As you get ready for your upcoming weekend of golf, I thought you might consider a few thoughts from one of the game's foremost instructors, Golf Digest Teaching Professional Jim Flick.
Flick, in his earlier teaching career, was very mechanically oriented. But I've noticed a distinct change in recent years. He now talks a lot more about creating feel--for the club, for the swing, for the shot. He's been having a lot of success recently with junior players, especially in California. Beau Hossler is a great example. Beau qualified for the U.S. Open last year at age 16 and has won a number of junior events this year. Flick takes great pride in Beau's accomplishments. Jim tells me much of Beau's success is due to learning how to feel the "instrument," as Flick describes the golf club.
Here are three tips from Flick for gaining--or regaining--your feel so you can play to your potential:
1. Learn to feel the club. Grip a middle iron. First cock your wrists so you hold the club straight up. You'll see that it feels too light. Next, hold it straight out, and it will feel too heavy. Finally, hold it at a 45-degree angle. That angle lets you feel the proper weight of the clubhead, and the correct gripping sensation in your hands and arms. Now maintain that grip pressure as you swing.
2. Learn to feel your swing. First, from your normal address position, hinge your wrists, fold your elbows and let the clubshaft rest on your right shoulder. Second, turn your upper torso until your left shoulder is over your right knee, your hips staying level. Third, push your arms up into a desired backswing position with the wrists under and supporting the shaft. That's the way the club should feel at the top of your swing. (Close your eyes and let that position register.) Finally, practice your downswing, holding your shoulders back. allowing your arms to swing down on an inside path. Then repeat and hit the ball.
3. Feel your greens. When golfers three-putt, the reason is usually poor distance control, not direction. You can hit a putt as much as two feet off line, but if you have feel for the proper distance, your next putt will be at most a two-footer. Golfers with poor feel, however, often hit the first putt more than two fee past the hole or leave it well short. No matter how accurate their directional control, they'll have to deal with a missable second putt. Practice the Ladder Drill: Place five clubs on the practice green, like the rungs on a ladder, a couple of feet apart, so you have a 10-footer, a 12-footer, a 14-footer, and so on. Then putt five balls, one to each club. Develop your feel by concentrating on how much effort each stroke takes to roll the ball the proper distance. When you go out to play, your feel for distance will be superb.
I'm sure these thoughts from Jim Flick will help your game.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
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Mid-week Lesson: Toski-Flick explain what controls the swing
At the PGA Show's Demo Day yesterday, I was lucky enough to witness the reunion of two of the game's most influential teachers, Bob Toski (85 years young) and Jim Flick (82). What a treat to see them both in action, giving a clinic for a couple of hundred club professionals and media. They started the Golf Digest Schools back in the 1970s and wrote the definitive golf instruction book How to Become a Complete Golfer with the late Dick Aultman.
Jim Flick (left) and Bob Toski at yesterday's PGA Show Demo Day, at Orange County National, outside Orlando.
It reminded me of one of the great principles they still teach by: The arms control the body in the swing, not the other way around. So much has been taught recently that the big muscles control the swing, but Toski says he doesn't even have any big muscles, yet, at his age he can still hit it out there 250. How does he do it? With speed. Light grip pressure. Soft arms. Great footwork.
As Flick pointed out to me for the umpteenth time, if you keep your shoulders relaxed and let the arms--not the shoulders--take the club back, the club goes on a proper path (not severely inside). Then, if you keep your shoulders quiet in the transition (most poor players start down with their shoulders in an over-the-top move), the club will swing into the ball on an inside path. You must always start the downswing with the left foot, knee, thigh and hip, in that order. But never start down with the shoulders.
It makes so much sense for the average golfer. Thank you, Mr. Toski and Mr. Flick. Look for more great thoughts from Toski and Flick to help your game this weekend on the Instruction Blog.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Jim Flick (left) and Bob Toski at yesterday's PGA Show Demo Day, at Orange County National, outside Orlando.It reminded me of one of the great principles they still teach by: The arms control the body in the swing, not the other way around. So much has been taught recently that the big muscles control the swing, but Toski says he doesn't even have any big muscles, yet, at his age he can still hit it out there 250. How does he do it? With speed. Light grip pressure. Soft arms. Great footwork.
As Flick pointed out to me for the umpteenth time, if you keep your shoulders relaxed and let the arms--not the shoulders--take the club back, the club goes on a proper path (not severely inside). Then, if you keep your shoulders quiet in the transition (most poor players start down with their shoulders in an over-the-top move), the club will swing into the ball on an inside path. You must always start the downswing with the left foot, knee, thigh and hip, in that order. But never start down with the shoulders.
It makes so much sense for the average golfer. Thank you, Mr. Toski and Mr. Flick. Look for more great thoughts from Toski and Flick to help your game this weekend on the Instruction Blog.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Mid-week Lesson: Leadbetter/Flick say 'pick it from fairway sand'
By Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
In the November 2011 issue of Golf Digest (Bubba Watson on the cover), which is hitting subscribers' mailboxes today and will be on newsstands soon, Golf Digest Teaching Professional David Leadbetter discusses the best way to hit fairway bunker shots. I found this tip really interesting because it is based on the same principle that Golf Digest Teaching Professional Jim Flick discussed in a tip I did with him for the November 2005 issue and again in December 2009 (Sweep the Ball from Fairway Sand). Jim said he learned the technique from Jack Nicklaus. Both teachers advocate feeling as if you are hitting level to slightly up on the ball through impact.
First, let's hear from Leadbetter:
"Many amateurs struggle from fairway sand because they swing too hard and release the club too early on the downswing. This causes them to hit the sand first, costing them distance. Here's how to stop hitting fat.
"First, choose a club that will allow you to comfortably clear the lip of the bunker. If the lip is not an issue, then take an extra club to remove any temptation to overswing. Once you have the right club, set up with the ball forward of center in your stance, dig your feet into the sand to create a stable base, and then grip down on the club to compensate for your feet now being lower than the ball.
"When you swing, try to pick the ball off the sand cleanly while staying in balance, as if you're catching the ball on the upswing. In essence, this type of swing will accommodate your early wrist release and allow you to avoid hitting the sand before the ball."
Now let's see what Flick had to say:
"I was walking with Jack Nicklaus during a practice round at the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, and on one hole he drove into a fairway bunker some 170 yards from the green. There was a fairly steep lip, so I figured Jack might have to play short of the putting surface. But he took a 6-iron, kept his weight back, made perfectly clean contact, and put the ball on the green.
Left: Jim Flick says to think of sweeping the ball out of fairway
bunkers. The image of a broom is a good one if you're a visual learner.
(Photo by J.D. Cuban/Jim Luft)
"Later I
asked Jack how he could hit the ball on such a high trajectory, and he
said that with a middle iron to a fairway wood in a bunker, you do not
want to hit down on the shot because the sand provides little resistance
against which to trap the ball. Instead, you want the club swinging
level at impact. Jack plays the ball slightly forward in his stance. He
feels as if he keeps his weight on his right side longer through impact,
similar to his driver swing. There should be little to no sand
displaced.
Try it. You might be afraid of topping the shot, but I've yet to see any student top it with this technique."
OK, the message is pretty clear to me. In fairway sand, you do not want to hit down on the ball. Rather, try to sweep it or pick it off the sand, feeling as if you're swinging the club on a level or slightly upward approach.
Read more
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
In the November 2011 issue of Golf Digest (Bubba Watson on the cover), which is hitting subscribers' mailboxes today and will be on newsstands soon, Golf Digest Teaching Professional David Leadbetter discusses the best way to hit fairway bunker shots. I found this tip really interesting because it is based on the same principle that Golf Digest Teaching Professional Jim Flick discussed in a tip I did with him for the November 2005 issue and again in December 2009 (Sweep the Ball from Fairway Sand). Jim said he learned the technique from Jack Nicklaus. Both teachers advocate feeling as if you are hitting level to slightly up on the ball through impact.
First, let's hear from Leadbetter:
"Many amateurs struggle from fairway sand because they swing too hard and release the club too early on the downswing. This causes them to hit the sand first, costing them distance. Here's how to stop hitting fat.
"First, choose a club that will allow you to comfortably clear the lip of the bunker. If the lip is not an issue, then take an extra club to remove any temptation to overswing. Once you have the right club, set up with the ball forward of center in your stance, dig your feet into the sand to create a stable base, and then grip down on the club to compensate for your feet now being lower than the ball.
"When you swing, try to pick the ball off the sand cleanly while staying in balance, as if you're catching the ball on the upswing. In essence, this type of swing will accommodate your early wrist release and allow you to avoid hitting the sand before the ball."
Now let's see what Flick had to say:
"I was walking with Jack Nicklaus during a practice round at the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, and on one hole he drove into a fairway bunker some 170 yards from the green. There was a fairly steep lip, so I figured Jack might have to play short of the putting surface. But he took a 6-iron, kept his weight back, made perfectly clean contact, and put the ball on the green.
Left: Jim Flick says to think of sweeping the ball out of fairway
bunkers. The image of a broom is a good one if you're a visual learner.(Photo by J.D. Cuban/Jim Luft)
Try it. You might be afraid of topping the shot, but I've yet to see any student top it with this technique."
OK, the message is pretty clear to me. In fairway sand, you do not want to hit down on the ball. Rather, try to sweep it or pick it off the sand, feeling as if you're swinging the club on a level or slightly upward approach.
Read more
Mid-week Lesson: Beyond the splash, part 2
By Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Contrary to popular belief, Bill Haas did not invent the splash shot from a water hazard. As we documented on Monday, Seve Ballesteros demonstrated how he used to do it, and now we'll show you how Jerry Pate wrote about it for Golf Digest back in 1982! Pate put on an exhibition in his backyard practice area right on a Gulf of Mexico bayou in Pensacola, Fla., for then Associate Editor Jerry Tarde (now Chairman and Editorial Director) and Staff Photographer Stephen Szurlej. Here's hoping you can benefit from Pate's advice, in case you find yourself in such a do-or-die predicament.
Here's what Jerry Pate said: I used to think I could play a shot out of water only if the ball were partially submerged or just below the surface, but after practicing this shot, I know I can play it successfully from as much as six inches under water. I figure it could mean the difference between winning and losing a tournament sometime. Unless I'm in a critical situation, I won't play this shot if the ball is more than two ball-widths submerged. I don't
recommend that you take off your shoes, but in this case I did because I could see the water's
Read more
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Twitter @RogerSchiffman
Contrary to popular belief, Bill Haas did not invent the splash shot from a water hazard. As we documented on Monday, Seve Ballesteros demonstrated how he used to do it, and now we'll show you how Jerry Pate wrote about it for Golf Digest back in 1982! Pate put on an exhibition in his backyard practice area right on a Gulf of Mexico bayou in Pensacola, Fla., for then Associate Editor Jerry Tarde (now Chairman and Editorial Director) and Staff Photographer Stephen Szurlej. Here's hoping you can benefit from Pate's advice, in case you find yourself in such a do-or-die predicament.
Here's what Jerry Pate said: I used to think I could play a shot out of water only if the ball were partially submerged or just below the surface, but after practicing this shot, I know I can play it successfully from as much as six inches under water. I figure it could mean the difference between winning and losing a tournament sometime. Unless I'm in a critical situation, I won't play this shot if the ball is more than two ball-widths submerged. I don't
recommend that you take off your shoes, but in this case I did because I could see the water's
Read more
Mid-week Lesson: Increase your X-Factor like Brittany Lincicome
In the August issue of Golf Digest, currently on newsstands and available on the ipad, Jim McLean analyzes the tremendously powerful swings of two players, Robert Garrigus and Brittany Lincicome. Garrigus led the PGA Tour in driving distance last year; Lincicome is leading the LPGA Tour in driving distance right now. Let's concentrate on Lincicome's power move. I think it might help you gain some extra yardage, especially if you have a chance to get to the range before the weekend. Here's Jim's quick analysis:
Brittany hovers the clubhead at address like two other great drivers you might have heard of: Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman. She has what I call a two-way move at the top--her hips start turning forward before her shoulders finish turning back. That's another way to increase your X-Factor, and she does it as well as any player on tour, many or woman. That's how she creates that powerful lag on the downswing.
Give Jim's thoughts a try. And remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Brittany hovers the clubhead at address like two other great drivers you might have heard of: Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman. She has what I call a two-way move at the top--her hips start turning forward before her shoulders finish turning back. That's another way to increase your X-Factor, and she does it as well as any player on tour, many or woman. That's how she creates that powerful lag on the downswing.
Give Jim's thoughts a try. And remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Mid-week Lesson: Tom Watson says to hit it hard downwind
Editor's note: Starting today, and every Wednesday, I'll be writing about something instructional to help your golf game. We might look at a simple tip, or we might delve into a longer discussion about a crucial topic in the world of golf instruction. Hope you find it useful, and remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman.
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Today on Golf Channel's Morning Drive, the discussion turned to who's the best wind player at the British Open this week. Rich Lerner mentioned that the all-time best wind player might be Tom Watson, who won the Open Championship five times (and almost a sixth at Turnberry two years ago). Here's a lesson from Watson that ran in the December 2005 issue of Golf Digest, the same year he won the Senior British Open at Royal Aberdeen in severe winds. What Tom says is counterintuitive, but it could really help your game.--Roger Schiffman
More spin, higher trajectory
are crucial downwind
BY TOM WATSON
Golf Digest Playing Editor,
with Nick Seitz
Downwind approach shots demand more adjustment than many players make. You almost always have to allow for more wind than you think. The ball will go farther and lower and will run more after it hits the ground. Sometimes you need to land the ball short of the green if it's open in front.
The 12th hole at Royal Aberdeen in this year's (2005) Senior British Open was an example of the ball running downwind. I had about 200 yards to the front edge of the green. The first day I
Read more
Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest
Today on Golf Channel's Morning Drive, the discussion turned to who's the best wind player at the British Open this week. Rich Lerner mentioned that the all-time best wind player might be Tom Watson, who won the Open Championship five times (and almost a sixth at Turnberry two years ago). Here's a lesson from Watson that ran in the December 2005 issue of Golf Digest, the same year he won the Senior British Open at Royal Aberdeen in severe winds. What Tom says is counterintuitive, but it could really help your game.--Roger Schiffman
More spin, higher trajectory
are crucial downwind
BY TOM WATSON
Golf Digest Playing Editor,
with Nick Seitz
Downwind approach shots demand more adjustment than many players make. You almost always have to allow for more wind than you think. The ball will go farther and lower and will run more after it hits the ground. Sometimes you need to land the ball short of the green if it's open in front.
The 12th hole at Royal Aberdeen in this year's (2005) Senior British Open was an example of the ball running downwind. I had about 200 yards to the front edge of the green. The first day I
Read more
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