You
Taked on location at the beautiful Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California
this is Ken Ventura's Encyclopedia of golf a
Unique eight-volume series designed to offer in-depth instruction on all facets of the game
Ken Ventura has left an indelible mark on golf as a player
broadcaster and teacher
One of the game's great shot makers. He has won 14 tournaments including a dramatic triumph at the
1964 US Open he is a respected teacher and his stroke saver tips have helped millions
In the Encyclopedia of golf he offers the lessons
He's learned in over 40 years of playing and teaching. This is volume 5 shot making
Hi, I'm Ken Ventura and now I'm going to teach you shot making
I'm gonna teach you how to hit the ball left to right right to left hit it in low hit it in high
You know why you have to know these things so they can't hide the pin from you
But to be a good shot maker you have to have the right fundamentals
So let's take a moment and review the fundamentals
To start with you have to have a good grip a good grip allows your hands to work together and provides for maximum feel and control
I recommend the Varden or the overlapping
This is the grip that most tour players use the left hand is a finger palm grip
The club passes from the index finger to the heel of the left hand
When it closes down the forefinger and the thumb form a V going over the right shoulder
The right hand is a finger grip
You get it in the fingers where the thumb and forefinger also points over the right shoulder
You want the palm of your right hand and the back of your left hand?
Pointing at the same target and remember not to squeeze the club too tightly
Think of it this way. It's like holding a bird. You hold it too tight. You kill it too loose
It flies away with most clubs your stance should be about shoulder-width
But with the longer clubs you need a wider stance to give a proper face to swing from
You put the weight on your heels flex your knees and stay in your flex throughout the swing
Keep your back straight and bend from the waist
I recommend that you play the ball at the bottom of your swing arm and for me that's off the left heel
I also recommend that you maintain the same ball position for every shot
Now some people will tell you that you should play short irons back in your stance and long irons forward
But if you change your ball position you change your swing and isn't it easier to make one swing with 13 different clubs?
Rather than be constantly making adjustments to compensate for 13 different ball positions
The only time I change ball position is when I need to work the ball higher or lower than normal and even then I don't
Change it very much
When you swing the club don't think about hitting the ball think about making a smooth swing
Because if you make a good swing you'll strike the ball well
Take the club straight back concentrate on going low and slow you want a swing shape like an elongated you
Let me explain the elongated you
It's taking club head hands and shoulders back in one piece if it was the V
It'd be up to abrupt you don't want it too flat because you'd be falling away from it
It's a natural move if you move club head hands and shoulders
You go from backswing to finish the first 18 inches back
18 inches through is one piece here and one piece there I
Like to visualize all my swings. I like to visualize my shots, and you know how you can visualize the you swing
Think of a swing set you start here it swings here
And it swings there and all you have to do now is carry that right down to the ball and you go from here
To there and that's the you swing
I believe there are three gaps that must be closed on the swing
If you close the gap between your left shoulder and your chin you are ensuring a full turn
If you close the gap between your left hip and an imaginary shaft running up from your left heel
You'll drop your hands into a consistent powerful hitting position, and you won't come over the top or spin out
plus this ensures that your club is moving on the proper swing path into the ball and
Finally if you close the gap between your right shoulder and chin you will complete your swing
If you're going to be a good player you must have good tempo I
I recommend that you take the club back low and slow and build your power on the downswing
This allows you to stay in balance and make a solid hit and achieve maximum distance
Notice how smooth my swing is I don't rush my backswing. I don't rush my downswing
Notice how I take the club straight back and straight through
From this angle you can really see how I build power with my legs
As I start my downswing I slide laterally to the left with my lower body this closes the gap and drops my club
Into a powerful hitting position notice how square it is at impact and square hits give you power and distance I
Talk a lot about fundamentals, but I do it because fundamentals last. This is my swing when I was on tour
This is my swing today. I
Swing the club very much the same way as I did 30 years ago for one simple reason it works
This is the fun part of game being able to maneuver the ball
I felt if I could maneuver the ball I wouldn't enjoy playing if I had to play one shot the rest of my life
I'd lose interest in playing it's being able to move the ball left to right right to left up and down
I gave you the basic fundamentals and without the basic fundamentals this part of the game would be impossible
I said that a good player does not get out of swing
He gets out of position you put him back into position his swing comes back
To be able to maneuver the ball you have to get in position
The grip does not change only the position of the body being able to make the ball go left to right or right to left
High and to go low so if I want the ball to go from left to right
I don't change my grip by getting weak. I change my position
I'm on line here now in the position that I want to go
shoulders knees and
Clubhead straight back now. I do three things to make the ball go from left to right
by that I open my stance I
Open my hips and I put my hands ahead now. I've changed the angle of my takeaway I
I'm now taking it away on the same line as
my knees
My hips and my shoulders now many people make the mistake of opening the blade now and that makes them cut across the ball
Chopping it with a flutter with not much power in it
I like to keep a square and as I go through let the heel proceed the toe
To let it be a solid shot and move from left to right
So here's my basic position here now what I want to do. I open my stance
I open my hips. I put my shoulders open and
Now I take it on the outside
Remember the grip stays the same the grip pressure and everything so going on the line from left to right I
Cut across the ball staying from here
To there I
Did not change my grip
Here's my divot. It's on the same line as
My knees my hips and my shoulders the ball moved from left to right
Now we go just the opposite now
We want to make the ball go from right to left
again
We change position not grip
We don't hook our grip now to make it go from right to left to hook it or draw the ball
I don't like to use the word hook. I like it to draw a
Draw is more of a slow-motion swing
It's kind of this way a fade is more harsh because you want to put more spin on it
so what do I do now I go back into my basic position and
now again I
Change my position not my grip. Here's my straight line. Now. What do I do I?
hook my stance I
Hook my hips and I put my hands ahead
Now this time I open the toe of the club because I want it to close down over the heel
I don't close it down here, or it'd be a pull. I open the toe
Take it back in one piece, and then I close the toe down over the ball not with the hands
It's all done with the right side the right arm to this way so my basic position is here and
Now what do I want to do I hook my stance I hook my hips. I put my hands ahead
Taking the club on the inside the same line that I have my body and my knees here from here
from here
Making the ball go right to left
Now this divot went from this way
Which was exactly where my knees my stance and my shoulders were so everything there to make the ball go from left to right and
Right to left is all done by position it takes practice
But what you do is you visualize this when you go to a golf course or you go to a practice range
There are times that it'll be easier to fade the ball because it looks like a fade
It looks easier to draw the ball because it looks like a draw
The one thing a good player will not do and I never believed in doing it is fighting your eye
If it looks like it should go left to right let it go left to right don't play a draw
If it looks like it should go right to left
Play the right to left the biggest enemy we have in trying to hit a golf ball straight is our eye
The ultimate of aiming is to be able
To aim and look where you want to hit it for instance. Let's take the fork in the tree the top of the hill
I'm aiming at the fork of the tree
No
I'm looking at the fork of the tree
I'm aiming 40 yards to the right and what do I do just like a pitcher I come through all
Gyrations, but my hand comes back to my eye
And what does my golf swing do it comes back?
to my eye
so what you have to do is if you get yourself on line here and
here and
Be able to aim at the fork in the tree
Then you're perfect if you want the ball to go left to right
You aim where you want the ball to start not where you want it to end up if you want it to go right to left
You aim where you want to start not to end up
Okay, I've shown you how to draw the ball and fade it these are great shots to learn
So that you can attack the pin anywhere on the green
Now let's talk about hooking and slicing these are shots you use to get out of trouble to hook the ball
You simply exaggerate the draw technique
Close your stance and aim your body where you want the ball to start not where you want the ball to finish
Open the club face slightly by opening it up
You're triggering in your brain the impulse to turn your right hand and the club over at impact
Which produces a hook spin on the ball?
You may want to experiment by strengthening your grip turning both hands slightly to the right
But if you can play the shot with your normal grip so much the better
Many people say bring the club back to the inside on the backswing, but I disagree
Make your normal backswing and then concentrate on rolling your hands over at impact
The faster your hands roll over the more the ball will hook a hook comes out hot
So you might want to take a little less club to slice the ball visualize how you want the shot to move
Address the ball the club face aimed at the spot where you want the ball to start align your body to that target line
Keep the club face square open the club face. You will start slicing too soon
The slice is a hold shot by that. I mean you want to hold your release
You don't want your hands turning over at impact
Contrary to most instructors I recommend that you use a strong left hand grip
Turn your left hand over so that you can see three knuckles instead of two
And I want you to slightly weaken your right hand by turning to the left
So if the v points at the center of your chest take the club outside
The target line swing down to the ball along the same outside to end swing path
You are actually cutting across the ball putting a left to right spin on
You should feel as though your left hand is leading the club into the ball
And one last thing don't let your left hand break down
Don't let your left hand break down
So that's the way you make it go from left to right and right to left because
If the pin is in the right you have to come in from left to right
If you have say
I have a five iron and the pin is in the right
I can hit the five iron
harder
Left to right I can hit it easier from right to left because the hook is a little hotter
So you're about a half a club difference when you're going left to right and right to left
Now we'll get into hitting the ball high
And hitting the ball low
Talking about hitting the ball high and hitting the ball low again. I'm talking position. I'm not talking any gimmicks
I know you've read many times put the ball back in your stance and move your hands here
Here you can get into too many different positions. You work off the same position
You start from plan a the basic position, which is your best position, which this is mine with my five iron
I've taken a five iron on all these shots because it's the club. I think you can maneuver the ball better
It's in between accuracy and length
it's a club that that
You can take out of your bag and hit one club and do most everything with the five iron
So going back to hitting the ball high and low. Here's my basic position
Now I want to hit the ball
high
I don't move the ball forward. All I do are three things
one
I move my
Right foot back without moving the butt of the club
Now I put the ball forward
I grip the club a little longer
And then I make a little fuller turn
But in every one of these shots, I must remember to never come out of my flex
Because I want the ball to go high
Doesn't mean I have to help it up if you want the ball to go up
You stay down
So I get my basic stance and then what do I do move my right foot?
Grip the club longer and just now make a little fuller turn
And just now make a little fuller turn
Now we get into the knockdown shot just the opposite of hitting the ball high
We take our basic position again
And now what do I do? I do three things. I choke down on the club more
I move just my left foot
To here and I also move my hands with my left foot
Good
Now i'm in front of the ball instead of looking behind the ball. I'm looking right here in the front of the ball
This is a more of a descending blow to drive the ball down. You take more of a divot with it
You don't take as long a backswing and you don't take as long a follow through
So start with your basic position here like this
then
Move your left foot
Move your hands and choke down looking in front of the ball driving the ball low I've abbreviated the backswing
And I abbreviated the follow through the high shot
high finish
low shot
Low finish
Now you're able to hit the ball high low left and right
They can't hide a pin from you. You know what they can do now
They can put it anywhere they want to because I can find a way to get at it
Now this is where you can have your fun go out and always practice
doing
High shots or low shots
But one thing you want to do
Is after you practice those always go back
To your basic position
The three-quarter shot this is played a lot in ireland and scotland the british players played a lot all the players in europe
I think they play it much better than we do over here
What you do here is you have a combination of
of it's easier
And you take more club
Sure, I can get to my object with a nine iron by going very hard
But I don't like to hit a hard short iron. I really don't like to hit anything hard. That's above a five iron
Because that's why I have 14 clubs in my bag. I can always drop back
This is more accurate
It is easier to hit and it goes much straighter what I do here if I had
My regular stance with an eight iron here
Only thing I change is I get maybe a little narrower
And then what I do is I play a three-quarter shot instead of hitting a hard hard nine iron
I just take a nice floating
eight iron
What I want to do now instead of getting the ball up in the air
Or with a hard eight iron I bring it down because i'm hitting the ball a little easier and I can control it
So what I want to do here narrow my stance
And watch this just a soft eight iron. It's a it's a not a long follow-through
That shot is invaluable
I
Decide he'll lie with the ball above your feet
The ball is definitely going to go left
But here's how you do it
The terrain or how much you're on the slope will determine how much the ball will go left
You did you determine your yardage. You know how far you are from the hole
Now you pick out your club
I'm 170 yards here
What I do here
is I
Get lower and drop my hands because I want the sole of the club to be flat on the ground
On the angle that i'm going to hit the ball if I got up high and close
Then i'd have the heel off the ground
catching the toe and missing the shot
I put the ball in the same position
I put my hands in the same position. I'm lower
Drop my hands. I take it away in one piece. Everything is the same
Now it's the setup
I have to aim 15 yards to the right of my target because the slope will bring it back almost 15 yards
Once I get the distance
I have to trust my swing now
I look at the hole to determine how far I am and then I determine where I want the ball to start
Once I get my distance. I'm not concerned about the pin anymore. I'm concerned about where i'm aiming
I'm aiming 15 yards to the right of the hole
Because the slope will make the ball move that much
Ball in the in the stance off the left heel
Lower my body lower my hands and now i'm looking at the object where I want the ball to start
Not where I want the ball to end up and trusting the swing
Remember
How much slope you're on will determine how much it will go left
But never look back at the object because what you'll do then is you'll pull back to the object where you want it to end
And pull it 15 yards left to the green
The side he'll lie with the ball below your feet. This is a shot that the ball will go to the right
Unlike the side he'll lie with the ball above your feet which you have to reach for
The side he'll lie with the ball below your feet. You have to get closer to the ball
Because if you stand back you have the toe off the ground
You want to get closer. So the center of the club is at the center of the ball
You play it off the left heel, but now I have to aim to the left hand side of the green
I'm aiming to the left
my knees
My whole position is the left hand side of the green because I am trusting that the ball will go left to right
Just like every side he'll lie how much slope there is will determine how much the ball will go right
Or on the other side or the ball will go left
I aim now to the left hand side of the green
I play the ball off my left heel
Everything I have aimed now
Is it where I want the ball to start?
I know the distance to the hole
What I'm trying to do now is look back where I want the ball to start
What i'm trying to do now is look back where I want the ball to start
Not where I want the ball to end
So with the ball closer to me here
back on my heels
And now I let the terrain
Take care of the shot
So remember when the ball is below your feet
It will always go to the right
Above your feet will always go left
It's only determined by how much slope there is the more the slope the more the curve
Okay, you're going to be a shot maker you're going to want to know how to spin the ball
How to back it up
Well, it's not as hard as it looks
I've taught you the elongated u-swing
Well, that's the same swing I want you to use on this shot
Take the club back low and slow
To spin the ball properly
I think you want to hit a shot that comes in
Fairly shallow
You're not trying to hit the ball real high
You get your spin with your right hand
And your right knee
The faster you drop your right hand and right knee into the ball
The more spin you'll get
Now timing here is critical
If your right knee lags back
Your right hand is going to roll over
And produce a hook
One other thought
You don't want to take a deep divot
You want a shallow divot
Almost picking the ball clean
A few thoughts on playing from the rough
Practice these shots on the range
So that you'll know what to do
When you get them on the course
Too many golfers never practice trouble shots
And even the best of us miss a lot of fairways
When you're in the rough
The first thing you must do is make sure
That you choose a club with enough loft
To get the ball out
Don't try to be a hero and pull off an impossible shot
The club has a tendency to twist on you
As it goes through the rough
So keep a firm grip
But I said firm, not tight
Now a shot comes out of the rough without any backspin
So it might roll a good bit
Remember this when you are choosing your club
Your ball ends up in a grass bunker around the green
Don't worry, you can handle it
Here's how you go about it
You grip the club longer
You grip the club a little lighter
And you take a fuller swing
Just dropping the club on the ball
It's not one you're trying to help the ball
Through the rough
It's one where you want to lead the way to the club
Striking down on the ball
Which makes the ball pop up
I've just hit the ball over the green
I'm on the hard pan
I'm lucky I didn't go out of bounds
I have to play a little pitch shot
But the fence is in the way
I have to improvise
I put my hands ahead
In catching the ball on the downswing
But the beauty of it
I have a wedge that doesn't have a lot of bounce
If I had bounce on hard pan
I'd skip into the ball, scull it right over the green
What I can do with my wedge
Is I can tuck it right up under the ball
Perfectly
Put my hands ahead and just trap the ball
That's the ball
Improvise
That's what you have to do
Try shots you've never tried before
Someday you'll have a shot like that
Get the right equipment and right technique
And you'll have more fun you've ever had in your whole life
Learning shot making is critical
Because of one thing
Not every hole is straight
Not every pin is in the middle of the green
It's straight down the middle
What you have to do is you have to learn all these shots
I know when I come back and play golf by myself sometimes
Rather than just being alone
I'll play two golf balls
I'll play one with a fade and one with a draw
To see which one wins
I learned golf from Byron Nelson
Who was one of the greatest strikers of the golf ball I've ever seen
And he used to play a lot of golf with Ben Hogan
And he said one thing
If the pin's in the right you bring it in from left to right
If the pin's left you bring it in right to left
Because if you ever play with Ben Hogan
Inside and you drew the ball in
He'd make you find another game
Ken Venturi's Encyclopedia of Golf
Is the most remarkable instructional video
Ever produced.
Thanks for watching!
Taked on location at the beautiful Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California
This is Ken Venturi's Encyclopedia of Golf
A unique eight volume series
Designed to offer in-depth instruction
On all facets of the game
Ken Venturi has left an indelible mark on golf
As a player, broadcaster, and teacher
One of the game's great shot makers
He has won 14 tournaments
Including a dramatic triumph
At the 1964 U.S. Open
He is a respected teacher
And his stroke saver tips have helped millions
In the Encyclopedia of Golf
He offers the lessons he's learned
In over 40 years of playing and teaching
This is Volume 6, The Clinic
Hi, I'm Ken Venturi and this is The Clinic
If you're hooking the ball, slicing, topping it
Hitting it, fat, skying it
You'll find a solution in this tape
But I don't believe in correcting a fault with a fault
Like, for instance, if you're slicing
I don't believe in giving you a hook grip
That's just another fault
I believe in going back to the fundamentals, to the foundation
So before we go on, let's check the fundamentals
A little refresher on the grip
The club passes from the index finger
To the palm of the hand in the left hand
When closed, the V from the index finger and thumb
Goes over the right shoulder
The right hand is a finger grip, like holding a pistol
You open it up and you put the club in
The V formed by the thumb and index finger
Also goes over the right shoulder
The pressure point is the palm of the right hand
Against the thumb of the left hand
If that works together, all the pressure is perfect
So you cross it from index finger to palm
V formed by the thumb and forefinger to the right shoulder
Right hand or finger grip
With the V going also over the right shoulder
The palm of the right hand presses against the thumb of the left hand
The V from the right hand also points over the right shoulder
Now I put some dots on my knuckles
And here's what happens
If you have too strong of a grip
You can see three, maybe four knuckles
What that does, you take the club back closed
Causes you to pull, to hook, to even shank
Chop at the ball
Then if it's too weak, the V comes over my left shoulder
I don't see any dots
Then I go outside, cutting across the ball
Two deeper divots, pushing
Coming inside, all those come from a weak grip
So what you want here is you want the V over the right shoulder
The V from the right hand over the right shoulder
Seeing two knuckles, which then allows you to take the club back in one piece
The grip and alignment are the basis of all the corrections you have to go through
Without the correct alignment, you cannot correct any of the other faults
This is the basis, this is the most important
Of getting yourself in a position where you can look and aim at the target
Here's how you do it
First you start with the club behind the ball that's aiming at the flag
Then you put another club parallel to this outside the ball
Which gives you your takeaway in one piece
And then you put another club at your feet, which is parallel, going in the same direction
Now you get rid of this club here
And now you've got your alignment
You've got your feet on line, you've got your knees on line
You've got your shoulders on line
And you've got the club on line
The worst thing about this is that you'll find right away that you're aiming in the wrong direction
You're looking at the target, but you might have been like this
Which brings you back to the target
So you go back to the clubs and hit balls with the clubs on the ground
So that you can see that all your angles are all there
The ball's off the left heel
And now strike the ball and you'll find how far off line you have been with your eyes
These shafts and this position does not lie
You're hooking
One of two things are happening, or both
Your alignment, you're going into a hook stance
Or your grip, you have a hook grip
What happens with that when you have a hook stance and a hook grip
You aim to the right of the target
And then what you do is you pull it back
Coming across the line and hooking the ball
Check your alignment
Check your V over the right shoulder
Check your takeaway
Because if you're hooking, here's the things you're doing
You've hooked your stance
You've gotten farther from the ball
You've hooked your grip
And what that allows you to do is you take it back closed
And when you come down, you're coming over the top
And look what the five iron looks like now
Looks like about a three iron
So know what you do?
You've got this stance, you've got this grip, you've got this position
And you know what you do?
That
You missed the green, you might even miss the golf course
What you want to do now, check your alignment
Check your grip
Check your takeaway
One of those things is causing a hook
A number of things causes slices
One, your open stance
Two, open hips
Too far from the ball, reaching
A weak grip where the left hand is here
And the right hand is on top
Or sometimes it can even be from a little stronger grip
Which makes you cut across
Your takeaway either goes outside
Or your takeaway either goes inside and you loop back
When you do that, you're coming up
You're straightening your leg
You open your stance, open your hips
Your shoulders out, your grip is weak
You're either outside or inside and over the top
All those things can cause a slice
More than one most of the time, too
There can be one, two, three or four faults
And what happens?
You go outside and what do you do?
It's a big old slice
No balance, no swing
Go back to basics
Check your stance
Check your alignment
Check your grip
And check your takeaway
You're pulling the ball
Now don't confuse pulling with hooking
Hooking the ball bends to the left
Pulling, it goes directly left of the target
It starts here and goes left without hooking
You have checked all your alignment
You've checked your position
You've checked your knees
You're on line and you can't figure it out
You know what it is?
It's your right shoulder
What you're doing is you're putting the club down
And you're reaching over the top of the club
Which gets you shoulder out, elbow up, hand on top
You feel like you're making a good swing
Except what you're doing, your shoulders are aimed to the left of the target
Now your club is just following your shoulders
Shoulder out, elbow up
What do you do?
You pull it to the left
Here's how to correct that
You get yourself into position
And you check your right shoulder
What do you do?
Stand up, put your hand behind you like this
Put the club down
Now put your right hand on the club
Without moving your right shoulder forward
What do you do now?
You reach under it
You reach down and under
Now you've got your shoulders on line
You've got your right elbow in
And you've got your right hand in the right position
So after you've checked your alignment, your position
And you're still pulling
Be sure to check your right shoulder
Music
You're pushing the ball
Unlike pulling where the shoulder is out
Pushing the ball is from a swing floor
It's where the ball starts directly right at the target
And stays there, it's never on line
You can be in the best position
You can be all lined up
You can be right on target
But here's the things you look for when you're pushing
One, your left hand is leading your right
Which causes you to come up
Your left hip is staying back
And your left knee is straightening up
Which causes it to go to the right
You could be taking it on the inside
And swinging directly out
Which is causing you to go to the right
All these things cause a push
What you want to do here is you want to take it back in one piece
And then as you start down
Lead with the heel of the left hand
But let the right hand catch up and impact
Right to here
You want the left hip to hit the door jam
To go this way
Which puts the club behind you here
And what you also want to do
Is to make sure you stay down
All the pushes come from coming up
Going this way
Put the club behind you
Pull with this
And let the right hand catch up
With the left
Because if you're going to stay high
Club behind you
You can aim it at the flag
But you're going to do this
See how high?
How straight?
How much I've lead?
Square up
Stay down
Drive on line
With the right hand catching up and impact
You're shanking
Yes, shanking
I'm not about to hit one for you
I'm going to show you how you correct it
I'm not about to put a shank into this club
It's never seen one and I don't want it to ever know what happens with it
What you do here
In shanking after you get lined up
The heel of the club
Meets the ball first
It's caused by different things
It's caused by
The left hand
Turning up
Which lets this lead
It's caused by the left hand leading too much
It's caused by coming up
And another one is going
Past the ball
Swaying past the ball
What you want to do is get yourself set up
Pretend you have a watch on
You want the left hand
To break the watch against the wall
Bang
Therefore the back of the hand is in line with the face
You wouldn't
Hit a tire as we spoke about
Like this
You'd pop it like this
Or chop a tree
You wouldn't chop this way, you'd chop
That way
So if this hand stays on that line
We'll keep this face
On line
Once the hand goes up
The heel of the club leads
So it's either by
Hand coming up
Left hand leading
Coming out of your swing
Or swaying past the ball
All leads the heel of the club
Into shanking
You can practice this by putting the ball down
On the side of it
So that if you were going to go that
You'd hit that over there
And lay inside the ball
The ultimate is to let your right hand
Catch up
At impact
This is straight
You can't tell the time
This is in line with the back of the hand
You're not swaying
So get your alignment
And let your right hand catch up with your left
At impact
So if you're shanking
Remember, you can tell time
At impact
You're topping the ball
It's the same fault no matter if you have a pitching wedge
A medium iron, long iron
Or a driver
It's the same price to everything
What's happening there
Is that the left knee is straightening
The left hip is going backwards
And you're coming up like this
Straightening instead of staying down
You do not miss a ball because you look up
You miss a ball because you come up
I can keep the flex in my knees
And I can look up all I want
I can go like this
I never saw the ball
But I never lost the flex in my knees
What happens when you miss the ball
It's because you come up
Watch my left knee
Watch my left hip
It goes like this
That's what I've done
All you have to do to keep from topping the ball
Or coming over the top of the ball
Which is called topping
Is keep the flex in the left knee
Move your left hip forward
But the main thing is
Do not lose the flex in your knees
Take it back
And keep the flex
Right there
You keep that position
Moving this forward
And you've cured topping
You're hitting the ball fat
It's caused by one of three things
Either you're dipping your head
You're losing the flex in your knees
Or you're throwing it on the downswing
All fat shots are caused by one of those three faults
Or maybe all of them
What happens with the knees
On the backswing
The right knee goes back
Left knee comes out
Causing the club to go inside
Then you take it up
And then the left knee straightens
And the right knee comes out
And you throw it down over the top
And also causes your head
To dip down because of this knee going out
What you want to do
Is you want to get yourself
In position and take the club head
Hands and shoulders in one piece
Keeping the flex the same
Letting your right knee catch up
With your left on the follow through
So if the right knee goes back
On the backswing
And the left knee out
You go like this
Look at the knee
This is that
That's all fat shots
What I want to do
Is I want to make sure
That my knees stay in the flex
I want to make sure that I don't
Throw the club from the top
And I want to make sure that my head
Doesn't dip down into the ball
So keeping my flex
Not throwing it from the top
And don't let my head
Dip down
Those three things will cause you to hit the ball
Fat, remember, stay in the flex
Don't throw the club
And keep your head still
Your sky
And your tee shots
Well, there are two things you're doing in your swing
One, you're either passing the ball this way
Catching it on the downswing
Going to the right
Or you're going backwards, falling away
And throwing the club
Sky and it off to the left
What you want to feel like is
You're not facing it in a mask
Or you got the hub of the wheel is right here
And you're going around this way
And staying in that position
And hitting the ball
Staying behind it, not passing it
And not going backwards
But the one thing I want you to check most of all
Is how you tee the ball
For instance, if I teed the ball like that
I'd have to change my swing
I'd have to come up
To get the ball
What you want to do is put the ball
On the tee
So that
Half the ball is below the club
And half is above the club
So what you got the inlay here
You just split the difference right there
Half the ball is below the top
Of the club
And half the ball is above the top of the club
Now, without
Going forward
Or throwing it and going backwards
Working around the hub
You've got the ball teed correctly
And all you want now is to go from here
To there
Remember
Check how high you're teeing the ball
Make that consistent
And then don't pass it
And don't throw and go backwards
You'd like to get some more distance on your driver
Here's some things to look for
Maybe your left foot is turned in too much here
Which restricts your turn
Put your left foot out about 20 degrees
So you can
Flow through it
Maybe your right foot is turned out too far
Which allows you to sway off the ball
Turn that to almost about 10 degrees
Or 90 degrees
This way
Maybe you're not shifting your weight
Maybe your weight is going forward on the backswing
What you have to do
To get your weight shifted
It's like you're walking
You go back, forward
Back, forward
Maybe you're not making a big enough turn
Maybe you're only going to here
Another thing you may be doing
You may be stopping at the ball
You're not accelerating to your finish
All those things can add up
To giving you more yardage
By turning out your left toe
Getting your hips square
Extending your backswing
Let your arms leave your body
To the finish, not hitting at the ball
But through it
And you know one other thing may help you too
I know it's helped a lot of people
They've gone to metal drivers
And they've gone to the solid ball
So put all those things together
With a good turn
And a good swing
Try some of those things
It'll give you more distance
People will ask me
How can I lengthen my swing?
How can I shorten my swing?
You do it with your left thumb
Let me show you how
My normal grip
My left thumb is extended just about one thumb
From my index finger to the end of my thumb
If I shorten my thumb
To here
I shorten my swing
Because of restriction
I can't get it back
If I lengthen my thumb
I'm not restricted anymore
I can go back much farther
So no matter where you put your thumb
Wherever you start
If you have a
Short thumb, short swing
Long thumb, longer swing
But the one thing I want you to watch
Is I'm not changing my hand position
I'm not going back and forth like all the time
All I'm moving is my thumb
My thumb goes shorter
Fingers stay there
Or thumb goes longer
So if I have a short thumb
Bringing it up to almost to my index finger
I have a short swing
Now, if I take the thumb
And extend it down the shaft
The swing will get longer
So remember
If your swing is too long
Shorten your left thumb
If it's too short
Lengthen your left thumb
The bunker shot
A shot that every amateur fears
And yet it's one of the easiest shots in the game
Because with the amateur he tries to hit two inches behind the ball
And the ball stays in the bunker
Goes flying over the green
What happens there
Is you don't know where the ground is
Sand is hard, sand is soft
Maybe it's wet
You don't know
But all you want to do is slip the club under the ball
You're not even trying to hit the ball
What you're trying to do
Is pretend the ball is on a tee
And you want to clip the tee out from under the ball
All you do now
Is look down through the ball
I put the ball off my left heel
I open the club
And all I want to do now
Is slip the club under the ball
Now, I'll go ahead and do that
Here's the tee
I put the ball on the tee
You can't tell the ball is on a tee
Right there
You can't see it
But it's there
So I visualize I don't care about the ball
Is clip the tee out
From under the ball
Same swing
Same divots
Everything's the same
I took the ball away
I had one priority
All I want to do
Is clip the tee from under the ball
And the more height you want
The more you open the blade
The farther you want it to go
The longer you'll take the follow through
The bunker shot is not that difficult
We make it difficult because
We're hitting down or we're trying to help it out
Just put some tees in a bunker
And practice clipping the tees
And then go over, put the ball down
And pretend it's sitting on a tee
And clip the tee out from under the ball
Let's talk about the grip
I use the reverse overlap
Where the index finger of my left hand
Is between the two middle fingers of my right hand
That's the one I use
You play golf, you've seen a lot of golfers
And you've seen as many grips as you want
Choose the one you like
That feels comfortable
But I would recommend this
With both hands working together
And the thumbs going up and down the shaft
Ball position and stance
I put the ball just inside
My left heel
And that puts my hands up on my left leg
I like the ball a little more in front of me
So I can look under and look at the line better
Instead of looking over and losing the line
As far as stance
I'm slightly open
I want my stance open
Because I feel freer
I can get through the ball easier
I can move my arms easier
There's a square stance
Which I think causes most of the time
People to go over the top
If you're coming over the top
People go into a hook stance
Where they drop their right shoulder back
There's a wide stance
Or there's a narrow one
But I think there's too much variance there
I like to put it always in the same spot
Off the left heel
Slightly open and looking under
The putt
That way I feel freer
I can get behind the ball
I've dropped my right shoulder
I've dropped my right side
I let my arms hang
And now all I have to do is move the club head
With the big muscles with the shoulders
Let's talk about the stroke
One thing you have to do
You have to complete your backswing
Before you follow through
It's a part of a golf swing
What happens when you miss most putts
Is because you rush the downswing
It makes you go past the ball
If you don't complete your backswing
By moving the club head
With the large muscles and the shoulders
You can't make a good stroke
Here's a good little exercise
Put a tee behind the ball
About that far
Depending on how far the putt is
What that makes me do
Is it makes me go back to the tee
Consciously getting to it
Pausing and then hitting the putt
That's what I like to get myself
In a position where I know now
I've completed my backswing
And now I can start my downswing
The one thing I want to do
Is keep my head still
If you keep your head still
By not moving your knees
If you move your knees
Everything moves
If you keep your knees still
Your head will stay still
Put the tee behind the ball
Take your regular grip
Swing the club head with your shoulders
And go from backswing
To follow through
Let's consider the practice stroke
That's what it is
It's a practice stroke
That you want to use when the ball is there
It doesn't do any good to go like this
And kind of throw your putter around
Like you see a lot of people do
No, if you're going to use a practice stroke
Use the one you're going to use
When you hit the ball
You get over it just like the ball is there
Let me give you a little clue
About practice strokes
So you don't change your attitude
When the ball is there
Put the club next to the ball
Right there
By watching the ball
So that you're looking at the ball
And taking your practice stroke
Like you want to go
When the hole is there
You see what I'm doing?
I walk up now
And I'm still looking at the same object
I don't freeze over the ball
Because I'm looking at the ball
As I'm taking my practice stroke
So I'd recommend
You don't take a long time with it
I'd recommend two practice strokes
Let's set here now
Looking at the ball
One, two
Walk up
And all you're doing now
Is taking another practice stroke
Sometimes they lip out
But I still hit it well
I just hit a little too firm
But the stroke that I hit the ball with
Was exactly like the strokes
That I was practicing
Let me leave you with this thought
If you corrected a fault
You haven't corrected that fault
Because any time you correct a fault
It's going to be uncomfortable
For a while it will be
As long as you keep working at it
If you keep working at it
It'll get comfortable
And your game will get better
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