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Backswing Checklist
By Jim McLean
People say the golf swing is all about impact. But it’s what you do before impact that determines if the strike will be any good. Getting into a solid position at the top lets you swing freely on the way down. You don’t have to fight your way back into position.
Let’s look at three things in my backswing here. First, I’ve stayed in my forward tilt toward the ball. My left shoulder is lower than my right. I’ve simply rotated around my spine, so my height hasn’t changed from address. Maintaining this tilt gives me a great chance to return the club precisely to the ball.
Second, my left wrist is flat. The left wrist controls the clubface. If my wrist was cupped (bent back), the face would be open. That turns the downswing into a recovery mission, where you have to try to shut the face or else swing way left to make room for a slice.
Finally, my back leg is braced and supporting most of my weight. This is a big one because from here, I have the leverage to drive toward the target and push off the ground. If the back leg is in a weak position, chances are the upper body will take over coming down—and that’s a killer.
Nail these positions, and the downswing is a lot simpler.
MCLEAN is based at The Biltmore in Coral Gables, Fla.
Source: GolfDigest.com
A Modern Blueprint to Breaking 90
By Peter Sanders
Want to break 90? Here is my blueprint
The game is a puzzle and all the pieces fit together. Each round is a mix of good shots, average shots and bad shots or errors. The challenge is to find the piece of your game’s unique puzzle that is your greatest weakness so you can target your improvement time and money on the highest impact area. If you track the simple good and bad outcomes listed below for a few rounds, your strengths and weaknesses will become apparent.
Tee Game or Driving
Goals: Hit 7 fairways, and limit your driving errors to 2 – preferably of the No Shot variety (see Errors below).
Distance: I will ignore this and assume that you are playing from the appropriate tees for your game.
Fairways: Hitting fairways is important as we are all more accurate from the short grass.
Errors: Far more important than Fairways hit is your FREQUENCY and SEVERITY of misses. ShotByShot.com users record THREE types of Driving Errors:
- No Shot: You have missed in a place from which you do not have a normal next shot, requiring some sort of advancement to get the ball back to normal play.
- Penalty: A 1-stroke penalty due to hazard or unplayable lie.
- Lost/OB: Stroke and distance penalty.
Approach Shots
Goals: 5 GIRs and 1 Penalty/2nd (see below)
Penalty/2nd: This means either a penalty or a shot hit so poorly that you are left with yet another full approach shot greater than 50 yards from the hole.
Short Game
(Shots from within 50 yards of the hole)
Chip/Pitch: If you miss 13 greens, you will have at least 10 greenside save opportunities. Your goals should be:
- % Saved: 20% (two saves)
- % Errors: 15% shots that miss the green (approximately three every two rounds)
Sand:
You should have 2 greenside save opportunities. Your goals:
- % Saved: 10%
- % Errors: 30% of your shots miss the green (approximately 1 in every 3 attempts)
Putting
You need 36 putts. Aim for:
- 1-Putts: 3
- 3-Putts: 2
Source: GolfWRX.com
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