The Big Easy

Finally, the big man from South Africa has clicked. With victory at the CA Championship at Doral the first in two years since the 2008 Honda Classic it might just be the stepping stone towards that elusive first green jacket for the The Big Easy.

What can we learn from a golfer that has got a reputation of having the most relaxed swing in the game, well less is more. Ernie's obvious asset is his height, standing at 6ft 3in his natural ability to swing the club on a wide arc allows him to hit it long with relative ease. Make no mistake though Ernie is not tickling the ball, there is a consistent element to his swing that most amateurs can learn a lot from.

Ernie like all good players finishes the swing. His ability though to do it with relative ease is what is impressive. Hence The Big Easy.

Watch the clip

The great part of the swing is the moments before and after the the ball has been struck. The follow through is a product of the constant acceleration in the swing, a vital part to any persons swing to allow the ball to fly. Naturally this is not going to give you a consistent straight shot, but its going to at least help.

Once you've master the feeling of following through with the golf swing then the hard work starts.

Here is a clip that really gives you an incite in the mind of the Professional Golfer. The most noticeable thing is the simple key thoughts he has in the order of importance.

Enjoy

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Tiger: Finding the feel.

So Tiger is on the way back from that 'indefinite break from golf', with the speculation growing that the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill looking like the likely event billed for his return.

Its was reported that he has been participating in a routine of golf and fitness, the latter I'm sure being just a bit more than a jog to warm up and a few weights. I would imagine that his routine in the gym is probably a very intense routine based around cardio and weight loss. Far to late into the winter to be lifting heavy weights though.

The other part of his routine naturally is hitting balls and working on shape and feel. Feel, the small and very significant part to a very good golfers ability to get his way around the golf course. Feel is not the easiest sense to explain but we all have it, whether you are a beginner or a seasoned campaigner, feel is there in abundance. You have to learn feel through hours and hours of practice. Sometimes it feels great, like hitting the ball with a soft marshmellow, other times it feels like a hammer hitting concrete with a definite shaking up the club. You know that feeling!

One of the first things that Tiger might be struggling with is the timing of his feel too, Tiger has though got great hands, educated hands in fact.

But what can we learn from Tigers effort to get his game back into shape to compete?

Ask yourself this, how long has it been since I last hit a ball? For some its probably the best part of the winter. Similar to Tiger in fact. The difference is most of us will be on the range trying to scream the ball over that 200 yard board instead of starting a little slow and concentrating on the 50 to 100 yard part of the game, the feel part of the game. By all means though hit the whole bag get your head into the game and think of that feeling it took to hit the beauty that went arrow straight. But let me remind you, driving is for show, putting is for dough.

Get onto that putting green and start working on that 2 foot putt you missed last summer, learn the feel and learn to trust it. Who knows you might just spot a Tiger on the putting green.

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David Duval, Remember Him?

For some the name David Duval means very little, another golfer that's been around and is having a good run. Those though that have been playing and following golf over the past decade will know the name David Duval, Double D, Mr 59.

David Duval is not your typical journeyman done good, this guy can play. With a major title, The Open Championship, to his name he knows what it takes to win and win big too. In the 2000 Open at St. Andrews playing the last day in the last group with Tiger Woods, our unflappable hero found himself lying in a bit of trouble in the famous Road Hole Bunker on the 17th hole. A scenario that would cost Duval a chance of finishing at least second but also handing Tiger his first Open. Duval took 4 to get out and walk on the next tee playing for an also ran position. This could have broken most normal men but not Duval, a year later he won the Open and Royal Lytham and St. Annes with a weekend display that blew away his competitors. Duval shot -10 for the weekend, bounce back ability.

Duval was also the first player of the modern Tiger Woods age to be world number 1. In 1999 he was also the only player in recent history to shot 59 on the PGA Tour doing so in dramatic fashion by eagling the last hole of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic to win by one shot.

David Duval can play and has had to find his form and get back on the bicycle and learn how to play and compete. After his amazing 2nd place at the recent Pebble Beach Proam things are looking bright and having come so close to a first win in nearly a decade will undoubtedly breed confidence in a man that quietly knows he's good enough to win. With starts in three of the majors this year could it be his year again?

Watching his swing via YouTube the movements look timeless, with his strong right hand and rotating head through the impact position it doesn't look orthodox but it doesn't matter what it looks like, he's a major winner, with major talent and i'm glad he's getting it back together. Come on DD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQqTRmdL5kY&feature=related a few swings but the best one is @ 2.04 a super slowmo that gives you an idea of how this man's swing works.

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Time for a change in the market?

Is it all in a name?

Having spent the best part of the morning hitting a new ball that i had never heard of before i began to ask myself, am i playing my current ball because the marketing geniuses call it the 'no 1 ball in golf'? Granted its a great ball and it does what it says on the label. It goes far, it spins lots and it 'drops and stops' if you don't know what ball I'm talking about it's call a T......t

Now the ball that's had me looking forward to the warmer weather of the summer when really you get the best out of your ball is a ball that is designed and made in South Korea. The company is Nassau Golf who have been stocking the driving ranges of the world with great decent range balls, but the ball in question is not a range ball. Its the Pro Cyber. A ball that felt like i want it to feel with a wedge, you know that feeling when you tap it on the face of the club a few times and it feels like a marsh mellow. The ball had a very penetrating flight that stayed stuck it didn't bellow upwards and felt incredible off the face of a driver. After measuring it against my ball the results to were surprising. It was the longest ball in both the 6 iron test and driver test, sometimes by more than 8 yards, that's a whole club shorter. Coupled with the fact the drives were also longer. Means I'd be finding t myself hit a short iron into the green by two clubs. The short game test too was a nice surprise, a 50 yard test is always a good test of a balls response, how quick it sticks to the green is important and i wasn't disappointed. Three balls within 4 foot of each other and 2 yards long of the flag.

The problem i can see with it is the market has already decided. The consumers that have there favorite ball is always a hard resell but i think if you give a new product a chance you might just be surprised and save yourself a few bob.

The ball in question is the Nassau Pro Cyber. No image but I'm sure google will find something out there. Happy Golfing.

If there are any questions please email me on info@chris-guy.com

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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.
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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.

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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
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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.
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