Over the Green

Talk about “hot” golf instructors and the short list has to include Dave Stockton, winner of two PGA Championships plus eight other PGA Tour wins and three Champions Tour majors. He has the reputation of knowing a lot about putting and better yet, he possesses the skills to communicate that knowledge to those of us less gifted.

To that add the all-star list of professionals, who have been students of Stockton and his two sons, Dave Jr. and Ron, (Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Annika Sorenstam Morgan Pressel, etc.) and…well, you get the idea. When it comes to putting he knows what he’s talking about.

Read the rest on EdTravisGolf.com at The A Position

A new approach to understanding and improving your swing

As a golf instructor Jim Hardy is one of the best and was the originator of the “1-plane or 2-plane swing” philosophy that so captured the teaching professions attention when he introduced it ten years ago. Hardy is the type of teacher who wants the student to know not just the how, but the why as well and this is the theme of his latest book.

And Hardy is not one to mince words as shown by the book’s title – “SOLID CONTACT: A Top Golf Coach’s Guide to Learning Your Swing DNA and Instantly Striking the Ball Better Than Ever.”

The idea is to give golfers knowledge so they can take control of their own swings not just attempt to copy by rote something someone says works. In fact it’s well known, what works for one golfer will not necessarily work for another for very elementary reasons such as body type, degree of athleticism, flexibility, experience, etc.

In SOLID CONTACT, Hardy first explains that no two golf swings are the same (he likens golf strings to DNA strands) and that there is no universally right or wrong way to swing a golf club—there is just the way that works best for you. He then establishes that every golf shot is the product of three actions: the swing, the swing’s impact, and the impact’s resulting ball flight, and that every miss within each of those actions is either a plus or a minus. Hardy applies this plus or minus system to the elements of the swing, impact, and ball flight and instructs readers to refer to the appropriate charts in the book to learn how to tailor their actions to improve their swing and shoot lower scores.

Sound simple doesn’t it and it is but at the same time the golfer who wants to improve needs to study exactly what Hardy is saying about the parts of the swing as it applies to him and then apply the proper compensations it in the proper way.

For example employing descriptive language, charts and line drawings, Hardy teaches the reader how to self-diagnose golf shots by answering three basic questions: What is the shape of the shot?, what is the shape of the divot? and what adjustments are needed to improve the swing…as I said simple.

SOLID CONTACT: A Top Golf Coach’s Guide to Learning Your Swing DNA and Instantly Striking the Ball Better Than Ever (Gotham Books, March 15, 2012, $27.50

Lessons from Phil, Ernie, Greg, Tiger, Seve, and Freddie’s teacher

Butch Harmon is certainly well known as a golf instructor with arguably his most famous pupil being Tiger Woods before Woods moved to another teacher. At the PGA Merchandise Show in January Harmon’s latest instructional 2-DVD set was introduced and those who had a chance to review it were enthusiastic as to its content and presentation.

After having the time to view the four hours of instruction in 57 chapters (some more than once) and then to be able to apply his instruction to my own game, it’s evident Harmon not only has a deep understanding of the swing’s fundamentals but that he is a fine communicator as well.

Harmon is quoted as saying, “Over the past 40+ years I have been blessed to work with some of the greatest players in the game: Phil, Ernie, Greg, Tiger, Seve, Freddie, and several up and coming players, such as Adam, Nick, and Dustin, who are destined to carve their names in the golf record books.”

“Obviously I am proud to have been associated with them and to have contributed in some small way to their success. But their accomplishments are only part of the overall picture of the scores of everyday players, from all walks of life who have left the practice tee after working with me, that feel that their game has been improved. For everyone that has worked with me there are thousands of golfers that I will never have a chance to try and help.”

“With that thought in mind, I decided to commence work on the filming of a DVD that would share a lifetime of golf knowledge with the public that would cover: the fundamentals, identifying faults and the fixes, specialty shots, short game, sand play, putting, club selection, kids, under and over 13, women, seniors and physical fitness (by the way, I do practice what I preach as I have recently lost 35 lbs.).

He does look a lot trimmer than in recent years but more importantly he shows how the grip, setup, alignment and swing all work together to produce quality golf shots. Our games will never challenge the elite players but learning from Harmon’s DVDs means more solid shots, improved results and more fun playing a game we love.

The “Butch Harmon About Golf presented by Titleist” DVD set is sponsored by Titleist, Winn Grips, Rolex, Golf Digest and JMA and will be available for $79.95 on-line at www.butchharmondvd.com.

Golf on the rise

Tennis used to be pretty popular at Fort Sill, a U.S. Army base near Lawton, Okla., and the base’s three courts were in constant use. However in recent years the number of tennis players has steadily declined while those interested in golf has seen a pronounced increase.

Shane Dunlevy, Fort Sill’s recreation manager studied the situation and found that even though the base had revamped the golf club, more area for teaching and practice was sorely needed. There were more golfers and golfing families than the club could handle so Dunlevy found a unique solution.

Convert the seldom used tennis court into a golf learning center.

He turned to Adventure Golf Services of Traverse City, Mich. who designed and built a golf learning and practice center to fit on a tennis court.

Dunlevy said the space has seen plenty of use since it was installed in just under a week last August. Branded by Adventure as the GolfCourt, it is the latest in a number of upgrades to the base recreational facilities including a planned youth center that will use it as part of its program.

There are five full swing stations, six contoured chipping stations, a bunker, a 1,300-square-foot contoured putting area and open space for group instruction. For safety there are retractable net separators and an overhead ball containment net plus a golf simulator, launch monitors and bleachers.

Dunlevy and Ernie Altic, Fort Sill’s golf professional, have been proactive in filling a need and bringing new players into the game.

Year two of TEE IT FORWARD

Last year Barney Adams pushed the idea golfers play from tees that are too long for their ability and should move up a set, at least. According to Adams, founder of Adams Golf and golf industry iconoclast, that would mean they could, “…be hitting eight-irons and wedges into par fours like the pros…not fairway woods.”

In other words the 99.99 percent of golfers who do not make their living on the links are playing for recreation and recreation is supposed to be fun. It’s undeniably more fun to play holes of a length you have a chance of reaching with a couple of good shots rather than par-4s that require a driver, then a 3-wood, then a 9-iron and maybe another iron since the 9-iron missed the green.
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The TaylorMade TR3 Speed Sleeve isn’t going to make you rich or better-looking or divine the Powerball winning numbers; it is however one of those clever ideas that will help your golf game. MORE…

After having been around golf for a while and particularly having spent years writing about the game and equipment it’s easy to become a bit jaded. Whether it’s the latest and greatest, “You’ll hit the ball 30-yards farther!” driver or a training aid right out of Dr. Jeykll’s lab you kind of feel, “been there, done that.” So when the information about another swing aid crossed by desk I put it in the, “when-I-have-the-time file.”

However looking more closely at the SwingPact and reading the literature it was apparent there were no extravagant claims, hyperbole or even scantily clad models…this might be worth trying. Off to the range and after just a few swings the verdict was simple – it works.

After having six other “range rats” use it, their responses ran from, “neat, interesting” to asking where they could buy one.

The Swingpact consists of a plastic arm with a curved channel on one end and a rubber-tipped prong on the other. Using it couldn’t be simpler, Place the end with channel between the third and fourth fingers of the left hand, grip with the right hand, address the ball and position the wrists so the rubber prong just touches the left forearm. Then make a swing keeping the prong touching the forearm until the club is about waist high. On the downswing the rubber prong comes in contact with the left forearm at about waist high and stays there through contact to waist high on the follow through.

Random items some of which might even be interesting

Golf Digest Best New Courses in Abeyance
The announcement Golf Digest decided to put off at least until next year the previously annual beauty contest naming the Best New Courses came as no surprise but it certainly is a commentary on the state of the golf. The stats are not pretty with just 42 new courses opening in the U. S. from June 2009 to June 2010 and with the majority of new course construction having been tied to the residential real estate boom, when that went bust new golf courses did also.

SKLZ Hinged Putter
SKLZ which makes a lot of training aids for not just golf but other sports as well has developed an improved Refiner Hinged Training Putter with an Anser style head and a two way adjustable hinge. The idea is that putting stoke flaws will cause the hinge to breakdown giving instant feedback when a poor stroke is made.

Cobra ZL Driver – white as a ghost
Ian Poulter created a bit of a stir last week at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai using a Cobra driver with an all white head and now Cobra (just in time for Christmas) is producing one for the rest of us. Only 500 of the Limited Edition ZL Driver are to be made for sales around the world so the chances of your local muni having a selection in stock, even at the MSRP of $625, are somewhere between slim and none.

Ping forged iron?
Most people don’t realize it but Ping Golf founder Karsten Solheim experimented with forged irons before settling on the cast iron design making him, his company and family a lot of money and a top shelf reputation. So 40 years later after a beta introduction in Japan (club makers know the Japanese love to be early adopters) the forged Anser iron is now available. An offset head, tungsten sole and machined face and grooves are featured in the design. Ping Anser 3-PW irons with stock steel Project X shafts carry a MSRP of $190 per club and are in stores now.

Most popular course name
The National Golf Foundation database of U.S. golf courses produced the statistic; the most popular course name (including ties and excluding The, Golf Course, Country Club, etc.) is Rolling Hills with 33 having that name. You now have ammunition for that after-round showdown but just to ensure you can come out on top the next three on the list are: Riverside (30), Hillcrest (29) and three at 24, Lakeside, Meadowbrook and Lakeview.

There’s an old golf adage that says a good swing starts with a good grip. Even the best player of all time, Jack Nicklaus, thought that was true. Each year prior to start of the PGA Tour season the Golden Bear would visit Jack Grout, his mentor and coach since he was a boy, and they would go back to basics in order to prepare for the new year. The first basic Nicklaus and Grout checked? His grip.

If Nicklaus thought the grip was that important then the average weekend warrior should certainly pay attention.

Want more proof? In perhaps the most iconic golf instruction book ever, Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf,” the Hawk devotes 19 pages to the grip. Any teaching professional will tell you what Hogan said in that 1957 opus is just as true today.

>>>>To read the rest of this story click on the title “Thumbs up” in Latest First Look Reviews above.

There are hundreds of golf instruction books, tapes and videos; some of doubtful value and a few, a very few really worth the purchase price. On that extremely short list of instructional classics are books such as Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons” (1957) and Jack Nicklaus’ “Golf My Way” (book published in 1974 and VHS tape in 1983).

Joining that list this year is the new “Lessons of a lifetime” two DVD set by Tom Watson. This is a must-have for any serious golfer regardless of skill level; the only necessity is the desire to improve. MORE…