Newsletter July 2012
johnhayesgolf.com
I am offering a Two-DayGolfSchoolon August 3rd and 4th (check website, johnhayesgolf.com to sign up) and one of the things that I like most about this situation is that I will have time to show the golfers some great practice games that will make their practice time much more beneficial. One is the Pitching Game where you pitch 5 balls onto the green and then putt out and record how many “up and downs” that you made where you take the pitch shot and then make it in one putt. You will go to 8 different locations in this game which represent different distances from the hole, from 30 feet all the way to 90 feet. At the end of this practice game you will have hit 40 pitch shots and, if you want to play on one of the Professional Tours, then you should average between 26 and 30 “up and downs” each time. Any practice game of this type more closely simulates the mental focus that you will need during a round of golf.
Now for a golf question: if you have a circle on a piece of paper and you draw several horizontal chords, which are just straight lines connecting the arc to another point on the arc, what are all of those horizontal chords in relation to each other?
They are all parallel to each other. This gives you a good picture of how the shaft of the golf club should look when it is swung back and becomes level with the ground for the first time. The club becomes a part of a horizontal chord for the circular shape of the golf swing. So the shaft of the club should be parallel to the target line when it is level with the ground and the toe of the clubhead should be pointing upward. You can check this position to see if you have the correct direction for your backswing. This is also a good checkpoint when practicing the small swing of a pitch shot. Now – what part of you is used to swing the clubhead backward in this direction? I believe the most efficient way is to use both hands to swing the clubhead backward. If you use the hips or the body to start to swing the clubhead backward then the clubhead will lag behind and not be in the proper sequence for the coiling action of the backswing. This is NOT to say the hips and shoulders don’t turn during the backswing. They do turn but it is ideal if they are turning in response to the coiling of the clubhead during the backswing. The clubhead has a lot farther to go than hips to be fully coiled.
As always, call or email if you have any questions and I hope to see you at Chi Chi’sGolfRangeinClearwater,FLfor a golf lesson soon.