Who knew it would come on a Tuesday, not even during a major week. But today a scientist at Purdue University revelaed the secret to lower golf scores.

As you may have suspected, it's about putting. Jessica Witt, a psychologist at Purdue, interviewed golfers after their rounds about their perception of the size of the hole. You know that feeling that "the hole looked like a bucket"? Well, turns out there's something to it.

Witt's team asked 46 golfers to estimate the size of the hole after playing a round of golf. From a poster, they selected one of nine black holes, ranging in size from 3.5 to 5 inches (9 to 13 cm). In reality, the diameter of a golf hole is 4.3 inches (10.8 cm).

Those who selected larger holes had better scores on the course that day.

In a related (I think) scientific study, researchers studying weight loss announced an amazing finding, with (I think) implications for golf. According to Science Daily:

Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

And how exactly does this relate to golf, you might ask? Here's my take: Weight loss and "stroke loss" aren't all so different. In each case we're looking for reduction. Most of us keep score during our golf rounds--so we keep a "journal" if you will--but we tend to keep an inaccurate one. That's because of Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). If we're on our way to a healthy 10, and we know we can only enter for handicap purposes a score of 6, some of us (me) simply put the 6. What did you shoot, someone asks. Oh, I had a "newspaper" 79, we reply. That 79 is really an 85. Add a few gimmes that really weren't and maybe that 79 is really an 87.

My contention is that unless you face up to the 87, you'll never really reduce it. So, based on the weight loss finding, I'm vowing today to keep real score, thereby doubling my chances of reducing my handicap.hart your rounds and record them in the Golf Digest Challenge. Tracking fairways, greens and putts makes you an even better "journal" keeper.

In short, be honest, score lower.

--Bob Carney

From Dick Hochman, of Savannah, comes a mild chiding...

Attribution. That's all that's missing; and it's really no big deal at that.

The important thing is that I LOVED Fred Couples' article:" Swing Easy, Hit Hard". What a joy to be able to re-visit this concept again, 43 years later. You see, the book, "Swing Easy, Hit Hard", was written by Julius Boros and published in 1965. Great 'stuff' then and, in this day of super-power golf, even more important now.

I guess it takes someone of a 'certain' age to recognize and enjoy good thing again and again.

Dick, thanks for the note. We remember Boros' book and should have reminded readers, too. The two players have a bit in common. Boros won 18 times, including three majors. Couples has 15 wins, including one Masters and two Players Championships. Couples has made a living in the Silly Season and Boros helped start the original Silly Season, the senior tour.

Mostly they share swings that make the game look simple and power easy to come by.

--Bob Carney

Corey Roop of Kingsville, Texas, had a problem--consistency-- and the March Issue, specifically Jim Flick's "Six Steps to a Perfect Grip" story, solved it. It took some work, though.

After seeing pictures of Tiger Wood's backswing recently, I was amazed at how perfectly flat his left wrist was in relation to his forearm and shaft.

So on a whim, for the first time, I proceeded to the back yard to hit balls into the net and videotaped my backswing. I was shocked at what I found on those tapes. My set-up was perfect, takeaway was right on, in fact, I think my swing could be a exact copy of David Duval's, yet at the very top of my backswing, before the downswing was started, I had severe case of left wrist cupping (looks as if I'm swinging a baseball bat), which was so profound, caused the shaft to go across the line of my swing plane. Then on the downswing, I somehow re-routed the club to the and manipulated my hands to square the club-face. Because of this discovery, I have found the sickness that every-now-and-then cripples my swing and ruins my scores.

To fix this, I tried making my grip weaker/stronger, varying ball positions, hinging the wrist early, flatting my swing plane even more, taking the club back more outside, and placing a ruler under my watch to see if this would prevent this virus. Nothing worked until I found the article by Jim Flick. I followed his guidelines and instantly my wrist cupping was gone. Because of this simple, yet the most important basis fundamental of them all--a proper grip--I now have a perfect flat wrist and a tour-level "top" backswing without ever having to think about mechanics while I swing. Now, I'm anticipating tour-level consistency and much lower scores.

Keep us posted, Corey. You might want to track your progress on the new Golf Digest Challenge, which just re-launched. It'll give you Short and Long Game Handicaps. And if you want one of Jim McLean's instructors to analyze your swing, just to confirm your analysis, you can do that, too.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Dom Furore)

John Van Keulen loved the recent "release" tip from Annika. And I love the fact that he's still playing golf at this time of year...

Annika's 3 keys / "Release for distance" tip was the most helpful tip I've been able to incorporate into my weekly practice sessions. As a 50-year-old-golfer of 40 + years the release has always been a major weakness in my 12 handicap, especially under a little NASA pressure. I could HANG ON TO THE BALL so long it would be OB left before it ever left the tee box on tight par 3s. The index finger on top immediately made sense and gave me a true feel of complete release at last. My playing partners are no longer a subject to my pre-swing vocals of the song "PLEASE RELEASE, ME LET ME GO". I?m sure they?ll be pleased to miss this treat.

 

Annika says, nice work! And here are some more tips you might like....

--Bob Carney

With the Tour season now in full swing and Northern golfers starting to dream of spring, we're getting more letters about Stack & Tilt again. Here's a rather succinct one from Bud Ormond in Hickory, N.C.:

Still very interested in stack/tilt, (Peter) Finch success, back problems, short shots traditional or stack/tilt procedure? Enough of how the pros do it, we?re amateurs in the senior mode. More stack and tilt!

Bud, the Stack & Tilt instructors, Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, are hard at work at a schedule of schools as well as a DVD and, separately, a book about the method. I'll keep you posted on timing.

As for editor Finch, he responds to your question about his progress with S&T:

It?s working great ? especially for my irons. I?m not doing it off the tee at the moment. I found that it often produced a shot that went hard left (and short). A pro told me I was swaying a bit on my tee shots. I find it much easier to stay still with my irons for some reason. Fairway woods and hybrids ? same deal. Hitting down on them, with the stack and tilt, seems to work nicely. Occasionally I?ll pull my three wood a bit, but nothing like I was doing with my driver.

I like the crispness of the stack and tilt shot ... and the lower, more boring trajectory. Definitely getting a little extra distance on the irons. I also notice I get a lot more spin on my wedge, which is cool.

I like the simplicity of it all. Just a very easy move?with a nice short backswing. My missed shots feel like they are much more manageable than they used to be.

Am I scoring any better? Sadly, no. My putter is giving me fits, naturally. But that will be my next project!

Hope this helps. More to come.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Brett Flashnick)

Opening the complaint department: Two readers take exception to instruction in the November issue. First, SD Evans in Myrtle Beach addresses Bobby Clampett's Breaking 100, 90, 80, 70, which SD found condescending:

As a beginner golfer, taking it up 2 years ago as a 'retirement' activity, I routinely read with interest Golf Digest. I also am a former subscriber to your magazine.  I don't usually bother to provide feedback to the Editor but Bobby Clampett's 'Master the Impact Zone' really got my goat. 

 
I found some of the information useful although other parts beyond my understanding.  The article, however, seemed mostly about his 'greatness' ,which is really boring,--- who cares?  In my opinion, Mr. Clampett didn't understand his [beginner golfer] audience with the quip in the first paragraph "I wouldn't even want to play if I couldn't hit the ball solidly".  Fortunately, there's different stokes for different folks and we're not all blessed with Clampett's greatness.  By the way, your editors dropped the ball on this as well.  Funny how one sentence can make or break a story.

Nobody is quite the lightning rod that Bobby is. I didn't take his "solidly" line the way you did, SD, but who am I to talk you out of it? I'm most concerned that you found some of the instruction "beyond your understanding." That's something we need to work on.

Complaint No. 2 comes from from reader Adam Saltzman about Jerome Andrews' article on "How to Start Your Swing." Andrews took on the one-piece takeway, which is a bit like taking on Mom and apple pie in the world of instruction, and Adam called him on it...

Andrews seems to think there?s a ?fatal flaw? in the one-piece takeaway in that your arms keep moving after your shoulders stop and therefore a ?correction? is needed. This is just not true.  Done properly, the arms go up and the shoulders turn and finish at the same time (it?s just that the last bit of shoulder turn is not as much as the first part since you start to get resistance from the hips ? ie, coil), if this were?nt the case, the hands would no longer be in line w/the center of the chest and the ?triangle? formed by the arms and shoulders would change shape. Every good golfer keeps this triangle throughout the swing, it minimizes moving parts and hence the need to resynchronize on the downswing to arrive at the ball in the best position to make solid contact. There is also no real rotation of the forearms in the swing (again, excess added movement that would have to be synched up on the way down). In a proper swing, the relationship of the hands, arms and shoulders essentially stays constant ? if you isolated arm movement it would show that all the arms do is go straight up and down in front of your body and the hands don?t turn side to side but rather they cock naturally w/the thumbs going straight up and back down.  Lastly, the pictures he uses of ?bad? and ?good? form are simply not accurate. The ?bad? picture does not illustrate a one piece take away as the hands have moved inside and toward his right shoulder (ie, no longer centered w/his chest). The ?good? picture has the clubhead even w/his hands instead of out in front of his hands and body (just look at any Golf Digest photo swing sequence and all the pros have the clubhead outside their hands in the initial takeaway shot).  The key for most amateurs is minimizing the number of moving body parts and I?m afraid this bit of advice not only adds unnecessary movement but it is based on a false premise of a ?flaw? in a one-piece takeaway.

A very well-reasoned letter. I think the key phrase in your letter is "if done properly". Andrews has seen lots of amateurs try for that and lose all rythym and flexibility, hence the alternate approach. Thanks, Adam.

--Bob Carney

More comment on Hank Haney's November tip, "Know Where to Miss", this one from Bernard Stittleburg of Atlanta.

Haney writes an interesting piece...however I think he fails to realize that most golf course, at least those that I play, do not provide the weekend player a pin placement sheet. Usually the player is only told that the pin is either in the front, middle or back of the green. The rest you have to guess. It would be nice if all golf courses.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Dom Furore)

"Two articles in the November issue grabbed my attention," says reader Dan Farrar, who lives in Tennessee.

The first was the article about Papwa Sewgolum and his "backward" (cross-handed) grip and how tremendously accurate he was within 100 yards of the pin.  The other article was Breaking 100/90/80/70 again referring to using the "backwards" or cross-handed grip for chipping.  (Bobby Clampett on Breaking 100).

 
Having played golf for 40 years left-handed and using the cross-handed grip for my driver, fairway woods, irons and putter,  I will admit to having drawn some strange looks and comments from other golfers and even from motorists passing by the tee when I was hitting.  One such interested observer was a Mississippi Highway Patrolman who stopped his squad car and ran up the elevated tee by the highway, hand on his gun, to watch my cross-handed drive.  After my 230-yard straight shot, he left shaking his head.  He said he had never seen anything like that and he just wanted to watch.   My golfing partner says "you're both inside out and backwards!!!!!"

I had an old boss, Dan, who had the chipping yips. It was painful to watch. He tried chipping with his eyes closed. He tried shipping left-handed, he went to short game schools, everything. But all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put his chipping together again. I think your tip--Papwa's and Bobby's, too--and that "wrong-handed" grip might have saved him.

We've got quite a few letters on the Papwa story. Some take Gary Player to task, as did a South African writer in our story, for not speaking out against the apartheid policies that in the end defeated Sewgolum. Here's an interesting 1966 Time Magazine story that quotes Player as saying:  "I play golf. I don't meddle in politics."

Thanks for the letter.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Dom Furore)

Leopold Lacy, a loyal California reader with a great name and real dedication to the game writes with question about a Hank Haney tip:

I enjoy being able to try the many suggested offerings I read about every month, always looking for ways to improve my scoring ability. Virtually all of the suggestions and drills are things we can put into use and try for ourselves. But Hank Haney's recommendation to "take a page from a tour player's course management book" seems to be something most of us don't have access to. It's easy to see how that kind of information would help increase scoring opportunities. But even some of the nicest course guides you buy at the counter (and I have many) can't touch the kind of information found in tour player books. Any suggestions on how a tour player want-to-be can get something like this for our favorite courses?

Those books that the pros have aren't easy to assemble and not like the ones they hand out at the counter. When we had the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at our course a few years back, the caddies passed around a book of notations on our course. It was like reading a newspaper story about one of your relatives. How could strangers know so much about your family... or, in this case, the course you played for half your life?

Well, here's how: They make notes. They make measurements. And they put shadows over places you don't want to be. The most useful part of those diagrams were on the greens. Take the time to chart your greens and you will putt more effectively, I guarantee you. A friend of mine did that for us on a tournament course we played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where, because of the mountains, even a two-footer was dicey, and it saved us.

Here's a couple pages from caddy George Lucas's book for the TPC Stadium Course. Check out the greens. Do you know yours that well?

--Bob Carney

(photo: Dom Furore)

From Hugh Downing in Doylestown, P.A., where it doesn't get much prettier than this time of year, but could be a bit warmer, comes this suggestion, wrapped in a thank-you note:

I would like to suggest the following subtitle for the November, 2007 issue: "The Wrist Issue". Having been fighting a major hook and problems with my wrist position at the top of my swing, the article "How to Start your Swing" by Jerome Andrews was a revelation. To prove what he recommends (club and arms independently moving first), just look at the swing sequences of Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman.  In both cases the wrist cock has the club toe up and shaft in a direct line with the target, rather than a more "roundhouse" approach, moving everything in one piece.

Andrews is no fan of the one-piece takeaway, nor a tilt toward the target at the top of the swing:

A one-piece takeaay causes a fatal flaw in your backswing, a flaw that can be overcome only by compensations and athleticism....with a one-piece takeaway, the body turns early, then has to stop and wait for the arms and club to catch up. When the body has to wait, it tends to tilt toward the target, and the arms move out of sequence and lift. Unless you make a compensation, you lose a lot of power.

This hit home with Hugh...

After about a week of practicing the independent takeaway, I went to the range, and was amazed at the improvement in my ball striking. Dramatically increased distance and ball flight height with the first swing. And no hook! If anything, my flight was moving a bit too far right from "fade", but that's a matter of shoulder position and my weak, anti-hook grip.

As an ?older? golfer who returned to the sport about 5 years ago after a 30+ year lay-off, I found the November issue especially entertaining, but after a summer of lessons and frustration, the takeaway shown by Mr. Andrews was the missing piece of my puzzle.

Congratulations, Hugh. And welcome back. When the weather warms up, I'll come visit and you can teach me how to hit a hook.

--Bob Carney

Perseverance: Continue in a state of grace until it is succeeded by a state of glory.

--Seymour Dunn

November's cover story is Ernie Els' advice on driving the ball, but in his Saturday press conference at the HSBC World Match Play, he had pretty good tip on putting:

Q. Did you change anything in your putting because it was much, much better this afternoon?

ERNIE ELS: Absolutely. I had to make some kind of a change. It was awful this morning ton the greens. It was very, very frustrating. I made a change. The lunch hour, I felt I was hanging too far on my right side on address, and subsequently I was hitting up on the ball and not giving a true roll. I just leaned on to my left side and really kind of tried to punch the ball, make the stroke a little shorter and a little more punchy. So I had a much better roll. I think the putt on the first hole made me feel a lot more comfortable. You know, I made some putts.

That's advice I've heard Trevino give, too.  Els also had some mental-side help for the rest of us, not the least of which is the acknowledgement that even a player like himself gets seriously down when things go wrong.

Q. What do you do, I saw you out on the fifth and you were really down on yourself and you went and had another couple of putts. What do you do then within yourself to keep the rest of your game together?

ERNIE ELS: This game, it tests you so much. I can't imagine another sport that tests you mentally like this game. You know, you always want things going your way, and most of the time, it doesn't and you've got to find a way of countering those feelings. You know, I guess with persistence today, I kind of got through it. It's not that I played better than Henrik [Stenson]. I think it was just persistence. I kept on working on my game all day, and that's why I like 36-hole match play. I would have lost 1-down this morning, but come back, and you win three four holes and you win the match. You've got to play well all day.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Andrew Reddington/Getty Images)

Remember that it will be impossible for your to keep the weight on the inside of your right foot if your shoulder turn or hip turn has moved outside your base of support, that is, moved outside the right leg. Jack Grout

Clay Clanton of Flora, MS, has an interesting take on Stack & Tilt, the New Tour Swing of our June issue, and he adds two more instructors to its possible progenitors.

Johnny Miller has many times stated that we may see a resurgence of the classic, "reverse C" swing, and once again he may be correct.  The Tour's New Swing is remarkably similar to the things you read in "Golf My Way" by Jack Nicklaus.

Thank you for this great article.  I look forward to seeing more from teachers Mike and Andy.  I hope they will release a video on their instruction.

Scott Mitchum of Ellenwood, KS adds one more teacher to the list of those who, to his mind, has taught some of element of the swing: Vardon....

I experienced a very real sense of "deja vu" while looking at the pictures of the "New Tour Swing" article in the current issue. I am currently rereading the classic instruction book by Harry Vardon first published in 1905 called "The Complete Golfer". If you would check your copy I think you would also recognize the "New Tour Swing" as an almost exact copy of Vardon's swing and I do mean exact copy other than Vardon bent his left elbow a bit at the top of the back swing. His description may not have all the scientific terminology that these swing gurus use but the effect is as close to the same as you could ever imagine. So, "New Tour Swing" becomes "Hey, Harry had it right a long, long time ago swing"!

More Stack & Tilt genealogy on Geoff Shackelford's blog.

(Baddeley photo by J.D. Cuban; Nicklaus photo by Chuck Brenkus)

—Bob Carney

The spine should be vertical at the top, which makes the player feel tipped over the front leg. Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett

For those experimenting with Stack & Tilt, the New Tour Swing of our June issue, this exchange between reader Claudia Hanson of Carlsbad and Senior Editor Instruction Peter Morrice, might be helpful.

Claudia: I played on Saturday using Stack & Tilt for the first time. I am still very inconsistent with it, especially with my longer fairway clubs. It felt harder to get that 30 per cent tilt, it is like I should be exaggertaing the move even more with the longer clubs. Do you experience that? However, on the shots where I executed the move correctly (or felt like it) I really picked up some distance. I hit one drive 25 yards further than normal! I was using my site-scope to track my distance, just to be sure.

Peter: Claudia, my guess is with the longer clubs you're just used to making more
of a shift to your right side. Some people have told me it's easier to do at first with the short irons and wedges, and I'd say that's the reason. Remember, turn your shoulders in a circle without moving the center--you'll get it. As for finding a pro near you, where are you? Andy gave me the names of pros in NY, NJ, Kentucky and Cleveland who are teaching Stack & Tilt, and I'm sure others will be coming on soon. Until then, use the "feels" we included in the article. Those should help. Good luck.

Andy Plummer also weighed in on the issue of players having difficulty with longer clubs such as the driver:

Andy: Players who feel too steep coming down with the driver should try one of three things: First, make sure the ball position is far enough forward. The ball should be opposite the front heel with the driver. Second, keep the hand path more to the inside, both on the backswing and more importantly on the downswing. When the hands move out and away from the body on the downswing, the swing gets too steep and over the top. This is a common fault with the driver. Third, the player might need to stand up faster on the downswing. That upward thrust of the lower body helps to shallow out the swing.

Find links to a video demonstrating the move and editor Pete Finch's video account of his lesson, as well as the story itself on our home page. Here is Aaron Baddelely as captured making the move by photographer J. D. Cuban.

—Bob Carney

Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing. Ben Hogan

T. Weidenfelder of Ontario, Canada, sees the work of yet another instructor in the New Tour Swing story.

When I first saw this article it certainly got my attention, particularly the line at the end of the introduction that read in publication for the first time. You see I have been working with a C.P.G.A. teaching pro based out of Toronto by the name of Mark Evershed for the last 5 years or so. I also have a book he wrote in 1998 called The Golf Solution. He has taught that you should keep more of your weight on the front foot throughout the swing, although he concentrates on a different aspect of the swing. Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett give some of the credit to Tom Tomasello and there is where we have a connection. Mark also credits Tom Tomasello with his teachings. One fact that is true is that it’s a very solid way to play golf.

For more on the swing, see editor Pete Finch's lesson on video. FYI, here's how the players who are using this method fared on the Players leaderboard:

Aaron Baddeley T37

Mike Weir T37

Will MacKenzie MC

Dean Wilson MC

—Bob Carney

To keep the spine over the ball, which is the goal, the player has to tilt to the left during the backswing. Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett

The New Tour Swing by Peter Morrice on the teaching of Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett (June issue) continues to generate a ton of mail. Other readers have pointed out the similarities to instruction by Hogan and Percy Boomer. David Friedman of Bedford, Mass., also sees the swing as similar to "The Lever Swing" option in Mike Adams' "The Laws of Golf" and to Jim Hardy's One-Plane swing.

Clearly both Jim Hardy and Plummer/Bennett advocate a centered, stacked swing. Hardy’s emphasis is more on the look and feel of the swing as seen from behind and down the line (shoulder tilt matching arm swing at top) and what one needs to do especially with the right elbow and pronation to keep on plane. The Plummer/Bennet focus seems to be on the straight "stackup" as seen from the front of the golfer with very appropriate focus on making the bottom of the arc hit the bottom of the ball.

One clear difference seems to be Plummer/Bennett advocating the need to straighten the right leg to get the right hip high enough as well as allowing the left shoulder to go low enough. I wonder if this is a critical necessity for all builds. I think Tiger could stay perfectly stacked without straightening his right leg and perhaps would achieve even more coil and power that way.

Friedman asks a very perceptive question about the photographs in the article.

It seems to me that the equivalent frame in the actual swing series is quite different from the posed swing on page 122, which exhibits not only the feel but the actuality of a reverse pivot. (Tilt towards target) My guess is that the picture on page 122 is a practice swing to the top to "feel" the back tilting which perhaps is needed to keep the center of the body "stacked" during an actual swing. Hardy often mentions the need to "overcook" a swing thought as part of the learning process.

The answer, David, is yes, according to managing editor Roger Schiffman who oversees instruction. That photo is posed and was exaggerated slightly to convey the feeling of that position.

—Bob Carney

Some prominent golfers advocate a big turn with the hips. I don't go along with this. Ben Hogan

Our last entry included letters from three different readers noting similarities in our June New Tour Swing story to three different teaching philosphies. The teachers mentioned were Percy Boomer, David Lee and Ben Hogan. Senior Editor Peter Morrice contacted Mike Bennett, who with Andy Plummer teaches the new "Stack & Tilt" swing on tour. Here's what Bennett said about the similarities to each:

On Percy Boomer:

“Boomer’s famous image “Turn in a Barrel” is a good idea, because it keeps you from moving off the ball on the backswing. But the swing is not that simple. Turn in a Barrel would work well if you were hitting a ball at waist height, like a baseball, but to hit a ball on the ground, you have to tilt forward at the waist and tilt toward the target as you swing back. It’s not as simple as just turning in a circle. You have to create descent in the golf swing—and that comes from the tilts.”

On David Lee:

“I don’t know everything that David Lee teaches, but I know he has students hit balls standing on their front leg only. This is similar to what we have our players do in that it’s a single-axis swing, with no shift to the right side. But I think he also teaches that the hands and arms go straight up on the backswing. In our swing, the hand path is much lower and more around the body. But swinging from a single-axis point is a lot like what we teach.”

On Hogan:

“If you look at old photos of Hogan, the midpoint of his shoulders was right at the ball when he hit it. In a lot of those photos, his spine is straight up and down on the backswing and at impact, with his shoulder and hip centers right on the ball. This is some of what we teach, so yes, we often use Hogan as an example. He also straightened his right leg on the backswing, with the left leg flexing forward. We teach that, too.”

—Bob Carney