TOUR Life: Instruction
Mailbag: Travis Fulton answers your questions
By Travis Fulton, Director of Education, TOUR Academy
Travis Fulton Blog: Baird's unusual putting stance
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TourAcademy Director of Education Travis Fulton answers your questions about the game of golf.
Travis, I just love your blog. I was hoping that you could give me some advice on hitting downhill lies. They seem to be my Achilles Heel. Every time I approach a ball that is below my feet, I start to panic. With the nature of the shot combined with my nerves, it seems that I am always toeing the ball and slapping it out of bounds to the right. Please help!
Nate -- thanks for the kind words and the question. First off, your panic over these shots is more then likely coming from your previous struggles. To gain confidence with downhill likes, lets make some changes.
First off, the toe shots are more then likely occurring because you are moving the clubhead too steep. This up-and-down motion is forcing you to try to save the shot at impact by slapping at it. To avoid this -- try the following steps:
1. Make sure you are bowed forward at address a bit more then normal on this shot -- knees are bent.
2. Weight is favoring the heels -- not the toes
3. Take only a three-quarter backswing - make sure you turn your shoulders rather then just lifting your arms.
4. At Impact. feel the weight move into the left heel as you strike down through the shot -- make sure you body goes with it all the way to the full finish.
Oftentimes, students have too much body motion on uneven lies causing a poor impact condition. However, it sounds like in this situation you need a little more body with the shoulder turn going back and then a full finish coming through improving your angle of attack into the ball.
How should the hip turn be initiated to start the down swing? - Harold
The lower body on the downswing should do two things. First, the lower body needs to move laterally towards the target. This is a weight shift from the trail foot through the arches to the lead foot. Once the weight has shifted to the lead foot, the hips then rotate allowing the lower body to open towards the target.
Shift first, then rotate.
Can you give me a practice routine to work on from a 100 yards and in? I also need to know how to practice around the greens and what clubs I need to use for it. - Mike
Glad to see someone out there wants to work on the short game. This is a solid breakdown for a practice plan from 100 yards and in:
• 30 percent putting
• 20 percent chipping
• 30 percent pitching
• 20 percent bunkers
At the TOUR Academies, we encourage players to use different clubs around the green. For example, practice chipping with a pitching wedge, 9-iron, 8-iron, etc.
Pitch the golf ball with a lob, sand or pitching wedge. Get a feel for trajectory and distance with each shot and club. Counter this with a repetitive technique and you will create a wonderful imagination around the green.
Is there any one definite reason as to why some players continually hit the sweetspot and others like me (8 handicap) regularly hit shots off the toe or heel? Thanks. -- Michael
This is a good question and could be answered so many ways. Good ballstrikers are very good in the impact zone. They usually understand the dynamics of a good impact condition. To achieve this consistent impact condition you must have "educated hands.". What this means is, your hands are trained to deliver the club shaft, clubhead and clubface properly with each swing.
You'll often see good golf swings that are inconsistent with how they deliver the golf club to impact. If your hands are educated then you will be proficient at the most important moment in the golf swing -- the impact.
Have any help to get used to a new driver? Tee height? Ball position? Driving range tips? -- Kevin
I thought you would never ask.
Driver setup characteristics:
• Tee the ball a half a ball above the clubface
• Ball Position off the lead heel
• Hands set in-line with the driver head or just slightly behind (Don't lean shaft forward at address)
• Tilt the upper body slightly away from the target
• Square Shoulders
• Weight favors trail foot
Boom!
I am a disabled golfer who has been golfing for 14 years. I play with only my left arm and shoot left. My best score is a 93, but on average, I shoot 100 to 105.
My question is: Are there any pro golfers who have perhaps lost the use of one arm and continue to play? I would be interested in getting tips or lessons from someone in the same situation as myself.
It may not be any different in terms of using two arms or one arm when it comes to the fundamental basics of a golf swing, but I would interested in finding out if there are any differences. -- Bob
I don't know of any teaching pros that have lost an arm, but I do know of some amateurs that play with one arm. With you having just your trail arm, you can certainly generate some speed.
What's important about your trail arm is that you bend the wrist and elbow during your practice swings. These two angles are very powerful and when countered with the body on the downswing, it can create a lot of lag in the clubhead, assuring acceleration and a descending angle.
What is the meaning of scrambling? I am new to the sport of golf and a couple of us at work are trying to figure it out. Let us know please. -- Tim
Scrambling is when a player misses a fairway or green in regulation and saves par. This is an interesting stat and one that is not always completely relative to the outcome. Keep in mind that TOUR players will usually miss fairways or greens in the first cut of rough, where the penalty is really nothing at all.
• Graphic: Woods' scrambling at Bay Hill
I am a 17 handicap golfer who can play better than my handicap. My problem of late is my driving. I tend to pull my tee shots left and if I compensate, I block them right.
I use the new Nike square-faced driver with a Pro Force stiff-flex 47-inch shaft. The shaft was lengthened to see if it would give the head a little more whip because on my previous driver with shorter stiff shaft, I tended to draw the ball too much. Any advice to correct my pull? - Charles
47 inches. Whoa! Remember, the longer the clubshaft, the more likely you are going to be inconsistent. It sounds as if your clubhead speed has increased, but you may want to consider shortening the shaft a bit for more control.
The pull is more then likely from the clubhead coming in too steep from the outside. Make sure at address you have some tilt with the upper body away from the target, placing the head behind the ball.
In addition, you may want to check your shoulder alignment as well and make sure you are square. During the swing, try moving the clubhead more from the inside on the downswing. This will allow the right shoulder to work more down and under, sending the starting direction of the ball more to the right.
Us poor guys who play muni golf courses have to play out of sand traps That may have only a quarter-inch to half-inch sand depth. Worse than that, there is usually hard dirt below the thin sand cover. Any ideas? -- Doug
Sure. Less bounce. Try using a lob wedge with low bounce versus a sand Wedge, which has more bounce. Your point of entry into the sand needs to be closer to the ball versus if you had more sand -- say, one inch.
Set the club shaft at address perpendicular, with no lean in either direction. Dig your feet in and place more weight into the lead foot. Ball position will need to be roughly two balls forward of center.
The motion needs to be V-shaped, so what's key is to hinge the wrists immediately with very little body motion. Keep the upper body over the ball so you don't pivot off the ball. On the downswing, turn through it with the body opening up to the target to support the V-shape angle into what sand you do have.
Hello, I was just wondering if you had any advice for increasing club head speed. I do not know if you would suggest exercise, a swinging device, or something else. - Anthony
Swing harder. Just kidding.
Actually, I do have two swing devices for you. First, try swinging a "Power Hitter" - this is an evenly-weighted club that increases clubhead speed. Swing this club at home as well as hit golf balls with it at the practice facility.
Secondly, you may try a "Swing Fan." Its another great tool that actually has built in blades to slow the clubhead down forcing you to engage your body motion to propel the fan through.
The fan creates a lag effect where the fan (clubhead) is trailing the hands through the hitting area assuring acceleration at the bottom -- and not before.
I would like to know if golf simulators are accurate because I have recently played one, and it didn't seem very realistic. For example, I have a slice problem yet the simulator was telling me that I was hooking the ball. I just wanted to know if they were accurate.
Fulton: Some simulators seem to be more accurate then others. Each simulator is tracking the golf ball in different ways.
In a simulator, data is being collected from the moment of impact to just beyond, where they are taking that data and making a prediction on what is going to happen down range.
High-tech launch monitors that are used outdoors are tracking the ball from impact to the point the ball lands. This isn't a prediction of what the ball might do. This is radar based.
I would think that the indoor simulator should be accurate enough thou to give you club face angle at impact. I have always been a bigger fan of outdoor situations versus indoor when collecting any type of data.
I am really thinking about taking some serious lessons. Translation; I would like to find someone who maybe a number of notches above the local guy at the driving range.
I realize this will cost more, and that is fine. I am looking for someone who can also help determine the type of clubs that I should be hitting. I have played for a long time, and not very well.
I live in El Segundo, Calif. This town is next door to LAX.
Fulton: We have two TOUR Academies on the West Coast - one at the TPC Scottsdale and the other at the TPC Las Vegas. I'd also recommend a three-day golf school.
Can you explain the best set-up with your hands when you use the driver? I think I have my hands too far back with the face open instead of square to the target.
Fulton: With a driver, your hands should be in line with the club head or slightly behind. I like to see the butt of the club pointing just left of the belt buckle, with the ball position off the forward heel.
Suddenly, my drives are missing high and right. What does that indicate, and how can I fix?
Fulton: To eliminate a driver that is being missed high and right, lets take a look at two things: Clubface angle, and angle of approach.
1. Clubface angle: Make sure your grip is favoring a strong grip - meaning your hands positioned more to the right on the grip. Remember, the stronger the grip, the more the club face will close.
2. Angle of Approach: At address, tilt your spine slightly away from the target. This will position your head behind the golf ball and allow the golf club to move more around your body versus up and down. This will create a shallower angle of approach eliminating the pop-up.
How can I keep my left wrist from cupping on the back swing at the top of my swing? I'm right-handed.
Fulton: To eliminate a cupped left wrist at the top of the swing - lets focus on two components during the backswing.
1. Make sure the club shaft is on plane. To measure this, stop your backswing when your hands reach shoulder height, or three-quarters. At this point, the butt-of-the club should be pointing towards the target. Oftentimes, the club shaft is pointing to vertically at this point creating a cupped left wrist.
2. Apply pressure with the bottom three fingers of the glove hand. Feel the bottom three fingers roll under towards the palm - this action will flatten the left wrist and should work in conjunction with the club shaft pointing at the target line.
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