An Astonishing Golf Story and some easy to follow tips to Instantly Improve Your Swing
On Jan 28, 1995, a 70 year old golfer named Cy Young nailed two holes in one at the Lakeview Golf Course in Delray Beach, Florida. An extraordinary feat for anyone, of course, but especially amazing when you consider this fact:
Cy Young has only one arm. On the first hole of the course, he hit a 3 iron 96 yards and straight into the cup. He danced a little jig and continued playing the course.
On hole 13, he scored another ace, this time with a 3 wood that soared 107 yards. As Sir Walter Simpson wrote in The Art of Golf, There is no shape nor size of body, no awkwardness nor ungainliness, which puts good golf beyond reach. There are good golfers with spectacles, with one eye, with one leg, even with one arm. In golf, while there is life there is hope. Amen
The Laws of Low
Hitting a low shot is not just a matter of hooding the club face. Youll also want to play the ball back in your golf stance and choke down on the club. When you play the ball back in your stance, it is important to remember that you should not just move your feet to the left. This forces you to come into the ball at a much steeper angle and you could well hit the shot fat. Its better to take your normal stance and then widen it slightly by moving the left foot only to the left. You will want a slightly more descending blow; so when you move your left foot, also shift your weight to your left side and move your hands forward.
As for choking down on the grip, the idea is not necessarily to give you more control over the club. Gripping farther down the shaft effectively shortens the area in which the shaft can flex, so the shaft becomes a little stiffer. That will make your ball fly lower too.
But choking down will lose you some distance, so take one more club than you usually would for that distance.
Watch Your Heel
A good way to control the swing and to coil the body to store energy during the backswing is to keep the left heel anchored firmly to the ground during the entire golf swing. All too often golfers raise the left heel during the backswing and then emphatically bring it down to the ground during the downswing. Its a show of force with negative consequences: The body releases the power it has stored during the backswing and sways to the left or lunges during the downswing. Keep your left heel on the ground to provide a foundation for the firm left side that is fundamental to every solid golf swing.
The Toughest Shot in Golf
Ask any pro the toughest shot in golf and hell say the sixty-yard sand shot. Even the top players have trouble deciding whether this calls for an explosion shot or a normal wedge shot. Fortunately, we average players dont have to make that decision. The sixty yard explosion just isnt in our bags. So well make do with the normal wedge shot.
Stand squarely, with the ball in the idle of your stance. As with the long bunker shot, you should make contact with the ball first, so remain as steady as possible for as long as possible. As this requires you to swing with only your hands and arms, youll want to take a club or two more than usual (but bear in mind that playing the ball farther back than normal will deloft the club face slightly).
For anything up to seventy-five yards, the average player should use a pitching wedge hit with three-quarters swing.
Cy Young has only one arm. On the first hole of the course, he hit a 3 iron 96 yards and straight into the cup. He danced a little jig and continued playing the course.
On hole 13, he scored another ace, this time with a 3 wood that soared 107 yards. As Sir Walter Simpson wrote in The Art of Golf, There is no shape nor size of body, no awkwardness nor ungainliness, which puts good golf beyond reach. There are good golfers with spectacles, with one eye, with one leg, even with one arm. In golf, while there is life there is hope. Amen
The Laws of Low
Hitting a low shot is not just a matter of hooding the club face. Youll also want to play the ball back in your golf stance and choke down on the club. When you play the ball back in your stance, it is important to remember that you should not just move your feet to the left. This forces you to come into the ball at a much steeper angle and you could well hit the shot fat. Its better to take your normal stance and then widen it slightly by moving the left foot only to the left. You will want a slightly more descending blow; so when you move your left foot, also shift your weight to your left side and move your hands forward.
As for choking down on the grip, the idea is not necessarily to give you more control over the club. Gripping farther down the shaft effectively shortens the area in which the shaft can flex, so the shaft becomes a little stiffer. That will make your ball fly lower too.
But choking down will lose you some distance, so take one more club than you usually would for that distance.
Watch Your Heel
A good way to control the swing and to coil the body to store energy during the backswing is to keep the left heel anchored firmly to the ground during the entire golf swing. All too often golfers raise the left heel during the backswing and then emphatically bring it down to the ground during the downswing. Its a show of force with negative consequences: The body releases the power it has stored during the backswing and sways to the left or lunges during the downswing. Keep your left heel on the ground to provide a foundation for the firm left side that is fundamental to every solid golf swing.
The Toughest Shot in Golf
Ask any pro the toughest shot in golf and hell say the sixty-yard sand shot. Even the top players have trouble deciding whether this calls for an explosion shot or a normal wedge shot. Fortunately, we average players dont have to make that decision. The sixty yard explosion just isnt in our bags. So well make do with the normal wedge shot.
Stand squarely, with the ball in the idle of your stance. As with the long bunker shot, you should make contact with the ball first, so remain as steady as possible for as long as possible. As this requires you to swing with only your hands and arms, youll want to take a club or two more than usual (but bear in mind that playing the ball farther back than normal will deloft the club face slightly).
For anything up to seventy-five yards, the average player should use a pitching wedge hit with three-quarters swing.
Labels: golf, golf advice, golf gift, golf grip, golf instruction, golf tips, putting
posted by Richard Myers at 4:19 PM
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