GolfRx: March 2007

You shouldn’t wait until the courses open and you plan your first round of the year to think about improving your game. It can be very frustrating to a golfer to play year after year and not see any improvement. Regardless of your level of ability, golf will be more fun if you see improvement over time.

There can be many reasons for the lack of improvement; limited practice time, practicing your strengths instead of your weaknesses, not understanding swing technique and the fear to change, among others.

The more you know your game the more you will be able to see improvement as you play and practice throughout the year. Players that improve over time understand the golf swing to some degree. Your body can only do what your mind tells it to do so, if you have no concept or a poor concept of the swing it’s difficult to get better. You need to practice with a purpose. That means knowing what parts of your game need the most work and what to do to improve those areas.

EVALUATING YOUR GAME & SETTING GOALS

Whether you are a single digit handicap or not even at a level where you keep track of your score, evaluating your game is an important part of making progress. You must determine your strengths and weakness in order to know which areas to spend your practice time. One of the first questions I ask a player when they come in for a lesson is, “What bad shots prevent you from having a lower score?”

Before you pick up a club, think back to your last few rounds and identify what type of shots cost you the most strokes.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Tee Shots –

• How many fairways did I hit?

• How many tee shot cost me a penalty shot?

• How many tee shots prevented me from having a second shot?

There is a difference between a tee shot that is out of bounds, or behind a tree, and one that is off the fairway by five yards. Being off the fairway by five yards still gives you a swing to at least advance the ball.

Fairway Shots –

• How many greens did I hit in regulation?

• Can I hit my fairway woods off the ground?

• Do I have trouble hitting shots from different lies?

Short Game –

• Do I get my first chip or pitch shot onto the green?

• How many putts per round?

Your questions and goal-settings need to match your level of play. For example, a low handicap player keeps track of how many pitch shots he hits within two feet, whereas a higher handicap player might be keeping track of how many pitch shots he gets onto the green with the first try.

TIME FOR THE RANGE

Before you start hitting balls spend some time warming up the body. Do a few of your favorite stretches; focus on your back, hamstring and shoulders. Swing a weighted club a few times. If you don’t have a weighted club, swing two of your irons at the same time.

Especially early in the year, it is a good idea to start hitting your fist few shots with shorter and slower than normal swings.

A good place to start would be to hit balls with the toe of the club up drill. Two of the common positions of a better player would be to have the toe of the golf club almost pointing directly to the sky at the hip high position in the back swing (Fig. 1) and the mirror image of that position in the follow through. (Fig 2).

You can practice this at home without even having to hit balls. Not only look for the toe of the club position, but also check that the shaft of the golf club is parallel to the target when it is hip high.

After hitting balls with a short swing for a few minutes, increase your swing until you are taking your normal full swing, keeping your swing slower than normal. Better players will have a practice swing speed that is slower than normal. This can help in several ways.

First, early in the year your body needs a chance to get back into the swing of things. Most golf injuries happen early in the year when our bodies are not stretched or warmed up enough. Swinging slower and easier than normal will also help you relax. Tension is one of the biggest reasons why players hit bad shots.

Swinging slower will also help you feel what you are doing in your swing. If you can’t feel where your club is, or what your body is doing during your swing, it is difficult to make any improvements.

Keep your mind free of technical stuff for the first couple of times hitting balls. Use this time to loosen up and evaluate your shots. Look for patterns to your bad shots. If you have a pattern to your bad shots, you can look into your swing to make corrections. If you are not sure how to make corrections, it might be time to learn more about the golf swing whether by book, video or by taking a lesson. No one can see their own swing, even the best players in the world who understand the golf swing completely need another pair of eyes.

Have fun with your spring season practice.

GolfRx: February 2007

We all want to play better golf. The challenge becomes how? Is the answer new clubs, using more expensive golf balls, or is it taking a lesson? Although lessons and equipment help us play better golf, the answer might have more to do with improving our body’s ability to perform the required movements.

I see players working so hard on improving their golf swing. What they don’t realize is the problem with their swing might have more to do with their lack of strength, or flexibility, in some area of their body. This not only can lead to poor performance, but also physical injury and mental disappointment.

That’s probably not what a lot of you want to hear, but you don’t have to spend hours each day at the gym to play better golf.

There are “golf-specific” strength and stretching exercises you can do but more importantly, “golfer-specific” exercises you can do. Each golfer needs to know what specific stretching or strengthening drills he can do to improve his own golf swing. If you know what areas to work on each day for a few minutes- not hours – it can make a difference. The more you understand the golf swing, the more able you will be to improve. This is independent of your swing mechanics or physical condition.

Each month I will try to help you better understand the swing mechanics related to the golf club as well as the bio-mechanics of the swing.

Let’s start with our golf posture. What happens first is most important: the set-up, or address position. A good set-up can lead to a good backswing and a good backswing can lead to a good downswing.

First, we must understand that while there are certain fundamentally correct positions, every golfer deviates from these positions. You don’t have to be perfect.

The better your posture is at the address position and through the swing, the more consistent your swing will be.

What is good posture? Good posture in golf is tilting our spine at the pelvis from a vertical position to an angle somewhere between 25 and 40 degrees. The amount of tilt forward would vary depending on a player’s height. The best way to find this position is as follows:

From a standing vertical position, push your behind back and tilt forward until your shoulders are out to your toes and your behind is out past your heels by 2 or 3 inches. Use a mirror at home to check your position.

Ideally, you should have a flat upper back. The more curved your back, the harder it will be to make a full shoulder turn or trunk rotation.

A good drill to check and improve this position is to hold the grip end of your driver against the back of your head with one hand; with your other hand try to get the other end against your behind. Try to make both ends touch while standing first. Then try again in your golf posture, tilting forward (Fig 1).

If you can’t make both ends touch, then some stretching is in order for you. Maintaining good hamstring, glute and hip flexor flexibility also helps with your posture.

The stronger your back and abdominal muscles are, the easier it is to have a flat back and maintain it during the swing.

Another exercise you can do to help with your upper back posture and flexibility would be to hold the shaft of your driver across your back with one hand on either side (Fig 2). It might be difficult to do at first if you lack flexibility in your upper chest and shoulders. Using a longer club will make it easier for you to get the club behind your back.

This exercise will help you open up the front of your body. In your back you will feel your scapulas come together. This will take the rounding, or curve, out of your upper back.

You can use the “club behind your back drill” to help improve trunk flexibility. Stand upright with the club across your back, stand with your right foot to the outside of your left foot and then turn you shoulder to the right. Placing your right foot across your left prevents your hips from turning. This puts the stretch into your torso. Tour players are capable of turning their shoulders 90 degrees to hip rotation. Make sure to stretch both sides of your body. You can also work on your pivot with a club behind your back (Fig 3). Get into your golf posture and rotate back; ideally you would want a 90-degree turn.

There are many activities and exercises that can help you improve your golf flexibility and strengthen your golf muscles. I know my yoga practice has helped my golf game both mentally and physically. The drills I have shown you today only take a few minutes and can be done at home. We know the more quality time we put into something, the better the results. Even if your time is limited, take a few minutes to stretch before each practice session or round of golf, it not only will help prevent injury but also improve your golf game.

Joe Portfilio is a PGA Golf Professional at Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills. He is a graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program at Ferris State University. Since joining Carl’s in 1988, Joe has given over 2,000 lessons per year. He is co-founder of Michigan Adaptive Golf which helps people with disabilities start, or resume, golf after an illness or injury.

If you have a question, or topic you would like to see, can contact Joe at: joep@carlsgolfland.com

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