Member's Page for CD 1
Member's Home Page
When I talk about
"Typical instruction", I am mostly referring to physical swing instruction. If you were to read golf instruction books and the major golfing magazines over time, you will see as I did that there really is nothing new under the sun. The same typical instruction gets repeated over and over. I had this solidified in my head one day watching an interview with Nicklaus on The Golf Channel. He was asked about his doing articles on golf instruction and he said that he had been there and done that so many times in the past.That there was nothing left to tell and that he was pretty much bored of it since he felt he had covered everything numerous times.
Also,I keep reading articles written recently that have the same information I read about in books published in the 50's and 60's. The only real difference being the change in equipment. I do, however, encourage an occasional review of the fundamentals and that's why I have provided the books in the online classic library. I just don't want you to go overboard with physical swing instruction unless you are a complete beginner.
Good article on The Pareto Principle
About col. Edward L. Hubbard
Article on Kaizen
Excellent Free ebook: Hydration: Fluids for life
Food/Nutrition and stretching for golf, 51 page
Free ebooks: Foods for performance Everything you need to know about food.
Greg Norman golf stretching routine
Be careful about
"fixing your slice if you have one". I remember my instructor asking me a couple of times "are you sure you want to fix your slice? You may be sorry". I went from hitting a consistent fade to a fade-slice that I could count on to now being able to hit the ball out of bounds both left and right. I had no idea which way my shots would go until I used my system a few years later.
A real good ebook to fix your slice (not free) is at: Fix Slice or you can work the drills hard that I recommend to fix your slice. Use whiffle balls or a net at home in your backyard
If you need serious help from a professional, I recommend Nick Bayley's
Draw System
If it's manageable, remember that Bruce Lietzke has hit a fade his whole career and won many PGA tournaments. You probably need a draw shot if you want to be a pro golfer. You don't need it to be a 70's scorer.
Some
short-game betting gamesto prepare for pressure-playing that are very fun and will pay off in reduced score :
1. Skins on the practice green. Players start off the green with one wedge and putter. Excellent for pre-round warmup. Play as many holes as you have time for just as you would on the course. Must "win" a hole to earn a "skin" (make each skin worth a quarter or dollar). Any ties on a hole will carry that skin over to the next until a hole is won. This game beautifully simulates the pressure you will have on the course.
2. Putting poker. Play 9 or 18 holes on the green from long distances. Players pay $1 for each 3-putt hole, collect a card for a 2-putt, 2 cards for a 1-putt. Best poker hand at the end of "round" wins the $ in the pot.
3. Do #2 at home with a couple of friends in the backyard for chipping. Use a bucket or other target and give each person 3-5 shots per turn. If you hit the bucket on a fly, you get a card. Players ante up prior to their turn or everyone bets prior to new round of turns just like real poker. Best poker hand gets the pot after agreed-upon number of turns. Great for halftime football parties
If you have a good one to add here, email it and I'll give you the credit and a freebee thank you gift.
LINKS from CD 1
To read more about the people or events I talked about:
Francis Ouimet article
1999 Ryder cup comeback
Jean Van De Velde
Michael Combs PGA Pro
Alex J. Morrison, author of "Better golf without practice" and others is who Jack Nicklaus' dad learned from to teach Jack in his younger years. He taught golf to Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, Jack Dempsey, Henry Ford, and numerous other celebrities. Here is a free instructional article he wrote called:
Simplify Thought and Action
Teach yourself a correct swing
Three position swing method
I wish I would have emphasized this technique in the audio more because it is so simple and effective for creating a decent swing on your own. I used this just recently on my own 9-year-old son and he now gets all kinds of compliments from others on how nice his swing is on the course. This is how I tweaked my swing too.
It's simplicity is in the fact that you can hit each of the following checkpoints while in a "frozen" stance as opposed to trying to hit a bunch of checkpoints while in motion. Just trust that if you can pose these 3 positions while standing still, you will also hit correct swing checkpoints when in motion - without even trying.
Print this out and work it while watching TV. Go from position to position WITHOUT swinging to really ingrain them. Then when you have each position down, go from 1 to 2 to 3 in a swing. Look at still pictures of pros swinging, at these positons, in magazines or on the web and let those visuals help you. You can teach someone else how to swing from scratch with this method! Use mirrors, videotaping, shadows if by yourself to get your body into these positions.
1. Position 1 - Setup checkpoints
- Face of club must point toward your target
- If you hold a club against the front of your shoulders (shoulder line), hips, knees. The club will be pointing at the target
- Your feet about as far apart as your shoulder width
- Your weight is evenly balanced between both legs/feet.
- Flex your knees slightly
- Back straight
- Must feel comfortable, yet planted;confident
2. Position 2 - At the top checkpoints
- Head and height in same position as in Position 1
- Feel your weight on the inside (near crotch) of right upper leg (righthanders) while keeping right foot planted.
- Left arm extended but not rigid (gives you leverage)
- Shoulder line is now pointing 90 degrees from original target
- Left shoulder under your chin
- Left knew closer to right knee than position 1
- Right elbow pointing to the ground
- Right arm and club form 90 degree angle
- NOTE: (if you do 2 and 4 together correctly, this is where you get power from.)
3. Position 3 - Finish checkpoints
- Weight mostly on left leg/foot
- Your belly button is pointing at or just left of target
- Hands high (Keeps the leverage and swing arc wide)
HIT THE BALL STRAIGHT80/20 Rule
Square and point.
This is the real secret to hitting shots straight. Do not gloss over this. If the clubhead is square at impact (assuming properly fitted clubs) and you point the clubhead at the target in your follow through, then the ball
MUST GO STRAIGHT!
It doesn't really matter what your clubhead does (look at Jim Furyk, Allen Doyle or Lee Trevino) before hitting the ball if the face is square and you point it at the target. Do this with a club and you'll be forced to acknowledge the physics here. The three-position method above will make it easier for you to accomplish this but it works with any swing.
Now, this is really not a difficult idea and it's not really that hard to do when you think about it. And that's what I want you to do! - constantly think about it and visualize yourself doing this in your spare moments anytime, anywhere. You will be literally programming your mind to accomplish this and it is more effective than simply thinking about straight shots since it is more specific to cause and effect kinetics. At first and in your practice swings, do square and point in slow motion and work yourself up to full speed all the while concentrating on these items.Have a club lying around where you watch TV, pick it up whenever you get the urge and square the club on the ground and then slowly point it at your target. You will be creating mental images that can be referred back to at any time when you don't have that club. You will then take that slow motion image and speed it up in real time in your mind. This really works! Also,do this in your backyard with whiffle balls to help ingrain the full speed motion. You see, we can either hit a thousand balls at the range ingraining into our brain the motions of a good swing (if you have the time) or you can do it in your mind like Col. Hall and get the same effect
Once your mind accepts or "gets it", it will actually start doing it on the course. There are ways to enhance and speed up this process (listen to the Mental CD) .
THIS IS THE HEART of fixing your physical game as most of us can strike the ball o.k., but hitting it straight is the hard part. Remember, this is the link you must have between the ball and your target.
Look at the pictures below. I have drawn green lines next to the lines on the clubface and next to the line on the ball. Notice that that they make corners of "squares" or, getting technical, they are perpendicular. This is what you will be striving for.
Pointing the club is no more complex than what you see in the picture of the golfer with the green hat.  
I just recently watched a commercial on the Golf Channel for "The Momentus Swing trainer." This is probably a good device but you don't really need it. I couldn't believe what I saw on this commercial because it is exactly what I'm talking about with square and point.
Follow me here. The commercial shows Fred Funk with this training club. He starts a "training swing" by taking the club from address to FORWARD first. He stops going forward with the club when he is pointing at the target and then brings it all the way back and completes the swing like normal.
Bringing the club forward first (and pointing the club in the direction you want)is the key to SETTING your swing plane for a straight shot. You can do this as part of your pre-shot routine (as I did for awhile until it became automatic).
If you want the weighted club effect (supposed to help you "feel" better) of the Momentus, you can do this with your donut swing weight on any regular club. You can do this inside your house or office!!
I just can't believe how well this works for helping you hit it straight and it works with any swing method.
I'm working on putting a little video in this spot to show you in person. I'll let you know via the members newsletter.
HIT THE BALL SOLID80/20 Rule
Constant swing axis.
The second hard part of hitting a ball is to make consistent contact. This is really the easiest part of this whole program for you to fix. The problem is that people get too much advice here and they don't know what to go with. Let's get back to physics again for the solution:
When you address the ball at setup, you put your club just behind the ball like it is about to strike it. Ok, everyone can do that right? The ONLY THINGs you have to do from that point until you strike the ball is
- Keep your footing (no sliding but lifting feet is o.k)
- Have your head be at the same distance away from the ball at impact as it was at address.
Why does this work? Because if your head is at the same distance from the ball, your spine and where your arms attach to your body are also the same distance. Thus, the clubhead returns to the same spot that it started at, right behind the ball, because your arms don't grow longer or get shorter. Sear this concept in your brain. Square and point will take it from there.
 
- Watch the club hit the ball
Notice Mickelson and Woods looking at where the ball was well after they hit it  
The three position method above will help you with footing. To get your head distance consistency as part of your regular game, you need to do a little work in your in-between moments anywhere, anytime you think of it as follows:
I mention this in my drills section on CD 1: swing with an imaginary club with your head touching a wall whenever nobody is around to make fun of you. Pay close attention to how your body muscles "feel" (which muscles are tense and which are relaxed) with your head restricted from swaying or bobbing up and down.
Then "graduate" to swinging a real club in your home or office with another person holding or touching your the top of your head in the still position with their hand or a stick/club if they want some distance from your swing.
Next thing is to go out in your backyard and hit whiffle balls with your eyes closed. You will be cementing in how necessary it is to keep your head constant in order to even make contact with it.
Do these drills first in slow motion and then work up to normal speed.
The key here is to focus on what it feels like (take mental snapshots) for the times you are actually able to do these drills. You will then think and visualize yourself doing these drills anywhere, anytime in your spare thought moments. You will also use the Mental techniques in the Mental CD to hammer this home when you get to that.
80/20 THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MUSCLE MEMORY. All memory is located in the mind. You won't be "training" your muscles to accomplishing good shots. You will be training your mind to give correct signals to your muscles. This is mostly just a pattern of neuron firings throughout the nervous system but involves other body communication systems as well.
Note: There are many different swing instruction techniques. This is the easiest, most effective and practical for those who can't practice much (maybe for those who can practice too) Don't mix in other swing advice when working these simple concepts. Focus on them alone.
Convince yourself of the absoluteness of the physics. Ignore other swing advice for now, look at other golfers in person, on TV, and in pictures and see how they match all of this. The simplicity of this swing system is what makes it so effective, you don't get "paralysis by analysis". Just: CONSTANT SWING AXIS and SQUARE and POINT, that's all!
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