John Daly on Being a Feel Player (Video)

John Daly was on Morning Drive Wednesday and he talked about a lot of things, but in this 7-minute video he talks primarily about how he approaches golf as a feel player.



John mentions a number of things but there are two I want to emphasize:

• He thinks about swinging his sand wedge, even with a 5-iron. (Elsewhere I've heard him say the same thing about hitting driver. It shows in his rhythm.) John says he feels that he swings at around 85%. This keeps his swing smooth.
• Before John goes out to play, he doesn't practice. He just swings enough to warm up, and he's not averse to starting his round without a warmup. (When you think about swinging every club like a sand wedge, you aren't going to strain yourself early in the round!)

Take the time to listen to this short video and watch John hit a few. Try to absorb the easy rhythm of his swing and take it to the course with you. You'll probably play much better, and with a lot less effort as well.

Some Help for Ramzi

Some of you may remember that Ramzi Abdullah from Malaysia left some comments on last week's post about Na Yeon Choi's swing, asking for some help with a pull. Ramzi has written before -- I did a post for him called Golfing Large, in case you missed it -- and he says it helped some. (That post focused on his driving, which he says has improved but still isn't great.)

Today I'm going to see if I can't give him some better help. I asked him a few questions in the NYC post comments, and he sent me an email with some answers. He also sent me a short video, so I have a bit more to work with this time. Ramzi says he shoots in the 104-110 range (I remember being stuck there once myself), and I definitely think we can help him get that down quite a bit.

The video helped, but it was at the wrong angle to tell me everything I'd like to know. As you can see from this still of Ramzi's setup, it's neither a face-on or a down-the-line view... but I think I've found a few things we can work on, especially with the info he included in his email.

Just a note: Sometimes I'm speaking directly to Ramzi in this post, but often I'm talking to everybody because Ramzi's problem is a common one. Don't let the sudden change between the two confuse you!

Ramzi's address position actually looks pretty good. From this position I can't tell for sure, but it looks as if his knees aren't flexed enough -- but let me make this clear: From this angle I can't tell for sure. However, if Ramzi's knees are too straight, that would definitely contribute to an over-the-top swing. And if you come over-the-top, you'll almost certainly pull the ball.

But Ramzi, I can't tell for sure from this angle. Don't change your knee flex until you work on the other things I'm going to talk about. Even if your knees are too straight now, I suspect they won't be by the time we're finished... so just keep reading.

I noticed when viewing the video that Ramzi seems to be "losing the brace" in his right leg a little bit as he makes his backswing, but he knew about that problem and he tells me that he's gone to more of a "reverse K" setup since this video was made roughly 4 months ago. First, let me make sure you know what a reverse K setup is. Here's Michael Breed -- and yes, this is a Golf Fix video from Taiwan, but it's the only way I could embed it. The subtitles shouldn't cause a problem:



Note that I referenced this position indirectly in the 3rd All About Pushes post last week, only I did it using the "Gary Coilman"  prop. Gary's shoulder position gives you a reverse K setup.

Anyway, Ramzi says he's much more solid over the ball now and is hitting it more solidly. He describes it this way:

I seem to have better contact with all clubs when I feel that I've set my weight near the area around my big toe on the right foot.

That description sounds about right. In the last of my All About Pushes post series last week, in the 5th and 6th paragraphs, I talked about this braced position and how to learn it if you're having trouble. Try it and you'll see that Ramzi's "reverse K" is a good description of the proper position.

However, unless his address position has changed quite a bit from this photo, he's not doing exactly what he thinks he's doing. (That's not unusual for any golfer, Ramzi, so don't feel bad about it.) In his email he wrote:

I've learnt a new trick to maintain my swing plane before the backswing which is to push the club into the ground in a way to cock my wrist - and it works. This is combined with the reverse K (which I know opens my hips, and as a result I have to close my shoulders a bit before the swing).

But take a good look at the photo. Ramzi's shoulders are OPEN, not closed. (If they were closed, his right shoulder would be farther from the ball than his left shoulder, not closer as it appears in this photo.) That immediately sets Ramzi up to pull the ball because his shoulder line is now aimed to his left. (That would be "aimed to his right" for you lefties out there.)

And second, a reverse K setup doesn't automatically open your hips. If your hips are open, Ramzi, your reverse K setup isn't quite right. Again, don't worry about that right now; just keep reading. There's a bigger problem that we need to fix first, and it's more important. If we get the biggest problem fixed first, a lot of smaller problems will probably disappear on their own.

One of the things I asked you was if you were rolling your forearms during your takeaway. You wrote back:

Yes, I use a lot of forearm action. After I reach the top of the backswing I actually start pulling, rolling and releasing with my right arm. I know its wrong but I do believe that Tom Watson also did the same thing. Releasing from the top was what my first golf instructor told me to do to combat my slice. I'm very aggressive in the downswing (I do not know how to swing at 80% or 70%)

Even if you hadn't told me so, I would have known the second I viewed your swing video. Here are a couple of other stills I took from it. While I couldn't be sure about some things from this camera angle, it's perfect for viewing the biggest problem:



See those arrows pointing at your right elbow? You don't just roll your forearms on the way down. You roll them on the way up! And I can tell because your right elbow is bent so early in your swing. You can't bend your elbow that way without rolling your forearms.

And if you go back and look at your swing video again you'll see your right shoulder and head diving toward the ball as you start your downswing. You're coming over-the-top, big man! And when you come OTT, you pull the ball -- it's just the natural mechanics of your swing.

When you roll your forearms on the way back, you lay the club off and come too much inside. Tom Watson -- and lots of players -- do teach you to roll your forearms. It's part of the reason they all have trouble hitting the ball straight when they're under pressure -- it's hard to roll them exactly the same amount coming down as you did going back. And, more importantly, this "rolling" happens on its own -- and in a very consistent matter -- if you don't consciously do it. Even Ben Hogan wrote (in capital letters, no less), and I quote:

The action of the arms is motivated by the movements of the body, and the hands consciously do nothing but maintain a firm grip on the club. (Five Lessons, p82)

I explained all the mechanics of it in detail in my Stop Coming Over-the-Top Quick Guide -- in fact, I included a drill that lets you go from address to the top of the backswing without ever twisting your forearms so you could see for yourself that it works. You can get the book if you want the full explanation. (I'm not plugging the book. I just want you to know that it took an entire book to explain all the details of why swings go OTT, which is why I'm not going to try and do it in a blog post! But don't worry, I've got stuff here on the blog to help you.)

So while I suspect that Ramzi has some setup problems, I'm much more concerned about his -- you guessed it -- lack of a one-piece takeaway. So here's what I want you to do: Go to the Some Useful Post Series page and find the listing for the Dexter's Coming Over-the-Top series. Read all of the posts in that series, but the drills are in the 3rd post.

Ramzi, let me stress that I don't want you to rotate your forearms when you do the drills. When your hands are at waist high, I want you to feel as if you're cocking your wrists straight up in the air! Although you'll be pointing the club shaft straight up in the air when you do the drill, it will actually be on the correct plane when you make a normal full-speed swing. I'm not going into the mechanics here -- as I said, that's all explained in the book -- but it has to do with all the angles that already exist in your swing. (Your spine angle, shoulder tilt, bent elbow, etc.)

As for you concern about your stomach -- which isn't as big as you think -- the one-piece takeaway will move your hands and club a bit farther away from your body, so it will be less of a problem than you think.

And after you get the hang of that one-piece takeaway, then you'll be in a better position to make changes to your setup if they're still needed.

So Ramzi, that's where I think you should start. Focus on the one-piece takeaway. You may need to adjust your grip slightly as you get used to starting back in one piece. Make as few changes as necessary until you feel comfortable with the move. Dexter found that fixing his takeaway made immediate improvements all through his game -- both in how far and how straight he hit the ball -- and his score started to drop within weeks. So give it a try and keep me informed on how it's going. Then we'll see if anything else needs to be changed.

Golfing Large

A couple of days ago Ramzi left a comment on one of the older posts. Here's part of it:

My driving sucks big time & I am never consistent in setting up. But when I hit a long one it's pretty long (for Malaysian standards).

So what would you recommend for myself who is:

1. 175cm tall or nearly 5ft 9 inches
2. Wide shouldered - I wear a 44inch jacket for my suit.
3. Weight approx. 220 pounds or 98kg
4. Due to a 'one-piece' gut, i don't have great flexibility, but I've tried my best to point my left shoulder at the ball during the backswing.

Hence, would appreciate any guidance/advice on driver setup for someone slightly chunky like me. Also how do less flexible people start the swing from the ground with their legs?

I suspect this is a problem for a lot of you larger golfers. Obviously I can't tell each of you exactly what to do since I don't know your individual swings, so I'm going to try and give you some ideas on how to find your own way to understanding how your own swing works.

First, there's one question here that I won't answer -- the one about driver setup. That's one that a clubfitter needs to answer. He'll evaluate your swing and give you a club that will make the most of it.

That said, I think we can get Ramzi -- and the rest of you large golfers out there -- hitting the ball a little better.

The big key here is that we've got to help him start getting a more consistent setup.

I'm assuming, given the 'one-piece gut' comment, that Ramzi is slightly pear-shaped -- that is, his stomach is a bit larger than his chest. Add to that the facts that he's an average-height man (I'm between 5'9" and 5'10" myself) and that he doesn't consider himself particularly flexible.

All these things mean that Ramzi, like most of you larger golfers, will have a flatter swing than many golfers his size. His 'one-piece gut' means his arms will always stick out farther from his body than a thin golfer unless he can lean over enough for his arms to hang down without hitting his stomach. That may not be possible.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm very big (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun) on connection in the golf swing. This simply means that the triceps of both arms rest lightly against your chest during the bottom part of your swing -- from waist high on your downswing to waist high on your followthrough. I've done several posts on connection, but I want you to pay specific attention to this one. It's got a video by Jimmy Ballard that demonstrates the key point really well. Since Ramzi's swing will be flatter anyway, this move will work just perfect for him. It will feel similar to throwing a Frisbee™ or hitting a tennis backhand.

That will help him develop a more consistent swing so he can hit the ball more solidly more often. Now all we need to do is increase his flexibility so he can make a good swing with this connected move.

We're going to do that by closing his stance, which means pulling his trailing foot back from a square setup. Here's an easy way to figure out just how much. I'm assuming Ramzi plays right-handed, so he'll be moving his right foot. Obviously a left-handed player moves his left foot back to close his stance.

Go to a practice range. Lay two clubs down on the ground -- one parallel to your target line (this is your toe line for your normal stance), the other one between your legs and perpendicular to the first (this one points at your ball position). You're going to place a practice ball so the club between your legs is pointing at it, and after you've hit it you'll replace it with another one until you figure out where the ball should be every time you set up and you know what the correct setup looks like.

First set up normally and practice that connected swing. Don't worry about getting your shoulder to point at the ball; just make the best turn you can and get used to making good contact.

Then you learn how to adjust. First you move that trailing foot a couple of inches closer to the lead foot -- narrowing your stance -- and then move your trailing foot a couple of inches back from the first club. Now you're aimed a bit to the right (if you're right-handed) and it's easier to make a bigger turn without a strain.  If you've got it right, you should hit a little draw that lands near your target. If that's not what you get, try moving both feet a couple of inches toward the target, which will move the ball position back in your stance a little.

Just keep playing with this until you can get the results you want several times. You shouldn't have to move the ball back more than halfway in your stance at most. When you finally get it right, look at where your feet are in relation to the clubs -- especially your heels, since those are the best indicator -- and use this setup each time you play a normal full shot.

One extra note here: Make sure you keep a little bit of flex in both of your knees while you swing. If your legs get too straight, it'll be too hard for you to make a consistent swing.

Ramzi had one last question: How do less flexible people start the swing from the ground with their legs?

Here's the best answer I can give you, Ramzi: Don't worry about it. Most weekend players worry about this too much. If you didn't use your legs, you couldn't hit the ball at all! If you make a connected swing like Ballard demonstrates in the video I mentioned earlier and keep a little flex in your knees, you'll automatically use your legs properly.

Ramzi, this should give you enough direction to start getting your swing in shape. Let me know how it goes and feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I'm sure the other large golfers who read this blog will be glad to hear from you as well.