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Basics Never Go Out Of Style
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

I just saw one of my golf teaching friends deliver a ‘Faults & Fixes’ lesson. He is unquestioningly talented. A major part of his topical material was ‘Alignment and Clubhead Path’. You absolutely know our ‘5 Set-Ups’ (Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location & Alignment … no single golf swing is without all five!) You also know our ‘5 Essential Elements’ (Clubface Aim, Clubhead Path, Clubhead Speed, Sweet Spot & Angle Of Attack) ‘Swing Plane’ and your ‘Pivot Axis’ are key ingredients.

A very big personal concern! With so much focus on ‘Mastering Golf Basics’, my friend had no ‘Ground Stick’ (Alignment Rod) in place. He had no specific reference to ‘Target and Body Lines’. Thus, he had no specific reference for ‘Clubhead Path & Plane’. A ‘Big Miss’! Shame on us teaches when we are boldly neglectful! Our audience needs an ‘Alignment Reference’.

What does “Hovering” mean? Not ‘Hovering’ means a ‘PUITA … Pick Up Inside Take-Away or Forward Press’… early swing error meaning too much hand action … ‘Flippy Handed - Draw Hooksy’!

About flying a helicopter just above ‘Mother Earth’? You tell me!

OK we are talking about a ‘Golf Swing Condition’ that has a simple feeling but a big contribution! “Why and Where Might I Hover?”

Not hovering is about the sole of your ‘Golf Club’ resting on the ground. Kind of a lazy “I am not going to do anything extra!” Like a glass of cold cider sitting on the table. That is OK until you want to enjoy a sip! … or a big gulp! So, to enjoy cider, you have to actually pick up the glass and move the rim to your lips! Nothing happens while the bottom of the glass is pressing down on the table! To move the glass laterally to your lips, you must firstly lift it up off the tablecloth!

If you increase your ‘Swing Radius’ (make your ‘Target or Swing Lever Extension Longer’) while using the same amount of ‘Pivot or Core Speed’, you shall produce more ‘Clubhead Speed’ and, with a solid ‘Impact’, accomplish greater ‘Distance’.

Your ‘555 Team’ refers to this physical reality as accomplishing a ‘Deep, Flat & Wide Take-Away’ all the way to the ‘Top Of Back Swing’. (TOB). Thus, the ‘Swing Radius’ may ideally remain the same from ‘Take-Away’ to ‘TOB’.

Allow ‘Gravity and Brace Leg Drive’ to accomplish your ‘Transition’ and initial ‘Front Swing Kinetic Energy’. In this simple manner, your ‘Brace or Hitting Lever Assembly’ shall take on a ‘Bent Configuration’. ‘The Golf Body Machine’ ideally creates ‘LEAD’ in the ‘Front Swing Pivot Core’ and naturally accomplish ‘LAG’ in the ‘Bending Levers’. From the ‘TOB’, this is followed by the ‘Hitting & Straightening Action’ through the ‘Impact & Separation Zone’. (see ‘Bottom Of Swing Arc’ - BOSA)

You might be well-served to think of the Wrists, Elbows and Shoulder Sockets as ‘Primary Articulating Joints’ (PAJ – They produce ‘Angles’ when bent). The ‘Bending & Straightening Motion’ produces ‘Clubhead Speed or Hitting Force’. We also refer to this cooperative action as ‘Angular Momentum’.

Pretty common topic of golf conversation? “How can I get off the beach without a bucket, shovel and perhaps a rake?”

There are only three elements … 1) Bottom Of Swing Arc … BOSA, 2) adequate LOFT and 3) enough Clubhead Speed.

1. BOSA for Bunker Work demands a precision bottom accomplished under a Tallish Chin with Longish Arms or ‘Lever Assemblies’. If we have control of the Tallish Chin and Hands, Wrists & Arms Length, we will have reasonable control of ‘Down Force’ and ‘Impact & Separation’. Make that “THUMP” when you hit the sand!
2. Adequate LOFT is simply about ‘Club Selection’. ‘Loft’ is your friend. Remember your #SW has generally got the most ‘Bounce’, which helps us not strike the sand overly fat. We do not want to dig a ditch! There is a procedure of what we refer to as ‘Open Open’ … Open Clubface Aim and Open Alignment. I am not a big fan until I have run out of ‘Loft’. I don’t like ‘Side Spin’ if I can avoid it!

So, what in the heck does this ‘Country Gentleman Golf Teacher’ mean by such a title when it comes to ‘Putting & Chipping’ and your ‘Short Game Mastery’?

Simple! Establish variables and make the resulting procedures count.

Randomly set up 5 putting balls from 4 to 8 feet around ne hole … you know those ‘Chockers’ and ‘Non-Gimmies’! Your buddies will usually make you Putt them out! Nasty pseudo friends?

Set-Up properly using your very helpful, ‘Life Saving’ … ‘8 Step Putting & Chipping Per Shot Routine’. If you miss one of these you must start over! Hence ‘Start Over Drills Add Stress’. May I give you a ‘Work Smart Hint’? Make your first putt the longest and work in from there!

‘Marshmallow Strikes’ are ‘Glancing Blows … not ‘Square Strikes’ even with plenty of ‘Clubhead Speed and Energy Transfer’.

You have all seen the ‘Impact Bag’! That is obviously an ‘Impact Training Tool’. Borrow or buy and use it? You will very soon know what ‘Impact’ means! Impact is Compression’. For your information, the opposite of ‘Compression’ (Making The Ball Out Of Round By Force or Squashing it) is ‘Restitution’ … restoring the shape to ‘Neutrally Round’. That is the golf ball’s two simple and distinct jobs! They are slightly similar to the action of a common spring.

How does your ‘555 Team’ invite and instill ‘Compression’? It is just an action and reaction! It is Newtonian simplicity! Surprisingly enough, “I Drive As I Putt!” Focus on making ‘Pure Putter-Like’ contact and do that with speed … quite a bit of it! If your ‘Chipping’ is really reliable, make big smashed ‘Chips’. Be patient, precise and purposeful! Use your ‘Captain Eyes’ with their ‘Ocular Acuity’. The task is NOT to kill the ball, but to injure it! Be persistent!

Don’t squeeze the life out of a good golf handle! Overly tight hands tend to struggle to smoothly control the ‘golf club. Newton and Mother Nature actually help you make really efficient ‘Golf Swings’ if you allow them to do so!

The general rule for great ‘Grip Pressure Consistency’ is to ‘Set-Up’ at your ‘Impact Fix’ and maintain this degree of ‘Pressure and Control’ throughout the entire Back & Up, Transition as well as the Down & Out segments.

Strive to establish and maintain a consistent Grip Pressure from Take-Away to Impact & Separation. The ‘Pinky, Ring and Middle fingers control the Golf Club Handle in both hands. When our ‘Ocular Acuity’ (Baby Blues) sense imminent ‘Impact & Separation’ our ‘Hitting Fingers’ (Thumb & Index Fingers) will naturally do their working part by getting a little firmer!

The ad read … “As of 11:37 last night we had provided 10,263 golf miracles to citizens like you!” Wow! Can these advertisers ever keep track of their statistics! If they are that good at numbers, they surely will provide solid product, education and value?

“Advanced nuclear physics doctor gained 51.63 yards with his driver in only two days! ONLY $6.00 per month might also gain you that much or more!” When there is a flavour of ‘Nuclear Physics’ in our golf, we may even be able to calculate our increased distance to three decimal places … 51.637 yards if you buy our tricked up digital range finder? Is that just ‘Carry’ or ‘Total Distance’? That kind of accurate gain has to be worth $6.00 per month!

Question? Does that factor Temperature, Humidity, Wind Vectoring and how tightly we have cinched up our undergarments and shoelaces as well as the weight of our new golf glove? With three decimal places, there has to be a formula that includes all these factors? Pretty amazing!

We can make a myriad of ‘Mental Errors’ during every round of golf or any period of ‘Human Occupational Challenge’. That is just our human nature fed by an abundance of curiosity and fear!

Remember we have only three ‘Human Tenses’ which over wrap our entireties! We can be enveloped in the ‘Past, Present and Future’. ‘The Past’ should reinforce our experiential and learning background. The more acutely we engage recall, the more effectively we can avoid repeat performances of negative events. We really can learn from our mistakes!

‘The Future’ can invite ‘Expectations’ and, if allowed to run ‘Amuck’ (out of control) can produce ‘Fear’ as a direct byproduct or outcome. I can assure you that ‘The Great Game’ is not well-served being washed in ‘Fear or Negative Energy’. Let me please tell you that, if you get to much ‘Out In Front Of Yourself’, you shall fall pretty to what your ‘555 Team’ refers to as ‘Outcome Golf’. “Oh, I need a birdie in the worst way!” This is truly ‘Negative-Outcome-Mindedness’. Not a happy place!

There are golf mechanical topics that sound a bit too ‘Physics Oriented’ (‘The Physics Of Rotation and The Geometry Of The Circle’) but, when broken down into really simple basics, are not as dauting as might have seemed up front by the title!

Our ‘5 Set-Ups’ (Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location & Alignment) are in every single golf strike made world-wide! Worthy of our focus! Let us look at ‘Stance & Ball Location’ please.

‘Stance’ is about the ‘Width’ between our feet as well as our ‘Foot Aim’ (options are ‘Open, Square & Closed’) The Brace or Push Foot should generally be Square. The Target or Steering Foot should generally be ‘Open’ to precipitate or invite the ‘Target Hip to Clear’. (see ‘Steer So Your Can Clear’)