==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 120 Date 12/02/09 ==================================================== ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - DIY Putting Green and Medicine Ball ==================================================== Eyeline Golf came up with a great plan for your own do it yourself putting green, the interesting thing to me is that they did their homework and recommended a specific brand of covering for the surface: http://www.wnygolflessons.com/pgplan.pdf Here's another great site for golf related exercises: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/golffitness.html This site has a lot of core related exercises where a 5 to 10 lb rubber type medicine ball is used. To make your own "El Cheapo" 10 lb medicine ball, buy a 10 lb bag of Quikrete ( a concrete mix ) that runs about $4.50 at your local hardware store. Wrap it tight in a hefty garbage bag, trim excess plastic, then duct tape the heck out of it. Voila, your own medicine ball. Actually, a 5 to 10 lb sack of anything will work, even dirt in a hefty bag will do, just make sure that you duct tape the heck out of it. ==================================================== Golf Tip: Firm Left Arm - Relaxed hands ==================================================== *Note to all my Lefties - please reverse the Right and Left references, thanks Tom There are two factors that have a huge impact on the success of your golf swing - A firm left side and relaxed hands. A firm left side helps generate more torque and control on the backswing, and relaxed hands produces more swing speed on the downswing. One of the biggest misconceptions about the golf swing is this idea that you have to swing with a “wide arc” to generate swing speed and distance. This is true, but it only applies to the backswing. Yet, a lot of instruction articles tend to confuse many golfers of this fact because they fail to say that this does not apply to the downswing. It is true that the wider the swing on the backswing, the greater the torque you can generate for your swing, however, on the downswing, how you manage this torque is critical to the distance capability of your swing. Trying to swing wide on the downswing has the opposite effect you would expect on distance.. You would expect that the more muscle force you can apply to the swing, the faster you are going to accelerate the club head from the top of the swing, and in fact that's true. But, there is a slight twist here - because there is another way of achieving faster acceleration of the club head. The torque or coil you generate for the golf swing is mostly generated on the backswing as you wind up your golf muscles. This is why it is so important to keep a firm left arm to swing “wide” on the backswing and generate as much torque as possible. Many high handicap golfers allow the left elbow to break. In doing so they reduce the radius of the swing and the “lever” action on the back and shoulder muscles, which in turn reduces the torque they can generate considerably. To visualize this effect, try to imagine tightening a nut using a wrench with a flexible hinge half way down it’s length....not very effective! Once you have reached the top of your swing you are ready to transfer that torque into accelerating the club head on the downswing. Here is the twist and why so many golfers get the downswing confused: In the “rotating motion” of a golf swing you can increase acceleration of the club head by increasing torque. However you can also increase acceleration by “lowering” the swing MOI - moment of inertia. How do you do that - reduce your swing MOI? You can increase club head speed simply with the technique you use in keeping the swing radius as “compact” as possible for as long as possible on the downswing. You do that by delaying the release of the hands. Professional golfers do this magnificently. They simply let their swing unwind from the top of their swing using the torque stored in their backswing. By keeping their swing compact with their hands fully cocked, they make maximum use of that torque in accelerating the club head rapidly from the zero speed position at the top of the swing. As they begin to release their hands towards the bottom of the swing, the MOI of the swing “increases” because the swing radius is increasing. This requires more torque to maintain the swing accelerating through the turn. At that point the pro golfer will kick in more torque with the continuing rotation of their torso and their right shoulder drive through the impact position. The most common swing problem with the high handicap golfer is an “early release” of the hands right from the top of the swing. Simply imagining a wide swing radius on the downswing can cause an early release, I personally think it's a main cause of this fault. As soon as this occurs, the MOI of the swing increases by the “square” of the radius increase of the swing. A proportional increase in torque required to start the swing also occurs at the same time as this happens. Not only does this make it much more difficult to start the swing, it also results in the golfer being thrown off balance right from the start of the downswing. Conversely, simply imagining a tight downswing can help you release properly. How do you avoid an early hand release? Keep your hands relaxed as much as possible at the start of the downswing. Allow them to lag until just above belt buckle height on the downswing, then power them through the impact zone. The point where you release your hands is where more torque is required to keep the downswing accelerating. That comes from your hand release, torso rotation, and right shoulder drive through the ball. Note: If you stop turning your core and driving your right shoulder through impact, your shot will probably start left and hook. Be aware of what causes this ball flight. If all that you think about the next time you go to the range is maintaining a firm left arm throughout the swing and relaxed hands on the downswing, you will begin to hit solid shot with more distance. Swing wide on the backswing using a firm left side to generate high swing torque. Keep the downswing as compact as possible by totally relaxing the hands to avoid an early release. Enjoy, Tom