Basic posture, great result!

One of the most important parts of the golf swing starts here at the posture. It can't be ignored as it has a direct relationship with the movement of the club on the correct plane line. In the image we can see Els setting up to the driver, the one club that most amateurs find difficult to play with.


The importance of the correct posture are clear to see, the back of the head and the lower back form a straight line. his back is in the 'plank'. His arms are fantastic as they just hang freely.
The second part of the setup is the lower half, note the the knees are not bent as such but more flexed. If they were bent his upper body would not look as tilted resulting in his back looking more vertical.

Something to also make sure that you have in your feel is the placement of your weight. Placing the weight in the correct part of he feet will have a certain bearing on the movement of the swing. ( view the pics of Tiger and not the weight is spread evenly on both legs 50/50) Ernie's weight in the image above is correctly off the heels but not on the toes.
Build on this improvement of the posture to increase the consistency of the swing.

If you don't practice it, you won't hole it.

If you don't practice it, you won't hole it.

Simple but highly effective! The most important thing about the game is putting, it's where you can save shots while playing poorly.

Unfortunately though for most amateurs there doesn't seem to be the urgency of practicing it as much as they concentrate on the long game.

A common comment is that it's a bit boring, the simple answer, make the practice interesting.

Firstly find out which length putt is the weakest. I would generally say for any player the two footer is a great place to start. Go there and putt, putt until it gets boring, now not 5 or 10 or 15 but maybe 50 putts. Take your time and think about how you want to make them on the course. Work on the alignment the position of the putter behind the ball, the position of the ball (remember the ball should be below the hole nearest the hole) between the feet and the posture. Simple basics!

Once this starts to feel good start moving around the hole, read the line place the balls logo upwards and towards the "target line" trust it and hit it. Repeat this over and over, you are looking for repetition in putting, start building it up on the practice green and see how it works for you on the course. Work on these simple ideas and feel your putting get better.

Master the golf swing by understanding the clock.

This is for the group of guys that i saw last week at the ProJam Golf Academy hosted at Silverstone Golf Club that we hosted for the soldiers and mariners of the British Forces.

Over the course of the week all of the guys had a load of time with a swing training aid called Explanar for those unaware visit (www.chris-guy.com/creativegolf.php) and got them understanding their body positions during the movement of the swing both backwards and forwards.

There is a lot said about how the back swing has got to be here, there and everywhere and be perfect to but very little is written about the follow-through.

To make it easy for them and other individuals to understand how to develop the feel that requires the width on both back and through swings we used the clock face.

In the image above we can clearly see Tiger at address (6 o'clock) notice the cap. through out the movement it may move 2" in total to the right. Typically meaning he is not going to rip the big ball first (earth) and hit it heavy, fat etc... but also meaning the solid base that he has set himself at address is SOLID. At the top halve of the swing the width is clear to see. Just beyond (9 o'clock) the hands are in hinge mode and the left arm is straight, not stretched. The movement to 10 o'clock is one movement it's shoulder turn.

Now the interesting thing is the next image shows the width for the follow-through, clearly visible is the position that Tiger finds at 2 o clock, the width that he produces here is simply the position he was in at the 10 o clock point of his golf swing. In terms of width the club is as far away from his chest here as it was on the way back. The shaft angle at 5 o'clock is the same as it would look at 7 on the way back.

Simply improve your understanding of the width to produce consistency and get through ball to improve your strike and flight of the ball.

Practice the 8 to 4 o clock movements first to understand the full benefit of keeping it wider.

Any questions email info@chris-guy.com

Article 001 for Bucks Advertiser

Forward planning for a better game.


Too many golfers are prone to turning up at their respective golf clubs and going through a similar routine that may sound a bit like this:
1. Park the car
2. Grab the clubs
3. Pay their fees
4. Rush to the first tee and
5. Complain at the 19th that they didn’t have a good round.
Sound familiar?

There are many factors that can affect the golfer’s game on the course but there is no escaping the fact that a good routine before going out to play will improve your chances of having a better game.

Spending 20 minutes on the range before each round will give you ample opportunity to ‘read’ the swing for the day. Give yourself the chance to understand which ball flight you’ve brought along for the day and use it. An example of this is what most tour players go through. If Mr Woods is hitting it 10 yards to the right on the driving range chances are he’ll be standing on the first tee aiming 10 yards down the left. The result: a ball in the middle of the fairway and Mr Woods playing to his strengths for that day.
Even if there isn’t enough time to make it to the range, 10 minutes on the putting green will at least give you a feeling of satisfaction before playing your round.
See you on the fairways.