When you play a round of golf it is easy to think too much. During a five-hour round of golf you are only in the act of swinging a club for one to two minutes. A swing takes about one second and assuming you have an average score of ninety means you have swung the club for approximately two minutes. What happens the other four hours and fifty-eight minutes?
A player will think about their score, what happened on the last hole, good or bad, business plans, family events, playing partners, and a myriad of other thoughts. Some very negative. It is ok to have these thoughts but you should be getting back to the present. What is the next shot and how should I approach it? It comes to the old saying “Stay in the present and it’s one shot at a time”. In meditation, a person repeats a mantra over and over until they are thinking of nothing. The body gets calm and relaxed. This is what needs to happen during your round. Turn a negative into a positive. Whenever a thought that does not deal with the present comes into your mind you need to flush it out. A good way of doing this is to focus on your breathing. Air through the nose and out through the mouth. The thought is ok to have but the quicker it is gone the better. The extra oxygen is also good for your body chemistry. You will hear a great player talk about being in the zone. They are staying in the present and focusing on the shot at hand. From that shot they are instantly thinking of the next shot taking everything in. Wind, slopes, pin position, shot shape and body chemistry all can be observed in the present. Zen in golf emphasizes enlightenment for a player by the most direct possible means. Finding a technique to help stay in the present by the most direct possible means is our objective. When you are staying in the present, your mission is accomplished.
9 Comments
It has been proven over and over that the flag stick should be left in for all putts. Any shot that is hit too hard has a better chance of going in or finishing closer to the hole while using the flag stick as a back-stop. A perfectly struck putt will go in the sides or against the stick.
The only problem with leaving the flag stick in is for short putts. The flag stick may actually make the hole look smaller. You want the hole itself to look as big as possible. With the flag stick taking up half of the cup and looking larger because you are so close it is actually a mental and visual deterrent. The further you are from the hole the smaller the hole will look. This is when the flag stick itself will help with distance control. The more information your brain can take in the better. The flag stick is a great indicator of your distance to the hole. The best part of this new ruling is to help with the speed of play. Leaving the flag stick in until you get relatively close to the hole should be your goal. If you are a beginner with not much touch or a player that has an occasional miss fire leaving the flag stick in will help at all times. For medium length putts, take everything into your decision. If the putt is downhill and with the grain, you may want a backstop to stop or slow down the ball. If speed is not an issue take the flag stick out. Remember that leaving the flag stick in gives you better odds of making any putt that is struck too hard. On short putts where distance is not a major factor your mental and visual awareness should come into play as much as the physics of leaving the flag stick in. Make the hole look as big as possible on short putts where a backstop is not needed. The club should be taken back in one piece while loading onto the back leg and foot--your right leg and foot for a right-handed golfer. A one-piece takeaway should feel like everything is moving together as you turn and shift your weight.
Nothing can be more dangerous than taking the club back with the hands. When this is done, the coil or wind-up does not take place until late in the backswing. You can get away with this when your timing is good, but put it under pressure and things will get ugly fast. If, for some reason, your handsy backswing becomes short, you will have no power and your body will make up for it with a fast, short swing. You will have the feeling that you did not get fully through the shot. Taking the club back with the hands also makes the swing disconnected. Coiling late at the top followed by a downswing move into the ball which is all hands will produce a snap-hook. A snap-hook is an indicator of total disconnection in the swing. A good test is to take the club half way back and see how much your body has turned. With a one-piece connected takeaway, your shoulders should turn close to 90 degrees and the hips 45 degrees. If nothing has turned, you have disconnected your swing. As you take the club back in one piece, you should be loading into your back leg and foot coiling up power for the downswing. Keep your weight on the inside of the back foot and your knee flexed and in the same position as in the set up. The back leg should act like a post with very little give. The more connected the backswing the more connected the downswing. Coiling into the back foot and leg will keep you from moving on the ball and make for a consistent swing that can be repeated. Balance is a state of your body’s equilibrium. It is a feeling you have all day long. You walk and run in balance and it feels awkward when you lose your balance.
If your body is out of balance to start with it is not going to find it during the golf swing. When you address a ball, you flex your knees and bend at the waist. This throws your head and upper body forward making a majority of your bodies weight to go towards the balls of your feet. This can throw you out of balance before the club has ever been taken back. An adjustment is now needed to get back into balance. You can still have your knees flexed and bent at the waist. If during the swing you start out of balance you will finish out of balance. The end result of great balance in the golf swing is a finish you can pose with. You have shifted your weight turned your body and have maintained your balance throughout the swing. Weight goes from the back foot to the front foot with total balance. I was taught in football to put myself in a position where I could move in any direction. Left, right, forwards or backwards. True balance for sure. This is the same feeling you should have once you are set up to the ball. Get yourself in balance before you take the club back. At times you may want more weight on your left side or right side. You may want 60% of your weight on the left foot and 40% on the right foot. This may help with the short irons or you may want 60% on your right foot and 40% on the left foot for a driver. Even here you want to be in balance just starting with a different weight distribution. Upright swingers may be a little more on the balls of their feet and flat swingers may be a little more on their heels. Either way you must still start and finish in balance. The end of the swing is the true indicator if you have been in balance throughout your swing. Can you hold the finish in balance? Where is your club head at address, half way back, top of the swing, impact, and follow through? Is it coming to the top of the backswing in that perfect position where the club feels light, in balance, on plane and not too closed or open? At times the club will come back to a position at the top of the swing that feels so good all you have to do is uncoil your body to hit a powerful, on balance, straight shot. It is like playing basketball or any other sport. It’s that shot that feels so pure and everything is matched up. Timing, balance, reflexes, and vision.
At other times the club comes back to a spot that feels so bad your body will go into any motion to adjust for this bad feeling. Improper uncoiling, tight grip pressure, poor timing, balance issues and ugly ball contact are all results of an improper club head position at the top. Unfortunately, this magical club head position is hard to find and repeat. A beginner or high handicap player finds it occasionally and a golf professional or low handicap player finds it all the time. To get there you must have a fundamentally solid swing. Start at address with a square club head aimed down your target line with the ball in the center of the club head. The club head starts back with a swinging action that allows for the club head to rotate open and on plane. The plane of the swing is like a wagon wheel on a tilt from the ball to the top of your shoulders with your head in the middle. At the top of the swing when the club is parallel to the ground the club shaft should be pointed at the target and on plane. At the top of the swing the club head can’t be too open or closed. An open club head has the leading edge of the head pointed vertically with the toe of the club pointed to the ground. A closed club head is one that has the leading edge horizontal and parallel with the ground. A club head right in the middle is most desirable. A little open or closed is ok. Once the club comes back to that perfect spot just uncoil and let the club whip back to the ball. It will square up at impact and continue to rotate into the follow through. That perfect position at the top of the swing is one where the shaft is on plane, pointed at the target and the club head is not too open or closed. |
AuthorI am Bill Larson, from Bozeman, Montana. I am a PGA Life Member, after being a Class A-1 PGA Golf Professional for 39 years. I love the game and I enjoy helping golfers and golf courses achieve their best. |