Category: Golf Instruction

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The Greatest Game Of All

Of all of golf’s many attributes, I think the greatest of them all is the incredible number of fascinating people that we meet, and play the game.  In my case, and because I’ve made the game my profession, I’ve been extremely blessed with meeting virtually thousands of people from all walks of life, from the common person, to some of sports all time superstars.

One of my most memorable moments came one day when I was playing golf with NBA legend, Michael Jordan, arguably one of sports greatest icons.  Walking off the tee of # 11 at Bel Air Country Club, Michael was 3 under par and playing great – and was in an even greater mood.  He turned to me and said, “Ya know Roger, I just wish I had started this game when I was a kid, I really think that if I started young enough, I would’ve had a good chance to make it to the PGA Tour”.   Somewhat surprised, I asked him, ‘Let’s say that “if” you would’ve started the game that young, and “if” you had gotten good enough for the tour; what sport would you have played, basketball, or golf?”  He looked at me for a second, thought about it, and then replied, “Ooh, that’s a tough question man, I don’t really know”.

Think about it.  Here’s one of the most acclaimed Super Stars of all time, and he wasn’t sure if he would’ve hypothetically traded his phenomenal career for that of a career in golf!  To me, that says it all about this game; and is another reason that we should keep ourselves fit so that we can play it for a lifetime.

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Are Your Swing Faults “Just” Habits?

To date, I don’t think anybody’s ever achieved a perfect golf swing. Although a few have come close, (Snead and Els come to mind); even they have some slight nuances that they fought for a lifetime.

To date, I don’t think anybody’s ever achieved a perfect golf swing. Although a few have come close, (Snead and Els come to mind); even they have some slight nuances that they fought for a lifetime. The truth is however, that the overwhelming vast majority of golfers have some swing faults, certainly some more than others.

The next question that must be asked is; what is a fault? To answer that, let’s take a look at what most consider to be a typical swing fault – The Flying Right Elbow (for right handers of course) For years (and even today), the flying right elbow is considered “taboo” for a lot of teachers and players. The truth of the matter is that there were a LOT of great players who had “flying elbows” (Jack Nicklaus for one), but there are also great players with neutral elbows, some with elbows close to their sides, etc. So therefore, are flying elbows bad? The answer lies in the fact that flying elbows are great for some people (like Jack Nicklaus) and bad for others. In the case of the flying elbow, one simply has to check out the functioning of the shoulder blades and the muscles that control them (rhomboids and traps) to find out if your elbow is out of balance or not. In other words, a person who is stocky and tight in their chest and back is more likely to be a candidate for a flying elbow. Although we’re only talking about one aspect of the swing here, the fact remains that virtually all swing faults are really “symptoms” of each individual persons’ anatomical function.

Unfortunately, many golfers are trying to achieve positions in their golf swing that they physically “can’t do”, simply because the muscle function of “‘their” bodies won’t allow them to do it. Understanding the basic functioning of your muscles will certainly allow you to practice on the things that are right for YOU.

Do you know WHY you do WHAT you do in your swing?

As a Fredericks Golf Member you have exclusive access to Flexibility Programs for Common Swing Faults videos.

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A Day With Katherine And Joe Theismann

Recently, I had the pleasure of shooting some videos with my good friend, Yoga For Golfers founder, Katherine Roberts, along with Notre Dame and NFL football great, Joe Theismann.

Recently, I had the pleasure of shooting some videos with my good friend, Yoga For Golfers founder, Katherine Roberts, along with Notre Dame and NFL football great, Joe Theismann.   As always, it was a thrill for me to discuss with Joe, the similarities between throwing a football and hitting a golf ball.  Joe, like many athletes, is absolutely obsessed with golf, and we had a great time discussing the similarities of both sports, especially; weight transfer and hip rotation.    Although many (or most) people can’t see the similarities between playing football and golf, but being expert at both, Joe certainly does.  One thing for sure, both “sports” DEMAND leg strength, and without leg function, the pelvis won’t function efficiently.  As I’ve said many times, a round of golf is about a 5-7 mile walk, and we golfers are walking these miles in a forward and bent over (or flexion), position.  Besides walking that 5-7miles every day, don’t forget that we’re also standing on our feet while we practice our short games and long games.  Doing this for a lifetime, it’s no wonder why we golfers have “tree trunks” for legs and incredible upper body flexibility from doing the upper body twisting while making our shoulder turns.  One difference between the two sports however, is that football requires more “bulk” training to sustain the constant pounding that takes place when behemoth men crash into one another.  This excessive bulk is NOT necessarily good for most golfers simply because bulky muscles will usually retard flexibility – and good golf DEMANDS superb upper body flexibility! After a couple of days on the set, we were able to convince Joe to lighten up on the weights, and amp up his flexibility training.  Being a great athlete and QB, it wasn’t hard to teach this “very coachable” superstar.  Stay tuned for our upcoming videos.

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SOMETIMES LESS BACKSWING IS BETTER THAN MORE

What is the best amount of Golf Backswing?

In my experience, a very high percentage of amateurs have ‘Too Many’ Moving Parts going on in their golf backswings, and Over Swinging is certainly one of those excessive moving parts.

Usually golfers over swing for Two Reasons:

1) Because they’re trying to hit the ball too far, and

2) Their lack of flexibility forces them to make compensations throughout their swings.

The truth is however, that a person doesn’t necessarily have to have a long swing to hit the ball far. One such example is Tony Finau who is a Monster Hitter, and who takes it back unusually short – especially for a tall man. Although he takes it back short with his arms, the truth is that he makes a powerful shoulder coil against the resistance of his lower body. This creates a strong X-Factor as my friend Jim McClean calls it I.e. the differential between a person’s shoulders and hips, and results in more power.

One of my friends was the late Dick Mayer who was one of the great players in the 1950’s and also the 1957 U.S. Open Champion and Player of the year. Dick told me that he used to practice quite a bit with the legendary Ben Hogan down in Texas, and often times Hogan would practice with the drill that I’m showing in today’s video. When asked why he did this drill, Hogan replied that “he wanted to eliminate any excessive motion in his backswing which then would also allow him to move more freely through the ball.

I’ve been using this drill and teaching it for years, and one thing my students are all amazed at is how far they can hit it without any excessive movements or strain. In honor of Dick, I named this drill – ‘The Dick Mayer Drill’.

Give this drill a try, and let me know what you think.

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Impact Drills for the Impact Bag

Try this Impact Drill with the Impact Bag

When it comes right down to it, a golfers Golf Swing PLUS ALL golf instruction is geared to achieve One thing: Get the club head squarely on the ball at Impact with the maximum amount of force going into the ball. This impact drill will help you do exactly that.

To do this, the golfer has to have his weight and body rotation moving INTO the ball. When taking a look at Tour Players, we’ll see two major positions with the overwhelming majority of them:

A) [For Right Hander’s] We’ll see the majority of the weight shifted onto their Left Foot, and,

B) On the Top of the Backswing, they’ll turn their Shoulders approximately twice as much as their hips; but at Impact, their Hips will be turned approximately Twice as much as their Shoulders.

Obviously, possessing ample flexibility in the Shoulders and Hips allow the body to coil and move easier.

A Great way to get into a solid IMPACT position is by using the Impact Bag. Not only will you learn the F-E-E-L of a solid impact position, but as I demonstrate in today’s video, you can also use it to help correct several swing faults, such as: Over the Top, Too Inside Out, Too Wide or Narrow Arc, plus learn to Draw and Fade the ball.

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STRENGTHEN YOUR GLUTES AND LEGS WITH SQUATS

Sitting down too much weakens our bodies – ESPECIALLY OUR GLUTES AND LEGS! Because the Golf swing demands Upper Body Flexibility and Strengthening in the Lower Body, a person who has weak Glutes is generally going to have a hard time achieving lower body stability and be forced to rely on their arms and hands for their power and consistency. What we want in the golf swing is a combination of the Arms, Hands, Lower and Upper Bodies to be in sync with each other. Plus a strong Lower Body helps us maintain Balance and allow our Upper Body to coil powerfully against the Lower.

In today’s video from The Posture System™, I’ll show you two variations on how to strengthen your Glutes and Legs with some basic squats, and also show you a modified version you can do against a wall. These can be done any time, and if you’ve noticed, I normally always end my Flexibility Programs with the Air Bench (the Assisted Squat against the wall).

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TWO QUESTIONS…

IF YOUR ANSWER TO BOTH QUESTIONS IS YES…
THEN WATCH THIS VIDEO ON ROTATED POSTURE!

‘COMING OVER THE TOP’ is probably THE most common swing fault in golf, and the odds are that at some time in your golf career, you’ve come ‘Over It’ and have tried a lot of things to ‘Cure It.’ Whether it’s Swinging more Inside Out – Taking it back Flatter – Turning the Right Hip Deeper – Don’t Slide your hips, ad infinitum, a lot of things ‘may’ have worked – but the odds are they were temporary.

One place where you might not have looked is in your Posture. Yes that’s right… Your Posture.

Because we live primarily in a Right Handed World, and where approximately 90% of the population is right handed, over time we naturally develop stronger and tighter right sides – especially in our hips and shoulders. Consequently, if you look at the majority of our population – especially the golf population – you’ll notice that the Right Shoulder in the majority of people is Lower and Forward than their Left Shoulder; and consequently when they line up, their shoulders are actually angled and aiming off to the Left. (Also, because the right hand is Lower on the club than the Left, the right shoulder is pulled even more forward.) What does this have to do with Over the Top?

Because the right side is tighter in this posture type, the right shoulder has a harder time turning behind the ball on the backswing due to the muscle restrictions; it then tends to ‘force’ the hands and club to the outside. Coupled with the Left Side being weaker and less stable, it will tend to spin out, giving way to the dominance of the stronger and tighter right side (again, due to the right side ‘throwing’ the Right Shoulder, Arm, and Club to the ‘Outside’) thus cutting across the ball.

The best way to help this condition is to Straighten Out your posture and get better balance and symmetry in your body.

One of my programs in THE POSTURE SYSTEM Video Series is the ROTATED POSTURE PROGRAM, and doing this program along with your Golf Swing Drills will certainly help get that club dropping to the inside and hitting that pretty little Draw!

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A Great Way to Visualize Your Shot and Stay Behind it!

Moving ‘in front’ of the ball on a Driver is a sure way to reduce distance – and consistency! Because the ball is teed up, you need to make sure that you’re coming in from behind it; which will automatically allow you to hit up on it. Remember; The Formula for distance is Mass X Velocity squared; ie. How much you move your Body ‘MASS’ into the ball. In this video I share a tip about how to make this move easier – WITHOUT TRYING to change your swing! Watch the video below

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27 Point Program

Become a great Shot maker with The 27 Point Program. My old friend, the late Jim Flick used to say that the golf swing was a reaction to the golfer’s intent of swinging at the target. I’ve always liked that analogy because I feel that most golfers focus too much of their swing – and not on the shot they want to hit. One of the greatest players I ever saw was a man named Ted Richards – the 1953 U.S. Public Links Champion who never turned pro (certainly not because he couldn’t). Ted taught me the 27 point program which when practiced, will teach you how to hit different types of shots, i.e, High Fades, Low Hook, Low Fades, etc. This drill is phenomenal and if you practice it on the range – then on the course, your entire perception of golf will change. You’ll start playing ‘shots’ and stop playing ‘Swing’.

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Develop More Power with the Power Swing Fan

Over the years, golf has evolved into a Power Game and everybody wants more power!  It’s gotten to the point where many of the greatest courses in the world have become obsolete because the technology has the ball going further than ever before, and consequently, many courses have gotten too short.

No doubt about it, nearly EVERYBODY wants more power – especially our seniors who usually find that their drives are getting shorter and their handicaps getting higher.  The formula for distance is Mass X Velocity Squared – which means that the faster club the head speed coupled with how much mass goes into the shot, will create longer drives.

The secret here is to have Strong Legs and Flexible Hips that will shift the weight and rotate the torso effectively.  THAT IS WHY I PREACH FLEXIBILITY AND  STRENGTHENING  ‘First and Foremost’ to improve one’s body.

There’s also another way that will strengthen the body and create greater weight transfer and body rotation, and that’s the Power SWING FAN – demonstrated in the video clip above.  Swinging this GREAT device several times a day will definitely increase your power – and get your drives headed in a Longer Direction! Get mor details on the Power SWING FAN here!

Be sure to leave a comment for Roger below!