0to300golf

Friday, 2 May 2014

Swinging at 80%, Feel versus Real

One of my earlier blog posts from March 2013 talked about swinging the driver at 80% and does it really happen.

http://0to300golf.blogspot.ie/2013/03/swinging-driver-at-80-effort.html

In this month's Golf Digest, Hank Haney talks about copying a Tour Player's swing. This is definitely a great idea, watching a Tour Player swing can definitely rub off on you and make you better by a form of 'osmosis'. How ever one thing to be wary of is how tour players describe their swing. They are describing feelings as opposed to what's really going on.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2014-05/hank-haney-copying-pros-swings

Here is how Ernie is quoted in the article.

'THE BIG NUMBER: 80%

Ernie Els says he hits most of his full shots with 80-percent effort to promote solid ball-striking. Last year, that translated into an average of 290 yards off the tee—just more than the tour average of 287. He might not be as long as you d think, but Ernie hit plenty of greens from where those mid-length drives left him. He was 35th on tour from 175 to 200 yards and 23rd from 200 to 225. From 200-plus yards, he knocked it on half the time.'

Let's look at Ernie's swing speed numbers and see if he is swinging at 80%?

Taken from http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02401.html

Ernie Els has an average of 112.89 mph club head speed with a low of 110.65mph and a high of 116.90mph. This puts Ernie with the 104th highest average club head speed on the PGA Tour (as of May 2nd 2014). The highest recorded speed this year has been Brooks Koepka with a speed of 127.91 mph. The highest average is Bubba Watson at 124.11mph.

So Ernie's average is 96.5% of his maximum. If his average speed was 80%, his maximum would be 141.11 mph. Well above the highest speed recorded. We can surmise that at some stage in a round or tournament a player will try and hit the ball as far as they can, so the maximum speed recorded over a season will be very close to their absolute max.

So, is what Ernie is saying wrong? Not really, he is describing a feeling, so his normal drive feels like 80% of his maximum to him. But the figures show it's not.

How does this help your golf? When taking tips from other players be aware that they are describing how it feels to them. This can be different to how it feels to you and different to what's really happening.

So, you just need to find out what Feel will give you a Real result. Trackman is a great tool for this, it measures what is actually going on and when you hit the right numbers that's the feeling you take to the course. No need to be thinking about numbers at all, just feelings!!

Any questions or comments are welcome.

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

3 Ways to Improve your Golf Equipment and Golf Scores for under €5

It's not uncommon to hear that golf is an expensive game. This is true at times, however there are many ways to lower your scores and improve your game and equipment for little or no money. Here are three of the best ways to lower your scores for under €5. Best of all they require no practice!!!

1. Brush (Under €5)

A brush or nailbrush is a great piece of equipment. Golf grips can get shiny and slippy from dust, sunscreen etc. As a grip is the only piece of golf equipment that you have contact with it's important to keep them clean, so you maintain a good hold on the club. A good scrub with a brush and hot soapy water is a great way to get the grime out of grips and making them feel fresh again. If they still feel a little slippy after a wash a little rub with some sandpaper before washing can refresh them a little bit more.

Second use for a brush is to clean the grooves of the clubface. The grooves on the clubface are there to give dirt, grass and water somewhere to go when the golf ball and clubface impact. If grass, water or dirt get between the ball and clubface they can reduce friction between the ball and clubface reducing spin and causing a 'flyer' where the ball travels much further then expected.

A nice clean clubface like the one above will create the correct friction between the club and ball giving consistent spin rates and golf shots that are easier to judge.

A little note on friction, if there is a material like sand on the face of a wedge maybe you should not wipe it off if you're looking for a bit more spin on a shot. Sand increases friction between ball and clubface giving more spin. After a bunker shot it might be an idea to leave the sand on the face of the wedge, as the next shot you play with the club might require a little more stop.

2. Foot Spray (€5)

How can foot spray help your golf? It's great for finding the impact point on the clubface!! Other things like impact tape can alter the flight of the ball whereas foot spray has little effect on the flight.

Just spray some powder on the face, hit a few balls and see where the impact is. Impact point on the face has a big bearing on the flight of the ball due to gear effect. A simple explanation of gear effect is when the ball is hit off center the clubhead twists and imparts spin on the ball. When it is hit off the heel it starts further left and moves left to right, off the toe it starts further right and moves right to left, high on the club it launches higher and spins less and off the bottom it launches lower and spins more.

There is also a loss of ball speed and distance with off center hits.

If you notice a pattern in your mishits for example in the above picture the top photo has a pattern of heel hits then simply moving the ball/clubface alignment can lead to more centered strikes. For the above case lining the ball more towards the toe at address can lead to centered strikes.

Length of the club can also be a factor, longer clubs can lead to heel strike patterns and shorter clubs can lead to toe strike patterns. Lengths of clubs can be adjusted easily.

So, knowing your impact point on the face coupled with a simple adjustment or two can lead to longer and straighter shots.

3. Sharpie Pen (€2 and under)

A Sharpie Pen is a great way to find if the lie angle of the club is correct for you.

Use to sharpie pen to draw a straight line on one half of the ball. Place the ball on tee with the line vertically positioned so the line will contact the club face at impact.

It's not necessary but you can put some face tape on an iron. The face tape just makes it a bit easier to see the impact but normally you can see the impact on the club face. Then hit a shot with the iron.

Straight line, correct lie angle

Line from toe to heel, lie angle too upright


Line from heel to toe, lie angle too flat

There are three possible results. If the line is straight like the first photo then the dynamic lie angle is correct. Ball should fly according to what the swing does. If the top of the line goes from toe to heel, second photo, the dynamic lie angle is too upright and the ball should fly more right to left then the swing would suggest. If the top of the line goes from heel to toe, third photo, the dynamic lie angle is too flat and the ball will fly left to right more then the swing suggests.

The above photo illustrates how lie angle affects where the face is pointing. Correct lie angle, face points straight, too upright to the left and too flat to the right.

If the lie angle of the clubs is out they can be changed easily with a loft and lie machine. We have one here at Drive Golf Performance in Riverstown and a set can be altered for €30.

Summary

3 easy ways for under €5 to improve your golf are, brush to clean grips and grooves, foot spray to identify impact point on the face and sharpie pen to identify correct lie angle in your irons.

Golf improvement doesn't necessarily require big investment or a change in swing. Try these out to see if they help your game. Comments or questions are always welcome.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

18 Holes at Cork GC

Cork Golf Club is my home course and I have taken many photos there down through the years. Here's a selection from them, 18 photos, one for each hole.

A little bit about the course. The club was formed in 1888 and moved to its current site in Little Island Cork not so long afterwards. The club is in an old abandoned quarry alongside the estuary of the River Lee. Alister MacKenzie of Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne fame redesigned the course in 1924 and his redesign forms the basis of the course we play today.

The club has been host to all the big Irish Golf Championships including the Irish Open and Irish Close down through the years. Many famous golfers including Jimmy Bruen, Denis O'Sullivan and Claire Coughlan have had Cork GC as their home club.

The limestone base of the course makes it free draining giving great turf conditions throughout the year.