"The Greatest Game Ever Played"

It definitely isn't golf weather here in Michigan, with layer after layer of snow on the ground, BUT this won't stop US from talking golf!!

Welcome back to The Golf Guy blog!  Since I threw an enormous amount of information at you in my last post, where I provided a lesson on "how to hit the golf ball further," I'd like to keep this weeks' post short, FUN, and sweet!  I'd like to share with you some of my favorite golf stories of all times; which I must say was difficult in deciding which to choose from since there are so many great, inspiring, and uplifting golf stories out there!  I hope that you will enjoy the few golf stories that I will provide to you, click each link and watch all of the videos, and comment back to me with some of your personal favorites!  Enjoy!

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This first video is a story about a Canadian born professional golfer by the name of Moe Norman.  Although Moe was not the "typical" professional golfer, as he had many idiosyncrasies in which many believed stemmed from his medical condition, Moe has still earned the status of being "The best ball striker that has ever lived."  This is truly a beautiful story, and without a doubt one of my favorites.

http://This next video is a story that was told by Jimmy Roberts on his show "In Play," which you can see on the Golf Channel.  The video tells a story about a man named Michael Labrie, who was severely burned at the age of 3 in a freak accident.  The video documents the unfortunate struggles and conflicts that Michael had to overcome throughout his life, as well as how golf, along with many other hobbies, has helped Michael to overcome these obstacles.  This video is so inspiring, and will bring you so much joy whether or not you are a golf enthusiast!

http://bit.ly/1ewrilp 
Click the link to watch this unforgettable story! 


The final video that I will leave you with just goes to show you that golf really CAN be an exciting sport to watch!  The video is a combination of highlights from this past weeks' Accenture Match Play Tournament.  The final match of the tournament between Jason Day and Victor Dubuisson came down to an exciting finish, lasting 23 holes!  After hitting a few bad shots, requiring Dubuisson to hit out of a cactus, Dubuisson gave an unbelievable effort and truly made this final match an exciting one!

http://http://es.pn/1c8sJMB 
Click the link to watch highlights of the final match!


I hope that you have enjoyed watching a few of my favorite golf stories, and I hope that you will search for your own favorite golf stories and share them with me and other readers in the comment section of my blog!  


Thanks for reading,

The Golf Guy

Welcome Back!

I usually post one blog per week, but I decided to get an early start on this one because I find the lesson posts to be very fun, and I feel that you as the reader can get more from this blog through the lessons!  I will cover a lot of material in this lesson, so be sure you give yourself enough time to sit down and thoroughly read through this lesson.  In this weeks lesson, I hope to answer the question that I get the most as a golf instructor......are you ready...

"How do I hit the golf ball further?!"

It seems as though so many amateur golfers struggle to find the answers to this question, and unfortunately, there is no simple way to answer it!  I always wish as a golf instructor that I could just wave some imaginary wand and POOF! - you're able to hit the ball 350 yards like the pros do!  This, unfortunately, is not the case as we know!  I can only guide you in the right direction, and provide you with the information that will help you become a better golfer.  But, it is up to you to take what you have learned, practice hard, be patient, and put the necessary time in to this demanding, yet beautiful game!  

Before I begin my lesson which will help you to hit the golf ball further, I feel that I should mention a few things first.  First of all, you cannot and will not achieve the maximum distance out of your golf shot unless you are impacting the ball properly.  If you aren't striking the ball in the center of the club face, and you aren't impacting the ball properly, you simply will not consistently get the distance that you have the potential to get.  A great tool that you can use to determine whether or not you are hitting the center of the face is impact tape.  Impact tape allows you to see exactly where your club face strikes the ball, and you can purchase it at most golf stores.  Secondly, if you do not have the proper swing plane and you are not hitting the ball straight because of this, you are losing distance.  I would recommend that you read my past lesson posts that will guide you in the right direction to hit purely impacted shots with a proper swing plane! 

Now that you understand how important proper impact and proper swing plane are to hitting the golf ball further, let's move on to the lesson!  There are a few factors that will help you to hit longer shots that I'd like to focus on in this lesson: Proper swing speed, and power storage/transfer.

Swing speed

Yes, it is true - the faster you swing the club and more club speed that you generate, the better chance you have of hitting the golf ball further.  But, many amateur golfers hear this and think they need to swing "harder" or "more aggressively" at the ball.  This is incorrect, and will likely cause even more problems to your golf game.  If I were a baseball hitting coach, I would say "Yes, swing so hard that you come out of your shoes!!"  But, the baseball swing and the golf swing are completely different because you aren't necessarily looking for accuracy in a baseball swing like you are a golf swing.  The golf swing needs to be fluid and in control, and you must gradually increase the speed of your club throughout the swing in order for it to be effective.  I have created a diagram that you can see below that will help you to visualize and understand this concept.

First of all, when deciding how fast to swing on your back swing, I always tell my students just to swing at a "comfortable" or "smooth" speed.  The whole idea is to keep total control of your club, and allow yourself to get all the way to the top of the swing before making your downswing.  This may require you to speed up or slow down your back swing - just find a comfortable speed.  

Now, as you can see from the picture, the golfer is gradually increasing the speed of his club which is represented by percentages.  These percentages can vary depending on every swing, but the diagram will give you a real good visual of the proper way to generate speed.  Many amateur golfers want to swing as hard as they can right from the top of the swing, but doing so will likely cause you to lose balance, lose control of the club, and believe it or not, can often result in the swing speed to decelerate rather than accelerate.

Unfortunately, there aren't many actual drills that you can do to help you achieve this proper swing acceleration, but one of the things that I found to be most helpful is to close your eyes and rely more on the feel of the swing.  Don't think mechanics here; just trust the feeling.  Once you have a good feel for the gradual acceleration, open your eyes, and try and imitate the same feeling when you hit the ball!  This gradual acceleration is the same feeling you want to have with every club in your bag - even your putter!

Power Storage/Power Transfer

I could go on and on about storing the power in your swing and transferring that power throughout the swing, but I want to keep this concept very simple, although you shouldn't overlook its importance.  In order to achieve maximum distance and maximum power in your swing, you must use your entire body, not just your arms and upper body.  Your lower body is so important in creating power and distance, so I want you to focus this primarily to the lower body.  Very simply put, we must load up our power/energy on our back swing, and transfer that power through the swing.

Many amateur golfers do not get a proper turn and do not store this power. Many amateurs tend to sway back and forth in their swing and think they are transferring power.  This is incorrect!  I have always compared the power storage and power transfer in a golf swing to a baseball pitchers motion.  Take a look at the picture below of a professional baseball pitchers throwing sequence.

You can see that the pitcher loads up all of the power in the first photo, then gradually transfers that loaded power through the whole pitch.  This is the same feeling you'll want to have with the golf swing, although I want you to focus on not swaying too much.  For a right handed golfer, you should feel yourself storing the power in your right leg on your back swing, which can be done by feeling as though you are pushing your foot down hard into the ground.  Once you have made your full back swing turn and stored all of that power, you release the power by turning your hips and transferring that power storage to your left leg.

Once again, there aren't many drills for this that I find very effective other than simply closing your eyes and feeling the power being stored, and then transferred.  Imitate this same feeling when you have your eyes open and are ready to hit the golf ball!  While you are practicing this, and I can't stress this enough, make sure that you are not swaying back and forth.  I always tell my students to feel as though they are standing inside of a barrel.  When standing in a barrel, you cannot sway back and forth out of the barrel, you have to simply turn your right hip behind you on the back swing, and turn your left hip behind you on your downswing. 

Try the things that you have learned in this lesson on the practice range, and I guarantee you will notice huge improvements to your distance.  Now, you may not be able to hit the ball as far as the pros, but I can almost guarantee that you are more than capable of adding distance to your game by incorporating these ideas.

I want to leave you with a link to a video of professional golfer, Gary Woodland, and notice how well he stores, then transfers his power throughout the swing.  I literally just watched the guy hit a 250 yard 5 iron on TV!  Try to imitate his lower body motion and who knows, maybe you'll be pulling out your 5 iron from 250 yards out!

http://bit.ly/1bqP7QK

Good Luck, have fun, and thanks for reading!

TheGolfGuy

In last weeks blog post, I discussed the proper swing plane, and its importance in hitting the golf ball straighter.  The discussion was quite in depth, so I'd like to tone it down this week and just discuss some of the events that are happening around the PGA tour.  

This professional golf season has been such an exciting season already, and we are only about a third of the way through.  A "wrap around" schedule was introduced for this season, which essentially means that the current season started in Oct 2013, and runs until Sept 2014, whereas in past seasons, the tournament schedule of events in competing towards the championship would end in September, and the season would end in November.  This means that us golf enthusiasts get the chance to watch golf all year round!

The Northern Trust Open was held this past weekend at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.  Bubba Watson, 2012 Masters Champion, won the event by shooting a score of -7 in the final round, which gave him his first PGA Tour win since the Masters tournament in April of 2012.  

Although seeing Bubba Watson finally win another tournament was particularly exciting for me, considering he is one of my favorite players, the hype around the tour this season has without a doubt came from Jimmy Walker.  Walker had not had a win in his first 187 PGA Tour starts, until he entered this season with a spark.  Walker has won 3 out of the 8 PGA tour events this season; putting him in first place in the race towards the FedEx Championship.  The most remarkable statistic is that Jimmy Walker is now ranked 24th in the Official World Golf Ranking, where he was ranked 120th just a season ago.  

The extreme success that Jimmy Walker has had so far this season makes him a likely candidate for a win at the Masters Tournament in April.  For those who don't follow golf, the Master's Tournament is one of four Major tournaments in the golf season, and is one of the most important tournaments of the season for the players.  Although Jimmy Walker's hot streak this season has earned him a candidacy for a Masters win, he is not particularly favored by many.  Many people still favor Tiger Woods to win the Masters tournament in April (Go Figure!), but there are some other notable favorites such as reigning Masters Champ, Adam Scott, and also Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and many other household favorites.  In my personal opinion, I believe that Adam Scott will win the Masters tournament for the second time in a row, simply on the fact that he has such a consistent game, which is a necessity in winning at the Masters.  But, I hope that Jordan Spieth will win the tournament, because it would be unbelievable to see a 20 year old win a major tournament, let alone the Masters!

It is difficult to say who will win the Masters Tournament because the competition on the PGA tour is so stiff.  But, it's exciting to make your own assumption on who will actually win. 

So, who do you think will win the Masters Tournament in April?? Post a comment with your pick in the comment section of the blog!

To finish this weeks blog post, I have provided you with an upcoming schedule of tournaments on the PGA tour.  Many of my friends who aren't golf enthusiasts like myself have said to me, "I don't know how you watch golf! It is so boring to watch!"  BUT, although it may not have the excitement of a hockey or basketball game, I have found that it can be much more fun to watch if you have a player and/or players that you are rooting for! So, turn on some golf, and root for one of your favorite players!!

Here are some of the upcoming events on the PGA Tour schedule leading up to the Masters Tournament:

Feb. 19-23: WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona

Feb. 27-March 2: The Honda Classic, Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 6-9: WGC Cadillac Championship, Trump National Doral in Doral, Florida

March 6-9: Puerto Rico Open, Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

March 13-16: Valspar Championship, Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.

March 20-23: Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orland, Florida

March 27-30: Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas

April 3-6: Shell Houston Open, Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas

April 10-13: The Masters Tournament, Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia

Hello Golfers!

It is time for another golf lesson!!!  But first, as a side note,  I hope that you all find this blog to be interesting, and I sincerely hope that my golf lessons will guide you on your journey in becoming a better golfer!  I hope that you will take what you learn in my golf lesson blog posts and bring them to the practice range.  In order to advance your skill level as a golfer, it is so important to be practicing the RIGHT techniques, and I am confident that the material you find in this blog will help you lower strokes, and help you to become a much better golfer!

In this weeks lesson, I will talk about the proper swing plane, which is an extremely important swing topic that every golfer must truly understand.  Many amateur golfers struggle with keeping the ball in play, and much of this has to do with the swing plane.  If you struggle with the dreaded "slice" or "snap hook," this lesson is meant for you! Enjoy!

"Swing plane" is defined as,  "An imaginary surface that describes the path and angle of the club during the swing."  This may all seem like gibberish, so simply put,the  "swing plane" is the path that you take to swing the club.  It is so essential in the entirety of the golf swing because in almost every occasion, the swing plane effects the direction and the overall outcome of the golf shot.  

I started working with my newest student, Steve, about 3 weeks ago.  Steve and I have been working very hard at manipulating his swing from the traditional "Over-the-top" swing (which 9 time out of 10 will produce a "slice") to a more effective "inside to outside" swing.  Thankfully, Steve is so passionate about the game of golf, and is an extremely quick learner and hard worker, and we have already seen tremendous improvements through just 3 lessons!  Below is a video of Steve's swing as of the 3rd lesson:

Although the video speed is very fast, you will notice that Steve comes "over the top" on his downswing.  So, let's get down to business!  The first thing that Steve and I had to work on was his takeaway, i.e. beginning of his back swing.  Here is a picture that will help describe this:

First of all, Steve has GREAT posture here - you can see that his back is angled straight and he is not hunched over - this is ideal.  Now, you will notice the red, yellow, and white lines that I have drawn into the picture.  The white line represents the ball line, and this is important to visualize because many amateur golfers either take the club back outside the ball line, or too far inside the ball line.  The red line represents a club path that would be taken back too far inside the ball line.  Our ideal takeaway is represented by the yellow line, in which Steve has performed perfectly.  Essentially, we are trying to get Steve to take the club back on the yellow line, and get him on a proper plane from there.  Now that we understand the proper take away, let's talk about the swing path, which is shown in the pictures below:

BACK SWING     

DOWN SWING

The picture on the left shows Steve's swing path on his back swing, which is what we have spent a lot of time working on up until this point.  You will notice that not only are his arms and hands taking the club back on an ideal plane (represented by the white line), but the shaft of his club is also on that same line.  THIS IS PERFECT, AND AS A GOLF INSTRUCTOR, I AM SO IMPRESSED THAT STEVE HAS PICKED THIS UP SO QUICKLY (STEVE, YOU ARE ALMOST THERE BUDDY!)!  Steve's swing plane on his back swing is perfect, but where Steve get's himself into some trouble is on his down swing, which is shown in the picture on the right.  As you can see, Steve has now gone from his ideal swing plane (represented by the blue line), and is now "over the top" of that blue line (represented by the red line).  The result of Steve coming over the top and now on the path of the red line is that the club will now come from outside of the ball line to the inside of the ball line, ultimately causing him to "slice" the ball, hitting a shot that starts left of his target and spins to the right.  

Yes, Slicers, this is why you slice the ball!!! 

Now, what should a proper swing plane look like, and how do we get the proper swing plane?  Below is a picture of an unknown golfer that has an effective swing plane throughout the entire swing:

As you can see in the picture, the golfer has taken the club back (backswing) on an ideal plane, and has stayed on that same plane (including his shaft) all the way through impact.  Ideally, we want to see Steve get his downswing on the same plane as his backswing, OR have his down swing come inside the plane line, NOT over the top of it.  Now, the best way to achieve this is to just simply break your swing down slowly when you are practicing, and force yourself to bring the club back inside this imaginary line. I want you to imagine these lines when you are practicing, and do your best to stay inside the line on your downswing.  ***It is always helpful to stop yourself at the top of your swing, check where you are, then try bring the club back inside the line***

To finish, Steve had asked me towards the end of our last lesson which professional golfer I felt had the best swing.  This is always a difficult question to answer because there isn't really a "perfect" swing.  Each and every pro golfer has his OWN swing, and with tons of practice they have been able to make it effective.  You should have this same philosophy as a golfer- that even if you may not have the "prettiest" or "perfect" swing, as long as it is effective and you continue to repeat the same effective swing, you WILL see improved results!  BUT, for the sake of answering Steve's question, in my opinion, professional golfer, Adam Scott, has one of the most fundamentally sound, effective swing's in professional golf today.  I have provided a link to a slow motion video of his swing below:

http://bit.ly/1fZTUYO   (While watching this video, refer back to the swing plane thoughts that we have discussed in this weeks lesson, and see how well Adam Scott does this!)

TAKE THE THINGS YOU HAVE LEARNED IN THIS LESSON AND PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!  Also, if there is a part of your game that you would like me to discuss in a future lesson, please feel free to tell me in the comment section of my blog, and I will do my best at incorporating it into a future lesson blog!

Til' next time,

The Golf Guy

P.S. I'd like to thank Steve for allowing me to use his swing as an example for this lesson, and more importantly, I'd like to thank him for all of the hard work, commitment, and passion that he has put into each and every lesson!  You'll be beating up on the guys in your league on the course in no time!

So we meet again!  

To begin, I'd like to thank everyone that has been following my blog and various social media platforms, as I extend my passion and experiences in the world of golf with you! Not only am I extremely grateful to have such a supportive group of friends and family, but I truly have the best students, and I look forward to every time we meet for a lesson!  

In my last blog post, I'm sure I rattled some of your brains with the "proper impact" instruction and "casting" and "flipping" fixes, and other such crazy golfguy lingo!  Teaching golf online is definitely a new adventure for me, but I enjoy sharing my knowledge with all of you.  

Click the link below to watch a funny golf instruction video, and you'll see crazy golf lingo taken to a new extreme!
http://bit.ly/1losrov

One aspect of this blog that I hope to achieve is not only a way for readers to learn about how the golf swing works (in my opinions), but also a chance to turn your minds off, leave the swing drills at the practice range, and just respect and appreciate golf for the beautiful game that it is. It is common for many avid golfers to spend countless hours hitting balls, working on specific swing techniques until their hands bleed.  Although we all know that "practice makes perfect," it is still important for us to take a step back, clear our heads, and look out into the open fairways - lined with tall trees and endless dreams!

In this weeks blog, I am going post some pictures of some of the most visually stunning golf courses from around the world, as well as some of my favorite golf courses I have played.  I invite you to comment on my blog and share some of your favorite golf courses or golf experiences that you've had!  

Augusta National - Augusta, GA
 
Pebble Beach Golf Links - Pebble Beach, CA

The Old Course at Saint Andrews Links - St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland

Cyprus Point Club - Pebble Beach, CA

Pine Valley Golf Club - Pine Valley, NJ


Now those are golfers' dream golf courses to play, but unfortunately for myself and many others, we may never get a chance to play these courses. So, here are a few public courses that I have played that I would highly recommend to any golfer:

Tobacco Road - Sanford, NC

Red Hawk Golf Club - East Tawas, MI

Arcadia Bluffs - Arcadia, MI

Tullymore - Stanwood, MI

Forest Dunes Golf Club - Roscommon, MI


The visual beauty of golf course architecture is something that I feel everyone can appreciate, and I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my favorite golf courses! I hope that you get the chance to play some of these courses someday, and if you have already played any of them, tell me all about your experience in the comment section!

Til' next time,

TheGolfGuy 

In this weeks golf lesson, I will be talking about the proper way to impact the golf ball - an extremely important topic that many amateur golfers aren't aware of OR don't spend enough time practicing!  Throughout my time as an instructor, so many of my students have asked me, "How do you hit your irons so far?!"  As a joke, I always respond, "Swing faster!!!"  Although this is slightly true, being that the quicker you swing the club (the more club speed you generate), the further you are likely to hit the ball.  BUT, you could swing the club 200 mph, if you aren't impacting the ball properly, you will not get the distance that you have the potential to get!

To begin, I think it's important for you as a golfer to visually see what proper impact looks like.  Below is a swing sequence of pro golfer, Sergio Garcia. For this portion of the lesson, specifically look at the second and third pictures.



As you can see in the third sequence, Sergio's hands are slightly in front of the ball when he makes his impact, and his hips have already cleared through the shot and his belt buckle is now pointing towards his target. THIS IS PROPER IMPACT POSITION! By doing so, Sergio is able to build tension in his club, and when properly impacted, can hit a pure and long iron shot!

Many amateur golfers have a hard time of finding this position because a lot of times they are "casting" or "flipping" the club on their downswing.  "Casting" the club is a term that is used to refer to an early release in the downswing which can prevent a player from getting the hands in front of the ball for a proper impact.  Below is an example of a golfer "casting" his club in his downswing:



As you can see, this golfers hands are way behind the ball when he impacts.  There is hardly any tension built up at impact and more importantly, this golfer has actually INCREASED the loft of his club face, which as we know promotes a higher, shorter shot and improper impact.

HOW DO WE FIX IT THIS AND GET TO OUR DESIRED IMPACT POSITION?

First of all, when practicing impact, don't get discouraged!  This concept is one of the most difficult things for amateur golfers to achieve and takes a lot of patience and a ton of practice! Work hard, be open to change, and as I always tell my students, if something you're practicing feels "weird" or "uncomfortable," there's a good chance you're doing it right, because what you were used to doing before probably wasn't!

So, one of my favorite and simplest ways to try and teach someone to get to the proper impact position is to imagine that your hands are in a race with the club face! YOUR HANDS MUST BEAT THE CLUB FACE TO THE BALL!  As you can see if the second picture of Sergio Garcia, his hands are significantly beating the club face to the ball - Sergio wins the race :)  He has created "lag" in his downswing and his club face is well behind his hands.  

A great drill for you to practice to help get you into the proper impact position is to take the club back half way, point the club upwards towards the sky, stop and check yourself, and keep the club face behind your hands, continually turning your hips through the swing.  Below is a video I put together to show this drill:

Do this drill, focusing on keeping the club face behind your hands, and it will help you to get an idea of the feeling you'll want to have to create that club lag.  Feel free to do it slow a few times, then pick up the speed once you get the hang of it, eventually moving to a full swing.

BE PATIENT, WORK HARD, ENJOY THE STRUGGLE, AND HAVE FUN!

Check back in for my future blog posts/lessons!

Good Luck!

P.S. A big thanks to Ron Manter at Golf Etc. in Rochester, MI for helping me video tape the impact drill!  If you live near the Golf Etc. store, stop in and check out all of the awesome golf equipment and apparel they have! Here is a link to the Golf Etc. Website: http://

bit.ly/1aN3Lz5 

Welcome to The Golf Guy Blog!  I hope to share this blog with golf enthusiasts like myself, or anyone who has even the slightest bit of interest in the greatest game ever played!  For those of you who may not share the same enthusiasm for the game of golf as I do, I hope this blog will influence you to take part in this beautiful sport - whether it be relentlessly crafting your OWN golf swing, or simply admiring the beauty that lies within the game!

Within this blog you will find anything and everything golf - from unforgettable golf quotes and stories, pictures proving the awe-inspiring beauty of the game, along with updates about my experiences teaching and playing golf.  Remember: Although golf can present many unforeseen challenges - constantly testing your mind, patience, skill, and imperfections, it can also be the most humbling, rewarding, and beautiful experience of your life!


Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.- Arnold Palmer

One of the most fascinating things about golf is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot - the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something. 
- Peter Jacobsen 

I've spent most of my life golfing - the rest I've just wasted.
- Unknown