The old and the new ball flight laws

For 30 years I had an idea of what created spin on the golf ball. The old ball flight laws basically said that the ball starts on the clubhead path, and then the ball would curve/spin to where the club face was aiming at impact. So, if the clubhead is swinging to the right of the target, and the club face is aiming at the target, the ball would start to the right (on the path) and then draw back to where the face was aiming.

With advancement in technology now (read Trackman), people are claiming that this is in fact not correct! The new ball flight laws state that the ball starts much closer to where the face is aiming, and then spins away from the path. So, if the face is aiming at the target, and the path is out to the right, then the ball will actually draw left of the target. The ball would start too straight and then draw left of the target. The bigger the difference between face angle and swing path, the more side spin will be put on the ball.

Old laws:

• ball starts on the path
• ball curves to where the face was aiming

New laws:

• ball starts closer to the face
• ball spins AWAY from the path
• the bigger the difference, the more spin there will be put on the ball

This introduces small but significant changes in the way that we will have to go about "shaping" shots on the golf course. And, I have to say, has been a massive change in thinking for me! If I want to hit a draw, I now want the club face aiming to the RIGHT of the target but swing a little more to the right of where the face is aiming. This will still create the draw, and curve the ball into the target. For a fade, the face will be aiming LEFT of target, with the head swinging even more left to create the spin, and the ball will start left and fade to the target. When I first heard of these laws the bells really started going off in my head, as memories of over-hooking shots, and fades that would start too straight and then fade off the target, came flooding back at me.

Equipped with my trusty Casio camera, I have realised that people either fall into one of two categories with regard to how they create spin. I call them a face shape and a path shape. Some people create spin with a club face that is either too open or closed at impact but with a good path. Then, others create spin with a swing path that is either too far from the inside or too much from the outside, and even though the face is pretty square, the ball spins away from the path and moves away from the target. Of course, you also get the group that have poor swing path and face angle.

I still think that the best thing is to know your swing, know what your tendencies are, and then practise and experiment with these new laws to see what works best for you. I also think that golfers generally have a swing pattern that favours a particular shape. Don't fight it, play with the shape that favours your swing pattern. Golfers battle when they are trying to hit shots that don't suit their swing pattern!

The Golfing Machine - basic summary

When I first read The Golfing Machine by Homer Kelley, I was convinced that he could not have made it more complicated if he tried! There are certain paragraphs in the book that I have read and re-read countless times and still wonder if I fully understand what it means. However, if you can look past all the cross-references, and study it with a sincere goal of trying to understand what Kelley is talking about, it can really help to "systemise" the golf swing for you.

My goal here is to summarise the main points in the book to give you a basic idea of what it is about. If you want to have control of the golf ball, you have to master "the triad", each with, you guessed it, 3 aspects:

The three imperatives: 

1. A flat left wrist - controls the club face
2. A clubhead lag pressure point - controls the club head
3. A straight plane line - controls the shaft

The three essentails:

1. A stationary head
2. Balance
3. Rhythm

The three zones:

1. The body
2. The arms
3. The hands

In order to control the golf ball, you have to control the golf club, and the golf club is made up of three elements:

1. The shaft - straight plane line
2. The clubhead - lag pressure point
3. The club face - flat left wrist

The power package:

1. The right arm bending going back and straightening coming down (like throwing a punch)
2. The left wrist cocking on the backswing and uncocking on the downswing
3. The left hand turning on the back and rolling through on the down
4. The left arm moving across the chest on the backswing and exploding off the chest through impact.

The lag pressure points:

1. Palm of the right hand pushing against the left thumb.
2. The last three fingers of the left hand
3. The right index finger pushing against the shaft
4. The left upper arm against the chest.

The flying wedges:

1. The left arm flying wedge - keeping the left arm and the shaft in a vertical alignment throughout the swing
2. The right FOREARM flying wedge - keeping the right forearm and the shaft in a horizontal alignment throughout the swing.

The hinge actions (club face control):

1. Horizontal hinge action - club face closing through impact
2. Vertical hinge action - club face opening through impact
3. Angled hinge action - no opening or closing through impact

Swinging or hitting:

1. You can either swing, or pull the golf club (like a throwing action)
2. or you can hit, or push the golf club (like hitting with an axe)

Kelley breaks the swing into 24 basic components, components that every golf swing posseses; and within these 24 components, 144 component variations. So, everybody will have a particular swing pattern that can be defined by these components and variations. The key is to have components that fit together and that don't work against each other.

In my opinion, The Golfing Macine is an unbelievable piece of work for when it was written (1969), and I think that Kelley probably could have worked out the missing pieces of how the body works (things like stretch shorten cycles), if he was alive today with technology at his disposal. Lastly, there are major differences between the variations. Some of the variations are way more efficient than others and somebody reading the book may assemble their swing according to a pattern that is not physically efficient.
                      

Club fitting 101

With marketing budgets of some equipment companies today, it's hard to know which clubs really are the best for a player.  I think I still have an "old school" mindset when it comes to clubs: the best clubs are the clubs that suit you the best.

As a coach I believe that the equipment has to be correct for the player, otherwise it will make it very difficult to correct a swing fault that is directly caused by a club that is not fitted correctly. On the flip side, sometimes it is better to correct a swing fault before doing a fitting, as the fault may give a faulty "reading" when doing the fitting. So, club fitting and coaching go hand in hand.

The golf club is made up of 3 components; the grip, the shaft and the club head, and there are certain elements of each component that need to be looked at when choosing a club.  Let's start with the club head. The first thing to consider is what type of club head will suit you best: a blade, semi blade or a full toe-heel weighted head. Once that has been decided on, the next thing is to check the lie angles. Lie angles have a huge impact on accuracy, especially with the shorter irons, and also play a part in the quality of the strike. In theory, if the toe of the club is down too much (called flat), the ball will go to the right. The problem is that we, as humans, will compensate, and when we hit with the longer clubs, that same compensation could cause a hook or a pull shot! If the club is too upright the ball will go to the left. The next element to check is loft. Sometimes the easiest way of correcting shots that fly too high or too low is to adjust the lofts. Once you get the set of clubs it would probably be a good idea to check the lofts too, as often the lofts aren't 100 percent correct! 

Let's move on to the shaft. The most important aspect of the shaft is weight. I think that may surprise some people but the shaft is very important in giving the player the correct weight to match their swing style. Generally, somebody with a fast, aggressive swing will favour a heavier shaft, while somebody with a smoother swing will feel more comfortable with a lighter shaft. Graphite shafts are lighter than steel, going from as light as 40 grams, up to around 90 grams. Steel shafts would start at around 80-85 grams, going up to 135 grams. There are basically 5 different flexes to choose from, namely ladies, seniors, regular, stiff and extra stiff or tour flex. In my opinion, the element of "kick point" is given way too much time and energy as the difference between a high and a low kick point is very small. The last factor regarding the shaft is the length, and after lie angle is critical in helping a player to reach their potential. I have so many poor postures and swing faults originate from incorrect shaft length. The length will either give the player balance or take away from their balance during the swing, not to mention how it will affect the quality of the posture.

The last component to consider is the grip. The most important factor is to determine the correct size of the grip, which is determined by the length of the fingers and the size of the palm. So often I see ladies that have grips that are too thin for them because they have nice long fingers, while often you'll see a man with short, fat, chubby little fingers that need much thinner grips. When gripping the club with the left hand, the last three fingers should just touch the palm. The next factor is the composition of the grip, which could come in a cord type grip, which is quite hard on the hands, or a velvet rubber type grip which is much softer on the hands.

If a player has these few elements in place, I believe they will be able to develop their swings without the need for compensation in their swings.

Lastly, the mental factor. Some people love Titleist, others Taylormade etc etc. You have to like the look of the club, you have to "feel" good about it. This gives you confidence too, and I don't think this element should be taken lightly!

Turning pro?

I see so many talented youngsters who would love to be professional golfers and when I ask them which tour they would like to play on they usually tell me immediately. However, when I ask them if they know how to get onto that particular tour, I'm met with a blank stare. So, what does it actually entail being a professional golfer?

To start with, there are basically 2 routes that can be taken. The first is to become a PGA club professional, which requires the person to do a 3 year apprenticeship under a qualified PGA professional. The apprenticeship covers business management, sports science, rules and tournaments, equipment, and coaching. After 3 years, having passed the requirements of the PGA programme, the person can either continue working for the training professional or look to become the head pro at a golf club. The problem with this is that these jobs don't open up too often, and when they do, there are usually many professionals vying for the position. The second route is to become a playing professional. This is what most youngsters aspire to: they want to PLAY, they want to play with Tiger, Rory and Ricky (or Annika); they want to become multi millionaires and become famous :)

Ok, so you think you have the talent to make it on tour? What do you have to do to play on tour? Which tour do you want to play on? There are basically 2 main tours, the 2 that all young pros aspire to play on: the U.S. PGA Tour and the European Tour. There are also a few tours which are very competitive and can almost be seen as stepping stones for these 2 main tours, namely the Asian, Sunshine, Canadian, Japanese and the Australasian tours. Afterall, if you are a playing professional, you need tournaments to play in? The problem is, becoming eligible to play on a tour.

To be able to play on one of these tours, a person would first have to go through what's called a qualifying school. Let's say you decide you want to play on the U.S. Tour, there are 3 qualifying stages over a 2 month period that you would have to go through. The first stage is held at over 13 different venues, and if you are good enough to make it through, you will move to the second stage where Nationwide and U.S. Tour players (some Major winners!) who haven't made enough money to keep their cards, will join you.  These first 2 stages are played over 4 rounds each, and the 3rd and final stage over 6 rounds! The top 30 players will receive their cards to play on the main tour, and usually the next 50 will be eligible to play on the Nationwide Tour the following year. The qualifying scores at all 3 stages are without doubt always under par (sometimes well under par) and the 30th player at the final stage would probably have to shoot around 10 under for the 6 rounds to qualify! Did I mention that the courses aren't that easy (last year PGA West, a Nicklaus design was used)?

What many youngsters don't realise, and consequently don't plan for, is the costs associated with going through this process. The entry fee for the U.S. Tour is around $4500, you will have to fly to the venues, between stages you would need accomodation, food and a rental car. If you do qualify through the school, GREAT! But, now you have to come up with the money to in the tournaments! Granted, if you make it this far you will probably have a sponsor to cover expenses, but if you have qualified for a smaller tour, you will need to pay your own way. The general figure per tournament was $1500 when I was playing on tour, but this can vary and can be considerably higher for some far away events.

Playing professionally can be a wonderful way (maybe one of the best ways) to make a living, but, it is more than just about playing. You can have all the talent in the world, but you also need to understand business, be very organised, and realise that you are the CEO, the product and the marketing manager of your own business. You will have to sell yourself to big companies, be able to talk to the big boys in these companies, and hopefully, be able to make speeches and speak to audiences.

It is still the best thing I have ever done and will never forget the many wonderful experiences that I had while playing professionally!



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Pre-shot routine sequence

Much has been written and spoken about the importance of following a consistent pre-shot routine. The routine can help blend the fundamentals of grip, aim, stance and posture all into one flowing movement when addressing the ball on the golf course. However, often I will see players following a routine, but with an incorrect sequence, which often leads to standing either too close or too far from the ball. The most common sequence that I see is when the player places their feet first, then takes their grip, and then places the club behind the ball. The problem with this sequence is that the player has "measured" their distance from the ball with their eyes, and not the club. The clubs are all a different length, so you have to measure with the club that you are using at the time.

The routine sequence that I would recommend for most players would go in this order:

1. Take the completed grip with both hands
2. With the grip taken, now place the club head behind the ball, and aim it at the target
3. Keeping the club head on the ground behind the ball, now place the feet in position.

What this routine sequence does is to get you standing the correct distance from the ball for the club you are using for the shot. When you place the club head behind the ball, with the grip already taken, you will immediately feel if you are too close or too far from the ball. Trust your instinct, if you feel too close, move away a little, and vice versa, if you feel like you're stretching for the ball, trust the feeling and move in a little closer.

Another interesting pattern that I have picked up over the years is that when somebody is struggling with their shorter irons but hitting their drivers well (specifically talking about quality of strike), the reason is that they are standing too far from the ball with the irons. This often leads to topped or thin shots, shots coming off the toe and push shots. The opposite of this is when somebody is hitting their irons well but struggling with their driver and longer clubs: check the distance from the ball, chances are they are standing too close to the ball with the driver. If you are standing too close with the longer clubs, heel strikes, duffed shots and sky shots with the driver could be the most common shots.

Follow a definite pre-shot routine, but make sure that the sequence is in the correct order too.

The grip - slicing

For anyone starting out, learning the correct grip from the outset would be the best thing you could do for the long term health of your game. The most common problem that I see as a coach is a WEAK top hand grip. This is when the top hand is turned too much towards the target. Looking down at the wrist joint about 3 inches above the thumb, it will be on the target-side of the shaft if the grip is too weak. This makes it almost impossible to cock the wrist correctly, and very difficult to square the club face. If you have been playing for a while, and the slice is your most common bad shot (or pulls with the short irons), then check your grip, I will bet it is weak.

 Weak grip (slice) - wrist joint (black dot) on target side of the shaft

The check is to get the wrist joint above the thumb IN LINE with the shaft or even turned away from the target (check the black dot on my wrist joint). The thumb will also be slightly to the right (for righties) of centre of the shaft (as you look down at the grip).

When somebody comes to me with a slice, the grip is usually the LAST thing they thought was causing it!! Give it a go and see how it works out.