Airborn
How to get the golf ball airborn
You would think hitting the ball would be easy. But golf isn't tennis or baseball, where you can react to a moving ball. In golf, the ball just sits there and stares at you, beckoning you to make it go somewhere.
Here's your first thought: "I won't turn my body too much; I'll just hit the thing with my hands." That's natural — and wrong. You're worried about losing sight of the ball in your backswing and hitting nothing but air. You're not alone. We've all been through this sweat-drenched nightmare of flailing failure. But don't worry. You will evolve! You will make contact!
Okay, after a few fairly fruitless attempts, you're finally hitting more ball than air in your search for flight. Now you need a lesson in the aerodynamics of the game. The only time you want the golf ball to be on the ground is when you're close to the hole. To have any kind of fun the rest of the time, you want air under the ball; you need the ball to fly! Then you can stare with horrified fascination at the ridiculous places the ball ends up, which is the essence of the game.
One of my golf secrets is that the only time you should lift something is when you rearrange your living-room furniture. Never try to lift a golf ball with your club. You should hit down with every club except the driver and the putter. And when you do hit down, don't duck or lunge at the ball; hit down but keep your head up.
When you use your driver, the ball is set on a tee about an inch above the ground; if you hit down, the ball will fly off the top edge of the club and the shot will be high and short — not my favorite combination! With the driver, you want the clubhead coming into the ball from a horizontal path, moving slightly up at impact.
When you putt, you don't want the ball airborne. A putter is designed to roll the ball along the ground, not produce a high shot. So you need to foster more of a horizontal hit with that club.
If the club in your hands is a fairway wood or an iron, hit down.
By Woodwind www.ArticlesBase.com
Center of gravity Golf & the Senior Golfer
Center of Gravity Golf is in Hawaii, performing open golf clinics and teaching private lessons for approximately 1000 golfers per week.
One of the things that stand out as I look over the audience is the average age of the participants. While there are significant numbers of baby boomers, new comers, and even a few youngsters in the mix, a large portion of the attendees are "Senior Golfers".
Once you've reached the age of 50 you are considered a "senior golfer" but I've had private lessons with golfers as old as 91! Bottom line is, no matter what your age, you can still strive to improve your golfing experience and the proof is in the bookings. Senior golfers come to me generally after seeing one of my open clinics and explaining how Center of Gravity Golf can help them enjoy the game more by creating consistency in their game and learning
how to get some of their lost distance back.
Let's face it, all golfers want to be more consistent and hit the ball a little further, seniors are no different. There's a great satisfaction in getting a golf ball airborne and watching it fly to its destination, the first thing I always address is getting the ball airborne at the proper trajectory, then we talk distance.
Center of Gravity Golf teaches us that the golf swing is simple geometry and learning how to control that geometry is the secret to consistent ball flight. First of all, the target hand (the one with the glove) is the BOSS of the golf club and has to be in control of the golf club at all times during the golf swing. When the target hand is in control of the golf club, the bottom of your swing has been established right on your center of gravity (use your shirt button as a reference point). This ensures proper, consistent ball position and you can now establish your center of gravity triangle. This consistency triangle runs from your center of gravity, (shirt button) to the knuckles of your big toes, (where the bunions grow), and back to the golf ball. This triangle is the "Secret" to consistent ball striking and improving club head speed through balance…not effort.
In my lessons, I never talk about club head speed; I believe it only encourages players to "try harder" which causes unnecessary movement of the triangle as well as right hand hits (fat shots). Club head speed is a by-product of balance in your triangle. I've proven it thousands of times, if you stabilize your triangle, and your center of gravity is comfortable, the club-head moves faster by default creating consistent ball flight and more distance with less effort. If you really want to get your distance back, now that your triangle is stable, learn to fire your piston. (Release the club-head). Golf balls are designed to fly; they are the most regulated of all golf equipment.
All of the energy in golf is in the golf ball; your mission is to get it out. If most of your golf clubs send the ball about the same distance…you're not using the power of the golf ball. In order to make a golf ball fly, you must compress it against your club-head during your swing. The compression motion is the rotation of the target hand forearm (the one with the glove) through the ball at the bottom of the swing. During the years the motion has been called (flipping the wrists) (snapping the wrists) (Supination & Pronation) etc. I call it firing your Piston, a simple rotation of your left forearm through the bottom of your swing…that's what releasing the club head is. This is the compression rotation that squeezes the golf ball and causes it to fly. (effortless power)
With my senior clients, I get an average of 25 extra yards with this move and have recorded as much as a 50 yard increase in ball carry when a student learns to use the power of the golf ball, instead of trying to force the ball out with brute strength and effort.
By Rob Bernard www.articlesbase.com