In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Choke Down For Increased Control
2) Unlock Your Lower Body
3) Question of the Week – Surviving A Swing Change
4) Article – Sunglasses Protect Your Eyes, Help Your Golf Handicap
5) Article – Four Drills For Achieving A Sweeter Swing (Part I)

1) Choke Down For Increased Control
Baseball players often choke up an inch or two on their bats when facing hard throwing pitchers. Choking up shortens their swings and makes the bats feel lighter, enabling the players to get the bats around quicker. Choking down on a golf club offers similar benefits for golfers and helps cut strokes from your scores. The trick is knowing why and when to choke down.

Choking down on a club affects your swing and the club’s characteristics in the following ways:

* Makes the club lighter
* Increases club control
* Shortens the radius of the swing
* Makes the swing more upright
* Promotes a sharp, downward blow

Many golf teachers recommend choking down an inch on every club. That’s always a good idea. But here we’re talking about choking down two or more inches. In the right circumstances, the added control provided by choking down is often the difference between making the shot and missing it.

Choking down makes the club lighter. A lighter club is easier to control, making it more useful on certain shots, like delicate chips and pitches. These are situations where both swing speed and club-ball contact must be precise.

Choking down also makes your swing’s shape more upright because the shaft of the club is more vertical, shortening the swing’s radius. It also causes the clubhead to approach the ball on a steeper angle, promoting a sharp downward blow and a lower flying shot. That’s great in situations where you have to keep the ball low, like on windy days where you want the distance of a 5-iron but the trajectory of a 4-iron.

Finally, choking down on a club is mandatory on certain shots, like sidehill lies with the ball above your feet. You could stand farther from the ball or change your posture. But then you’d have to worry about hitting behind the ball. Choking down lets you maintain your normal setup and swing without having to worry about hitting the ground behind the ball.

Choking down is like adding a 15th club to your bag. Take advantage of its benefits when you can. It will save strokes.

2) Unlock Your Lower Body
Ideally, you want to keep your knees flexed from address to impact. But some golfers suffer from “cement legs.” Their footwork is poor and their weight shift non-existent. They’ve locked their lower bodies too much in place. Consequently, their upper bodies bob up and down and their hands get too active. The end result isn’t pretty. Nor is it sound.

But a Tom Watson trick rids you of cement legs. The left knee, right knee move is simple, yet effective. Just point your left knee to the right of the ball at the top of your swing and your right knee to the left of the ball at impact. Left knee, right knee. That’s it. Left-handers, of course, do the opposite.

Watson’s move encourages you to turn your hips and shift your weight back and forth with no conscious effort. Unfortunately, some golfers set up with locked knees, preventing them from shifting their weight. Instead, they point their front knees straight out toward the ball during their backswings. This wrecks their chances of executing a good swing.

In addition, you need to move your knees on short swings. We all tend to hit short chips and pitches using just our arms. But you need some movement in your lower body on these shots as well.

The Mehlhorn Drill
This Drill is good for improving knee action. Hold a club at both ends across your thighs and move your feet and legs as you would during a swing. The shaft must stay against your legs. If it comes away from your knees, you’re not moving correctly.

Next time you’re at the range, check your lower body. If it’s locked, try Watson’s trick. Once you learn it, you’ll see the difference.

3) Question of the Week – Surviving A Swing Change
Q. Hello, I have a question about going through the tough times of a swing change. I am currently transitioning my swing and re-grooving a new swing plane to a flatter one from an up and down plane.

My question is: what do you do to get through the tough times of a swing change? Do you just devote your time to practicing on the range and working with a swing trainer? Or do you continue to play. Playing during this time is rough. My scores are really suffering. I occasionally get that shot off like I intended, but end up in trouble.

Thanks,
Matt
Athens, PA

A. Thanks, Matt. Making a swing change is hard on your ego and your game. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to do it. That’s because you must unlearn the old way—which you may have been doing for years—before you can learn the new. That process is difficult.

When I make a change, I put extra time in on the range, work with a swing coach, find a good drill to practice at home, and look for a game I can play with my buddies. I do anything I can to practice the change. I also build in milestones into my practices, like increasing the number of times in a row I hit the ball correctly during each session. Recognizing small successes builds confidence.

In addition, I use visualization. I set aside time to visualize my swing with the change imbedded. For me, it speeds the learning process.

More importantly, I use the change when playing. You have to do it, even if it means racking up a poor score. It’s the best way to practice a swing change. If you can make it under the pressure of playing, you’ve mastered the change.

Making a swing change is hard. It takes time, practice, and patience. But once you decide to do it, go for it. Don’t flip flop between the old and the new. It slows the learning process. Stay patient, use visualization, and keep a positive mental attitude. In time, you’ll have the change down pat.

If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from

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If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros and creating a more reliable and consistent swing, check out: http://www.HowToBreak80.com

Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter11262008.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Sunglasses Protect Your Eyes, Help Your Golf Handicap
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/sunglasses-protect-your-eyes-help-your-golf-handicap.html

5) Article – Four Drills For Achieving A Sweeter Swing (Part I)
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/four-drills-for-achieving-a-sweeter-swing.html

Until next time,

Go Low!

Jack

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About the Author
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros!”. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Golf Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.