back to the original plan and foundation.
Mentality two: Liberalist. I brainstorm my game plan, try to follow the plan, once I missed, I play as it goes depending on conditions and situations I am facing.

Scenario 1: Par 4, 350 yards, dog-leg left, bunkers at 230 yards, hazards before green.
I planned a two-on attempt, first drive to the turning at dog-leg besides the bunker, a short iron approach shot to green, aim for 1 putt for birdies and 2nd putt as backup.
It is always easy when things are all within imagination. Reality:
I launched a good drive but did not land where I targeted and it dropped at the edge of the fairway bunker. Not a bad shot but left me a difficult condition to play my approach shot. I did not have a good stance and missed my second shot, pull hooked it and it landed into the left rough before the water hazard, a tree trunk is partially blocking my path to green. At this point, I could chip out and try to get back on track as pointed out in mentality one or I could try a punch shot approaching the green as pointed in mentality two. Mentality one will get me bogey at best but mentality two will get me par at best. What should I do?

Scenario 2: Par 5, 510 yards, straight but sloped fairway, bunkers at 240 yards and around the green, trees along the fairway.
I planned a three on attempt, driver 250 yards, 3 wood 220 yards and a pitch approach shot.
Again, it is always ideal in the world of imagination, Reality:
I slightly pulled my driver, ball landed short on the first cut rough to the left, leaving me about 295 yards to green. Not a big problem but I did not get the perfect lie as I planned; no obstacles are blocking me but wide open and long distance fairway to green. At this point, applying mentality one, I could use my 3 wood and get back on track as planned. Applying mentality two, I could use a utility club and aim for short iron instead of wedge for 3rd shot. Mentality one will get me three on at best, so is mentality two. What should I do?

Two mentalities, two scenarios and the results between rewards and risks could be as wide as Grand Canyon.

Percentage

This is a game of percentage. How successful one can execute the shots depends on the statistical probability of one's past performance.

If I slice the driver 80% of the time, statistically speaking I only have 20% chance of keeping the ball in play. If my slice caused me an extra or two strokes every time and if I need to use the driver 14 times in a round, I will expect to give away 80% * 14 * 2 = 22.4 strokes easily during a round. These strokes are merely from OB or poor lie or difficult shots that caused by the slice, not to mention failed attempts to rescue the ball back in play. If I missed an attempt rescued shots, a 2 shots will become a 3 or 4 before I could think of approach shot or short game to finishing up the hole.

Though, avoiding the driver is not an intelligent move either. On average if a good drive will land me 220 yards, using a high success rate iron only serve me 150 yards, percentage wise I am loosing 70 yards on every hole. Again, if there are 14 holes that require distance and I am loosing 70 yards 14 times in a round, it is 980 yards in total. Suppose I have 80% success rate in launching this 150 yards, 20% of error * 150= 120 yards which requires me extra 9 strokes to accomplish the distance left. 9 strokes are added to my handicap, not mentioning errors that I might have encountered within these attempts.

The only resolution to resolve this issue is to reduce my low percentage shots at the first place. If I have 18 strokes given away every round caused by driver, I better increase the success rate to at least 80% before I could significantly reduce my score. I don’t know how others recommend on practice, but I will keep doing the same routine and drill repetitively until I could increase the probability of launching a high percentage shot.

When wood meets wood

It is not Tiger Woods, it is about my driver and fairway wood.

I went to driving range for my practice session. It was a good night, started from my SW all the way to 4I, everything worked fine, this was rare and I was happy this night was the night. Since I had such a good experience so far, I wanted it to be completed with driver. Blood was flowing, adrenaline was rushing, mind was beating... After a few loose swing with the driver, I was ready to complete the satisfying practice for the night.

The address was good, the backswing was good and I was excited to launch the first driving shot. On the way down, I heard this loud clinking sound and my swing was blocked. The driver head hit the fairway wood which was rested quietly in my stand bag nearby. What happened when titanium meets stainless steel? They created a crystal clinking sound. Where did this energy released to? It chipped off the nice paint job at the bottom of the driver. This was really annoying to a person who took care of his custom built driver seriously. It took me almost 30 mins and 30 balls later before I could calm my frustration.

What did this incident told me? Three things:
1. When excitement took over the swing rhythmn, I would introduce unnecessary force on the down swing that caused hands to race over torso turning, extending my hands prematurely.
2. My downswing path was acceptable as it was the paint on the bottom heel side of the driver that was chipped, thus my driver was pointing upward at waist height.
3. Never rush, surface beauty does not last.

Coil in Body

If my body is constructed by rubber or synthetic like material, I think driving a ball so far that I will lose sight of it will be a simple task. Unlike rubber, it is very difficult for me to store sufficient “kinetic energy” in my body so I could release them forcefully onto the ball. Like rubber, when I intend to store too much energy, it will snap and all stored energy is released unintentionally.

Always hear that keep the head down, keep the ankle bent, keep swing smooth, keep it simple…. I think the main point behind all these is to maintain a motion that is not over extending any parts of the body so the energy stored is preserved. Keeping the spine angle allows me to maintain proper swing path, thus chance of producing a clean hit is easier. Keeping the ankle bend allow me to transfer weight easier, keeping the swing smooth means no over-swing that will cause unintended lost of force or avoid additional force on downswing that introduce unnecessary club manipulation.

Properly coiling the body is the fundamental step to build energy, keeping limbs bend is “storing” the energy. Releasing energy is uncoiling the body, fully extending limbs and weight transferring from back to front at the moment of impact. Capturing the correct rhythm to exert all this motion in the right time will efficiently launch the ball, without any regret holding back.

Keeping the rubber extended to the right amount of tension is all swing energy storing is about. Any part of the body that is doing any movement that is leaking this energy is just causing difficulty in the motion of launching the little white ball.

Short Game Improvement

Short Game improvement is usually defined as improvement on short distance golf shots that lies within the range of around 100 yards. These are usually the partial-swing shots performed by wedges or lower number clubs used in chipping, etc.

It is said that Improvement in short game will improve my overall golf game. I always wonder what exactly this mean. Talking to a friend makes me realize that this statement is so misleading. Improvement in short game means increasing my capability of rescuing shots that I have missed earlier and capable of bringing troublesome shots back to play. This will save me from wasting unneeded strokes that I am incapable of performing if my skill in short game is unsatisfactory.

Two IFs arise:
If my “Long” game is not so poor that they are devastating, than my short game left for me should be easy, e.g. a normal bunker shot, a normal chipping.
If I focus on improving my short game, then I will master my short irons and wedges better, I will be able to perform these clubs easier than others. On the opposite, if I focus on improving my long irons instead, then I will perform better shots in longer distance relatively. Thus, if I just focus on few clubs, no matter long or short, I will bring improvement to the game.

It is the long woods and long irons that put troubles into a short game at the first place, focusing on rescuing might immediately lower my score significantly. Think about it, if I am bad enough to put a shot into the bush, most likely I am bad enough and not have the skill to bring it back into play. Being able to rescue it will significantly lower my ballooned score overall. Though, this does not mean it improves my overall golf game, because I still did not resolve the source that causes it to be disastrous at the first place.

Hands

What are the hands doing during the action of making a golf swing? I have been pondering over this since I started wondering what an efficient swing in golf is. There are concepts floating around that are enough to confuse a cow to climb a tree.

Let’s be subjective, prejudiced and selective in choosing about all these theories that make sense. In a good control swing, it is said that the hands should be in front of the torso at all time. Though what is “in front of torso” from back swing to follow through? I initiated a back swing, bringing the hands slightly to my right (for a right hander), at the same time I started rotating my torso with shoulders square facing to the right. What did my hands do at this point? I keep them in place in front of me. If isolating hands movement from the rest of the body, what I did with the hands relatively is I simply brought my hands up, collapsed them at my right elbow and raised them up above my right shoulder, with left hand much more extended than my right hand.

On the downswing, I do the same thing, I keep my hands in front of me at all times, I started bringing my hands down from my right shoulder, bring them back to where I started initially at stance. On the follow though, I bring my hands up again and raise them above my left shoulders (at this phrase it is done passively). In other words, isolating hands from body movement, I simply do a U-shape raising hands up and down from right to left shoulders. Pairing this movement with rotation from torso turning, I then created a swinging motion, I rotate to the right while raising the hands to the right shoulder, I rotate back to the middle while dropping the hands and I rotate to the left while raising the hands to the left shoulder. I do not swing hands left and right and I do not do bend torso up and down through out the golf swing.

When I look at torso rotation with hands motion together in a whole piece, I will see a smooth swing path and in sync motion of golf swing. The hands are not doing more things than necessary and the torso is not rising more than it should.

Driving Range

I like to visit the driving range. I go there for practice, but this is not the reason I like visiting there.

Driving Range that is accessible to me is usually crowded. It is hardly ever I have seen good practice area that is vacant. I like to sit behind and watch how golfers practice. You will be surprise how much you can learn from simply watching how other golfers make their golf swings. There are all kind of swings golfers can produce at the driving range, paired by their sometimes arrogant, satistying and serious look on their face, you can tell how good a golfer really is.

However, the most beneficial reason watching other golfers are it allows me to see my mistakes being reflected by them, vividly and detaily. I have not found another method that is more compact and efficient than watch and learn. Throughly and detaily inspect another golfer swinging the white ball, I can realize what I was doing, am doing and should be doing.

This may not be the most welcomed method, but definitely very rewarding.

Straight Shot

This is how the conversatiom goes:
"It is a very short Par 4, if you can drive 220, 230 yards, you can reach the green in one...."
"...then it is meant for you, that is the right distance and you said you can drive straight now..."
"Do you know how accurate you need to be to do that? The green is surrounded by hazards..."
"Didn't you say you can drive straight?"
"Straight in the range of +/- 25 yards on either side."
"haha, what a large margin of error for the word 'straight'..."

If straight shot is executed and external factor such as wind or air temperature is not affecting the outcome, then I believe the issue of failing to reach green in one is not in golfing anymore.

How many kind of straight shots can one execute? I wonder...

Light Reading

I am fortunate to start golf in this era that is flooded by information. Without much effort, I could pick up a Golf magazine or browse to a web site where "experts" explain how to play golf.

Tumbled across a website and an article in Golf Tips magazine this month where out of the blue I read similar concepts from two sources at the same time. I guess it is because the moon is full and the tide is high that have increased the chance of such coincidence. The concept illustrates the separation of the lower and upper body during swing or as Golf Tips describes it as rotary or lever swing.

The lever or non-separated swing concept suggested that arms and hands are the initiation of downswing. They lead the motion as the body follows. Shoulder and hip level remains parallel during ball impact. This method allows force (work) to be exerted effectively onto the little white ball.

The rotary swing concept suggested that lower body (hips) leads the downswing as many great players such as Ben Hogan did. This swing allows hands to catch on and hit the ball as hips rotate and face the target. Shoulder and hips level are not parallel during impact.

Though, these two concepts are not the same as difference between swing dominated by arms only without torso turning and swing with torso turning.

While scigolf website encourages the non-separated swing mechanics, article in Golf Tips magazine advises golfers to choose the suitable swing type according to one's physical advantage. My limited knowledge and experience in golf indicate that the separated swing mechanics is the way to go and I have devoted myself to practice accordingly, until now…

Sometimes, knowing just enough to confuse over selections is just as painful, yet I figure it is still better than not knowing. It is definitely some light reading I have….

Momentum

In search of the efficient swing that produces most distance, I search for ideas that "experts" have that transfer maximum momentum from club head to the ball. Found this and I think it worths reading:

http://www.scigolf.com/scigolf/myths/myth4.htm
http://www.scigolf.com/scigolf/myths/index.htm

Understanding

Take a driver; slightly open up the face and isolate all other body motion, judging from the swing path, if I swing inside-in, I will produce a fade. If I swing outside-in, I produce a slice, if I swing inside-out, I produce a push.

If I slightly close the face and isolate all other body motion, judging from the swing path, If I swing inside-out, I will produce a hook, if I swing inside-in, I produce a draw, if I swing outside-in, I produce a pull.

Again, take a driver, square the face and isolate all other body motion except the hips, slide the hips to the right (right handed) on the back swing and slide it to the left on down swing, I will produce a reverse pivot on back swing and probably a reverse C on follow through, dissipating power and losing ball distance. If timing is right and I execute this movement properly, club path could be so steep that I could deloft a 11 degree club to 8 degree. This could also be the source of sky-mark shot if I exaggerate the hips movement tremendously.

Isolating all body motions and square the club, move the knees rapidly on swing and I will produce unproductive fat or thin shots. This is especially similar to me not stabilizing my spine angle and raising the torso. Always heard the term “Keep your head down”? It should be more precise as “Keep the spine angle steady”

Cocking the wrist too late encourage power and control lost. Over extending the hands and raise it too high will encourage casting that disturbs the swing rhythm. Keep hands loosely from the body will promote uncontrollable shots, keeping them too tight to the body cause blockage in turns.

To maximize the ball distance, I have to rely on more torso twisting and legs muscle to initiate the downswing, If I use hands to initiate downswing, all I do is feel I swing harder which has no effect on distance.

If I use very forgiving clubs, I am aiming to hit straight shots. There is no point for me to shape shots with very forgiving clubs. I should use light and more flexible shafts to pair with forgiving head for optimum performance. Keeping the ball in play should be my objective goal.

I will go for more traditional forged clubs if I target for feel. I will also opt for heavier and stiffer shaft if occasionally I like to push my limit, max my distance and get instant feedback, shape some shots to challenge the course situations.

These understanding is critical or I could practice like a golf donkey. I wonder how much more is there to know?

Hitting down on it

This is an old topic that one can read or hear from everywhere, anywhere that has materials which is golf related. To launch a golf ball, I have to simply hit down on the ball instead of "lift" the ball up. The golf club has to be on a descending path, impacts with the white ball before the club continues its path and reaches the ground, finally scoops away some dirt and grass as divot.

Every golfer knows about this. It is well known fact.

How easy is to execute it? While it is easy to know the idea of hitting down, it is not quite easy to know how to "hit down". At least not for me.

There was a time when my driver was not working well and I relied on my 3 wood most the time. I was hitting down on it well. Though, a few of my friends who were new to the game, as I was back then, kept complaining that their fairway woods are not working well. You know, complaints are contagious; they affect you like rust erodes on steel. I lost my trust on the 3 wood one day. I could hit it well one day, the other day I would topped the ball, pulled or simply just skulled the ball. Surprisingly, I was hitting the driver relatively well then.

To hit a good driver, I need a good ascending blow to the ball. To hit a good 3 wood, especially when the white ball is on the ground, I need a good descending blow. The length is similar for both clubs, it is easily confusing for me to address the ball wrongly. If I am not able to distinguish between the two, I could simply hit the driver and not the fairway wood, or vice versa.

Simply Beauty




http://www.nike.com/nikegolf

7 Iron

Know a person who always practice with his 7 iron. He will practice with other clubs, top the driver, pull the long irons, hitting fat with the wedges and he always return to his 7 iron.

Other golfers have advised him that he has to play or practice other clubs in order to be able to score lower, many times it is his driving or chipping that costs him most. I say 14 clubs are actually too many. If this person I know can play his 7 iron so well, he might as well just use 7 iron for teeing off, for 2nd shot, for approach shot and for chipping. He will score better with a 7 iron and putter if he is confident in it and he can shape all different shots at any distance.

It is his bad practice in one 7 iron that costs him, not because he did not master other clubs. It is because of his unskillful 7 iron that will cost him.

Knee in Stance

The other day a friend of mine who is a single handicap golfer shranked a chip shot. He shranked not only once but few times. Well, there is a reason why he is a single handicap golfer, it doesn't take him too long to realize he has developed a serious problem. Average golfers might take longer to realize their problems, but not my friend, not him.

He later told me that it is the ball position in his stance that caused the shranking. Why is it caused by static ball position and not swing motion? This is what a confident single handicap is capable of, he trusted his swing. He explained that over the time the ball moved a little and little, until one day when the moon is full, the tide is risen and the wolf is howling, the ball had finally moved too much and the disaster then appeared. His coment is check my stance often to build a consistent swing.

I am sure my friend checks his stance constantly, it is really not easy to maintain single handicap. Though what and how to check ball position? I realize that if I open my feet a little, I feel the ball is more to the center than it is. If I tilt my shoulder a little more for a high lofted shot, the ball might seems a little more forward. Well, I decided to make use of my knees, while all other variables could change, my knees are always there to support my weight. If my body mass is at the center between my knees, my stance should be good for a balanced swing, so is the ball position, I believe.

Look no further than ball in reference to the knees, I think it will help me much to eliminate one of the common errors: the faulty ball posititon.

10-shots Mind

If I could reproduce 10, not many, just 10 identical shots, I am already a better golfer. I could not reproduce 10 identical shots, even on perfect lie where I hit balls through a driving mat, I could not reproduce 10 identical shots. Some clubs my successful rate is 1 out of 10, which means after the first shot, I hit 9 different shots after that. Other clubs I am in better place, where I get 3 out of 10 identical swings. Is that really that difficult to reproduce 10 similar swings? Considering all I have to do is do the same movement that I did seconds ago… My wrists just don’t bloody listen to me, or my hips just wander away by itself, so are my legs, they do their own dance. No two components like to cooperate with me when I need synchronization the most.

I think it all begin from the mind. I have been giving myself too much leverage, I think of approximation, so I got roughly in result. If I think of exact duplication, maybe I will get enough similar shots to post here again.

Mindset of the Talented

The talented people usually have a very unique skill, they know how to borrow or utilize skills from others so that things of theirs get done, directly or indirectly by others. They don’t fight against limitation or restriction, they stay flexible and go with the flow, adjust their arrangement and attitude accordingly.

This is very powerful skill.

If I could apply this concept into golf, I wonder what kind of outcome will I get? After all, it is a mind game anyhow. How I look at things perhaps will alter the outcome eventually? Even conceptually?

For instance, I always fight against the lie when I am standing on a upper slope which promotes a right to left ball flight. Could I just go with the flow and allow the lie to help me creating the proper shot? Or when there is wind blowing, I think of fighting against it and thus correcting my ball flight, could I just think of going with the wind and allow it to carry the ball at the right direction? I landed the ball in the sand, instead of blasting it out powerfully, could I just think of taking advantage of the sand and let it cushion the ball out for a soft landing? Could I just use a lower club when the green is elevated instead of swinging more “powerful”? Could I just think of pitching from the rough and accept the characteristics of long grass instead of forcing a shot?

Have no idea if applying this alternative attitude towards conditions will make a difference, but if the talented is able to make use of others and bring successful result back to himself, I think applying this concept to golf is quite attainable.

Swing Change

Had a chat with a pal last night and we realized that every golfer we know has or is having a change in their golf swing. I then looking at myself and I figured there is not a consistent 6 months that I hold a swing without any surgical change. Maybe it is my plane, maybe it is my wrist, maybe it is my hip. Lately I just adjusted my follow-through to some form which I think is right. From minor to major movement that is related to golf swing, it seems that from time to time it needs oil lubing and freon recharging, but does it?

While it is good to have the ability to make self correction, lube those rusted joints and tighten those loose nuts here and there, but is it more a self alertness or self correction in the end? What is the difference? Self correction as I realized I made a mistake or built a bad habit thus I will make some changes. Self alertness as I know I am swinging badly but I do not what is the cause so I try a new movement and maybe it will return better result. While the first approach could be rewarding, the second approach is more likely to be devastating and could act as a double-sword. I could become the captured victim of my own domain. In addition, say that I know what a good swing is and I realize how I should make a correction myself, changes usually takes time to burn in so that new adjustment in the movement has the opportunity to turn into a permanent golf swing… If I continue to make changes every few months, how could I expect any distinguished result instantly?

I should give time a chance; I am laying my hands off the equipment and swing change for the time being. Constant-changes is addictive, bad habits die hard.

Since I have touched the territory where no two men will agree with each other and I like day dreaming and casual reading, here is a good article about putter:

http://www.tutelman.com

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the worst terminology ever exploited in golf. It is not only most abused, it is also most employed by all kind of excuses.

Instead of strengthening the sharpness on clubs’ responsiveness from impact, manufacturers have reversed engineered the whole advancement in golf and decrease the concentration of sweet spot in clubs. As a result, many so called game-improvement golf clubs have a large dull and monotonous surface called “larger sweet spot”. This surface allows ball to response bluntly and it can be projected forward without the golfers knowing what had happened. Instead of feeling the compression and reaction from impact, golfers using game-improvement clubs know something is hit, just not quite sure if it is the ball they hit or the ego that was boosted. While it is least punishing from a bad swing, it is most rewarding in the game of “golf”…. If this trend happens to continue, golf is soon to become a game of ignorance. Golfers do not know what or how the ball is hit, but the ball could be launched forward as high and as straight as technology allows.

I think the best forgiveness in golf is allowing golfers to raise the Par. Instead of the norm of 72, raise it to 92 so that a 102 score is still a 10 handicap. This not only improves the interest most golfers have in the game, it also mends the self-ego that is quietly hidden deeply. It might also speed up the whole time needed to finish an eighteen-hole.

Of course, this will be the worst nightmare equipment manufacturer could ever think of. What new product could be released to the shelf in the Fall?

I say: “Leave the golf clubs alone!”

Equipment Change

Always hear golfer say when he become better in golfing, he will then change his clubs. Maybe a new driver, a putter or irons... Guess that the perception is, better clubs are for better golfers.

If he is then good in golfing, why should he change the clubs then? Changing clubs will require getting-used-to starting from beginning again, why should he do that when he is good then?

What is the expectation from new clubs? Newer or advanced tech clubs are still not magical sticks. They are to provide better feel or performance to an efficient swing, but they cannot transform better to best, or worst to better.

Assuming there are faults or inperfections in the equipment itself, thus one raised the thought that one day he will change his clubs. How could one improve when the equipment is indeed faulty? (if assumption is right). The "one day will change clubs" is just another unproductive endless loop of thoughts.

It is a long learning curve to get used to a set of equipment, it is then another learning curve to produce the desired performance, it is then another learning curve to turn practice into reality in score. The later the change on equipment, the later these learning process can be completed.

Utility Club and Long Iron

The significant difference between a utility club and long iron is the weight distribution which move the center of gravity further back and promote a higher moment of inertia as the head weight is increased. This allows easier attempt to launch the ball airborne and the wider sole of the utility club allows the club head to catch the ball clean. In short, the whole design of utility club is targeting to simplify the ability to launch the ball which is difficult in using long irons.

It is confusing to me why some golfers choose to install a steel shaft onto utility club. We do not see steel shaft on drivers anymore because graphite shaft has all the properties to successfully launch the ball where steel shaft has failed to do. Installing a steel shaft on a utility club is to reintroduce properties from the traditional long iron into a utility club while the head is initially designed to remove the long iron properties by utilizing the properties of woods.

For a steel shafted utility club, is it needed at the first place?

Gauge Design

The feedback on this new putter is soft at impact, center and off center hits can be easily distinguished. Distance controlling is easier as balance of the whole club is nicely made. Putter head is slightly longer than the Mizuno TPM 8 I was using, but positioning alignment is simpler.

Overall difference on GAA3 is subtle and I like the new feeling. It definitely worth the three months hunt.

Gauge Design GAA3 ETBW



If one likes Scotty Cameron, one will like Gauge Design.
Gauge Design

Bad Putting

Very often I heard friend blaming on bad putting. Very often a bad score is the result of too many putts, as acclaimed. He concentrated on improvement on putters and putting more than anything else. However, when asked how the irons and tee shots were, these are usually quite satisfying in comparison.

If tee shots are good from driving, it will result an easy condition for 2nd or approach shots.
If irons shots are good approaching the green, it will result a good putt if the little white ball is only 3 feet away from the hole.

Question is how could there be bad putting if approach shots are good? Usually it is bad approach shot that result in a difficult putt on the green.

I think my friend will have a hard time improving his putting.

Good Article

I have been following the Chronciles by Leith Anderson month to month, this issue is extremely informative, I think it worth the time spent reading:

http://golftodaymagazine.com/0706/chronicles.htm

Swingweight Revisited

Ever since I learned about swing weight, I have been obsessed by it and have been constantly rechecking and reweighing every new golf club I obtain to have them swing weight matched. In reality, I “think” the result is impartial to the improvement I have gained over my short life of golfing. Though, later I have come to realize that there is only a huge error in this methodology….

The huge error is: how to correctly measure the swing weight? Holding the swing-weight belief true, applying it to practical usage is the difficulty of every engineering mindset can apply. I had always trusted my in-house built balanced pivot tool, measuring ruler, scale and self-written program to do the calculating conversion. It had been working great until one day my measuring ruler snapped into two. I used a replacement and that was where the error arose. I found out that the measurement I had taken over the time, all conditions unchanged, provided me a slight difference in results… I started to recalibrate and recheck all the tools I used to make this measurement. I did not find much difference in methods except the new measuring ruler. To my bewilderment, all measurements are off by one or two swing weight points before and after! This was alarming, this was disturbing!

Eventually I got a swing-weight scale from Golfsmith. Concluded my home-made method is a disastrous method used. I have become the victim of my belief on swing weight. Over the time I have wanted to swing-weight matched my club set, in the end I have been using an unmatched set all along. How idiotic can truth make a person? Very. Conveyed this finding to a friend who utilized the same method I used, well, although very reluctantly he wanted to believe, he had the same result, off by two or more swing weight points. Worst is I had sold a set of “swing-weight matched” club to another friend, and it turned out that the swing weight points are off by one to two scales on his set.

Lesson learned? Approximation is disastrous. Ignorance is a sin. Idiotic mind is what I had employed.

Distance Control

Very too often maximizing the length of shots has become the main concern in practice. In reality realizing the carry distance and the estimated total distance from each club is much more relevant and important. Especially when there is wind in affect, too much club or too less club become the most expensive errors I have made.

To maximize the distance of each shot, I have to hit the ball clean and in the center of the club face. Probably I can produce 2 out of 10 of these shots. In real play, under different lie and disturbance from visual obstacles, the successful statistical rate of hitting a ball clean is much lower. For any miss hit shot, if not devastating, most likely I will loose 10 or more yards, this add 1 or 2 additional stroke on a score that is not very impressive to begin with.

Distance control is neglected often and this should be the main focus in practice. There is no point I can smoke a ball 300 yards at tee while it takes me 2 or more strokes to get the ball onto the green where I constantly under or over hit a short iron/wedge.

I believe this apply to putting as well, distance control is much more critical than successfully identifying where the break is.

Golf Donkey

Just happen to know a person, who is also an enthusiastic golfer. I learned something from this person.

Among average people who love to play golf, there are basically two type of golfers. Those that enjoy playing and those that play to enjoy. The first type is the golfers that like playing, play golf as a routine and repeatitively playing the same game over and over again. The second type is the golfers that play golf to enjoy, difference is the second type constantly search for changes and is capable of doing self improvement.

Just happen to know a person, who is also an enthusiastic golfer. This person love playing and love practicing, but his score has been constant even before the babies-boom has begun. I figure the problem lie within the mindset. This person belongs to the first type, who enjoy playing and enjoy practicing, but all these activities are just repeating the same routine over and over again. From a logical point of view, when the input does not change, the output will definitely remain same.

I remember as a kid I saw this cartoon of fooling a donkey to continuning walking on the threadmill by hanging a carrot in front of it. The donkey will just continue walking, enjoying every bit of the time while thinking one day it can eat the carrot.

The mysterious shaft

Received this Banzai from friend, review claimed as the best shaft for hybrid, though friend hated it.
Hate it? Love it? Pride and Prejudice....
Shaft is not carefully sanded, you can see the fiber splits. This is a bad sign.
It is pured!

Swingweight kit

This box of Swingweight kits cost $29.95 from GolfWorks....

Is it because Golfers willing to pay higher price thus golf related goods are expensive or is it because golf related goods are expensive thus golfers forced to pay higher price?

Thinking about it, the Supply-Demand curve is actually proportional to the ball trajectory...

Persimmon Wood

I am currently in possession of these from a good friend. You can't help thinking, look at the beauty of these woods, can you resist?

Golf Practice

The whole idea of practice is to reproduce a swing movement that I could bring to the golf course. Somehow I found that my practice session is usually fixing and correcting. It is funny to realize that I spent most of the time correcting rather than reproducing any repetitive movement. I wonder why swing movement can go wrong from one day to the other. It just happens and it never ends.

Monday I fixed the follow-through, Tuesday I corrected my spline angle, Wednesday I adjusted my back swing, Thursday I puzzled over my stance, Friday I stablelized my lower body movement, Saturday I went onto course and play, wondering what I had done over the week and shot an amazing high score. Sunday I returned to range cursing on my lack of talents, Monday I started the cycle again...

Golf Par

Par is defined to be standard strokes counted in order to bring the little white ball from tee to the hole on the green. For a high handicapper, if I raise the standard Par from "Par" to "Bogey", that's mean I am adding one more stroke allowed to myself to make par, it will change the whole playing strategy. Instead of hitting with 2nd shot 3-wood, I can hit with 2nd shot 7 iron and 3rd shot PW to bring the ball to the green. For a Par 4, if I can 2 putt and finish the hole, I will end up with my standard Par. In the end, if I am able to use this strategy and make par for each hole, bogey if in real score, I still end up with a score of 90 for standard Par 72. For any better shot, it will be all to my benefits.

This is a very easy strategy to be executed, yet as human being who likes to wear hat bigger than the head, could this be easily done?

The Prototype

So I was pretty excited with the new assembled driver, the cherry red renovated 580XD. It turns out it was quite a disappointment. Still have not found one shaft that can compare to Fujikura.

If only time can be stored and fast forward... Drying, it is a process.

• Total weight: 305g
• Balance point: 84.725cm
• SwingWeight: D1
• Shaft Weight: 64g, Insert: 4g
• Shaft Flex: Stiff, CPM: wish to know
• Total Length: 44.5"

Best Shaft Extrator I ever used....

Came across this 2005 prototype shaft from Accuflex. Out of curiosity, I purchased one. It is waiting for my assembly now. Label on shaft reads "Tour Test use ONLY!"

Mentioning about golf equipment fanatics, check this out:
floridagolfnikki.net

Advice

I met a senior folk at the range last night. He has the most rhythmitic swing I have seen among many people at the range, by rhythmitic I mean smooth-like, no muscle involved kind of ball hitting process. It was getting late, wind was blowing and getting colder, we exchanged a few words and conversation started with his new acquired gap wedge. He got himself a gap wedge at 52 degree loft and he said that should improve his short game, being he is always between clubs for 80 yds distance. He was happy and I commented on his smooth rhythm.

We talked and it came down to my problem I had lately. He said: "Show me your setup." So I obliged, first he looked at my grip, hmm, he liked my slightly strong grip but commented that my right index finger and thumb are asserting too much force, causing my right arm to tense up and restricting smooth back swing. I loosened up and found that it was much easier to swing back. Hooya, that was a good advice. Then we checked my stance and he asked me to lift my left foot up. I couldn't. Ahh, this was the problem. Out of the blue, some time, some where, some how, I have gone back to a slight heavy front foot setup, to compensate, I have to hit from inside-out, to compensate further, I have to slide my hip to balance the swing, to compensate that I am using a bending wrist, to compensate all, I am moving my feet aggressively. Result, a slight reverse pivot and inconsistent swinging rhythm, producing many hook shots.

It was a nice night, I owed this senior folk ton of thanks but he dashed out and I didn't get his name.

When in doubt, check setup.

Golf Amnesia

I lost my golf swing suddenly last Saturday. Just from noway I started sliding my hips, I was bending my wrists sideway, I was overswinging, I was not maintaining a spine-angle, I have very active legs, I initiated my swing with my arms, worst of all, I lost my rhythmn

Just like that, I lost my swing, and I hit balls like I first learning golf.

I still did not know what happened, but I knew I lost it, out of the blue.

Spent whole Sunday "in search of the lost ark", the ark that once belongs to me. I end up taking 3 steps foward, 2 steps back

Muscle memory? There is no such thing.

Golf Distance

Keep hearing that...
In order to maximize the distance, I have to minimize the effort to "hit" the ball.
In order to minimize the chance of slicing, I have to limit the swing path from outside to inside.
In order to make the ball airborne, I have to think of hitting down at the ball
and the list goes on... Everyone of them against my natural ability to understand the common sense and logic.

I think in order to reduce my handicap, I ought to think of cheese and wine when I play... maybe this might work.

Golf Movement

Golf is such a peculiar sport, it complains when there is too much movement, it complains when there is too little movement. Starting from the ankle, knee, hip, waist, upper torso, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, there is not a single piece that connect the grip of the golf club to the ground that can be neglected or ignored.

If I could invent something beneficial to golfers, I should invent some devices that lock portion of these "hinges" to appropriate degree of freedom. Too much knee movement may cause an overswing, too much hip movement may introduce a hook or slice, too much wrist movement may affect accuracy, too little shoulder turn may lead to a fat shot, too little weight-shift may sacrifice distance... These devices could be as simple as two boards or planks that bandaged together and lock these "hinges" and prevent unnecessary movement except the desire directions.

I have not seen any of these products in the overwhelming golfing-aids market yet. Either these devices are simply not designable or no golfer willing to robotize oneself. I guess I would like to be a robot when I play golf, after all, isn't that every golfer pray and ask for accuracy, distance and consistency?

Golf Directions

Thinking about my golfing experience, I started learning golf by swinging in the air. By swinging in the air I meant I intended to hit the ball, but I had used too much body-raise to help lifting the ball, thus early body raise had caused me to swing the empty air above and missed the ball often.

I learned to hit the ball at last, but I also learned to slice it. There was a time where I could swing nothing but slicing. I sliced it so horribly that the ball flight really looked like banana shape. I tried to help cure the slicing by pulling the swing path to the left. By doing so I created an over the top and pulling swing. The more I pulled, the more I sliced. Eventually, I could turn and face left to the target, sliced a shot and the ball might have reached the target that was on my right. I was thinking it would be really something if I could hit a boomerang shot where the ball would return to the starting point where I teed off. If you know golf well enough, you will understand that this is a sport where the ball often does not go the way you want.

After months of trials and errors, I stopped slicing. Guess what? I started hooking. I hooked so badly that it might be as severe as my banana shots, only in the opposite direction. Well, if slicing was created by two components, then hooking is created by one component where I had backswing that encouraged an over the top downswing. Yet I thought if I could hook, it might still be better than slice. Unfortunately left side of the fairway is just as bad as right side of the fairway. If it is not woods then it is mostly bushes. I kept loosing ball after balls.

Months passed, sun rises and sets, flowers boomed and died. People I know gave birth to baby and babies.... I cured my ball topping, slicing and hooking, I thought I was a happy golfer then. Just as erratic as golf goes, I hit more fat shots than ever now. I started digging ground. I dig and dig and I think I could create a bunker out on the tee box soon, if not then have successfully digged out some potatos...

Guess that after I have swung to the top, swung to the right, swung to the left, now swinging to the bottom, if there is a day, before I break all my golf clubs, what left for me is the reverse front to back shot. If I have then succeded that, I would be allowed to hit some balls that go out straight.

Golf is really a wonderful thing, it let all my other troubles seem so far away.

If it has been painful golfing, perhaps pain is not an unavoidable outcome for serious golfer. Yet, the degree of painfulness shall be reduced, as described below:

Golf, Golf injuries, golf fitness, Back Pain,Sciatica, Active Release, Graston

www.4gea.com

www.4gea.com

Did You Know? - Origins of Golf

In search of the Swing

1. During impact head height should be as leveled as addressing position
2. During ball impact, butt should feel like sitting on an invisible stool and tights should be squatting forcefully.
3. When swinging, toes and feet are balanced and weight is distributed evenly at the center of the feet.
4. Balance body from backswing to follow-through, no leaning forward or backward.
5. Elbows are pointing at the ground through out the swing.
6. Maintain a 'Y' formation using both hands and club for backswing, during impact and follow through.
7. Twist torso first, then follow by hands during backswing.
8. Arms never rise above shoulder level at top of backswing.
9. Through out the swinging motion, hands are constantly in front of the torso.
10. Backswing sequence shall be twisting hip, torso and raising hands upwards, no body swaying left or right.
11. Downswing sequence shall be twisting hip, torso and swinging hands, no body swaying. Weight transferring is by product and will occur naturally.
12. If push or pull ball shots, check ball position at stance.
13. If sequence of downswing is followed properly, hands will be leading clubs, head will be behind the ball, club face will be square at impact, right hand will cross over left hand and pointing to target at follow through, hip will open and facing at the target, weight will be transferred from right to left. All these are by products and will occur naturally, none of them need to be intentionally focused on.
14. The whole golf swing shall be imagined as a pendulum pivoting the back spine at center.

Never over done any of the above.