Editor's note: Every week, PGA professional
Kevin Hinton examines the swing of a recent tour winner and tells you
what you can learn. A Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, Kevin is the
Director of Instruction at Piping Rock Golf Club, Locust Valley, N.Y.,
and is a Lead Master Instructor for the Jim McLean Golf School at Doral
Resort & Spa. He also teaches at Drive 495 in New York. He has seen
thousands of swings, and has helped golfers of all abilities, from rank
beginners to tour players. This week, he looks at the beautifully balanced action of the new world No. 1 player, Luke Donald, who won the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, defeating Lee Westwood in a sudden-death playoff.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Kevin Hinton: There are so many good things about Luke Donald's swing that it is difficult to know where to begin. His tempo can only be rivaled by Ernie Els. He has impeccable balance and footwork. The club swings through simple and repeatable positions. Frankly, it becomes difficult to imagine how he would ever hit a ball very far off line. Oh, and he has also been one of the best putters on the PGA Tour for the last few years. I guess it's not that shocking he is the new No. 1 ranked player in the world. With that in mind, watch the video below for a closer look at the mechanics behind that beautiful swing, both from face-on with a middle iron and then up the line with a driver.
Let's start with what I think is the most recognizable characteristic of Luke's swing, his classically balanced finish. There are a couple of details that the amateur player should take note of. First, his hips are fully rotated, and his lower center (think belt buckle) is closer to the target than his upper center (think buttons on your shirt). This relationship should be
Read more
In the upcoming issue of Golf Digest (July, with Adam Scott on the cover), there is a great section on bunker play by Mark Immelman, brother of Masters Champion Trevor. Mark says he learned everything about bunker play from the master, Gary Player. Here's one tip you can use this weekend to improve your sand play. I tried it myself and it really works. Here's hoping you avoid the bunkers in the first place, but if you don't this tip should help you get it up and down. Remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman Managing Editor Golf Digest
Basic bunker technique: Start left and stay left A good bunker swing generates a lot of clubhead speed. Many high-handicappers lean away from the target on the downswing, trying to help the ball out of the sand. But they don't get much swing speed falling back like that. Here's how to get the speed you need. Play the ball just forward of center, with your stance slightly open and your sternum more over your left foot. Add a little flex to your left knee, and bend more toward the ball from your hips. Maintain these positions as you make what feels like an arms-only swing. (Your body will automatically turn.) Staying on your left side, accelerate the club through the sand. Swing to a full finish, and check it by seeing if you can lower the shaft and rest it on your left shoulder.
Editor's note: You can see several more bunker tips from Immelman in the Breaking 100-90-80 section of the July issue, on newsstands June 7.
Editor's note: Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest
Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday on the Instruction Blog. This week he shows you how to get started with a basic workout. Look for Saturday Morning Tip
tomorrow, and remember to follow me on Twitter: @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman Managing Editor Golf Digest
Most of my tips and advice on golf fitness, nutrition and injury treatment are geared toward people who are familiar with the game and are experienced gym goers. But recently, Golf Digest's Web Editor Sam Weinman asked me to give basic tips on golf fitness to those who are about to try the sport for the first time, or have had a long layoff.
It's a great topic and very apropos because many of you will play one of your first few rounds of the year over Memorial Day weekend.
I had to give some thought as to what a person absolutely needs to know before playing golf.
Editor's note: Every week, PGA professional
Kevin Hinton examines the swing of a recent tour winner and tells you
what you can learn. A Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, Kevin is the
Director of Instruction at Piping Rock Golf Club, Locust Valley, N.Y.,
and is a Lead Master Instructor for the Jim McLean Golf School at Doral
Resort & Spa. He also teaches at Drive 495 in New York. He has seen
thousands of swings, and has helped golfers of all abilities, from rank
beginners to tour players. This week, he looks at the incredible pitch shot from 83 yards over a bunker that David Toms holed for an eagle enroute to winning the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on Sunday. It was Toms' first tour victory in five years and assured his spot in next month's U.S. Open at Congressional, where he will be a favorite. In August, Toms also will play in the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, where he won the PGA 10 years ago. Hinton's analysis here will give you great insight for working David's technique into your own wedge play.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Kevin Hinton: This week we discuss the fundamentals of good wedge play. The below clip comes from the par-5 11th hole of Sunday's final round at the Colonial. Let's take a closer look.
The three keys to a good wedge game are (1) producing consistent, solid contact, (2) hitting the ball the proper distance, and (3) controlling your direction. I believe they are important in that order, and I encourage my students to tailor their practice with that in mind. If your contact is poor or sporadic, then gauging distance will be nearly impossible, and directional control is even more irrelevant. So let's start with the basics of good contact.
Notice how solid Toms' contact is on this shot. You can tell by the sound at impact and the tiny divot he takes. His head is extremely steady in the backswing, and in the downswing he hits the ball more with the rotation of his body, not his arms and hands. This is one key to his excellent wedge play. Most golfers have heard the saying "hit the little ball before the big ball"...that is, the golf ball being the little ball and the Earth being the big ball. This is simply emphasizing the importance of producing proper golf-ball-first contact, and it is absolutely crucial. If just this information alone is a revelation, then that's a good
With Tiger's quest for winning more majors looking less certain these days, let's turn to the man who has won 20 of them (I'm in the camp that counts his two U.S. Amateurs). Jack Nicklaus always refers to his fundamentals when talking about instruction. So here are three basic tips that should get you on the right track this weekend--one putting, one full swing, one strategy--with some additional comments from Jack's teacher, Jim Flick. You can follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Feel the weight of the putterhead Putting is largely individual. But I think (1) your head should remain steady and (2) your eyes should be directly over the line of the putt, not necessarily over the ball. After that, my central thought is, Feel the energy of the putter going through the ball. Distance is far more important than direction. If your speed is just right, you can use the full 4-1/4 inches of the cup. Nearly half the ball can miss the hole, and you can still make the putt. Editor's note: Jack's teacher, Jim Flick, points out that to feel the energy of the putter, you need a light and constant grip pressure. This is especially important on really fast greens, and on tricky short putts under pressure.
Ball position for driver, 5-iron, wedge I try to play every shot with the ball opposite a point just inside my left heel. That is a pure fundamental for me. The width of my stance and the distance from the ball to my stance line is Read more
Editor's note: Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest
Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday on the Instruction Blog. He
gives you a health and fitness tip or an exercise or stretch to get your
body warmed up for the weekend. This week he tells you how to do a complete workout for your golf muscles while getting a cardio workout at the same time. Sounds good to me! Look for Saturday Morning Tip
tomorrow, and remember to follow me on Twitter: @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman Managing Editor Golf Digest
Many of you have asked for a simple, efficient, total-body workout that will not only improve strength and mobility, but also improve your golf swing. Not to sound like a used-car salesman, but I'll do ya one better. I'm going to give you a total-body workout routine that will not only improve strength, mobility and hit the key muscles used in the golf swing, but also doubles as a cardio workout.
I call it "20 in 20" and tweeted about it earlier this week.
Simply put, you're going to do two sets of 10 different exercises (20 sets) in 20 minutes. Doesn't it sound appealing to be in and out of the gym in 20 minutes? Especially knowing you worked out harder than if you spent an hour doing 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of
Read more
Editor's note: Every week, PGA professional
Kevin Hinton examines the swing of a recent tour winner and tells you
what you can learn. A Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, Kevin is the
Director of Instruction at Piping Rock Golf Club, Locust Valley, N.Y.,
and is a Lead Master Instructor for the Jim McLean Golf School at Doral
Resort & Spa. He also teaches at Drive 495 in New York. He has seen
thousands of swings, and has helped golfers of all abilities, from rank
beginners to tour players. This week, he looks at the swing of K.J. Choi, who won the Players Championship in a dramatic sudden-death playoff with David Toms.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Kevin Hinton: Last week during the Monday Swing Analysis, we examined how Tom Lehman's "draw" swing can help average players finally cure their slice. This week we take a look at the "fade" swing of The 2011 Players Championship winner, K.J. Choi, whose swing is close to a polar opposite of Lehman's. Take a look at Choi's swing from down the line, at the U.S. Open last June.
The first lesson we can take from Choi's swing is how effective a fade can be for an advanced player to hit as a regular shot, especially under pressure. The most defining characteristic of Choi's swing is his transition from the top of the backswing into the downswing. As he starts down, his arms and hands move outward in what is often called an over-the-top or "casting" motion. In reality, all he is doing is setting the club to swing down on an outside-to-in path that will produce a left-to-right ball flight. Slicers all over the world make this move everyday.
Like many things in golf, however, it's a matter of degree. Many top players prefer a fade as their shot of choice, but what differentiates them from the average player is the amount to which they do it. Essentially, their ball will rarely slice. If you are a low-handicapper who is much more likely to be held back by the occasional hook than a slice, try working a fade into your repertoire of shots. You'll find it reliable under pressure, and you might make it your shot of choice, as K.J. Choi does.
The second lesson is the importance of committing to a consistent ball flight and routinely trying to create that shape. It's often said that a straight shot is the hardest shot in golf to hit. The combination of variables that must align for a ball to start exactly at the target and fly without any curve is daunting. The negative in trying to hit straight shots is that all day long you'll be hitting shots that are not doing what you want them to do. Essentially, you'll be failing on every shot.
Hitting a consistent shape is an achievable goal. If you like to see the ball draw, every time your ball starts somewhere out to the right of your target and curves left, you have succeeded in hitting your desired shot. For a fade, the opposite ball flight is your goal. Your chances for success are much greater.
Finally, stick with that shot under pressure, even if the hole doesn't set up great for that shape. As K.J. Choi and David Toms got to the 18th hole at the TPC of Sawgrass yesterday, a hole that turns left and calls for a draw, they both stuck with their natural fade and didn't try to hit the shot they are not as comfortable with. Choi hit a fairway wood that curved slightly into the right side of the fairway, and Toms hit a bullet fade down the left-hand water line that also landed safely in the fairway (unfortunately, it finished in a divot, but that's a tip for another time). Both players got the ball in play under pressure going with their regular shot shape.
Just as it is important to stick with our pre-shot routines under pressure, it is equally important to stick with the shot shape that we practice the most and is the easiest for us to create. Do this and you will own your shape as well.
I had the pleasure yesterday of spending some time with tour player Brad Faxon, who was helping the Stack & Tilt gurus Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett give a presentation to a large group of northeastern teaching pros at the Harmon Golf and Fitness Center in Rockland, Mass. Brad has been working with Plummer and Bennett for the past year, and is showing signs of much-improved ball striking.
I'll be writing a more-extensive blog next week about what I learned, but Brad gave me some advice that I felt I should pass on to you as quickly as possible.
When you start to hit balls before your round this weekend, don't stretch. You see lots of golfers with the club behind their back, pivoting back and through, or bending over or doing Read more
Editor's note: Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday on the Instruction Blog. He gives you a health and fitness tip or an exercise or stretch to get your body warmed up for the weekend. This week he explains why back lunges might be best for golfers. He explains why and shows how to do them correctly for optimum safety and benefit. Look for Saturday Morning Tip tomorrow, and remember to follow me on Twitter: @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman Managing Editor Golf Digest
While the squat remains one of the best power exercises golfers can do, several top golf fitness trainers think lunging is a safer, and possibly a better move to build strength in the crucial areas of the hips, glutes, and legs--especially if performed in the correct manner of dropping a leg behind you vs. extending a leg in front of you.
Craig Davies, director of nutrition and fitness at the Core Golf Academy in Orlando and a trainer to several top PGA Tour pros including Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan, says lunges are one of his favorites, "much more than squats." Generally speaking, it puts less stress on the lower back than squatting.
"I like lunges that move in a backward direction generally much more so than forward," Davies adds. "Forward lunges will generally result in the athlete loading predominantly through the quads (front of the thighs), especially if the athlete loads through their forefoot, which nearly all do. Excessive quad activation, compared to glute and hamstring activation with a back lunge, will generally result in shortening of the quads. And they are almost always chronically too short to begin with."
If that went over your head, then just remember that back lunges allow better activation of the hamstring and glutes than front lunges. The hamstring and glute muscles are crucial to power and stability in your golf swing.
To see demonstrations of two back lunges--one for strength training and the other a bonus cardio/strength training move--click on the video below.
Editor's note: This week the Instruction Blog starts a new Monday series: the Golf Digest Swing Analysis. Every week PGA professional Kevin Hinton will examine the swing of a recent tour winner and tell you what you can learn. Kevin, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, is the Director of Instruction at Piping Rock Golf Club, Locust Valley, N.Y., and is Lead Master Teacher for the Jim McLean Golf School at Doral Resort & Spa. He also teaches at Drive 495 in New York. He has seen thousands of swings, and has helped players of all abilities, from rank beginners to tour players. This week, he looks at the swing of Tom Lehman, who won on Sunday for the third time this year, at the Regions Tradition, his second Champions Tour major.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Kevin Hinton:
At first glance, many golfers might shy away from copying Tom Lehman's
golf swing. His bowed left wrist at the top and unique knee action in
the downswing likely have most people looking elsewhere for their
model. In reality, however, Lehman has consistently been a world-class
ball striker throughout most of his career and does several things that
are great for the average player to emulate. The typical amateur struggles
with slicing the ball; Tom Lehman definitely does not. He draws it almost exclusively. Let's take a closer look at the above
video clip to see why that's the case and what you can learn from it.
As Tom starts his swing, his hands and arms begin to swing across
his chest as he is turning his hips and shoulders. This first move is
typically a good start to drawing the ball. While there are an
unlimited number of ways to take the club back and produce quality golf
shots, I've found that my students are less likely to slice the ball
if their arms swing "inward" as they begin their backswing.
The next
thing to look at is the top of the swing. The bowing of Tom's left
wrist puts the clubface in a stronger or slightly closed position. Most players I teach would benefit from copying this. Weak
clubfaces at the top usually lead to shots going short and right, two things that would be
nice to avoid. Read more
