Well, here in the Northeast/MidAtlantic region of the U.S., the weather has cooled and golf season is winding down, or is it? Maybe you won't be able to play your local golf course once the biting chill of November hits, but that is no reason to cease working on your game! From now until about mid-December, the weather will still be reasonable enough in the southern MidAtlantic (basically, south of Richmond, VA), and still close enough to take a long weekend to play a little golf. After that, as the season wears on, the further south you must go.
Still, if you don't have the opportunity to get away for a few days, find your nearby indoor golf range to hit a few balls and maybe work on your short game. Or, check out where you can play a round of golf on an indoor golf simulator.
Most importantly, this is the time of year to work on body improvements that can help your golf swing. As we get older, we tend to lose flexibility and strength if we do not keep up with our workouts. However, studies have shown that it is still possible to build muscle int our 70s and beyond.
It is my belief that this time of year is the best time to really go to work on your body and your golf swing! By combining strength training, stretching, and golf specific exercises along with a thorough understanding of what you want to do with your golf swing, you can make significant improvements in the off season. Then, when Spring arrives, you will have full confidence in your swing, and you can focus on your short game, where you will be able to drastically reduce your scores!
Go see your golf instructor now to set up your plan for Winter Golf Training!
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
Beginning golfers must learn how to hit down on the golf ball to hit solid shots that go straight and long. The common mistake is trying to lift the ball up when you hit it, and that is the exact opposite of what you need to do to hit a compressed golf ball.
When you hear that swing thought, I am not talking about throwing the clubhead into the ground. You must maintain clubhead speed through the ball, so hitting into the ground will disrupt that speed and may cause a whole host of other issues including chunked, fat shots.
What I want you to picture in your mind when you start learning how to hit down on golf ball is one in which your hands and butt of the club are ahead (not even) of the ball at impact.
This will result in a forward leaning of the shaft at impact, and with most amateur golfers, the shaft is nearly vertical or worse yet, leaning away from the target which is called flipping or scooping the golf ball, resulting in thin shots.
One way to really ingrain this is to get into an impact position, with the above attributes in place. I think you'll be shocked at what it looks and feels like, but that is your goal when you hit the golf ball.
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Having good balance is an absolute necessity for generating a powerful golf swing. If you do not have a strong foundation, then you simply will not have the ability to generate a full turn, and thus, you will lose power in the swing.
But, what are the keys to good balance? Well, this is where improved fitness comes in. Probably the most significant muscle involved in proper balance is the hamstring. Not only must it be flexible, it must be strong.
The hamstrings must first be flexible. The reason for this is that the hamstrings, through the glutes, are tied to the lower back. Since it is crucial to maintain a straight spine angle throughout the golf swing, there is pressure on the lower back. The lower back gets support from the glutes and hamstrings. So, if the hamstrings are not flexible, they will not provide proper support to the lower back muscles. This is one reason why many golfers suffer from a tight back during and after a round of golf.
First, determine your own personal flexibility with a little test. We’ve all done this! While keeping your legs straight, bend at the waist slowly and try to touch your toes. Can you do this? If not, you need to work on stretching the hamstrings.
I generally prefer stretching one leg at a time. Here is my stretching routine for the hamstrings:
Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Pull the right foot in so that the bottom of the foot touches the inside of the left knee. Point the toes of the left foot straight up. Keeping your back as straight as possible, reach down to the leg, starting at the knee, and move your body forward, pushing the chest toward the knee. Reach further down the leg as far down as you can go, and try to draw the chest as close to the knee as possible. Once you have hit your limit, feeling a good stretch, hold that position for 15 seconds. Try and relax as much as possible, then try to reach further down the leg to the ankle or foot and move the chest even closer to the knee, and hold for another 15 seconds. Slowly rise up, and switch legs, repeating this sequence.
In order to work on strengthening the hamstrings, my favorite exercise, since it also works the quadriceps, is the step-back lunge. This exercise is performed as follows:
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells, step back with the left foot at one full step, and sink down into a lunge position with your right leg. Your upper right leg should be parallel to the floor. Hold this position for a second, then push off with the left foot and return to the starting position. Repeat by stepping back with the right foot and sink down into a lunge position with the left leg. Repeat each side for 8 to 12 repetitions, so don’t use a heavy weight.
If you can develop flexible and strong hamstrings, you will better be able to get into a good golf posture, and maintain that spine angle through impact, and that is the key to solid, consistent ball striking.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
Recently, I had the opportunity to receive hands-on instruction from golf teaching guru, Hank Haney. Now, this was obviously a special opportunity since Hank basically only teaches Tiger Woods, and the junior players at his academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Hank has a specific golf swing theory that he is confident will allow the golfer to hit the nine main golf shots with consistency, at will. This includes the straight shot, with low, medium or high trajectory, a draw with these three trajectories, and a fade with these three trajectories. If a golfer can swing the golf club efficiently, he or she should feel comfortable hitting any one of these shots when the situation calls for it.
Hank’s theory is that the club shaft should maintain the same angle throughout the golf swing as its starting position at address. This is not the so-called one-plane golf swing. Hank dismisses that idea. However, he does suggest that there is one plane “angle” that the shaft should maintain, on different planes, throughout the golf swing.
Now, although I always felt I had a pretty good shoulder turn, my lesson with Hank indicated that I was not getting the full shoulder turn I need to maintain this one plane angle with a full golf swing. Instead, my left shoulder would drop slightly, and my head would also drop, during the back swing. As a result, I was not making the full shoulder turn that would allow me to swing the club on the consistent shaft angle that Hank indicates will lead to more consistent ball striking. Instead, the angle of my club shaft would at times be too flat or too steep, and ultimately I would need to have exceptional timing to hit the ball straighter.
I’ve stated in a previous article that flexibility is more important than strength for initially trying to add distance to your golf game. In trying to make the fuller shoulder turn that Hank was making me do during my lesson, I realized that I probably need to work on stretching my upper body some more. I will note that I also have a bit of a neck issue related to a skiing wreck when I was a teenager. As such, this may limit how much of a turn I can ultimately make. The swing can still be effective if I must make only a three-quarter swing, and I can still generate power in other ways, but I will make a go out of trying to generate a full swing by increasing my flexibility.
Increased flexibility is so important to improving the golf swing, that even Charles Barkley is working on this as he works with Hank Haney in trying to solve his full swing yip problem. At the same time, he has lost 30 pounds as well. It is no secret now that fitness is one of the big keys to improving your golf game!
With that in mind, in the coming weeks, I will continue to focus my attention on stretching the upper body. Below are descriptions of the primary stretching exercises I will utilize in improving my flexibility. If you want to improve your golf game, I suggest you work on these simple exercises as well!
Back Stretch – Twist
Lay flat on your back, arms out to sides and palms down, with your knees bent and feet flat to the floor. Shift onto your left hip, keeping your back flat to the floor. Lower your knees to the left side, so that the left knee and thigh lay on the floor. Place your left hand on your right knee, and pull the right knee down to floor…at the same time your head should be turned to the right, facing your right hand. Hold for 30 seconds, then slowly switch positions to the other side.
Lying Down Shoulder Stretch
While sitting on the floor, legs stretched out front, and back straight, interlock your hands on the floor behind your back. Slide your feet forward as far as they will go, feeling the stretch in the front of the shoulders. Hold that position for 30 seconds.
Trunk Rotations
Hold a staff or a broomstick behind your neck, with your arms outstretched along the staff. At the golf course, you can do a version of this with your driver, with on hand on the grip, and the other down near the clubhead.
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, slowly turn your body as far to the left as possible, hold for a second, then slowly twist to the right, as far as possible. Repeat 10 times to each side, and each time try to turn a little further.
Elbow Pull Shoulder Stretch
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, or sitting in an upright position with your back straight, extend your left arm forward, reach under and slightly behind your left elbow with your right hand, then draw the left arm in toward your body and across to the right. You should feel this stretch in the back and side of your left deltoid muscle of the shoulder. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, then perform this same stretch with the right shoulder.
There are plenty of golf fitness gurus out there who insist that you can gain greater distance by doing a few exercises and stretches. This will be true if you already have a good golf swing. But, the bottom line is, if you have a faulty swing, you can exercise until you are blue in the face, and it won't matter.
A week ago I was in Dallas attending the Hank Haney "Teaching the Teacher" seminar that he holds annually. We all had the opportunity to work with Hank's staff on our swings. Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to get a full swing lesson from Hank in front of the rest of the pros. He analyzed video of my swing, showed me my faults, then showed me how to improve my swing. He essentially gave me the same lesson that one of his instructors, Doug Alexander, had given me a couple days earlier. However, it did reinforce what I needed to work on.
A couple hours later, I took these ideas to the driving range. I struggled for a while, mainly because I was not getting the release at impact correct, and my follow through was off. After a while though, it finally clicked. I ripped four straight 5-irons with a slight draw, and decided to pull out the driver. I made perfect contact with the driver, and the ball flew dead straight. I have no idea how far it went, but the ball flight was beautiful, and the ball shot off the clubface like a bullet. The beauty of all this was that the physical effort required to hit these shots was far less than with my old swing.
So, first thing is first. If you want more distance, improve your swing. Then, when you want to take it to the next level, work on your fitness.
Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net
This is a follow up to a recent post discussing the keys to generating more power in your golf swing. In the first installment, I discussed the importance of a good set up with balance. In this post, the focus is on the shoulder turn.
What I have noticed in most average players is the lack of a good shoulder turn. This may be the result of a physical issue, but in most cases, it is due to a swing flaw, such as a reverse pivot. Most golfers that learn the game as adults have difficulty developing a big shoulder turn since they are primarily focused on trying to either just make contact with the ball, or keep it in play. Junior golfers and those that learn the game at an early age rarely have this problem.
However, generating a powerful golf swing requires that full shoulder turn, since when you combine that with a smaller hip turn, you generate significant torque. When this torque is unwound, significant clubhead speed is generated.
If flexibility is your issue in trying to generate a full shoulder turn, I suggest you learn some basic stretching exercises that will help to loosen up your upper body. My ebook, "How to Improve Your Golf Swing Power" provides a number of such exercises along with strength training routines you can perform at home with no equipment.
If you have a swing flaw such as a reverse pivot, you are losing significant power in that regard. Seek a qualified golf instructor to help you deal with that issue.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
I did a little bit of research, as usual, in recent weeks, and came to the realization that there is one muscle group that most golfers do not work on much, but it is definitely a key to achieving distance potential. This group is the lats, the muscles of the upper and middle back. Women in particular tend to have much smaller lat muscles than men.
The reason this muscle group is important is that it is very involved in the winding and unwinding of the golf swing. The stronger these muscles are, the more torque you can put into the golf swing.
The best way to work out these muscles without much in the way of equipment, is the pull up. Unfortunately, pull-ups can be quite difficult, and most people, especially people who are a bit over weight, find it difficult to perform just one repetition. However, by simply using a chair to support some of your weight, you can still do pull-ups and increase your strength.
We do this by setting one foot on the chair. This takes away some of the body weight, which makes it a little easier to do a pull up. Doing our best not to push up with that foot, we pull ourselves up until our chin as even or slightly above the bar. If you lower yourself back down slowly, you will continue to work the muscles.
You can try a variety of grips on the pull up bar. First, try an overlapping grip with the hands shoulder width apart. A more difficult version would be to place the hands outside of shoulder width apart. Or you can also try a very narrow grip, with the hands just a few inches apart. You can also do a chin up, which is done by grabbing the bar so that palms face toward you.
Since the pull up hits the back and arms, and the shoulders to an extent, it is a great exercise for the golfer seeking to add some distance without spending hours in the gym.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
One of the most overlooked keys to a powerful golf swing is proper balance in your golf swing. Quite often, most students are told that one of the keys to a good golf swing is to maintain good balance, and to try and keep your balance somewhere near the balls of your feet. Unfortunately, that is where the discussion ends.
I trained for eight years in the martial art of Pai Lum Kung Fu, and proper balance was stressed throughout my training, from my days as a beginner student, and even beyond when I attained 1st Degree Black Belt. However, in our training, we focused on every possible detail regarding balance, from the feet, to proper stance width, posture and center of gravity. These are all important keys to developing power in our Kung Fu techniques, and they are important keys to helping golfers develop more power in their golf swings as well.
In describing the swing of J.B. Holmes, noted golf instructor David Leadbetter has this to say…” Starting down, his legs get into a squat position, which lets him use the ground as resistance and create an unbelievable energy flow from his legs, up through his shoulders and down into his arms and the club.”
Using the ground as resistance and the creation of energy flow from the legs are two important components we focused on for generating power in our techniques at the kung fu school.
One of the things my teacher stressed often was to focus on getting our feet rooted into the ground to help generate power, particularly in our punching techniques. We devote an entire breathing exercise that lasts about five minutes to this concept of rooting. Later in our training, we were taught to focus on a specific spot on the bottom of our foot where our balance will be rooted into the ground. This spot will also draw energy from the earth into our body, and then we learn how to transfer this energy into our technique. When you develop this ability, you become capable of generating incredible bower with minimal movement.
To locate this specific spot on the bottom of your foot, take a moment to sit down, and take off your shoes and socks. On the bottom of your feet you will notice thick pads, that are often described as the balls of the feet. The biggest of these pads is under the area beneath the big toe. Next to this large pad is an area that looks like a small hollow. Take your thumb and push into this hollow firmly. If you feel a nice jolt of pain, you have found the right spot! If not, keep searching until you feel that bit of pain. In Chinese medicine, this spot is known as Kidney Point 1, and it is viewed as a very significant healing point, even for a heart attack victim.
Now that we have identified this point, we want to take this information and transfer it into our golf swing. So, with your shoes off, find a spot on a hard floor and get into your golf stance (without a club of course). When you set up into your stance to hit a golf ball, focus very hard on these points in the bottom of your feet. These are the points where you should focus your balance.
Now I want you to feel a sort of corkscrewing motion, starting with that spot in the bottom of your feet, then feel it up into your knees, then into your hips. You should feel as if you are trying to screw the bottom of your foot into the ground, and then the hips tuck under your torso, and maybe move forward a little bit (we also refer to this as a curling of the hips). Practice a few times at home with your shoes off, then try getting that same feeling with your golf shoes on (preferably not indoors or you will have some damaged floors!). You see, it is absolutely critical that you engage the hips in your golf swing, particularly at the start of your downswing. Engaging the hips in this manner will help them clear out the path for the golf club more quickly, generating more power.
Posture also plays a significant role in developing proper balance. Although we want to feel as if we are rooted into the ground like a tree, we certainly do not want to stand straight up in our golf stance, nor do we want to be bent over too far in our stance. Generally speaking, if we draw a straight line up from the ground to the sky at the back our hips, we then want to be bent at the hips so that our spine is angled about 30 degrees from that straight line. Find a photo of Tiger Woods’ stance and you have a perfect picture of what I describe. This stance allows the arms plenty of room to swing freely in the golf swing.
Finally, it is important to maintain a low center of gravity throughout your golf swing. You will often hear football announcers describe how a running back is difficult to tackle because he has a low center of gravity. The martial artist looks to develop that low center of gravity as well, in order to generate power in his punches. The golfer will lose power by rising up in his/her golf swing.
To make sure you keep your center of gravity as low as possible, it is important to learn how to relax your abdomen during the golf swing. In other words, let your gut sag instead of sucking it in! This will require you to learn how to breathe so that you fill up all three levels of your lungs (lower, middle, upper), rather than just the upper level of your lungs. By learning how to breathe in this manner, you will learn how to maintain a low center of gravity even while holding your breath at the beginning of the swing (you should learn how to exhale during the downswing).
If you can learn how to develop proper posture and balance in this manner, you will have success in improving the power of your golf swing.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
The PGA named Corey Pavin as Ryder Cup Captain for the 2010 event in Wales. Pavin has had a long career on tour, with a notable victory in the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, where he held off Greg Norman with his incredible 4-wood shot into the 18th hole in the final round. Overall, he has had 15 wins on tour.
I have no problem with this choice, as he was probably next in line for the job after Paul Azinger. What I am noticing, however, is a trend over the past decade of shorter and shorter resume for our Ryder Cup captains. The fact is, besides Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, professional golfers on both major tours just don't win much anymore. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is due to the huge amount of money these guys make on tour now. Maybe they just are not as hungry, or maybe the fields are just deeper, I don't know.
I will say this though, and I have said it many times before...there are fewer players on tour that really know how to win, and win consistently. I think the 1960's through the early 1980's was probably the Golden Era of golf. Look at how many truly outstanding players there were, and how often they won. Not only tour events, but majors. Let's specifically look at major winners. Obviously you start with Nicklaus and his 18 professional majors, then you have Gary Player (9), Tom Watson (8), Arnold Palmer (7), and Lee Trevino (6). Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo came on at the end of this period and had 5 and 6 majors respectively.
Back during that period, the list of winners is littered with players that won more than one major. From 1960 to 1983, the list of major championship winners is dominated by repeat major championship winners. Since 1990, besides Tiger Woods, there have only been a handful of winners who have gone on to win another major. Among today's players, Tiger has 13 major victories, and his nearest contemporary competitors all have just 3 (Mickelson, Singh, Els and now Harrington).
What I have noticed in recent years is that the only player who goes out and really wins a major without backing into it, is Tiger Woods. In all 3 of his majors, Ernie Els essentially survived while is competitors fell apart. Mickelson did well to win his three, and so have Harrington and Singh. Otherwise, we have not seen any major brilliant displays such as Nicklaus' 65 at Augusta in 1986, Player's 64 at Augusta in 1978, or the splendid battle between Nicklaus and Watson at Turnberry in 1977. And to top the list, Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont in 1973.
The point is, going forward, unless either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson is the captain of the Ryder Cup team, the resume of the captain of the U.S. side will be pretty thin in the foreseeable future. Most of the great players from the 1990's just have one major victory (Love and Couples). Payne Stewart should be mentioned here, he had 3. And, in the last five years, only four Americans have won majors (Woods, Mickelson, Todd Hamilton and Zach Johnson).
Somehow, our players need to learn how to win!
Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net