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On reading golf

One reason, I have always thought, why golf can become such a difficult game is simply because there are so many different ways of playing it correctly; and that one secret, for any golfer striving to improve, is to decide first which is his or her own correct way. It is my sincere hope that this book will help any reader to do just that.

The correct way, I’m firmly convinced, is invariably the simplest. What may prove simple to one, though, may not necessarily be simple to another. One of the difficulties in studying golf in books lies in learning to select from other people’s experiences, ideas and theories, and adapt them to your own personal needs. I think I have found truth in almost every book or article I have read on golf! Yet, in spite of that fact, there is often one thing or another in any particular book which, read by the wrong person, could cause a real setback in his or her game.

As an illustration of this I remember two ladies, both good performers around 8-handicap, who arrived for tuition. Both were accustomed to playing together. One lady hooked her shots, the other sliced. Here were two ladies with faults that I must tell each other to copy! I wanted each to try to do precisely what was wrong in the other! In other words, my instruction was of a completely contradictory nature.

It had to go even further than that, though. Needing contrasting advice, it followed that since they were both avid readers on golf, they also needed different advice on what to read. I told Lady No.1 with her too-flat swing and hook, to read Byron Nelson’s book, because he was an upright swinger; and Lady No.2, with her too-upright swing and slice, to read Ben Hogan’s, because he was a rounded swinger. This was 50 years ago, of course. Today, I might replace these two role models with, say, Colin Montgomerie (upright) and Ian Woosnam (rounded).

The point I’m trying to make is that it is as well to appreciate what we are doing wrong before we seek remedies by reading, from no matter how impeccable a source. The golfing public has been saturated with golf books, most of which have been very good, in many ways. I feel, however, that the titles have been wrong. Most of them should have been called How I Play Golf – and how the writer of each book plays golf may not be the easiest way to teach each of his readers.

I sincerely hope that this book will make it easier for you to decide which is your own best way of playing. As with every lesson I’ve given, I hope to teach people not just to hit the ball better but to understand why they’re hitting it better.

Swing, or move from position to position?

Should you really swing the club? Or should you merely move through a series of contrived postures, a pattern of carefully thought-out conscious movements, a set of deliberate muscle contortions? The question may seem silly but it is of prime importance, especially if you are new to the game or have never achieved the golfing prowess of which you feel yourself potentially capable.

A Rolls Royce without an engine might look impressive, but it’s never going to get out of the garage. In exactly the same way, a golf swing without an engine, however beautifully contoured each part might be, is never going to move the ball very far out of your shadow. To do that, your swing, whatever else it lacks, must have power, motivation. It must be a swing. In the simplest of golfing terms, you must ‘hit the ball’.

Am I stating the obvious? I think not. Most of the great golfers up to the early 1960s learned the game as caddies. They watched the people they carried for and tried to copy those who played well. They were copying an action, a fluid movement. It would never have occurred to them, even if they had known how, to break the swing down into parts and study it segment by segment in static form. Golf was action, and was learned as such.

Now the camera plays an increasingly large part in the exploration of golf technique, with the result that today a great many people tend to learn golf as a ‘static’ game rather than as a game of movement. Instead of watching good players in the flesh, and trying to emulate the action of a good golf swing, they study static pictures and try to copy the positions in which the camera has frozen the players. They are learning positions which, in themselves, without the essential motivating force of swinging, are almost useless.

This does not mean to say that the very excellent action photographs published in golf magazines and books are of no value in learning the game. But undoubtedly the biggest danger in static golf, in learning from still pictures, is that body action becomes overemphasized. Photographs cannot show motion, but they show very well how the body changes position during the golf swing. It is these positional impressions that the beginner and the poor golfer is apt to copy and frequently overdo.

Body action is important in golf, but is complementary to the swinging of the clubhead, not the dominating factor of the swing. The body movement must be in sympathy with the clubhead as controlled by the hands, not try to take over from the clubhead as the function of striking the ball. For the club to swing down and forward at over 100 mph, the arms must swing. Arm and hand action also promote feel, and this too can only be learned by swinging.

The grip takes care of the blade

The first thing to understand is that there is no such thing as one single grip, correct for everybody. Men and women with many different grips have all played winning golf. What I try to do is to put a man or woman on to the easiest grip to use with his or her natural swing tendencies.

Any grip that provides for the player to connect with the ball with the blade square to the target at impact while simultaneously allowing for full use of the hands and arms, is correct.

If the shots are curving in their flight, even when the stance and swing are right, then the trouble is usually in the grip. Generalizing (and taking no account of special cases), if the ball is curving in its flight through the air towards the left, then the hands are likely to be turned too far over to the right and the correction needed is to move the Vs between thumbs and forefingers inwards past his right shoulder; even, in some cases, until they both point towards his chin, but usually not as far as that.

The converse goes for a man whose shots are curving to the right.

Anywhere between chin and right shoulder can be correct for the Vs, if it works for the player. Experiment helps to find out precisely what is best in every individual case.

Setting up your stance

Most golfers ruin many of their shots before they even begin to swing, simply because they set themselves to the task in the wrong way. It really is absurd for an intelligent person to make no effort to get things right from the start. Yet most golfers don’t. And here is one simple way in which they could get a much better grip on their game.

The set-up of a shot can be learnt consciously and without any great mental or physical effort. With a little care and application, any one of us can set up a good swing. Make the effort – and a good swing becomes a probability rather than an impossibility.

a) Stance essentials

1 The first thing to aim is the club-blade, square to the target.

2 Then lines straight through the shoulders and feet should aim approximately parallel, across country, to the line through the clubface to the target.

3 The shoulders must be tilted: that is, the left shoulder must be higher than the right (or vice versa for left-handed golfers).

4 You should never be tense. Your stance should, though, be firm; there should be a feeling of power, almost of the feet trying to grip the ground.

5 The stance is wider for the longer shots than the short shots; approximately shoulder-width for woods, and progressively narrower down to approximately 12 inches for a 9-iron.

6 The way many people take up their stance they might just as well be sitting in a chair, for all the help they get from their feet and legs. The right stance gives one more of a feeling of resting on a tall shooting stick, with the back still fairly straight, and the leg muscles ready for action.

b) Aim and the Shoulders

To me, standing ‘open’ (body set to make it easier to hit to the left of the target) or ‘shut’ (to the right of the target) means much more whether the shoulders are open or shut, than whether the feet are.

If the ball is in the wrong position, the shoulders are likely to be wrongly aligned, whether the feet are correct or not. If the ball is actually too far back, drawing the shoulders to the right, you will then aim to the right with the club as well. Contrarily, a ball too far forward makes you aim to the left. There, quite simply, you have one cause of hundreds of thousands of hooks and slices every weekend!

Basic involuntary hooker’s position: ball back, shoulders closed, blade aiming right.

Basic involuntary slicer’s position: ball forward, shoulders open, blade aiming left.

Note the cause here of much baffled infuriation: the man who aligns himself to the left of target will then tend to swing across the ball – and slice it to the right! He may then try to correct this by consciously aiming further left; this will probably make him swing even more wildly across it and the ball will slice even more! The converse can just as easily happen to the man who aligns himself to the right of the target.

c) Summing up

At the address, the blade should face the line to the target exactly. The shoulders should be parallel to this line, with the left shoulder higher than the right.

Too simple? Well, may I suggest you take a close look at the address position of the next three weekend golfers you play with. If more than one of them has just these three points of aim correct, then you are obviously playing in very good company!

I’m not saying that the right stance will guarantee a good shot. It won’t, of course. But it will make it a great deal easier, just as a wrong stance will make it a great deal more difficult. After all, it is the stance that aims the swing.

Getting it all on track

Picturing a golfer standing on one track of a railway to hit a ball sitting on the other track is one of the most popular teaching analogies. It is used so often because it so perfectly conveys the ideal of aligning one’s body parallel to the target line. Such a set-up encourages swinging the clubhead through the ball along, rather than across, the target line. Also note the posture: the golfer bends from the waist with his back straight. His arms hang free and easy. His knees are slightly flexed. Overall, his posture conveys a sense of readiness and resilience.

The alignment of the feet, hips and shoulders should be parallel to the aim of the clubface.

Remember!

The basic idea of the golf grip is that you should hold the club at address in the same way as you intend to apply it to the ball at impact.

Let the aim of the clubface position the ball relative to the feet

The important and often neglected matter of ball positioning in relation to the feet is greatly simplified by correct clubface aiming. Step up from behind the ball looking down your target line and set the clubface behind the ball. Looking squarely at your target you will notice that, by positioning the face of the club in this way, you also establish a particular alignment of its shaft, and thus also of its handle. It is important when positioning the clubface that the loft is maintained.

Now, without changing that shaft and handle alignment, finalize your grip on the club and shuffle your feet into what feels like the best position to enable you hit the ball straight to your target.

‘Stand to the club’ correctly in this manner and you will find that the ball is automatically positioned correctly in relation to your feet with every club in the bag, including even the putter.

Too simple? Well, give it a try. Particularly if you’re one of the many golfers who habitually position their feet before they aim the clubface, you’ll be delighted with the results.

Check your posture

Correct posture promotes a body pivot that swings the club on the proper in-to-in arc and in the proper plane, which is the only way to return the clubface to the ball squarely and at the correct angle of attack while completely releasing the clubhead.

In the perfect posture (centre) your weight is evenly balanced.

Grip the club, aim its face, align your body and position the ball correctly and you will automatically achieve most of the postural requirements of a fine set-up. Just to be sure, though, here are the important areas to check:

 To make room for your arms to swing freely past your body, you must lean over to the ball. Do so from your hips, keeping your back as straight as you comfortably can.

 Think of ‘head up’ rather than ‘head down’ and achieve it by keeping your chin high.

 Let your arms hang easily straight down from your shoulders, keeping your left arm straight but not stiff and your right arm relaxed at the elbow.

 Because your right hand is lower on the club than your left, your shoulders will tilt slightly to the right, which will encourage positioning of your head behind the ball. Go with the tendency, but don’t exaggerate it.

 Stay well balanced and ‘springy’ by setting your weight equally between the balls of both feet, with your knees slightly flexed.

Short or tall

Your precise posture at address will be influenced by your build. Tall golfers, of necessity, stand relatively close to the ball and thus fairly upright. Short golfers must stand farther away from the ball, and thus lean forward more from the waist. Seek comfort and good balance by avoiding extremes.

A soft right arm

At address, keep your right arm ‘soft’ and let it bend a bit at the elbow, which will point to your right hip.

Jack’s pre-shot routine helps sharpen focus

I think Jack Nicklaus summed up brilliantly the value of a pre-shot routine when he said: ‘Give your imagination free rein when you’re in a position to win and it can be the death of you.’

He is referring to the fact that if you let your mind wander, especially into the future, you’re in big trouble. A pre-shot routine stops this happening. It crystallizes your thoughts and helps you focus the mind on the things that are relevant, to the exclusion of everything else.

My advice to you is develop a consistent pre-shot routine. It doesn’t need to be exactly the same as Jack’s, but I think it should incorporate certain elements from the great man.

Firstly, picture the shot in your mind’s eye, from behind the line of play. This gets you mentally ‘into your shot’, so you’re thinking positively and constructively. Next, aim the clubhead over an intermediate target, a few feet in front of you between the ball and the flag. It’s far easier than aiming at a flag 250 yards away. Also, be very specific about what you aim at. This is relatively easy when the flag is your target. But when you’re driving off the tee, perhaps not so easy. Never aim just anywhere down the middle, because in my view if you aim vaguely you swing vaguely too – and that’s when you’re prone to making stupid mistakes.

Work hard at perfecting your pre-shot routine when you’re at the driving range. This is the place where you develop the good habits that enable you to perform to a higher level in competition. Nobody ever practised as well as Jack did. In my opinion, amateur golfers hit too many shots on the range with too little thought. Try to get into the mindset of hitting fewer balls with more thought. Quality, not quantity – that’s what practising is all about.

The ideal pre-shot routine: Visualise the shot, then aim the clubface, and finally build your stance.

The golf swing’s only purpose

The majority of the world’s 35 million golfers never play the game as well as they could because they have no idea, an incorrect idea, or an incomplete idea of what they are trying to do when they swing a golf club.

The golf swing has only one purpose: to deliver the head of the club to the ball correctly.

How that is done is immaterial, so long as the method permits correct impact to be achieved over and over and over again.

Golf’s only secret

The behaviour of the golf ball is determined solely by four impact factors interacting with each other. They are:

1 The direction in which the face of the club looks, or the clubface alignment.

2 The direction in which the clubhead travels, or the path of the swing.

3 The angle of inclination at which the clubhead arrives at the ball, or the angle of attack.

4 The speed of the clubhead.

Everything you do in swinging a golf club should be related to these all-important impact factors. Getting them right is golf’s only secret

Golfs four key impact factors determine the shape and quality of your shots.

The flight of the ball tells all

The behaviour of every golf shot is determined not by how the club is swung – by the form of bodily motions employed – but by how each swing delivers the clubface to the ball. However, everything is moving too fast for the golfer to see what is happening on impact. How, then, can he discover the alignment of the clubface, the path of the swing, the angle of attack, and the speed of the clubhead?

The answer is: the flight of the ball.

The single most important step in becoming a good golfer: knowing what you should be trying to do with the club by learning and accepting the game’s true fundamentals – the correct ‘geometry’ of impact.

The next most important step is acquiring the knowledge that enables you to identify what’s happening at impact from the flight of your shots. Master those two mental disciplines and your eventual playing ability becomes solely a matter of how hard you are willing and able to work at golf. The ‘geometry’ of golf is set out in the following pages as clearly as I know how. If you gain nothing else from this book, learn it well and use it wisely.

When the clubhead swings from out to in

THE SLICE: ball starts left of target line then curves right.

 The swing path is from out to in across the target line.

 The clubface looks to the right of, or is open to, the swing path, resulting in an oblique or ‘cutting’ impact with the ball that creates clockwise sidespin.

The flight of the ball reveals everything about your swing.

 As the ball’s forward momentum decreases, the clockwise sidespin curves the ball more and more to the right.

 The more open the clubface and/or the more out to in the swing path, the stronger the sidespin and the more pronounced the slice.

 Also, the more out to in the clubhead path, the steeper the angle of attack, thus the more oblique the impact in a perpendicular as well as horizontal plane.

 The combination of clockwise sidespin and additional backspin produced by the open clubface and/or the steep angle of attack makes this the weakest shot in golf, flying excessively high if the ball is contacted at the bottom of the arc, or excessively low if the bottom of the arc is sufficiently forward for the ball to be thinned or topped.

THE PULL: ball flies straight but left of target.

 The swing path is from out-to-in across the target line.

 The clubface is square to the swing path, but closed to the target line.

 Because the clubhead path and clubface alignment ‘match’, the impact is flush rather than oblique. Thus good distance is obtained.

THE PULLED HOOK: ball starts left of target line and then curves more left.

 The swing path is from out-to-in across the target line.

 The clubface looks to the left of, or is closed to, the swing path resulting in oblique impact with the ball that curves it even more in its starting direction, i.e., to the left.

 At its worst, this shot is literally ‘smothered’ to the extent that the ball fails to rise sufficiently off the ground to go any appreciable distance.

When the clubhead swings from in to out

THE PUSH: ball flies straight but right of target.

 The swing path is from in-to-out across the target line.

 The clubface is square to the swing path, but open to the target line.

 Because the clubhead path and clubface alignment match, the impact is flush rather than oblique and good distance is obtained.

THE HOOK: ball starts right of target then curves left

 The swing path is from in-to-out across the target line.

 The clubface looks to the left of, or is closed to, the swing path resulting in an oblique contact with the ball that creates anticlockwise sidespin.

 As the ball’s forward momentum decreases, the anticlockwise sidespin curves the ball more and more to the left.

 The more closed the clubface and/or the more in to out the swing path, the stronger the sidespin and the more pronounced the hook.

 Also, the more in-to-out the clubhead path, the shallower the angle of attack, thus the greater the risk of the clubhead catching the ground before the ball, resulting in either fat or thin contact.

 Assuming clean back-of-the-ball impact, the combination of lower flight and additional roll resulting from a slightly closed clubface and slightly in to out clubhead path – i.e., a draw as opposed to a full-blooded hook – produces more distance for a given amount of clubhead speed than any other impact configuration.

THE PUSHED SLICE: ball starts right of target then curves more right.

 The swing path is from in-to-out across the target line.

 The clubface looks to the right of, or is open to, the swing path resulting in oblique impact with the ball that curves it even further in its starting direction, i.e., to the right.

 The type of in-to-out swing path necessary to produce this impact geometry invariably results in reduced clubhead speed and, therefore, poor distance.

 It should be noted, as an aside, that today’s excessive fear of swinging ‘over the top’ makes this type of shot very common at most levels of the game. The cure lies in allowing the clubface to square automatically at impact by swinging the clubhead through the ball from in-to-in, relative to the target line.

When the clubhead swings on target

THE STRAIGHT SHOT: ball starts and continues on target line.

 The swing path at impact matches or exactly coincides with the target line.

 The clubface looks squarely or directly at the target.

 Because the clubhead path and the clubface alignment ‘match’ perfectly, i.e., there is no obliqueness, the impact is flush and the trajectory is correct, resulting in optimum carry and roll for the amount of clubhead speed delivered to the ball.

THE FADE: ball starts slightly left of the target line then curves back to target towards end of flight.

 The clubhead path at impact is slightly across the target line from out to in.

 The clubface looks squarely at, or very slightly to the right of, the target. This slight mismatching or obliqueness of clubhead path and clubface alignment produces just enough clockwise sidespin to drift the ball to the right, while delivering the clubhead at a sufficiently shallow angle for the blow to be forcefully forward rather than weakly downward or upward, as in the slice.

 Extra height and fast stopping, for relatively little distance loss, make the fade a popular shot among stronger tournament-level golfers.

THE DRAW: ball starts slightly right of target line then curves back to target towards end of flight.

 The clubhead path at impact is slightly across the target line from in to out.

 The clubface looks squarely at or very slightly to the left of the target.

 The slight mismatching or obliqueness of clubhead path and clubface alignment produces just enough anticlockwise sidespin to drift the ball gently to the left late in its flight, as the strong forward momentum resulting from the shallow angle of clubhead delivery diminishes.

 The lower flight and additional roll resulting from the slightly closed clubface make this the shot of choice for the majority of the world’s golfers. Indeed, repeatedly producing the impact geometry that draws the ball creates all the best set-up and swing habits and mechanics, from which players can then much more easily learn to play all the other ‘shapes’ of shot.

Why knowing golf’s geometry is so important

Being able to identify the ‘geometry’ of impact from the flight of the ball is fundamental to playing golf up to your maximum potential. Given that ability, everything you do in learning, building and maintaining a golf swing is directed towards achieving the game’s number one fundamental: correct impact. Without that ability, each swing lacks focus; occurs in a vacuum; is little more than a hit-and-hope experiment.

Once you completely understand the ‘geometry’ of the game, all you have to do to analyse your swing – to decide how to correct it or improve it – is to think about the way the golf ball reacts when you hit it. And because that exercise is purely a mental one, you can do it anywhere: sitting at home, even, as well as on the golf course or driving range.

Pupils are amazed that, once they have described their basic shot patterns to me, I can give them a lesson over the telephone. The reason is that the flight of the ball tells me everything I need to know, both to diagnose their swing faults and to formulate the cure.

The flight of your shots will provide you with that information also, if only you will let it. And letting it will make golf a much easier game than you ever believed possible.

Square your body to the clubface

Because they can see their foot alignment but not how their upper bodies are aimed at address, many golfers find it easy to stand square but hard to align their shoulders parallel to the target line consistently. One way to check your body alignment is by ‘reading’ the first part of the ball’s flight when you hit practice shots, before sidespin affects its direction. Given solid understanding of golf’s impact ‘geometry’, shots consistently starting left tell you that you are probably aligned too much that way, or are too ‘open’ at address. Conversely, shots starting right indicate that you are aligned too far right, or are too ‘closed’, at address.

Aim the gun

Study the top professionals and you will see them constantly working with teachers or friends on their address angles. The reason is, of course, that a gun aimed incorrectly never hits the target.

Pattern your grip thus …

Exactly how the club nestles into your palm and fingers will depend on the size and flexibility of your hands. Seek a hold with the left hand in which your last three fingers can press the club firmly, but not rigidly, against the fleshy pad below your thumb. Every time you take your grip, remember that you must relate your hands to your target through the clubface.

The club will naturally sit a little more in the fingers of your right hand than it does in your left, and you will probably secure the club most comfortably by holding it firmly, but not tightly, with your two middle fingers. ‘Wrap’ your right hand snugly against your left, so that the pad below your right thumb caresses the top of your left thumb. By more-or-less matching the direction of the Vs formed by your thumbs and forefingers, you set your hands parallel to each other, which encourages them to work as a unit during the swing.

Aim the ‘Vs’ somewhere between your right eye and shoulder, experimenting to see what works best for you.

… but experiment between these extremes to discover what works for you

The correct grip for you is the one that delivers your clubface square to your direction of swing during impact. The grip pattern that does that for Jack Nicklaus or Lee Trevino may not do it for you, so face up to the need for some experiment. This will probably be uncomfortable at first, but if you skip it you can forget ever becoming a good golfer, because your repeated misalignment of the clubface at impact will consistently create faults in your set-up and swing.

Take great care in forming your grip, so that it is repeatable.

Start with your Vs pointing midway between your nose and your right shoulder. If the flight of your shots tells you that you are delivering the clubface to the ball looking to the right of your swing line, move both your hands gradually towards a strong position – i.e., so the Vs point more away from your nose and to the outside of your right shoulder. If your shots tell you that the clubface is arriving at the ball looking left of your swing path, move both your hands gradually towards a weak position – i.e., so the Vs point more at your nose.

Your grip is right for you when your shots fly straight, even though you may be pulling the ball left or pushing the ball right of target. No curve on your shots shows that your clubface alignment and swing direction are matched.

Hover the clubhead for a smooth start

One distinctive feature of Greg Norman’s game is how he hovers the clubhead of his driver above the ground at address. It’s one of the things that he picked up as a young man from a Jack Nicklaus instruction book. Greg claims that it keeps tension out of his hands and arms, which promotes a smooth, wide one-piece takeaway and good overall rhythm in his swing. That makes sense. He also says it enables him to maintain a constant grip pressure, removing the tendency to re-grip the club at address. Again, sound advice, since a lot of club golfers have a habit of re-gripping which not only results in grip flaws, but also upsets the clubface alignment before the swing has even started.

I think hovering the clubhead at address has another very important benefit. It encourages you to stand a little bit taller at address, rather than hunch over the ball, and that improvement in your posture helps promote a better turn.

Simply Peter

With his appointment as the professional at Sandy Lodge, I would sometimes practise with Peter Thomson. This was in the 1950s, when the Australian was picking up one Open Championship after another. He once went out to Sandy Lodge specifically to get me to look at his set-up – just that, his set up to the ball, nothing else. Satisfied that he was standing well to the ball, he then drove back into the centre of London. I draw an important lesson from this: ‘70 per cent of all the bad shots which are hit are due to a faulty set-up to the ball.’

Back to basics refresher

The grip controls where the clubface looks at impact, which determines the final direction or curvature of the shot through its interaction with the path of the clubhead.

The alignment of the body relative to the target line largely controls the direction in which the clubhead is swung through the ball, which determines the starting direction of the shot – and, if there is no curvature, also its final direction.

If you’ve watched professionals on the practice tee at tournaments, you may have wondered why they spend so much time and effort checking their alignments at address – more in many cases, than working on actual swing moves. The above is the answer. Good golfers are good golfers largely because they have learned and accepted that, no matter how fine the gun’s firing action, unless it is aimed correctly it won’t deliver the missile to the target. Lesser golfers are so impatient to pull the trigger, or so wrapped up in the mechanics of the swing, they never master what comes before.