The Practice Swing and the Real Thing

I wish Don would speak more slowly on his videos....

Finally a clip that's under 7 to 8 minutes. Still too much drivel. I usually fast forward an 8 minute diatribe to 2 minutes. Don is obviously a very good practionary but keep it short  please. But then I do not think he can.

A question for Lynn re club performance:  Is there any appreciable performance difference between gripping down on a supplied 46" driver and that same club shortened to 43"?  Just wondering.
Regards,
Ray

Don another great lesson.

I found this weekend that what works for me is when addressing the ball to visualize the target and feel the pactice swing seeing the ball go to the target. When setting up  I feel like I am pushing my feet into the ground to get the feel of the outward pressure wide knees while everything from the waist up feels really relaxed if I do this I hit very good shots. If I feel tense in the upper body and arms then I am going to hit a bad shot and did. I started backing away from the ball when I got the tense feeling and set back up and feeling relaxed and it seemed to help me.

 

Hello Surge Nation:

   I am a bit hesitatn to post today's "action report" -- the slump continues.  I am beginning to have a LOT of sympathy for the baseball player who normally hits .300+ -- and suddenly goes 0 for 25!
I hait and odd micture fo "really good shots" and good many "almost good but into trouble" shots also.
   The best example : On #1, I hit a super (for me ) opening drive - reasonlabley long and in the middle of the fairway.  I decided to challenge the Canal, selected my 5w, set up and took "dead aim" focusing on the target area jsut in front of the green. I hit a hard solid shot, on the target line, but "just a little bit LOW". I didn't see a splash, so I thught "Amos you just lucked out and barely cleared the canal."   WRONG! when I got to the canal, I discovered that the water was a little low, and there was my ball - stuck in the mud about 2 inches below the the top of the bank.  When you are "Snake bit then .... "  I then hit a good looking PW just short and right of the hole, almost made the putt.  It was that kind of day all day.

     I think I have alignment error creeping into my setup -- and in true "different Amos" fashion - it is aligned left of the target line. I am hitting a lot of "good looking" shots, but definitely left of the target line.  Except shots where "aim the name" is legal are going almost straight down the target line.

     hit 11 of 14 faiways with 175 yard Driving average (up from about 165-170 a month ago)
     but only hit 1 green and made 2 pars and 9 bogies.   On the one GIR, the card and the flag indicated "middle of the green" - I hit a buraeutiful little 8 iron to almost the exact center of the green. When I arrived at green, I discovered that the pin was really cut very deep in the back of the green!  "If it weren't for bad luck ........ " LOL
      5 one putt greens and 0 three putts = 31 putts used
      However, the "going left of target" resulted in hitting 12 Greenside bunkers with only ons sandy.  No two bunkers on our curse have the same "quality" of sand -- SOme are near to concrete, some are "fresh worked" soft sand - most are somewhere in between - requires extreme judgement and "feel" to play them well.
       2 shots in the water - one them a hard low shot from a bunker that hit hard on the green, running "hot" - off the green and down the slope into the water.
        scored 5 double bogies and 2 triples -- at least no "others" today -- so just maybe things are improving a little.
      All of this  "mess" resluted in 52 + 45 = 97

      Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

      Amos

      

More likely your weight was falling back to your heels. That will pull you away from the ball.

* Imagine if you would, a place where time knew no boundaries, a place where dimension was not an extent of measurement but a plane of the mind, of consciousness...Come with me to Columbia, South Carolina , the date June 28th,2011, the place The Golf Stop, the time..." Hello, everyone, Doc. Griffin here & it's time for the Doctor's house call. You know we've had some really good questions on the blog lately but I want to revisit a past house call we did here about what's in your bag. You know the video, I told you about how we go about the proper fitting.Start you out with a 5 iron,can you hit 10 and I mean 10 consistent shots with it? If not let's throw out, how about your 6? Okay now we're getting somewhere. That's the video, how I'll manage to fit you and do it properly, gap, lie, moi & flo , the works.
Remember I told you how I had one guy come in and we couldn't get him gap'd well I was having to make all kind of modifications just to get him a set. Let me tell you about last Friday's fitting, Poor guy comes in, drives all the way over from Alabama, it seems. I talk to him , we try to see where he wants his game to be,realistically, of course. We head out to the fitting center, he's kinda gimpy, seems he is the only man to injure himself using a swingrite, something about trying to save his greatroom ceiling. Anyway, we get out there and I try him on the 5 iron after he loosens up with his swingrite, the only thing he brought along besides his sneakers, and he is broadcasting shots like seed in an Oklahoma wind. I ponder all the data from the swing analyzer and he asks, "What's the verdict, Doc, can you bag me up?" I scratch my head and finally breath out slowly, thankful that I wasn't injured in his hitting session and tell him I can fit him immediately. I go back to the shop, pull out a nice 3* degree putter shafted to 35", grind the leading edge of the sole and carry it back. He looks at me in puzzlement, I can see the look in his eyes, "The R&A allows you a maximum of 14 clubs but I think you can play this game with just this one, the course and world will be a safer place." He takes the club and asks if I can grip it  in red! Well folks, that's all I got this week, this is Doc Griffin...uhm, remember good golf is only,uhm, a fitting away."

 Gang, sorry for the long tale but I thought at least something entertaining should go here.
Boog

It could be a sign of overswinging. I remember that element of Gary Player's swing (and the joke that the end of a Gary Player swing was a walk down the fairway, as he never seemed to miss it). In his case I think it was largely making up for his smaller stature by getting his weight completely shifted so that it carried him past his left foot in the follow through. He did keep his upper body behind the ball well through impact, though. Just had a total release. I've done it a couple times just for fun, but it seems very hard to control.