Joey's Golf Bag

Via The Nine Ball Flights:

For years, I’ve struggled trying to work the ball as the golf instruction books all describe. I’ve just learned that the bulk of the golf instruction books are wrong on how to work the ball. No wonder I’ve been struggling to correct my swing, both on the range and on the course. I’m not athletically incompetent, I’m physics challenged.

Ball Flight Laws

For decades, the PGA Teaching Manual has contained some incorrect information pertaining to a golf ball’s flight. That information can be summed up as follows: “The golf ball starts on the direction of the swing path and curves back to where the clubface was aimed at impact.”

Put another way, the Manual has stated that the swing path is the primary, over-riding determinant in the golf ball’s initial starting direction. This information is wrong. It’s been updated (slightly) within recent years, yet many golfers – famous or otherwise – and instructors – famous or otherwise – still believe it.

Just shoot me. Initial ball flight is determined by the club face angle relative to the target line.

I’ve spent 5 years, more or less, trying to learn to swing the golf club, only to learn today that I’ve been correcting my ball flight based on faulty knowledge that the initial direction of the ball is determined by the swing path. I’m having difficulty getting my head around all this, so I had to figure out how to explain it to myself. Here’s what I came up with as an explanation. Warning, there’s a little simple math involved here.

So, as we all know, a square clubface with a inside-to-square-to-inside swing path produces a straight shot. A push is produced by a swing that is inside-to-outside with the clubface square to the swing path at impact. A pull is produced by a swing that is outside-to-inside with a clubface that is square to the swing path at impact. Nothing has changed here.

Draw spin is produced when the clubface angle is closed with respect to the swing path. Fade spin is produced when the clubface is open with respect to the swing path. Nothing has changed here.

A draw is a golf shot that starts straight but curves left (for a right handed golfer). A fade is a golf shot that starts straight but curves right (again, for a right handed golfer — I’ll assume a right-handed golfer from here on out). A push fade is a shot that starts right and also curves right; a push draw is a shot that starts right but curves left. Equivalently, a pull fade is a shot that starts left but curves right, and a pull draw is a shot that starts left and curves left. The way these shots are produced is different than I was taught, and probably how you’ve been taught as well. Let’s delve deeper.

Let’s call the clubface angle relative to the target line alpha ɑ. If the clubface is square to the target line at impact, then ɑ = 90°. Because we now know that the initial path of the ball is determined the the angle of the clubface at impact, the ball goes straight when ɑ = 90°. When ɑ > 90°, the ball starts left (pulls) and when ɑ < 90°, the ball starts right (pushes).

Let’s call the clubface angle relative to the swing path beta β. If the ball goes straight, then there is no draw or fade spin, so the clubface is square, or β = 90°. If the ball draws, the clubface is closed relative to the swing path, and β < 90°; conversely, if the ball fades, then the clubface is open relative to the swing path and β > 90°.

The next diagram shows how the ball reacts when the clubface is square at the point of impact. The ball’s initial ball flight will be straight. If the swing path angle is less than 90°, then this produces draw spin and the ball draws away from the target line. Conversely, if the swing path is greater than 90°, then the ball has a fade spin and the ball fades away from the target line.

The diagram below shows the effect of a closed clubface at impact. The initial ball flight is a pull. If the swing path angle is less than 90°, then the shot becomes a pull draw; if the swing path angle is aligned with the clubface, the shot is a pull, and if the swing path angle is greater than 90°, then the shot is a pull fade.

The last diagram shows the effect of an open clubface at impact. The initial ball flight is a push. If the swing path angle is less than 90°, then the shot is a push draw. If the swing path angle is aligned with the clubface, the shot is a push, and if the swing path angle is greater than 90°, then the shot is a push fade.

Now, we can build a little table to determine why your ball flew the way it did. This will also guide us in figuring out how to hit the shot we want. And this time, have it actually work, because what I was doing before based on multiple golf instruction manuals, was wrong.

Here’s the table.

OK, that’s the table. How do we use it? That’s a topic for another post (coming soon).

Filmed this afternoon at Golden Bear Golf Center by Russ from Fit2Score. The camera used was a Casio EX-F1 at 300 fps, edited in iMovie to MPEG4, and then uploaded to YouTube.

So, here’s what is going on. Obviously, way past parallel at the top, which causes me to be a little out of control. Swing is too much from the inside (mostly!) with an open club face (really need to work on my release — fear of the hook, I guess). The ball will end up in the middle of the fairway, just not the one I’m aiming at.

I really, really need to see Mike again. Get well soon, Mike.

… but not getting the results I want.

Last Saturday, I played a two-man best ball tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. I’d been working hard on my swing, but still had problems keeping the ball on the fairway off the tee. My irons have improved, but my driving, previously the best part of my game, was now pretty poor. I’ve been hitting a mix of pushes and hooks, and in general, not having a clue about where the ball was going to go off the tee. The howling wind didn’t help either. When I hit the shot solidly, I didn’t have any issue with the wind, but most of the day my shots were anything but. I really only had two well-played holes: #2 on Mockingbird (hit my hybrid just over the green and got up-and-down for par), #3 on Mockingbird (hit a very long drive with the wind, leaving me a pitching wedge to the green, which I hit pin-high into the center of the green and two-putt for par). I did manage another par on #6 on Bluebonnet, but that was after a huge push with the driver, a mediocre iron shot short of the green, a pitch hit thin well past the hole and bombing a 35 ft putt into the cup. The one hole that really describes how my day went is #1 on Bluebonnet. I hit a good drive just short of the fairway bunker, a low 4-wood to about 10 yds short of the green, a pitch hit thin over the green, a putt from off the green no-where close to the hole and 2 putts for bogey. And my putting was just terrible all day, which didn’t help.

Yesterday, I had a lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I told him about my struggles with the driver and the longer clubs. He put me on the video, and again, I’d reverted back to not having enough hip turn at impact, with a bit of a lunge toward the target. He changed my setup slightly so that my knees were more over my ankles (feeling a little like riding a horse). He had me hit shots over and over with my 4-wood, making sure to feel like my left butt-cheek was moving straight back on the downswing. Viola! Instant improvement in ball contact. He told me to expect to have to hit 1000’s of balls before fully incorporating that movement into my swing.

After my lesson, I went over to the simulator and hit some drives. My driving improved dramatically, and I hit some of the longest drives I’ve hit yet on that simulator. My swingspeed is slowly improving. I’ve not gotten it to 100 mph clubhead speed yet, but I’m averaging about 92 mph now. My goal is a consistent 100 mph clubhead speed.

As it turns out, Bridgestone was in Golf Galaxy doing ball fitting. We started with my usual ProV1 ball, then tried the Bridgestone Tour B330-RXS ball and the e5 ball. I had the best distance with the Tour B330-RXS ball, and he gave me two sleeves of balls to try out on the course. I’ll play them on my next round and see if I can tell a difference.

On Sunday, John and I managed to get in 9 holes before yet more crappy weather moved into Texas. We met on the range at Coyote Ridge around 2PM and hit a few balls to warm up. The weather was pretty nice at this point, low-60s and partly cloudy. I didn’t play particularly well, but I did manage to win a couple of skins off John. My drives tended to go right and my pitches tended to be long. The good weather didn’t last, though, on the 4th hole we had some cold rain come down for a few minutes. Fortunately, it didn’t last, and though the weather continued to get colder, at least it didn’t rain and we were able to finish up our 9.

On Monday and Wednesday after work, I managed to hit a few balls at Hank Haney (I had to put on my long underwear as the weather was quite cold, though sunny). My irons are gradually improving, but my driving wasn’t. This afternoon, after work, I considered hitting balls, but the clouds were rolling in and a few rain drops threatened. Instead, I decided to see if Mike Murray could fit me in. He could, so I went over to Golf Galaxy to get in a lesson.

I warmed up in the simulator, as no customers were using it. I stretched and then hit a few balls, poorly, with my 6-iron. I then switched to the driver and hit a few balls. Mike walked up just as I popped one off the heel. Oops. He had me hit a few more and all of them went left, which is unusual for me (I usually miss right). We went back to the instruction area to see what problem I’m struggling with this time.

Well, the problem was immediately obvious: poor hip turn. I thought I was turning my hips well, but the video clearly showed I wasn’t turning. Instead, I was moving my hips toward the ball instead of turning my hips properly. He had me hit short shots with my 6-iron. He showed me where the clubhead should be just after impact; I had the clubhead much too far around. We worked on those short shots for a while, concentrating on getting the clubhead into the right place just after impact, with my hands clearly in front of the ball at impact, and also making sure my head remained behind the ball at impact. We then worked on getting a proper hip turn. He wanted me to force my belt buckle toward the target after impact and to let the club release properly toward the target and not so much around my body. We worked on this for several more shots and the video showed great improvement. I then got out the driver and hit a few balls with the same swing thoughts and I hit the ball much more solidly.

We went back to the simulator, and hit some drives. My distance was considerably improved and the majority of my drives were nice draws. I was extremely pleased and happy with my progress in this lesson. The key will be can I get this swing to work once Mike is not watching me. I’ll find out soon enough, as I have a tournament this weekend in the GGA.

I’m looking forward to it.

This morning, I had another lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I hit a few balls in the fitting area to warm up and started the lesson. I told him about my difficulties with the driver (push fades) and inconsistent ball-striking with the irons (fat or thin). He had me hit a few balls and then looked at the video. My hands weren’t in front of the ball again (a re-occurring theme). He taped a rod onto the shaft of my 7-iron and had me set up normally with the rod clear of my left side. He had me hit short shots with that rod in place. At first, I hit the ball well right of the target line, but as I hit a few more balls, managed to get the ball going straight. A look on the video showed my hands well in front of the ball at impact. I took my sand wedge and hit a few short shots with it, and the video showed good impact with my hands well in front of the ball.

Next, we worked on the driver. I did a few practice swings the previous drill in mind, and then hit some shots. The first shot was a drop kick, but I started hitting some good shots. In the video, we noticed that my wrist position at the top has improved; my wrist is flatter, with the result that the clubface is no longer open at the top. My other, less important issue, was a slight reverse tilt at the top. He had me swing with a 3/4 swing, and on the video, I still had a full swing, but the slight reverse tilt was gone. He’s not concerned with that issue at the present as it is minor.

Today’s lesson was quite good, so I decided to run over to Hank Haney Golf Ranch and hit a few balls. I started off pretending that the rod was attached to my 7-iron and hit short shots. I had a difficult time of it, but I kept at it and started hitting some well-struck, but low flying shots. I changed to hitting full swings off a tee, and my ball-striking gradually got better. With the remaining balls, I played a mock round at Coyote Ridge on the range. I was pleased to say that, with the exception of one shot, well struck (not always straight, but neither fat nor thin).

I was quite pleased with my progress today. A vast amount of work remains, but my ball-striking is finally improving.

This afternoon, after work, I had another lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. The snow was coming down heavily (the kids were granted a day off) as I drove to the lesson. I took my sand wedge, 7-iron and driver with me this time. I usually take the pitching wedge, but decided to take the sand wedge, because it misbehaved so badly on Saturday. The store was pretty much deserted when I got there, as Big D shuts down on the rare occasion when snow falls.

I told him about my difficulty with the wedges, so we worked on that first. He had me hit some pitches, and though I hit them pretty well, he wanted to show me a different technique. He wanted me to set up with a very open stance and the ball back from where I usually play it. I thought I had it in the center of my stance, but he proved to me that it was forward of center. He wanted me to keep my hands very close to my body at impact, and wanted me to use much less arm motion and more wrist motion. From a very open stance, this method keeps my backswing from being too long and thus prevents deceleration. I hit some balls with this method and on the video it showed I was indeed hitting the ball very solidly with my hands well ahead of the ball at impact. When we did this same swing with a 7-iron, it was still impressively solid.

Next, we worked on the driver. I told him that I’d been having to aim left, as my drives were tending to go right. I hit several balls and indeed the video showed I was hitting a little too much from the inside, thus causing the ball to go right. I guess I have made progress in getting rid of the over-the-top swing. He was wondering what was causing the ball to go right, as the swing appeared pretty solid on the video. He thought my driver shaft might have a little too much flex for my now improved swing. We went to the launch monitor to hit a few drives, and I hit them right as well. The clubfitter came over to help with some clubs with stiffer shafts. After a few swings, we’d pretty much agreed with the conclusion that my driver shaft needed to be stiffer, and possibly less loft. We decided to reshaft my driver with a UST V2 stiff. I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

By now, we’d run way over on time, but he had me hit a few irons to see how I was progressing there. I still needed to get my hips turned a little more at impact, and after a few swings, showed some improvement on the video with my hands clearly in front of the ball at impact. Things are looking up!

A really good lesson. I’m looking forward to see how the stiffer shaft works with my improved swing.

This has been a strange week for golf. On Sunday, John and I went to Top Golf to hit balls in the relative comfort of a heated driving range, with interesting targets. I hit the ball poorly; too many swing thoughts from my lessons. On Wednesday, we managed to get in nine holes before the sun went down. Again, too many swing thoughts. I won only one skin. On Thursday, I had my fifth lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I told him about my golfing woes from the past week. We worked mainly on a slightly different setup (more shoulder tilt away from the ball) and then concentrated on getting my hands in front of the ball at impact. We also worked on getting a little more hip turn before impact. We spent the entire lesson on these two items, especially making sure that my right arm was bent at impact, and not straight. By the end of the lesson, I was beginning to my hands in front of the ball at impact on a full swing. I don’t think I’ve done that since I hurt my shoulder in late 2008.

Yesterday, after work, I made a quick run to Hank Haney to hit some balls before the sun went down. I hit a lot of balls, but not particularly well. Too many swing thoughts.

This morning, I played in the GGA tournament at Grapevine Golf Club. There was a frost delay, so I didn’t get on the first tee until about 12:30PM (my original tee time was 11:03AM). I had warmed up very nicely on the range, but didn’t know that there was a delay, so after I finished warming up, I discovered that it would be at least an hour before I teed off. Since it was cart path only, I decided to walk, so I loaded up my push cart. I prefer to walk anyway, but this is the first time I’ve walked in a tournament. We played Pecan followed by Bluebonnet.

While I was pleased that I warmed up well, I was very apprehensive on the first tee. Fortunately I striped my tee shot right down the middle, leaving me with a relatively short approach. I hit my approach pin-high, but right of the pin and two-putted for par. On the second hole, my tee shot was hit a tiny bit fat and I was short and left of the flag. I hit a nice chip and made a short putt for par. On the third hole, I hit yet another nice tee shot, but my approach shot was hit dead right into the crap above the green. I didn’t find the ball, took a drop and proceeded to make a mess of the hole, making triple. Still, I had a good nine, shooting 45 despite way too many swing thoughts.

On the back, things came a little undone. My short game gave up the ghost, and I either hit my wedges fat and short, or thin over greens. Ugly. Still, managed to get around in 53 despite two triples and a quad. I finished up by hitting the pin on the 9th hole on Bluebonnet and tapping in for bogey.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation.

Themes:

• Off the tee. I hit 8 of 14 fairways and one par-3 hole in regulation. I had one penalty off the tee, a topped hybrid on Bluebonnet #4.
• Approach shots. I hit four greens in regulation. I had one penalty off an approach shot, a 7-wood hit dead right into the crap on #3 on Pecan. I was just off the green on several shots, so not so bad.
• Wedges. Wedges just ate my lunch on the back, either hitting them fat and short, or thin and over the green. Seriously stinky. My only memorable shot (after hitting an approach wedge so fat that the greens crew sent out a backhoe to fill in the divot) was a 1/2 swing approach wedge that hit the pin on #9 on Bluebonnet and dropped 3 ft away. By some miracle, I made the putt (for bogey).
• Chipping. I got up-and-down only four times, so I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my chipping. I tended to hit my chips long.
• Sand shots. I hit into only one bunker, a fairway bunker on #7 on Pecan. I attempted to hit a pitching wedge to the green, but the ball caught the lip and went back in. My second bunker shot was nicely hit onto the green.
• Putting. On the front, I had only 15 putts, but had four (!) 3-putts on the back. I had a total of 36 putts, pretty darn stinky.

Well, I played decently on the front, but my putting and wedges really stank on the back. Still, 98 was my best tournament score, and considering the very cold and cloudy weather, not too bad. I’ll probably be in the money.

Update: I came in 2nd gross for the tournament, and I’m now second on the leaderboard. 🙂

This afternoon after work, I had a lesson with Mike Murray at Golf Galaxy. I told him about my good driving the last time I played last Friday, and also how bad my irons had been. My main issue on the course was inconsistent contact with the ball. Sometimes I hit the ball fat, sometimes thin. I just could never make solid contact on the ball. He had me hit a few balls with the pitching wedge so he could see what was happening. The first thing he noticed was I didn’t have enough shoulder tilt. We fixed that easily, I just setup the same way I do when I hit the driver, plus a little more forward lean of the club. This change helped immediately with making better contact on the ball.

Next, we noticed on the video that my hips were nearly square to the line at impact. That looks like my main issue right now. We worked on getting my left hip to turn properly so that my hips are turned toward the target at impact. This change was a little hard to get used to, but certainly necessary. He wants me to initiate the downswing by turning my hips to the left. I thought I was doing that, but it was clear on the video that I wasn’t. He gave me a drill to help with that. I hit a few balls trying to get the hip turned properly, and on the occasion when the club hit the ball, I made powerful contact on the ball.

Next week, we’re going to work on my position at the top. The clubhead is quite a bit open at the top, so that’s what we’ll work on next week, and also check that my hips are turning properly.

I’m making progress, more slowly than I’d like, but I’ve had little time to practice due to work schedule and bad weather.

Yesterday, I took the afternoon off to go play at Grapevine Golf Club with John. The day was sunny, warm and blustery. We went off at 12:30PM on Bluebonnet and finished up on Mockingbird about 4 hours later. I didn’t keep the scorecard, but it wasn’t pretty, other than my driver was good all day. It felt so good, in fact, I used it on every par-4 and par-5 hole, even on my nemesis holes like #6 on Mockingbird and #2 on Bluebonnet. I hit 10 fairways, and all the ones I missed I still had playable lies. And, for only the third time ever, I had no penalties.

No penalties didn’t help, because the rest of my game this day was just awful. I did have a couple of good second shots on par-5 holes, but my iron play was just atrocious. I had only one green-in-regulation (a par-3 hole), my sand play was a complete and total disaster, and I had three 3-putts and only got up-and-down 3 times. I did make a couple of long putts, but I also missed two putts within 3 ft.

But at least I can hit the driver! My confidence with the driver was very high, and I found myself with shorter irons into the green than ever before. Not that having short irons helped, as I didn’t hit a good iron shot from the fairway all day, typically coming up well short, either hitting it very thin or very fat.

On the other hand, my lessons are going well. I had my third lesson with Mike Murray on Thursday, and although I’m making progress (evidence: my stellar driving yesterday), I still have much work to do to get rid of 5 years of bad swings. We’re working mostly on getting into proper position at the top of the backswing, and then making sure the clubhead is on the right path. This is mostly working with the driver / fairway woods / hybrid, and mostly not with the irons. I also need to be more aggressive with my hip turn on the downswing. I’ve definitely found the right instructor.

This week, I’m concentrating on short game and putting for the tournament next weekend at Grapevine Golf Club.