Body Release vs. Hands Release

I took my second lesson from my new pro this past Tuesday and had a really enlightening discussion with him about the release in the swing.  He gave me a short history of the development and evolution of the golf swing.  Until the advent of the steel shaft in the mid 20th century, hickory shafts dominated the game.  Hickory staffs were quite flexible and the vast majority of players used their body to release the club (ala Byron Nelson, Bobby Jones, etc.).  In a body release, the hands and arms are passive and the body transfers weight to be completely on the left side at the finish.  With the advent of the extremely stiff shafts of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, players were forced to alter their swings to retain the needed trajectory on shots.  Starting with Hogan, the swing developed to the more “modern” swing where you hear people talk about the head “staying behind the ball,” and using the hands to release the club.  A trademark of this era of swing was the “Reverse C” finish (see video of Jack Nickalus, early Tom Watson, early Greg Norman, etc.).  Now graphite shafts have become more popular, and even steel shafts are more flexible than they were 30 years ago.  This has led to many players returning to more of a body release (look at Greg Norman and Tom Watson today), and many using a combination today (see Tiger Woods).  

What are the advantages of a body release?  Typically, body releasers are very consistent ballstrikers and their swings are relatively low maintenance b/c it doesn’t involve the precise timing of the hands used in the “hands release” swing.  It is also much less stressful on the back than a true hands release swing.  However, body releasers are typically less creative shotmakers because of the passivity of the hands in the swing. 

After watching me hit a few balls at the beginning of the lesson, Jim (my pro) decided that we needed to go with more of a body release swing.  I had been using a hands release but my ballstriking had not improved since the previous lesson.  I immediately noticed an improvement in consistency with the hands release and it has continued on the course.  Although my scores in the last two rounds haven’t reflected it (36 putts and 1/10 up and downs will hurt scores no matter how your ballstriking is), my irons have become significantly more accurate, my drives more consistent and powerful.  Today I hit PW to 4 ft, an 8I to 12 ft, and a 4I to 11 ft.  I also hit 3 drives over 270 yards as measured by my iGolf neo GPS. 

Overall, I’m excited to continue working with the body release.  My back no longer is sore or aches after a round, and now I expect to putt the ball within 20 ft. when I have an 8I or less in my hands, and I expect to at least get it on the green with a 5I or less.  

Look for my next post within the next couple days when I review “Peak Performance Golf” by Dr. Patrick Cohn.  Until next time!

-GolfDreamer

First Lesson With a New Pro

I had my first lesson this past week with the new pro I’ll be working over the coming months.  It was a cold morning and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but after spending an hour plus working with Jim, it was well worth bundling up.  We started out by checking the fit of my clubs.  I have/had a tendency for my shots to all be to the right (sometimes a push, sometimes a fade, sometimes both) and so he wanted to check my lie angle before we went any further.  *ASIDE* I really enjoyed Jim explaining the anatomy of the lesson and why he was doing what he did.  I think that will be really useful down the road when I start teaching. *END ASIDE* Turns out my clubs were right on in terms of lie angle and I hit some really nice shots off the board (maybe I need to carry one around with me:-)).  

He started by asking some questions about my background in sports, what my game has looked like lately, strengths, and weaknesses all to get an idea of where I am now and what the best way to relate to me would be.  After hitting a few more shots, he began asking me how right hand dominant I was (do I do everything with my right hand?  Can I write my name with my left hand? Would I starve if I broke my right arm?).  I’ll admit, I’m not that great with my left hand.  So, he asked me “how” I swung the club.  I think, like most people, I imagined the swing being a very left side dominant action where the club is pulled through the impact zone.   Being right side dominant, Jim suggested that I try making my swing thought more along the lines of “throwing the club at the target with my right hand and right side.”  He then related a story about a time he talked with Mark Calchevecia shortly after his British Open win in 1989.  Calchevecia wasn’t hitting the ball the way he wanted and asked Jim, “What am I doing wrong, pro?” (at the time, Jim was a relatively new pro who had just gotten his class A certification from the PGA)  Jim asked Calchevecia what he did when he hit the ball the best and Mark told him, “I just take the club back smoothly and kill the ball with my right side.”

The moral of the story is, not all of us are left side dominant.  Just like tennis players have a preferred side (forehand or backhand), golfers can also have a preferred/dominant side.  However, it’s not recognized as frequently in the golf game.  Employing this new swing thought almost immediately straightened out my slice.  I took it to the course the next day and shot an 84 (converting only 3/12 U&D chances and missing 3 par putts under 5 feet), but most importantly, hit only two balls that I would say had more than a slight fade on them.  Even more amazing, with the exception of 2 or 3 shots, I hit almost every ball crisply (not straight, but crisply:-)).  It was a great feeling.  I did pull most of my shots due to my slight out-to-in swing path, so that is the next thing to work on.  But, for the first time in my life, I feel confident and authoritative releasing the club.  One shot in particular comes to mind on the 17th hole.  I had hit my drive in the middle of the fairway about 165 from the middle of the green.  This green is extremely narrow on the front portion (kind of T-shaped w/a bunker on the left hand side, about 6 paces across at the front).  I took out a 6 iron and hit kind of a 3/4 knock down shot with a slight draw.  Now I know what compression means.  I missed the green just right by about 2 feet, but was pin high. 

Moral of the story (if you’ve been able to stick with me this long).  If you struggle with pull-slices/slices and other inconsistencies and are heavily right side dominant, try taking advantage of your right side and using it.  Next time you’re on the course or at the range, “hit” through the ball with your right side or “throw” the club with your right side and see what happens.

COMING SOON: Book reviews on several books plus a review on my new bag

Equipment Review: iGolf Neo

For Christmas, my wife bought me a iGolf Neo GPS (www.igolf.com, $149.95).  I know that the debate rages in the golf community over whether GPS or laser devices are the best for helping and improving your golf game.  I actually think that in the long run, I would prefer a laser rangefinder (ala Bushnell Pinseeker) as they give you a little more precision in measuring distances, price dictated a “cheap” GPS system for me.  Now that I’ve had the iGolf Neo for a few weeks and have played a few rounds with it, let me give it a quick review.

Out of the box, you’ll first notice the iGolf Neo’s small size (3″x2″x1″).  In fact, even though it comes with a belt clip to attach to, it’s almost as easy to just throw it into your pocket and ditch the belt clip.  I’ve found the belt clip to be useful though, as I can usually just look down with the unit in the belt clip and read distances without taking it out of the clip.  

Once you get past the small size, the iGolf Neo will impress you with it’s quick reception of satellites.  I’ve never had a problem picking up signals, even on cloudy dreary days.  From what I have read, the Neo uses the same computer chips that Garmin uses in their GPS systems, which are typically considered top of the line.  Indeed, I have yet to encounter a situation in my rounds where I have had a questionable reading.  Also, unlike other systems that I have read about having problems with distances oscillating around a number by 5-10 yards once you’ve reached your ball, the Neo gives extremely stable yardages.

Don’t get the iGolf Neo confused with the latest offerings from SkyCaddie, though.  This is not a feature rich system.  Instead, it’s more of a bare bones GPS that gives you distance to the front, center, and back of greens along with up to four custom points.  On most courses, a couple of those custom points are used up as iGolf has done the hard work for you and marked most relevant bunkers, water carries, and end of fairways.  What the Neo lacks in features, though, it makes up for in ease and simplicity of use.  I never even had to look at the instruction manual to figure out how to use all of the features.  One of the most important to me, besides the basic measurements to the green, is the shot distance feature.  This has really helped me dial in my distances on my irons.  With the simple press of the “Shot/OK” button, the shot distance counter is initiated.  If you need to check out your partners distance as you go by his ball, feel free to do so–the counter will continue to count until you press the “Shot” button again when you get to your ball 35 yards ahead.  

Software and syncing has been a breeze so far.  I’m using the Beta software designed for Macs, and even the Beta hasn’t given me any problems.  Simply plug in the Neo, select the courses I want to load onto the unit (it can hold up to 10 courses at once) and click “Sync.”  Unlike, SkyCaddie, a yearly subscription is not required to use the system, but it is required to download new courses.  For $30/year, 100 courses can be downloaded.  Golf course offerings are extensive (I have never had problems finding even small town munis when I visit my parents in Mississippi) and you can even find out if your home course is listed before you buy the unit by visiting www.igolf.com.  

Overall, I have been impressed with the Neo up to this point.  My only concern is how long the rechargeable lithium battery (which is not replaceable) will last.  So far, I have had to charge it about every 5 rounds, which isn’t a problem at all for me.  The screen is easy to read in the sun and has given me accurate measures of distances.  Satellite reception has been strong and reliable.  While I wouldn’t recommend the unit to someone looking for a system with all the bells and whistles, it is definitely a unit worthy to be considered, especially for those on a budget.  Simple, easy to use, and reliable, the iGolf Neo GPS system separates itself from the field by it’s small, lightweight size, reliable performance, and streamlined functioning.

New Year’s Resolution (Part 2)

So I’m a little late with part two of my New Year’s post.  But, better late than never.  In Part 1, I outlined my 2008 year of golf and promised to outline my plan of action for 2009.  If I expect to beat my goal of a 10 handicap by August (a ~8 stroke drop from where I am now), I have a lot of work to do, but it is doable.

My first step, as outlined in Part 1, was to identify weaknesses, both statistically and mechanically.  Statistics say that I struggle with my approach shots from 120-170.  I’m actually a lot better at the moment with a half or three-quarters wedge than I am with a full wedge or nine iron in my hand (case in point, I played a few holes recently w/two balls since the course was empty).  On a short par 5, I hit my second shot with one ball to about 55 yards from the green and the other ball to about 105 (an easy PW if I have a good lie).  The PW I pulled just left of the green, leaving me w/a 15 yd. pitch.  From 55 yards, I put my SW about 4 feet from the pin.  So, I need to work on my iron play.  I also noted in my last post that my driving has been terrible lately.  

Both problems stem from an overactive upper body at the beginning of my downswing leading to coming outside-in (a typical problem for mid-high handicappers).  This problem isn’t present nearly as much in half and three-quarter swings b/c I’m not trying to hit the ball as hard/far.  Clearly, one key for me is two work on really letting momentum take control of my swing as opposed to my arms (in the words of David Leadbetter, let the downswing start from the bottom up).  

My first step to fixing my swing was to see a professional to take some lessons.  I’ve already talked to and set up lessons with a local golf pro who has worked with a couple of college All-Americans and at least one player who played on the PGA Tour.  I met and talked with him for about an hour and a half to discuss life as golf pro was like and also to talk about the approach we were going to take over the next 6-8 months.  I’m looking forward to having structured feedback instead of kind of winging it by myself.

Secondly, in conjunction with my new “coach,” I want to work on my mental game and course management.  One of his “specialty” areas is cognitive learning and the mental side of the golf swing.  I think that my pre-shot routine and practice habits probably are lacking some and I look forward to learning from him about how to improve that part of my game.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I’ve made a commitment to practice at least 6 hours each week.  Practice can’t just be beating balls at the range, though.  It has to be practice that is structured and productive.  Part of this was inspired by reading Dr. Bob Rotella’s book “The Golf of Your Dreams” (book review to come soon).  I currently have structured a practice routine for myself, but I’ll be overhauling it after my first lesson next week.  When that’s done, I’ll post my regime so that people can see what a structured practice regime looks like.  I plan on holding myself accountable by taking regular lessons (~2/month) and by keeping a journal of all practice that I do (what drill, how many balls I hit) and basic statistics about my practice (e.g. if I hit 50 foot putts, how many do I make?) since I believe that noticing improvement in your practices can sustain you through times when your scores aren’t going down.   

So in recap, I want to 

1) Take regular lessons

2) Improve mental game and course management

3)  Commit to a dedicated practice regime with measures in effect to hold myself accountable

In my next couple of posts I’ll be reviewing Dr. Rotella’s book and also the iGolf Neo GPS system that I received as a Christmas present.  Until next time!

New Year’s Resolutions (Part 1)

It’s been a while since I had a chance to write.  Between the busyness of the holidays, vacationing to visit my family, and getting back to be faced by a lot of household tasks, it’s been tough to get on and write a post.  However, I’ve had time to think and reflect now, and I want to write a two part post outlining my New Year’s resolutions.  Part 1 will look at 2008 in review and outline strengths and weaknesses, and try to do a little analysis of what I need to do to get to my next set of goals.  Part 2 (hopefully up tomorrow) will outline what my goals for 2009 are along with what I plan to do to get to those goals.

As I pointed out when I started the blog, I started playing seriously again in June.  My first round was just over 100 (at a fairly difficult course), and my first round at my now home course was a 94.  Over the last few months I’ve managed to break 80 once and now consistently shoot in the mid 80s (last 5 rounds at my home course have had a scoring average of 86).  My swing has gone through a slight swing change (with an emphasis on some of the fundamentals of Hogan), and although I feel like I have a better swing, my ball striking hasn’t always reflected that.  My putting has definitely improved over the months.  I recently had my first sub-30 putt round and have averaged 32.5 putts over my last 10 rounds (down from 33.8 overall).  

But, not every part of my game has been rosy.  Three or four months ago, I would’ve considered driving one of my strengths (normally hit the ball straight and averaged around 240 off the tee).  Currently, I’m struggling to keep the driver in play and have lost a lot of distance (in a recent round I averaged just over 200 off the tee).  I think I know the mechanical flaw, though, and I’ll soon be seeing a pro about it (more on that in Part 2).  

Let me end by throwing out some yearend stats (the more you read the more you’ll find that I’m a very analytical/numbers person).  All stats are averaged over every round I recorded for the year (basically from July until the end of the year).  Obviously most numbers were worse when I started in July and better now, although it’s not always the case.

————————————

Score: 91.96 (Handicap = 18.1)

GIR: 18.65%

FWY Hit: 52.17%

GIR FWY Hit: 24.48%

Total Putts: 33.79

Putts per GIR: 2.19

GIR 1st putt (ft.): 23.8

Scrambling: 14.15%

Up & Down: 19.49%

U&D 1st putt (ft.): 12.71

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Two main areas of my game stand out.  Firstly, as stated earlier is my driving.  It’s been atrocious lately (even when I hit the fairway, it is often ugly looking).  Second is my short/mid iron game.  I need to hit more than 24% of greens when I’m in the fairway.  My course isn’t long and I’m usually close enough that I have 6I or less in my hands.  Other than that, I’m not too unhappy with my game.  Up and downs have gotten significantly better over the course of the year, and the bad GIR putting stems mainly from leaving myself almost 25 foot putts when I get on.

In Part 2 of this post I’ll look at these problems more specifically and then go in depth with how I plan on tackling them over the next 8 months.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Weird Weather Golf

We’ve had some awfully weird weather here in Texas lately.  And of course I’ve tried to play through all of it.  Last week we had our first snowfall in my hometown in almost 15 years.  Needless to say golf was out for those two days.  However, the snow did melt (but the cold didn’t go away), and this past Monday, I went out for a round with a friend.  

When we teed off, it was about 37* with a windchill of 25*.  I layered up with underarmor, some Thermotec, ski socks, a beanie, and my wind/rain jacket.  To top it off, I kept one of my ski gloves handy to wear in between shots.  After 9 holes, I gave up.  Maybe I need to invest in some better cold weather gear for days like Monday, but by the time I putted out on 9, I could no longer feel my hands, which made having any feel impossible.  By the end of the day, we had freezing rain coating my car.  

Weird weather didn’t stop with the cold temperatures, though.  After the freezing rain thawed, fog set in.  I felt like I was living in San Francisco as the fog didn’t lift for two straight days.  I still managed to get in a round yesterday (sadly finished with two triple bogeys to shoot an 89).  It was kind of eerie playing when wedge shots slowly disappeared into the clouds only to fall out a few seconds later.  When the fog finally lifted (and temperatures rose into the 70s) today I made it out to shoot an 85 (finished double-double…maybe I need to work on closing out my rounds?).  

Does anybody have any good stories about playing inclement weather?

Intro to My Journey

Welcome to my journey.  Over the next two and a half years, I hope you’ll follow me as I attempt to go from bogey golfer to assistant pro at a golf course (any golf course!).  Currently, I am 24 years old, recently married, and soon to receive a Master’s degree in atmospheric science.  Why, you might ask, am I changing careers now?  I didn’t know that I loved golf until about 5 1/2 months ago.  I never played growing up, and while in college took a golf class and played sparingly.  In my first year of grad school, I played more consistently and eventually was scoring around 90 consistently.  However, research soon consumed my life and I quit playing for a year and a half or so.

Fast forward to summer of 2008.  My wife bought me a round of golf at a nicer golf course in the Houston area as part of our honeymoon.  I had only played one round in the previous year and had all but lost the “golf bug.”  One round, though, was all it took to get hooked again.  Of course, “golf pro,” wasn’t something anyone would’ve described me as that day.  Indeed, with a score of 102, “hacker” might’ve been a stretch. 

Since then, I’ve worked diligently at my game, and have been making steady improvement.  Recently, I shot a personal best 78.  Scoring has been hard to come by the last few weeks, though, as winter has descended upon southeast Texas (snow last week, freezing rain in the forecast for today), but my dedication to the game has not.

In this blog, you will be able to follow my journey as I try to lower my handicap to 7.0 by August of 2009.  In September of 2009, I hope to enroll in the Golf Academy of America in Orlando, FL to pursue a job as PGA teaching professional.  Included in this site will be updates on my progress, thoughts on courses I play, thoughts on golf equipment, and of course insight into the mind of a “normal guy” trying to make a living playing and teaching golf.  Join me on the journey, and I promise to keep you entertained.