I’m here at the Peak Performance Golf School in Port St. Lucie, Florida. This morning, before we started the school, one of our students from a previous school, who lives in South Florida, arranged to have a two hour lesson with me.

Larry showed up and what I saw was a really good set up and a pretty good golf swing. He really did a pretty good job of maintaining and improving what we worked on at the golf school. He had the wide knees. He maintained them in the backswing and had a good take away, in the mitt and up the tree. As far as set up and backswing goes, he was pretty much spot on. But after that we ran into some problems.

He started by telling me he was having problem in terms of hitting a lot of chunks and then he hit some thins and then some blocks or pulls. But in between, he hit some pretty good golf shots. He was starting to hit some good ones but there were too many of these chunks and thins thrown in there. What we saw was a setup and top of backswing that was good, but from the forward upswing (FUS) to the finish he was having problems.

What was really happening was his arms were, what I like to call them, too noodley, too soft, just kind of collapsing on the way down. He had a tendency to just drop the club on the ground and then try to save it to have a good upswing to his finish. There was  no consistency. One time he might make a really good swing, keep good form and good muscle tone and swing right up to a good T-Finish and hit a pretty good shot. The next one, half way down, his arms could just get soft and get right to the ball or through the ball and didn’t have any really good acceleration up to the finish.

I determined it was because, basically, he wasn’t maintaining and setting a good muscle tone in his hands and up his forearms and maintaining it through the whole swing, from the takeaway right through to the finish. So we worked on squeezing up on his grip so he had an upward pressure squeeze in his grip and that he would firm up his forearms up to just below his elbows. The key was, from the takeaway all the way to the finish, he did not let that muscle tone change in his swing.

We started getting him to a really good t finish, square to his target and impact started getting really consistent, shallow, tear the grass out of the ground and good ball striking, good height, and actually got a bit of his draw back. He said that was one of the problems he was having, he lost his slight draw.

So it was just giving him a firmer grip and forearms and maintaining it and making sure that as he swung his forward upswing to approaching the ball and through,  and that he was firm and accelerating, not ever just going noodley or limp where things would fall out of position. So he started hitting some pretty good balls and getting his draw back.

At the golf school Larry attended, we suggested his clubs weren’t quite right and to go see a fitter. So he went to a club fitter and the gentleman built him three golf clubs with 3 different heads. He built him a perimeter weighted, investment cast club with a little bit of offset. He built him a modified, cavity backed forged head, sort of a blade looking club. Then he built him a pure blade.

So Larry was trying to figure out what he wanted to use. Now, as you all know, I’m big on blades. I would put a beginner in blades. I Think blades work better. You swing the shaft and the head rotates around the shaft. I think if you have a blade all the weight of the club is right behind where the impact is. It’s like hitting the ball with a fist, not with an open hand, like a perimeter weighted club, which is suppose to give you better balance and a wider sweet spot — which doesn’t happen.

Larry hit all three clubs. He hit the perimeter weighted cavity back, which is a harder metal. Then he hit the modified cavity back, a forged club, which is a softer metal, and pure forged, muscle backed blade, where all the thickness and weight is right behind impact — the sweet spot.

When we finally got done with that, I said OK, what did you feel with that last one, with the blade. At first he said it was great. I said, OK, can you give me another adjective. He came back and said, “Perfect.”I said that’s still better, but what did the swing feel like and, most importantly, what did the impact feel like, what feedback did that ball on the club give you. He said, “The ball melted on the face.” I said, “Wow, I mean what does that tell you?”

Larry said, “The first club was very hard and kind of like a sharp hit. It didn’t feel anywhere near that soft. The second one was OK. But nothing like this one. I could feel the ball right on the face.” I said, “Do you think that if you could feel more on the face that you are getting much more feedback from the golf club about how you hit that ball?” He said, “Absolutely.” So I said, “So what does that tell you?” It tells me I want forged blade. If I can feel what the ball’s doing, I definitely got the concept, mentally and physically, of how well I’m hitting the golf ball.”

I thought I’d just pass that on. He felt the ball “melt on the face.” Phenomenal expression.  And what have I written about? “Feel the swing, swing the feel.” Part of swinging the feel is feeling at impact: Knowing where you struck the ball on the face and how that impact affected your ball flight. The better you can see it, the better you feel it, the more senses you use, the more powerful the feedback, the quicker the learning experience because you know what’s going on.

So, I think that the concept here is what? Play softer blades and softer heads and feel it. Go find a softer golf ball so you can feel the contact better. You get better feedback from that, especially with your putter. Better feedback is going to turn you into a better player. You feel and you know what’s happening and you learn. And that’s how you play better golf.

The Surge! (in Port St. Lucie)

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While highly unusual, we haven’t seen 70F in months! So I wasn’t too surprised that the number of golfers visiting our site jumped pretty quickly. So did the number of questions about territory I’ve covered before. But then I saw that some of you, who have been with us for some time, had similar questions. One common one was ball position. So I thought I should revisit “where that ball goes” in your PPGS setup.

Ball position at address can be confusing. Often you’re taught that the position should be different for every club, which could add up to 14 different positions! When you follow The Surge’s suggestions about “hitting up” on the ball, there are really only four ball positions you have to this about. As you know, I like to keep it simple.

But no matter which club you’re using, there are certain constants. Always keep your nose on the ball. Always. And keep those knees wide. Wedges to 7 iron.

The ball position for all those clubs is directly in the middle of your stance. Keep those knees wide (“like riding a skinny horse”) and your nose on the ball. Swing up! Long irons to fairway woods.

Move the ball a little more forward, about an inch or two behind the left heel. The general rule is that the less loft on the club, the ball should be the further up in your stance. Rescue Woods.

These popular clubs work best when the ball position is just behind the left heel. Keep those knees wide, your nose on the ball, and “swing up!” Driver.

Because it is the least lofted club with the longest shaft, the ball should be at the left heel to slightly forward to the back of the instep. Everyone is going to be slightly different. But if you position your ball within the parameters of these four positions, you’ll lower your score!

The Surge!

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This past weekend was a good one for seeing some great golf.  Camilo Villegas won the Honda Classic by 5 shots, shooting 13 unde,r which is the tournament record score since the Honda moved to PGA National Golf Club.  Camilo shot a final round 2 under 68 to extend his 54 hole 3 shoot lead to win by 5 shots.  It is really a great feeling to come to the last hole, especially a difficult one like at PGA National, where there is water all the way down the right side and around the green, with a big lead.  It makes breathing a lot easier.

The Champions Tour, Toshiba Classic, was won by Freddy Couples shooting a 6 under 65 to win by 4 shots.  In three Champions Tour events this year, Fred has finished runner-up, and won the last 2 tournaments.  I guess we could say Fred is presently dominating the Champions Tour.

This week’s winners have quite different golf swings.  Camilo is a very short ¾ length backswing and is quite vertical, standing his club up much as we teach with the PPGS.  On the other hand, Freddy has a full parallel back swing and quite a big shoulder turn.  Both have smooth and slow tempo backswing and are quit explosive in their transitions to the forward swing and are both considered long hitters.  Let’s take a closer look at each of their swings.

Camilo has a very athletic setup and the only point I would change is narrowing up his stance to shoulder wide.  I like Camilo’s backswing a lot.  He is slow and deliberate and holds his knees so they barely move.  His backswing turn is well short of 90 degrees and he stands his club up pretty good to around 11:30.  Overall his backswing is quite close to PPGS standards.

Camilo’s forward upswing to his finish is the one place I would, if he worked with me, make some changes.  I feel his transition lateral shift has too much lateral movement.  If he gets ahead of the ball he hits it a little heavy and right, especially with his irons.  I believe it is because his stance is too wide and he has to shift farther to reach his forward foot.  Then, because of that, I see Camilo sometimes tends to get stuck back behind the ball before impact and his finish often has a reverse C look.  So that is the main reason why I would narrow his stance.  With that done, then he will be able to shift over to his left/front foot and leg, smoother and quicker so he can then pop tart and stand up to a dynamically balanced T – Finish.

Freddy Couples, as we all know, has a smooth and silky flowing swing.  He has a full parallel back swing with a pretty good amount of shoulder turn.  What I noticed yesterday watching him is that he has very little left/front foot and knee action and a very limited hip turn.  I have watched Freddy on Tour and he sets up aimed quite left and thus open to his target.  He then makes his shoulder turn to well short of his open toe line, to what would be just about dead over his toe line if he were aimed parallel left of his target as we do in the PPGS.

From there he just swings down his aiming line and releases to a pretty good T – Finish except for one important point.  He tends to let his arms finish wide and fold around his torso.  This is a finish position that puts a lot of stress and strain on the lower back, which as we all know is a problem for him.  I would correct it with teaching Freddy to swing his arms and club up and over the center of his left/forward shoulder with his right hand finishing very close to his left ear.  Then he would recoil and relax his arms and club straight back down in front of his torso, with the club pointing at the target to emphasize and feel that he finished square to his target.

What I was really impressed with Freddy in his ball striking is that I saw him hit two sand wedges in a row to 1 foot and then 2 feet.  What jumped out at me was both impacts for these wedges barely took a divot.  I also saw him hit a 7 or 8 iron and again, his divot was small and very shallow with almost no grass flying out of the ground.  He is definitely playing nip it; tear the grass out of the ground divot golf.

Congratulations to Camilo and Freddy on their victories.  I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of them playing well and contending and winning in the future.  They both have solid swings and do many good things that we teach in the PPGS.

The Surge!

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This is a great question and one that is asked of me many times in this form or other variations such as how can I hit it farther or longer.  Length is certainly an important part of playing golf even if one only plays par 3 courses.  We all certainly would love to hit it longer.  Longer drives means having second shots with less club to hit to the green, which increases our odds of hitting more greens.  Then there are many of us who had good length at one time and have seen it diminish with injuries or with us growing older and slower.   But never fear, the answer is here and I hold it in my hand.  It is an advertising insert in the February 5th issue of Golfweek Magazine.

The title of the ad is the title of this article, “Where Will Your Distance Come From.”  This is an advertisement for a major club manufacturer’s new 2010 drivers.  Yes, that is plural, and they have two models.  The twist for this ad campaign is that they are comparing one VS with the other.   The copy is written to describe each club’s characteristics to help you determine which one is best for you.  Based on the hyperbole (Webster’s defines this as exaggeration for effect, not meant to be taken literally) is this really “HyperBULL?”  These drivers are out of this world and making a decision on which one to buy needs the Wisdom of Solomon.  Here’s the ad. See if you can make up your mind which one to buy.

Where Will Your Distance Come From?
The 2010 —— SuperFast increases clubhead speed and delivers massive distance.  Powered by lighter, longer components, and a massive 460cc head with advanced aerodynamics, the 2010 —— SuperFast is built to ignite clubhead speed.  Distance comes from speed.
VS
The 2010 —-SuperTri is the only 460cc head with total adjust-ability.  You choose the ideal loft, lie, face angle and CG location.  With up to 75 yards of L/R adjust-ability, the 2010 – SurerTri puts ultimate control and power in your hands.  Distance comes through optimization.

Note: CG Location is Center of Gravity and L/R adjust-ability is left/Right adjust-ability of up to 75 yards.   If one needs to slice or hook a ball 75 yards you have hit the ball close to off the planet.

WOW…I am having trouble breathing as reading the descriptions of the speed and power of these massive drivers has sucked the air out of my office and has created a vacuum.  These drivers sound like space age rocket equipment.  Heck, the SuperFast one sounds like it may even be a reduced size version of the rocket engines for launching the space shuttles.  The SuperTri gives us the idea that maybe in fact this is a golf club because it does say that “it puts ultimate control and power in your hands.”  After all, we all know that WE have to swing the clubs, as they do not swing themselves as these adds somewhat imply.

But what about the issue of DISTANCE that both drivers claim to produce from different sources.  Does distance come from speed?  Or, does distance come through optimization?  Or does it come from a combination of both?  If distance comes from just one of them, then we don’t need both.  And if does come from a combination of both, than why did they make two?  They should have combined all the features into one really “SUPERDUAL” Driver.

To answer the question “Where Will Your Distance Come From” is simply that it comes from you swinging your clubs faster and hitting the ball more solid and straighter.  Golfers can only swing longer length and bigger headed clubs longer if they can swing them faster and hit them as solid and straight as shorter and smaller headed clubs.  I think it is obvious, as common sense alone tells us that any longer and bigger headed club needs more effort, energy and strength to swing faster and controlled to hit it as solid and straight as shorter and smaller.  Why? Because clubs do not have feet or wings or motors to help us add power and speed.  Swinging them is all 100 percent provided by us, the golfer.

So, when you can’t swing longer shafted, bigger headed clubs faster and with the same control and hit it as solid and straight as shorter shafted and smaller head clubs, you LOSE distance.  Add to that you also hit it more crooked and thus shorter and into more trouble.  Add to that longer shafts and bigger heads need more effort and energy to swing.  And you are the only source of that energy and we do not have an infinite source of energy to play each round.  When your energy is running low before the end of the round, swinging these behemoth drivers becomes more difficult and hitting them poorly becomes more likely.  All this is counter productive to playing better golf, hitting better shots and shooting lower scores.

Read the ads and enjoy the Hyperbole.  Don’t let the HyperBull con you into buying drivers that are not fit for you.  And if the HyperBull is pulling you like a magnet to your golf shop or super store to buy it, first call or stop by a certified club fitter’s shop.  Get measured to see if your body specs match those of the Super Driver.  I guarantee that for the vast majority of us they don’t size up.  They way OVERSIZE for us.

The Surge!

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That answer is simple.  Only the player makes the decision to lay up or let it rip and go for the green on those water fronted par 5’s that are just egging you on to “man up,” be macho, to go for it.  “Man up” because we are talking about hitting long irons to hybrids and fairways woods.  We are not talking about hitting a smooth 5 iron or less to the middle of the green.

The layups that are causing controversy are ones to par 5’s when players were in the hunt, many times one shot back of the lead and have a chance to win.  And they all had shots well over 200 yards to water fronted greens. In the case of Ricky Fowler, who is the main subject of this article, his green was virtually an island.

I am writing this because I am tired of golf sports writers and commentators, and even golf professionals, being back seat drivers and dogging these professionals who choose to lay up.  My first question to all of them is, how many times have you been in that situation and thus have experience to judge another’s decision?  I have been there many times in professional tournaments, including a PGA Tour event and a US Senior Open, so I can speak from experience.  I have laid up and gone for it.  But each time the circumstances were different.

Ricky Fowler is a PGA Tour rookie and his #1 priority was securing his 2011 Tour card as well as being high on the re-shuffle of 2010 rookies that was happening after the Phoenix Open.  I goggled Rickie and the Phoenix open and found some articles with comments about Ricky and some quotes from him that are copied below.

I also found one that was written by PGA Professional, Greg Enholm titled ,“Winners Play to Win” and he brings up some super points about going for the green.  He introduced two other recent lay ups by Tim Clark and Michael Sim that not making birdie cost them to loose by a shot, as did Ricky.
I also found an article about the “Mack Daddy” layup pounding that a PGA Tour player has ever received and is still mentioned today, and was in conjunction with Rickie’s decision last week.  That infamous lay up was done by Chip Beck at the 15th hole in the 1993 Masters.  I also copied the article I found that describes the situation and Beck’s thought process.

Now, let’s look at some of those comments and quotes I found in articles about Rickie.

“Fowler virtually assured himself of keeping his Tour card for next season and zoomed to the top of the rookie rankings, which are re-shuffled after the Phoenix event.  He also climbed to 13th in FedEx Cup playoff points and needs to reach the top 10 to qualify for the World Golf Championships – CA Championship in two weeks.”

“I haven’t really thought about all the stuff,” Fowler said of the perks that come with his finish. “I think it basically gives me my card back, which was one of my goals going into the year, and I took care of that pretty quick, which is kind of a relief.
“I get to just go play golf now. It moves me up in the rankings with the reshuffle, so a lot of good things are happening this week.”

The reshuffle is important because it establishes a pecking order among rookies for exemptions into tournaments. That Fowler is on top comes as no surprise after a brilliant amateur career.

A Lesson Learned: Winners play to win
By Greg Enholm, PGA Professional

“So answer this one golf fans, what do Tim Clark (2010 Bob Hope), Michael Sim (2010 Farmers Insurance Classic), and Rickie Fowler (2010 Phoenix Open) now all have in common? They have all trailed the lead by one shot on the back nine of the final round, and they all laid up on reachable par fives coming down the stretch. Oh, and they also all lost by one. This is becoming a course management trend which defies golf logic in my opinion. Players are forgetting why they are in the last group and what got them there, making birdies and eagles! When you are trailing by one on a reachable par five there is no decision to make. It is a mandatory go!

“Let’s look at this past week. On hole no. 15, with water twenty yards short of the green, Rickie Fowler laid up from 230 yards out. Fowler can bomb it as a young twenty-one year old, this was very reachable for him. To compound matters, he hit to an in-between yardage, missed the green with his third shot and needed to get up and in for just a par. He never gave himself a chance at birdie!

“Consider the other scenario. Say he hits his second shot in the water. He could drop to a yardage of his choice and still get up and down for par. This also gives him a chance for the much better flip side, one where he flags a three iron, makes eagle and goes on to win the tournament. Think about the number-one player in the world. What would he have done? In fact, think of any of the top twenty golfers in the world. They all would have gone for it. Why? Because they all know how to win tournamnets, to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, and this was one of those opportunities.

“Golf is all about second guessing, second chances and learning from your mistakes. There is no doubt Ricky Fowler will be multiple PGA Tour winner, we are just going to have to see what he has learned from his past experiences.”

My feelings about second guessing and, as stated in the first sentence “it proved to be quite costly,” I ask, DID it prove costly?  Rickie finished second, making a lot of money, secured his card for next year and moved to #1 in the reshuffle.  What all these naysayers seem to forget and only dwell on is if he went for it and had positive results.  This article had him even if hitting into the water on his second shot getting it up and down for par.  What about not getting it up and down for par or even making bogey and worse.  Winning is important, but at what risk?

Chip Beck, like Rickie, did some good serious thinking,  evaluated  his situation, and made a decision he can live with.  Here are Beck’s circumstances and his thoughts and conclusions.

No regrets: a decade later, Chip Beck stands by his lay up
Golf Digest, April, 2003 by Ron Kaspriske

All right, let’s get right to it. Chip Beck had 236 yards to carry the pond on 15 on Sunday. There was a slight breeze in his face, a gallery of millions, and he needed to make up three shots to catch Bernhard Langer and win the ‘93 Masters.

What did he do?

“The same thing I’d do today,” Beck says from his home in Lake Forest, Ill. “I took out my 5-iron and laid up.”

Although it has been 10 years since his runner-up finish at the Masters, Beck still gets asked about that decision frequently. And, typical of his friendly demeanor, Beck doesn’t bite the head off the person who is asking: “Why on earth didn’t you go for the green in two?”

“I felt that if I could wedge on and birdie that hole, I could still win,” he says. “I didn’t want to throw away my chances to win, and that shot would have been stupid.” Unfortunately for Beck, his wedge shot from 75 yards missed the green and he made par. Langer cruised to a four-shot victory.

Nevertheless, Beck says the ‘93 Masters is a career highlight. But not his last. The man who once shot 59 in the Las Vegas Invitational and won four PGA Tour events is still playing. The 46-year-old is now on the Nationwide Tour and thinks his game is improving. “I’m looking forward to winning again,” he says.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Golf Digest Companies
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

We can beat this should they have gone for it or not forever.  It is easy to stand outside of the ropes or in the press tent or clubhouse watching it on TV and make judgments.  It is another thing to be the player inside of the ropes, seeing the lie of the ball and the fairway, the wind and feeling his stomach wrenching and muscles tightening and what is going on in his mind.  And remember in Rickie Fowler’s and Chip Beck’s cases, they still had birdie holes left to play, so part of their strategy was not to sink (pun intended) their round on a high probability golf shot that could drown (pun intended) their chance of winning in one shot as well as jeopardize finishing second or third where the money they would lose would be significant.

These players first and foremost are out there on the PGA Tour playing and making career decisions.  If we write articles and or make comments on TV let’s maybe question their decision to lay up, but let us never disparage and ridicule or call them out on it.  Remember second is better than third and third is better than fourth.  And when they have multiple wins and never have to worry about money earned to keep their card, than maybe, like Tiger and Phil, they may go for more par 5, high margin of error water fronted greens.  Until then, laying up and finishing second is pretty good, commendable and profitable and deserves a well done for a good tournament finish.

The Surge!

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