January 2011: The Instruction Blog: Golf Digest

How to launch it like Bubba

Sunday, January 30, 2011

On the CBS telecast, Peter Kostis and Gary McCord isloated the magic move that all the really long hitters have in common--they maximize their leverage against the ground by straightening the lead leg just before impact.

Mere mortals might pull a hamstring by trying this clubhead-speed-producing move, but make no mistake: Phil Mickelson does it. Jhonattan Vegas does it. So does Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim and Dustin Johnson. But the player who exhibits it more than anyone is Bubba Watson, who won the Farmers Insurance Open this afternoon at Torrey Pines, routinely hitting drives more than 330 yards. On the par-5 18th hole, he hit 7-iron for his second shot, and on the par-5 13th, he hit pitching wedge!

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Tiger's best putting drill

Sunday, January 30, 2011

For at least the past 12 years, Tiger Woods has been considered by his peers, most golf instructors and the general public to be the best putter in the game. Even Jack Nicklaus has said that Tiger might be slightly better than he was when having to make a putt with everything on the line.

That putting stroke of Tiger's has been running a little colder this past year or so, but it's not because Tiger isn't paying attention to it. As Dave Shedloski pointed out on Thursday in an article on golfdigest.com, after Tiger's opening-round 69 at this year's Farmer's Insurance Open (at Torrey Pines), Tiger immediately went to the practice green and made 42 consecutive four-footers using his go-to drill, which he calls the Gate Drill.

You can easily perform the Gate Drill as well, whenever you feel your stroke is out of sorts. All you need is a few balls, your favorite putter and a couple of tees. Click on the link to see exactly how Tiger does it.

Let me hear how it worked for you, and tell me about your favorite putting drill. And follow me on Twitter @rogerschiffman.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

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Saturday Morning Tip: More first-tee thoughts

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Last Saturday's Blog entry was so popular, I've given you two more thoughts to get your round started, from two veteran members of the Golf Digest Instruction staff. Have a great round, and be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

Tom Watson: When we struggle, probably the most important thing to think about is rhythm. We all have a natural pace. It can get off for a variety of reasons. Maybe we're stiff, or we drank too much coffee, or maybe we're nervous or simply tired. Establish a slow, smooth rhythm as you warm up. If you have trouble on the course, many times it goes back to rhythm. Slow it down, especially in your transition (think of Jay Haas' slow-moving pace at the top--and see if that helps.

David Leadbetter: In my experience, backswings go a lot better if you are relaxed at address. One of the biggest mistakes I see amateurs make is that they start tight and tense, especially in their forearms and shoulders. They snatch the club away, which messes up their rhythm right from the start. Nick Faldo always looked relaxed at address. The best way to foster that feeling is by standing in the address position without a club, spreading your arms apart, then clapping your palms together. That shakes any tension out of your upper body.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

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Fitness Friday: Build your own buns of steel

Friday, January 28, 2011

Editor's note: Hope you're enjoying the Instruction Blog, only at golfdigest.com. Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday. He gives you an unbeatable health and fitness tip or an exercise or stretch to get your body warmed up for the weekend. We want you to be in shape to play your best golf ever.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in your body, and it's supposed to be the strongest. Yet, ask any fitness trainer where they see the biggest deficiencies with their golfers, and they'll almost always name the glutes as a weak link in the chain.

Why are strong butt muscles important in a golf swing?

"The gluteus maximus is the main creator of hip extension, which allows you to drive your legs into the ground, in essence supplying your swing with energy," says Craig Davies, a certified chiropractor and fitness trainer. He works with several PGA Tour pros, including Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair and Justin Rose.

"In addition, the gluteus medius and minimus help stabilize the leg to the pelvis when making a lateral move toward the target. This allows energy to be transferred from your legs to your core."

And that's not all, says Golf Digest fitness advisor Randy Myers, Read more

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Is Vegas the next Seve?

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

They are more than 25 years apart, but when you delve into the golf upbringings of Jhonattan Vegas and Seve Ballesteros, the similarities start to come to life. Of course, the Spaniard came on the world scene at an earlier age--still a teenager--but both players found the game by chance, and learned to play by feel.

It's well known that Seve developed his vast array of magical shots and honed arguably the best set of hands ever to hold a golf club by hitting a cut-down 3-iron on the beach in his native, golf-poor Santander. Vegas, who grew up in the newly golf-poor Caracas, where golf courses have been plowed under to make way for affordable housing, learned in a similar way, swinging broomsticks at rocks. "I generally just picked up what I could find and swung at everything I could find around," he said earlier in the week of the Hope. "So usually I hit plastic balls, rocks, whatever I could find around the house, breaking windows and all kinds of stuff. That's kind of how my game started. [My dad's] been always a good and big fan of golf, and so just by looking at him I just started doing it."

Just by looking at him I just started doing it. What a great way for a youngster to learn to play, something that unfortunately is all too rare these days when so many teachers (and parents) rely on videotape and computer technology to impose swing mechanics and positions on young golfers, who often get confused and later burned out. They don't have a chance to develop the feel and touch and natural golf instincts that so many true champions of the game have shown us, from Bobby Jones and Sam Snead, to Arnold Palmer and Gary Player to Lee Trevino and, yes, Seve.

Just as Seve was exposed to the game by chance, growing up near a golf course and caddieing, Vegas' father, a caterer who was unemployed for three years, also grew up next to a course, where he picked up range balls. He gave Vegas his early lessons, but Jhonattan soon "graduated" to a real teacher, the three-time Venezuelan World Cup golfer Franci Batancourt. Vegas later moved to Houston and lived with his mentor, refining his game under his watchful eye, but the roots of that natural talent were established long before that.

That's why the miraculous flop shot Vegas hit on the first playoff hole had the markings of something Seve in his prime would do. Short-sided, about 30 yards from the hole, the shot looked impossible. From a fluffy lie, he would have to hit the ball nearly straight up and land it softly on a downslope in the rough and hope it would trickle onto the green. He hit the shot perfectly, the ball landing in exactly the right spot, rolling onto the green and actually hitting the hole before finishing three feet away. His birdie extended the playoff with Gary Woodland (Bill Haas parred), and then Vegas made a Seve-style par on the next playoff hole to win. After pulling his drive into the water, unfazed he took a penalty drop, knocked a 9-iron onto the green and made the 12-footer for the victory. I hope Seve was watching.

See how Golf Digest Playing Editor Phil Mickelson executes his famous flop shot.

And be sure to follow me on Twitter @rogerschiffman

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

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How does Martin Kaymer do it?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Martin Kaymer, winner of the PGA at Whistling Straits last August, and now No. 2 in the World Golf Ranking after his dominating victory Sunday at Abu Dhabi, has become arguably the best ball-striker in the game. Besides a lot of hard work, what is his secret?

Willi Hofmann, the long-time coach of fellow German star Bernhard Langer, has known Kaymer since the 26-year-old was a teenager. Hofmann says the secret is a very simple swing with no extraneous body movement. Kaymer stays so still over the ball, there is very little that can go wrong. When he combines that with a smooth and confident stroke on the greens, nobody can compete with him. Just ask Rory McIlroy. "Martin was playing on a different planet this week," the Ulsterman said. Just ask Lee Westwood, the only player ahead of Kaymer in the world ranking, who finished 26 shots behind Kaymer at Abu Dhabi!

Kaymer's move resembles a Stack & Tilt motion, but without the flat backswing and straight right leg. His weight constantly moves toward the target starting just before his transition, and he finishes with his weight firmly planted over his left leg. This lower-body support allows him to control the clubface with his forearms for ultimate consistency. It's an athletic swing worth emulating. Look at the following slow-motion video. If you view this swing over and over this week, I bet you'll be a better ball-striker by this weekend.

Remember to follow me on Twitter: @rogerschiffman

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

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Saturday Morning Tip: Getting off the first tee

Saturday, January 22, 2011

OK, so you haven't swung a club all week, and you're getting to the course a little late, so you need a key thought to get you through the first hole and jump-start your round. Here are three tips to smooth out the first-tee jitters and help you find your rhythm, from our Golf Digest Teaching Professionals and Players. Have a great round and follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/RogerSchiffman.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

Jack Nicklaus: Here's my most effective image to beat first-tee nerves: As I step to the ball, I "see" the upcoming swing in my mind's eye almost as if it's happening in slow motion: easy back and easy through, with no effort to force the shot in any way. Often the result is the best drive of the round, just when it's needed the most.

Annika Sorenstam: When I need a tempo reminder, I tell myself to "Swing 6." That means, if 10 is the hardest I can swing,I want to go at 60 percent. I often will ask my caddie to remind me to "Swing 6" when the pressure is on. It's the best speed for me, from my driver to my wedges.

Hank Haney: Narrow your focus. A lot of players don't take the care they should about aiming, especially from the tee. Instead of looking out at the fairway and thinking anywhere out there is fine, you need to have more of a plan, and more of an aiming point. Once I pick that landmark, I find a spot on the tee or in the fairway a few yards ahead of my ball, on the same line. I've got a much closer frame of reference when I actually set up over the ball. It works the same as those little diamonds on the bowling alley. You're trying to roll your ball over one of the diamonds, instead of aiming at the pins themselves.

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Fitness Friday: It's time to walk the plank

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Editor's note: Hope you're enjoying the Instruction Blog, only at golfdigest.com. Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest Fitness Editor, will present Fitness Friday. He'll give you health and fitness tips or an exercise or stretch to get your body warmed up for the weekend. We want you to be in shape to play your best golf ever.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

If you're looking to start a fitness regimen with the goal of improving your golf game, there's no better place to start than core-strengthening exercises. An informal poll of top golf-fitness experts such as Ralph Simpson, Randy Myers, Mark Verstegen, Gray Cook and Alwyn Cosgrove confirmed that the plank should be a staple of your core workout.

The plank is a long-hold stabilizing exercise in which you get down and face the ground and support your body weight only with your forearms and toes. You have to recruit several muscle groups -- most notably the abs and obliques -- to maintain this position for any substantial length of time.

The best part? Not only will it turn your core into a stable platform to improve your golf swing, the plank also is a lot less taxing on your spine when compared with traditional sit-ups and crunches. In fact, it improves spinal stability by strengthening the muscles around it.

"It's way better, especially for someone who already has had bouts with lower-back pain," says Simpson. "The plank registers a much higher EMG (electromyogram) in the tranversus abdominus and doesn't put nearly the load on the lumbar spine that the crunch does."

In other words, more muscle activity is registered, and you won't crush your spine while doing the plank. Two pretty darn good reasons to say good-bye to sit-ups and crunches.

To see me demonstrate a par (beginner), birdie (intermediate) and eagle (advanced) version of this exercise, just click on the video. Make sure to keep your back straight and concentrate on tightening your abs. Your goal is to be able to do the par version for 60 seconds with relative ease before graduating to the birdie and then to the eagle. The challenge also will make it more fun.

If you have any questions or comments about this exercise, or golf fitness in general, let me know. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@ronkaspriske).

Ron Kaspriske
Golf Digest Fitness Editor

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How to play a miracle shot

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

It was the 72nd hole of last week's PGA Tour event. Steve Marino had 210 yards to the green on the par-5 finisher and needed to make eagle to have a chance of tying tournament leader Mark Wilson at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Any tour player would have a good shot at knocking it on. But when you have to stand inside a fairway bunker and your ball is outside the bunker, two feet above your shoes, what do you do?

Watch the video here to see how Marino handled it, then read Golf Digest Teaching Professional Jim Flick's tips on how you can play from such an usual lie.

"Anytime you have a difficult or strange lie, take several rehearsal swings to determine where the clubhead is hitting the ground," Flick says. "Always do this. That determines your ball position." Flick says that Marino does the following four things:

1. He chokes down on the club dramatically. That helps keep him from hitting behind the ball.

2. He stays really steady throughout the swing--almost making a driver swing. Notice that his head actually moves backward at impact, which shows he's swinging slightly up on the ball. Staying steady is a good thought for any usual lie. You are not allowed to create a stance in the bunker, but Marino makes sure to anchor himself with his right foot, then stays very steady on that foot throughout the swing, greatly limiting his weight shift. He swings the club back deliberately and smoothly. These adjustments give him a better chance of making solid contact.

3. Marino factors in that the ball won't go as far because he's hitting up through impact, sending the shot on a higher-than-normal trajectory. Note he has only 210 to the hole, and he's swinging a fairway wood, which normally would go farther than that for a strong tour player.

4. There is no flip through the hitting area. Look at Steve's left forearm through impact. He uses it to stabilize the clubface. There is absolutely no breakdown.

Flick also notes that when the ball is well above your feet, the tendency with a higher-lofted iron is to either hit a dramatic hook (raise an iron so the shaft is more level to the ground, and the face in effect closes), or there is a tendency to shank the shot because you are off balance. "Selecting a fairway wood reduces the chance of overhooking and eliminates the shank," Flick says. "Steve obviously has practiced this kind of shot, because he knew exactly what to do. Tour players practice all kinds of shots, but amateurs rarely do. If you practice shots like this one from time to time, you'll be prepared when you encounter an unusual stance on the course."

Comment here on the most bizarre shot you've ever faced. And follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/rogerschiffman.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

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To look or not to look

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Monday's Sony Open winner, Mark Wilson, got the attention of more than a few observers when he mentioned that he never looked at a leader board during the final 36 holes at Waialae C.C. in Hawaii. Not since Jesper Parnevik's loss at the 1994 British Open at Turnberry, when he said he didn't look at the leader board toward the end, played recklessly on the last hole, then lost to Nick Price, has so much been made of such an innocuous statement.

Here's what Dan Jenkins wrote in Golf Digest at the time: "Surely Parnevik was being as funny as his cap, or his father, late Sunday when he claimed he forgot to glance at the scoreboard and thought he needed yet another birdie before he butchered his approach to the final hole and suffered the bogey that threw open the door for Price."

Immediately after Wilson's
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