The terrible misconception is that “great putters are born, not made.” Nothing could be further from the truth. We can all become excellent putters once we understand and learn the feel of the fundamentals of putting. In this video clip you will come to understand the art of natural acceleration when putting. With a proper understanding and correct set-up position, predictably consistent putting just got a whole lot easier.
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For the better part of the past two generations, instructors and authors alike have been telling us that the moment of truth in the golf swing is IMPACT! This single piece of misinformation has caused more trama for golfers than perhaps any other – with the possible exception of the admonition to “keep your head down.” The Real Moment of Truth in the golf swing is the moment you deliver your club head speed (where is your WHOOSH?). Watch this video clip and learn the focus and feel of delivering your WHOOSH from the ball to your target, and learn to play far closer to the level of your talent! When struggling with your chipping game, the simple advice is Feel Up to Hit Down! The feeling of being stretched up in your address position gives you the confidence to hit down! Why? Because from a stretched – up position you can’t hit too deep – so you have eliminated the FAT shot. When you hit DOWN – you have also eliminated the THIN shot! What’s left – consistently solid contact! In this video clip you will come to understand and learn the feel of this stretched up posture for all your chips and pitches from around the green. 13 July 2011 Perched on the eve of the 14th Open Championship to be played at Royal St. Georges of Kent, we find the field wide open when trying to predict a winner. Ben Curtis, the winner in 2003 is in the field. The media, having already anointed Rory McIlroy as the ‘next coming’ are poised with pen in hand ready to declare him the winner. But not so fast! It is true that Rory has very impressively lead after seven of the last eight rounds of the majors. And he barely missed out on the playoff at last year’s PGA. So perhaps the oddsmakers have correctly made him the favorite. He is followed closely by Luke Donald and Lee Westwood the two most recent top ranked players in the world – each hungry to win his first Major. It is also true that seven of the past eight Majors trophies have been carried off by a first time Major winner. Will that trend continue this week? If so, who would we put up as contenders in addition to Donald and Westwood? How about Jason Day, the runner up in the past two Majors? Could Mr. consistent Matt Kuchar find the winner circle? Or could we see native sons Justin Rose or Ross Fisher break through? Or perhaps sweet swinging Adam Scott? Is Sergio Garcia really back? How about long hitting, shot shaping Bubba Watson, who also has a very imaginative short game? Or recent winner Nick Watney, perhaps the best of Americans in the field? Could Jeff Overton or Rickie Fowler recapture the magic of their Ryder Cup days? Or how about the young and very talented Matteo Manasssero or Ryo Ishikawa? Or Scotland’s long hitting Martin Laird? This could be the week that Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland or Charles Howell III puts it all together. And then there are the recent one-time Major winners like Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel, Martin Kaymer and Lucas Glover each of whom would like nothing better than to tip the bubbly from the Claret Jug. Lets not forget the seasoned Major veterans like Padrig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Geoff Olgilvy or Retief Goosen. Now think of all the highly talented up and comers who have been winning this year around the globe. Never have I seen a Major begin with so many potential winners. I think Luke Donald said it right in his press conference: in windy conditions, the guy who scrapes it around, makes pars from off the green holes a few long putts and kind of keeps the momentum going will put himself in good position. Now whose game does that sound like? I think the long knockers who can find fairways have a decided advantage here. But not those who can’t “flight” the ball nor haven’t the imagination to deal with the contours around and on the greens. So that leaves out Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Alvaro Quiros, Aaron Baddeley, Paul Casey, Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair, Mark Wilson and perhaps Gary Woodland and Kyle Stanley. Let’s see, who is a long knocker who can find fairways, flight the ball and has the imagination to handle the contours on and around the greens? With Tiger out of the tournament, that would leave: Rory McIlroy, Robert Garrigus, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Justin Rose, Martin Laird , Ross Fisher, Sergio Garcia and JOHN DALY(if he can putt). Of those, Rory, on paper, is the best. The only “short knockers” I would pick as potential winners are Graeme McDowell, Charl Schwartzel, Lee Westwood (not putting well enough) and Luke Donald. I will be very interested to see how Rickie Fowler, Kyle Stanley and Gary Woodland handle the wind and the contours. We have here three future American stars who can gain valuable experience this week if the wind blows. So my top five for this week are: Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Ross Fisher and Martin Laird with Justin Rose as my longshot. My pick for top American finisher is Robert Garrigus. 4 July 2011 All the players like Aronimink. Its Donald Ross ‘run-off’ greens and fairways make this track a real test of shotmaking ability. For this event, it would be a very good and very popular every other year rotation with Congressional. This week the players took full advantage of no wind and Saturday’s soft greens. No one more so than Nick Watney whose 27 on the back nine on Saturday was nothing short of unbelievable! Nick Watney: A BIG Congrats to Nick on his second victory of the year and his move to the top of the money list on the PGA tour for 2011 – the first time he has found himself in such thin air! Nick is currently being hailed by the media as perhaps the best of the American players on tour. I’m not so sure this wide-eyed “deer in the head lights” player is quite ready to accept that role. The talent is certainly there. He hits the ball far enough. When on, he can knock down pins. But most impressive: Nick can really get the rock rolling. When he gets in his putting groove, he expects to make everything – and very nearly does. On Sunday he used only 9 putts over his first eight holes. Over a 16 hole stretch beginning with his back nine on Saturday, Nick used only 19 putts for 16 holes. At one point in his round on Sunday he had recorded 59 shots for his last 18 holes. Its no wonder he tied the tournament record at 13 under set by Tiger in 2009 at Congressional. It will be interesting to see if Nick has the shots in his bag to play the type of golf demanded by Royal St. Georges next week at the British Open. This Sandwich beauty, just off the east coast of England is a favorite test of those who love links style golf. K.J. Choi: Like old man river – he just keeps rollin’ along! And he very nearly rolled in that 20 footer on 18 on Sunday, which would have forced Watney to make his knee knocker for the win. K.J. his having himself quite a year. A victory at the Players Championship – arguably the toughest field all year, this near win and a few other well played tournaments have K.J. ranked second in Fedex cup points. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find him in that final group on the final Sunday with a chance to win it all for 2011. Charles Howell III: I never understood why this player, with such a good swing, who shows up so well on tough courses doesn’t win more often! Perhaps his strong finish this week to tie for 3rd will give him the confidence boost he needs to get back into the winners circle. Adam Scott: You heard it here first! This guy has a better swing than Rory McIlroy! His is definately the best swing on tour. It is as fundamentally perfect a swing as I have ever seen. His career got sidetracked when he was voted the ’sexiest” player on tour. Now that’s a tough repution to live up to and still focus on your game. But he’s back on track thanks in great part to Greg Norman showing enough faith in him to put him on his President’s cup team a year ago! It’s been a long tough road back for Scott, particularly since he had lost all confidence on the greens. Now that he has the feel and trust of a putting stroke that works with a long putter, he should try once again with a shorter putter. Why? It is just too hard to get the feel of short sharp breaking putts with those unduly long putters. With just a few more made putts, we would see Adam back in the winners circle. Jeff Overton: Our Close But No Cigar Award this week goes to Jeff. Coming down the stretch Jeff had so many moving parts to his swing motion that he failed to produce the quality of ball flights that would give him the birdie opportunities he needed to put pressure on Watney. Beginning last summer when Jeff was on that “winless” hot streak that earned him a spot on the Ryder Cup team, I began writing about his need to develop a firm left post axis to spin on. Well here we are a year later and that is still the only thing Jeff needs to refine, to make him consistently, one of the top young talents on the tour. When Jeff quits sliding his left hip forward and rolling over onto the outside of his left ankle, he will be in position to consistently produce ball flights that are absolutely stunning. I look forward to that day as Jeff is the type of personality that one can’t help but root for. Go Hoosiers! Golfstruck – Better Golf – Right Now! WHAT WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM ERNIE ELS’ STRUGGLE WITH THOSE “SHOULD MAKE” PUTTS Ernie Els is one of the most talented players in the game. He’s had a great career (64 worldwide wins, including a US Open win at Congressional). Ernie was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, a well deserved honor and rare achievement. But Ernie could be in the winners circle a lot more often if he would improve his putting. Ernie Els has been struggling with his short “makeable” putts for the past three years. In the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, on Sunday alone, Ernie missed enough 6 footers to win the tournament! Ernie tends to miss his short putts left. Often his left side quits upon impact, causing deceleration, and his right side takes over, which causes the putter face to release or close to his target line. Result: yet another “pulled” putt. Then, to avoid the miss left, I see him “guide or steer” his short putts. When this happens the ball doesn’t come off the putter face well, and he loses speed control caused by tension in his hands and forearms. Which, in turn, causes him to second guess his reads. There is absolutely no worse feeling in the game than standing over a putt we “should make” with the fear of missing it. And why does that anxiety creep in? Because , standing over that putt, we have lost the feel of both line AND speed and our confidence to deliver either one. Many a great player has succumbed to the putting woes as he aged. But for Ernie, and for all of you in that same boat, thankfully, that time has not yet arrived. Nor need it ever. Relax, help is on the way! If you find yourself in the same boat as Ernie, pulling your short putts left, take a look at the video below and pay close attention to how I get Ernie putting confidently. 14 June 2011 Whose game is ready for the US Open this year? We’d like to get your top five picks and your winner. Feel free to Post your picks as a comment below this post. Based on what we have seen during the first half of 2011, here is Ozzie’s analysis of the field at Congressional: Thursday’s Pairings and Tee Times No. 1 No. 10 I believe the winner will come from among the 24 players I have highlighted above. Perhaps a bit of a contrarian, I realize I have not selected anyone from the 1:35 10th tee pairing: Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. My reasoning: The emotionl McIlroy has yet to learn how to turn his emotional nature into a positive. Johnson has yet to develop a precision short game. Mickelson has been lining up closed to his target line all season, causing him to spray shots, including his short irons and wedges, all over the place. He also is not focusing well. Many of your other favorites simply aren’t putting well enough to win. Several who fall into this caegory, sadly, are: Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Paul Casey, K.J. Choi, Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Stewart Cink, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen Now lets narrow the field by demonstrated weakness that will likely keep players out of the winners circle: Quality of Performance Routine: Of the players I selected, the following tend to hit too many loose shots by short changing their preparation to play shots precisely: JustinRose, Rickie Fowler, Aaron Baddeley, Brandt Snedeker. This week they will likely let the lady steal too many shots from them: Courage and Confidence: Perhaps the following, though talented enough, are not yet able to visualize themselves as the US Open Champion: Nick Watney, Ryan Palmer, Ben Crane, Mark Wilson, Gary Woodland, Bo Van Pelt, Bill Haas, Ryan Moore. It is just possible that Steve Stricker may fall into this category as well. Key Swing Flaw: Jeff Overton tends to slide his left post well beyond the ball, which creates a timing problem; Graeme McDowell gets his club face a little shut at the top causing him to deliver the face closed at impact; Martin Laird gets a little quick in his transition from backswing to downswing, which messes up his rhythm and feel just when he needs it most; Charl Schwartzel gets too much tension in his right side to fully complete his backswing, causing him to get over the top and pull shots left or steer them to the right; Set-Up Flaw: Luke Donald tends to get his feet set directly under his hips, i.e. too far from the ball. When he does this he gets out of balance and has to reach for the ball as he delivers, causing his armswing to separate from the spinning of his hips. Result: he misses both left and right; Geoff Ogilvy tends to get a little slouched in his set-up, which causes him to move off the ball, thus missing quality contact too often. Putting: All my selections are good putters on fast greens with the exception of Edoardo Molinari, who can be streaky good. Who does that leave as the best prepared in all facets of the game for Congressional? Matt Kuchar, Jason Day, Matteo Manassero and Ian Poulter. I’d like to add two back into my top picks and those would be the two players with set-up flaws: Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy. Both have a demonstrated they can quickly fix their problem and have shown tenacity down the stretch and have matured as winners. And the winner is: My pick for the Winners Circle at Congressional this year , which is likely a surprise to all but him, is Jason Day. My longshot pick would be the young and confident Matteo Manassero. Please feel free to post your comments below. If you have not yet registered, you will need to do so to post a comment. Golfstruck – Better Golf – Right Now! One of the most frustrating parts of this game in looking for “lost” balls. We can go a long way toward hitting the ball “where we’re looking” by simply keeping our elbows pointing at the ground throughout our golf swing. In this video clip we show you why that works and how you can quickly teach yourself this important connection in your own golf swing. In this video clip we stress the importance of spinning on a stable axis. When you Post-Up properly, you can both spin in place (make consistently solid contact) and spin faster (deliver more clubhead speed). Strike the ground beyond the golf ball, delivering all of your club head speed and power to your target, for the more accurate and consistent golf shots. |
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