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This article, written by Ozzie Carlson, appeared in the Bergen Record 2009 series
ONE MOVE TO BETTER GOLF
Article 3: Title: Deliver Clubhead Speed for Greater Accuracy
So often players come to me saying they would be willing to sacrifice distance if they could just keep the ball in the fairway. Fortunately, for all of us, the physics of the golf swing dictates that as we develop the ability to hit the ball straighter, it also goes farther. Distance and accuracy are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are birds of a feather. Let’s understand why this is so.
To produce consistently accurate ball flights, the clubhead must be accelerating at impact. Why? When the clubhead is accelerating at impact the “kick” built into the shaft has not yet been released. When the “kick” occurs just beyond impact, the ball is compressed against the clubface for an ever slightly longer period of time, thus directing the ball to go somewhere, i.e. in a direction, for a distance. When we deliver correctly, the ball therefore, goes both straighter and farther. So how do we learn to deliver an accelerating clubhead, correctly?
First, let’s understand what physically happens at the moment we achieve maximum clubhead speed. In his book, Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, on pages 105 and 106, Ben Hogan taught us that we achieve maximum speed the moment both arms thrust to straight, and that the only place in the golf swing that both arms are correctly straight is about two feet beyond the ball.
Unfortunately, all too many modern day golf instructors seem to have missed the importance of Hogan’s message on this very crucial point. So we have an entire generation of teachers and authors telling is that “impact is the moment of truth” in the golf swing. On the contrary, physics tells us that the real moment of truth in the golf swing is not really impact at all, rather, it is the moment we deliver our clubhead speed.
What happens to the vast majority of players is that they tend to deliver their speed too soon – prior to, or at best, at impact. When the arms thrust to straight prior to impact, the clubhead is actually slowing down as it approaches the ball – resulting in inconsistent and errant ball flights. When we actually achieve maximum speed precisely at impact, we tend to make solid contact, but we don’t direct the ball to go anywhere in particular. So we play “hit and hope” golf.
To actually deliver our clubhead speed from the ball to our target, we must learn the feel of thrusting both arms to straight, in a downward motion, just beyond the ball.
Note: For this to happen, the right arm must still be slightly bent and relaxed at impact with the right elbow leading the forearm, much as a shortstop would make a half underhand/half sidearm throw to first base.
The feel of this motion is one of the blood rushing into the fingertips as the relaxed arms thrust to straight. The more downward the thrust, the greater the tingling sensation in the fingertips.
This next point is critical. To consistently achieve the thrust to straight as a downward motion – beyond the ball and toward the target, two important things have to happen: a) the player’s attention must be focused there – along the target line, along the ground, beyond the ball; and b) the right thigh, together with the right elbow, must lead the right forearm and club to impact.
Notice what we just said. To consistently deliver your clubhead speed from ball to target, your body needs one and only one very important message from your mind – Go There - along the ground, beyond the ball, toward your target. And, in order to go there (deliver your thrust to straight downward beyond the ball), you must actively fire your right side before your arms thrust to straight.
When playing, use your practice swings to get the feel of brushing the grass just beyond your braced left post. Once your body has this feel of motion, you can confidently step up to play your shot, knowing that you need simply focus on going there!
Golfstruck – Better Golf Right Now!
This article, written by Ozzie Carlson, appeared in the Bergen Record 2009 series
ONE MOVE TO BETTER GOLF
Article 11: Title: One Shot to Victory – The Controlled Fade
This past week the US Senior Open was played on a Pete Dye masterpiece, the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, IN. Watching the seniors play there brought back a flood of personal memories. In 1991 “The Stick” was preparing to host the PGA Championship and Mr. Dye had just installed a whole set of Championship tees, some so far back they were new islands in the middle of small lakes.
When I asked Pete what in the world he was doing, his response was, “these guys hit it so far now, I’m afraid of them tearing up this course.” I was there along with a couple dozen 0 – 5 handicappers for Pete’s official “test run” of his new layout. He had set the course up to play from the tips with “Sunday Pins.”
Coming up the brutally long and tough 18th, we found Pete anxiously awaiting our arrival at this marvelous finishing par four wrapped gently around water up the entire right side. We joined Pete for lunch as he asked for our candid comments about the course and then for our scores.
His proud smile in response to our glowing comments, however, quickly turned sinister when he learned that I had posted a course record 66 from his newly installed championship tees. We all had a big chuckle as we watched good ol’ Pete, head down, shuffle away, quietly mumbling to himself that his masterpiece, after all that hard work, was still in jeopardy. Daly’s 12 under, lapped the field, with no one else coming even close to his low round of 67. The course had held its own and Pete was well pleased. He is still hoping to get the US Open there!
One shot that was very instrumental in what may well have been my best ball striking round ever, was the controlled fade. When the pins are tucked at “The Stick” the only way I could get the ball to stop near them was to play my 2,3 and 4 irons with a gentle fade. I owe that round to Sam Snead. Here’s what he taught me about hitting a controlled fade.
First, you must hit the fade with a closed clubface! When Sam told me that my response was very likely the same as yours: “Sam, if the face is closed, the ball will hook!” “No, no, he said. The face is closed to your target line – not to your swing path.”
So here is how it works: first, Sam pointed out that a controlled fade lands left of the pin and rolls toward the hole. If the ball ever gets to the right of the pin you have lost control of your ball flight because the ball is getting farther and farther from the hole as it rolls to a stop. So I thought, wow, wouldn’t it be great to have that kind of control. I kept listening.
Sam went on to say that if you deliver your clubface closed to your target line (the flagstick), the ball can’t turn too far, so you never have to worry about “overcooking” your fade. He then said, if you no longer have to worry about turning the ball too far, you won’t be afraid to go ahead and fade it. As I began practicing what Sam taught me, I found that statement to be really important.
Next, we talked about set-up and alignment. Since we want the face closed to the target, it must be open to our swingpath, which is well left of the flagstick, or the ball won’t fade. The fade is caused by the open face, imparting a left to right spin to the ball (righthanders) as we deliver our motion from ball to swing target!
How far we align left is dependent upon how far we want to turn the ball. You can practice this at the range by aligning two club shafts or rods in a “V” shape with each side of the “V” pointing, respectively, at the flagstick or swing target and placing your golf ball in the middle of the “V”.
The process of set-up and alignment, I have found, works best when we first set the clubhead down behind the ball with the face aligned slightly closed to the right rod (the flagstick) and slightly open to the left rod (our swing target) – before we grip the club.
Then align the handle slightly ahead of the ball and position your left heel in line with the handle, with your feet aligned along the left rod – to your swing target. Check your hip alignment to be certain your hips are aligned directly at your swing target, so that when you spin and fire, your right side fires on path – to your swing target. Your arms and club will be delivered along your intended swing path when your right side fires in that direction!
Once you are set-up and aligned properly, simply deliver your normal swing on a path toward the center of the green. The ball flight produced will be a nice gentle fade. If it’s not, you have some work to do on your hand action and forearm rotation – your release! We will talk about that next week.
Golfstruck – Better Golf Right Now!
This article, written by Ozzie Carlson, appeared in the Bergen Record in the 2009 series
ONE MOVE TO BETTER GOLF
Article 13: Title: Double Down to Beat the Odds
Let’s talk about “hand action” through the region of impact, otherwise known as the release. Understanding how to properly generate that extra “crack the whip” clubhead speed from ball to target is the first step to more power with greater accuracy. When we finally learn to trust our release to deliver swing path, club face, clubhead speed and our angle of attack, we are well on our way to better golf.
As a young tour player, Ben Hogan became so frustrated with his tendency to hook shots under pressure that he left the tour saying, he wouldn’t be back until he’d solved the problem. It took Mr. Hogan a full year of trial and error practice to come to understand the power with accuracy conundrum. When he came back he was so good that the world wanted to know “his secret.” Here is my understanding of what Mr. Hogan learned and so marvelously applied to his game.
First, we must understand that the clubhead must be accelerating at impact. Why? An accelerating clubhead is kept in the swing arc (on path and in plane) by the combined forces of gravity, centripetal and centrifugal force, thus greater accuracy comes with greater distance.
So how do we deliver an accelerating clubhead? We must learn the feel of centripetal force and when and how to deliver its benefits. Here is what Mr. Hogan discovered during that year of intensely hard work.
When the club swings through its arc there are opposing forces working outward from the handle to the clubhead (centripetal force) and inward from the clubhead to the handle (centrifugal force). By using the inward force properly, we can control the timing and delivery of the outward force.
During the downswing, since our hands are the only connection to the club, our tendency, as players, is to initiate our downswing with our hands. As soon as we do this we start sending the outward force along the shaft from our hands to the clubhead, thereby accelerating the clubhead way too early and well prior to impact.
When the force is transmitted from hands to clubhead early in the downswing, the accelerating clubhead is pulled downward by gravity, causing the handle to rise and the left wrist to break down. Now, our shaft angle steepens and the club is no longer in a “balanced” state; so the shaft and clubface fail to rotate properly causing us to have to “steer our shots.” We saw this problem in Tiger’s swing during both the US and British Open this year. These past three weeks he’s been swinging a far more balanced club.
So how do we keep the club balanced, when do we want to send the force from handle to clubhead and precisely how do we do it? This book has not yet been written. But, let’s try to summarize in a couple of paragraphs.
Use the heels of both (soft) hands to create downward pressure on the handle of the club during the downswing as your arms are pulled back to the left pivot by the spinning action of the left hip. Hogan discovered that this downward pressure on the handle kept his club “quiet and balanced” during the downswing thus delaying the release of the outward force from handle to clubhead.
Next, we must bow (supinate) the left wrist slightly as we approach impact so that it is in a strong enough position to absorb the powerful thrust/release of the outward force along the shaft from ball to target. As he bowed the left wrist, Hogan discovered that his right wrist remained cocked and in a position to strike a more powerful and downward blow. Hence the term “double down,” meaning handle down, hit down.
And finally, the “release” of the outward force from handle to clubhead is generated by the rotation of the elbows and forearms as they thrust downward to straight from ball to target. In a proper delivery, the elbows are level, straight, together and pointing to the ground with both hands still facing the target. When the forearms rotate with the handle down (pointing to the left hip joint) and the left wrist slightly bowed, the club swings through from ball to target in plane, on path and in a balanced state. So there is no longer a need to attempt to steer your shots. Let it go! Trust it! And have fun!
Golfstruck – Better Golf Right Now
This article, written by Ozzie Carlson, appeared in the Bergen Record June 21, 2010
Title of 2010 series: How Do I Do This?
Article 4: Headline: Rhythm, The Secret to Success
A great question came in this week about rhythm. Joe says he has measured rhythmic tempo with his short irons, but wonders why he loses it with his driver? You’re not alone Joe, believe me. So by tackling this one, many more players’ tee shots will soar farther and straighter.
When we think about it, every scoring shot we play in golf has a measured distance. That is, we are trying to land the ball at a particular distance so it will stop near the hole. But with the driver, our tendency is to hit it as far as we can!
Given this mind set, we swing our irons in rhythm because there is no need for extra distance. But, with our driver we tend to rush our rhythm in an effort to produce that little extra. And what physically happens when we try to hit it hard? We tighten up! We grip tighter with our forearms and hands. When we get tight, we lose clubhead speed. And worse, what speed we retain, gets delivered too early in the downswing – well before impact – causing the club to come out of the arc, resulting in loss of direction and solid contact as well as distance.
So what’s the solution? How do we play in a relaxed rhythm? Think about this. If you were a tour player hitting a 1000 shots a week, how long would your body endure if it weren’t relaxed for every swing? So how do those guys hit it so far when they make it look so effortless?
It all starts with our understanding of where the clubhead speed comes from and when during the swing it gets delivered. Bobby Jones perhaps said it best: since our hands are the only attachment to the club, when we get to the top of our backswing, our tendency is to start down with our hands. “We must resist that temptation with every ounce of determination we can muster!” Great words! And more importantly, great advice.
Bobby went on to say that once we turn fully behind the ball, we must get back up against it, before we hit it. What that means is that we must start our downswing with our lower body, not our hands and arms. And that’s where we find rhythm! It is in our footwork.
Sam Snead, who had the best rhythm the game has ever seen, always used to say, “Ozzie, the power comes out of the ground. You must learn to swing from the ground up.” So he taught me how to step into my shots so that I could deliver my power “farther down the road”, i.e. from the ball to the target.
When we wait patiently at the top of our backswing with our torso/arms/hands for our feet/legs/hips to move us from behind the ball to back up against it, we are not only storing our power for a little longer, but we are actually increasing its potential. How?
As the lower body transfers our weight from back foot to front foot and the front leg straightens (braces) so our hips can begin to spin on a firm axis, we are actually increasing the coil in our body as we begin our downswing. In modern terminology we call this coil “X factor.” Obviously, the more flexible we are, the greater the separation we can achieve between our torso and our lower body. But regardless of how much X factor we can generate, the important point here is that we learn to wait patiently at the top of our backswing while we take the time to “step into our shot.”
By doing so, we are gathering our power to be delivered from ball to target – rather than applying it with upper body tension on the way down and releasing our power well prior to impact.
When we finally understand that, at impact, we want the clubhead to still be accelerating, i.e. not yet at maximum speed, we have sown the seeds of rhythm and the secret to success in our golf game.
Golfstruck – Better Golf Right Now
May 30, 2010 – The Bergen Record
This is the first article in the 2010 series. Articles appear in the Bergen Record on the back page of the Sports Section every Monday.
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