Golf instruction from TW DVD Flashcards
Tom Watson DVD Lessons of a lifetime. [It appears to me that the golf setup is perhaps 90% of the successful golf shot.
Setup: You want to turn at the base of your neck. On the TA, keep “Y” formation to start Back your first two feet. Toe leads the heel. Left thumb is under shaft at top of BS.
DS: Grip pressure must be light and relaxed to throw the club head through the ball. If grip is tight, you will slice or push to the right.
Bottom of arc will be just ahead of ball. Keep eyes fixed on back of ball where club contact will be.
Short Game: Choke up. Match angle of terrain. Use light grip pressure (IMPORTANT) you must feel the club head.
Hybrid: Tee up 1 finger on tee. Hybrids are good out of rough.
Heavy Rough: Stand very ERECT and CLOSER to the ball. Open club face. The open club face will prevent the rough grass twisting the club head and pulling your shot to the left.
Sand Trap: On all sand shots, hinge up and open face on BS then close going to impact. [This pops ball high out of trap] The club points at your belly on impact. This helps you get the ball out of the trap. Open club face, use bounce of sand wedge. Hit 2 inches behind ball to splash sand unto the green. Aim left of target Ball plugged in sand: Play ball farther back in stance. Weight on Left side; Left shoulder down. Club face closed, not open or square. This is like a blast shot from deep rough. Uphill sand bunker shot: Lean back. Right knee braced forward. Shoulders parallel with slope. Rotate hands faster. If buried, use 9 iron. Down hill bunker: Align body with slope. Weight on inside of left foot. Open club face. Wide stance, shoulders inline with shot. Note if you hit sand on BS, it is a 2 stroke penalty.
Long bunker shot: Hit closer to ball. Lean into shot. Use a different club like 8 or 9. Set feet in sand. Choke up on club about one inch. Lean and weight slightly forward. Hit back of ball first
Seven Nights from the Academy
Nick Faldo:
Square your clubface and hold that square throughout entire swing. Practice 70% wedges and 30% longer irons on practice range. Do this to cut off 6 - 8 strokes per game.
Pitches: On pitches, forget about normal stance and BS.
FT. Kiss the knees. My R. knee goes with the swing into my left knee. This is more important than hitting the ball.
Irons. Wedge: Where ever the chest goes, the ball goes. Match length of BS to length of follow through Dial in your distances. Next pick your favorite club to hit your yardage. Setup a little open and imagine you are going to underhand the ball to landing spot.
Think chest is where shot is going. Square club & make your shot. Most weight is on left side. Legs close together. Keep triceps on chest. As chest moves, your arms will follow.
Tips From Tom Watson Mostly
Ball below feet
[MN: stick butt out]. Match stance with slope of hill. Tom Watson TW. Stand closer to ball. TW. Bend over from waist. TW. Aim left or slightly hood clubface. [ball will want to go right] TW
Ball above feet. Match stance with slope of hill. TW. Bend over more, keep hands low. TW. Match sole of club with angle of hill. Use this for your swing path. TW. [MN: Choke up on club]
Downhill Lie
Match stance with slope of hill. Weight on inside left foot. Kick Left knee in. On downhill lie, my club will lose a lot of loft. Therefore use a more lofted club!. Also, match slope of lie with your stance.. Ball will want to go more right, so aim more left.. Swing at a speed that you can absolutely remain in your balance.
Uphill Lie. Match stance with slope of hill. TW. Right knee to brace in. TW. On DS, Right knee moves toward ball. TW
Putting
Jack Nicklaus P131: Work on speed the hardest. Try to get ball within 18” setup for next putt.
The grain is with you when the grass looks slick and shiny. It is against you when it appears dull and dark. Bent grass grows toward drainage. Bermuda grows toward the setting sun.
For a very long putt, aim for 6 foot circle around the hole. Putt so the ball will die right as it breaks into the 6 foot perimeter.
Colin Montgomery
Pace. On all putts, pace for beyond the hole like you do with Xbox. Perfect pace is 2 feet past the hole. Example: 6 foot to hole, if putt goes 2 foot past hole it has perfect pace. Any less pace a spike mark will take it off line.
SOG General Tips
On 3W and driver, your FF is lower and more FWD to gain distance rather than hitting high in the air.
SOG: The height of hands on BS must equal height of hands of FT. Otherwise you will push or pull the ball.
Why do I hit my long irons on the toe? Hitting on the toe is a result of too much up and down motion. To prevent it, on DS, drive R. Shoulder directly into ball. This prevents it.
Putts. Start the ball rolling like rolling a tire with your hand. Topspin.
There is nothing wrong with lessons to help your swing, but once you have it, you learn by doing, not taking more lessons. –SOG; Jack Fleck [beat Hogan by three strokes in 1955 open.
Shoulder turn on DS. Your shoulder should remain pointing to the right UNTIL you hit the ball. [Martin Hall]
This forces your swing from inside to out.
This prevents you from swinging out to in and making a banana slice.
Not doing this is what caused all those dreadful pull hooks to the left my first year.
These are not swing thoughts. They are swing theories I put together during my hiatus from golf in Spring 2014.
CP: Lead BS and DS with left arm. In fact practice your swing with only your left arm to observe the motions.
Leading with the left gives perfect contact into impact. You must swing slowly and you must never take your concentrated eye off the contact point of the ball.
CP: No matter how long the club, the swing path is represented by the shaft angle at address.
Mentally keep tennis ball between both arms on downswing. This is the most important factor in making it a swing with both arms together, and not a hit with one arm overrunning the other. Extremely important. CP: Choking down to middle of grip aids tremendously in closing the clubface.
REM to swing slower and controlled. It takes a very long time for my driver to loop from BS into impact. Be patient and keep it smooth. Jack Nichlaus practiced swinging driver at same slow speed he swung his Wedge.
The way to bring this all together is crawl, walk then run according to Prof. Martin. Just practice one dimension of the swing at a time then start bringing all the components into the swing one at a time until your swing is mastered.
Low shot, use 5 Hybrid. Fwd press to outside of left arm. Weight on L. foot, shift to R. foot then back.
Hand choked to shaft just below grip. Goes low 100 yards or better. Goes very straight. Can use this to get close to green.
Recipe for great drives:
Do not hit with more than 75% of power.
Hold Hinge [grip] between toes and ball.
Driver: 3/4 swing – Perfect. Weight transfer, push/pull hinge hold and C- path are the keys. Best drives I hit in years at the range. Some were monstrous! Tee height is to 2nd line down on driver. Hit through center of ball, not down, not hitting up. Feels exactly like a baseball teed up swing.
2014
Normally when I use long irons, I need the distance. Just remember for more control, only make 3/4 swing. Go to the next longer club if needed. Today I shot a beautiful 3/4 six iron to hit the green where normally I would use a full seven iron. So try this and see if it makes my game better.
This is for 8, 9, PW and SW. Ball position in middle of stance. Forward press only until shaft is in line with my left armpit. This will ensure a downward blow on the ball with a nice divot.
Prof. Martin says. Two ways to swing irons. The full swing for power, but you lose a lot of control, and many times not worth it. Instead only make a 3/4 swing with irons for great control.
On teed up balls with these clubs, be certain to hit straight out on ball. Not swing up, not swing down.
Problem from 2014
I get impatient and swing too fast and early. [Do not stay stationary, waggle and rebalance]
