golfrewind.com

If you can work the ball with the driver, it will help, too. I am normally a fade hitter but I have worked on the draw and can use it for dog leg lefts if I want. I'll aim for the right side of the fairway and if it goes straight, it's in the fairway. If it draws like I want it to, the ball will be in the center leaving me closer to the hole.

Working the ball with the driver can take trouble out of play just like it can with shots into the green. If you have water on the right, you can aim at the left side of the fairway and play a fade into the middle. Now, being able to hit the driver straight is great. Just aim for the middle of the fairway and hit it there. Problem is, what if you plan on a straight shot and aim for the middle of the fairway? The point you're aiming for now is closer to the water than if you were to play the fade starting on the left side. Your margin for error is slimmer.

With all due respect, I think this question 'pre-empts' the answer...like the survey questions that ask, Would you rather be free of terrorism, or vote for X?

But seriously, the original post had nothing to do with 'working the ball'. Of course it is possible to work the ball and this would be done if the golfer was 'smart' on the occasions that this needed to be done.

However, one of my questions was, Do people realise that the driver can be hit 'dead straight' and that it is not hard to do once the swing dynamics are understood? Surely if a golfer knows that he is able to hit the ball directly to a specific target, he is way in front of the guy who is not sure if he can achieve this except in a roundabout manner. There are those who are arguing that it is not possible or very difficult to achieve. My experience disagrees, and I am talking to the millions of golfers who have difficulties with banana balls who would dearly love to hit the ball straight now and again, not the pro- or scratch player who has already solved their dilemmas to their best abilities..

The hacker or duffer would be much better off knowing that he could hit the ball straight if he needed and I am saying that this is not particularly difficult provided the correct paradigm is followed. LIke Moe Norman, my drives are straight, but I do not use the Natural Swing.

Yes, a straight ball flight can be accomplished fairly easily with a little practice. The problem is most people, even professionals will pull/push the ball slightly or will misalign slightly. Working the ball allows for misalignments and takes the unexpected pulls/pushes out of the equation. As many here know, once you get a somewhat decent swing, golf is about positions and avoiding trouble...working the ball gets you into those positions much more reliably than attempting the straight ball.

Here is the challenge to those that have a RELIABLE fade/draw on command. Go out and play 9 or 18 holes attempting to hit EVERY standard shot (i.e. non-recovery) STRAIGHT. Then go out and play the same 9 or 18 holes attempting to hit a fade/draw when called for. Give me an honest attempt and I am fairly certain (over 1000 students can't be wrong) working the ball will provide you with less trouble off the tee and more GIR. Caveat - if you can't work the ball on demand, LEARN it before attempting this exercise.

I have gone through a spell where I hit the ball exceptionally straight with my irons..... to hit a draw or a fade actually requires me to think about it and results in less good results..... I dont disagree that working the ball is a better approach, but if you are naturally hitting arrows, trying to change it isnt necessarily the best option!

ad

I agree with that 100%. IF you are hitting the ball dead straight and controlling your distance, you are an anomaly and by all means, fire at the pins. Unless there is something strange about the west coast vs. the east coast, I can count on one hand how many lessons out of the 1000's I have given could hit the ball routinely straight at their target...and I am sure diva has similar observations. Keep in mind we are not talking about hitting the 8-SW dead straight, we are talking about hitting the 7-iron through woods dead straight with no push or pull.

I'm talking 5 iron upwards.... I actually used to hit a draw but it has disappeared in the last couple of year (to my disappointment in fact). The strangest thing is that from 5 iron up is highly reliable in distance and direction, the other clubs are as if a different person is hitting them!

Ad

I do not wish to get into a debate about 'working the ball'. I think it is great.

My original post is focusing on hitting the ball straight. I see many golfers (the majority) and even those who have low handicaps who have no idea how to hit the ball straight. they may have learned to 'work' the ball to the best of their ability, but when things go ape, they do not know what the actual swing dynamic problem is.

My contention is that the majority are incorrect and that the swing dynamics of hitting the ball straight is easier to learn with the correct paradigm, than learning how to control a slice or a hook. The major difficulty is that most have an incorrect paradigm to begin with and are always trying to 'correct faults'. To me this is a roundabout (but all too common) way in which golf is taught and learnt. I believe even many professional teachers do not understand the biodynamics of the correct swing properly or that the problems with the golf swing are largely perceptual/psychological rather than mechanical and physical.

Let me say again, the ball can be hit 'dead straight' with no fade or draw easily with the correct paradigm. This does not make any one else's swings 'wrong' if it works for them, but I can teach a 60 year old grandmother to hit dead straight in a couple of lesson, so it can be done......with the correct paradigm. Once that has been achieved, 'working the ball' is an extra that is highly useful but is not a 'replacement' for hitting straight.

If 50 out of a 1000 replied they were able to hit the ball dead straight, then I would say, yes, they have the correct paradigm!

I wasn't attempting to debate about working the ball, I was simply stating as you have that working the ball is a very important tool to lowering scores to a scratch or better level.

I also agree that many professional instructors teach on a "reactive" basis rather than a "proactive" basis. My own teaching attempts to eliminate plateaus and yes, I do teach the players to hit the ball pretty straight first and after a couple years (depending on progression), reintroduce the how-to's for working the ball. I introduce it fairly early as a means of allowing the player to understand what is going on in the golf swing in terms of path and clubface but I don't get into the details until we have a solid foundation to build on.

Great. I know the feeling of absolute exhiliration when the ball sails as straight as a die to its intended target,even in a strong cross wind without any sense of impact at all, and it is something I like to share with those who want to learn, especially the hacker who has no idea that such a shot is possible for them on a consistent basis.

I know that 'better' players have worked out their own strategies to do this and that working the ball is a wonderful tool to have in the arsenal. Like the professional and skilled snooker player, the skilled golfer is always attempting to 'put work on the ball' but it is because they already understand the fundamentals isn't it? This is what you are saying as well I see, but I wanted to clarify that 'hitting straight' is a fundamental that can be achieved, and if using the correct paradigm, not particularly difficult.

YOu sound like your coaching is very sensitive to the 'whole swing' and proactive and that is great. Have you read "Extraordinary Golf" by Fred Shoemaker? He teaches the 'whole game' based on learning to swing and enjoyment of the game at the Esalen Institute.

My plan is to teach children, retirees, hackers enough about the swing to have an 'aha' experience so that they understand the 'whole swing' and how it works so they can then work on it themselves (with only incidental help). I have seen this transform hackers almost ready to give up to people who come alive to the possibilities of golf. That is what I wish to be a part of.

I envy you that it is your job!

I'm with you on the "aha" experience. I would teach for free if my family didn't have annoying habits such as eating, wearing clothes and living under a roof. My teaching is geared toward getting the player to have an enjoyable experience on the golf course as defined by their goals. For the beginner, I think many are turned off by weeks of lessons until the professional tells them they are "ready" to play on the course. I do a month series for the beginner with two lessons a week (these are done on Tuesdays and Fridays) one on short-game and one on full-swing. The final week of that month is playing lessons dealing with etiquette (pace of play, course maintenance, etc) and course management. I actually had a guy this summer who progressed quickly and I played 18 with him on the last day of the series and he shot 98 and was thrilled. There is nothing like seeing the smile on the face of a beginner as they hit that first "perfect" shot that sails into the air, flys down the fairway then lands and rolls out nicely...THAT is what teaching is all about. Give me that over my professional players any day.

The golf world needs more guys like you jcgolfpro. You're a credit to a profession that includes many who treat all beginners the same. I wish I could have found a true teaching professional with your outlook, when I first began.

Now, if you could only get a professional player to trade you your check for one of the big cardboard jobs we see on TV, you'd have the best of both worlds! Thanks for your contributions here, and keep up the excellent work.

[quote=jcgolfpro] There is nothing like seeing the smile on the face of a beginner as they hit that first "perfect" shot that sails into the air, flys down the fairway then lands and rolls out nicely...THAT is what teaching is all about. QUOTE]

Yes, that is a wonderful approach. I must admit I have had tears in my eyes on occasion when someone hit that beautiful shot for the first time and was hooked. My major focus is attempting to get the player to understand precisely what the swing is so they can achieve these shots for themselves.
I even get tears in my eyes when one of my own shots 'comes off perfect'. It is an amazing feeling. And to think you get paid for it

I'll call that bet...



I mean if it were that easy, everyone would be pros. I may be the only one who believes this, but I've played long enough to know....I rarely ever see a shot fly straight...everyones shot, majority of the time is going to have a fade, draw, cut, hook or something. To hit an exactly straight shot (unless we're talking SW shot or something which is easier to hit) is not as easy to acheive as you say. I mean, look at the TV when golf tournements are on...why is Tiger in the rough all the time? Cause he's having trouble hitting it straight, and he's suppose to be the best in the world.

Please correct me if I'm wrong...if you can present an easy way to hit the ball straight everytime and I actually try it and it works then I will with no problem state my ignorance and my being wrong.

book me in too
maybe he meant "straightish"
funny how easy it is to hit straight when you allow for a little fade or draw
i guess the only thing stopping us hitting straight is us

Hi deron

If you would be prepared to follow instruction and forget your own theories, I would be happy to do so. The problem you face is purely perceptual and because you have learned to function in relation to the ball for a long period of time, you would be less likely to learn how to hit straight than the sixty year old grandmother. Tiger has the same difficulty because he has the same paradigm for learning that every one else did. He just learned better.

Now I am happy to say that it is possible for Tiger to hit straight provided he does not attempt to overhit the ball the way he is doing.

If the biodynamics of the swing are kept in mind, there is no hook or fade to the ball at all. YOu are probably swinging in relation to the ball and not to the target and your shot contains some degree of 'hit'.

The practice swing if executed with full intent over a spot will produce a straight hit every time. This is fact which I could demonstrate easily. I am in the process of having this 'proved' in a biodynamic lab.

It is only when the ball is introduced that the majority of golfers begin to reorient themselves perceptually to it and this is the reason for the hook/fade.
In other words the hands/arms acting independently of the swing centre and a level of ball orientation/hitting is involved.

If one maintains one's 'practice swing' orientation when the ball is introduced and does not 'reorient' in any way to the ball, then one can swing freely and the result will be consistently straight. The arms/hands will be just a part of the fluid swing unleashing and being 'square' to the line of flight at the bottom of the swing arc. As long as the ball is on this line of flight it must leave the square clubface in a straight line.

See for yourself the perceptual problem of introducing a ball. It is simply a 'distractor' and as such causes the problems because of the refocusing of the player to it. It also introduces a psychological problem of tension, which also affects the swing and causes the hands to act independently of the centre rotation.

When the 60 year old granny is taught to swing first until she knows how to swing and then gradually introduced to a light ball, then a real ball, she is 'swinging' and not hitting and then she understands how to hit straight, because she does not reorient herself to the ball when she addresses it but retains her 'practice swing' target orientation with the body and the arms/hands act as a part of the swing not separate from it. The ball is then just a point on the swing path and not an object to be hit. Of course she does not immediately 'get it right' but she does it often enough to know she is on the right course and using the correct paradigm.

Please, I am prepared to bet you as much money as you wish if you are prepared to spend the time and have the open mindedness to experiment and see for yourself. YOu too rawhiti robber. Perhaps you would like to come to aussieland for some lessons