golf | Fred Fruisen, Timaru, New Zealand Golf Coach

Awesome Irons

Posted on January 3, 2012 by coachofgolf 11 comments

When I am giving lessons to new students more times than not one of the first things I have to adjust is how far or close someone is to the ball. Most golfers don’t have a clear understanding on what is the most effective. I find that most golfers stand too far away from the ball with their irons, with their arms extended and locked in a stiff, un-athletic manner. This is one of the root causes of poor swing mechanics. Extending the arms so far away from the body creates a myriad of problems. “Reaching” creates tension in the arms, flattens the swing plane, which creates a poor swing-path and makes it difficult to make solid, consistent contact with the ball. In addition to that, being too far away from the ball reduces swing speed so you won’t hit the ball as far.

Hopefully, this photograph will explain and make it easy for you to understand how to get into a proper set-up position.

I really only look for one thing. I want to see the toes, the butt end of the grip and the shoulder on the same vertical line. If those 3 things are touching that line you’ll be in great shape! Let your arms hang straight down. Don’t reach! If you set up like this you’ll find a lot of your swing problems will be diminished. Many of you will feel at first that you are too close to the ball, but you are not. If you feel that way it’s because you were too far away from the ball to begin with.

Try this an your swing will feel fluid and athletic. Your path will be better. Your contact will be better. The ball will fly long and straight!

If you have a topic you’d like discussed please use the comment box. I will be glad to address your questions. Thanks for reading!

golf instruction

Are you a Chump or a Champ ?

Posted on January 1, 2012 by coachofgolf 11 comments

Here’s a situation that I have seen a million times over the years that can save or ruin a round.

A player has short–sided himself as shown by the yellow X in the lower left. The pin is tucked on the left side of the green with just a few paces from the left edge of the green. In this situation a golfer needs to decide, am I going to be a Chump or a Champ?

I have found most amateur golfers fall into the trap that they need to fit the ball in the very small area between the edge of the green and the hole. He wants to like the Pros. The player then of course tries to get too cute or doesn’t commit to the shot or swing hard enough or the club gets caught up in the rough. He more or less duffs it and ends up hitting again from the same situation or even worse. He’s what I call a CHUMP and his day is about to take an ugly turn.

The second attempt ends up where the first should have, and instead of making a bogie at worst, he ends up with a double or higher. Which most times leads to another mistake being made on one of the very next holes. The round is beginning to unravel.

When you are short sided, there is almost always a mile of green on the other side of the pin! Hence the term, “short-sided.” The only way you can look or feel stupid is by coming up short of the green. Yet most do. I don’t get it! You’d have about a 400% better chance of success if you go past the pin. And you’ll take the big mistake, and number, out of the equation.

The more experienced players on my team always make the smart play. They make sure that the shot gets past the pin. They understand that this is not a time to play aggressively and to take their medicine and if they do lose a shot they’ll have a chance later in the round to make up for it. Over the long run they know it will save them a ton of strokes.

One of the benefits of getting the ball past the pin is that if you miss-hit the shot or decelerate through it, that the shot will still end up on the green.

I always like to think that Johnny Miller is doing play-by-play on me when I’m in those situations. If I hit it past the pin he’d say on air, “that’s really all he had.” If I left it short, Johnny would lay into me saying something like, “Wow, that was really dumb. What was he thinking? Now he’s left with nothing and probably lost the tournament.”

I never want Johnny Miller laying into me.