Tip Thursday

How to hit better tee shots

Written by: Tom Stickney, PGA

Better tee shots mean hitting the ball straight.

There’s nothing worse than standing up on the tee setting up for your “normal” shot shape, then hitting the deadly double-cross! So now you are left picking up the pieces of a shot that went left to left or right to right…not fun!

Here at Punta Mita we have a hole where this can happen quite often: No. 18 at Pacifico. The hole design bends gently left to right with out of bounds left and the ocean to the right. There’s plenty of room to move the ball left to right or right to left, depending on your “normal” shot pattern, but if you double-cross it, you’re back on the tee hitting three, or dropping the ball out of the hazard and hitting three as well. Neither situation is a great option.

Now that we understand what a double-cross is (playing for a fade and hooking it or playing for a draw and slicing it), it’s now time to figure out how and why it happens!

So, let’s set up for each shot shape.

better tee shots photo 1

In Photo 1 I am set up for a left to right shot where I am on the right side of the tee box and aiming down the left side of the fairway.

For the right to left shot pattern I am setting up on the left side of the tee box and aiming down the right side of the fairway (Photo 2).

better tee shots photo 2

These two alignments will give us the best opportunity to use the entire width of the fairway so we can hit it in the short grass. Now let’s investigate what each shot shape player tends to do when they hit a double-cross.

better tee shots photos 3-4

FOR THE LEFT TO RIGHT PLAYER

The main reason you will double-cross your fade is when you fail to get off of your back foot on the way down. When you hang back as shown in Photo 3, the body stops and the arms and hands fling by closing the club face through impact (Photo 4). As we all know, when the face angle is left of the path, the ball will start left and hook with a centered hit.

To make sure you do not allow this to happen again, you must make sure you move through the ball, allowing your weight to move into your forward foot earlier. For this I have a simple drill.

Place another tee (the same height) about three to four inches in front of your current golf ball on the same target line (Photo 5). Your goal is to hit the ball and the top of the second tee with the clubhead on the way through.  This will help you to move the weight into your lead foot earlier, thus keeping the face right of the path, and you will see the ball move left to right.

better tee shots photos 5-7

FOR THE RIGHT TO LEFT PLAYER

The main reason why you will double-cross your draw is when you lose your posture through impact, standing the club shaft upwards and opening the face.  When you stand up as shown in Photo 6, the hands also raise; when this occurs the face of the club will stay right of the path (Photo 7). As we all know, when the face angle is right of the path, the ball will start right and then move further right with a centered hit.

better tee shots photo 8

Now that we understand what is happening, how do we make sure it won’t happen again? Find an alignment stick and place it in the ground as shown in Photo 8 (which is just a touch in front of the ball.)  If you stand up and raise your hands, you will be the first to know! By keeping the club shaft closer to its address angle you will find that the club has an easier time closing, which will help the face to be slightly left of the path during impact, causing the ball to gently move right to left.

Understanding the double cross is the first key to stopping it for good. The second step is to use the appropriate drill to stop you from either hanging back or standing up. Alleviating these issues will go a long way to helping you have more confidence that the ball will indeed move in the direction you want — and stop you from hitting the ball left to left or right to right, causing you headaches.

 

Source: golftipsmag.com

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Heads up!

We will not be serving dinner this Friday or Saturday due to private parties. We apologize for any inconvenience.

We will, however, be serving lunch and Bites at the Grille!

Lunch is served Thursday thru Sunday 11:30AM-3PM
Bites at the Grill is served Thursdays 4:30PM-9PM

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Tip Thursday

Senior golf: Let’s tackle the back nine!

Written by: Dennis Clark

Lee Trevino once said: “The older I get, the better I used to be!” Even though golf is our game, most all of us have our fisherman tales as well! How good we were is no longer relevant; how good we are is a function of our conditioning.  When we’re young, exercise can be an option, as we age it is a necessity!

So first, we take a good look at where the swing and game is right now. You may get with an instructor to diagnose the current state of the swing and game. I think video is the best way to take a good, close look at what is actually happening (as opposed to what he/she feels might be happening). When the problem has been identified, we need to decide if the issue is physical, that is a limitation due to aging or injury OR, if the swing flaw is an old poor habit (not necessarily related to age).  If we are dealing with a poor habit, we make suggestions for improvement. If the problem is physical, we can address the restrictions with the aid of a fitness professional. I make this distinction because too many of my senior students are too quick to blame age for the problem. Age might be the problem, but poor swing habits are likely involved as well.

Senior golf is the time when we begin to attempt to compensate!  No one, regardless of how good of condition they are in, for their age, can do at 70 what they could at 30. The arc of the swing becomes shorter, the swing speed decreases, we cannot transfer weight as well as we once could, and as we are now learning, we certainly cannot push off the ground as a younger person might. As a result, it is not unusual to throw the clubhead at the ball from the top in an attempt to get back the lost distance; it is not unusual to “hang back” on the rear leg in an attempt to get back lost trajectory, the list goes on and on.

Case in point: I have chronic back issues, as many near my age do. Arthritis and a severely herniated disc create a fair amount of discomfort much of the time. These do not allow me to turnor move as freely as once I did. These issues have forced me to find ways to swing as pain-free as possible, which is a problem. One thing I noticed clearly on my video was a loss of posture in the backswing. It is difficult for me to maintain my posture as I turn, so I raise my torso to make the turn easier.  I could not feel that and was surprised to see it on video. I was a good couple of inches taller at the top of my swing, creating all kinds of issues particularly in my iron play. I now do yoga, stretching and work with Darin Hovis to stay as flexible as my aging body will allow. We can play better and feel better about it, if

  • We know the problem.
  • Are willing to change.
  • Have realistic expectations.
  • Are willing to improve physical fitness.

Returning to the focus of this series: Let’s start at the beginning. Turning is a critical component is any golf swing. It is critical to approach the ball from inside, and a very often a good turn away with the torso allows one the opportunity to get there. Hitting from inside is difficult, if not impossible, without a good backswing turn. Same goes for turning in the downswing.  Again the path is an arc, from inside and back to inside. The hip turn in the downswing swings the club back to the inside. I have asked Darin Hovis, of Par 4 Fitness to demonstrate a few drills that can increase one’s ability to turn at any age.

Let’s get started. Watch the video here and get to work on your swing issues, and your body as well. Remember, the alternative is to put the clubs in a garage sale, but if this game is in your blood like it’s in mine, I’ll take the exercise alternative!

Source: golfwrx.com

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Tip Thursday

Brooks Koepka: My Advice to Make Your Second Shots Matter

Written by: Brooks Koepka

feel like my accuracy stats with irons are a bit misleading. I play fairly aggressively week to week and fire at a lot of pins. So I might miss more greens than other pros, but I’m still only a few yards from the hole when I do. That being said, when I really need to hit a green in regulation, I’m confident in my swing. In winning my second consecutive U.S. Open, at Shinnecock Hills in June, only three other players hit more greens in regulation than I did—and trust me when I say that hitting greens there was like trying to stop a marble on a kitchen countertop. Here I’m going to share some of my tips on hitting better second-shot irons, a part of the game where I see a lot of golfers struggle. Let’s start with alignment. Lately my coach, Claude Harmon III, has me checking to make sure I’m not setting up open like you see here, with my feet aligned left of my target. On the Monday of U.S. Open week, he was all over me saying, “Aim more right; aim more right.” I told him I couldn’t aim any more right. Then he put a club on the ground to check my alignment.

Wouldn’t you know it? I was still aiming left. The lesson is to make sure you’re set up to hit the shot you want. Here are some more of my tips. – With Ron Kaspriske

DIP YOUR LEAD SHOULDER
You drove the ball into the fairway and have a real chance of a green in reg. Now what? Assuming your alignment is good, focus on making a better backswing. A lot of golfers take the club back with almost no upper-body rotation—they’re all arms. And even when they do rotate back, it’s usually on a flat shoulder plane. If your shoulders turn back fairly level with the ground, it’s hard to swing down from inside the target line and hit an accurate shot. You’ll probably slice or pull it and miss the green. Instead, turn so your left shoulder moves back and down. See how mine is pointing at the ball (below). Look at all that space I’ve created to swing down from inside the target line. Essentially, it allows you to swing on plane and hit it straighter.

GOVERN YOUR DOWNSWING
A question I get asked a lot in pro-ams is how I’m able to swing the club as hard as I do. Honestly, I’m not swinging that hard. I’m using about 75 percent of my maximum effort. If I swung any harder, I’d probably spin right out of my golf posture and miss the green big time. I bet when you swing your hardest, your accuracy goes out the window. That’s why I recommend you take one more club than you would from a particular distance—say, a 6-iron instead of a 7-iron from 150 yards—and make a swing at 75-percent effort. You’ll know you’re doing it right if it feels like the club is trailing your body’s rotation toward the target like it is here (below). What you’ll find is, this syncs your swing and improves your chance of hitting it solidly.

GET THE DISTANCE YOU EXPECT
It’s great if you’re able to hit your shots fairly straight, but when it comes to second-shot accuracy, that’s only half the equation. Putting the ball on the green is a blend of hitting shots in the right direction and the correct distance. The direction part comes from controlling the clubface’s position at impact in relation to the path. The distance part comes from hitting down on the ball and compressing it, getting that great sound and feel off the face. To flush iron shots, work on improving what your dominant hand does as the club moves through impact. Here I’m showing that the right palm should never turn skyward (below). This allows you to strike the ball and keep the clubhead moving downward into the turf. Consistently do that, and the ball will fly a predictable distance.

FINISH IT OFF
I typically opt for a fade when I’m hitting into greens. It’s just an easier shot to control. That’s why Claude keeps an eye on my alignment to make sure I don’t aim too far left and overcook my iron shots. I’m telling you this because it relates to the photo you see here of my finish position (below). Notice where my chest is pointing in relation to where I’m looking. It rotated well past the green and is facing almost 90 degrees left of it. The point is, I kept my body moving as long as I could, which is a key to accuracy when controlling a shot’s curve. If I stop turning my body sooner and the club keeps going, I probably would hook the shot. And if I stop turning my body and club too soon and at the same time, my fade will turn into a nasty slice. That’s a move I see a lot from amateurs. In the hopes of hitting it somewhere toward the green, they don’t let the clubhead close, and they stop the swing cold when their arms and club are facing the target. We call that steering, and it rarely works.

My advice: Keep the body moving to match the swinging of your arms and club. Whether you hit a draw or fade—or a straight ball if you’re one of the lucky ones—keep everything moving until all the momentum is gone and the club’s shaft finishes wrapped around your body, as you see here. If you swung at 75 percent of your max speed like I recommended, it’s easy to get into this trophy pose. Or should I say, your club-championship trophy pose?

Source: GolfDigest.com

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This Week’s Pre-Fixe Dinner Menu

Pre-Fixe Dinner

Join us for our Three Course Dinner from 4:30pm – 9pm on Friday and Saturday.

We strongly suggest reservations – spots fill quickly!

Call us at (845) 564-3220 to reserve your spot.

Click below to see this weekend’s menu.

See Menu
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This Week’s Pre-Fixe Dinner Menu

Pre-Fixe Dinner

Join us for our Three Course Dinner from 4:30pm – 9pm on Friday and Saturday.

We strongly suggest reservations – spots fill quickly!

Call us at (845) 564-3220 to reserve your spot.

Click below to see this weekend’s menu.

See Menu
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Tip Thursday

Stickney: Plane shifts used by the pros

Written by: Tom Stickney II

One of the most perplexing aspects of golf for the average player is how the club should transition. In fact, the “over the top” motion is what keeps all of the teaching professionals in business! On Tour, you see many different ways to move the club on the way down and Homer Kelley, in his book, The Golfing Machine, identified seven different ways to transition the club. In this article, we’ll only discuss a few of them.

The first two shifts we’ll examine are the extremes of up and around.

Up and Under

This swing model is made famous by Jim Furyk and obviously there are many levels of up and under but the basic idea is to lift the club to the top which gives you more room to “drop it under” on the way down. Some people love this feeling and it is quite simple when practiced a time or two.

One of the most perplexing aspects of golf for the average player is how the club should transition. In fact, the “over the top” motion is what keeps all of the teaching professionals in business! On Tour, you see many different ways to move the club on the way down and Homer Kelley, in his book, The Golfing Machine, identified seven different ways to transition the club. In this article, we’ll only discuss a few of them.

The first two shifts we’ll examine are the extremes of up and around.

Up and Under

This swing model is made famous by Jim Furyk and obviously there are many levels of up and under but the basic idea is to lift the club to the top which gives you more room to “drop it under” on the way down. Some people love this feeling and it is quite simple when practiced a time or two.

You will notice a takeaway that is slightly lifted and outside moving the arms into a more upright position at the top. From there the arms fall down and behind the player allowing the club to be delivered from the inside.

Around and Under

The opposite player of the Up and Under player takes the club more around the body into a short, flat, and tight position like Matt Kucher. It is here that some players feel that it is much simpler to come from the inside when the club is in a lower and more rounded position at the top.

This swing model is exemplified with a takeaway that works around the body off the start and continues all the way to the top placing the club in a “flatter” condition. From there the club basically returns from the inside as a slight shift is made to the inside. Some players feel this is the easiest way to move the club to the inside.

Now that we have covered the two extreme positions of Up and Around, the rest of the world is somewhere in the middle of these two positions. Personally, it does not matter where you play from as long as the club moves into a solid position on the way down.

Let’s discuss the middle positions and how to transition the club from there…

Reverse Shift

The Reverse Shift is shown best by Nick Faldo back in his hey-day. The club is taken to the top and the entire triangle formed by the arms is shifted rearward to begin the downswing thus moving the club into an inside delivery position.

When the entire triangle falls rearward it allows the club to flatten and the club to move from the inside. Transitional tempo is the key to this move because it won’t work if you get too fast.

Flatten the Shaft

Most of the players today on Tour are subscribing to this type of plane shift as the club shaft flattens out behind the player allowing the hands to move down the correct path. If the hands get too far behind the player then the path can easily shift too rightward in the above swing pattern but not with this swing model.

Here you can see that the club shaft flattened and the clubhead fell behind my hands lowering the center of mass and this places the club in an inside delivery position with the hands in the correct position at belt-high. This is a great way to transition the club for people who tend to get “stuck” on the way down.

So now that we’ve seen the most common plane shift models that move the club back to the inside which one is the best or the easiest? Basically, the one that makes the most sense to you as a player. One of these styles will feel “easier” than the other ones and allow you to shift your swing path more rightward during impact so you can move the ball right to left easier (for the right-handed player).

Enjoy trying these shifts and remember that all four can work for you at any given time!

Source: GolfWRX.com

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