Hey, Doc here again with another free golf lesson for you…
“Keep your head down.”
We’ve all heard this classic piece of bad advice from a well meaning friend or misguided pro. The problem is, this advice is so general and non-specific that its meaning is completely dependent on your unique interpretation. This makes it totally worthless, and more apt to screw your swing up than fix any problem it was intended to.
In the video above 3 time RE/MAX long drive champ Mike Gorton explains why he thinks “keep your head down” is such bad advice, and what you should be doing with your head instead.
As you saw in the video, its normal to move your head in the golf swing, after all it’s an athletic movement and you are not a machine. Any attempt to keep your head in one spot will result in all sorts of mishits.
Instead try focusing on keeping your swing below your head. You don’t want your head getting in the way of your torso and shoulder rotation in the golf swing, as if its some immovable object. No, you want your swing to be natural and comfortable. Lifting your head a bit to keep it out of the way of your shoulder rotation allows a natural swing and improves your mobility.
As explained in the video, you want to feel like your swing is happening below your head. Focus on that feeling instead of keeping your head still. This will result in better swing mechanics and fewer mishits.
For more tips on longer and straighter drives from 3 Time RE/MAX long drive champ Mike Gorton click here.
Hey fellow golf nuts, Doc here with a short but sweet tip for you this week.
As you probably know a good pre-shot routine is crucial if you want to play great golf, all the golfers on the tour have a pre-shot routine and so should you. But I’ve noticed a lot of guys omit one very important part of the pre-shot routine, the waggle.
The waggle does some amazing things for your golf swing and skipping it is just plain madness. Once you realize all the good stuff the waggle does for your golf game you’ll never skip it again.
As Bill McKinney explains in the video the waggle does 5 important things for your golf swing. First, it rehearses you swing path. By moving the club along the proper path you are reminding yourself seconds before you swing where the right path is.
Next, it reminds your wrists how to cock at the top of the swing. A good waggle also reminds your wrists how to release into impact.
The waggle also helps you feel the right amount of tension in your arms and wrists, remember your arms and wrists should be loose and your grip just tight enough to hang onto the club. If you have too much tension you’ll quickly realize it when you waggle and be able to correct it before it ruins a shot.
Lastly, a good waggle gives you some rhythm, and keeps you from stiffening while standing over the ball. As Bill McKinney explains in the video, the rhythm aspect to the waggle is very similar to a baseball player rhythmically moving the bat before each swing. Starting a swing from a stagnant position nearly always results in a jerking motion, it’s just how our muscles work, but if we are already moving we can be incredibly precise and smooth.
How can something as simple as a waggle help so much? The simple answer is that it force feeds your brain very detailed information about where the ball is. That’s why it’s so important to waggle with precision. A sloppy waggle can be worse that no waggle at all.
How does the waggle force feed your brain information? Our brains have two ways of knowing where something is, sight and feel. Sight is pretty simple, look down at the ball. The feel however is a bit different. You can’t reach down and touch the ball with your hand in golf, instead you have to learn to use the club as an extension of your hand.
This is obviously a bit more difficult, that’s where the waggle comes in. Instead of putting the club head right behind the ball once (which tells the feeling part of your brain where that ball is), the waggle allows you to send that message to your brain two or three times in a row, really cementing the feeling of where the ball is into your mind. When you have both sight and feeling working properly you’re much more likely to hit the ball crisp and clean. That’s how something as simple and easy as a waggle can help eliminate fat and thin shots, without actually changing you natural swing.
Hey it’s Doc again with yet another no-cost video lesson to help you crush more long, gorgeous drives.
This week I want to talk about your right elbow, more specifically how getting your right elbow in the right spot during the downswing can add power and distance to your golf drives.
Bill McKinney’s baseball analogy in the video above is probably the best way I’ve ever heard this golf tip explained, that’s why I’m sharing it with you today. We’ve all seen those dramatic Sports Illustrated shots of a baseball pitcher just before he releases the ball with his hand so far behind his elbow it looks physically impossible. Pretty Impressive.
What does that have to do with golf? Well great pitchers and great golfers both know that they can maximize their speed by tucking their right elbow before the moment of truth. Why does this work for golf? Without getting into complex physics it basically loads up power in your swing. The more bent and pulled into your body your right elbow is, and the longer you can hold that position before impact, the more power you have to release right when you hit the ball.
When you tuck your elbow properly it’s like a loaded spring.
You may be thinking to yourself, well that’s great, but how the heck do I naturally get my elbow bent into my body like that? The answer is that although it looks awkward in slow motion it’s actually pretty easy to do when you are swinging.
However, if it doesn’t come naturally or you are having a hard time developing a feel for it you can have a buddy do what Billy is doing in the video with the student. By lightly grabbing a hold of the club as the student starts his downswing, Billy is forcing him to pull the club down and inward toward his body. In order to do this you will naturally tuck that right elbow into your body.
If you don’t have anyone willing to do this for you that’s okay, there’s a simpler way. To do this without a partner simply think about pulling the handle of the golf club downward and in toward your body from the top of your downswing. Just remember it’s not a jerking motion.
For more great power boosting tips from PGA Golf Pro Bill McKinney checkout his Natural Power DVD Package. You’ll be glad you did.
Hey it’s Doc again with another free golf tip for you…this one’s about hitting the ball longer and straighter so listen up.
Many golfers have a hard time developing the kind of raw power from their lower body that would help them hit the long drives they dream about. For most of them the problem has nothing to do with any lack of ability, instead the problem is in their head.
As you saw Darrell explain in the video the subconscious mind can play tricks on us in the golf swing. We put so much focus into the little white golf ball at our feet that we unknowingly slow or halt our pivoting action once we reach the object of our focus, the golf ball. As you can imagine this has devastating consequences not only for the distance of your golf shots, but their accuracy as well.
How can you fix this distance robbing problem? As you saw in the video it’s pretty darn simple. It’s time to turn the tables on your subconscious mind. Instead of it playing tricks on you, you are going to fool it into focusing on something beyond the golf ball. That’s where the cardboard box comes in.
Having an object to focus on that is well beyond the golf ball will teach you to accelerate beyond the golf ball. This in turn will prevent you from decelerating at impact or stopping your rotation too early. All you need to do is place an old empty cardboard box 18 to 24 inches in front of where your golf ball would normally be. The box should now be the focus of your swing. Put all your energy into smashing it to pieces. Keep in mind you’ll be hitting the box with the toe of your club, don’t try to hit it with a square club face.
The best part is, this golf club head speed boosting trick is easy as pie. There are no tricky concepts, no tedious techniques; all you need to do is spend 20 or 30 minutes beating an empty cardboard box to pieces. Do this once a month or so, just to remind yourself how it feels. If you want to you can buy a special bag that’s made for this purpose.
The result will be longer drives without a whole lot of effort. Just remember to use an old club with a steel shaft for this drill. You don’t want to accidentally snap an expensive club.
For more no nonsense golf tips that’ll boost your drives and slash your scores check out Darrell’s Signature Package. You’ll be glad you did.
For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary, Head Golf Nut at OHP
Doc O’Leary here with another free golf tip for you. This week its all about hitting longer drives.
It’s practically impossible to hit long consistent golf drives without having a setup routine you follow each time you walk up to a tee shot. Even more important, you’re routine should be simple, quick, and get you in the optimum position to fire off long drives time after time. In the clip above, Bobby Schaeffer showed you how his simple routine prevents several common mistakes and prevents you from over-thinking the shot.
Proper Alignment is the first goal of any setup routine for you golf shots. Setting up too close or too far from the ball is a guaranteed way to send a tee shot into the trees. The best way to prevent this is to align the club to the ball and the target, then setup your stance based on where the handle of the club is.
One important thing to remember is that the higher you tee up any golf shot, the more you have to align the golf ball toward the toe of the club, when the club is resting on the ground.
Aligning the ball off center, toward the toe of the club, allows for the extra inch or two of arm extension at impact. Making this small adjustment ensures that you are striking the ball on the sweet spot instead of the heel of the club face.
Okay now that the golf club is lined up properly to the ball it’s time to get your feet set up.
As Bobby shows in the video above, using a few clubs to create a line perpendicular to the target is a great way to help you visualize your setup when practicing. Use this perpendicular line as a guide when you step into the shot. It will ensure that you are placing your left foot in the right spot, then you can choose a placement for your right foot based on comfort.
It’s the alignment of your left foot that needs to be precise. Many golfers walk up to a tee shot and then take some shimmy steps to get comfortable.
This may work sometimes, but it often leads to shifting your left foot out of position, all for the sake of getting comfortable. Using Bobby’s method you can still get comfortable, while maintaining proper alignment.
The final aspect of a good tee shot routine is pace. It shouldn’t be rushed, but it should be brief and to the point.
Don’t waste time standing over the golf ball. It will only get you thinking too much and throw your mental game off. As Bobby said in the video it’s best to think of it like riding a bike, you know what to do, there is very little to think about after the setup.
Now that you have proper alignment nailed down your tee shots will wind up in the fairway a lot more often. All that’s left is adding some serious “umph” to your swing, so you can start nailing those monster tee shots, you know…the kind that make you smile from ear to ear.
I personally can’t think of a better Christmas present for any golfer to give to himself than the gift of ridiculously long and accurate tee shots.
That’s why I’m running a killer deal on one of my hottest “long drive” packages, Bobby Schaeffer’s Beyond Long. Just use coupon code [XMAS2015] without the brackets at checkout to get 20% off the Beyond Long DVD Package.
If you want longer more consistent golf shots with fewer fat, duffed, topped, and thin golf shots you need to think a bit about your ball position.
Each golf club you have in your bag is a different length. This means each club has a slightly different swing arc. What does this mean for your golf shots?
Well if you hit your seven iron perfectly then took that exact swing and used your five iron you would hit a fat shot.
The solution is not to change your swing, rather you want to change where the ball is in your stance. Changing your swing leads to terrible inconsistency. Changing the position of the golf ball in your stance is simple repeatable and easy to do.
The best part is that since the lengths of standard golf clubs vary in half inch increments it’s actually quite easy to figure out where each club should be in your stance. Keep in mind there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to ball position, but using this guide will get you pretty close to what will work best for you.
The easiest way to determine the best ball position for each club is to use the seven iron as your standard. The seven iron is the middle length club and should be played in the middle of your stance. Since the eight iron is a half inch shorter it should be played a half inch further back in your stance, and a nine iron should be played a full inch back from center. For longer clubs you’ll move the ball forward in your stance in half inch increments.
The driver is where people have the most difficulty with ball position. The driver is the longest club in your bag and you have probably been told by instructors, magazines, book, or buddies that when hitting your driver the golf ball should be lined up with the inside of your left heel.
I’ve got some news for you, unless your driver is still made out of persimmon wood with a hickory shaft playing the ball off your left heel is simply wrong. Standard driver shafts back in the old days were 43.5 inches long. To be fair many drives were still 43.5 inches long up until about 10 years ago, so your buddy’s advice is outdated but not ancient. The point is most new golf drivers are somewhere between 44.5 to 45.5 inches long.
If you were paying attention earlier you know that a longer shaft means these newer golf drives must be played further forward in your stance. The old guide of using the inside of your left heel won’t work anymore. For long consistent golf drives you need to play the ball a full inch to an inch and a half further forward.
Don’t worry you don’t have to get out a ruler when teeing up. Simply swap the “inside of your left heel” quick guide with “inside of your left toe”. It’s as simple as that. This slightly more forward ball position will compensate for the longer driver shafts and swing arc. The result is a square club face at impact along with longer, and more consistent tee shots.
It doesn’t much easier than that.
For more simple golf tips to improve your swing and your scores click here.
For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Direct
This week’s video tip comes to you from a long drive champ and a former long drive world record holder Brad Peterson.
How you take the golf club to the top of your backswing has a huge effect on your swing path and the power of your golf shots. That’s why this week’s video is so important.
Let’s start off with the basics. Each person will have a unique backswing that should feel comfortable, but all good golf backswings should have a few things in common.
First they should all rely primarily on the twisting motion of the torso to get the club back. This twisting of the torso stores power.
Second, you should always load your wrists in the backswing. Loading the wrists means that the club shaft is at about a 90 angle to your hands at the top of the swing. This loading action stores power to be released through impact.
Third, a great golf backswing should set you up to have a proper swing path for the downswing. This last point is the main focus of this video. A proper swing path creates consistency and accuracy. If you get the other two right you may be storing a lot of power, but when your swing path is off you won’t be able to translate that power into long straight golf shots.
To get your swing path off to a good start you need to pay attention to where your hands and club are at the top of your backswing.
As Brad explains in the video, when your hands are too far back your golf club swing path will be too flat. You’ll have trouble getting solid contact with the ball and your shots won’t be straight.
If your hands are too far forward (toward your head) you’ll also have trouble hitting consistent golf shots because your swing path will be too steep. This usually results in popped up shots, you know, the ones that leave a nasty mark on the top of your driver.
Learning these principles is easy, it’s feeling them and knowing where the happy medium is that’s the tough part. As Brad demonstrates in the video that happy medium is usually when your hands and the golf club are over the space between your head and your right shoulder.
A great way to visually check this in your own swing is to get in front of a full length mirror and go through the motions. Just remember to keep an eye on the ceiling fan.
Remember making a solid connection at impact is a lot easier when you start your downswing from the right spot.
Strange tip I know…but I’ve seen this trick help many golfers.
Like Darrell says in the video it is difficult for many golfers to take their mind off the golf ball when practicing.
You may be wondering “why would I want to take my mind off hitting the golf ball, isn’t that the whole point of golf.” Think of it this way, is it possible to make a good golf swing without hitting a ball? I think so.
For many golfers the second you put a ball in front of them their natural swing disappears and they start to hit AT the ball, not THROUGH it.
When you aren’t hitting through the ball you are slowing down at impact. Slowing down at impact can cause a whole bunch of nasty things to happen to your golf swing, not to mention it robs power and distance from your golf shots.
The marshmallow trick allows you to focus on your swing NOT what you are hitting. Once you focus on your golf swing it is much easier to accelerate through the point of impact.
Like Darrell explained in the video the best way to practice with this trick is to swing and imagine hitting an object that is a foot or so past the ball/marshmallow. The ball or marshmallow will naturally get in the way. When the ball is just getting in the way as you accelerate toward the imaginary object you will know that you are hitting through the ball.
This will maximize your distance and and eliminate all the problems that come from decelerating before impact.
For more golf instruction from Darrell Klassen check out his signature series package. It’s a great deal you don’t want to miss out on.
Fixing your driver swing can be pretty difficult if you just hit drives all day. A full speed driver swing happens so fast you have virtually no time to recognize problems or fix what you are doing wrong.
This is where the “bridge stroke” comes in handy. This simple power pitch shot is slow enough that you can diagnose problems, yet similar enough to a full swing that it will fix problems you have with your drives (and even add more distance).
In this quick video Golf Pro Bobby Schaeffer will show you exactly how to use the bridge stroke to fix your swing and add tons of power and distance to your golf drives.
As you can see in the video the bridge stroke slows down the most common trouble spot in the golf swing. It educates your hands teaching your left wrist to stay flat through impact, while at the same time teaching you to use your core pivot to add power.
One of the secrets of this golf drill is keeping your shoulders and neck loose. The power in the golf swing comes from your core pivot not your arms. When you tense up your neck and shoulders you have a tendency to use your arms to hit the ball.
Using your arms to swing the golf club robs massive power from your swing. So stay loose and let your core do the work.
Just remember to keep that left wrist flat through impact. Don’t let your wrist flop over after impact. You have to keep your left wrist flat into your follow through.
Now go out there and have some fun. I know you will get some extra yardage out of this drill. For more information on hitting longer drives Click Here.
For better Golf,
Doc O’Leary,
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf
This one comes from my good friend Billy McKinney.
I call it The Tee Box Control Drill, and this drill will give you a confidence boost like no other right from the start of each hole!
I’ll tell you what, when I first learned about this drill I tried it out on the driving range by taking my time with each shot I took.
Visualizing everything from a dog leg left with water hugging the left side of the bend, to a dog leg right with a bunker lying right in front of my targeted flag stick.
After only one bucket of balls, I went out and had my best round of golf in months, my golfing pals were all left stunned in amazement on how low my score was.
It was all they could talk about back at the clubhouse!
Anyways in this tip, Billy shows you how ball placement at the start of every tee shot can effectively help your game and boost your confidence by providing you with the best shot possible down the fairway.
Simple and VERY effective.
Check it out.
If you would like to purchase Billys’s Avalanche of Power Video Package, which this tip was taken from, simply click on the link below.
Doc here, I’ve been so busy the past few months working on a secret little project of mine that I completely lost track of time. I can’t get into much detail about it just yet, but once this thing is completed I will definitely be letting you know about it.
So in the mean time, here’s a quick tip from golf instructor Marc Minier on understanding the release of your club swing. In this video he quickly covers the basics of understanding how and where the build-up of energy is being delivered through the club shaft into the ball. Creating massive drives with little to no effort at all…
Hello again, it’s Doc…Good News — another golf video tip for you.
Understand this… and your golf swing will NEVER be the same…
This one is from golf pro Gregg McHatton – it’s solid advice,from one
of the games most respected teachers.
Tapping into your hidden power can start with a simple step
like this…look, you want to harness the power you generate
in your golf swing.You’re simply dead-in-the-water if you try
and over-power it…Get this down and you’ll learn to hit it hard.
…you can either avoid it…over power it…or harness it.
Alright, here’s a simple video tip from golf pro Les Johnson
that’ll show you how to add more power and distance to all your
shots…by simply focusing on ‘ONE-FINGER’. That’s right…
Okay…Your club has a payload of power already
waiting inside of it.
It’s just that most golfers ‘un-load’ their power
waay before they get to the ball…Simple to fix!
The key is not to allow this’ONE-FINGER’ to “disconnect” from
the shaft by activating the arms and hands during the down-stroke.
Look…”speeding up your hands” and throwing the clubhead at the
ball is killing all your power and distance.
Forget it… it doesn’t work.
Watch this cool video tip to stop killing all your power…
If you would like to purchase Les Johnson’s High Thrust Power Video Package, simply click on the link below.
Les Johnson’s High Thrust Power
Hello again, it’s Doc…Good News — another golf video tip for you
from golf pro Bill McKinney to tap greater distance & power from your
swing — and learn to consistently find the “sweet-spot” at impact…
What Bill has for you is (1) the easiest secret to hitting longer
and straighter drives you’ve ever seen.
Well, guess what?
All great ‘ball-strikers’ have one thing in COMMON…
…perfect impact alignments — forward lean at the moment of truth.
You see, most handicap golfers on the other hand get too eager to hit
the ball with the clubhead, Closing the club face too early. The result
is that the wrists breakdown before impact (something called “throw-away”). The “Hackers” trademark…
Okay…focus on cleaning up your impact conditions — and you’ll
see your swing improve quickly.
Do yourself a favor…Try It Out!
Simply train your hands where they need to be at impact
with Bill’s “Impact Zone Training” drill. Pre set the club at release
point, move through impact into follow-through. As you make contact
the clubhead will naturally “lag” behind your hands. This is a
great drill to do in the back yard with plastic practice balls
and it forces you to keep you right wrist bent at impact.
I’m talking about what “feels” right and what “feels” wrong
in the golf swing. Too many golfers start their swings from
a static postion (this feels like “control”)…don’t be afraid
of motion -it might be just the thing that allows you to become
a better player.
Because that’s where a LOT of high-handicappers need to start.
They need to overcome this idea that if it “feels” right, then
it must be a good swing –(your current game isn’t reflecting that)
and if it feels weird or awkward,then it must be wrong. I think
this is where your problem lies, because…
That’s just plain nonsense. Check out this cool tip now:
Forget about what feels right and what feels wrong. Listen, you need
to incorporate proper mechanics and let that create your new feels -like
this suggestion from Bobby Schaeffer, try it on the driving range,
then on the course. Stick with it, even if it seems strange.
Because most of the time a minor adjustment feels like a Big Deal. But as the old
saying goes — “To move an inch– feels like a mile”. That’s your brain tricking
you (evil brain).Don’t allow that. You need to turn it around and trick your
brain instead.
Sounds crazy but it works. You might even start looking like some of the
“Greats” of the past…who knows.
