Golf is Finally Here!
Greetings Golfers,
I think it’s finally here. We’re planning on opening the golf course on Monday. Hurrah!
Hopefully you’ve been hitting balls at those indoor places. It can be pretty fun. I did last week and used a trackman for the first time - seriously. It was fun. Seeing your swing speed and smash-factor … and position of the club-face … and of course your distance and accuracy … is a great way to practice. It seemed to be amazingly accurate and we could pretty much predict our numbers before they showed-up on the screen.
Not all indoor places have trackman … and it’s not necessary … but is a good tool. Just hitting a golf ball is a good thing.
Do you think Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have hit many balls? How good are those four? And … their swings look nothing alike. However, they know how to make it work.
Recently, I read that Sheffler said that every amateur needs to learn these 2 specific shots:
A draw with a driver
A low sand-wedge
I agree! I mean … I really agree! Most people can’t hit those 2 shots - but they could. But, they’re too busy trying to learn the perfect swing rather than learning how to hit golf shots.
The swing doesn’t hit the shot for you. You hit the golf shot. Use a swing to put you in position to hit a golf shot.
Most people fade/slice because they haven’t learned how close the club-face … and swing inside-out. But you first have to learn how to close the club-face. You won’t swing inside-out until you’re confident the ball will spin back left.
As for hitting a low sand wedge … you need to contact the ball with your hands ahead of the club-face. That’s how you “trap” the golf ball. It’s a great way to control accuracy and distance.
About 10 years ago at a Staff Day put on by a big equipment company at a famous golf course … they invited a “big-time” golf instructor to talk to us. He talked all about the “new swing” on the Tour. This move was about turning violently through the shot and finishing “low-left”. Hmmmmm ….
Ok … maybe for Tour players. Maybe. What about swinging the golf club? Rory got into this madness and stopped winning Majors. Hopefully, he’s going back to his beautiful golf swing that got him winning Majors as a young man.
If you ever give a lot of golf lessons, you see a pretty consistent pattern of faults. Basically 2 faults (which Scheffler wisely wants to counter). First, people want to scoop the ball up in the air with their irons. I get it. That seems like the logical way to get the ball off the ground and up in the air. However, scooping leads to a million problems - mainly that the hands are behind the ball as the wrists break in an attempt to lift the ball. All of their bad body movements are a result of this faulty concept. Working on their body movements won’t really work if they still have the wrong concept of how to contact the ball. They need to learn how to “trap it”.
With a driver they make a different move because of another faulty concept. The ball is on a tee, so they’re not as worried about getting it airborne … but they really want to crush it. I get it. And what feels really strong? - how about squeezing the club and smashing the ball with your shoulders? That’s the natural instinct for power. However, that’s definitely not a way to hit a draw. Their faulty move is to lift up the driver and smash down into the ball with a “low-left” finish. They need to learn how to relax their grip and sweep the club from in-to-out and finish high-right … and hopefully have turned-over their wrists enough to close the face so the ball can spin back to to left … even though it started right.
Hopefully that made sense.
But our “famous” instructor had never worked with anyone other than Tour players. He had not worked his way up.
During his talk, I was concerned that his concept of the swing would be consumed by our group and taken back to golf courses around the Metro. The last thing most golfers need is to try to finish “low left” … they need to finish “high-right”. Percy Boomer - the greatest golf instructor of all time - explains this concept beautifully in his book “On Learning Golf”.
Now that we’re finally opening … don’t worry if your swing looks “perfect” … but do concern yourself with learning to hit a draw with your driver and a low sand wedge. Those four guys we talked about can easily do both … though their swings look nothing like each other.
Randy Smith - Scheffler’s golf instructor - said that he never changed Scheffler’s unorthodox footwork - his feet aren’t planted on the ground. “He’s an athlete,” Smith said. “And athlete’s play golf differently than robots.”
Well, you may not be the athlete Scheffler is … but you sure don’t want to be a robot. And robots don’t enjoy golf. Golf is made to be enjoyed - with your own, unique swing. But, learn to hit a draw and a low sand wedge!
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com