Questions
&
Answers
Responses
from
PGA/LPGA
Teachers
on
FINDaLESSON.com
<< BACK
|
From Marj,
golfer: |
|
"I golf to a 15 handicap. I am a
former tennis player who has been playing golf for about 15 years now. I
feel like to get to the next level with distance on my fairway shots
- I need to learn to take a divot. #1 Am I correct with this logic
or is it not really necessary to take a divot? I have always scooped the
ball off the fairway. #2 Are there any drills, concepts to work on that
will help me with to achieve this. I am one that loves the time spent
practicing on the range!! Appreciate your help." |
|
PGA/LPGA
TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSES: |
California
"#1 Try to catch the ball on the descending angle. Try
putting the ball slightly less forward in your stance. #2 Get closer to
the ball, and try not to reach out with your arms for the ball. #3 Hit
lots of wedges and pitch shots. It is a great way to feel impact and learn
to hit down on shots, not scoop. Good Luck!" - Mike
Davis, Teaching Professional |
California
"Marj
Malizio: This is to address your concern of taking a divots from the
fairway. I will preface this by saying that shots with fairway woods, 3,
4, 5 don't really require a divot. Shots played with lower irons
starting with your six iron may be more successful by developing a golf
move that creates a divot.
The thought process is to dig the ball out of the dirt!. On the practice
range place a deep in the group behind the ball. Working digging the
tee out of the ground. This will develop the correct move into the ball
for mid to short irons. I call this the Downswing Move. You will learn to
make a divot that starts at the ball and moves toward the target. It the
width of the clubface."
- Robert
Veroulis, Teaching Professional |
California
"Since you are to the
side of the ball, you must make a stroke with the club moving on a curve
with the toe of the club pointed up on either side of the motion. It is
similar to the top spin motion in tennis....in golf, because of the design
of the club head, the loft sends the ball UP. Top spin in tennis is under
spin in golf. If you were to bend over so that your arm hung straight down
from your shoulder, you could take the club straight back and forth;
But since you are slightly to the side the action must be circular
which will seem like open to close but is really square to square."
- John
DeSantis, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Dear Marj: The size of a divot or none at all depends on the
strength of the player, the plane angle of the swing, and which club you
are using. It is quite easy to take a divot with a wedge as there is a lot
of loft. Never try to scoop the ball as your clubs are designed to lift
the ball if you swing all the way through the shot. Some people pick the
ball more than others thus less divot. Your goal should be to hit the ball
solid. Do not decelerate but swing through the hitting area with
acceleration. Hope this helps."
- Your
Roland Stafford Golf Professional |
Florida
"Congratulations Marj, on working your way down to a 15
handicap!! You ask a great question that is somewhat difficult to
answer without actually watching you swing. 'Learning to take a divot' is
more about being in the correct position than it is about 'trying' to take
some turf. Many good shots are executed without taking a divot, but
those shots are not "scooped". Most tennis player golfers (in my
experience) tend to turn out their shoulders too early as they start the
downswing. Consequently, the swing comes over the top and the golfer is up
and out of the hitting area at impact. Two things that I would recommend
to you: 1. Have the feeling that you are trying to keep your back to the
target for as long as you can when you start the downswing. 2. As you
start down, delay your weight shift by keeping your weight on your back
foot for longer. Both of these drills will encourage you to be more on
plane and in the hitting area. I would expect that you would see an
immediate improvement in solidness of contact and distance. Good
luck." - Karen
Lesch, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Marj, it is important to take a divot. This allows you to
de-loft the clubface. This gives you maximum distance with minimal effort.
Here are the keys and drills to eliminate scooping. 1) Make sure your ball
position is even with your sternum or slightly forward. This allows your
hands at address to be even with the ball or slightly forward. 2) Check
your impact position in slo-motion. Your left arm and club shaft should be
in a straight line with your right heel slightly off the ground. 3) Hit
some shots under a
rope or string. The rope is 10 yards in front of you. The rope should be
waist level. You can tie the rope around two clubshafts (no clubheads). Your
hands must be forward of the clubface to hit under the rope. Hold your
position after impact to check." - John
Pallot, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"What makes the ball go far is compression. A great drill to
achieve compression is to place a tee deep in the ground about an inch in
front of your ball. Then, as you swing, attempt to knock the tee out of
the ground as you swing through the ball. In this way you should catch the
ball with a slightly descending blow and fully compress it against the
clubface and ground." - Joe
Sciortino, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Marj, Taking a divot is a byproduct of a well-executed
swing. When the club is soled at address, the club head is resting
at the bottom of the arc. As the player shifts his weight towards the
target in the forward swing, the bottom of the arc moves slightly forward
as well; ie., the deepest part of the divot becomes the bottom of the arc.
What I'm about to say now may be different from what you've been told so
far, but, the easiest way to achieve your goal of taking divots is to
position the ball so as to allow the
leading edge of the clubface to rest in the exact middle of your stance.
This is the true bottom of your swing. Now you'll be in position to
move the bottom of the swing forward in your forward swing without going
through contortions. Something that may help is to concentrate on the
front of the ball and picture the club making contact there. Avoid the
pitfall of trying to hit down on the ball as this will tend to limit the
follow-through and take away from the motion of swinging the club. Good
luck Marj, it would be nice if everyone seeking help was willing and eager
to practice like you seem to be. Fairways and Greens!"
- John Brott,
Teaching Professional |
Georgia
"You need to always take a divot when hitting off the deck
or fairway. I think the chip shot is a great way to learn how to take a
divot. You need to understand that we all need ball then ground contact to
achieve solid contact. By starting with a smaller swing it is easier to
grasp. Shaft needs to be leaning forward at impact, not backwards, i.e.
the scoops. A great drill for this is to find an old divot on the range,
set up like a chip shot to that divot, make the chipping motion and extend
the divot toward the target. Your mind is on the stroke and not the ball.
Hope this helps."
- Bin
Brandon, Teaching Professional |
Hawaii
"Marj: my philosophy is this, show me a good tennis player and
I'll show you good a golfer; show me a golfer and I might not show you a
good tennis player. I always encourage golfers, especially beginners, to
take a divot. I believe that taking a divot promotes aggression to hit
down on the ball thus creating
compression which in most cases equals distance. On the other hand the
purest shot in golf is one where no divot is taken. My suggestion is not
to focus on taking a divot but rather to make solid contact on fairway
shots, whether it be metal wood or iron. Remember this basic principle, if
you hit down the ball will go up. In other words let the club and the loft
on the face of the club do the work."
- A.J.
Molitor, Teaching Professional |
Illinois
"Marj: If you feel like you are scooping the ball, or picking it
up when you hit it, then you are losing some distance. You ought to feel
like you are driving THRU the ball...and YES, there should be a divot,
especially on your PW-7 irons. I'd like to see you practice hitting a 7
iron off a tee, and make sure you hit the tee out of the ground EVERY
time, in fact, if you break it, then you're doing it right! After you
break a BUNCH of tees, then start lowering the tee to the grass level
(still trying to hit the tee out)...and you'll find yourself making a
divot...as long as you keep a follow thru. I actually live in
Waukegan/ Libertyville area- I teach at Midlane!! Good luck with your
practice. Remember, "Practice doesn't make perfect....Practice of the
Correct swing...Makes perfect!"
- Jeannette
Kohlhaas, Teaching Professional |
Indiana
"Yes, it is very important to learn to hit shots on a descending
blow and take a divot. Otherwise, inconsistent ball striking will occur.
Many fat and thin shots will appear. An improper weight shift is one cause
of scooping. The weight must shift to your left side during the downswing
in order to take a divot and hit a crisp shot. If your weight hangs
back on your right side, it becomes impossible to take a divot that starts
at the ball and moves forward. The weight shifting to the left allows you
to hit on a descending blow. If your weight stays to the right too long,
you will be referred to as a "hanger and a
flipper" meaning you hang back on your right side and flip or scoop
the hands through impact. Another thing to think about is your posture. If
you are not standing tall with good posture it becomes tough to hit down
on the ball. Players that set up with a rounded back and
"hunched" over too much cannot hit down on the ball. They can
only stand up through impact causing a scooping motion. The third area to
check is that your right side stays "tall" on the downswing
assuming you are a right handed player. If the right side (shoulder and
hip) collapses or lowers during the downswing it also becomes impossible
to hit down on the ball and take a correct divot. Staying tall with your
right side will allow the downward impact you need. When the right side
lowers you will tend to hit behind the ball or (because you know
you are going to hit behind it) you will be forced to "stand up"
through impact causing very inconsistent shots. Lastly, an early release
or casting of the club head is often a cause of scooping your shots.
Delaying the release of the club head is essential in hitting solid shots.
DRILLS: 1. Paint a line on the ground during a practice session. Place the
range balls along the line and hit some shots. The divots, when the ball
is hit correctly, should start at the line and move forward. If you are
hitting the ball with divots starting behind the ball, or not taking
divots at all, check your posture, the level of your right side, an early
release, or an improper weight shift. 2. Chip some balls with your right
hand only holding the club. Notice how when chipping with one hand only,
it is easier to get the ball airborne when you hit down on the ball
instead of trying to hit the ball on the upswing or scooping it. The
regular swing should be a longer version of this "chipping"
motion. The ball will fly off of the clubface with much more consistency
when struck with a downward motion. Always keep in mind how the ball gets
airborne: the club head strikes the ball on a downward motion which
allows the ball to roll up the clubface and
become airborne. This cannot occur when you are scooping the ball."
- Brent
Nicoson, Teaching Professional |
Indiana
"Dear Marj....sounds like you have the "scoopers'
syndrome", and that you might be swinging with all arms instead of
incorporating your body into your swing. 3 things that might help
(assuming you're right handed). 1. Make sure you're loading up on your
right instep on the back swing. (it works like a baseball pitcher winding
up on the pitcher's mound and bracing on his rear leg to deliver the
pitch) You can't make a powerful move through the ball unless you
use your body weight! You'll know and feel a muscle above the right
knee if your doing it right. This is the first step. 2. You have to start
down from the "ground up". What you want to think in the
downswing is that the club head and the right knee gets to the ball at the
same time. Done correctly, this almost assures that your timing will
improve. Simply start down by either trying to touch the left knee with
your right knee, or rotating and clearing your left hip, or spin off with
the right toe (Like a ballet dancer - pirouette). When you do this,
it helps get the club head "into" the ground properly. 3. Then
apply the hit - BUT MAKE SURE YOU STAY BEHIND THE BALL AT IMPACT!! IF YOU
DO THIS RIGHT, YOUR BALANCE SHOULD BE 90% WEIGHT ON OUTSIDE OF LEFT FOOT,
10% ON RIGHT TOE WITH HEEL SKYWARD. This makes your swing go "full
circle", and powerful, which the momentum will HOPEFULLY ENABLE YOU
TO BE FACING THE TARGET WITH YOUR UPPER BODY." - James
Jenks, Teaching Professional |
Indiana
"It is not necessary to take divots with fairway woods. The swing
plane and loft of the club will give it flight and will maximize your
distance if you shallow out the swing plane correctly at impact. The
difference between the plane which a tennis racket swings (Horizontal) and
a golf swing plane which is more (Vertical) and circular. A fairway wood
is a sweeping motion with an approach angle more shallow than steep. A
good example wood be an airplane taking off or landing as a reference to
swing plane.
If you present the clubface squarely at impact your distance will be fine."
- Bruce
Cohen, Teaching Professional |
Kansas
"Good question, the answer is yes. If you are scooping the ball you
are hitting shots without spin. Lack of spin leads to all kinds of
mistakes. Something like the Leadbetter Lazer pointer might really help. I
would simply practice motion drills until I got the right feel. Then try
speeding up the process until you reach your maximum comfortable
speed." - Scott
Hanks, Teaching Professional |
Massachusetts
"Dear Marj: You pose an interesting question asking if it is
"necessary" for you to take a divot with your fairway shots
while at the same time being concerned with the distance you hit these
shots. If you are asking about your fairway wood shots you should not
being taking a "divot" but some grass will be displaced as you
sweep the ball off the turf with a shallower angle of attack than would be
used with
an iron. If you are asking about your fairway iron shots there
should be a divot which starts directly at the back of the ball as your
angle of attack becomes a little steeper with the shorter clubs,
especially the shorter irons (8 iron and less) enabling you to get the
ball airborne. However your lack of a divot indicates that you may be
picking the ball of the ground and therefore striking the ball while the
club head is on the way up rather than on the way down. If you experience
a large percentage of "thin" shots this is most likely the case.
This early release is the more likely culprit in your apparent lack of
distance. Having worked with several top tennis players I have found that
the image of hitting a topspin ground stroke to be very helpful. It will
get you to relate the feel of the proper release of the golf club to a
perhaps more familiar feeling allowing your arms to rotate properly and
produce the right to left ball flight (for a right-handed player) that you
should be trying to achieve along with the added distance this shot shape
will bring." - Chuck
Frithsen, Teaching Professional |
Massachusetts
"My favorite practice for taking divots is to go to a field or
your back yard and swing you 8 or 9 iron and try to cut off a small
cluster of grass. Keep swinging in the same place, each time trying to cut
the cluster shorter and shorter. Eventually you will be taking a divot.
A suggestion also is to relax your arms and grip. Don't tighten up to do
this. Good Luck!" -
Betty Donovan, Teaching Professional |
Minnesota
"Taking a divot is a RESULT of a good swing and should not be
attempted artificially. There are many factors that go into the proper
taking of divots: ball position, distance from the ball, angle of attack,
sequence of the downswing, plus some others. You really need to find a
local teacher to help you."
- Jim
Manthis, Teaching Professional |
Missouri
"Marj: If you are scooping the ball
there are several things happening in your swing that are causing the
scooping. There is lateral motion, too quick of upper body rotation
toward the target, and a loss of arm radius. Try this impact drill:
Set up, drop your back foot back to opposite the heal of your front foot.
Put all the weight on your front foot, and raise your back foot upon the
toe. Make swings feeling your arms swing downward and rotating over
at impact. It will take 10 - 15 swings to make consistent contact,
but after a while you will achieve much more solid contact without and
flippy hand and wrist action." - Terry
Grosch, Teaching Professional |
Nevada
"Not bad! An honest 15 is
a great achievement. The tennis and golf swings are
mechanically similar and compatible. What specifically do you
consider a divot to be? How big, long and how deep? I think all good
ball strikers take some divot, even Ben Hogan! I assume I know what
you mean by 'Scooping' and you should not do so. If I am fortunate enough
to understand your plight by your word, you must not change you 'Knee
Flex' during either your Front or Back Swings. You do not want to 'bob up
and down' as this move changes your 'Spine Angle' and will make you
'Scoop'. These action really compromise your 'Ball Striking'! Also,
this 'Scooping' is an 'Upper Body Move' which I envision as your number
one challenge. You must get more legs, hips and trunk onto your
golf swing. The 'Lower Body Machine' is the 'Rotational Engine' of your
'Golf Swing' and you need to know and 'FEEL' this soon or before you will
have any chance to get to your next plateau. Drills: Create space between
your Hips Sockets and your Sternum at 'Address'. Keep it there
throughout the entire Back and Front Swing intervals. Do the
'Shaft Across Your Shoulders Drill'. It will help you get more 'Rotationally
Fit' and to learn the 'Feeling' of keeping tallish with that trunk to
chest space. There can be a lot of pleasure and
satisfaction found on the D/R but remember you are there to practice
proper 'Physics and Mechanics', to utilize good drills and strategies.
Otherwise you are just getting mediocre exercise, which is not all bad!
But not on the road to better! Practice Smart! Practice Makes Permanent,
so do not practice bad habits. You may get worse! Or perhaps play the
same old game for 15 years! However you do it, the time was and is likely
well spent!" - Karl
Fischer, Teaching Professional |
New York
"Dear
Marj: It is nice to hear that you enjoy your practice time. #1 With your
fairway woods you DO NOT want to take a divot. You want to sweep
the ball off the grass. You do not want to scoop either.
#2 The drill I like to use is this; Place a ball on the practice mat with
a quarter about 6" behind the ball {in line with your target}. You
should be able to nick the coin with your back swing. The coin will not be
in your way on the down swing. If you are practicing on grass use at a tee
instead of the coin. Good luck and swing smooth. Also, please let me know
how this drill works for you."
- Stephen
D. Kladis, Teaching Professional |
New York
"Dear Marj: I always preface any response by saying I cannot see
what you are doing. I have a pretty good idea of how to help you, but it
is an educated guess. Do you need to take a divot with a fairway wood? No!
Generally speaking, woods and longer irons will have a much shallower
angle of attack based on a variety of reasons. The major thing to be sure
of is to keep accelerating through impact. Also, keeping your posture
level is critical. If you are not taking a divot or getting down to the
bottom of the ball, then something is coming out of posture. It could be
your spine angle is raising, the width in your swing (length in your arms)
are shortening, or your swing speed is slowing which can allow you to
shorten through impact. One of the simplest drills you can do is a two tee
drill. Start with a ball teed up in your normal playing position. Remove
the ball. Place another teed ball @six-eight inches ahead of the first
ball. Lining up to the first tee, look at and hit the forward ball. The
first impression is that the forward ball is unreachable. It is not. You
should have no problem getting to the forward ball. In fact, by reaching
for the forward ball, you will keep your spine angle more level, your arms
will stay more extended, and you will continue to accelerate through
impact. You should feel a much freer arm swing with an apparent lack of
effort. Your distance will increase and your contact should improve. Give
this a try and let me know how you did. Thanks for the
question."
- Peter
Gerard, Teaching Professional |
North Carolina
"It is not necessary to take a divot to hit a golf
ball solid! Golf is a game designed to hit a sphere 1 and 7/8 inches in
diameter on another sphere 25,000 miles in diameter. The object of golf is
to hit the little sphere and not the big one!" - Jim
Bell Harris, Teaching Professional |
Ohio
"First of all, I really think that fairway woods are the hardest
to hit. You should never take a big divot but a small thin one is perfect.
To help you with this shot you need to work on a "one piece"
take away. If you take the club away with mostly your hands, you will not
have any body in your swing and you will hit it with all arms. You need to
feel the push away with your left shoulder and no hands in the first part
of your swing. This will help you make a wider swing and you hit it more
solid and straighter by using
your body and not your arms. You can also place a second ball about one
foot behind the one you want to hit and try hitting the second one on the
back swing as you take your one piece take away. That ball should roll
away straight back. If you miss it on your back swing, you are still using
too much hands on your back swing. Good luck." - Andy
Horn, Teaching Professional |
Oregon
"The fairway shot with a wood is more of a rip of the grass you
do not really want to make a divot. The divot would be more in line with
the irons. If you are scooping the ball that would need to change so that
your right hand is crossing over your left after you hit the ball rather
than under as you would do with scooping. A drill that would help you
understand the release of the club would be to point the butt end of the
shaft at the ball at about the 3:00 position and 9:00 position on the
follow thru the crossover would happen in front of your body and at the
ball after it is struck. Grip pressure should be about a 5 on a 1-10
scale." - Penny
Larsen-Gebauer, Teaching Professional |
Pennsylvania
"Marj: To divot or not to divot: that is the question? The answer
is an unequivocal (sp?) YES!! A divot in front of the ball is a sign of a
well struck shot and also signifies a correct understanding. For a better
understanding as well as drills, I highly recommend Mark Evershed's video
("Knowledge"), which you can order by calling 888.884.4653. You
will appreciate his references to tennis! Good luck with your quest."
- David S.
Snyder, Teaching Professional |
Pennsylvania
"Marj: You want to start out with a tee under the ball about 1/2
inch high. When you swing, you need to hit the tee out of the ground.
After you do this a few times in a row, lower the tee to 1/4 inch and do
the same swing drill. If successful, lower the tee again until the tee is
at ground level, and continue to try and knock the tee out. This will
teach you a way to swing thru the shot without "scooping" the
club."
- Bob
Sheppard, Teaching Professional
|
South Carolina
"Marj: Between you and I, one should never try to take a
divot. A divot should be regarded as an effect of a motion, not something
one is trying to do. The two golfers considered by the players to be the
best ball strikers ever until Tiger perhaps, Ben Hogan and Moe Norman,
took divots that resembled feathers. Hardly any at all. So, divots are
overrated by those who cannot break 80. Clear explanation demands quite a
text, but suffice it to say that maintaining the level of the hands from
startup through the ball is quite important. It is physics and geometry
that make a divot occur. We do not have the space to delve into something
that we need not question other than to say that the club head will go
below the tangent line on its own and to the proper depth if we make a
good motion. You have an advantage as a former tennis player. Consider
carefully this truth. We should never try to hit down on the ball. I
suspect that is where the scooping comes from. Since we are tilted from
the hips, the arc of the club head is going to be down anyway. A Golfers
motion, as the tennis player, approaches the ball from the side rather
than above. So, the tilt brings the club head down and the golfer attacks
by going outward, using the same muscles as the tennis player. Bend a bit
and make a tennis forehand motion to see the simplicity of it all. The
wrist conditions are the same at impact for both sports. Go to a chipping
green with a few balls and a tee. Tee up and take a wedge or other
chipping club in your trailing hand, that is right for right-handers. Now
try to simply meet the ball as you did in tennis. This should give an idea
of the ideal path when impact feels like it might in tennis. Try the move
with both hands and a tee until you graduate to the ground. Contact me if
you need additional help."
- Michael
Lucas, Teaching Professional |
South Dakota
"Marj: Consider a forehand down the line. This tennis shot is hit
with your weight moving forward. A Golf ball should be hit with your
weight moving toward the target also. If this happens you are more likely
to produce the descending angle of attack with the club head that is
necessary. Try not to think about whether or not you actually take a
divot. Just try to have a little more weight on your target side at
impact. If I assume you are a right-handed player, try hitting shots off
just your left foot. It will be awkward at first, but if you can learn to
do this in balance your body will become more accustomed to having weight
on the left at impact. Good luck." - Craig
Hatch, Teaching Professional |
Texas
"Lack of divot usually comes from too much lateral movement on
the downswing. Practice staying 'inside' of your relatively straight left
leg at impact. However, it is important to finish totally on the left foot
with belt buckle facing the target (assumes you are right handed)."
- Kim
J. Brown, Teaching Professional |
Texas
"Think about it. Being an accomplished
tennis player you must have hit lots of forehand shots with top spin. I
am willing to bet your right hand is slightly closing the clubface at
impact causing the club head to brush the grass in a rotary fashion
instead of taking turf. When you practice swing the club thinking of
letting it brush the grass. Forget any thoughts you have of accelerating
the club through impact with your hands. You should soon see a divot
that points in the direction of your target. Also check your ball
position. If it is too far back it can cause thin shots. Good
luck."
- Dave
Baron, Teaching Professional
|
Texas
"You are correct in your assumption of hitting the golf ball
first and then the earth. Contacting the golf ball before the ground will
translate into greater club head speed at impact. The fact that your club
is hitting the golf ball on the upswing indicates that your body balance
is remaining over your right foot too long on the down swing. Move your
swing center (the center of your sternum) to a balance point over your
right foot and then BEFORE contacting the golf ball, move your swing
center over your left foot. The swing center position at impact
controls where the golf club will contact the ground after impact. If a
plumb line is dropped to the ground from your swing center at impact
position, the line will be to the left of the golf ball. That's what
causes the golf club to strike the golf ball and then the earth.
Conversely, if the plumb line is to the right of the golf ball at the
impact position, the golf club generally strikes the ground and then moves
upward through the impact of the golf ball (the scoop shot). The
fact that most of your weight is on your right foot just before impact
will also prohibit the proper weight shift from the right foot to left
foot assuming you ARE right handed) which causes a reduced gain of
momentum on the follow through. Imagine a baseball player NOT coiling all
his/her weight over the right foot and then NOT striding forward to the
left foot BEFORE delivering the baseball to home plate. Nolan Ryan
couldn't pitch the baseball over 40 MPH under these circumstances! At
the impact position, the swing center should be balanced over the left
foot and the upper body will be uncoiled slightly past the golf ball. The
middle finger knuckle, of the left hand, at this same impact position will
be pointing at the golf ball. Here is the important part, the shaft
of the golf club will be parallel to the ground and also parallel to the
target line. These are all impact position points that should be felt in
order to impact the golf ball before the ground. The fact that you are
scooping the golf ball off the ground is an indicator your hands are
releasing too soon as well. This is another power reducer at impact.
We set the wrists at a ninety degree angle at the top of the swing to
store energy. If you lose this ninety degree angle before the impact
position, the energy stored in the wrists is used too early (power
loss occurs). Learn to find the impact position first, then, try to
"pump" the golf club to the top of the swing and back to impact
position twice and then on the third "pump" release the follow
through of the golf club. WOW! This "pump drill" is
awkward at first but do it slowly at first and gradually increase the
tempo to that of tic-tock. Best of luck!" - Dan
Howard, Teaching Professional
|
Washington
"Marj: You do not necessarily need to take a divot to achieve
power and distance but you do need to extend through the ball and not
"scoop it" or pick it off the ground. Your problem may be caused
by breaking down your left wrist at impact or "cupping". That
left wrist should be pretty flat and solid at impact. Try to drills. #1.
Ask your pro to get you or borrow an "impact bag" and practice
hitting the bag with the club head square and your hands a little ahead of
the club head at impact. #2. Place a tee in the ground about 6-8" in
front of the ball and practice hitting down and through your iron shots.
You should be able to hit the ball and knock the tee out of the ground
also. Remember you swing
through the ball not at it!!! - Kevin
Bishop, Teaching Professional
|
Washington
"Dear Marj: I will share with you what I feel you should do to
accomplish MUCH MORE THEN your request. Since you are an athlete and have
played the great game of tennis I know without a doubt that you can play
this game a lot better then you currently do. Your typical problems are
prevalent throughout amateur golf. The reason is people do not understand
the concept of how we move the arms in the swing and how the hands
operate. In Tennis I guarantee you do not cup impact of an approaching
ball but use your upper and lower body holding the racket true to your
forearm as you deliver a typical forehand. in golf however the ball is not
moving, and we tend to hit at it and not hold those true wrists and
forearms thru and post impact. There are a ton of typical reasons for this
and seeing your swing on tape can assist me to put you on the right road.
But since you do not know me or my instruction, let me at least give you
some strong and right advice. First, please interview teachers until you
find
one that is in love with what they do and who teach people and do not just
give golf lessons. Until then, Address balls from an impact position
on the range. Using a 7 iron with a teed ball, move your body into the
impact position without moving the shoulders at all but moving into a well
open and strong left hip and leg, complete with the release of your right
foot, and finally your hands and golf club in a straight line a little
more forward then the original address position but in a strong straight
line. This is the impact your typically looking for. I like my students to
hit tiny little shots from this impact position only taking the club back
a little ways not moving the body out of this impact position then after
impact still holding this little shot without flipping the hands and arm
up. This post impact of maintaining the wrist hold that you had at impact
as the hands and arms turn and release into a very short follow through.
This hold is extremely important. The best way I know to practice this is
in the short chip shots
where you feel as if you are hitting little chip punch shot holds with no
left arm collapse or wrist flip. you have to practice this hold as
it is also the hold in the long game for just post impact. You pick the
ball most likely because you flip the wrist up and cup it and the club and
shaft flip past your hands giving away all kinds of leverage and
consistency. Hard to learn this here, please send me a tape by going to my
web site or please interview for a great instructor who loves what they
do. Best wishes and God Bless." - Joe
Thiel, Teaching Professional
|
|
|
