So, I’m at the range the other day trying to figure out what to do with my swing that’s been driving me nuts lately, and I stumbled upon something that shocked the shit out of me. I finally realized that my swing is not the problem and never has been. You see, for a long […]
Balance
I watch the LPGA and you should too
You could improve your game greatly by watching the LPGA more than the PGA, and be entertained as much or more. I’m addressing this more to men than women because women already know of the advantages of watching the LPGA. I attended the Portland Classic the other day, and, once again, discovered why I like […]
Tiger and Charlie
For me, it was uplifting, in this time of doom and gloom, to see Tiger and his son playing golf at the PNC father/child event, as well as others like 86 year old Gary Player, 82 year old Lee Trevino, ageless Tom Watson, Henrik Stenson and his 11 year old son, and the eventual winners […]
The Essence of a Good Lesson
As with any instruction, there are lessons which are effective and lessons which are not. I might be a concert pianist today if I stuck with lessons when I was six, but just didn’t connect with the teacher and his methods. On the other hand, my first golf instructor, though far from a top 100, […]
The Lesson
Well, I finally did it, thanks to a gift from my golf bud, Steve P. I took the plunge and saw the very able pro at Tri Mountain in Ridgefield WA, Michael Parker. Essentially, he diagnosed this old fart with a kind of old-fart kind of a swing. This was a bit of a rude […]
Further Thoughts on the Full Swing
So what is the one element of the swing that separates amateurs from pros? Actually it’s a series of elements, which adds to its complication…and mystique. I do not have it all figured out–far from it–but I have observed that recreational golfers know little about getting the sequence of movements right. Pros often learn this […]
The Importance of Pace
It’s what is most different in the swings of touring pros. And it’s what can throw a swing out of kilter possibly more than anything else. Essentially it exists on a continuum of two elements: slow to fast. It is pace, and you can see it in the way people walk, eat, talk, pay for […]
The Weight Shift Conundrum
What complicates it is the timing and sequence of the shift, something that takes intensive practice after skilled instruction to get it right and keep it right over time. Most get it right on the relatively leisurely backswing, although, even there, the weight can drift to the outside of the right foot, causing the problem of swaying on the backswing. But at the transition, when things really get moving, is when problems increase.
Learning from the Greats
Watching last year’s Insperity Greats of Golf this year, I was struck with how accurate these remarkable players still are. I was most impressed with Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, and Sorenstam. All made solid and consistent clubhead contact at impact, leading to tee shots that were in play and relatively long. Player, at 83, was particularly […]