Chisag's Tip Of The Day -#7

[chisag]

... Ran across another teachable moment yesterday and figured it was a good one to share here. Played with a Chinese guy that I had been paired up with a few weeks ago and got paired up again. He is a great playing pard that really loves golf, is always happy and smiling and it was fun to join him again. We exchanged numbers so we can play again, but I digress and on to the tip. He was hitting his short irons pretty decent but the longer the club the more he struggled. The 14th is a short par 4 that is uphill and 300 from the tips. With a slight 5 mph tailwind at our backs Zach decided to hit driver but pushed it into waist high heather with zero chance of finding it, let alone playing it.  I hit my 2 iron 245 leaving me a nice pitch to a middle pin.  Zach was amazed I hit my 2 iron farther than his driver and asked how do you do that? I laughed and said years of playing but mostly it is because of my timing and tempo. I told him I try to swing my 2 iron identical to my PW and he didn't think that was possible. With nobody behind us I showed him by hitting a pw and then the 2 iron again asking Zach to just watch my arms and hands for their tempo. He saw I was not swinging my 2 iron harder or faster, just letting the loft and length of the club take care of the distance.

... I had Zach do the same thing but with a lesson twist. We picked out a spot on the fairway and I had him hit his pw to that spot. He was pretty close swinging with a good tempo and hitting a nice 90 yd shot. I had him take his 5 iron and look at the same spot and then attempt to hit that 5 iron to that same spot BUT imagine his 5 iron was his pw. I told him it is of the utmost importance that he truly imagine a pw in his hands. He took a similar swing to his pw and was shocked to see his 5 iron flying 60 yds past the spot and in the middle of the fairway. He said he never imagined he could swing a 5 iron so easy and have the ball go so far. I told him he didn't swing it "easy" he just didn't swing soooo hard that he lost his tempo and missed the center of the club. He hit a few good and a few bad longer clubs on the next 4 holes. I told him it won't change overnight but continue to think about swinging every club like his pw and he will slowly keep getting better. He was particularly impressive hitting his 3 hybrid a little left but over the green on a par 3 with a back pin at 171 so he flew it a good 180! He said that was the longest he ever hit that club. 

... This is an excellent drill to do at the range or in a practice round. Pick a target and hit your short iron, then try and swing a longer club imagining it is still that short iron and try to hit the same spot with the same tempo. Keep going back and forth until you feel like you are swinging both clubs with a similar tempo. This works amazingly well with a driver too as long as you commit and attempt to swing with a short iron tempo. If you struggle with longer clubs, give this a try and let me know how it works for you!

[ncwoz]

Love your tips, thanks for sharing! I definitely feel myself strain more as I go higher in the bag, and inconsistencies are always quick to follow. I'll have to give it a shot!

[Kor.A.Door]

I posted something about timing and tempo the other day. When the pressure is on I tend to lose my tempo/timing big time. I feel good on the backswing, but feel like I get really fast from the top and pull hook everything. Any tips on getting  things back on track mid round. Something I can tell myself or do during a practice swing to sort of reset. Thanks 

[chisag]

2 minutes ago, Kor.A.Door said:

I posted something about timing and tempo the other day. When the pressure is on I tend to lose my tempo/timing big time. I feel good on the backswing, but feel like I get really fast from the top and pull hook everything. Any tips on getting  things back on track mid round. Something I can tell myself or do during a practice swing to sort of reset. Thanks 

 

... My favorite is stolen from Ernie Els. "Swing forward with the exact same speed you swing back".  Swinging forward with the same tempo for many seems way too slow, but remember impact is halfway in the downswing so the club head will be picking up speed as it makes contact with the ball. Admittedly most cannot match tempo going back and forward at the same speed but as long as you honesty try your best to do so, your tempo should be close to ideal. This works regardless of a fast or slow swing tempo and it works the same for Rickie Fowler as it does for Ernie. 

[Kor.A.Door]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... My favorite is stolen from Ernie Els. "Swing forward with the exact same speed you swing back".  Swinging forward with the same tempo for many seems way too slow, but remember impact is halfway in the downswing so the club head will be picking up speed as it makes contact with the ball. Admittedly most cannot match tempo going back and forward at the same speed but as long as you honesty try your best to do so, your tempo should be close to ideal. This works regardless of a fast or slow swing tempo and it works the same for Rickie Fowler as it does for Ernie. 

Thanks for the help. I will keep this in mind. It usually happens on hole 14-15 when I feel pressure to finish strong. I really feel like I am pressing really hard to have a good finish, and then I get all out of whack. This tip could be a good opportunity to focus on something else. 

[Chanchorp13]

Gonna have to give this a go this week.

Recently I came to the realization that i cant be flag hunting with the longer irons. 190+ out I need to aim for the center of green and more than anything think about just making solid contact. This could be a good addition to that thought process and hopefully help straighten out my longer irons. 

Thanks for sharing! 

[RoverRick]

Perhaps 20 years ago I began experimenting with lofts and lengths of clubs, so I could create a bag where I had even gaps between all my clubs. I created a matrix or spreadsheet where I could adjust the length or loft of a club and determine how far it should go based on the same swing input. (Yes, this totally ignores club head design, launch angles , etc., but it was the genesis of my current bag that seems to finally accomplish this.)

 

The base swing is a 52° 35.5” Gap Wedge and “my 100 yard” swing. I also have an “85 yard” and a “60 yard” swing. I could hit this club farther but didn’t have much control so that was the “base” swing and club.

 

The advantage of this is before the round all I have to do is “groove” the “100 yard swing”. Then all I have to make is 100 yard swings with different clubs. That swing with my 3 iron will go 210 yards and I can fade or draw and control the spin.

 

I mentioned the “85 yard swing”. This is my flag hunting swing. I also think of it as “3/4 swing” but it’s really more than that. I have a shorter backswing and stop when my lead arm is parallel with the ground and shoulders turned 3/4 and accelerate through the ball. My 33° 7 iron will go just 135 yards vs 158 but dead straight. This is the swing I use on most approach shots lately.

 

Similarly I have the “60 yard” or 1/2 swing. Same basic swing but stop the backswing club parallel with the ground and shoulders about 45°. I mainly use this with wedges but also when I need to flight down an approach shot or need more accuracy.

 

But my point here REALLY should be that I do not make the “110 yard swing.” Other than the set up differences, ball forward on the tee etc, I should still just make the 100 yard swing max with any club.

 

This point was driven home just yesterday morning. I was over-swinging and spraying the ball all over the course the first 8 holes. Then on the 9th, a par 3, I thought “85 yard swing” and made par. But still had a 48 on the front 9. I continued the 100 and 85 yard swing thoughts and shot a 35 on the back. Played the front 9 again and shot 39.

 

 

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[tony@CIC]

 

... My favorite is stolen from Ernie Els. "Swing forward with the exact same speed you swing back".  Swinging forward with the same tempo for many seems way too slow, but remember impact is halfway in the downswing so the club head will be picking up speed as it makes contact with the ball. Admittedly most cannot match tempo going back and forward at the same speed but as long as you honesty try your best to do so, your tempo should be close to ideal. This works regardless of a fast or slow swing tempo and it works the same for Rickie Fowler as it does for Ernie. 

My wife and I were talking about the same issue. She has brand new clubs and is hitting them very tentatively - slowing the club just before impact. .

 

 

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[CarlH]

I'm working on my tempo from putt to chip to full swing with the driver all to the beat of "tick tock".  It certainly does help when I do it.  When I get fast, the ball takes on a mind of its own.