Patricia Cornett - 2012 Curtis Cup Captain

I had a visit yesterday from a long time student, Patricia Cornett.  She's from San Francisco and was in Dallas on business.  She organized some free time and we spent two hours working on her fullswing, chipping, pitching, sand play and putting.  At 56 years old she's still very competitive.  Her talents are very good although the distance isn't quite what it used to be. 
Pat's played in more than 50 USGA events and has played in the last three US Senior Amateurs.  Recently she was named the Captain of the 2012 Curtis Cup Team.  The matches will be played at Nairn Golf Club in Nairn, Scotland.  She'll be a fantastic captain, one that her players will enjoy competing for. 
I've attached a video of her swing from yesterday.  Pat's two biggest obstacles are too many shots to the left and an inconsistency at being able to hit the ball and the ground at the same time. 

Clubface vs. Swing Path

The clubface vs. swing path has been debated for years.  Which is more important?  Which has more influence?  The first tests that I became aware of on this issue was in the mid 1970's.  In the book 'In Search for the Perfect Golf Swing' Alastair Cochran did a study supported with high speed cameras.  His study showed that about 75% of the initial direction of the golf ball was determined by the clubface and 25% was determined by the swing path.
This study went against what the PGA of America was stating in their business schools.  Recently Trackman studies have supported even more influence from the clubface on the initial direction of the golf ball.  Their readings are showing up to 90% can be related to the clubface and only a small amount to the swing path.  My understanding is that the PGA of America has changed their approach to this debate as well recently in the business schools.
In the short video I've attached I go into some details regarding this debate.  Basically if you have a curvature problem you have a clubface problem.  For more videos like this one go to:  http://youtube.com/timcusickgolf.

Clubface vs. Swing Path video

Feeling the Swing

One of the key components in my teaching is the ability to give students the exact feel they need to make a better swing.  I have a very 'hands on' approach to giving them this feel.  I'll move the student through a certain area of the swing so that they can better grasp how the movement should feel.  I may do this a number of times to help ingrain the feeling. 
This also benefits me as well.  By moving the student I can get a sense of how ingrained the mistake is.  This will help me in my approach to the lesson.  I might have to move the student more if I really feel the mistake ingrained.  If I can't give them the correct feeling through my guidance, there's no chance they'll be able to do it by themselves.
Feel is of huge importance in replicating swings for all shots.  When I can transfer the feeling to the student, a big impact is made with their improvement. 
This videos gives a small demonstration as to my 'hands on' approach.

Video of my 'hands on' approach

The Longest Guy on the Planet

Jamie Sadlowski is the longest hitter on the planet earth.  I know he didn't win the LDA Competition in 2010 but he did the two previous years 2008 and 2009.  I've personally witnessed him driving a number of greens at the Four Seasons Resort and Club.  For starters the par 4 18th hole on TPC.  The hole measures 429 yards.  He flew it in the greenside bunker.  Then there was the day he was helping with a corporate golf school on Cottonwood Valley, our members course, and hit the green on the fly 4 out of 6 times on hole 4 measuring at 440 yards.  Not only is he long but accurate. 
The topper is the day he took 5 steps out of the golf school and hit a 19 degree hybrid approximately 350 yards over the back fence which measuring a 100 feet in the air. 

Jamie has  incredible speed, strength, width, a long backswing, tremendous lag, fast trained hands and a very good golf swing.  Check out this video of his swing with a 23 inch driver off the 1st tee of TPC that he flushed about 310. 

Greenside Bunker Philosophy

Often times golfers don't fully realize that a greenside bunker is indeed a hazard.  They 'get' the idea that you can't ground your club in a bunker.  Believe me, everyone 'gets it' now after Dustin Johnson's mishap.   But what they don't often realize is that when you in a greenside bunker your first goal should be to get out in one shot. You would always strive to have a putt for the next shot.  Initially it doesn't even matter how long the putt is.  Once you're assured of getting the ball on the green then you can be more specific how close you can it the ball to the hole.  This pertains to all levels of golfers.  I see low handicap golfers every week who don't put enough emphasis on having a putt for their next shot after being in a bunker.

At any level, minimize your times when you take multiple shots around the green and you're guaranteed to shoot lower scores.

Kathy Whitworth Girls Jr. Invitational

I had an opportunity to go over to Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas yesterday for the 1st round of the Kathy Whitworth Girls Jr. Invitational.  One of my students, Kelly Grassel, from Chesterton, Indiana participated.
Kelly is a Sophomore in High School and a very good junior player.  She won the Indiana Girls Match Play Championship in 2010 and at the end of the year was named Player of the Year for the state of Indiana.
She shot 79-74 to finish tied for 21st in the years first national event.  The first round conditions were very difficult.  She had an early tee time and was faced with 20 mph north winds and a temperature of 45.  She struggled a bit but for not playing virtually any golf in 4 months she turned in a decent performance.  The tournament was sort of spring training for her as well as a barometer for how she stacks up against the nations best.
I expect big things from this girl in 2011.  Have a look at her swing from our lesson on Saturday, March 12.

Starting the downswing

All good golf swings start the downswing from the ground up. The movement starts with the feet then knees followed by the hips. This movement allows the arms and club to lower into the slot.
Moving the lower body forward and then turning through helps delay the uncocking of the wrists and holds the clubface open until just before impact. By making this motion all the energy of the swing is moving in the correct direction and helps create more force at impact by hitting into the left side.
You see this motion repeated time again when watching the golf telecasts on all the Professional Golf Tours.

An Old Friend Visits

A good friend and student of mine when he used to play the Champions Tour, Bruce Crampton, is in Dallas for a few days. Bruce helps Elise Smedinger, a junior golfer from Maryland with her golf game. Elise is scheduled to play in the Kathy Whitworth Invitational at Mira Vista Country Club Monday and Tuesday.
Both were out at the Four Seasons Resort and Club today getting a little practice in before the event. I had a look at Elise this afternoon and was very impressed with her game. Bruce is not a teacher but has done a fantastic job developing her game.
It's been a treat for me to watch the PGA TOUR event with him the last two nights and get his perspective on the game and what it was like to play In the Doral event a few decades ago.

Avid Golfer Article - March 2011

Just out, my instruction article in the March edition of Avid Golfer.  Check it out!

March Article - Avid Golfer Magazine

The Perception of Words

In teaching, I've found that not only your diagnosis but how you word your correction makes or breaks the students' improvement.  A good example of this comes in the short game.  Pitching the ball in the air is often difficult for many golfers.  The concept they sometimes have is one that the ball must be scooped up to create height.  A comment that a student often makes is 'I didn't get underneath that last shot.'  That might be true but I feel it's a bad way to view the missed shot.  My verbiage to them is ' don't try to get underneath it, just try to get down to the ball.'  Let the loft of the club do the work.  This verbiage gives the student persmission to swing the clubhead down to the ball and ground instead of sliding the club underneath the ball. 
It may be semantics but I've had alot of succes phrasing my corrections in the short game this way.

Characteristics of Good Putters

Putting largely still is a very individual area of the game.  However, there's some common characteristics that all good putters seem to adhere to.

1.  The length of their stroke tends to be about the same on each side of the ball.
2.  The pace of their stroke, to their feel, remains relatively the same.  In reality the paces quickens slightly at the start of the forward motion then remains constant.
3.  Their eyes are positioned over the ball or slightly inside of the ball at address.
4.  The stroke on putts inside 5 feet is mostly straight back and through.  As the stroke lengthens more arc is apparent.
5.  Ideally, the more body parts aligned in the same direction the better at address, but the most important is the eyes.  Make sure they're level with the target line.
6.  The arm and hand closest to the target leads the stroke.  For a right handed golfer that's the left side.  You'd rather have a pulling motion then a pushing motion.

Final thought...If you don't make the putt leave it on the high side with a tap in.

Curvature mistakes and the Grip

I had a very informative teaching seminar this past week with 6 German PGA Professionals.  One of topics that came up was the grip.  To me, the grip is an extremely important part of the golf swing.  It's the only direct link the body has to the club.  Unfortunately, often times the grip is used as a compensation for misses that curve too much to the right or left.
If a student is curving the ball too much to the right and the grip is weak I'll adjust the grip to make it more neutral.  However, if the grip is too strong I can't fix the grip until the shot allows me to.  In other words, I need to get the student almost get some hook into their shot before I can fix their grip.
When a student is hooking the ball too much and a grip is too strong, then the grip is the first thing I'll work with.  By making the grip more neutral it helps to soften the hook tendency.
As a student's golf swing becomes more on plane there's an increased need to have a more neutral or fundamentally correct grip.  A good golf swing needs a good grip.