Wednesday 8/24/11
Having watched several players on the practice tee yesterday, many working with their swing coaches, here’s what I saw they need to do better:
Lucas Glover – He must get a softer feel in his right hand/wrist/forearm so he can cock properly. Right now his clubshaft is cocking between his arms with his right elbow pointing well behind him rather than downward – so his right wrist is now cocking into tray position, ie. enough under the shaft. From this backswing position his release tends to be too early in the downswing causing him to fight a hook. The feel he needs in one of cock behind his right elbow rather than between his elbows. This is a pretty simple fix that he could get the feel of rather quickly so he could confidently hit more fairways and work the ball either left or right with far better control.
Nick Watney – Nick is swinging really well. But he is struggling a bit with his ball flights because of a bad combination of ball position and spine tilt, particularly with his driver. The combination he seems to me to need is the feeling that his spine tilt is into his left ankle bone at impact and that his ankle bone is aligned with the back of the ball. This combination would allow him to make an aggressive move to his full finish without sliding past the ball at impact – which causes his miss to the right.
Luke Donald – Luke has a beautifully rhythmical repeating golf swing, which is the result of the great combined work of Luke and Pat Goss, his instructor from his college days at Northwestern. However, as I watched them work together yesterday, I noticed that coming into impact, Luke’s hand position gets some 4-6 inches higher than at address. This steepening of his shaft angle on the downswing, I believe, is the primary reason he is missing both ways. Luke is having to manipulate through the region of impact to hit it straight, which is a most uncomfortable feeling for any player. From this steeper shaft angle position he cannot play either the controlled fade or draw – though the fade is much easier. Sam Snead taught me that to swing with no change in the relationship between spine angle and shaft angle is a great feel, one one which confidently produces on target ball flights. For Luke to return his handle to his left pivot at impact, so his club stays in balance and his clubface squares naturally, he needs to get closer to the ball so he can balance over his insteps instead of on the balls of his feet. The feel is that his butt needs to be hehind his heels as far as his eyes are in front of his toes. From this position he can turn powerfully while making sufficient room for the handle to return (along his toe line) to his left pivot, thus maintaining the perpendicular relationsip between spine angle and shaft angle through the region of impact. The result is straight, confident balls flights and a far better ability to produce controlled fades as well as draws – on command.
Brandt Snedeker – Here’s a player with marvelous natural talent. As I observed his pratice session I noticed a frequent tendency to get quick in his takeaway, which resulted in a rushed rhythm. When he felt his rhythm rushed, in an effort to get the clubface squarely on the ball, he tended to come out of his spine angles as he tried to get his body turn to catch up with his hands – which were getting to the ball too fast or too soon. The result – misses both left and right. The solution is a very simple fix – feel low and slow away from the ball. This feeling creates a wide, full turn away arc that will give Brandt the time required to feel the natural sequence of his down and through. Once he gets this feel, look out. He can be the hottest player on tour.
Jerry Kelly – Jerry was struggling yesterday with his feel of delivery from ball to target. As I watche him practice his move into the ball, working hard to recapture that feel of “automatic,” I noticed that his set-up was the major culprit. His knees were too bent and his back was rounded causing him to stand too far from the ball – which in turn made him reach out for the ball on the way through, causing him to release early on the downswing. All Jerry needs, I believe is to get the feel of proper distance from the ball and proper posture over the ball to recapture his feel of delivery from ball to target. When his whoosh gets consistently beyond the ball, he will have a great chance of moving into the top 30 and making it to East Lake.
Stewart Cink – As I watched Stewart practice he seemed to be thinking too much and too long over the ball. He seems to have too many swing thoughts during his performance routine. Stewart, to my way of thinking, needs to simplify. Much easier said than done. Right now his thrust of his arms to straight is occurring prior to impact – way too early in his downswing causing his face to turn over, so he is producing a ball flight with way too much draw. To improve his ball flights – right now – I believe Stewart needs to get his mind beyond the ball. I would suggest starting with the “sling it drill” I learned from Sam Snead and working his way backward from delivered position to impact postion to the sequence of the downswing that produces the feel of delivery from ball to target. With a player of Cink’s talent and understanding, I think we could have him producing great shots in very short order.
Josh Teater – As I watched Josh swing, while conversing with his very knowledgeable instructor, I noticed that he tends to get his arms behind him during his backswing, which creates a timing problem with his delivery. Also he tends to stand a little too far from the ball so he is out of balance at address. This combination of balance and disconnect means that Josh has to be sure to finish well to get his timing right to produce consistently predictable ball flights. Given the level of Josh’s talent and his self assured attitude, I am of the opinion that he could significantly increase his earnings with a better connected and better balanced approach to his swing.
Keegan Bradley – The new American darling of the tour, Keegan has a wonderful grace about him. What a refreshing personality! And he always seems to give credit to those who have helped him get there. One can only wish the very best for Keegan. In that regard, as I watch Keegan swing, when he stays connected he delivers his motion perhaps as well as anyone on tour. He seems to have a great grasp of his swing and how to get it back when he loses it. His tendency to disconnect, i.e. lose the feel of his timing, I believe could be solved as follows: feel the handle/elbows/left pivot connection from the beginning of his takeaway, thoughout his back/down & through swing. These connections will serve to maintain not only the perpendicular relationship between spine angle and shaft angle throughout his swing, but the feel of acceleration from ball to target, consistently and predictably. With these feels Keegan will be able to “flight” the ball whatever way he chooses for all the shots in the game.
