My Golf Swing Master Blue Print_April 08, 2009 _ Outline

A) Set-up/ P1

1.1 Grip - Right Palm Notch intact

1.2 Feet - Right foot 10 degree flare and even with left in step

1.3 COG's Stacked & 55/45 weight distribution

1.4 Butt of club pointed at left inner thigh

1.5 Chin cocked slight left!

1.6 Eyes looking straight down like Bennett

1.7 Club face slightly open to target line

1.8 Knee spacing wide with athletic posture (McNary)

B) P2 & P3

2.1 Head stays steady - Slight Leftward tilt of chin

2.1.1 This prevents the head from moving right

2.1.2 Also prevents moving upper COG to right

2.1.3 Prevents overturning shoulders

2.1.4 Excessive shoulder turn leads to steep P4

2.2 Left Leg & Left Gluteal stay "in Line"

2.2.1 Left Knee Bends toward target line - not to right of ball!

2.2.2 This keeps the COG's in line and forward

2.2.3 The Gluteal is not rotating excessively to control hip rotation

2.3 Inside & Up hand path

2.3.1 Twenty degrees in & over rt shoe lace at P3

(Note:If you do not get the club inside enough - and conversely inside enough at P8 - you will encounter major path problems like pulls, slices & hooks etc.)

(Note: Path and Plane are not the SAME. The are both critical but fixing one will not solve a problem with the other. The club plane (flat or steep inclination) is largely a function of the 2nd Accumulator and Right Forearm Twist and Slight lift from P3 to P4)

2.3.2 Use Sticks to Show path when practicing

2.4 Number 2 Accumulator Engaged-CRITICAL

2.4.1 This the 1/4 left Ulna rotation

2.4.2 Flattens Plane of club, i.e., marries it to inside path

C) P4

3.1 P3 to P4 - Right Forearm bends to near 90 degrees WHILE MAINTAINING 1/4 Turn of 2nd Accumulator

(NOTE: This is a top priority in my swing! Use video to monitor right arm/club shaft angle relationship at P3 & P4 until it is no longer an issue of concern.)

3.1.1 This KEEPS THE CLUB Laid off/on plane to P4

3.1.2 MUST MONITOR THIS CONSTANTLY!

3.2 Marty Fleckman's Right Arm Twist prevents a closed club face and helps flatten the plane

D) P5 Motor - Right Hip Forward & Turning Chest to Left: The Magic Blend

(Note: The magic blend is the well timed left turning chest and proper pelvic movement from P5 to P9. The turning chest helps prevent steeping the plane from P4 to P7 and it enables the grip end to arrive at the impact position ahead of the club face, thus preventing a loss of the Flying Wedge.)

(NOTE: If you stop turning your chest and just throw your arms at the ball a steep angle of attack, flippy hands at impact and loss of flying wedge will result. The shot pattern will be fat or thin hits, deflect slices, pulls or deflected hooks. If you do not move the right hip forward & parallel to the target line, the lower COG will stall and cause an out-side-to-inside path & pull hook pattern. Toe hits are an indicator of stalled hips. Twisting the right arm from P4 encourages a shallower plane angle.)

4.1 Right Hip Forward

4.1.1 Move the hip bone laterally/forward

4.1.1.1 Provides the down/flattening force from P4

4.1.1.2 Also is critical to preventing early hip extension

4.1.1.3 Keep Right Leg Straight and Left Knee Bent into P7

Do Not allow right knee to collapse at P5, i.e., low and bend. This causes the Upper COG to translate back and lowers the right shoulder - causing the club to hit the ground early.

4.2 Get the Chest turning left early

4.2.1 A MUST! Causes club to exit P8 on Plane

4.2.2 There are no Straight lines in the golf swing!

4.2.3 Do NOT try to swing club up target line!

4.2.4 Chest turning left w/ grip leading club head is key to swinging on a tilted circle

4.3 Re-twist Arm - Marty Fleckman

E) P6 & P7 - Rhythmic Reaction

5.1 Practice 20 Pitch shots to ingrain a well timed motion

5.2 If you get the Magic Blend of P5 right, the rest takes care of itself

5.3 Releasing the Tilt at P7.5, i.e. raising the belt buckle

F) P8 to P10 - Finish

6.1 Maintain Head tilt

(NOTE:Jeff Ritter Lesson is good reference for this how to maintain head tilt. It's not the same as maintaining spine angle because the spine must extend as in the Stack & Tilt Model.)

6.2 Maintain arm Pressure Points

(Note:Tee's under arm pit drill.

Arms should finish more or less in front of chest at P9: Right tricep should not be yanked behind the right oblique.)

6.3 Maintain Right Palm Notch Pressure Point

(Note:Prevents the hands from separating and causing hooks or off centered hits)

6.4 Balance

Make a Plan to Succeed

Asking the Right Questions:

What's holding me back from succeeding at my goal of playing professional golf?

- No well conceived, written plan of action, i.e., I do not have a roadmap for success

- Wasting time and procrastination

- Distractions (relationships, money woes, poor job choices)

What's hampering my golf game from developing?

- Poor practice habits - unfocused, undisciplined and no clear goal or objective in mind

- Lack of playing time

- Not utilizing and mastering the CLEAR KEY

- Inconsistent workout regiment

Solutions

Plan! Plan! Plan!

Discipline! Focus! Discipline!

Eliminate distractions!

Golf Swing Journal - March 24, 2009 Bennett Model Again

I'm back in VA after a surprising severance of my 20 year friendship with muata. I'll cover that in another post later.  For now, I want to capture a few thoughts on my golf swing - much improved golf swing.  A day prior to leaving LA - March 12th to be exact - I took one last lesson with Mike McNary to make sure I was on the right track.  Much to surprise, Mike kinda switched gears on me and pointed me squarely back to the Mike Bennett model of Stack & Tilt and away from the Mac O'Grady swing.  The reason makes sense: I prefer a draw pattern and Bennett's swing does just that.  Mac is much more of a fader - as is Mke McNary himself.  Dana, like Bennett, is a draw guy, so much of what he teaches is toward that pattern.

So, today, March 24, 2009 I practice at Anacostia Park in DC for several hours.  The key elements to my swing improvement are as follows:

1) set up - hands & grip higher and foward opens the face slightly at address - perfect for the open face draw I'm hitting.  This establish what MORAD refers to as the baseline of my shot pattern, which is not the same as the target line .  The target line is only a reference point, but all the action takes place on the baseline. 

2) Plane Sticks - Using the plastic alignment sticks as Plane indicators, I really get a clear sense of what an on-plane swing is.  The key is to use the baseline - NOT the TARGET LINE as the circle.

3) P4 - Laid off!  That simple.  Get it laid off and the rest gets a lot easier.

4) Ratio of releasing Accumulators 4 & 1 on the downswing - compared to the body shifting forward is at least 2:1 arms to body.  This is what gives Bennett's swing that distinctive cadence and look.  It's what gets his hands and posture where the are at the finish.  If the body gets too active from P5-P7, the club will be thrown outside and steep, and the arms will have to race to catch up.

5) Preserve that FLY WEDGE! Practice Dana's Flying wedge drill.

6) Keep that left knee flexed well into P7 - and keep it moving forward, NOT SPINNING LEFT!

7) 32 Ball Clear Key Practice.  One thing at a time, focused practice.