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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.
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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.
00:24Okay, 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
00:39and 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
00:49pressure
00:49on keeping the left arm straight. Okay, so can I just play devil's advocate here for a second.
00:55You don't want to be in a position where you're in that position then. No, no.
01:00So there is some truth to this, that you shouldn't be in that position there. Why is that not a
01:04good position to be in? Ultimately, it's going to create a very
01:07inconsistent bottom of the arc. Anytime I see a motion like this, I tend to kind of classify
01:12people that may be a little bit scoopy into the golf ball, but the thing with this, look
01:17at Jordan Spieth. He was a world number one, master's winner. He is what we kind of classify
01:24as slightly bent at the top. Okay, so what's an okay position to be in at the top?
01:28What I would say is we don't want to feel like we're locked out because that's really going to
01:32limit our rotation. Anytime that we feel like we concentrate on trying to keep that straight,
01:38we start to create a lot of tension through the whole body. Anytime we create tension, it's hard to
01:42create rhythm. It's hard to create a good consistent swing. So even when I swing, and as I come to
01:46the top,
01:47I would never be locked out. I would never be at 90 degrees, but I would have a slight kink
01:52in my
01:52arm. Just be relaxed. Yeah, so it's just, I guess this is one for anyone out there that's really
01:57getting a bit too focused on keeping this very straight, and it all can become very mechanical,
02:03and so lacking in that kind of free-flowing movement that you're looking for. Exactly,
02:07and if we look at Ernie Els, Jordan Spieth, all free-flowing movements, we're not stood here
02:12like a mechanical robot really focusing on this because our focus is on this then,
02:16not the shot in hand. Yeah, so there you have it. Don't worry too much
02:19about keeping this elbow perfectly straight during the golf swing.
02:27So for the next one, as you can see, we are on the putting green, and Alex, it's again another
02:32tip
02:32that you'll hear people give to each other, which is that you've got to keep your wrists really locked
02:38down. You have a repeatable, consistent putting stroke, but actually, again, it's a thought that
02:43can do more harm than good. Why? Exactly. Well, if you just imagine you're going to address the ball
02:47on the floor there. If you feel the wrists are locked, straight away, we're going to get tension
02:51in the arms, tension in the shoulders, and it becomes a very wooden, no-flowing motion.
02:57Yes, true. Now, there are techniques where we potentially get the arm in the arm lock,
03:01and we do create it to be locked out. Putting's very individual to you, and if you're using that kind
03:06of grip, then that's okay for that technique. Yes, but otherwise, for most of us who aren't
03:11using an arm lock grip, actually, you want a little bit of freedom in your wrist.
03:16We look at Jack Nicholas, one of the probably the best putters, best short game,
03:20having that flow, even feeling, I'm not saying flick it, but a little bit of giving the lead
03:25wrist, it's going to help you develop feels, it's going to help you longer putts, shorter putts,
03:29and just overall help you flow. As you say, you don't want to flick it, because I guess the truth,
03:35again, there's always an element of truth behind all of these. The truth is, you see a lot of
03:39players, when they putt, get into that position there, they do all of the work by flicking the
03:44wrist at the ball. Why is that not a good idea? Almost hit up on the ball, we're going to
03:49hit
03:49above the equator, we could put the face left, put the face right. What I would tend to give as
03:54my
03:55advice, if I was holding it a more traditional way, is that we want a motion that's driven mainly by
04:00the arms and the body, and very little with the wrist. If I make this motion here, you wouldn't
04:06stick out that I'm flicking the golf ball club, but I have an element of softness to my wrist,
04:12and that's what I want you to have, the element of softness, almost like you're squeezing a tube
04:16or toothpaste. Yes, so just that little bit of, I guess you could call this a little bit of lag,
04:21actually, in your wrist, it's going to help the freedom of your stroke, the flow of your stroke,
04:25ultimately improve your overall consistency on the greens.
04:33Okay, 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 for?
04:49I 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 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
05:11grip,
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 and thinking it's this kind of magic,
05:23you know, little single thing that 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
05:32wrong 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. You'll be
05:48able to see that Alex creates lag in his golf swing, but he does it for a whole host of
05:52other
05:52things that are working well. Trying to focus purely on delivering that lag is probably not the
05:57right way to go. Okay, so the next one on our list relates to chipping, Alex. What is it?
06:08So 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 goal ball. I was told it as a junior.
06:18Yeah, I was actually taught that as being the right way to chip.
06:21I 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. You're going to potentially duff it,
06:36which is something that I am very familiar with, Alex. 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. The rule of thumb that I use is my stance, I like to have just wide
06:50of a
06:50clubber width apart. And if the chip becomes a little bit longer, I get a little bit wider
06:54accordingly. 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
07:09a bit more of the bounce of the golf club, so the clubs can just glide off the top of
07:13the
07:13dirt. Exactly, 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
07:19error.
07:19You've just put yourself under a bit of pressure there, because it is winter here. It is very wet
07:24underfoot. This is a real prime scenario for duffing it, isn't it? And that's exactly why you
07:29shouldn't have the ball back in your stance and your hands forward. So yeah, show us how it's done, Alex.
07:33Okay, no pressure.
07:41Well, it just grabbed on you there, but as you could see, absolutely no danger that
07:45cub was going to dig and that Alex was going to duff that one.
07:59That's not your best, Alex. Now, if we were playing golf, in that scenario, I might be tempted to say
08:04to 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 that might
08:16not be that useful. Yes. Now, if we look at the top players in the world, they're trying to swing
08:21the club as fast as they can. It's all about distance in the modern game. I'm really reluctant to
08:27tell someone to slow it down. I'm more bothered about the tempo of the swing.
08:31Okay, fine. So, my speed might be
08:33the same as yours, but we have slightly different tempo on 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, so not
08:48just in my
08:49practice, I imagine a rev counter that works from transition down to the golf ball, so on the
08:54downswing. Okay. So, a lot of people like that swing there would have looked like the
08:59high peak and the higher revs in your car were really early in the downswing.
09:03Right, at the top of all those. Exactly. I want you to feel like you build
09:06up to that, so we're peaking our revs just before impact. Yeah, and I guess it's the reason why many
09:12of the world's best players, they look like they swing the club quite easy, but they hit the ball very
09:18hard because actually they don't get speed until they really need it most. I mean, Ernie Alston,
09:23as soon as I think rhythm and tempo, he comes straight to my mind.
09:27Yeah. 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. You know, you've hit a bad shot there,
09:54or you lifted your head. Especially when you see a top shot.
09:56Yes. I hear that all the time.
09:58You hear it all the time. Why is that unhelpful advice?
10:02Well, 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, the chin has to
10:11lift,
10:12we have to start looking towards the target. Yeah, I mean, take a look at the way that Henrik
10:16Stenson swings the golf club, or the way that Anna Kasorenstam hit the ball. Both of them,
10:21through impact, their head would be at kind of that angle, wouldn't it?
10:24Exactly. So, what I would say is, any time that we are trying to keep our head down,
10:29is what the tip that we hear, this is really limiting our ability to swing through and rotate,
10:35reducing club head speed, and it's going to do more harm than good, because that face could be
10:39pointing left and right, because 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 posture,
10:55their spine angle. You don't want someone to lift up, or I guess you'd less see people dipping down.
11:02Is that true? Is that fair? Yeah, that's the kind of,
11:04I think where it kind of gets a little bit led down the wrong avenue when we say lift our
11:09head.
11:09In an ideal world, I like to think the golf swing, we get light, we get heavy, and we get
11:15light,
11:15but through doing this, our head roughly stays around the same position. We never want to see
11:21too many changing levels. Yeah, okay. Well, hit one for us then,
11:25Alex, so we can see what you mean. So, what I try and feel is,
11:27in terms of trying to get me to get my head to move towards target, I try and imagine I'm
11:31going to
11:32follow the spots on the golf ball down to target. Okay, good.
11:41Lovely. So, there you have it. Don't focus too hard on keeping your head down during the golf swing.
11:46Chances are, if you're hitting bad shots, it's not because you're not looking at the ball through
11:49impact. It'll be something different. Hopefully, Alex's tip will show you what to do. So, there you
11:53have it. That's our list of the six golf tips you should ignore. Guys, please do leave some comments
11:58below. Is there anything that you think we've missed? Any tips that you've been given in the
12:02past that have actually done you more harm than good? We'd be really interested to hear your
12:07thoughts. But for now, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
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