In the modest golf world most of us inhabit, even a two-man scramble qualifies as a reason to sharpen your game. Golf Digests annual intrasquad tournament, the Seitz Cup, will never be confused with a major championship. The range of players on our staff is too broad, the format too contrived, plus some players enjoy swigs of Fireball along the way. But even a friendly company event is comprised of golfers searching for a swing that can deliver in competition.
And that leads us to swing thoughts. Every golfer has themsome, like me, have too manyand they often serve as a window into a players mindset and what theyre trying to solve for. On the morning of this weeks Seitz Cup at The Seawane Club in Hewlett, N.Y., I canvassed a cross-section of players on our staff to ask about the thought they were taking into the tournament and why. I then brought in one of Golf Digests 50 Best Teachers, Tony Ruggiero, for insight into whether he believed the thought is helpful, or if theres a better concept worth trying. Here are seven examples.
‘Light on my left foot’
Luke Kerr-Dineen says he wants a light left foot to ensure a more prominent weight shift to his trail side, before shifting back the other way.
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Analysis: This can be really good if you struggle getting pressure back to your trail side. Its great if you have good rotation but struggle getting pressure behind the ball. But a word of caution: It can promote too much slide and a lack of rotation.
‘Straighter line back’
Courtney Kyritz says shes trying to take the club straight back on the takeaway and less inside because it helps protect against pulling the ball left.
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Analysis: Trying to get the club more inside is not always a bad thing. The face at impact is what causes most of the problems with direction. Feeling your arms stretched through impact is great because it can make you turn through the ball better. Keep your arms stretched and the clubface looking down the target line.
‘Pressure on my pinky and ring finger’
Christopher Powers also fights a left miss, so he says his feel is to apply more pressure on his left pinky and ring finger to better control the clubface at impact.
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Analysis: Recognizing your lead hand and where the back of the wrist is pointing is great for clubface awareness. Its like the GPS in your phone because where its pointed coming into the ball is most likely where your ball is going.
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‘Slower takeaway’
Will Irwin has been focused on pulling the club back slower on the takeaway to help him load up properly and prevent against hooking the ball.
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Analysis: I dont have a problem with slower takeaways as it gives you more time to turn. A better thought I often tell my golfers is to feel the clubhead, hands and sternum start and move together off the ball and stay matched up through the backswing.
‘Hips instead of hands’
Samantha Wu wants to use her hips more than her hands when shes chipping to encourage cleaner and more consistent contact.
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Analysis: I love using the hips and chest with chips. Its a miniature golf swing, so I believe the pivot or your turn is what moves the club. Its the same from short game to full swing. Learning to deliver the club with a pivot will not only help your chipping but your full swing.
‘Flare the left foot’
Chris Reynolds has been flaring his left foot out to encourage more of a turn and to prevent the clubface from getting stuck on the downswing.
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Analysis: Flaring the foot out is a great cheat code to buy you a few more degrees of turn if you struggle with hip mobility. A permanent solution is to do some one-legged pivot drills or one-legged ball throws in the gym standing on your lead leg.
‘Topspin forehand’
Finally, this is me. Since I struggle with a shut clubface at times, Ive been working on releasing the club down the target linelike a topspin forehand in tennisbecause it allows me to make a deeper turn and still be able to keep the face square at impact.
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Analysis: Feeling the arms stretch and stay extended down the target line can be a great feeling to help golfers turn through the ball more, which can ultimately give you more clubface control. The club is going to release so feeling more stretch down the target line can help promote more turn and cause the club to release later reduce pulls and yanks