Notes on the Players Championship

With all the rain the last 11 days, it gave me a chance to watch a lot of the tournament. I was impressed how Henrik Stenson responded to his poor finish in Saturday's round. He bogeyed #16 from the middle of the fairway, and then 3 putted from 7 feet on #17. However, on Sunday he was by far the best player.

A few words about his caddy, Fannie. He has now won the Match Play and the Players with her on the bag. Being able to converse in your native tongue has to be comforting. Plus, she has won majors with Nick Faldo.

Tiger is definitely struggling. His knee does not allow him to make his old swing. If you watch Tiger from the 97 Masters, he played with a shut face with the club going across the line at the top. To be successful from here, you must be more open at impact in your lower body. Trevino and Duval were both shut faced players. To keep the club face from closing at impact they would move their left hip very open. Tiger gets to the open lower body position by snapping his left leg straight. This really stresses the knee. To maintain this swing requires a lot of work and great timing.

Did you notice how well he swung the club left handed? His follow through looked far more natural than his right handed swing. His right handed swing looks forced. He must munipulate the club to keep on plane and square.

The solution? Tiger must set up with more sideways tilt in his spine. His shoulders will be more tilted. This will allow his right shoulder and hip to rotate around his body. Then he can simply rotate his body through impact without having to snap his leg straight or use his hands to square up the face.

This was the first opportunity to see Ian Poulter play. I was suprised how laid off the club is at the top of his swing. He swings a lot like Jerry Kelly. Ernie Els has a similar look at the top of his swing. In Ernie's case, his grip is too weak. Poulter and Kelly have something in their grip, set-up, or alignment which does not fit them.

I know this sounds like a broken record but, your grip, set-up and alignment must be right for you.

Thanks,
Mike Hurley

Notes on the Masters

What a great tournament. Several players had good chances to win. Only Angel Cabrera answered the call.

How about Phil Mickelson? On Tuesday I watched a highlight special from the 2004 Masters and his then coach Rick Smith was talking about the 12th hole. Smith was saying the key to his victory was the 12th hole. Phil had learned to play the hole with a cut shot from the tee with either an 7 or 8 iron. On Sunday, the announcer said Phil had chosen a 9 iron. When I heard that I knew he would not win. The only way for him to get that club to the hole was to hit a hook toward the water. Bad choice.

On Sunday morning, I enjoyed a brunch with my family. My son asked who I liked to win. I replied Angel Cabrera. He had two things in his favor. #1, he had won a major before. #2, his swing was the soundest of the three leaders.

If you get the chance to watch the Masters in High Definition, do so. The detail was amazing. If you get the chance to go the Masters, do so. I have not been but, everyone who has been says the colors are beautiful and the elevation changes are very dramatic.

Thanks,
Mike Hurley

Product Review - Taylor Made R9 Driver

Three weeks ago I had the opportunity to test the new Taylor Made R9 Driver. It is an interesting concept that has been several years in the making.

The premise of the driver is the ability to change the angle of the face from 1 or 2 degrees open to square to 1 or 2 degrees closed. There are also weight ports in the heel, back and toe of the club. I believe the weights are from 2 grams up to 10 grams each.

The shaft and head connection is made using a screw which tightens the shaft and head together. To change the angle, you simply unscrew the screw, move the head to the new face angle, and re tighten. The weights can be changed the same way.

The different weight and face angle were tested on a machine. The machine made the same swing with the weights and face angle different on each swing. There was as much as an 81 yard difference from left to right.

Taylor Made staff professionals use different face angles and weighting depending on their preferences. Pat Perez has the face 2 degrees open with the heavier weighting in the toe. Scott McCarren has the face 2 degrees closed with the heavier weighting in the heel. The other Taylor Made pros were somewhere in between.

This technology is also available in the fairway metals and hybrids.

This also gives the options of putting different shafts in the same head to see if any benefits are attained.

I believe Nike has similar technology in one of their drivers. I haven't seen it.

If you get a chance, check it out.

My preference was 2 degrees closed with the weighting in the heel.

Mike Hurley

Mapping Your Golf Course

Have you tried Google Earth? It is a marvelous piece of technology. While using it the other day, I looked over the GCC Golf Course. It turns out me directional abilities are over rated. Several holes I thought went a certain way, actually are not the direction I thought they were.

Where this comes into play is when the wind blows from a certain direction, I can plan ahead to how the hole will play with that particular wind direction. There are several holes I thought would were downwind with a south wind are actually somewhat cross wind. This is important when planning the shots needed for different holes.

In what direction is your course laid out? Check out Google Earth and see.

Mike

Thought from the Mercedes Championship

I've watched most of the coverage of the Mercedes and several things have caught my attention.

Ernie Els looks confused. He is thinking way too much. He is playing golf from the analytical (left) side of his brain instead of the creative (right) side. His swing flaws tell me his set-up or grip or both are not suited to him. His grip is way too weak and it looks like his clubs may be too short for him.
It is sad to watch Ernie putt. You can see the lack of confidence.

D.J. Trahan is a hands player. He must be too close to the ball which forces him to pick the club up on the take away.

Boo Weekley sure can hit it. A simple, free flowing motion. If only his putting was the same. I watched his five putt on the 18th hole Friday. Can't figure out why he does what he does with a putter. As he hits the putt, the putter comes up and out instead of flowing through to the finish. This leads to off center hits and little distance control.

Geoff Ogilvy is a great wedge player. He has hit some marvelous shots from all sorts of lies and situations. I don't think he has putted all that well and he's leading by six. He has hit good putts but, he hasn't always got the right line and/or speed. When you hit every wedge it inside three feet, you don't have to putt well.

Notice when the camera is showing a full swing face on how the player's spine is tilted away from the target and his head is over the inside of the right knee. This starting position is crucial to good ball striking.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Mike Hurley

Winter Check-up

The winter is a great time to incorporate changes into your game. Here are set-up keys you can practice now and use when the weather warms up.

Forward Bending
Tour players average 34 degree forward bend from the hip joints. What is your forward bend?

Side Bending
Tour players average 9 degree of side bending away from the target. If you play right handed, your right hand fits below your left, which drops your right shoulder and tilts your spine away from the target.

Shoulder Alignment
Tour players average 5 degree open to the target. Most golfers will have their shoulders even more open. If you slice the ball, set up with your shoulders square to the target. If you are not sure about your shoulder alignment, check your forearms. Imagine a board laying across your forearms being parallel to the target line.

Ball Position
Tour players average 3 inches forward of their sternum. With the proper side bending, the ball should be forward of your sternum. This allows the club to square up before impact.

Preshot Plan
Tour players have a preshot routine they execute before each shot. What's yours? Here's mine.
Once I've chosen the type of shot and the club I want to use I do the following;
1. Face the target with the ball between me and my target.
2. Choose an aiming point. My aiming point is usually a distant point. If your dominant eye is farthest from the target, use an aiming point close to your ball.
3. Place my hands on the grip.
4. Walk up to the ball, bend over from the hip joints, and place the club behind the ball, aiming the club face at the target.
5. While looking at my target, move my feet and settle into my stance.
6. Double check the aim of my club face.
7. At all times during my preshot routine, something is moving. It is either shuffling my feet, waggling the club or checking my target. Once I stop moving, I begin to swing the club.
This entire routine takes about 10 seconds.

Feel free to personalize it to focus on areas you struggle with, being careful not to make it more complicated (or slower) than necessary. Rehearse your routine until it becomes second nature.

Thanks,
Mike

How to adjust to fast greens

While playing a quick nine yesterday afternoon, I realized how much different it is to play during the winter. The lies are tighter and the greens are much quicker. Here are the adjustments I make to compensate.

1. Soft Hands
Whenever I give a putting lesson, I show the student how tight I hold my putter by holding their arm with the same pressure. The student is always surprised how lightly I hold their arm. Fast greens require attention to speed. The softer my hands, the better I can control speed.

2. Play more break
As I watch amateurs putt, they never seem to play enough break. As the greens get faster, the more the putt will break. Yesterday I had a 6 ft. putt and I played 12 inches of break. Get on the practice green and hit some putts. Pay close attention to how your ball reacts to slope.

3. Play your putts to die at the hole
A putt which runs a foot by the hole in summer, may run 5 or more feet past in the winter. Now we pay attention to stopping the ball as close to the hole as possible. You can practice this on the putting green by hitting putts from outside of 10 feet and seeing how close you can get to the hole without going in. Sounds crazy to try not to make a putt, but it will really help you control your speed.
On really fast putts, I will choose a spot short of the hole and try to stop the ball on that spot. This really helps those who tend to hit putts past the hole. On really slow putts, this spot moves beyond the hole.

4. Plan ahead
Every shot I hit, I'm always thinking of where I want to play my next shot from. There are times when it's better to be 30 feet short than 4 foot long. When greens are fast. you want to be below the hole as often as possible. Earlier I told you about a 6 foot putt with 12 inches of break. I didn't tell you I was trying to be short of the hole and didn't execute.

Hope you find this helpful.

Mike Hurley