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By Jeff Ritter, PGA; Photo by Warren Keating
I can’t tell you how many people come to my lesson tee and say, “If I could just get rid of my baseball swing, then all my problems would be solved!” My initial thought is always: I wish you had a baseball swing, because it would help you play better golf.
| Most people don’t realize that baseball and golf swings are essentially the same; they’re just on different planes. A baseball bat is swung on a very “flat” plane because the ball is in the air, whereas a golf club is swung on a more tilted plane because the ball is on the ground. Regardless of where the ball is, both swings demand a similar sequence of events to ensure solid contact. Any movement that generates power is the result of a coordinated effort that utilizes all of the body’s speed producers. From throwing a pitch to hitting a home run, a “kinetic” chain of events occurs to deliver an explosion at the moment of impact. For most people, a simple baseball swing most correctly conveys the idea and attitude of a proper kinetic sequence that’s perfect for golf. In addition, the rounded arc produced by a good baseball swing will encourage proper clubface rotation through impact, thus curing the common slice. |  |
Drill: Make some waist-high practice swings as if you were hitting a pitch. Increase your speed after each swing, really trying to feel and hear the clubhead whip through impact as if you were “swinging for the fences.” Gradually lower the height of the swing as if a pitcher were throwing you lower pitches. Continue until the clubhead contacts the ground.
Congratulations, you just picked up 20 yards and hit it right down the middle!
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Don't fear flaws - use them to correct any type of ball-flight
By Jeff Ritter, PGA; with Ryan M. Noll
No matter how fundamentally superior the swings of the world’s best players are to those belonging to the rest of us, there has never been, nor will there likely will there ever be, a golf swing without at least one flaw. The swings of greats such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els may look perfect, but each features a number of flaws—the same weaknesses that plague the swings of recreational players. If that’s the case, then why do these golfers own championship trophies while you can’t even make the A flight at your club championship? Is it because great golfers can overcome flaws by grooving them out? Not quite. The real answer lies in the ability of tour pros to repeat their flaws and effectively apply others to compensate for the error.
For example, Ben Hogan battled a snap hook early in his career. It affected his game so badly that he developed a very weak left-hand grip, a cupped wrist and an open face at the top in order to offset the hook. Not only did Hogan learn to negate his hook, he also managed to win nine majors and notch 63 victories—not a bad effort considering the flaws inherent in his swing.
Like Hogan, you, too, can learn to use swing flaws to your advantage. The key is to identify your flaws and make sure you have an even number with which to work. I believe you can play great golf with an even number of mistakes by balancing them out. With an odd number, however, you’re in for a long day.
Slicers
A slicer’s golf swing is inherently too steep relative to the ideal swing shape. When you’re too upright, generally the effects are:
1) Deep divots.
2) Toe-first contact with the golf ball.
3) An open clubface at the point of contact.
 | Deep Divots A steep swing is traveling down too abruptly through the impact zone, which makes it difficult to pick the ball clean and avoid digging deep into the turf. The necessary fix is to inject some width into your swing to help shallow out the steep, descending blow. A great way to add width is to widen your takeaway, much like Jack Nicklaus did in his heyday. The steep-swinging Nicklaus triggered a bigger turn by first turning his head away from the target. Although turned, Nicklaus kept his head stationary, forcing him to stretch his arms low, wide and away from the target on his backswing. This trigger was exceptionally useful with fairway woods. |
| Toe Contact Despite the awesome information we can get from a videotaped or televised golf swing, it’s darn near impossible to get an exact idea of how close or far we should stand from the ball. Players with naturally steep swings tend to benefit from standing closer than usual to the ball to accommodate their upright swing shape. For a player with a normal swing, standing closer to the ball can put the heel dangerously close to the ball, often causing shanks. But for a steep swinger who misses frequently on the toe area of the club, standing closer will help balance the toe hit caused by the steep swing. Scott Hoch, who has among the most upright swings on the PGA Tour (his irons are about four degrees upright), stands closer to the ball to accommodate his steep swing. If he were to back away, it’d be near impossible for him to hit solid shots. In this case, he didn’t change his swing, he just changed his distance from the ball. |  |
 | DRILL: Get Closer at the Start Steep swingers need to stand closer to the ball. Here’s how to hug it at address. Hold a club in your right hand, then sole it squarely behind the ball and step in with your right foot so that the handle of the club rests against your right thigh. Step in with your left foot, then widen your right foot to about shoulder width for a full shot. Because you started with the club leaning against your body, your setup position will be nearer to the ball than normal, thus helping you to prevent toe hits. This drill is useful for every club in the bag. Remember, always pick a target and align your body not at, but parallel to that spot. You’ll see improvements immediately! |
DRILL: Roll the Ball for More Width
Set a golf ball about a foot behind and just inside the target line from where you would normally place a ball at address. With your left arm only, gently use the back of your iron and roll the ball away from the target line. Use a cap or a basket to catch them. The ball should roll slowly, not quickly, into the basket. So long, deep divots!
Open Clubface
If the clubface is opening too much and stays open at impact, the means for balancing things out is to adopt a stronger grip where both hands are rotated well to the right on the grip at address. In most cases, this grip is considered to be too strong, but for a slicer, it’s the perfect remedy. If you’re concerned that a strong grip will turn your slice into a hook, consider the swing style of Fred Couples. Couples has a stronger-than-usual left-hand grip, but uses a cupped left wrist at the top and a fast turn to the target to keep the clubface in check. Keep in mind that cupping the left wrist usually promotes a slice, while flattening or bowing the left wrist generally will produce a hook. Another common balancing act for slicers is to simply preset the clubface closed at address. This helps the golfer who chronically slices to maintain a square clubface through impact.
DRILL: Front Loader
Another one of my favorite drills that tends to work beautifully is what I call the Front Loader. This drill is designed to help you feel a postimpact hand rotation for more of a hooking shot. Set your ball on a medium-height tee. Hold your club a few feet past the ball as if you were about 1⁄4 of the way into your followthrough with the toe of the club turned well past the heel. Swing back (don’t contact the ball in the backswing) to about a 3⁄4-length backswing then through, striking the ball with the front-loaded rotated feel. You should see the ball easily holding its line and perhaps even hooking a little left.
 | Strong Hands! If it’s easy to read the glove logo in a mirror, then you know you have a strong grip. Mimic the fold in your index finger and thumb with your lower hand and you’re set. In this postimpact photo of Couples (right), you can see his body has outraced his hands through impact. If he didn’t have a strong thrust through the ball, his strong grip would cause hooked shots. This is why it’s critical to fully turn your body with a strong grip. |
Hookers
A player who hooks the ball has a golf swing that’s flatter and more rounded than that of a player who slices, leading to the exact opposite impact and flight characteristics.
1) No divot or divot well behind the ball.
2) Heel-first contact.
3) Clubface closing too much through impact.
No Divot Or Divot Behind
A flat swing tends to travel along the ground for longer than it should, and when this happens, the face is likely to close and sweep across the ball with a hooking motion. Here, width is the enemy.
Try to balance things out by staying centered, with your backswing resisting movement away from the target. Ben Hogan, a very flat swinger, was able to steepen his hit by reminding himself to keep his weight on his left side as well as narrowing his release angle through the ball. Hogan also visualized his arms wrapped tightly with rope, indicating the importance of keeping his arms tight to the torso, another means of narrowing the arc.
DRILL: Left Foot Right Toes
Stand solidly on your left foot with your right foot back and your right toe down for balance. Hit some shots from this stance. You’ll feel extremely centered over the ball, with little or no head movement. Any lateral movement will result in a loss of balance. Staying more centered will effectively narrow the width of your swing, leading to crisper contact. It’s that simple.
 | Stay Centered! Although Ben Hogan didn’t keep his hands in front of his chest at impact, he could do it when he had to. Here you can see that Hogan maintained knee flex and kept his weight in the center of his stance, resulting in a crisply hit bunker shot. His weight never fully shifted to his back foot. Staying centered is key for better bunker play, as is a more upright swing |
Heel Hits
Often, heel hits are the result of standing too close to the ball. The fix is to actually try a technique that Fuzzy Zoeller uses. Zoeller sets up the ball well off the heel (don’t be afraid), then works his arm close to the body through contact to deliver a solid blow. This address position forces Zoeller to do two things: 1) it prevents too much lean into the ball at impact, which can lead to a shank or heeled shot; 2) it keeps his arms close to his body, which is another means of adding speed, much like an ice skater spinning faster as the arms work closer to the torso. This drill absolutely forces you to stay a comfortable distance from the golf ball. With practice, you’ll grow accustomed with a stance farther away from the ball resulting in fewer heel hits.
DRILL: Be Like Vijay
Most of you have seen by now some of the interesting drills Vijay Singh does to work on his game. One of the most common is hitting shots with a glove tucked under his arm. If you’re hitting shots off the heel, then your arms are swinging too much away from your body through impact. Hit a few shots with a glove or headcover tucked under your right arm. You’ll feel more harmony between your arm swing and body turn leading to on-center hits. Caution: Your arms will require some room to float and move as your swing size increases, so keep these swings small at first for best results.
| Stand Away From It! Take a look at Zoeller in this photo (right). He has taken avoiding heel hits even further by setting up extremely far from the ball. For the normal player, this stance could lead to off-balance toe hits, but for the flat swinger, this stance can help eliminate heel hits without making a major adjustment to the swing. Try this routine with your irons and kiss heel hits goodbye! |  |
Clubface Closing Too Much
If you hook the ball too much, in some cases, it’s due to excessive hand and wrist rotation through the downswing. One of the best ways to beat this flaw is to adopt a slicer’s (weak) grip. Instead of the two folds in the hands between both thumbs and index fingers pointing at the right shoulder (left for lefties), try pointing both folds more toward your sternum. This will help you not only prevent a closed face at impact, but also to get more of your body involved in your swing. Another cure for a closing face is to speed up your turn to the target. Increasing your body’s rate of rotation will delay the closing of the face, leading to less hooks and straighter shots. A good example of someone with great target-side body action is Sergio Garcia. Notice how his hands are in front, and his shirt buttons are facing the target in this postimpact shot.
| DRILL: Thumbs Up Hold your left hand up in front of your chest and give the standard thumbs-up sign. This will put your left hand in a neutral position. Place your left hand on the grip in the same position so that your left thumb is positioned nearly straight down the shaft. Violà! Hooking the ball is a tall order with this kind of grip. |  |
When you don’t turn your body, the clubface closes too fast, causing a vicious hook (top, far left). To avoid this position, be like Sergio and make sure you clear your hips through impact (top, left). This will make closing the face more difficult and help you hit the ball straight. Also, if your shoulders are level at impact, you’ll come over the top, so keep your front shoulder up!
There you have it. Practice these moves and you’ll see much faster improvement than you ever will trying to grind out swing flaws from your natural swing. Remember, all swings have flaws, and the key to improvement is getting those flaws to work as effectively as possible for you. Do this and you’re sure to see some amazing results.
No-Frills Putting Drills (Part 1)
by Joel Bush. 
Posted in Public. Tagged with drills, practice, putting, short game.
Nine easy ways to lower your score (1-4)
Wouldn’t it be great if putting was as simple as it sounds, where every round was as automatic as the clinic Aaron Baddeley put on at Harbour Town this year (97 putts over 72 holes)?
Jeff Ritter, director of instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz., believes putting isn’t complicated. And to help solve your putting woes, he has put together his No-Frills Putting Drills—nine straightforward, no-nonsense exercises intended to be practiced on your own, without the aid of an instructor. Practice these drills and, before you know it, you’ll actually look forward to working with the flatstick.
1 - Metronome
Have you ever noticed how smooth a touring pro’s putting tempo is? It’s as if his or her stroke was a pendulum swinging back and forth—rhythmic, free-flowing and uncomplicated. This kind of uniform movement eliminates any “herky-jerky” motions that might adversely affect a putt’s length and direction.
A great way to develop Tour-quality rhythm and tempo is to practice with a metronome. Simply place the metronome on the ground and time your stroke so it matches its “tick-tock” sound. On the “tick,” your putter should be at the end of your backswing, and on the “tock,” it should be at the end of your followthrough.
A metronome has adjustable speeds, a feature that makes finding the appropriate tempo a snap. Once you find the speed that matches your natural stroke, continue to practice matching your tempo to the metronome until you can consistently reproduce it.
The next time you play, I suggest grooving your tempo while making a practice stroke. It’s easy. Just repeat to yourself, “tick-tock,” as you putt. When you step up to the ball, your rhythm will be right for the putt at hand.
2 - One-Hander
Some players like to feel as though one of their hands is guiding the stroke through impact. For example, Tiger Woods wants his dominant right hand to control the stroke, so he frequently practices with only that hand on the handle. Whatever your preference, practicing with just one hand is a great way to unlock the feel and flow of a pure putting stroke.
Hold the putter with one hand only and make a stroke. At first, the sensation of a one-handed motion might feel unusual, but as you practice, you’ll find it’s actually fairly natural. As you practice from a variety of distances, don’t be afraid to put a little wrist action into your stroke, as it promotes a true roll. Also, allow yourself to be loose—a tension-free stroke usually produces the best results.
Remember, a natural wrist cock is common in every ball sport, whether the motion is hitting, swinging or throwing. It’s no different with putting. Rigid wrists make it very difficult to develop the desired soft touch needed on the putting green.
 | 3 - On Track If you tend to push or pull your putts, your clubface or putter path is probably going to be off line at impact. Misaligned putterfaces cause your putts to veer off line by many feet, so keeping your clubface square at impact is paramount. |
4 - Speed Reader If you play a lot of different golf courses, you know that green speeds can vary widely from day to day and course to course. Obviously, it can be extremely frustrating when you’re not accustomed to the speed of new greens, particularly if they’re significantly different than those on the course you last played. A very effective but simple technique to combat this problem is to exaggerate your practice stroke. In other words, if you’re playing greens that are significantly slower than you’re used to, take your practice stroke from a greater distance than your actual putt. This will force you to ingrain the feel of a longer, more powerful stroke. On greens that are faster than normal, take your practice stroke from a spot closer to the hole than your actual putt. Then simply go back to your ball and use that same sensation to make your stroke. |  |
No-Frills Putting Drills (Part 2)
by Joel Bush.
Posted in Public. Tagged with drills, practice, putting, short game.
Nine easy ways to lower your score (5-9)
A common amateur pitfall is to make a long stroke that produces a short putt. A great way to inject some energy into your stroke—and add much needed acceleration—is to practice this tee-popping drill. Place two tees in the ground, as wide apart as a golf ball, so they form a gate. Place the ball so that slightly more of it is on the hole side of the gate and make a stroke much like you did in the one-handed drill, with a little wrist hinge in your backstroke. “Tap” your putterhead into the tees. Your impact will be halted, but the ball won’t. You’ll be amazed at the solid contact you get from such little effort.
 | 6 - First Down Hitting your putts the proper distance is more important than getting the correct line. (A two-foot, pin-high putt is always easier to make than a five-footer that has come up short.) A great way to hone your distance control is to practice this First-Down drill. Lay down two clubs, four paces apart, and start with a handful of balls a few feet short of the first shaft marker. Putt your first ball as close as possible to, but past, the first shaft marker. Your goal is to putt each successive ball past the previous one until it either stops short of your last ball or goes longer than the second shaft marker. If either one of these two things happen, start over. You’ll notice that when your objective is to get as many balls in a 12-foot space, but just a little bit farther than the preceding ball, your target focus will narrow and your distance control will improve dramatically. |
| 7 - Sweet Spot One thing all Tour professionals have in common is consistent ballstriking—a product of the ball hitting the center of the clubface. In putting, these center hits produce good roll and consistent speed. To encourage this solid contact, wrap two rubber bands around your blade so they straddle your putter’s sweet spot. Putts hit off the toe or heel will cause your ball to veer offline. Centered strikes will send the ball rolling down its intended target line. After you feel confident that you can make contact between the rubber bands on a regular basis, take them off and try to continue making contact on the putter’s sweet spot. If you feel a change in contact quality, it’s time to put the rubber bands back on and resume the drill. |  |
 | 8 - Short-Putt Blues In the era of long drives, it’s even more frustrating to miss short putts. After all, when a 280-yard drive counts as much as a botched three-footer, it’s twice as hard to feel confident walking to the next tee. A great way to feel self-assured from short distances is to place eight balls in a circle two or three feet from the cup. Walk briskly around the hole and tap in each ball, acting as if success is a given. You’ll be amazed at how many you make when you don’t overthink the little ones. If you really want to improve, start the drill over when you miss and don’t stop until you make eight putts in a row. |
| 9 - Eyes On The Prize Unlike most sports, golf asks you to look at the ball rather than your target. (Imagine how silly LeBron James would look if he stared at the ball when he shot!) Still, like throwing a ball to a friend, it’s often easier to make putts when you look at the hole rather than the ball. When you look at the hole, the information being sent to your brain keeps you focused on distance and direction, not on the mechanics that can misplace your concentration. When you do this drill, keep your eyes on the hole and stroke away. Begin with putts within five feet; after you assume your setup position, look only at the hole while making your stroke. Once you feel more comfortable with this technique, move back to eight or 12 feet and repeat the process. While you may not want to take this technique to the course, you’ll be surprised how effective it can be at improving your confidence and feel for distance. |  |
Controlling Trajectory Part 1 - Keeping it Low
by Joel Bush.
Posted in Public. Tagged with drills, full swing, instruction, practice.
Keep It Low
A key element to becoming a better player is learning to create different ballflight trajectories on command. It’s this aspect of your play that will allow you to effectively tackle a variety of situations ranging from lob pitches to knockdowns to recovery shots. Here are six “factors of flight” to help you learn to keep it low.
 | 1. Ball Back Position the ball anywhere from dead center of your stance to your rear foot. 2. Weight Forward This helps de-loft the clubface and ensures a steep, descending blow. 3. Shoulders Level The shoulders need to be leveled out. Focus your eyes on the ground to get your shoulders to match the horizon. 4. Hands Forward Leaning the hands and shaft toward the target also helps de-loft the face. 5. Swing Slow A softer swing pace will lower the ball’s spin rate and prevent an up-shooting flight. Swing with an even, pendulum-like rhythm to accomplish this goal. 6. Finish Low No full finish here! Try to hold the clubhead below your waistline after impact. |
Control Trajectory Part 2 - Throw It High
by Joel Bush.
Posted in Public. Tagged with drills, full swing, instruction, practice.
Throw It High
A key element to becoming a better player is learning to create different ballflight trajectories on command. It’s this aspect of your play that will allow you to effectively tackle a variety of situations ranging from lob pitches to knockdowns to recovery shots. Here are six “factors of flight” to help you learn to throw it high.
 | 1. Ball Forward Position the ball toward your left heel to facilitate catching the ball on a slightly ascending arc. 2. Weight Back Position your weight to favor your right side at address. 3. Right Shoulder Low Be sure that your right shoulder is tilted lower than your left at address. To get a feel for this, rotate your head to the left. This will drop the right shoulder the proper amount. 4. Hands Neutral Maintain a neutral hand and shaft position as a means to maintain the loft built into the face at impact. Keeping your hands in the center of your stance works well here. 5. Be Aggressive Speed creates lift. Don’t be afraid to give this one a little extra pop! 6. Finish High A high ball needs a high finish. Finish in balance with your hands and arms back over your front shoulder. |
In addition to these setup and swing cues, designed to control the loft of the face at the point of impact, one of the easiest ways to dictate flight is to choose the appropriate club. For low shots, select one more club than needed, choke down on the handle a few inches and execute a smooth, abbreviated swing. For higher shots, take less club and get even more aggressive.
Practice these setup and swing techniques on the range. In no time, you’ll effectively increase your arsenal of shots and be better equipped to tackle whatever the course presents during play.
| It’s been well documented that a solid short game is the key to consistently shooting lower scores. A vital part of the short-game mix is the “finesse shot,” typically from within 100 yards of the green. On a finesse shot, your mindset must be quite different from that applied to the full swing. For example, when hitting a shot with a full swing, your goal is to hit the ball as hard and far as possible. When playing a finesse shot, however, your goal is to hit the ball short and soft. You can see this difference in attitude and approach when a player like Tiger Woods blasts a tee shot over 300 yards, then proceeds to float a soft, delicate pitch to within inches of the cup. Here are the five basic fundamentals that make up the common thread behind a player’s ability to consistently get the ball up and down. |  |
1 - Swing Length
A key to any well-executed golf shot is a golf club that smoothly accelerates through the impact area. Most recreational golfers, when trying to hit the ball a short distance, have the fear of hitting the ball too far. This results in the player quitting on the shot with an abbreviated followthrough. The key to acceleration, as well as maintaining a consistent rhythm, is matching the length of the swing on both sides of the ball. It’s important when learning finesse shots to experience and understand that the length of the backswing dictates how far the ball will travel. A shorter backswing results in a short shot, whereas a longer swing results in a higher, longer shot. It’s very difficult to hit short shots with long swings and long shots with short swings. Lastly, make sure the followthrough is at least of equal length, and you’ll be in perfect balance.
2 - Small-Muscle Relaxation
Small muscles are considered those of the hands, wrists and arms. Far too often, players tense up these muscle groups in finesse situations. Tension causes the hands and arms to become overactive, creating a “hitting” sensation through contact. Hitting, rather than swinging, creates all kinds of problems in the form of poor contact and distance control. When playing finesse shots, make it a point to focus on keeping your small muscles relaxed and passive. This will allow the club to swing naturally in a smooth, rhythmic fashion. Imagine a scale running from zero to 10, where 10 is the tightest. Find a hand and arm pressure of 3 to build small-muscle relaxation.
3 - Body Motion
Many people feel if they don’t have to hit the ball a long way, then they shouldn’t use their body. As a result, I see a lot of people hitting only with their hands and arms. Wrong. The body plays a vital role in finesse shots. Getting the body involved provides power for the swing, allowing the hands and arms to remain relaxed and passive. Allow your body to pivot in response to the swinging golf club. To feel some body motion, toss a ball to a target 30 feet away. Notice how the body pivots in response to the tossing motion. Apply that same feel to your chips and pitches to build necessary harmony between your club and body.
4 - Rhythm
Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, I can’t say it enough—it’s the glue that holds your mechanics together. Your rhythm should match your goals. If you’re looking for soft, controllable contact, then you should swing in a soft, even rhythm. Picture the rhythm of a swinging pendulum on a grandfather clock. One, two, tick-tock, back, through! Count out your rhythm as you swing to build a smooth repeatable pace.
5 - Ball Position
In the finesse game, creating different contacts and different trajectories requires different ball positions. When faced with a finesse situation, visualize the kind of flight you want to create, then select the appropriate shot, club and corresponding ball position. As a general rule, play the ball more toward your back foot on all short-range chips. This helps produce a lower trajectory and get the ball rolling on the green as soon as possible. For medium- and high-trajectory pitches, favor a centered ball position. And to facilitate sand-first contact when attempting a bunker blast, play the ball forward in your stance.
Regardless of the finess shot you’re playing, keep in mind these four principles and you’ll execute consistently to the best of your ability.
Serve up Perfect Pitches
| A key shot in any golfer's bas is a soft pitch from 15 to 30 years off the green. Touring professionals only hit about 12 greens a round on averagel the recreational player is obviously hitting far less than this. This leaves the average player with a lot of pitching opportunities. As a teacher, I can tell you that pitching is one of the worst shots in an amateur's arsenal. The most common problem I see in nearly 90 percent of students is a takeaway that travels too much around the body (too inside) and with a closed clubface. This shaft and face condition causes shots that can be fat or thin with a trajectory that's way too low for the demands of the situation. Great pitchers of the golf ball are precise in their takeaway mechanics, setting the shaft and face in perfect position for crisp contact and a high, floating trajectory. To help golfers get a feel for this motion, I've created a drill using a paper dinner plate. This simple tip is sure to put height on your pitches, helping you to get up and down more often. 1. Cup the plate in your right palm, with the plate flush to the inside of your right forearm. Imagine that the plate represents the face angle of your club and plane of your golf swing. At address, the plate looks at the target. 2. Swing your right arm halfway into the backswing. Now, the plate should angle at about 45 degrees to the ground, representing the ideal shaft plane and face angle for a perfect pitch. The back of the right wrist should be flat, contrary to the serverely bent right wrist featured in an inside takeaway. A flat right wrist is the key to getting desired height on any pitch. 3. Replace the plate with your wedge and go for the same feel in your right wrist. At the halfway position, the face and shaft should match at a perfect 45 degree angle. |  |
