Golfstruck

Where Have All the Shotmakers Gone?

Ozzie Carlson — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:01:39 +0000

4 Mar 2013

The Bear Trap, at the Honda Classic, this week had only baby teeth, yet the players did a pretty poor job of handling it. They were playing they holes so short that the players needed only 8 irons and wedges! And, because of a little wind blowing toward the water, they couldn’t find [...]

Tim Finchem & the PGA Tour Say No to R&A & USGA

Ozzie Carlson — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:54:02 +0000

25 Feb 2013

Yesterday Tim Finchem made a long awaited statement from the PGA Tour on the “no anchor” putting ruling by the R&A and the USGA. In short, though Tim Finchem personally believes anchoring the putter against any part of the player’s torso should not be allowed, the PGA Tour’s official position is the hope [...]

Maintaining Spine Angle

Ozzie Carlson — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 23:17:49 +0000

20 Feb 2013

As we begin the Accenture Match Play tournament, perhaps the most intense event of the year, right from the opening gun, notice who is retaining spine angle throughout his swing and who isn’t.

Those pros who most tend to change their spine angle during their swing, or more correctly lose the perpendicular relationship between [...]

Observing Tiger at Torrey Pines

Ozzie Carlson — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:58:01 +0000

8 Feb 2013

Watching Tiger’s win at Torrey Pines, during the opening rounds I observed a different release with his irons than what we have seen the past two years. Instead of that stupid cross-cut, sawed off, pull the hands immediately left past impact action that Sean Foley has had him working on, we saw a [...]

Tom Watson Gets a Putting Assist

Ozzie Carlson — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:05:34 +0000

11 Dec 2012

Tom Watson has weighed-in on the ‘anchoring’ discussion. He is in full agreement with the R&A and the USGA in their assessment that an anchored motion is not a true stroke and therefore, Tom is in favor of the rule change. Given Tom’s struggle with his putting nerves (tension in his hands) over [...]

Dispelling Yet Another Putting Myth

Ozzie Carlson — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:18:30 +0000

10 Dec 2012

Super slow motion video demonstrates that the ball tends to slide or glide off the face of the putter before it begins to roll. Much of the design technology as well as discussion in the teaching of putting, particularly of late, has been to minimize the length of the glide in an effort [...]

Putt Athletically and Naturally

Ozzie Carlson — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:12:40 +0000

7 Dec 2012

Ben Hogan, late in his career, literally froze over his putts, at times taking as long as a full minute before he could relax his hands/forearms enough to start the putter back. Sam Snead, who struggled mightily with his putting went to croquet style late in his career, until it was outlawed and [...]

Beyond Anchoring – The Better Fixed Fulcrum

Ozzie Carlson — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:00:23 +0000

6 Dec 2012

As the discussion regarding anchoring rages on, and it will, we need to turn our attention to the “anchoring solution” for those players who have come to rely on this technique as a means of achieving at least a level of competence, if not a level of excellence, on the greens!

So where does [...]

The Two Important Benefits of Anchoring

Ozzie Carlson — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:00:33 +0000

5 Dec 2012

Anchoring began when players were looking for a way to reduce the inconsistencies in their putting performance. The two realized benefits of anchoring are: the obvious one – the ability to consistently swing from a fixed fulcrum; and the even more important one – the freedom of focus!

By anchoring the putter handle, the [...]

The Champions Tour Dilemma

Ozzie Carlson — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:51:57 +0000

4 Dec 2012

Yesterday, John Cook weighed-in on the “anchoring” discussion as it relates to the Champions Tour. While he agrees with the R&A and USGA regarding the need to define what is and what isn’t a stroke – for the good of the game, he has concerns.

The Champions Tour needs to showcase its best players [...]