Georgia Hall on Hitting a Stable Drive (Video)

With Georgia Hall having won the Ricoh Women's British Open this past weekend, I thought it might be good to take a quick look at her swing. She did this video on driving for the LET.



I'm not going to focus on any specific tip from this video. Rather, I want you to notice what she calls this video -- "The Stable Drive." As she says, too many players move too much over the ball, and that makes it hard to get consistent and predictable hits.

Georgia's not talking about being immovable over the ball; she specifically says that she works on rhythm, which requires you to stay relaxed. We all tend to get so tight! We freeze over the ball during address, then we jerk around when we finally try to move and we wonder why we can't stay steady over the ball.

If we want to get better, we have to learn to relax and move freely during our swings. And as she says, trying to hit the ball too hard works against that. It's better to accept what feels like a little less clubhead speed at first while we learn how to "swing casual," to borrow an old Han Solo line, then just move a little quicker as we get more relaxed.

Hey, it worked for Georgia Hall. It couldn't hurt to try it, could it?

Jeff Flagg on Launching One 400 Yards (Video)

Almost three years ago I did a post about how 2014 long driving champ Jeff Flagg hits the long ball. Check that post out, by all means, but here's a video where Jeff demonstrates how to do it.



Jeff's three keys are:

1. Let your arms dictate club speed. He demonstrates this by throwing a rock sidearm.
2. Open up your trail shoulder and remove all tension from your lead arm. You do this by letting your trailing elbow 'fly' -- that is, move away from your side during your backswing. This increases your swing arc, btw.
3. Use the Flamingo Drill. Put all your weight on your lead foot, stand on the toe of your trail foot, and use your upper body to do most of the swing work -- just like throwing a rock sidearm. Please note that, although he's not trying to, he can't help but straighten his lead knee to "use the ground." This happens without conscious effort -- that's what Jeff wants you to understand.

I know this advice -- to focus on using your arms, not your legs -- goes against what you have heard. But Jeff's point here -- and yes, I know I keep repeating it but it's soooo important -- is that under any other normal throwing motion you focus on using your arms, and that causes you to use your legs automatically. If you TRY to use your legs, you'll exaggerate your lower body movement and actually INTERFERE with the proper motion!

Come on, give Jeff's advice a try. What have you got to lose... besides that short little dinky drive you hate?

Bobby Jones on Proper Weight Shift

I was rereading some of Sidney Matthew's collection of Bobby Jones's newspaper columns called Bobby Jones Golf Tips: Secrets of the Master and found this interesting tidbit about weight shift during the downswing. It's such a simple image that I thought I'd pass it on.

The photo at right comes from the Royal Liverpool at Hoylake's history page. It shows Bobby Jones during his Open win there in 1930, and it shows exactly what Jones said in the article I read called On the Proper Method of Shifting Weight. Note that when Jones talks about the left leg, he means your lead leg. (So you lefties can mentally insert 'right leg.')

If we but examine the styles of different golfers, even with the naked eye, it is easy enough to tell whether the weight transference has been a sway or a shift. One characteristic of the proper body action, that is to say, the shift, is that the left leg is straight at and after impact. If you want to know why this is, you have only to look at the time, which marks the left side of the body. It has been lengthened, without lifting the head, by holding the shoulder back while the left hip goes forward. The characteristic of the sway, located again in the left leg, is a decided bend of the left knee in this same area. The entire weight of the body has been thrown forward. The shoulders coming forward also prevent the straightening of the left leg, and either the knee bends more or the player fall flat upon his face. [p94]

I find this very interesting simply because Jones is writing around 1930 or so, yet he is saying the most obvious way to get a proper weight shift is to drive upward with your lead leg at impact so your lead hip and upper body don't move too far forward. Push up to move forward in your downswing properly. Sounds rather modern, doesn't it?

To drive upward on the downswing -- that is, straighten your lead knee --it follows that your lead knee has to bend on the backswing. What these two moves do is allow your hips and lower body to move freely during your swing without your upper body lurching around.

Now, how do you make sure you drive upward and don't lean forward? Jones says you "hold the shoulder back while the left hip goes forward." He means that your lead shoulder turns toward your lead heel, and that makes your weight shift properly. You aren't leaning backwards, folks -- you're just turning your upper body so your chest faces the target. (Take a good look at that photo!) This is a strong balanced move into the ball.

If you can't make this move without lurching forward, then you're trying to drive your legs too hard during your downswing. But once you get the hang of this balanced swing, you'll make better contact more often. Good swing mechanics never change...

We just forget how to keep our balance when we try too hard. ;-)

"Feel" Fred Couples's Swing for 38 Seconds (Video)

The Champions Tour posted this video of EVERY full swing Fred hit on the back 9 at the Chubb Classic on Sunday. If you want to get a good sense of how smooth his swing is, this will definitely help.

Every full swing from Fred Couples' Sunday back nine at the @ChubbClassic. pic.twitter.com/4WrmQeLxMq

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) February 23, 2017

Bear in mind that Fred hits the ball a long way WITHOUT shoving his hips way out ahead of his upper body. His spine doesn't bend backwards at impact. And he never looks to be straining.

Want to hit the ball better? Copying the rhythm and tempo of Fred's swing is a good place to start.

Want to Understand What a Swing Is? Here's One Way...

I have a copy of the Ernest Jones book Swing the Clubhead, which was originally called Swinging into Golf when it came out in 1937. The book was an attempt to teach players how to swing like the classic players did, albeit while using steel-shafted clubs.

There's an interesting sequence of pictures in the book that shows Leo Diegel hitting balls while standing on only one foot. The pictures are very small and dark in the book, and I haven't been able to find copies of them on the web, but the concept is an interesting way to learn how to swing.

No doubt you've heard of the famous Jones teaching aid -- a pocket knife attached to a handkerchief. You can read a good explanation of how that works at this GolfWorx page. But the Diegel exercise might help you understand that handkerchief drill better than the drill alone will, so let me explain what Diegel did.

Diegel was right-handed, so Diegel swung while standing on his right foot (his trail foot). So you righties would stand on your right foot, while you lefties would stand on your left foot. The idea is to make a full swing, hit the ball solidly, and finish in a balanced position without your lead foot ever touching the ground. If you overuse your body, you won't be able to keep your balance and will have to put your lead foot down.

Start by hitting pitches and half-shots, then lengthen your swing as you get more confident. This will help you get your hands, arms and body in sync throughout your swing. And when you go back to your normal stance, you should be able to hit the ball longer and perhaps more accurately.

Jones says that Diegel was able to shoot in the low-70s playing this way. I assume he shot some practice rounds this way, in order to work on his rhythm and balance. It sure sounds like a lot more fun than some of the practice techniques I've seen.

Jim Flick on the TWO Pendulums in Your Swing (Videos)

The late Jim Flick was well respected in the golf community. He was one of those teachers who seemed able to help almost anybody because he used such simple images to teach the basics.

In his book Jim Flick on Golf he gave a very simple explanation of how to use your hands and arms in a golf swing to create speed. I bet you've heard this explanation before but I'd also bet you didn't really understand it. Let's see if we can change that today. Here's how Jim put it in his book:

There are actually two pendulums at work. The first is formed by the hands and wrists cocking, uncocking, and recocking. The second is created by the forearms and upper arms swinging from the shoulder sockets.

My former colleague from Golf Digest school days Peter Kostis called them the first swing and the second swing. I think of them as two pendulums.

What permits the two pendulums to work together is the combination of the weight in club head, centrifugal force, the good old law of gravity -- and the golfer. These pendulums supply about 80 percent of the distance in your golf shot -- provided the swinging elements of your body drive the turning elements and not vice versa.

If your grip pressure is too tight, the weight at the end of the club is restricted from doing its job.

If you try consciously to turn your shoulders and shift your weight, you destroy the natural harmony of those two pendulums.

If you try to accelerate at impact and follow through, well, you know what happens there. [NOTE: This is a reference to an earlier section in the book. If you TRY to accelerate, you interfere with the natural motion and actually lose clubhead speed.]

But if your posture is good, and your grip pressure -- fingers secure, arms relaxed -- is correct, you give those two pendulums a chance to work in harmony. (p58-59)

Alright, the two pendulums are the one stretching from the clubhead to your hands, and the one from your wrists to your shoulder joints. Your wrist joins the two of them together, and act as the pivot point. When your wrists are fully cocked, the clubhead-to-hands-to-shoulder-joints stretch looks like an L shape.

No doubt you've heard of an 'L-to-L' swing. It's a common way to learn pitching technique. You swing your hands back to waist high (an L with the club shaft pointing straight up), then they straighten out as the clubhead hits the ball, and finally they form another L in the followthrough (again, with the shaft pointing straight up). Here's Mike Malaska, who worked closely with Jim, demonstrating how this works.



Please note that Mike isn't trying to drive his lower body when he does this. The club's motion pulls his upper body around, and then his upper body pulls his lower body around. As you gradually get out to a full swing you'll start to use your legs more, but it'll be a very natural leg drive -- you won't be thrashing at the ball. (Mike refers to this added drive late in the video when he mentions "using the ground.")

Let me anticipate a question here: When you do this drill at waist high, your wrists will cock as your hands slow down at waist high. When you make this move in a full swing, your wrists will cock as your hands slow down near the end of your swing. It's the change of direction that creates the wrist cock. Got it?

Okay, here's a bonus video with Malaska teaching you how to use the L-to-L drill to learn shot shaping. I bet A LOT of you will be working with this one!



Using the L-to-L drill will help your swing in so many ways, including improved balance, better footwork and weight shift, and eventually longer distance for less effort. This is a post you'll want to bookmark in your browser and come back to again and again.

A Quick Look at Na Yeon Choi's Swing

Na Yeon Choi is 5'5" tall and averages just over 252 yards off the tee. That's 56th on the LPGA, which is considerably better than average.

She also hits over 73% of her fairways, which puts her 75th. That would be incredible on the PGA Tour but it's just average on the LPGA.

Since she won in Arkansas on Sunday, I thought I'd do a quick post about her swing -- in particular, something that I think is a real strength of hers. This is a short video, only 35 seconds long, but it shows her swing several times and gradually slows it down. It's just a face-on view but it's recent and it shows what I want you to see.



NYC's swing, like that of most of the Korean players, is very simple and mechanically sound. But I want you to notice how balanced, how rhythmic, how smooth it is. Although she's hitting it pretty hard -- and developing quite a bit of swing speed in order to hit the ball as far as she does -- she doesn't appear to be going at it that hard at all.

The reason is that she avoids exaggeration. By that I mean that she doesn't make big dramatic moves when she doesn't need them. She's not moving off the ball on her backswing, she's not lurching forward at impact, and she doesn't squat down dramatically and then jump up off the ground in an effort to create more swing speed.

What she's doing is using her club as a tool. She swings it and lets it do the work of launching the ball. It's entirely proper to say that she NAILS the shot because she uses her club like a hammer. She can do this because, although she's swinging as fast as she can, she's trying to keep her muscles relaxed throughout the swing. Relaxed muscles can move faster than tight muscles, and she doesn't have to lurch back and forth because almost all of the energy is going into the club.

If you've ever swung a tennis racket or thrown a Frisbee™, you know this feeling. There's a sense of... let me call it "gathering yourself" as the top of your backswing. It's not really a pause because you don't stop moving. It's just a moment in your swing when you change direction.

If you exaggerate your lower body movement when you start down, you'll destroy this feeling. I often recommend that you try to feel as if you were falling from the top of your backswing, literally just relaxing your legs so both feet are planted solidly on the ground and your hips automatically move forward a bit. If you don't interfere with the start of your downswing, your lower body WILL start your move into the ball; it's physically impossible to change direction any other way.

Watch Na Yeon Choi's swing a few times, try to imagine what it feels like, and then try to duplicate it. Imitation is one of the easiest ways to learn tempo and speed.

John Daly's Balance

Nothing complex today. I just thought that, since John Daly shot his best score on the PGA Tour in around 10 years Thursday, you all might like to be reminded why he's still so good at 48 years old. Just take a look at his balance in this slo-mo swing from the 2014 Turkish Airlines Open Pro-Am, roughly 3 months ago.



Despite that long swing -- it doesn't look like it's shortened any at all over the years, does it? -- he still manages to stay balanced and swing smoothly. A smooth balanced swing makes it easier to make solid contact consistently. Just watch and absorb!

The Swing That's Chasing Sergio

Today it'll be chasing Sergio in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, but Henrik Stenson's swing has been chasing everybody for the last few months. The Big Swede has slowly rebuilt his game until he's right there almost every week. Today I thought we'd take a quick look at his swing.

Here's a slo-mo video from roughly 4 months ago -- right around the time he started his move into contention.



Henrik works with European Teacher Pete Cowen, whom Billy Harmon called the #1 European golf instructor and one of the three best in the world (along with Butch Harmon and Sean Foley). Cowen teaches more of a classic swing than a modern one, which means he uses the upper body rather than the lower body as a golf swing's primary power source.

Let's make sure you're clear on one thing: Just because your upper body is the primary power source in a classic golf swing does NOT mean that the lower body doesn't start moving first in the downswing. As I have said on more than one occasion, it is physically impossible for you to make a correct swing without your lower body moving first. You need the friction of your feet against the ground to start your body turning. It's just that in the classic swing the lag between the lower and upper body isn't as noticeable -- or, to put it another way, it looks as if your upper and lower body start turning at almost the same time.

You can see this in the face-on view of Henrik's swing in the video. There's no big forward move of his lower body before his upper body starts the downswing. If you look very closely (right around the 1:10 mark) you can see his hips move ever-so-slightly before his upper body starts down. And bear in mind that you need slo-mo to see this slight difference! At full speed it's barely noticeable.

At the 1:14 mark you can see that Henrik's weight appears pretty evenly distributed between his feet. In other words, Henrik is balanced. He's not leaning backward nor sliding forward at this point, which you see in a lot of players who drive their lower bodies hard to start the swing.

The result of this is that Henrik converts almost all of his effort into rotation -- and therefore club head speed. And he doesn't move backward or forward over the ball, which translates into more consistent contact. The combination of the two sends the ball a looong, looong way.

In other words, Henrik isn't wasting his effort moving his body around. Rather, he focuses on swinging the club. The results make the difference pretty clear!

You can learn a lot from Henrik -- even if you aren't a 6'1" Swede weighing nearly 200 pounds. Don't lunge at the ball -- swing the club!!!

A New Look at the Kobra

Back in February I did a post about Lydia Ko's swing using a photo sequence I found. There wasn't any video available at the time, let alone slo-mo video.

Guess what? That's changed. And now that Lydia is not just the youngest to win on the LPGA but the first AND youngest to win twice, I suspect we'll be seeing more. (NOTE: Those of you who are paying attention know this means that Lydia is also the first amateur to defend an LPGA title. But I'll go you one better: Did you know that Lydia has won 4 pro tournaments at a younger age than Lexi Thompson won her first? Now that's pretty impressive!)

Here are some videos that were taken back in July at the RICOH. First, here's a down-the-line shot:



And here's a face-on shot. Obviously they aren't the same swing!



These videos basically reinforce what I said in my earlier post, so I won't rewrite all of that here. (That's why I included a link to the original post back in the first paragraph. Slick, huh?) But there's something about seeing the actual swing in slo-mo that just... well, it's a thing of beauty, that's what it is.

Better get used to seeing it. The Kobra is starting to strike with more frequency, so we'll be seeing her strike the ball like this more frequently as well. We might as well learn from it!

Fred Couples Swinging... 'Nuff Said

Fred Couples got inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame Monday night and his swing is a huge part of the reason why. This video was made just a few months ago -- December 2012 -- with a little commentary by Curt Byrum.

The video is self-explanatory. Do I really need to say anything else? Really?



I will add one thing to Curt's breakdown of the swing. Please note that part of the reason Freddie still gets such a long swing is because he has a flying right (trailing) elbow at the top of his backswing. Jack Nicklaus had the same move. I'm sure you've heard that this is a bad thing... and it can be. The trick to making it work is having great rhythm. You can't afford to rush the change of direction if you want a flying elbow to behave properly.

Of course, Freddie has no problems with rhythm or tempo. Just watch and appreciate the swing of the newest member of the Hall of Fame.

The Swing That Changed History

Since Adam Scott's swing has rewritten Masters history -- and Australian golf history as well -- it seems only fitting to take a look at the swing some people believe is the best in golf.

It used to be popular to say Adam's swing was a copy of Tiger's but, if you compare the two (using Tiger's swing when he worked with Butch, of course), you'll see that Adam's swing isn't nearly as violent as Tiger's was. In particular, Tiger's lower body was much jerkier than Adam's.

Part of what makes Adam's swing so good is just how quiet his body stays during his swing, especially given how tall Adam is. Here are a couple of videos from almost a year ago. The first video is particularly interesting because, after several views of the actual swing at different speeds, you get to see one of Adam's practice swings. Interesting stuff...





The main thing I want to point out in these videos is how quiet his body is during the swing -- especially when you compare the full swing to the practice swing. There's not a lot of hip sliding from side to side, which would also cause excess upper body lean. Note that Adam's stance is much narrower during his practice swing. If he moves too much, he's not going to keep his balance.

And I'm pointing this out because Adam himself points it out! In this video from Titleist, listen to the tip he gives. There are several players on this video; Adam is number 2 and his bit starts just after the :35 mark:



Keep your arms and body in synch, he says, to minimize extra movement. He says it's a rhythm thing, and that's a good way to describe it. (Some instructors would call it a sequencing thing, but the two concepts are intertwined.) It may seem that I've been riding this particular horse for several posts now, but I can't over-emphasize it enough. The more excess movement you have in your swing, the more difficult it is to make solid contact with the ball or keep your swing on plane... which means you lose both distance and control.

There's a reason Adam Scott rewrote history on Sunday. It can help you rewrite your playing history as well.

How Inbee Does It

Inbee Park is proof that you don't need a spectacular, awe-inspiring swing to rip your opponents to shreds. A couple of days ago I discovered I hadn't done a post on her -- and was surprised that I hadn't, to be blunt -- so her second major is a good reason to correct that little oversight!

Looking at Inbee's stats, you might be surprised that she plays so well. She averages just over 245 off the tee, only 62nd on Tour and not that long for a 5'6" woman. She hits 70% of her fairways -- better than my Rule of 67, but only 71st among the ladies -- and 71% of her GIR, which puts her at a slightly better 39th on Tour. Doesn't sound so hot, does it?

But she's 6th on Tour in putts per round (28.45) and 2nd in scoring average (70). I'm sure all of you are thinking about those long putts she sank at the Kraft Nabisco, but there's more going on here than that. That 70 average means she averages 2-under each round she plays... but she putts well enough to be 5- to 8-under each round. She simply doesn't 3-putt very often and when she misses the green, she gets up and down more times than not. It's been enough to get her two wins this year, and one of those is a major.



This video from around a year ago shows her swing face-on. Notice how good her basics are -- a one-piece takeaway, which means she's connected to start her swing; she stays connected and doesn't sway on the way back; she stays centered between her feet as she starts down (that is, there's no huge hip slide toward the target), and she finishes nice and balanced. Her swing doesn't even look that powerful, does it? But it's consistent and repeatable.

What I'd really like to talk about is the "pause" at the top of her swing that many commentators point out. In this slo-mo it's pretty clear that she doesn't really stop, but it's not really obvious why it looks that way at full speed. Here's another video from about a month ago that shows exactly what's happening.



As the slo-mo gets slower and slower, you can see what's going on very clearly. At the top of her backswing, the head of her club actually travels backward and parallel to the ground! Instructors often refer to this as "laying off" the club, and a lot of power hitters like Sergio use the move to increase their wrist cock during their downswing. But those players generally have flatter swings, and that's not what Inbee is doing here.

You probably heard several times this past weekend how upright Inbee's swing is. (It's not as upright as Thaworn Wirantchant's, but it's not far off.) The key here is her trailing elbow. If you watch the progressively slower downswings -- especially the 3rd one -- you can see that she's actually twisting her elbow away from her body as she hits the ball! I suspect she had trouble with a push at some time in the past (meaning her swing comes from the inside much more than she'd like) so she started trying to square the club up better during her downswing. But since she probably wasn't strong enough to twist her forearms the way a lot of the men do, she ended up twisting her entire arm.

Normally that wouldn't be a particularly accurate move -- and I certainly wouldn't recommend it -- but Inbee does the motion with her upper arm rather than her forearms. As a result, she's controlling the move with the large muscles of her trailing shoulder rather than the smaller twitchy muscles of her wrists. That's part of the reason why she's able to be fairly consistent with such an unorthodox move.

But the biggest reason is that so much of her swing is fundamentally solid, that one unorthodox move doesn't wreck her swing. Swings don't have to be perfect to work well; they just have to be dependable... and that describes Inbee Park's swing to a T.

Make Ai Miyazato Look Like a Speed Demon

I found this video over at golftipsmag.com and I think it has some value for helping you improve your swing -- especially when you can't get to the range to practice.

PGA teaching pro Dan Martin has this tip about swinging in slow motion. I mean S-L-O-W M-O-T-I-O-N, or even slower than that! Here, let him explain it:



I don't think you want to go overboard with this, gang. Even Martin suggests no more than 5 attempts during a practice session. (And note that although he says to take 30 seconds with each swing, he isn't going nearly that slow. I suspect a 10-second swing would be just fine.) But I can see some real value to this drill.

• It helps you develop your balance. If you can't keep your balance in slow motion, you're probably off-balance at full speed.
• It helps your weight shift. This is part of your balance. It looks to me like it could help prevent those unwanted hip slides and spine tilts some of you are fighting.
• It's a good way to work on the sequence of your swing, especially when you start your downswing. I agree with him that the change of direction is seriously de-emphasized lately. Making a slow downswing is a good way to learn the proper elbow action that helps you create more swing speed late in the downswing.

The primary value is that it slows your swing down enough that you can learn what your entire swing feels like, especially those parts that zip by so fast that you don't even pay attention to them.

It's not about over-analyzing your swing; rather, it's about getting a good overall sense of what feels right. You want to get to the point where, when your swing doesn't feel good, you can say "it doesn't feel right at THIS point in my swing." Even if you don't know exactly what's wrong, you've made it much easier to get yourself back on track.

So give it a try. You can do it in your backyard -- maybe even your basement if the ceiling is high enough -- and learn what your swing should feel like. And as you become more familiar with the proper feel, it should be easier to swing at full speed out on the course.

And on the outside chance the embedded video above isn't working, here's the link to the video's original page at golftipsmag.com.

Ian Poulter in Stop Motion

This new swing series on golftipsmag.com catches the irrepressible IJP in a quick series of photos with commentary by PGA pro John Stahlschmidt. The article is simply called Ian Poulter: Classic Swing, Modern Day Result and it points out a few major points in Ian's swing.

Yeah, I know John points out that Ian keeps a lot of wrist cock well into the hitting area but doesn't tell you how to do it. You can find out how to do that in my More Golf Swing Speed Quick Guide, and you can also get some of the basics here on my site, starting with this post.

The primary points made in the golftipsmag.com article are about Ian's weight shift going back and coming through, hitting down on the ball, and finishing in a balanced position. Studying these positions and imagining what it feels like to swing through them can help you learn to make good swings quicker. (That's a scientifically proven fact, and I think I've written about it somewhere here on the blog... but I can't remember how long ago it was.)

The main thing I'd like to point out is that Ian has a mixture of classic and modern techniques in his swing, and that's why his swing looks a bit more "loosey-goosey" than some players. John points out that he uses a more restricted hip move on his backswing (photo 1), which is a modern idea. But if you look at photo 6, you'll see that his lead foot has rolled onto its outer edge. That means his lead hip has moved out past the outside of his lead foot, which is a more classic move.

Modern techniques tend to restrict how much your lead hip moves toward the target. The more that hip moves forward, the more chance there is for it to travel a different distance each time, resulting in the occasionally wayward shots that Ian gets. (That inconsistency will be worse on those days when his rhythm is a bit off, btw.) Don't misunderstand me -- the move isn't wrong, it's just one of those decisions you as a player have to make. Ian trades a little consistency for a more fluid swing. Colin Montgomerie has a very exaggerated version of this, both on the backswing and the downswing.

But the best lesson you can learn is this: If you get where you look anything like photos 4 and 5 at impact, you'll have learned a lot of seriously good technique from Ian James Poulter.

The Strike of the Kobra

Lydia Ko has a US Women's Amateur and three pro tournaments under her belt... and she's not even 16 yet. She's not a big hitter; she just thinks her way around the course. But she's got a nice solid swing that all weekend golfers can learn from.

I've been looking for video footage and photos of her swing but not having much luck. Her website is supposed to have a swing sequence, but it's being rebuilt. However, I found the following photos at the jeffygolf.com forums (they're blown up much larger there). Let's take a look at her move through impact:




Lydia stays connected a la Ben Hogan during the bottom of her swing. That just means that her upper arms stay pretty close to her chest as she turns through. I'll come back to that in a moment.

Notice that she doesn't push her hips forward the way most weekend golfers do. See how her lead hip never moves outside of her lead foot in any of these photos? Her hips are turning because her trailing knee stays flexed all the way through -- her lower body doesn't "lock up" and stop turning. The flex in her trailing knee allows her trailing hip to keep moving. Because of this lower body movement, Lydia stays balanced and has good footwork. It's just a function of staying loose and keeping out of her own way.

Now, back to her arms. Look at the very first photo and focus on her trailing elbow. See how it's still bent? That's why her wrists are still cocked in the lower part of her swing! A lot of you are straightening your elbow at the start of your downswing; that's called casting. That's when you lose your wrist cock.

At the top of your downswing your lead elbow is fairly straight and your trailing elbow is bent; you can see that if you look in a mirror. As you start your downswing, none of that should change. Just let your hands and arms drop from the top of your swing until your trailing elbow is near your side. That's when you straighten your elbow! (And, btw, once your elbow is near your side, you can straighten that elbow as hard as you want and you'll still hit the ball solid. The connection with your body that I mentioned earlier will help keep your arm and club on line.) Just look in the photos and see what Lydia's doing.

Learning to drop your arms like that is hard for some people. It feels as if all the movement is happening at your shoulder joints. But if you let them drop to start your downswing, you're going to make a lot of your swing happen automatically -- your weight shift, your footwork, your balance, the whole thing.

You can learn to strike like the Kobra. It's not about trying to hit the ball hard; it's just about letting gravity take its course.

Brandt Snedeker in Slo-Mo

There's a lot of interest in Brandt Snedeker's swing... and with good reason. Brandt's move is very simple and very well-balanced. I've dug up a couple of slo-mo videos to help you pick out some of the keys to do the same.

This first video comes from 2010 -- an analysis by Peter Kostis:



I want you to notice that A-shape Kostis has drawn along Brandt's sides at address. See how he stays within them throughout his swing? He's turning his hips, not sliding them. The consistency of his body over the ball is a big part of his consistent contact with the ball.

He makes a one-piece takeaway and his right knee (aka his trailing knee) stays reasonably stable. It doesn't slide sideways away from the target because he isn't pushing his hips sideways. No, his hips are turning and moving farther away from us, back away from the ball.

When Kostis talks about his hips "bumping" toward the front line on the downswing, I want you to pay attention to his crotch. (OK, stop thinking dirty out there!) The top of the A-shape formed by his legs doesn't really move forward that much. Rather, most of that "bump" is caused by his hips turning. When he actually hits the ball, his legs are only slightly closer to the target than they were at address.

Here's a much newer slo-mo from 2012:



I think the most interesting thing about this newer video is that Brandt's driver no longer gets to parallel at the top of his backswing. And if you watch closely, you'll see where he loses some of his club head speed -- when he changes direction at the top, his wrists actually uncock slightly as he starts his downswing.

But I wouldn't let that little problem stop you from copying Sneds's swing. After all, he's already got three Top3s this year and he's only 2 shots off the lead at Pebble after the first round.

What the Hell is Proprioception?

Doesn't that sound like an easy subject for a short holiday post? Actually, it is.

Proprioception is a ten-dollar word to describe your awareness of how your body is moving based on how the muscles feel. Here's a good example: Take a spoonful of food off your plate, then close your eyes and try to put it in your mouth. You probably won't have much trouble doing that. In fact, you can probably decide to stop your hand pretty close to halfway between the plate and your mouth without actually seeing where your hand stops.You've made this movement so much that you "just know" where your hand is, even though you're not watching it move with your eyes. That's proprioception at work.

Simple enough, isn't it? Proprioception is what allows you to keep your balance as well.

I've got a couple of short videos for you about it. One was done by Sean Foley for Golf Digest. Yeah, it's got some of the technical talk that Foley is famous for, but it's basically about how swinging barefoot can help you develop a better golf swing a la Sam Snead, who was famous for practicing that way. He even played some holes at the Masters that way one year.



This other video has examples of the kinds of exercises that can help you develop your balance using proprioception. As big as the word is, the exercises it describes are pretty simple.



Many of the drills I recommend on this blog -- especially the ones that don't require a club -- are basically proprioception drills. They help you focus on how your body moves during your swing, so you have a base of "movement knowledge" on which to build your swing skills.

And if nothing else, you now have a new word that you can use to impress your friends at those boring New Year's Eve parties on Monday night. ;-)

Goodbye, Jim

As you probably know, teacher Jim Flick died Monday from pancreatic cancer at the age of 82. USA Today did a nice article about him that you can read by clicking this link. Many pros sought his help -- not the least of which was Jack Nicklaus, and their work eventually resulted in the Nicklaus-Flick Golf Schools.

I never met him, but I've known who he was since I first started learning to play golf. It was through a large book he did with Bob Toski for Golf Digest called How to Be a Complete Golfer. I sometimes mention things Flick said because he believed in keeping it simple. Rather than write some long history of what he did, I'd rather just post a couple of short videos that show some of the simple things he taught. You'll learn a lot from these two short videos if you take the time to watch them.

The first one focuses on grip pressure and how it affects all aspects of your game, from club fitting to how you hit the ball. It reflects one of his basic thoughts that I always keep in mind when I write instructional material -- the club is a tool. (Flick likes to call it an "instrument.") The idea behind using a tool is that the tool does most of the work, something that most golfers just don't understand:



And this second one focuses on a classic technique that many of the greatest players have used. It's the idea that you swing with your arms, not your shoulders. Initially this sounds like the opposite of what Hogan taught, but again he's talking about tension. Your shoulders have to turn for your arms to swing freely, and that's one of the reasons I stress being able to see your trailing shoulder between your forearms at the top of your backswing -- if you were looking down the target line, that is -- because that helps keep your arms where they can swing freely:



Like I said, Jim Flick kept it simple. Not only will his friends miss him, but so will the world of golf instruction.

How Posture Affects Contact

I found this neat video by PGA Professional Steve Dahlby at the GolfTipsMag site. It talks about how your posture can affect whether you hit the ball fat or thin, on the toe or on the heel. Here, you can take a look at it, then I'll add a couple of comments:



Steve's suggestions are good ones. Both are good things to check since most players have these problems once in a while.

Toe or thin hits can be caused by standing up at some point during your swing. He suggests standing a bit farther from the ball and leaning forward a bit more from the hips.

Heel or fat shots can be caused by dipping at some point during your swing. He suggests doing the opposite -- move a bit closer to the ball and stand a bit taller.

In essence, he's trying to help you maintain your levels throughout your swing. I want to add a couple of other suggestions that can help you fix that problem.

You need to remember that problems often start from the ground up. If you're straightening up during your swing, you may be thinking about keeping your head down... but standing up starts from the ground. It's important for your trailing knee to remain slightly bent throughout your entire swing. (I like to keep both knees slightly bent until I reach my followthrough, when my lead knee will straighten. It IS possible to gain some extra power if you straighten your lead knee at the bottom of your downswing, but the timing can get a bit tricky. However, that trailing knee should stay slightly bent regardless.) That will eliminate most of your unintended upward movement.

That may also help with dipping too much. If your knees are already slightly bent, you're less likely to bend them more... and while you may bend at the hip when you dip, I bet you bend your knees as well. It's the natural reaction. Consider this a preemptive attack.

A drill that can help you learn to keep your knees flexed, maintain your posture, and help prevent swaying is one I recommend often, and it also comes from the GolfTipsMag site. It's called Body Movin' and you can get there by clicking this link. I really like it because it doesn't require a club; that means you can do it just about anywhere you have room to stand.

Try using these simple tips and you should start hitting the ball more in the center of the club face. That will help you with both distance and accuracy. Why settle for one when you can have both?