Instruction: Bill Forrest, 2006 PGA Teacher of the Year
I just picked up a 9 wood to replase my long iron. I always hit the ball left, not a draw, but straight left. The face of the club seems to always point left no matter what I do. What am I doing wrong, am I holding or lining it up wrong?
Thanks,
Joel Underwood
Joel: Nowadays, almost all of these high tech metals appear to have a closed face. You can purchase them now with fade or draw tendencies. When you sit an iron on the ground behind the ball, you want the leading edge or sole of the golf club resting at right angles or perpendicular to the target line. When you rest today's metals on the ground behind the ball, you want the top edge (not the bottom edge) addressing the ball perpendicular to the target line. It's a bit of an optical illusion but try using the top edge instead of the bottom.
A few years ago I had a problem with my fairway metals having too much of a hook tendency. I learned to play with the clubface slightly open at address. I found out by checking into the clubs technology, that these particular metals were weighted in the heel, they have since moved the weighting towards the toe and I love them now. It might be the golf club.
Bill
Recently, I have been closely looking at many PGA tour players swings and have noticed a few things. The first is that all of them have their left wrists completely flat at the top, whereas mine is not. My next observation is their right elbows are free from their hips/side. Whereas mine is on my hips/side. What can I do to fix these two problems?
Sean
Sean: Position of the left wrist at the top of the swing, in most tour players is relative to the starting position of the wrists or the grip itself. Those that have a neutral or borderline weak grip would have a flat left wrist at the top. Golfers with strong grips, Fred Couples for example, have pocket in their left wrist at the top of the swing. Remember, there is a direct correlation between the left wrist and the clubface.
The connection of the right arm to the body should only be in the armpit area. Watch the tour players right elbow follow their ribcage as they make their move away from the ball. Before it gets to the top it separates from the left elbow and gets farther from the body. It reunites with the bottom of right ribcage on the downswing. If your right elbow is stuck to your side, free it up a little and let it go. There are a lot of differences in the tour player swings from the waist up, many more similarities from the waist down.
Bill
Equipment: Tom Henderson, PGA Professional & Master Club Fitter
For those of us who can't yet put any spin on the ball, is there any difference in the ball we use. Is it a waste of money to be buying ProV-1's or other top rated balls when my swing fails to "hit it stiff" but bounces and releases all the time?
Les
Les:
I would be hard pressed to believe that you don't put any spin on your golf shots. In fact, you couldn't get the ball airborne without creating backspin on your shots.
Spin is directly related to clubhead speed. In general, the higher your clubhead speed, the more spin you will potentially create. With that said, it sounds like you might consider using a ball that doesn't require fast swing speeds (and spin) to optimize launch. Try a ball like the Nike Juice or Titleist Solo. These types of balls perform best with slower swing speeds.
Hope this works for you.
I would like to learn more about club fitting. I have been fitted for clubs which consisted of a wrist to floor measurement , a ball striking test using the strike tape on a regular length Callaway iron, and a Drver head speed test. Is more necessary to provide accurate fitting for new irons.
Ralph M. Bush
Ralph:
Thanks for your question.
There are many steps in a complete club fitting. It sounds like you have already experienced a few of them. They are as follows:
Wrist-to-floor measurement: This static measurement will tell the fitter where to look initially. It is NOT the "be all, end all" of the fit. It is merely a starting point.
Lie Angle: The experienced fitter will use a lie board with impact tape and observe actual ball flight. Hitting a shots off of this board will help determine your lie angle. Is your impact mark on the toe (too flat) or heel (too upright)of the sole? Is your mark on the leading edge or trailing edge?
Shaft length, flex, and bend point: The trained fitter will examine these three areas with the use of face tape, a swing speed measuring device (launch monitor), and by observing ball flight. Does your ball bore through the air or does it "balloon"?
Grip type and size: Do you prefer rubber or cord? What size glove do you where? Where does your glove "wear out"? How do you hold the club? These are all questions to consider when being advised on grip selection.
And last but not least, the best person to do the fitting is the PGA Professional that you work with on a regular basis. He/she knows your swing and will use that familiarity in making sound club fitting recommendations for you.
Rules: John Crumbley, Certified PGA Professional and Rules Experts
If two players both hit their tee shots into the same sand trap, and the balls end up touching each other, which player hits first, and how is the other player going to mark his ball correctly to be able to return to the exact spot where the ball initially came to rest, and guarantee that the sand will be exactly the same as when the ball stopped?
PJ Aviles
PJ,
The ball furthest from the hole is away and would play first. The other ball should be marked and lifted but may not be cleaned. After the first ball is played the original lie for the second ball will be recreated and the ball is replaced and played.
Rule 22-2 is copied below for your review.
22-2 Ball Interfering with Play
Except when a ball is in motion, if a player considers that the ball of another player might interfere with his play, he may have it lifted.
A ball lifted under this Rule must be replaced (see Rule 20-3). The ball must not be cleaned unless it lies on the putting green (see Rule 21).
In stroke play, a player required to lift his ball may play first rather than lift the ball.
Note: Except on the putting green, a player may not lift his ball solely because he considers that it might interfere with the play of another player. If a player lifts his ball without being asked to do so, he incurs a penalty of one stroke for a breach of Rule 18-2a, but there is no additional penalty under Rule 22.
Penalty for Breach of Rule:
Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes.
Golfer tees off; ball goes into water in front of the tee; can golfer re-tee or does the ball have to be played down?
Nancy
Rule 20-5 tells us that the ball must be played within the "teeing ground" and it may be reteed.
20-5 Making Next Stroke from Where Previous Stroke Made
When a player elects or is required to make his next stroke from where a previous stroke was made, he must proceed as follows:
(a) On the Teeing Ground: The ball to be played must be played from within the teeing ground. It may be played from anywhere within the teeing ground and it may be teed. (b) Through the Green and in a Hazard: The ball to be played must be dropped. (c) On the Putting Green: The ball to be played must be placed.
After Placing a mark on my ball, on the green, I tossed it to my caddy who caddy, who did not catch it, it rolled down an embankment into a lake and was lost. do incur a penalty?
Hank Lopez
In the old days you would have been disqualified if you could not finish the hole with the ball you started the hole with unless the substitution is allowed under the rules, such as ball lost or out of bounds would allow you to put another ball in play. Rule 15-2 was changed to allow the player in your case to put another ball into play even though the rules did not permit substitution with a two stroke penalty.
1-1 General
The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.
15-2 Substituted Ball
A player may substitute a ball when proceeding under a Rule that permits the player to play, drop or place another ball in completing the play of a hole. The substituted ball becomes the ball in play.
If a player substitutes a ball when not permitted to do so under the Rules, that substituted ball is not a wrong ball; it becomes the ball in play. If the mistake is not corrected as provided in Rule 20-6 and the player makes a stroke at a wrongly substituted ball, he incurs the penalty prescribed by the applicable Rule and in stroke play, must play out the hole with the substituted ball.
Can you please explain if it is OK to take a ball out ot play if it is NOT damaged?
For example, a friend says it is legal to putt with a different ball than the one you start off with.
I believe it is only legal to change the ball if it is damaged.
Thank you
Bill Lundin
Bill,
You are correct. You may only substitute a ball if it is under a rule of golf, such as ball lost or out of bounds. Otherwise rule 1-1 says you must play "a" ball from the teeing ground into the hole.
1-1 General
The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.
Fitness: Dave Phillips, PGA Professional, Titleist Performance Institute
On the back nine, my score goes up and I attribute this to my "tired swing" although I do not feel physically tired.
Any suggestions to help avoid this problem which causes me to make bad shots costing multiple shots to recover. Thanks.
Andrew Smith
It seems like every day another golfer walks into the gym and says I get tired on the back nine. Endurance is one the most important factors in playing consistent golf. If you're one of those golfers who tend to fall apart on the back nine, you need to focus your strength and conditioning efforts towards endurance. This way the 18th hole feels as fresh as the first hole.
So this leads to the next question," How do you improve endurance for a golfer?" Most people feel that since golf is a four to five hour activity you need to focus on cardiovascular conditioning like a marathon runner. We see many golfers running on treadmills for 45 minutes to one hour, three times a week, in hopes of improving their performance on the back nine. Unfortunately this type of training may not be the best for endurance on the golf course. I would like to point out that a game of chess is also four to five hours and requires minimal cardiovascular conditioning. Therefore, you cannot look at the time of the activity and determine what type of conditioning is required. Instead, you must look at the specific demands that are placed on the athlete.
Of course, walking a golf course is about a 6-7 mile activity and does require some cardiovascular conditioning. But if you're like most golfers, you can ride a golf cart for all 18 holes and still fatigue on the last four to five holes. This is due to the fact that golf requires an enormous amount of muscular endurance, not just cardiovascular endurance. The only way to improve muscular endurance is through strength training. In other words, most golfers can't contract their muscles over and over again for a four to five hour period of time without fatigue.
Strength training has three major benefits:
1) It can improve your muscular and cardiovascular endurance.
2) It can improve your overall distance.
3) It is one of the fastest ways to burn fat and lose weight.
So this year if you want to make a big improvement coming down the stretch, add a full body strength training program at least two times a week. Make sure you focus on full body routines with at least two sets of 8-12 repetitions per exercise.
