Aug 30, 2010
Nick, I enjoyed finally getting to meet you on the practice range at the Barclays. I believe you are potentially one of the best young talents on tour. From what I see, your game needs two critical improvements: Confidence and retained angles. Working on the second should lead to the first. So here goes.
We need to get that pull hook the rears its ugly head coming down the stretch – out of your bag. To my eye it is caused by quickness from the top as you come out of your spine angle. Which in turn is often caused by quickness in your takeaway and therefore failure to complete your backswing turn. All of which, I believe, can very simply be solved by getting a feel in your set-up and at the top that Sam Snead taught me.
One day when playing with Sam, I asked him why at the start of his downswing he always looked like he was riding a horse (picture bowlegged) when everyone else was already firing their right side. After Sam said, “You want all my secrets, don’t you,” his response was very interesting and I’ve used it to help many a player.
Sam said that the biggest problem he saw, even among young tour players, was the tendency to change their spine angle (stand up) as they started their downswing. Which in turn, caused them to change their shaft angle through impact. When they do this, Sam went on, they tend to hit it all over the parking lot (miss both left and right).
“You see, Ozzie, when I grew up, we were so poor we didn’t even have an outhouse. So I learned very early on that it was never a good idea to shit in my shoes – always shit behind your shoes. So the first move I make as I start my downswing is to thrust my butt out, behind my shoes – then you will see me fire my right side through. This move not only keeps me in my spine angle (chest down), but serves to brace up my left leg before I start to spin my left hip. When you retain both spine angle and shaft angle (perpendicular to spine angle) you can really go after it without fear of either left or right. It’s like a horse with blinders. He can only see where he’s going.”
So Nick, I’d really like to see what happens to both your confidence and your accuracy when you learn what Sam Snead shared with me. Let me know what you discover.
All the best,
Ozzie
Golfstruck – Better Golf Right Now!
