Pop Putting

To “pop” or not to “pop”?

To pop or not to pop is a question that can have you missing three footers all day long. How many times do you have a short putt and just get up and ram it in the back of the hole? When it doesn’t mean anything they’re easy right! Well what you’re doing is popping the putt. When you pop a putt you keep the putter lower to the ground with not a lot of follow through which actually allows the putter to release, which causes the ball to roll end over end. What’s the result? Back of the hole!

Now imagine for a moment that you’re in a heated match. You’ve got the back pressed and your down three and one. You’re going to take as much time over each putt, right? How easy is it to miss a short putt when you’re concentrating on mechanics? Answer, EASY! So don’t do it.

Let’s look at some great putters who pop their putts. Do you remember John Daly when he won the PGA Championship? He didn’t give himself time to think about mechanics. He set-up to the ball and went for it. He trusted himself didn’t he? Look at Corey Pavin when he won the US Open. Do you remember that last putt on the 18th hole? It wasn’t very long was it? If he tried to stroke that putt he probably would have been in a playoff. If you get a chance to watch that tape again, watch closely how he jams it in the hole. He didn’t want mechanics to get in the way.

On the other hand there are some great putters who stoke the ball smoothly. Ben Crenshaw. He’s as smooth as silk. But even Ben was a little shaky on the last putt of the Masters when he was playing with Brian Henninger.

Smooth is good, but when you start getting mechanical, do some popping drills. Put ten balls around a hole in a circle at about three feet. Without lining them up, go around the hole and pop them into the hole. You can take the putter back slowly, but come through sharp without a lot of finish. You’ll find your putter stays lower and the ball will roll end over end. When the ball has that kind of roll it will hold its line better. Rolling the ball this way will make you trust your read better, moreover make you a better reader of the greens.

Remember if you have a short putt that counts, pop it and don’t give yourself a chance to miss it!

Parallel

What is parallel and why do most golfers get messed up when they try to get there, and how do we correct the problem?

In the golf swing there are many terms which can confuse us, this is one of the biggest. So often we hear from our playing partners the dreaded four words “you went past parallel”.

We then reply “it didn’t feel like it”, or “no I didn’t”. Well I’ve said it a million times, “what we feel, and what actually is, are two different things”.We can’t see ourselves swing. So what really is parallel. It is a reference point! That’s all. A point where most people probably shouldn’t be.

When we take a nice easy backswing and try to stop by unnatural means ie. tension, we generally stiffen the arms not the hands. You see when the arms get tense (the big muscles) the hands (the small muscles) break down or collapse. What happens then? The club goes past parallel. Sometimes way past. It would be ok to be there if we did it by natural means, ie. relaxed. Look at Johnny Miller and Tom Watson, and how about John Daly. They all go way past parallel. So why don’t they get into that much trouble, they’re relaxed. Maybe not jello but their arms are not as stiff as yours are! After you read this grab a club and hold it in front of you. Then move your wrist one inch. Then break down your left elbow and what do you have? I know, way past parallel!

Let’s look at another player, Nick Faldo. His left arm bends a little on the backswing doesn’t it. Does he go way past parallel, NO! Why? Next time you watch him look at his hands, they’re solid aren’t they. Another great solid hands player is Lee Trevino. His hands really don’t start hinging until the down swing. “WOW” You see the hinge in the wrist (when you allow it to) does most of its moving on the down swing. How does that accur, by gravity. That’s right gravity. That split second piece of space where we don’t need to do anything, but allow the club to change directions on its own accord. But if we break down and go way past parallel, what phenomenon generally happens, casting or hitting from the top.

We’ll now that we have all this knowledge, how do we correct the problem? The easy solution is don’t worry about it. If the club goes past parallel, so what. If we don’t get tense we’ll be ok. We might not have the power we’d like but we won’t be a ball of nerves either trying to manufacture a swing. I used to give lessons to a gentleman named Steve Grogan. He had to be at least 80 years of age. I used to joke with him that he hadn’t missed a fairway in fifty years. He’d laugh and then hit it on a frozen rope. Not very far but straight. He was relaxed and took the club back about three quarters. He knew his limitations! God bless him.

That word, limitations. We all need to know ours. John Daly knows his, a long swing. But he does it with a hugh turn and he’s very limber. On the other side of the coin let’s look at swings like Greg Norman, Davis Love, and Tiger Woods. When they get too long on the backswing with their arms, they lose their control. They hit it farther when they make that full turn with their upper body but with less arms. Something I’ve told my students for many years is, I want you to feel more turn and less arms on the backswing. When the chest moves first and we maintain our arc with little hands, the club will go where it is suppose to all by itself, and usually for most people that is short of parallel. The club will then be able to fall into the downswing effortlessly.

You see that’s the key, feeling something even though you’re not doing it. I’m 6’4”, and when I feel like the club is only going straight back, I hit it the farthest! I feel “no hands”. When I feel any hands at all I lose power and control. So if you want to correct yourself make a full turn with the feeling of no arms. Feel the club go out, not up. You’ll start to relax, and the club will start changing directions at the natural point in the swing that’s right for you, and it will be at a point farther than you feel. That’s why we need to feel less. Everybody’s different, and everybody feels something different. Quit worrying about what other people say about your swing except your PGA golf professional, relax and have fun.

Stay out of the rough!

Inside Out

The Inside Out Path:

What is the inside out path?

We’ve heard the term used for years but do we really know what it means? Well it’s simple.

Let’s think of a club traveling up the backswing and down the thru swing on the same path. What would be the result.

Depending on how much you allowed the club to release would dictate how much the ball would draw, if you are a right handed swinger, considering your grip is square.

Now if we took the club back on that same path, but at the top allowed our arms to drop a little bit more before we started swinging through the hitting area, we would be swinging through on a flatter plane, or on an inside out move.

Some golfers get confused about path thinking that to swing inside out they must take the club back inside abruptly.

If the club is taken back inside there is only two paths to come through on, straight out to the right or over the top.

That is one of the reasons why so many golfers slice.

Now add tension to that swing and what do you have, a banana ball, and the longer the club with less loft the more the slice. You see the inside out move does’nt happen at the start of the swing, it happens down at the bottom when the hips clear and the chest tells the arms to go out.

But if we take the club inside on the backswing or get tense at the top we’ll never obtain a natural inside out move.

A good drill to feel a natural path is to stand straight up with the arms and club straight out. Feel how the club stays away from you back and through.

You see more and more tour players do this drill before the hit a shot, why? Because it gives them the feeling of maximum arc, which if allowed, will keep the club on the correct plane for your height and build all by itself.

While your doing this drill feel how your gripping the club with your hands and not your arms. Also feel how the chest is making the arms move and the club opens and closes naturally all by itself.

Make a couple of swings prior to each shot and try to have the same feeling during the actual swing. That’s what the golf swing is, a series of feelings!

By doing this you’ll find that your slice will be corrected and the inside out path will happen all by itself.