Creating a smooth, integrated and powerful golf swing transition is one of the real keys to hitting solid, piercing golf shots. The trick is how can we better “feel” it so we can apply it to our golf swing.

Sean Foley is undoubtedly one of the hottest instructors on the planet today. Of course, being Tiger Wood’s swing coach doesn’t hurt either.

The more I watch and learn from Mr. Foley the more I really like his teaching philosophy. Everything he teaches or most of the videos I view just seem really on the money and simple to me.

Maybe, it’s just me and I somehow resonate more with his vibe or personality or whatever but it just seems to me clear, simple and directly actionable. that is, something you can begin to immediately integrate into your own swing.

The drill Sean shares in the video above is really great. It is something we amateurs probably all struggle with from time to time and that is the transition from backswing to downswing.

It can get downright violent. Like you’re trying to kill a frog with a hockey stick! I know this all to well. And it creates an instant power suck. And you get to proclaim after you hit the ball 130 yards on a 170 yard Par 3, “All arms, all arms!”

There is just no body integration that happens when you have this violent transition. Maybe violent is too harsh but a type of anxiousness that will immediately throw out of whack any hope you have of hitting a solid golf shot.

So please, try the drill that Sean Foley suggests in the video above. Like I said, it’s clear, simple and you can begin to immediately practice it.

It’s also so flexible you can do this anywhere. Us New Englander’s can head outside and practice this anytime, anywhere. You don’t even need a golf ball. To me, that’s a terrific, flexible and valuable golf drill.

Related posts:

1. Improve Your Golf Swing Tempo
2. Rehearsing Your Golf Swing
3. Guaranteed to Improve Your Golf Game!

Golf Cards at www.stonehousecollection.com

If you’re reading this you’re probably a student of the game. Come to think of it, anyone who plays more than 5 times a year is a student of the game. Golf is just that way. How many things are there to learn about playing golf? I don’t think anyone has come up with that number yet, at least if you read the ‘how to’s’ in today’s golf magazines. You’ll drive yourself crazy with ideas if you can’t narrow it down. In keeping with the holiday spirit I’d like to share my Swing Keys and Swing Thought, as I try to keep it simple for myself.

At some point, namely when you step up to the first tee, you have to clear that instructional junk out of your mind and play the game. Golfers talk about keeping some ‘swing thought(s)’ in mind during your round. I’m of the school that any more than one thought is futile. Mine is simple – tempo. Golf is a tempo game and this might be the biggest misconception of anyone who thinks they have to ‘hit’ or ‘strike’ the ball. Tempo is the only way to keep the swing path where you want it. Without tempo your going to jerk or pull the club away from it’s path and cause yourself all sorts of problems.

Sam Snead said he used to hum a tune in his head to maintain his tempo. Great golfers look good when they swing. It seems almost effortless. That’s tempo. Golf is a head game and tension can make or break any round in a sport where being relaxed is tantamount. For me, tempo, is a great calming force and an idea I can feel rather than have to think about. It also keeps me from trying to ‘kill the ball’.

What then are Swing Keys? These are the things that most people are trying to remember to do during their swing – like left arm straight, left wrist flat on ad infinitum! As soon as we hit a bad shot our tendency is to try and figure what Swing Key we messed up. This doesn’t work very well while in the heat of battle.  Too often we miss what’s wrong and go and change something that was OK. The result is a death spiral with one bad habit creating another until the golf club feels like a broom!

Swing Keys are what I go over before I go to the first tee as I’m warming up. There’s no pressure then and I can go through my checklist like a pilot before takeoff. This only takes a few minutes, about the average time most amateurs take before teeing off. If you know your game, then you’ll know what your Swing Keys are. As your game changes, so might your swing keys. I have 7 Swing Keys or Checkoffs that I use before I tee it up, whereas some one else might have 4. Because they’re easy to go through, you can go through them again almost anyplace on the course if your swing really starts to go south. Swing Keys are personal and should be crafted for your game. Here are mine (I’m right-handed).

1) Be aware of the tilt of the shaft at address. Different clubs and situations require a different tilt at address. There’s not one particular one I’m rehearsing, just remembering that it’s important to be aware of it during setup. The wrong angle can mess up an otherwise perfectly good swing.

2) To begin the backswing, push club with left shoulder and left side. This keeps me from pulling the club too far inside on the takeaway giving me no room to come from the inside on the downswing.

3) Keep the back of the left wrist nearly vertical through the backswing. I have a tendency to let it start pointing too much skyward. When this happens it gets very hard to square the club at impact. If I rehearse it before I play it tends to take care of itself.

4) Once the club gets to waist high in the backswing without manipulation (see 2 above), complete turn and allow arms to move up the chest SLIGHTLY. When I want to hit the ball farther I start raising the arms high to deliver a mighty blow. Unfortunately all this does is ruin my spine angles. This Key helps me make a full turn without getting the arms out of sync.

5) Keep wrists supple. If they’re not your cooked, done, roasted. My test for this is simple. Once the club moves past vertical by a fraction, if my wrists are supple, the weight of the club head will cock the wrists automatically. That’s all there is to it.

6) Keep right elbow away from right side in the backswing. This also keeps you from getting the club too far inside on the backswing, which gives you no room to come from the inside on the downswing. Once you begin the downswing the right elbow should come down to the right side. Just don’t put it there during the backswing.

7) Power is applied in the 9 to 3 zone. Imagine a big clock from your feet to your chin with the face pointing outwards. 9 o’clock is waist high to your right and 3 o’clock is waist high to your left. This is where the action is, where the snap of the club head takes place. In my mind I see my club vertical at the 9 o’clock position on the downswing, my job being to get it vertical at the 3 o’clock position on the upswing (thank you Marc Brady). This of course is approximate. The longer you can wait to release lag the more your club will move towards 8 or 7 before it’s released. One note about release, it’s two things here; 1) release of the wrist cock and 2)rotation of the forearms. It’s both of these that contribute to tremendous club head speed in a short space. If you’re relaxed and wrists are supple, this release happens naturally by the forces built up through turning your legs,hips and torso.

Whatever your Swing Thought and Swing Keys, I recommend you don’t confuse the two. Keep your Swing Thought to one thing. If it’s something to calm you down then you’re headed in the right direction. Whatever your Swing Keys, use them as your pre-flight checklist and not Swing Thoughts.

Happy Holidays to all and may we all find the peace on the golf course that is ours for the taking! Golf is a big river you jump into. You can’t direct it, but you can go along for a beautiful ride.

Related posts:

1. Swing Keys – Do They Work?
2. Understanding the Swing Plane
3. Hogan’s Sweet Swing

Rehearsing Your golf swing, I believe, is a very valuable practice. It really sets your body physiology in a way that allows you to hit quality golf shots.

So here’s the trick. How do you really know what good positions are if your game is in the dumps? Yeah, maybe you’ve felt it a shot or two throughout your round but how can you “brand” this int your physiology so you can produce it consistently?

I have found one of the best ways to do this is by rehearsing certain key positions in the golf swing.

Watch the Faldo video in the right hand column and he’ll give you 2 excellent positions to rehearse. And the key is to really rehearse these – over and over and over again – just like an actor rehearsing their lines.

I wrote about proprioception training in a recent article and you can also check out the Sean Foley video on balance which gives another terrific “rehearsal” drill.

What I have found about these drills is they they are much more difficult than they actually sound (Foley even mentions this in the video above so listen for it) because they really take patience and discipline to do them slowly AND correctly.

We all want to swing out of our shoes for some reason (and I’m including me in this group as well) so it takes tremendous determination to go very slow and really FEEL the correct positions. Notice I said “correct”

You will have to constantly monitor yourself to make sure you are practicing and rehearsing “correct” golf positions. As we know, even pros have to constantly monitor and assess their swings via themselves and their coaches. It’s no different than you other than I assume you probably don’t have a full-time golf coach.

Finally, after researching this topic I found a number of coaches and experts recommending that you also take full practice swings at your regular swing speed every 5-6 “rehearsals”

This is meant to really “ground” your swing in your physiology so you can feel it at it’s proper speed. Then go back to your slow-motion, rehearsals swings and then back to full-swing again.

Now that is is off-season it’s a great time to rehearse correct positions. Keep in mind, they might feel awkward but that doesn’t mean their not correct positions. Again, what may “feel” correct to you can be just the opposite.

Related posts:

1. Perfect Your Swing With Position Practice
2. Hit solid, thud-sounding golf shots with Correct Sight
3. The Golf Swing Is Pretty Simple

This blog could have a lot of different titles, like ‘Learn by watching, not thinking’ or ‘Feel the swing you want’. The Internet, particularly with the proliferation of videos, has made golf instruction available to the average person on a scale never before available. Have a problem getting out of the sand? Go watch a video of Gary Player showing you how it’s done.

The image above is linked to a video at Golf.com (or click HERE) where instructor Brady Riggs demonstrates one way to stop overswinging. That’s nice in itself, but perhaps more importantly, it might introduce you to a new way of learning; first feeling what’s being demonstrated, then letting your body mimic it.

My wife has been taking some lessons from our local pro. I went to watch the process, liked what I saw, and have been incorporating the basic move he’s been demonstrating into my own swing – with some good results I might add. Why the success? I haven’t been trying to breakdown what’s he’s teaching into components. I’ve tried to remember the IMAGE of him demonstrating the move and then trying to feel that in myself.

Right now you may be thinking I’ve lost my mind, so let me explain a bit more. Think of learning to catch a fly ball or dancing. If you start by breaking these into minute components you’re dead. Most of us observe and then suspend our analytical minds, just letting our body take over mimicking what we’ve seen. You could sum this up as ‘Feel then do’.

Back to our video. Watch Brady Riggs demonstrate a way to stop overswinging (great stuff). Don’t think too much about the instruction, just watch him swing. This is what I see; a simple athletic movement that’s packed with effortless power. I’d love to look like Brady when hitting a ball. And I think it’s possible to get close if you let your body ‘feel’ what he’s doing. Your goal becomes duplicating that effortless/power feeling, not all the basic components you could break it down into. The technical tweaks come after you’ve mastered the feeling. I’m convinced you can’t do it the other way around.

Use internet videos to your advantage. Watch a great demonstration of something you want to improve. Hold that image in your mind as you practice. Come home, watch it again, and go out and try to get closer to the feeling. If you can get someone to video your practice, even better. Watch yourself, then the instructor. Turn off your analytical mind and let your body’s natural mimicking talent take over.

I love this Brady Riggs demo and will watch it many times, particularly when my own swing gets stiff and feels forced. The one bit of advice I’d add is ‘Relax your grip on the club’. It’s critical to getting your body going in two directions at once, which is key to generating speed. It’s unbelievably easy to start strangling the club when the going gets tough.

Remember this, the harder the shot the more important for the shot maker to relax. You can’t force a shot, you have to let it happen, which means releasing tension. Tense muscles are slow and jerky!

Related posts:

1. Want to Stop Hooking The Ball? Then Check Out The “New” Tour Move

There are many ways to hit the golf ball successfully. We know that just by looking at the pros’ swings over the years. To my eye, Hogan had one of the greatest. He wrote about his swing philosophy in the classic ‘Five Fundamentals’. Since then a lot of people have tried to figure out what he knew.

Click on the image above or HERE to see a Hogan instructional video. It’s short and is it ever sweet. You can learn a lot just by watching it over and over. He demonstrates turning the hips and knees first on the down swing and saving your power until the last moment before contact where you ‘strike the match’. This is great stuff. If you want a swing that’s more like a professional’s you have to master this move.

A couple of months ago I wrote a REVIEW on a book by Tom Betrand who studied the swing under John Schlee who learned it directly from Hogan himself. He goes into a little more detail in the two videos below, breaking the swing down into some finer points.

Video 1  ‘The Secret to Ben Hogan’s laying off the club’

Video 2   ’The Missing Link to Ben Hogan’s Secret’

Lastly look at THIS VIDEO to understand a little about the forces at work in Hogan’s swing. Don’t be put off by the text descriptions. Just understand the force arrows that indicate what’s generating the power.

Here’s what I hope you get out of this, it’s not easy to hit a golf ball well consistently. (You knew that!) But it is possible to understand the key components and if you’re patient enough to work on a few fundamental pieces I believe anyone can greatly improve their ball striking. Of course, you have to be willing to work on each move until it’s ingrained and not lapse into old bad habits. Take it piece by piece and you’ll be rewarded. Forget where the ball goes until you’ve made the key moves a habit.

Related posts:

1. The Sweet Swing of Ben Hogan
2. The Last Word on Hogan’s Swing?
3. Take a closer look at yourself – Video Swing Analysis

Arguably there is no sweeter swing in golf than Ernie Els (well, maybe Charles Barkley) and a lot can be learned from studying Ernie’s Swing.

Part of studying is, of course, watching and I certainly have no proof of this but for just rhythm alone (one of the keys to a solid golf swing) you might want to consider locking yourself into a closet for 8 hours with a full-battery charge for your laptop and watching the above video over and over.

The osmosis of watching Ernie’s swing can do nothing but help your golf game. Granted, not everyone is built like Ernie but no matter, watch this swing and see how much it can bring to your game. You’ll be hitting longer drives. I’m sure of it.

What I love about this video of Els is how there is nothing new or gimmicky. He just concentrates on a handful of solid fundamentals. I know many golfer friends just looking for that one magic bullet to solve all there ails but I’ll clue you in – there is no ONE magic bullet.

It’s a constant return to fundamentals. Remember Larry Bird? One of the best basketball players to ever play the game. Not as physically gifted and many of his fellow players he put his work into mastering the fundamentals. This resulted in 3 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. If you’re not familiar with Bird, check out this Larry Bird video.

In this video Ernie shares:

• The perfect posture position for long, straight drives
• What exactly IS the ideal ball position for the driver
• Just how much tension you should have in your arms
• How far to turn your front shoulder
• The feeling you should have in the transition from backswing to downswing

Related posts:

1. Driving Ranges Don’t Cut the Mustard
2. How To Hit The Ball First
3. Best Ball Striker, Lee Trevino?

If you’ve been playing golf awhile and have taken lessons or read a couple of golf instruction books, then you know that IDEALLY you are supposed to hit the ball first with your irons and then take a divot. Now I ask you, ‘Can you do this?’. How many members of your foursome can do this?

The answer to the above is that most amateurs do not hit the ball first. Most amateurs have problems compressing the ball at impact (and lose power) and are plagued with a lot of fat and thin shots. If you can identify, then I’d like to point you to one of the best videos I’ve seen on fixing this. It’s good because it clearly demonstrates what hitting the ball first looks like, how you accomplish it and what drills to use to ingrain it.

You can click the photo above or follow this LINK to the YouTube video. The instructor is Martin Chuck who is part of the Tour Striker Golf Academy. Find out more about the academy HERE. Martin teaches at the Raven Golf Club in Phoenix. Don’t be content with too many miss hits. You can hit the ball correctly and Martin Chuck gives you the visual key to do it!

I know you’re dying to hit the ball right, so here’s another LINK to video on the same topic by Chuck Evans who heads the Medicus Golf Academy.

Related posts:

1. How to Hit 120 Yard Golf Drives
2. 12 Nights At The Academy
3. Correct Sight – How to Hit Dead-Solid Shots!

I know some of you are looking to be really obnoxious and wanting to hit those 300+ yard monster golf drives to wow your foursome friends but what about a more modest goal like trying to hit it 120 yards?

As you might have guessed, I’m being a little “tongue-in-cheek” but not without an ulterior motive.

So why would you want to try to try to hit 120 yards drives? Simple, so you can figure out your swings really works and feels. This was actually a drill Davis Love Sr. used to give Davis Love Jr. when they were first learning the game.

“One drill the senior Love mentioned was to have the boys take out a driver and with full swings hit the ball 100 yards, then 150 yards, and then 200 yards, and before finishing with their longest hits. 

He had them do that to develop the importance of rhythm in the golf swing and it’s much more difficult to do than you might imagine.  We get so accustomed to one tempo with our Driver and this exercise demonstrates the manner in which the hands, arms, and body together with our turn create the proper speed to hit the ball certain distances. 

By becoming more aware and attuned to your body and its flow, you have better control over the golf ball.”

This is actually a drill that Tiger has used repeatedly to get his rhythm back. Must of been very odd to see Tiger hitting his drives about 75 yards or so!

I did this drill numerous times this year and it really helped to get “feel” back in my golf driving (which I had a few problems with this year) but my logic has always been “If you can’t get it right at 120 yards, how are you going to get it right at 200, 250, etc. etc?”

I think you’ll be really surprised what is revealed to you when you try this drill. I mean you goal is to still hit it solid and straight but by doing this at a different speed you bring a lot more consciousness to your swing. You feel it it in a different way.

You’ll also be surprised how difficult this is at first. It will feel completely foreign. But stick with it . . until you start to hit it consistently at 100-120. Then try to move to 150, 175, 200, etc. etc.

Really try to feel your inherent rhythm to your swing. Everybody’s is unique and by really slowing your swing down you will begin to feel your swing differently, feel the clubbed going back, feel the easy transition as you easily “drop it in the slot”, then on to a full and balanced finish. Each part should flow effortlessly into the next part.

Give it a try. I think you’ll gain some really valuable insight into your golf swing and before you know it you’ll be ripping drives farther than ever.

Related posts:

1. Hit solid, thud-sounding golf shots with Correct Sight
2. How To Hit The Ball First
3. Here’s the Best Golf Drill Ever Invented

In my opinion, today’s mainstream golf teacher is very one-dimensional and can only help players wishing to improve in a very limited way. I know a lot of pros will highly disagree with this view but hear me out.

I’m not saying it’s they’re fault, per say, but a LOT more goes into playing excellent golf than trying to flatten someone’s golf swing or having them line up square.

What if you go to a golf lesson and the instructor wants to to complete a fuller turn but come to find out your body cannot get into that position easily? it might be more of a biomechanics issue than a swing issue. If you don’t have that knowledge how can you assess it.

What if you typically have excellent front nines but in the middle of the round you never fail to produce a number of double-bogeys? Well, could be any number of things including proper nutrition. Did you (or do you) have on a regular basis a couple of sugar coated cider donuts and a large coffee before your typical round? Uhhhh, maybe a peanut butter protein bar and a banana might be a better choice. Maybe that’s your answer (or certainly part of it)

What if you just cannot shake the dreaded banana-slice despite seeing your golf pro repeatedly? Maybe your golf clubs need to be custom-fitted to your unique swing speed and style. I don’t think once, in all the lessons I have taken in the past fews years that any pro has even looked at my equipment. I mean, it might be as easy as changing the weights slightly on your driver.

What is just went through a trying divorce and you’re trying to compete at the highest level? What if you have “unfinished business” that you need to take of to set your mind (and body) free to play your best golf ever? (and coincidentally, have your best LIFE ever!)

I mean who’s looking at the big picture? Who is looking at YOU as an individual golfer who has strengths, weaknesses, challenges, hopes, goals, etc.

What I truly think is missing is a new kind of golf professional. Someone that has a more holistic view of the game. That can assess at a “big picture” level.

What has lead me to this conclusion? Well, I have happily been the Tim Ferris of the The 4-Hour Bodyfor golf. I’ve allowed myself to be a laboratory rat for all sorts of golf experimentation. From getting biomechanically assessed to seeing a sports nutritionist to testing and practicing the latest golf fitness routines to getting custom-fitted for golf equipment to consulting with a sports psychologist and more.

And the more I have explored the more I have found such a big “disconnect” between all these professionals. One has no idea what the other one is doing. They all work in their own silos. You have to piece this all together but if you had someone who had at least a knowledge about this information could really propel your game to (I believe) unheard of levels.

See, it’s the compounded power of all these that make a difference. It’s not just one thing. It’s all of these often small changes working synergistically that produce HUGE improvements in your golf game.

This is big. Really big. 2 years ago a wrote a post about Jon Fitzgerald’s wonderful film, called : Best Golf Film of The Year: The Back Nine.Go find and watch that film. The film is about Jon’s quest to become a pro and shows you ALL the various dimensions he explored trying to get the most out of his game – from fitness to mechanics to state of the art equipment and more. It really shows the type of professionals he had to employ to get the most out of his game.

Sure, you could go out and hire each of these specific knowledge professionals separately but for the average golfer or even the serious amateur it is just not time or cost-effective. So what’s one to do if you want to make a serious commitment to your game?

My answer is: I don’t know. It’s missing. John and I (of GolfDashBlog) have been fooling around with trying to come up with a thorough assessment process to help diagnose some of the issues we’ve seen and how to identify certain patterns in golfers who are seeking excellence in their golf game and who want that extra edge. Patterns that would be unique to YOU. Nothing canned or generic. It would never work that way.

Nothing is really finalized at this point but I’m curious if I’ve totally lost my gourd or if others are interested in hearing more. Let me know.

Related posts:

1. Golf Game Killer: The Sway
2. Guaranteed to Improve Your Golf Game!

We’ve talked a lot about the golf swing this season and various keys that make it work. Doug gave you his take on keeping the knee of your back leg flexed and pointing in. I’ve also been reading Hogan this summer and have found that to be a great tip. It helps you coil and store power and keeps you from swaying. Now, I want to give you a great tip that applies to the other end of the swing, namely the finish.

Sit back for a moment and reflect on the golf swing. Forget the intricacies and see it in its basic elements. It’s primarily rotational with the spine as anchor point. It works best when it’s relaxed and, you might even say, whippy. I wrote last week about keeping the wrists relaxed or supple. In that way they’re free to move from open to close at the greatest speed with the club face squaring roughly at impact. Throw in Doug’s back knee anchor and you’ve got a basic, flexible, rotational swing that can generate speed more through relaxation than effort.

So far so good. However, all that is not enough. There’s a key point missing that’s obvious yet so overlooked by the average amateur. Before I tell you what, let me tell you why. For most of us hitting the ball in the desired direction is the target. Just like the spot on a log or tree trunk is the target for an axe blow. We feel like our job is to drive the axe down that target line, just like we try to drive the golf ball down the target line. The result is a premature end to our golf swings. We don’t finish them and therefore we actually slow down when we should be speeding up.

Alright, enough guessing games. A full, powerful, consistent swing won’t happen unless your goal is to get your right shoulder (RH golfers) to point at the target. Now you may not get it all the way there depending on flexibility, but that’s the goal. That’s right, the goal isn’t driving the ball down the target line, it’s getting the right shoulder to point at the target. Do it and you’re going to feel like someone took the brakes off your swing.

Why is this free follow through so difficult. Because it feels counter-intuitive. Your trying to control your golf shot avoiding out of bounds left and water right so it’s natural to feel restrained. You want the ball to move forward and someone is telling you to throw the club behind you ultimately. Crazy, right? Wrong, it’s exactly what you have to do. Anything less and you start limiting your swing instead of freeing it.

A golf swing is just what it says…a swing. It’s not a hit, or throw or punch or smack. It’s a full rotational swing that moves more like a pendulum, with a mind of its own. You let it happen more than you make it happen. By getting your right shoulder pointing to the target, you are forcing yourself to swing freely, eliminating all the tension that you add in during the process because you’re trying to control it. Let it go and watch your game improve. You’ll hit it farther and straighter and you’ll play with less fear, which only messes up your game.

Look, I know from personal experience that it’s hard not to want to control your swing when you’re looking at a 30 yard wide fairway with trouble on both sides. But that’s the challenge of golf isn’t it? You’ve got to relax and swing with abandon when your brain is telling you to hold back. All golf shots work better when there’s no fear, when the swing happens freely. Why is the second 3 foot putt so easy after you missed it the first time when it counted? Because the fear is gone, your swing is free and that’s what getting your right shoulder to the target will do for your full swing!

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1. Left Shoulder Locked