Ok, well, it’s not really golf season here in Pennsylvania. But, now that the PGA Tour is in full swing, it’s golf season in the U.S. For those of us not so fortunately to live in a more tropical climate, the season is not that far away. With that in mind, now is the time to brush up on the fundamentals!

The Grip

The Grip is THE single most important fundamental in the golf swing, as it is our ONLY connection to the golf club. Yet, it is probably the most ignored. Why is the grip so important? Because it controls the clubface angle at impact. The angle of the clubface at impact is most important to determining ball flight.

If the clubface is open at impact, the ball will likely fly to the right (assuming you are a right handed player). The club path then determines which direction the ball will start. If your club bath is inside out and the club face is open, the ball flight will be a push or a slice that starts to the right. If the clubpath is outside in, the ball will start left and slice to the right. An open clubface is typically caused by a weak grip. In other words, if you are a right handed player, your hands are turned to far to the left on the club. If you are a left handed player, your hands are turned to0 far to the right on the club.

If the clubface is closed at impact, the ball will likely fly to the left. If your club path is inside out, you will hit a shot that starts to the right and then curves back to the left. If your club path is outside in, the result will be a pull or pull hook. A closed clubface at impact is typically caused by a grip that is too strong. If you are a right handed player, your hands are turned too far to the right on the club. If you are a left handed player, your hands are turned too far to the left.

Ideally, what we would like is a NEUTRAL grip. So how do we achieve that? Here are the basic points….

(Right Handers)

1. Your left hand should be placed on the club so that the left thumb points down the club shaft at about 1 o’clock. If your thumb is straight down the shaft, it is too weak.
2. The V formed by your thumb and forefinger should be pointed between your right cheek and right shoulder. Then, if I am standing in front of you, I should only see two knuckles on the back of your left hand. If I see more than 2, your hand is turned too far to the right (too strong). If I see only 1, it is turned too far to the left (too weak).
3. Your right hand should be placed in such a way that the pad of the right thumb covers the left thumb. You then wrap your fingers around the club from there.
4. Your right thumb should be pointed at 11 o’clock down the club shaft.
5. The V formed by your thumb and forefinger should be pointed between your right cheek and right shoulder…parallel to the V formed by your left hand.
6. You should form a trigger with your right forefinger, and that trigger should be directly beside the right thumb, not underneath the club, and not on top of the grip.

When you place your hands on the club in this manner, the palms should be facing each other.

(Left Handers)

1. Your right hand should be placed on the club so that the right thumb points down the club shaft at 11 o’clock.
2. The V formed by your thumb and forefinger should point between your left cheek and shoulder.
3. Your left hand should be place so that the pad of the left thumb covers your right thumb. Wrap your fingers around the club from there.
4. Your left thumb should be pointed at 1 o’clock down the club shaft.
5. The V formed by your thumb and forefinger should point between your left cheek and shoulder, parallel to the V formed by your right hand.
6. Form a trigger with your left forefinger, and that trigger should be directly beside the thumb, not underneat the club and not on top of the grip.

Whether you work with an overlap grip, interlock grip or a 10 finger grip is up to you. I personally recommend not using the 10 finger grip as that results in the hands working more separately than we like. We want the hands to work as one unit throughout the swing.

Changing your grip is often an uncomfortable change, but it is the key to hitting more consistent golf shots. The only way to get more comfortable with the new grip is to work on it, practice with it. Swing the club in the garage so you get used to it during the winter months.

However, I do not recommend you change your grip under the following circumstances:

1. If you have a strong grip as described previously, but you still slice the ball, then do not try to achieve a more neutrual grip, as it will only worsen your slice. You have to work on your swing path first.

2. If you have a weak grip and still hook the ball, again, do not try to go to a more neutral grip, as you will only hook the ball more. You have to work on swing path first.

In regard to grip pressure, most golfers have a tendency to hold on to the club too tight. Most golfers tend to slice the ball, and holding onto the club too tightly will only make this worse. However, if you tend to hook the ball too much, try holding the club a little tighter. Ideally, we want medium grip pressure…not too tight and not too loose.

Work on this most important fundamental and in the long run, you will achieve greater consistency.

Scott Cole
scottcolegolf.com
powergolftraining.net

The Holidays are fast approaching! That means one big meal after another, and one party after another! When the holidays are over, many of us make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, but it’s usually the weight we just put on in the last month!

Don’t fall into that trap this year. I am not saying to avoid those parties, and not enjoy those fabulous holiday meals. But, what I am saying is that you should work extra hard to avoid adding on the pounds from those meals by doing more cardio exercise.

If you have never done much cardio exercise, simply start out by walking. If it is cold, or snowy outside, head over to the local mall in the morning join the parade of walkers. Walk for at least 30 minutes, but if you are physically able, walk at least an hour.

If you are used to doing some cardio exercise, add more to your normal workouts. If you jog, swim, bike or do any other exercise that makes you breathe hard, and you do this three days per week, try to add a fourth workout, and start by adding an additional 5 minutes to each workout.

If you can avoid adding on those extra pounds during the holidays, then you won’t have to work so hard on your body in the New Year. And, THAT will leave more time to work on your golf game!

Scott Cole

Tonight I was back in to my golf studio working on my swing around giving a fitness consultation to one of my students.  My studio has been set up for about five weeks, and it includes a GSA/GGS golf simulator.  Although I only purchased the bare bones simulator system, I have found it to be an incredible teaching tool.  The simulator gives me information on swing path, club face angle at impact and swing speed.  Based upon these items, and some assumptions on launch angle, it calculates the ball flight and distance, which is reproduced on the projection screen.  More accurate feedback would be provided once I add a couple other sensors down the road.

Lately, I have starting lifting weights more heavily to regain some strenght I’ve lost in the last couple of years.  However, I have not had a heavy lifting workout in about six days.  I had chopped and pushed around some wood in a wheel barrow a couple days last weekend, but this week had not done any type of workout.  Therefore, I was feeling quite limber and loose in the studio tonight.

Now, as of late, my swing speed had been maxing out around 117.5 mph.  On Monday night, I started working on a new swing thought after reading a bit more about Hank Haney’s work with Tiger, and reviewing my lesson with Hank in February.  As such, I started working on a little bit more rotation with my hips in the back swing, as well as my left forearm.  This results in a flatter swing, but more on plane, and I noticed, a bit higher swing speed!  So, Monday night maxed out at 118.6 mph.

Tonight, I had a good bit of energy and my first swing with the driver was 116, when normally it would be about 114.  Then I started hitting 117+ pretty easily, and once I got warmed up, 118.5 was getting to be the norm.  This was giving me a carry of about 293 yards on the simulator.  I have programmed in a bounce and roll of about 20-25 yards since our fairways tend to be pretty soft here in PA.  So, most of my swings on the simulator were resulting in drives of about 315. 

I then decided to see if I could crank it up another notch.  I hit 119 mph on one drive, then followed that up with 120+.  Finally, a couple swings later, I registered just over 121!  And the beauty of all this was that these drives were going very straight, usually with a bit of a draw. 

The moral to all of this is that 1) I know exactly what I want to work on with my golf swing 2) I get great feedback from the simulator and 3) Increased strength and flexibility is resulting in great results in regard to swing speed. 

This is how I can help students in person, and through my online instruction.  For more information visit www.powergolftraining.net

Scott Cole