Students exhibiting commendable impact alignments during their 2nd lesson.
Impact is 1/4 of the JTG Swing Model...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Inside Men
Its been said that the Over-The-Top move is the most prevalent error amongst amateur golfers. For both Garrett and Rohit (8 and 6 months playing experience), that doesn't seem to be the case.
What's the secret here you may ask...
The secret is that there are no secrets, only dedication to improvement, hard work and the correct application of drills.
What's the secret here you may ask...
The secret is that there are no secrets, only dedication to improvement, hard work and the correct application of drills.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Stack and Tilt from the Horse's Mouth
As told by Lynn Blake:
I think the greatest benefit of Stack and Tilt (Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett) is its emphasis on the centered and stationary head. When you keep your head steady -- no Swaying (Fourth Snare / 3-F-7-D) -- good things happen.
As Andy explained to me on the practice tee of last year's AT&T Classic, the much misunderstood 'tilt' portion of S&T is necessary to restore the centered head of the player who has swayed to the right (and 'tilted' his spine away from the target). In other words, after the Sway, you must 'tilt back' (toward the target) to re-center the head that never should have moved in the first place! This is the demon they fight in so many of the players who come to them.
"But Andy," said I, "What if the player keeps his head centered and stationary . . . like this . . ." (and I demonstrated my backstroke).
"That's perfect," said he. "You don't need to tilt."
So . . . if you sway to the right, S&T dictates that you 'tilt back' to the left to restore the centered head (and the 'stack' of the lower and upper body). But, if you correctly 'stack', i.e., never 'unstack', then you don't need to 'tilt'.
Guess the editors at Golf Digest didn't think we needed a system just called 'Stack'.
I think the greatest benefit of Stack and Tilt (Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett) is its emphasis on the centered and stationary head. When you keep your head steady -- no Swaying (Fourth Snare / 3-F-7-D) -- good things happen.
As Andy explained to me on the practice tee of last year's AT&T Classic, the much misunderstood 'tilt' portion of S&T is necessary to restore the centered head of the player who has swayed to the right (and 'tilted' his spine away from the target). In other words, after the Sway, you must 'tilt back' (toward the target) to re-center the head that never should have moved in the first place! This is the demon they fight in so many of the players who come to them.
"But Andy," said I, "What if the player keeps his head centered and stationary . . . like this . . ." (and I demonstrated my backstroke).
"That's perfect," said he. "You don't need to tilt."
So . . . if you sway to the right, S&T dictates that you 'tilt back' to the left to restore the centered head (and the 'stack' of the lower and upper body). But, if you correctly 'stack', i.e., never 'unstack', then you don't need to 'tilt'.
Guess the editors at Golf Digest didn't think we needed a system just called 'Stack'.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Stack and Tilt Revisited
(L-Before R-After)
After having problems hitting the ball fat, Kevin was taught how to tilt his shoulders on the takeaway to produce a "stacked" backswing.
Notice in the picture on the left, the head is almost over the right foot. As mentioned earlier in another post, if the head doesn't shift back to where it was at address, the club will bottom out too early.
In the picture on the right, the head is in a much better position. From there, all Kevin needs to do is to bring the club down on the ball without shifting anything.
The result? Purely struck shots that resembled F-14s taking off an aircraft carrier.
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Most Important Club(s) In Your Bag
Much has been made of the saying "Drive for show, Putt for dough."
Either, that saying needs to carry a caveat - ceteris paribus - or else its just a thoughtless quote.
If you can't drive the ball far and straight enough, then however many putts you make on the green will be meaningless. Who wants to be 6 on and then 1 putt on a par 4 / 5? Not me for sure.
The most important clubs in any golfers' bag are the driver (or equivalent), wedge and putter - in that order.
Here is why...
The Driver
One needs to put the drive reasonably far off the tee to have a chance to reach the green in regulation or be near it. It pays to ensure that your driver's loft and shaft flex and weight are suited to your swing speed. Most amateurs use too little loft and too stiff a shaft.
The Wedge
If you miss the drive and send it careening into the woods, after a little punch-out (hopefully no heroics here), you will most likely be left with a 50-60m shot to set up a par putt. Here is where the wedges will come in handy.
If you did put your drive in the fairway, but missed your approach to the green, you would still likely need to use your wedge for a pitch shot or some kind of chip to the green to again set up your par putt.
Here, most amateurs are unsure of how far and how fast they need to swing their wedges to achieve the required distances. The wedge game is unlike the normal iron shots where they are typically swung with full swing. The wedge game is an intricate web of different swing lengths, swing speed, ball positions etc to achieve a plethora of high, low, running, spinning shots for different distances to put the ball close to the hole.
I have shots for 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 programmed into my arsenal of wedge shots. Using a combination of 4 wedges, 3 different swing lengths, 3 finish positions, I have a wide range of shots at my disposal for the situation at hand.
Once you put the ball on the dance floor, its time to think about sinking that sucker for birdie, par or bogey.
The Putter
For a scratch golfer, 36 or half of his shots are made on the putting green. If a 24 handicapper quits 3 putting just 9 greens, he would have become a 15 handicapper overnight. What better way to stop 3 putting than by FIRST putting those wedge shots within 8-10 feet where your percentage of sinking them is 50%?
The next steps to becoming a wizard on the greens are:
1) Read the line of the putt. Most people take too little break. Take more break, gravity can at times help pull the ball into the hole.
2) Feel the distance of the putt. Walk from where your ball is to your target (break or hole). This will allow your brain to register the distance required to stroke the ball.
3) Make a putting stroke that is arcing, not a straight back and straight through type.
4) Make imaginary putts. If your putt needs to travel 40 feet, look at the halfway mark of that, which is 20 feet. Make an imaginary stroke and try to "feel" how much force is needed to stroke the ball there.
If you know what gets the ball to 20 feet, just a little bit more will send the ball 30 feet (which happens to be the next halfway point between 20 feet and the final target) right? Again make an imaginary stroke.
Finally now that you have a reference for 30 feet, you now need to have a stroke reference for 40 feet. Go ahead and make that imaginary stroke again.
Now look at your final target and make that reference stroke. Think only in terms of making a beautiful and unhurried stroke. Hopefully the ball went in!
If you follow these keys, its unthinkable not to have your handicap drop.
Either, that saying needs to carry a caveat - ceteris paribus - or else its just a thoughtless quote.
If you can't drive the ball far and straight enough, then however many putts you make on the green will be meaningless. Who wants to be 6 on and then 1 putt on a par 4 / 5? Not me for sure.
The most important clubs in any golfers' bag are the driver (or equivalent), wedge and putter - in that order.
Here is why...
The Driver
One needs to put the drive reasonably far off the tee to have a chance to reach the green in regulation or be near it. It pays to ensure that your driver's loft and shaft flex and weight are suited to your swing speed. Most amateurs use too little loft and too stiff a shaft.
The Wedge
If you miss the drive and send it careening into the woods, after a little punch-out (hopefully no heroics here), you will most likely be left with a 50-60m shot to set up a par putt. Here is where the wedges will come in handy.
If you did put your drive in the fairway, but missed your approach to the green, you would still likely need to use your wedge for a pitch shot or some kind of chip to the green to again set up your par putt.
Here, most amateurs are unsure of how far and how fast they need to swing their wedges to achieve the required distances. The wedge game is unlike the normal iron shots where they are typically swung with full swing. The wedge game is an intricate web of different swing lengths, swing speed, ball positions etc to achieve a plethora of high, low, running, spinning shots for different distances to put the ball close to the hole.
I have shots for 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 programmed into my arsenal of wedge shots. Using a combination of 4 wedges, 3 different swing lengths, 3 finish positions, I have a wide range of shots at my disposal for the situation at hand.
Once you put the ball on the dance floor, its time to think about sinking that sucker for birdie, par or bogey.
The Putter
For a scratch golfer, 36 or half of his shots are made on the putting green. If a 24 handicapper quits 3 putting just 9 greens, he would have become a 15 handicapper overnight. What better way to stop 3 putting than by FIRST putting those wedge shots within 8-10 feet where your percentage of sinking them is 50%?
The next steps to becoming a wizard on the greens are:
1) Read the line of the putt. Most people take too little break. Take more break, gravity can at times help pull the ball into the hole.
2) Feel the distance of the putt. Walk from where your ball is to your target (break or hole). This will allow your brain to register the distance required to stroke the ball.
3) Make a putting stroke that is arcing, not a straight back and straight through type.
4) Make imaginary putts. If your putt needs to travel 40 feet, look at the halfway mark of that, which is 20 feet. Make an imaginary stroke and try to "feel" how much force is needed to stroke the ball there.
If you know what gets the ball to 20 feet, just a little bit more will send the ball 30 feet (which happens to be the next halfway point between 20 feet and the final target) right? Again make an imaginary stroke.
Finally now that you have a reference for 30 feet, you now need to have a stroke reference for 40 feet. Go ahead and make that imaginary stroke again.
Now look at your final target and make that reference stroke. Think only in terms of making a beautiful and unhurried stroke. Hopefully the ball went in!
If you follow these keys, its unthinkable not to have your handicap drop.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The Importance of A Centered Head
Traditional golf instruction has a golfer move his head to the right in an attempt to "coil", get a bigger "X Factor" or "Y Factor" or "O". On the surface, while it seems that this is reasonable, it actually creates more faults than it cures.
At address, before the golfer does anything, he has actually matched his head position and more specifically his left shoulder with the ball position. To move the head and as corollary, the left shoulder - which is the low point of the swing, where the club bottoms out - one would then have to move the ball to maintain this synchronicity, or risk hitting it thin or fat.
What typically happens then is that the golfer will either have to sway his head and left shoulder back to the left on the downstroke or "get stuck" if he doesn't have the adequate physical capability to sway back on time.
The first option has its own pitfalls, instead of a "pure" sway that is the mirror opposite of how he moved his head to the right, Joe Hacker will utilize the right shoulder in a roundhouse fashion and cut across the correct swing plane.
Another thing that can happen is that he overcooks the sway and moves his low point way ahead of the ball and hit half tops. This of course is a better option than hitting it fat as the ball should run out to almost where it would be had it been struck properly.
The most egregious of effects produced by a moving head would be its companion, the dip as the golfer initiates the downswing. The end result of which is a fat shot, or if the golfer bends the left wrist or left elbow to prevent bottoming out before impact, weak, high powerless shots.
The next time you get to the range, watch to see if your head is moving out of position. The head should be centered between your feet, the way it would be when you are brushing your teeth.
On your backswing, the head should feel centered while your back should feel like its turning to face the target. From there, the downswing should be reflexive with plenty of lag. Hold your finish as your shot takes off with a crack like an F14 taking off into the distance.
At address, before the golfer does anything, he has actually matched his head position and more specifically his left shoulder with the ball position. To move the head and as corollary, the left shoulder - which is the low point of the swing, where the club bottoms out - one would then have to move the ball to maintain this synchronicity, or risk hitting it thin or fat.
What typically happens then is that the golfer will either have to sway his head and left shoulder back to the left on the downstroke or "get stuck" if he doesn't have the adequate physical capability to sway back on time.
The first option has its own pitfalls, instead of a "pure" sway that is the mirror opposite of how he moved his head to the right, Joe Hacker will utilize the right shoulder in a roundhouse fashion and cut across the correct swing plane.
Another thing that can happen is that he overcooks the sway and moves his low point way ahead of the ball and hit half tops. This of course is a better option than hitting it fat as the ball should run out to almost where it would be had it been struck properly.
The most egregious of effects produced by a moving head would be its companion, the dip as the golfer initiates the downswing. The end result of which is a fat shot, or if the golfer bends the left wrist or left elbow to prevent bottoming out before impact, weak, high powerless shots.
The next time you get to the range, watch to see if your head is moving out of position. The head should be centered between your feet, the way it would be when you are brushing your teeth.
On your backswing, the head should feel centered while your back should feel like its turning to face the target. From there, the downswing should be reflexive with plenty of lag. Hold your finish as your shot takes off with a crack like an F14 taking off into the distance.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Plus 4 Impact
JT is a plus-4 handicapper from the southern hemisphere over in Singapore to practice during the winter season. Check out his impact and what makes it different from the typical social players'.
Note the centered head position or Tripod; the left arm and club shaft forming an almost straight line at impact and the slightly bowed left wrist ala Tiger Woods. All these add up to 300 plus yard carries with the driver.
For all skeptics, kindly call me - I will arrange for a match...;)
Note the centered head position or Tripod; the left arm and club shaft forming an almost straight line at impact and the slightly bowed left wrist ala Tiger Woods. All these add up to 300 plus yard carries with the driver.
For all skeptics, kindly call me - I will arrange for a match...;)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Stack and Tilt - Coming Soon...
The blueprint of the Stack and Tilt Swing is finally available to Medicus Golf Instructors! For those seeking to learn the hottest swing on tour can either call for private lessons or wait for a Summer School in Singapore...Meanwhile, enjoy the sheer poetry of Mike Bennett's swing.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Pretty Polly
Polly - who is one of the most talented students I have met - is able to take information, assimilate it and then make almost instantaneous changes.
Here, at Line 1, where the shaft is parallel to the ground and target line, she changes her takeaway from outside the target line to one that is on line. Note the position of the clubhead as a result.
As a result of the change in Line 1 above, she is able to make a flatter backswing. Though her arms and shaft at not at the optimal plane angle, it is a huge change from her old backswing where her left arm covers (almost) her entire face!
Also notice the position of her right elbow. While we don't want it tucked to closely to the body, we certainly don't want it flying like a 747 either. Ideally, it should point to the ground with the upper arm and lower arm forming a 90 degree angle.
With a flatter backswing, she is able to turn more and then match the rpms of the swing of her body and hands. I have no doubts this girl will improve her game very quickly at her rate of improvement.
At Justin Tang Golf, we help you define the ROOT CAUSE of your problems, not the SYMPTOMS and solve your problems quick without unnecessary waste of time.
Cindy's Impact Fix
Cindy is a very consistent 12 handicapper who manages to beat her male counterparts on a more than regular basis. Despite this, she thought she thought she would be able to play better had she more distance.
Our video analysis revealed a breakdown in the impact zone. Once Cindy is able to internalise the feel of proper impact, she will no doubt be able to add distance to her already pinpoint iron game. Watch out!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Driver Swing
Turn up the volume. The driver used is the Callaway FT 3 Fusion with a Grafalloy Blue shaft.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
BROWN NAMED EUROPEAN TOUR GOLFER OF THE MONTH
I met Mark Brown at last year's rendition of the Barclay's Singapore Open together with his coach Mal Tongue (whom I had the pleasure of training with for 2 weeks) as well as his buddies, Brad Iles and Richard Lee.
Brownie as he is known is as unpretentious and humble as professional tournament golfers. We wish him all the best and look to him to achieving even greater success.
This is an excerpt from the European PGA Tour's webpage in which it is announced that Mark is named the European PGA Tour's golfer of the month for February.
An outstanding two week spell in India which saw him win for the first time on both The European Tour and the Asian Tour has resulted in New Zealander Mark Brown being named as The European Tour Golfer of the Month for February.
The 33 year old, who considered quitting professional golf in 2003, proved he had made the right decision to rededicate himself to the game with a sensational end to the month which caught the eye of the judging panel which comprised members of the Association of Golf Writers, as well as journalists from radio and television.
Brown’s first victory came in the Sail Open Golf Championship at Jaypee Greens on the Asian Tour where he held off the strong challenge of local favourite Jyoti Randhawa before he outlasted a world class field the following week to win the Johnnie Walker Classic at the DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi.
The dual successes helped Brown undertake a meteoric rise up the Official World Golf Ranking to a career high of 64th from 322nd at the start of 2008 and he now occupies the proud position of the highest placed New Zealand golfer on the list.
“I joined The European Tour last year as an Affiliate Member and hoped if I could play half decently I could possibly get into the top 115 on the Order of Merit,” he said. “But now to be in the winners’ category, I am still pinching myself. This is a fantastic award and I am very proud of that.
“The first win was special as it was my first on Tour but the second, against a field as strong as The European Tour in the Johnnie Walker Classic, was incredible. It has opened a few doors to me so I am looking forward to some new opportunities in the future.”
Brown emerged as the panel’s selection from a strong list of contenders, headed by World Number Three Ernie Els, who followed up his tie for sixth place in the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters – his third top ten of The 2008 European Tour season – with his first victory on the US PGA Tour in nearly four years when he came from behind to pip fellow European Tour Member Luke Donald in the Honda Classic.
Other winners from the month considered were; India’s SSP Chowrasia, who thrilled the home spectators with his maiden European Tour triumph in the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters; Felipe Aguilar, who became the first Chilean golfer to win on The European Tour when he triumphed in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open; and South Africa’s James Kingston who won the Vodacom Championship on his home Sunshine Tour.
Brown is the second monthly winner of the 2008 season, the accolade for January having gone to Germany’s Martin Kaymer following his success in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. At the end of the season, all the monthly winners will be considered for the award of European Tour Golfer of the Year.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Speed Limit Exceeded...
You don't need to be a big guy to generate high clubhead speed.
All you need are strong forearms, flexible wrists and a working knowledge of how to lag the clubhead.
All you need are strong forearms, flexible wrists and a working knowledge of how to lag the clubhead.
