My Impetus » Lessons

How to get around chipping with a Squeeze Play

tmills1073 — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:41:29 +0000

Ever find yourself in a small hole next to the green? Reach for a iron to chip with?? Trying to ‘lift’ the ball, or ‘pop’ it? Well, how about trying this little drill. Grab your putter, align correctly, and squeeze the ball onto the green.

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA Professional, shows you how to perform a very special little shot around the greens…

This little beauty can be used with the putter or one of your wedges. I can’t wait to hit the greens and try this one out! Thanks Shawn.

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Stacked and Balanced

tmills1073 — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:37:32 +0000

There are a lot of competing idea’s on how to align and strike the ball. A drill recently released from Golf Digest talks about a ’stack and tilt’ drill. However, I see some faults in this drill, and began looking for counter arguments. I came upon a great drill from Shawn Clement, describing and showing some drills on to work on balance and alignment.

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA professional, shows you how to stay stacked through the one leg drill and two feet together drill.

Another excellent video. Thanks Shawn!

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Keeping the head steady

tmills1073 — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:08:29 +0000

A question was posed to Shawn Clement about how to keep the head steady during the swing. The reasons for keeping the axis of the head steady, allowing the head to turn, is demonstrated in this excellent video.

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA Professional, with a special helper (his daughter), shows you how to keep the head steady for much better contact and direction

Another excellent video, and I miss seeing your head in this video!

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Are you chicken-winging?

tmills1073 — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:05:04 +0000

One of the issues some golfer’s will have is bunching up the arms into the body, causing the golf club to ‘wrap’ around your body. In another excellent post, Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA Professional, shows you how to fix the chicken wing through the ball as well as the “across the top” backswing position.

In this video, you can see how Shawn adds a small dowel to the end of his golf club to allow viewing the target line.

Excellent video Shawn. Keep them coming!

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How to read your ball flight

tmills1073 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:43:42 +0000

An excellent article written by The Golf Drill Guru titled “What is Your Ball Flight?” examines the Nine ball flight rules. In this article, the Guru goes over the matrix formed from the interaction between the Clubface Angle and the Swing Path, and the nine resulting ball flights:

This is an excellent article to read, and it has given me the knowledge to watch the ball flight to determine what I have done wrong.

A friend of mine suffers from a pretty aggressive slice. We went out to the range, with this article in the back of our minds, and worked on the Guru’s slice drills to overcome this.

We didn’t completely cure his slice, but he was hitting the ball much more consistently as he learned to close the clubface and worked on the timing to square the face on impact.

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When your visualization matches the shot – you are ready to swing

tmills1073 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 10:31:12 +0000

In a previous post, I commented on working on my pre-shot routine. I have hit the range and it seems to be working. However, this will take months of practice to really nail it down – but I found it very different to try the pre-shot routine at the range. In the past, I was whacking away – but I tended not to visualize before each shot. Now, a bucket of balls lasts a bit longer =)

This leads right into another great eLearning video. Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre and CPGA Professional, shows you how to use the feel of the catapult to achieve the right focus when on the golf course hitting your shots. He speaks of visualizing the shot, and making sure you only align yourself with the ball when you have a ‘green light’.

This really makes sense. The physics and body mechanics of golf are well thought out and Shawn has a great teaching style. Thanks again Shawn!

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Pronation or supination?

tmills1073 — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:18:05 +0000

Are you trying to ‘lift’ the golf ball? I have had this problem in the past, where I am trying to use the club as a shovel. I used to have the feeling of trying to ’scoop’ the ball for chip shots. I know this is wrong, but it seemed to me at the time the way to do it. After spending lots of time researching the proper shot, especially chips and shorter irons, I found the answers in a video from Shawn Clement.

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre and CPGA Professional, shows you how the right focus through impact will allow you to achieve the right positions…

I hope you find this video as useful as I have! Thanks again Shawn for your excellent video series, and keep them coming!

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Visualize the shot – smooth momentum towards the target

tmills1073 — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:06:18 +0000

A routine is defined as a customary or regular course of procedure.

I have been making a concentrated effort to create a pre-shot routine that I perform before each shot. The reasoning – if you get yourself into a habit of doing the same thing before each shot, you take alot of the analytical aspects out of the game, and allow your body and mind to work as one – and most important, you build consistency into your game.

There are a few different stages to this pre-shot routine, but the key is to keep it the same each time. I try to ’see’ or visualize what I want the ball to do, then I align myself with the target, take two swings equal to what I believe to be the correct momentum, and then align myself with the ball at the right spot in my stance. I again visualize the path I want the ball to take, swing, and then begin the post-shot routine – where I try and hold the finish until the ball lands. (However, this is the tricky part – I do not hold the pose if the ball didn’t do what I wanted. I don’t want to reinforce poor swing mechanics =) )

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA Pro, shows you how to put it all together in a routine for the golf course; feel is paramount!

Hopefully you will find this tip as useful as I have. Remember – “prepare like a surgeon, swing like a hippie”. Good luck, and hit ‘em straight!

Thanks again Shawn for your excellent eLearning series.

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Wearing a hole in your glove?

tmills1073 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:18:51 +0000

For the past few years, I have been struggling with my golf grip. I hear, read, and see so many different types of grip – it’s difficult to determine what I should be doing. This summer, I took a step back and tried to build a better golf foundation – I wanted to hit straighter and be more consistent with my shots.

To do this, I stopped swinging for the fences and have been trying to only swing half way. I don’t have the timing (or the skill) to swing all the way back, and make proper contact with the ball.

I also decided to work on my grip. I typically wear a hole in the palm of the glove, and I know this is something that shouldn’t be happening. I searched around for reasons for this, and the reason seems to be the grip and the pressure. I found my answers on youtube.

Another great post in his eLearning series, Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA professional, shows you the way the wrists work with the proper grip.

This is an excellent video for the typical golfer. Shawn goes over some of the basics of the grip, and more importantly, why. The majority of the golf sites out there will you tell you ‘how’ to grip the club, and then they start swinging away. Shawn takes the ‘Alton Brown’ approach to teaching golf, and actually explains the reasoning behind golf grip and why it’s anatomically correct. I truly think Shawn is one of the best golf teachers out there, not only because he knows what he’s talking about, but because he can explain the reasoning behind his teachings.

Another superb and instructional video. Thanks Shawn, and keep this great series going!

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Ben Hogan Power Drill

tmills1073 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:37:47 +0000

Do you wish you had more power in your golf swing? It’s not about swinging harder – it’s about effective use of your body and leverage. The mechanics of the golf swing are quite complex. If you attempt to swing harder or faster, most likely you are going to shank the ball.
The idea behind swing mechanics is to treat your body as a simple machine, and determine the leverage points and where you can create power.

Shawn Clement, Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre, and CPGA Pro, has posted another great video in his eLearning Golf series – the Ben Hogan Power Drill.

In this video Shawn demonstrates how to create power using your hips and leverage. Watch it and learn!

Thanks again Shawn!

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