Foley's Folly -- Again

Golf Digest March 2012

Tiger Woods did not seal the deal at the AT&T.  Sean Foley cannot be excluded as a contributing factor.  The absurdity of Foley's instruction to Woods, are exemplified in his latest pontification in the Golf Digest article, "Simple Way to Hit a Soft Pitch."

Sean begins by clarifying that by "soft pitch" he means a lob shot in which you are going to open the clubface to increase the shot's trajectory.  He explains that this is difficult because: the added loft of the club means that the swing must be bigger and,  that the open clubface will send the ball to the right.

His alternative is as follows:

• play the ball forward in your stance with the clubface square to the target line [so far, so good] [this will increase trajectory, but therefore also means that you must make a bigger swing]
• lower your hands to add more loft [Whoops!  Lowering you hands does nothing to add loft]
• keep shoulders and hips square [square means "at 90 degrees][let's assume he means parallel to the target line], then drop your left foot so the stance line is left of target.
• swing the club down along the stance line [you would hit your toes][lets assume he means parallel to the stance line][its physically impossible to swing parallel to your stance line if your shoulders and hips are parallel to the target line]

When you follow his direction, you wind up with the very same shot he was attempting to circumvent:  the forward swing is left of the backswing,  the ball travels to the right of the forward swing, and the swing must be bigger.

Bottom Line:  This is typical of Sean Foley's articles.  They do not accurately describe what is prescribed and are not likely to produce the preferred result.  Let's hope Tiger makes a change.