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Newsletter - Issue 161 Date 01/27/11
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TCT Quick Tip - Commit To The Putt
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Once you have made up your mind on speed and break, aim and make a 
smooth stroke. Commit to the putt and do not second guess yourself.


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Golf Tip: Approach Shot Direction 
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I made an important discovery on direction just before the weather broke bad
last year that I would like to share.

I am a proponent of a hybrid rotational swing, but I am always tweaking things in my 
never ending quest to complete all the dots in the golf swing.

Last year I was carrying my usual handicap, but I was not happy with the fact that
my approach shot misses were multi-directional: sometimes left, sometimes right.
I'm not talking anything drastic here, just a minor two sided miss. 

It was mentally annoying it to have a consistent core swing ball flight -
one of the most important aspects of scoring low.

After much reflection on the cause, I discovered that every now and then, 
while attempting to hit a pure rotary "inside - down the line - inside" swing (referring to
swing path here) I would be hitting the ball at a point that was beyond the extension
of my outermost swing arc. 

As a result, I would hit it left every now and then, with a draw or fade, depending 
on if my brain felt it going there and tightened my left hand grip or not.  Another drawback
was that the fade would also be "distance deficient" to a degree.

An "inside - down the line - inside" swing path is commonly called an "in to in" swing path, 
and is considered to be ideal for a rotary swing - as opposed to "in to out" (inside out) or 
"out to in" (outside in, over the top) swing path.

My thoughts are that a potential weakness of a pure rotary swing is just what
I was doing - hitting it a bit "outside - in" because for various reasons I was making contact
with the ball past the outermost extension of my swing, when the my swingpath was travelling
in a direction heading left of the target line.

It's very easy to have this happen - perhaps even commonplace with a rotary swing - when 
you are trying to hit the ball very straight down the target line.

I found the cure when I was experimenting with another swing method.  Actually it
was something that I used to do twenty years ago with a more traditional swing
that I was using at that time.

For my irons, I simply moved the ball back in my stance, and found a spot when I was 
hitting the ball at a point where my swing was still travelling on an "inside - out" path 
towards the ball.  I also adjusted my weight so that it was a little more left side oriented
through the whole swing, and especially during the downswing, so that my swing path 
was definitely travelling "inside - out" towards the ball with my weight about 80% on my left side.

You make contact with the ball just prior to getting the swing path down the target line, 
so it's an "inside - strike the ball - outside the target line - down the target line - inside" swing.  

Simply stated - an "in-out" swingpath.

The sensation is that you feel like you are swinging out at the ball - which also increases 
clubhead speed and the likelihood of solid contact.

The added directional benefit is that almost all of my "misses: are now right sided, so mentally
the left side of the course isn't in play anymore, and my core swing ball flight is very consistent.

For my driver, I move the ball less far back in my stance, and keep my weight more evenly
distributed at address - but I still want to feel an "in - out" swingpath, unless I'm trying to
hit a fade.

If you are experiencing a two sided miss with most of your irons shots, give this a try - you'll
like the results in terms of core swing ball flight consistency and solid contact.

Enjoy,

Tom