Practice can make perfect

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fl.— When you practice, do you just hit and hope, thinking that eventually, after you have hit many, many practice shots, the “Golfing Gods” will bestow upon you the mythical “I’ve got it now!” secret?

Or are you like Jack Nicklaus, who said he never practiced without a firm plan. He always practiced with a certain goal in mind for each session.

At The Martin Green Golf Academy, students are taught that the body responds to the motion of the swing and that practicing is more than just banging ball after ball into the vast space of the driving range.
Here are some basic practice guidelines:

1. When working on your technique, do it without a ball and do it slowly so you can feel and see (use a mirror if possible) the exactness of the motion.

2. When working on different kinds of shots, such as fades and draws, try to work your shots around targets (i.e. a flag, a tree or a marker). It really helps your eye and feel for the shots.

If there are no target objects where you practice, then try to hit your fades from the right side of the practice tee and your draws from the left side. This will help you see the actual amount of movement you are getting on your shots.

Here are some unique ideas and swing thoughts.

There seems to be a “swing” away from lots of body motion during the downswing. Tiger Woods had worked hard since his early days on the PGA Tour to slow his hips and legs during the downswing.

David Ledbetter believes amateurs tend to use their bodies too much during the downswing. This fault is hardly surprising when virtually everything you read tells you to start your downswing with the hips and/or legs sliding and/or turning and miraculously your arms and hands and club will follow down in the correct path.

If this were true, hitting good shots would be as easy as falling off the proverbial log.

Your hands control the club and cause its motion. The body, in turn, responds. When throwing a ball or hitting a baseball, the body and arms move as a response to your intention to throw or hit. You do not think about your legs and body; you focus solely on the outcome.

In golf, the body does and must move, but not to fling the hands/arms/club up and down and into the follow through, thus straining the back, hops and shoulders. The benefits of hitting the ball with loose free muscles is no strain but with power.

The body should be passive and respond to the swing created by the hands and arms. You don’t hold the body still, but instead let it comfortably respond.

Here’s an example of the ideal hitting action: Imagine taking a driver with zero loft and, in one blow, completely drive a six-inch nail into the base of a tree. Throughout the swing, you keep your view of the nail head constant (i.e. a stable head) and make the swing without flinging your body about to generate force (no control).

Instead, you allow your body to comfortably respond to the swing/hitting motion of the hands/arms/club. This is very close to the ideal hitting action.

How you would need to do this should be very similar to your golf swing: a constant, unchanging view of the nail or tee; hands controlling the club; arms swinging, body motion stable and responsive.

It’s an easy drill. Take your driver and swing it back and forth from address to the top and back to address with out stopping. Do this several times.

While doing this, notice how your body stabilizes, your hands take charge, your arms awing, your eyes maintain and unchanging view and your body follows naturally and athletically.

Practice this technique a few times to stimulate your thought processes and help train your body to create a more stable base and you will see some real improvement in your golf swing.