The Right Stuff Checklist

In this section and throughout this web site, I make all suggestions and give examples assuming that I am dealing with a "standard" human being who just happens to be right-handed. If you are a lefty, I am quite sure you can make the necessary adjustments. I use the word "standard" because I have too much respect for my fellow golfers to lump them into categories based on physical anomalies and to claim that what I say here can apply to everyone (though a lot of it does). There just happens to be a large group of extremely "exceptional" golfers... blind golfers, golfers without arms, legs, fingers - those who can only play while being secured onto the side of a golf cart... I can empathize with these tremendous pillars of superhuman spirit but I would be lying and would be inconsiderate of their situation's if I said I could relate to their personal struggles as they persevere at this wondrous game. Let me just say that if even a few words from anywhere in this site helps even one of these remarkable individuals, then, to me, the web site has served a great purpose.

For now, let's assume you are a person in fairly decent shape and are able to handle the day-to-day things that human beings must continually deal with. You do a fair amount of walking (you might be surprised to learn just how much walking the average person does in a day's time), you can go up and down stairs without a lot of struggle, you have good enough hand-eye coordination that you can drive an automobile with a great deal of confidence - maybe you even have a manual transmission and must coordinate two hands and two feet in order to keep your car moving along safely. Well, if you fit the above profile, you are capable of playing a very nice game of golf - maybe even an exceptional game of golf.

Throughout my learning years (actually, the learning never stops), I have always used what I consider to be an irrefutable source of quantifiable knowledge when deciding whether or not to try something new or give a band-aid tip a try (unlike most instructors, I am not totally biased against band-aids - they often lead to complete healing) - my source consists of..... THE WORLD'S BEST PLAYERS! Who better to study than the people who have made tournament golf their life's calling. If a player has been successful for any length of time, has managed to at least "occasionally" perform well against his/her peers, well then, I become extremely interested in what that player does in order to increase his/her chance for success.

The first question I ask myself before trying something totally new is "do any successful touring pros do that"? I mentioned back in "The Right Stuff" section, when describing how to stand up to the imaginary ball - set your left foot out about a quarter of a turn and keep your right foot perpendicular to your target line... well, THESE ARE NOT ABSOLUTES. Depending on your anatomical makeup, you might be better served having both feet pointing outward or even inward (there have been successful pros using all three foot positions). By the same token, I can't think of one truly successful golfer that allowed his right leg and foot to go so far to the right on the backswing that the right knee ended up, collapsed, OUTSIDE the right foot and the right foot rolled onto it's outside edge (Curtis Strange won back to back U.S. Opens with more lateral knee movement than any successful player before or since BUT HE STILL KEPT THE STORED UP ENERGY ON THE INSIDE MUSCLES OF HIS RIGHT LEG)... hence, to me, until someone proves to me otherwise, it is an ABSOLUTE that in order to hit consistently solid shots, we must not let our weight slip onto the outside of the right foot when we make our backswing.

We hear a lot these days about "athleticism" in golf and how more and more golfers are spending lots of time in the gym and working on strength, stretching, balance etc... and that is all well and good - BUT, I don't think it is an absolute necessity to playing better than average golf (if one wants to reach "superstar" level, it may be necessary to OUTWORK your fellow pros). In "The Right Stuff" section once again, I mentioned the setting of the spine and torso - straight lines and all of that - well, THEY ARE NOT ABSOLUTES. One need look no further than Jack Nicklaus. Jack in his prime had a most unique setup THAT HELPED TO PRODUCE THE RESULTS (ball flight) THAT HE WAS STRIVING FOR. If you watched Jack at address (especially with a shorter club), you would notice a lot of the good qualities that we strive for... well grounded, slight knee bend, butt out slightly, straight spine - BUT - then quite a bit of angle or separation between that imaginary continual line of the spine and Jack's shoulders and his head - THEY WERE DEFINITELY NOT IN A CONTINUOUS STRAIGHT LINE. I think a lot of the younger players today are getting caught up in this "WESTPOINT" setup.

Let's compare two golfers - Adam Scott and Julius Boros. Obviously, Adam Scott is a terrific golfer and who knows what the future holds for him? That having been said, I sometimes get the feeling that his address position (and those of a lot of other tour pros) look so contrived - almost strained... to the point that the "athletic" setup is almost the desired end result instead of what any good setup should be - a means by which to consistenly and accurately deliver the clubhead to the ball. Watch some old videos of Mr. Boros from back in the 50's and 60's. His entire demeanor was one of grace and ease - in my mind, he "danced" his way through the setup and delivery... not a hint of tension - talk about a free-flowing motion... no wonder he won 2 U.S. Opens and countless other tournaments. I'm not saying here that we should abandon all golfing evolution that has gotten us to the present day and that we should all just emulate the great Bobby Jones in his "hickory stick" heyday (although, we could do much worse) but I am saying that I think we are forgetting the main goal... correct and effective application of clubhead on ball.

If you study the game at any length and are always interested in hearing about or reading about the latest and greatest teaching tip or the hottest new "miracle" club on the market, then you probably, as I have done for at least 30 years, have at least one or two of the more popular monthly golf magazines delivered to your door every month. Before I make some very big enemies out there, let me say that these monthly offerings have probably done more for the growth of the game than anyone or anything else. They have taken us into the heads and minds of some of the greatest golfers and instructors in the world, they keep us up to date with all the latest in club development and through beautifully woven stories and spectacular pictorials, have taken us to places that, face it, most of us will never get to see in our lifetime. Their lead-ins to upcoming tournaments (mainly, the majors) get me all excited and I find myself counting the days till tee-off - and I will watch every minute of every round that the stations choose to show us.

My problem with these magazines is the amount of conflicting information we are continually exposed to. One instructor one month says that an effective backswing can only be performed when we move everything in a ONE-PIECE motion - hands, forearms, shoulders, hips etc... Next month, another instructor says that a successful backswing must begin with a slight cocking of the wrists and turning of the shoulders - while trying to restrain the hips from doing WHAT THEY WANT TO DO NATURALLY - and that is turn along with the rest of the body. I'll read one article that says when chipping or pitching, you should use a stiff-wristed action (first of all, they are already at fault for clumping together pitching and chipping - they are inherently different ways to advance the ball and each require slight adjustments in technique to be done successfully). Next month, someone says "the only way to hit good chip shots is to treat them as what they are - miniature golf swings - and allow a slight cocking of the wrists and maybe even a little body movement in order to maintain touch and timing (I prefer this method, by the way).

But, you get my gist. It just gets way more than a little frustrating and anyway, it is my contention that as long as I have been reading, everything is a rehash anyway - in other words - there is nothing new under the sun (one could argue, as I have, that Jim Hardy uncovered the first significant golfing discovery in a long time and to a degree, I believe it - my problem is that too many golfers - most notably, Ben Hogan, the quintessential one-plane swinger, does not follow all of the rules laid out by Mr. Hardy in order to be a successful one-planer... I, personally, think Mr. Hogan was pretty darned successful). I guess I should also mention at this time, the "Stack and Tilt"* as being something new and revolutionary. With all due respect to Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett, I have not done a very exhaustive study of this method. I do understand the basic concept and tried, what I thought, were stack and tilt swings and all I could think of was "I'm sort of doing the old reverse pivot here" - something that has been declared a swing wrecker for decades. In their defense, though, the swing -as I understand it - absolutely keeps you "centered" over the ball and more consistently clean contact should surely result. The fact remains that there are a lot of golfers, some of them world class, who use this method (or "think" they are using it) and I guess we'll just have to wait and see if it stands the test of time and produces a number of successful touring pros (the same can be said for Mr. Hardy's "Plane Truth"). Well, so far, I've exhausted the English dictionary and have only given my first absolute... let's declare a few more.

If you continually struggle, hit all kinds of bad shots and have no consistency at all, the grip is the first and most important/logical thing to check out. If you are fairly new to the game, you might want to purchase one of those "training" grips (they come in different sizes - see the custom club building sites I mentioned in "Knowing The Tools"). The training grip puts your hands in a nice, neutral position and is a good starting point for any golfer because almost all of the world's best golfers use a grip that is at least "similar" to the grip the training tool teaches you. Over time, and based on the tendency of your shots, you may find it necessary to move your hands around on the grip until you find just the right way to hold the club - FOR YOU - that produces the best shots. Some valid generalities regarding the grip. The two hands need to 'work together' - implying that they should be pretty much facing each other, as if you were going to clap your hands together.

I think all the talk about pressure points and trigger fingers and so on just adds to the confusion/mystery regarding the grip... the hands need to "feel" like they are a single unit, working together - with just enough "squeezing" by the fingers to keep the club under control without totally tensing up the forearm and shoulder muscles. Since the left hand is the one at the top of the grip (almost always), I think you need to maintain the feeling of a little more control of the club with this hand (as in slightly more grip pressure than with the right hand - especially the last 2 or 3 fingers). Once again, let your shots tell you what is happening. If you can not produce anything more than a dull thud at impact, chances are your grip is wrong - perhaps you have the club too much in the palm and not enough in the fingers or you are gripping it way too tightly. As soon as the shots feel and sound crisp, you'll know you are close to having the right grip for you. "SOUND and FEEL"... two very important words in golf that should always be in the back of your mind........

I have hit hundreds of very nice golf shots WITHOUT MAKING A TRADITIONAL BACKSWING. As a matter of fact, this might be a very good drill for anyone to determine how productive the sequencing of their body motion is based on shot quality. During one of your pratice sessions, take your normal address position (with a club and ball)... NOW, bend your wrists upward which should cause the club to point fairly straight up towards the heavens... lift your arms up until they are at about shoulder-height. Now, maintain a solid base with your feet and lower body while turning your shoulders about 90 degrees to the right (this should feel like a WONDERFUL top-of-swing position)... you should feel locked and loaded - make sure you have kept the built up energy on the INSIDE of your right leg... left knee should be bent and pointing towards the ball... shoulders and hips are turned and your whole body should feel as though it has built up enough stored energy to send the ball a fair distance. NOW, WE'RE GOING TO HIT THE BALL... As a "trigger" to unleash this stored energy, make just a little bit more of a turn with the shoulders, let the lower body (left hip bump) movement begin, and start to unwind - don't allow your head to sway forward - keep it back... concentrate on making solid contact and give the ball a healthy whack WITHOUT TRYING TO MUSCLE IT.

When you can hit a whole bunch of shots like this and hit them fairly well, you know that you are a long way towards having a reliable swing, built around solid fundamentals and correct sequencing of body parts. While this is a wonderful drill to practice, even I have to agree that in order to get the most out of your swing and the highest clubhead speed and potential distance, you will need to create a consistent flow to your swing, starting from address, moving the club backwards and upwards with decent speed in order to hit the VERY BEST shots you are capable of. Your job now just requires "swinging" the club from a "standard" address position - on up to that pre-set top-of-swing position and then allowing the "reaction" to take place - and good golf shots will be the result... it is not that complicated my friends.

ABSOLUTE: This is a repeat from above for the purpose of keeping all the absolutes together so they can easily be returned to and studied. In order to hit consistently solid shots, we must not let our weight slip onto the outside of the right foot when we make our backswing. The manifestation of this action is a complete buckling of the right knee outward, or even worse, a total outward collapsing of the right ankle causing whatever energy we may have started to create and build up to be lost. The only way to continue the swing and make an attempt at hitting the ball is by making some half-hearted upper body lunge at the ball or making a total arm and hand swing and count on perfect hand-eye coordination to make some sort of contact with the ball. THE INSIDE OF THE RIGHT LEG MUST STORE ALL OF THE ENERGY WE ARE CAPABLE OF BUILDING WITH OUR SWING'S - AT THE TOP OF OUR BACKSWING, THE MOST PRESSURE OR WEIGHT MUST BE FELT ON THE INSIDE EDGE OF THE RIGHT FOOT AND, TO A DEGREE, THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE "INSIDE" OF THE RIGHT LEG MUSCLES UP TO THE RIGHT BUTTOCK. With a little practice, you'll know when it is right. At address, bend the right knee slightly inward. As a practice tool, get a piece of one by three board at least as long as your foot and put it under the entire outside edge of the right foot. Make practice swings and hit balls with the board in place assuring you do not let the right side break down: WORD OF CAUTION... do not maintain the proper angle of the right leg by simply allowing your upper body to lean left on the backswing (a reverse pivot)... YOU'VE GOT TO FEEL ALL THAT BUILT UP ENERGY ON THE INSIDE EDGE OF THE RIGHT FOOT!!!

ABSOLUTE: When hitting full shots, we can not allow the head/upper body to sway forward (ahead of the ball) prior to impact... this will lead to weak shots, a very steep angle of attack and overall general inconsistency. I'm not referring to chip shots or knock-down, punch type shots... I'm talking about full-blooded shots where maximum, or near maximum distance is one of the desired results. I've viewed hundreds of shots through various types or recording media and every great player - EVERY ONE - has their head at least slightly behind the ball at the moment of truth. The images suggest that the ball is being hit FORWARD & AWAY from the player - maximum speed, maximum extension through the shot... all the force of the swing is going forward towards the target - not downward or on too angular of a path. Byron Nelson's head dropped almost an entire foot behind an imaginary perpendicular line from the ball straight upward. It says something that Lord Byron was one of the greatest players ever - one of the best drivers of the golf ball ever and often thought of as the Father of the modern golf swing... I think that says it all.

ABSOLUTE: We must maintain good balance in order to hit good shots. Talk about stating the obvious! Balance = a state of equilibrium according to the dictionary. To me, that implies maintaining a solid FOUNDATION while performing all of the movements required to make an effective swing. If you consider what is happening during the swing, you might be inclined to go with a slightly wider stance than you currently use (Bobby Jones was an obvious exception to this as he used a fairly narrow stance, even with the longer clubs - but he never appeared to be off balance). So much of this stuff is common sense if you think about it in a context other than swinging a golf club.

Think of the body parts that comprise your upper and lower body. Well, your chest weighs quite a bit, you're head weighs quite a bit and your arms, in addition to having considerable weight, are, along with the club, making a pretty wide circle or near-circle both on the backswing and downswing. That seems like quite a bit of movement going on with the upper body. If the lower body cannot maintain all of that weight and movement in a balanced state, then we have to rely on - or hope for - a perfect sense of timing (and a fair amount of luck) to get whatever is out of balance back in balance before we strike the golf ball. A solid golf swing is "built from the ground up"... why do you think so many golfers start to lose "it" when they get older - THEY START LOSING THE STRENGTH AND ELASTICITY IN THEIR LEGS. If you do nothing else training-wise to improve your golf - at least try to keep your legs strong and lively. Get out of that cart and walk a few holes (preferably, all of them). Take the stairs, take your dog for a walk, get in the habit of doing some simple stretching exercises on a fairly regular basis and I guarantee you that you will be giving yourself the best chance of playing up to your capabilities.

In addition to your legs, your center or your "core" should always feel strong and engaged - at address and during the swing. You don't necessarily need a six-pack to play superb golf but the stronger your core, the better chance you give yourself of making strong, solid and repeatable swings. The last thing to think about when we discuss balance (and maybe the most important) is the role the feet play in maintaining balance and controlling the golf swing. If someone took a close-up video of Tiger's swing FROM THE ANKLES DOWN, you might be surprised at how LITTLE appears to be happening. All of those actions and reactions taking place above the ankles have a built in "governor" and that governor is the action of the feet. The feet must feel solidly grounded and yet, lively and ready to dance. In the video, you would see just a little bit of movement by the left foot as the body coils to the right - maybe even a very slight lifting of the left heel - and the right foot would appear to be firming up as it "accepts" and "contains" all of the built up torsion/energy being produced by everything happening above it. The only real movement of the right foot would start when the downswing has begun and all of that stored up energy is being released. If everything happens in the correct sequence and IN BALANCE, the left foot will eventually roll onto it's outside edge and the right foot will come up and onto the right big toe - IN PERFECT BALANCE. Ironically, I think the best drill out there for balance is to hit shots - full shots - with your feet together... you will HAVE to swing in balance or you will find yourself nearly falling over every time you swing.

OpenMindedGolf