We have a question from Inner Circle member, Jim. Jim says, “Hi, So, I have been struggling with my ball striking and in the past have had neck and upper back aches after playing golf. I am an 8 handicapper and it is creeping up quite quickly. I stumbled across PPGS and thought I’d give it a try. I’ve been going to the driving range for the last few weeks. As I write this email I am suffering from excruciating lower back pain. I know it’s really hard to figure out what I might be doing wrong without seeing my new swing in the making but any ideas what I might be doing that is clearly putting strain on my lower back. I have reduced my shoulder turn dramatically so it is at most a 3 quarter turn, but clearly I haven’t quite mastered this swing to see the end to all back problems!

“Looking forward to receiving some advice, will have plenty of time to catch up with emails as I won’t be able to play my usual regular round this weekend…Cheers, Jim.”

Well, Jim, I’m glad that you’re at least still cheerful. I guess that’s because you have a sense that the Peak Performance Golf Swing is going to work for you. We have an answer from another Inner Circle member, Bob, who wrote: “Hi Jim, Welcome to the Inner Circle.

“Although I obviously haven’t seen you in action, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are not keeping your spine straight. The most probable cause is not being preloaded heavy right, but instead you might be leaning to the right in order to have your center of balance shifted aft. This causes a crooked spine, uneven tension in the muscles in your lower back and resulting inflammation and pain.

“To correct this, take a look at the updated setup videos. This setup flaw is addressed in some detail. By being properly preloaded on the right side with a straight spine, you will be able to rotate easily and avoid the stress which is causing your pain. Hit ‘em long and straight.”

Well, Bob, that’s great advice to Jim because we know from experience that many golfers over do the preloaded heavy right and lean too far and are out of balance at address. This puts tremendous strain on the spine, especially when they start swinging.

But what I want to address here is that, despite the answer being very good, I’m going to go to another area. Jim said he reduced his shoulder turn dramatically and it is clear that he is at a 3/4 turn. I think he’s worked on his backswing but he’s not mentioning anything about his transition and finish. I’m going to look at the finish as a possible, really big cause of excruciating back pain. I think that since the advent of the rotational golf swing, more back pain is coming from the finish than it is the backswing.

Now why would that be the case? Well, for starters, the backswing is always a much slower process. You’re turning and loading into your back side. In most, cases golfers turn too much with the rotational swing. The back leg is straightening up and it puts tremendous strain on the body. But I don’t believe that strain is anywhere near as bad after you’ve made a huge turn, the back leg is locked, and now the golfer is deep in the Sacred Burial Ground, he snaps his legs, his hips and shoulders. I’ve had students tell me in lessons that no matter how fast they could turn and snap their hips and shoulders, which locks up their forward leg it was never fast enough. Faster, faster, faster. You can’t turn to the forward side fast enough.

The faster we turn and pull the arms and club with it, what happens? The forward leg straightens. As soon as that leg straightens, that immediately starts tremendous stress, going into the hips and to the lower back and eventually up to the shoulders and neck.

The problem really is the rotation goes to the point now where golfers are not taught to finish square to the target. They’re taught to turn as far onto the forward leg as they can, where they get the back shoulder pointing at the target. That mean their chest is now pointing 40, 50, 60, 80 or more yards beyond the target instead of square to it.

That is one unbelievable amount of twisting. A locked leg puts stress on the hips and up to the shoulders and neck because of going so far past the target and doing it is such a fast rotation and speed. The arms eventually swing the club over and, in most cases, collapse around the shoulder, which adds an extra jerk to the end.

I’m just going to say, Jim, I think that’s the case where you need to look. You might not be doing it, but I think if you do check it and you are starting by rotating your hips too much and you are finishing beyond square to the target, that is your body, your nose, your belt buckle and your back knee pointing at the target or rather way left of the target, if you’re a right hander or right if you’re a left hander, if you’re turning way past your target I would say that could be the major cause of your pain and you need to start finishing square to the target.

You worked on your backswing, let’s check out your forward swing and finish and see if that’s the problem. If you are going past it, I think squaring up to the target in your finish you’ll see tremendously better ball striking. I think you’ll see this back pain and hip pain really going away.

The Surge!

Tweet This Post

We have a question from Inner Circle member, Matrixphx31. He says, “It doesn’t matter if i play 9 holes or 18. I always have big troubles with my right elbow going on the outside. I am right handed and it is a concern to me as I’m trying to improve my game and only get to practise once a fortnight and play once a fortnight.

“I would appreciate any feedback. My handicap is around 36 at the moment and would love to bring it down, just came back from a 15 year break.”

O.K., Matrix, the first point I want to look at, in terms of your right elbow bothering you, let’s look at your divot. Most golfers have been taught to hit down on the ball. By hitting down on the ball the club can go deeply into the ground and that can cause tremendous stress and strain on the elbow joint because of the jolting when you hit the ground, potentially stretching muscles so much you could tear them.

As we know, in the Peak Performance Golf Swing I believe in shallow divots. We want to tear the grass out of the ground. We want the club to sort of just ricochet off the ground. The great ball striker, Moe Norman once said, “We want to take bacon strips, not pork chops.”

We swing up to the T-Finish and we want to think about nipping the ball off the ground, pinching it off the ground and pulling the grass out of the ground to launch the ball. Shallow divots put a lot less stress and strain on the elbows as well as the fingers, the wrists. If it gets to the elbows, you could also be putting a lot of strain on your neck and shoulders. So, first and foremost, look at your divots.

The second thing is you can start playing with these little armbands you put just below the elbow. You put them on relatively tight and that holds the muscles and joint firmly, reducing the chance of it getting overstretched or keeping you from re-injuring it.

If it’s consistently bothering you, and as you say it’s on the outside, that’s like tennis elbow. Golfers tend to hurt on the inside. But either way, pain on either side is trouble.

Occasionally I get a little elbow pain and I put my armband on right away. I use it until I see the pain going away.

Last but not least, if it keeps persisting, and if you are taking shallow divots and hitting pretty good, solid shots, then you have to look at the fact that it could be arthritis, or it could be a tear in some of the tendons or muscles that you need to get checked.

I would suggest getting to see a doctor or at least starting with a physical therapist or occupational therapist, who can give you some tests to figure out is it really bad or is it just injury that you can put ice on after playing? If that doesn’t work, the professional will tell you it’s time to go see a doctor.

Pain is the message that something is wrong. You need to get it checked and go find professional help. Check your divots, start out with that. If ever thing is going good and the pain keeps coming, get professional help.

The Surge!

Tweet This Post

We have somewhat of a compliment and a statement from Inner Circle member “Golfmonkey. I certainly hope you don’t call yourself the golf monkey because you’re playing golf too much in the woods.

Golfmonkey has this to say: “I have played golf on and off for years.18 months ago I had a hip replacement and returned to golf after a long layoff. I have had lessons over the years but consistency has always my problem. One day 78 next day 88.I tried this and that fix with various lessons, etc. I began going from bad to worst. I finally subscribed to the PPGS as it seemed a natural physiological approach.

“The turning point came watching the Don Show and your talk about the front foot flare. The light suddenly came on. Could it be that simple? Just position my front foot like my tennis or throwing action. I always felt that one should flare out the front foot although modern teaching says parallel. Well after your show I began flaring the front foot 45 degrees and instantly my shot making improved. My fairways in regulation tripled and my greens in regulation improved dramatically. My driving is longer and straighter. The foot position allows me now to keep by swing up and down the tree. I couldn’t believe the answer was so simple.

“Thank you for showing a simple man the simple solution. Simple is best.”

I guess that’s why they call it the “KISS system.” I think what is critical here for Golfmonkey to improve is that he had hip replacement surgery. Anytime you have any type of surgery that works on your hips or your knees, it’s more important to get your body in a proper setup to allow it to physiologically to  move correctly.

One of the things that’s really great about the flared feet, especially the forward foot. I have had a lot of lessons with men who played football, basketball or other sports and have had injured knees and surgery. We flare the foot even more in those situations to allow more external rotation which, when the knee externally rotates, it stays more level, it’s more fluid, it’s more flowing and it’s a lot less stress.

Knees and ankles are flex joints. They are designed to be in dynamic motion flexed. So when the front foot is flared the weight can roll over to the outside edge of the foot and the knee stays flexed. That reduces tension, stress and strain. A straight knee is always accompanied by a flat foot. That means the ankle hasn’t rolled, the knee hasn’t stayed flexed and that creates tension, they’re locking up. When the ankle and knee can’t move fluently it then puts the stress on the lower back.

That’s why it’s critical for the knees to stay flexed. The best way to do that is to have the knees over the ankles, apply outward pressure, and we achieve that best by having both feet being flared. That allows the knees to rotate externally and to stay flex and level. The more level they stay the more correctly they’re going to move with freedom, flow and without stress and strain.

The Surge!

Tweet This Post

As a result of the last article that I wrote about, “Do my old clubs fit my new swing”, the question about club head speed was brought up and how to possibly achieve more club head speed. I made a comment that went against some of the grain about rotational swings possibly being faster than the vertical PPGS swing. I think this comment was misunderstood and I will address it first.

There is a study cited in the PPGS manual about rotational swings versus the vertical swing and the amount of club head speed measured. The verdict was that the PPGS swing was as fast as or possibly a bit faster than the rotational swing but it was by far less stressful. My comment regarding the rotational swingers switching over to the vertical swing possibly noticing a reduction in distance, which I believe is due to a loss of club head speed, was not in opposition to the study and information in the manual. It is my opinion that this apparent loss is not due to the type of swing rather it is due to the lack of proper execution. A properly executed swing, regardless of type, always has continued acceleration of the club head through the impact position. How is this achieved?

The continued acceleration of the club head is imperative to achieving one’s maximum distance. The lack of acceleration can have several different causes. The most predominant cause is that the individual, in an attempt to control the club head, literally slows down the arm speed which is known as de-acceleration. This slowing down effect of de-celing is a byproduct of fear as a rule. We’re “afraid” that we’re going to hit a terrible shot and therefore we slow down to try and control the outcome. Oddly enough, the end result is usually a catastrophe.

Another reason for not gaining club head speed through impact is an improper shaft. In other words, the shaft could be late in kicking or it could have been early in kicking and the end result is that you are not getting club head acceleration as you go through impact. (See your fitter.)

The single most important aspect to continuing to have club head acceleration though impact is called release. What is release? Let’s look at an issue that I have brought up repeatedly on this blog and that would be the one about wrists and their movement at the top of the back swing as we begin the transition.

Let me say first and foremost that the premise of the PPGS that “no wrist action is good wrist action” is entirely correct. Please don’t think I’m going against that. We do not consciously make any movements with our wrists. I repeat, no conscious movements with our wrists. However, at the top of the back swing as you are nearing the completion of the lift and shoulder rotation, you begin the bump. The bump starts the arms in the free fall. But, get this, the force and momentum of the club head (weight on the end of a stick) is still moving upward as your arms begin moving downward until one force, the arms swinging down, wins and the club stops going up.

This is when the forces due to the club changing direction hits the wrists and will cause them to break. Your job is to resist this breaking by working hard to maintain the flat and firm wrists position in the transition. Because the wrists are a hinge joint, and thankfully so, they give a little and create a flex. This flex is the angle from the thumb to the forearm and this is what we want to hold for as long as possible as we start the arms racing downward.

As we approach the golf ball, both forearms must begin to rotate counter clockwise to begin the squaring of the club head as it enters the striking zone. The co-ordination of this movement is known as timing. The longer and later into the swing that we are able to hold that angle and more forceful we are able to “release” that angle the more club head speed you will be able to generate.

I have been asked what drills to do or just how can one improve this particular skill. My answer to this is a training aid called THE SWING RITE. Other than the swing aides and training aids used by the PPGS, it is the only aid that I use or endorse. It will enable you to accomplish three basic things that will help you improve your swing. Those three things are: 1. Increase arm speed 2. Improve timing 3. Hold the release longer

You can go to The Golf Stop web site and get more information on The Swing Rite.

Remember, better golf is just a fit away!

J. Lynn Griffin, Master Fitter/Builder
PPGS Certified Instructor

Tweet This Post

We have a question from Inner Circle member, Dave739. And Dave says, “I am somewhat new to this method and love the occasional results I get. However, I have one issue that I can’t seem to shake. I continue to hit the ball flat or thin. I watch the tapes over and over and try numerous adjustments but I just can’t get the proper strike to the ball. Any suggestions?”

O.K., Dave. As you know, I definitely will have some suggestions, so here we go. First thing I think you need to check is that, since you seem to say that you have occasional good results, but imply you are more often having not the results you’re looking for, the first place I’m going to look at is your clubs. I think you need to go find a club fitter and get checked. Your shafts could be too strong or too week, which would affect our club squaring up into impact and at the right height.

Another thing, the lie angles could be off. They could be too upright or too flat. Another one could be, depending on your height or your arm length, they might be too long or too short.

Naturally you could ask, “Well how could it affect the club if it’s too long?” Well, if it’s too long and your brain senses that in straightening out your arms coming into impact the club might hit the ground, it forces you to pull out of the shot, either straightening your legs up or letting your arms break down.

Start with the clubs. We’re so quick, as golfers, to always blame ourselves and never look at our equipment. Yet the equipment is the thing. It’s like carpenters or anybody else says that, even if you have the skills, any job is more easily and more correctly done when you have the proper tools. That’s one thing we seem to overlook in golf.

Another thing I think that you have to be careful about is you keep saying you go back and look at the videos and you make numerous adjustments. Remember, the setup determines the motion is the number one mantra of the Peak Performance Golf Swing. Your numerous adjustments should only be making setup changes that are correct to get over the ball properly. The setup determines the motion and then the motion swing that you want to hit the ball. If you’re constantly always making adjustments and some of these adjustments, in terms of setup and maybe even the swing, are like picking things off the top of the tree everywhere and constantly changing, how can you work on getting the setup groove so you can get a grooved swing so you can make good hits.

I appreciate you looking at the videos but see the good things and only work on doing it right. Remember, Secret #5 says when you hit a bad shot, the answer is “Who cares?” Do the next setup and swing correctly. Look at those tapes and only find the right things to do in your setup and swing and do those. Don’t let yourself get caught up in chasing all kinds of things and trying everything with no rhyme or reason.

You have the material, use it. Get everything into the proper setup so you can make the proper swing.

I’m going to close by saying don’t overlook getting your clubs checked. Find yourself a good, certified club fitter so that he can check out your setup and your swing to make sure that your clubs fit you.

When you do those things I think you’re going to have some great improvements in your ball striking.

The Surge!

Tweet This Post