Saturday, April 14, 2012

April 2012
 
Read the letters to the editor and this magazine appears to dispense miraculous cures.  Listen to your golfing friends who read the publication and you can hear agonizing tales of frustration.  Who is telling the truth?  Both.  The magazine gets somethings right--some not.  We sort this out for you.  Read below.

Lesson Tee / Yani Tseng.  Her coach, Gary Gilchrist, says, "So we are working on Yani's preparation and setup, and on training muscle memory."  For years we have known that muscles have no memory capability.  They respond to brain impulses but remember nothing.  What else is Gary doing that is not in Yani's interest?
Avoid the Dreaded Chili-Dip.  Snake oil.  When a player scoops, are they wanting the ball to go high or low?  The solution to scooping is simple.  Change your intention from "high" to "forward".
To Get the Right Pace, Use The Saw.  The "saw grip" can help with pace only if you have an uncontrollable hitting action (hand action) during your swing.
Fade It With Control.  Hank explains, "the clubface must be slightly open".  Actually, the clubface must be slightly out-of-square (open is when it is out-of-square and rotated to create additional loft).  Hank's approach is "dynamic" (i.e. we are changing the action of the club during the swing).  An alternative is "static" (i.e. change the setup by positioning your hands when they are rotated to your right, or setting up with the ball more rearward in the stance).
7 Things All Great Players Do.  1-6 are pretty good.
The Easy Way to Hit the Hardest Shot.  Ben's technique is ok.  The unspoken factor is practice.  The challenge in 50-yard bunker shots is less a matter of technique and more a matter of experience so we have some idea as to how big the swing should be.  Bunkers 50 yards from the green are a rarity--so are the opportunities to develop experience.
How to Fix Chops & Chunks. (read the blog post following this one).

Golf Digest gets it right sometimes.  Rarely do we find an article that is correct from start to end.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

How to Fix Chops + Chunks (not really)

Golf Digest April 2012 page 111

This instruction is described as, "a revolutionary system helps you make solid contact on every shot."

First, lets agree on the meaning of solid: clubface square to the target line at impact and ball contact on the center of the clubface.

Second, the content of this instruction has NOTHING to do with solid contact but instead describes a bizarre set of contortions to achieve a swing that has the club sweeping along the grass instead of crashing into it.  There are much simpler and more sensible ways to achieve the sweeping action.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for "solid contact", look elsewhere.  If you are troubled by your swing digging the clubhead into the turf, look elsewhere.