- 19 hours ago
Golf Monthly is one of the world's leading multi-platform golf media brands.
We exist to help golfers get more out of the game they love. Our team of passionate golfers and experts produce authoritative in-depth reviews of the latest golf equipment to help you buy better, tips and advice to improve your game, ideas for golf courses to play and places to stay and coverage of the game at every level from grassroots up to Tour.
We exist to help golfers get more out of the game they love. Our team of passionate golfers and experts produce authoritative in-depth reviews of the latest golf equipment to help you buy better, tips and advice to improve your game, ideas for golf courses to play and places to stay and coverage of the game at every level from grassroots up to Tour.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to this video in which
00:04we are going to take a look at six golf tips you should ignore. These tend to be the things
00:09that amateurs say to other amateurs and they can actually do you more harm than good. Right,
00:14let's head out onto the golf course here at Fox Hills, take a look at the six golf tips
00:18you should ignore.
00:21Okay, so we're joined by Alex again and Alex, the first one on the list is about the position
00:31of your left elbow in the golf swing. Explain to me what it is that people get told here.
00:35There's a lot of talk where we've got to keep this left elbow straight and left arm straight
00:40and now, okay, there may be reasons why we actually bend the left elbow due to grip, but
00:45if we just look at it just as a whole and saying, I don't think there should be so much pressure
00:49on keeping the left arm straight.
00:50Okay, so can I just play devil's advocate here for a second? You don't want to be in
00:56a position where you're in that position there.
00:59No, no.
01:00So there is some truth to this, that you shouldn't be in that position there.
01:03Exactly. Why is that not a good position to be in?
01:05Ultimately, it's going to create a very inconsistent bottom of the arc.
01:09Anytime I see a motion like this, I tend to kind of classify people that may be a little bit
01:14scoopy into the golf ball, but the thing with this, look at Jordan Spieth,
01:18was a world number one, master's winner. He is what we kind of classify as slightly bent at the top.
01:25Okay. So what's an okay position to be in at the top?
01:28So what I would say is we don't want to feel like we're locked out because that's really going to limit our rotation.
01:33Anytime that we feel like we concentrate on trying to keep that straight, we start to create a lot of tension through the whole body.
01:39Right, fine. Anytime we create tension, it's hard to create rhythm, it's hard to create a good consistent swing.
01:44So even when I swing is, and as I come to the top, I would never be locked out, I would never be at 90 degrees,
01:50but I would have a slight kink in my arm.
01:53Yeah. Just be relaxed.
01:54Yeah. So it's just, I guess this is one for anyone out there that's really getting a bit too focused on keeping this very straight.
02:00Exactly. And it all can become very mechanical and sort of lacking in that kind of free-flowing movement that you're looking for.
02:06Exactly. And if we look at Ernie Owls, Jordan Spieth, all free-flowing movements, we're not stood here like a mechanical robot,
02:13really focusing on this, because our focus is on this then, not the shot in hand.
02:17Yeah. So there you have it. Don't worry too much about keeping this elbow perfectly straight during the golf swing.
02:22So for the next one, as you can see, we are on the putting green. And Alex, it's again, another tip that you'll hear people give to each other,
02:35which is that you've got to keep your wrists really locked down to have a repeatable, consistent putting stroke.
02:41But actually, again, it's a thought that can do more harm than good. Why?
02:44Exactly. Well, if you just imagine you're going to address the ball on the floor there, if you feel the wrists are locked,
02:49straight away, we're going to get tension in the arms, tension in the shoulders, and it becomes a very wooden, no-flowing motion.
02:56True. Now, there are techniques where we potentially get the arm in the arm lock, and we do create it to be locked out.
03:03So putting's very individual to you, and if you're using that kind of grip, then that's okay for that technique.
03:09Yes. But otherwise, for most of us who aren't using an arm lock grip, actually, you want a little bit of freedom in your wrist.
03:16We look at Jack Nicklaus, one of the probably the best putters, best short game, having that flow,
03:21even feeling, I'm not saying flick it, but a little bit of giving the lead wrist.
03:25Okay. It's going to help you develop feels,
03:27it's going to help you longer putts, shorter putts, and just overall help you flow.
03:31But as you say, you don't want to flick it.
03:33Yes. Because I guess the truth,
03:35again, there's always an element of truth behind all of these, isn't there?
03:37Yeah. And the truth is,
03:38you see a lot of players, when they putt, get into that position there, they kind of
03:42do all of the work by flicking the wrist at the ball, and why is that not a good idea?
03:47Almost going to hit up on the ball, we're going to hit above the equator,
03:50we could put the face left, put the face right.
03:52So what I would tend to give as my advice, if I was holding it a more traditional way,
03:57is that we want a motion that's driven mainly by the arms and the body, and very little with the wrist.
04:03So if I make this motion here, you wouldn't stick out that I'm flicking the golf ball club.
04:09No. But I have an element of softness to my wrists.
04:12And that's what I want you to have, the element of softness, almost like you're squeezing a tube
04:16or toothpaste. Yeah. So just that little bit of,
04:19I guess you could call this a little bit of lag, actually, in your wrist,
04:22it's going to help the freedom of your stroke, the flow of your stroke,
04:25ultimately improve your overall consistency on the greens.
04:28Okay. So the next one on our list relates to lag, and it's something that a lot of amateurs
04:38go in search of because they know that it's the kind of that secret ingredient that delivers more
04:43power. But why is lag itself something that players should sort of not be so worried about searching
04:49for? I think it's a dangerous topic for most people. It can, for me, cause them to stiffen up,
04:55point the face right at target, and really become very obsessed in creating a move that looks very
05:01false in rehearsal. Now, there are essence in saying that, okay, we've got to create the opposite
05:07scenarios to what we've got. But I would say for most people, if you look at you've got a good grip,
05:12good body movement, good sequencing, that will help you create lag.
05:16Okay, fine. Rather than going searching for it directly.
05:19So don't be led down the path of thinking it's this kind of magic, you know, little single thing
05:25that you can do that's going to deliver more power.
05:27Exactly. We're not saying it's not important, it is, but being too focused on it can be the
05:31wrong avenue for you. Okay, go on then, hit one for us, Alex.
05:34Okay.
05:43Okay, lovely shot. And I think we'll show that again from the sort of square on angle,
05:48you'll be able to see that Alex creates lag in his golf swing, but he does it for a whole host
05:51of other things that are working well. Trying to focus purely on delivering that lag,
05:56it's probably not the right way to go.
06:03Okay, so the next one on our list relates to chipping. Alex, what is it?
06:07So I always hear this, especially when we're trying to create a bit of spin around the greens,
06:13put the ball back, get the hands forward, hit down the golf ball. I was told it as a junior.
06:18Yeah, I was actually taught that as being the right way to chip.
06:22I mean, there probably are times and scenarios where we probably want to adopt a similar
06:26technique for that, but sometimes by putting that ball back and the hands forward, all we're doing
06:31there is exposing that leading edge and it's going to dig. And you're going to potentially duff it,
06:36which is something that I am very familiar with, Alex. So if that's not the right technique for chipping,
06:41what is the right technique? Well, I like to make sure the ball is a
06:44little bit more central. So the rule of thumb that I use is my stance, I like to have just
06:49wide of a club with the part. And if the chip becomes a little bit longer, I get a little bit
06:54wider accordingly. Ball position just on my zip or just the right of my zip. And then from there,
07:00hands on the golf ball, because now we've got an opportunity to display some loft and hit slightly
07:05down on it, which is a good recipe for creating spin. And crucially, you're going to be employing a bit
07:09more of the bounce of the golf club, so the clubs should just glide off the top of the turf.
07:13Exactly. You've got a much more margin for error. So in the winter, when you're chipping,
07:16or it's a bit of a wet lie, a bit of a bad lie, you've got a bigger margin for error.
07:19No, you just put yourself under a bit of pressure there, because it is winter here.
07:23Yeah. It is very wet underfoot. This is a
07:25real prime scenario for duffing it, isn't it? And that's exactly why you shouldn't have the ball back
07:30in your stance and your hands forward. Exactly.
07:31So yeah, show us how it's done, Alex. Okay. No pressure.
07:41Well, it just grabbed on you there, but as you can see, absolutely no danger that
07:45cup was going to dig and that Alex was going to duff that one.
07:48That's not your best, Alex. Now, if we were playing golf, in that scenario,
08:03I might be tempted to say to you, just slow it down a bit, because it looked a bit ragged.
08:08Yes. Yeah, it looked a little bit off balance, I guess.
08:11But actually, it's a tip, again, it's a tip that gets handed from one amateur to the next,
08:15that might not be that useful. Yes. Now, if we look at the top
08:20players in the world, they're trying to swing the club as fast as they can. It's all about
08:24distance in the modern game. So I'm really reluctant to tell someone to slow it down. I'm
08:28more bothered about the tempo of the swing. Okay, fine.
08:32So my speed might be same as yours, but we have slightly different tempo in how we go about it.
08:36Okay, fine. So that begs the question, how do you work on tempo? Tempo is one of those things,
08:42isn't it, that you either have one day or you don't?
08:44Yeah. So the analogy that I like to use, and I use this on the course as well,
08:48so not just in my practice, I imagine a rev counter that works from transition
08:53down to the golf ball, so on the downswing. Okay.
08:56So a lot of people like that swing there would have looked like the high peak and the higher revs
09:00in your car were really early in the downswing. Right at the top of those.
09:04Exactly. I want you to feel like you build up to that. So we're peaking our revs just before impact.
09:10Yeah. And I guess it's the reason why many of the world's best players, they look like they
09:14swing the ball and swing the club quite easy, but they hit the ball very hard because actually,
09:20they don't get speed until they really need it most.
09:22I mean, Ernie Al, as soon as I think rhythm and tempo, he comes straight to my mind.
09:26Yeah. So next time someone says to you, I think you might need to slow it down,
09:30just check yourself and think, actually, it's tempo. It's a smoother tempo that I need.
09:35That might just help you straighten things out, hit better shots.
09:43Okay, so Alex, I'd say the number one thing that you hear amateurs say to other amateurs that pros
09:48really don't like is, keep your head down. Yeah.
09:52You know, you've hit a bad shot there or you lifted your head.
09:55Especially when you see a top shot. I hear that all the time.
09:57You hear it all the time. Why is that unhelpful advice?
10:01Well, just in terms of if we look at how we want to work through the golf ball,
10:06we want to be very rotary through the golf ball. Now, to help us do that,
10:10the chin has to lift. We have to start looking towards the target.
10:14Yeah. I mean, take a look at the way that Henrik Stenson swings the golf club or the way that
10:18Anika Sorenstam hit the ball. Both of them, through impact, their head would be at that angle,
10:23wouldn't it? Exactly. What I would say is,
10:26any time that we are trying to keep our head down, is the tip that we hear,
10:30this is really limiting our ability to swing through and rotate, reducing club head speed,
10:36and it's going to do more harm than good, because that face could be pointing left and right,
10:40because we're really relying on our hand-eye coordination to time it.
10:44Now, Alex, I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say, there is an element of truth
10:48to don't lift your head, and that element of truth is that you don't want people to lose their
10:55posture, their spine angle. You don't want someone to lift up or, I guess, you'd less see people
11:01dipping down. Is that true? Is that fair? Yeah, that's the kind of, I think, where it
11:05kind of gets a little bit led down the wrong avenue when we say lift our head. In an ideal world,
11:11I like to think the golf swing, we get light, we get heavy, and we get light, but through doing this,
11:17our head roughly stays around the same position. We never want to see too many changing levels.
11:22Yeah. Okay. Well, hit one for us then, Alex, so we can see what you mean.
11:25So, what I try and feel is, in terms of trying to get me to get my head to move towards target,
11:30I try and imagine I'm going to follow the spots on the golf ball down to target.
11:34Okay, good. Lovely. So, there you have it. Don't focus too hard on keeping your head down during
11:45the golf swing. Chances are, if you're hitting bad shots, it's not because you're not looking at
11:49the ball through impact. It'll be something different. Hopefully, Alex's tip will show you
11:52what to do. So, there you have it. That's our list of the six golf tips you should ignore. Guys,
11:57please do leave some comments below. Is there anything that you think we've missed? Any tips that
12:01you've been given in the past that have actually done you more harm than good? We'd be really
12:05interested to hear your thoughts. But for now, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
Be the first to comment