Hoffman plays the 'hold-off' to perfection in Boston

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Charley Hoffman is second in the FedExCup standings.

Round 2 of the Playoffs is in the book as Charley Hoffman wins the Deutsche Bank Championship. After a sizzling 62 on the TPC Boston layout, Hoffman took the title by an impressive five shots giving Ryder Cup Captain - Mr. Corey Pavin a little more to think about.

As I watched Hoffman on Monday, I realized just how much I missed watching this guy play some great golf. The calm, cool and collected right hander just made the game look way too easy on Labor Day with 11 birdies to collect his second win on the PGA TOUR.

Listen to Travis Fulton

PGA TOUR Golf Academy's Travis Fulton breaks down the keys to Charley Hoffman's win at TPC Boston on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen

One of the things I like about Hoffman's game is how compact his golf swing is. You may have noticed this week how Hoffman hit a lot of three-quarter looking shots to the trademark "hold-off" finish. The "hold-off" finish is one of those looks that you see a lot of PGA TOUR players go too, i.e. Jason Day and Steve Stricker - who both played very well this week as well. In fact, you may recall when Tiger Woods came on to the scene and was playing his best golf, he hit a lot of these abbreviated looking shots and made it cool by naming it the "Stinger".

The hold-off finish is a neat shot and allows a player to decrease the amount of club face rotation through impact in order to keep the golf ball more on line. As most Tour players don't want to hook the ball, this finish is a very popular one.

One of the major differences between what a professional does through impact and an amateur is a professional uses the rotation of the torso as not only speed but also as a squaring mechanism for the club face. Charlie is a great example of this because he rotates his torso aggressively through impact while keeping his right hand bent.

The importance of the right hand is key in order to hit this shot because it's mandatory to keep it bent through impact so the club shaft returns forward. One of the most common errors at impact is to early release the right hand in attempt to help the ball up in the air and/or square the club face. When this occurs the club shaft returns leaning away from the target leading to no chance to use the torso to square the club face.

With the right hand bent through impact and controlling the club shaft, the left hand will be flat. The significance of the left hand is to help square the club face and it's imperative it is flat at impact, as this will allow the club shaft to be in-line with the lead arm. These alignments will position you better to use your torso through impact and get the results you deserve.

One of the things that helps achieve this impact with the hands is to set the club face square to slightly closed during the backswing. Once again this week, we have a winner in Charlie Hoffman who takes the club face back slightly closed. If you are going to decrease the amount of the club face rotation to a hold-off finish then it only makes sense to not open it during the backswing.

One of the drills I like to use to teach a player the feeling of the "hold-off" is as follows:

1.) Make a backswing and hinge the wrists -- only allow the lead arm to travel back to roughly three-quarters or the 9 o'clock position for a right handed player.

2.) Take what you have assembled in the wrists and turn left towards the target keeping the hands in front of the chest. Don't hit the ball, rather keep the hands in front of the chest and just turn the torso until you are facing the target. As this happens, allow the right foot to come up to the toe and the left elbow to fold.

Your hands should feel as if they are following the rotation of your torso as they remain very passive.

At the finish your hands should feel the exact same way as they did after you hinged them during the backswing. The finish will be roughly three-quarters and equivalent to what the backswing felt like making the two sides a mirror image of each other.

After you get the feeling of the drill, hit some three-quarter pitch shots feeling the exact same sensation. The only difference of course is you will strike down on the golf ball but the hands will feel the same on how you assembled them during the backswing and then moved them to the finish through the efforts of the torso. For many, it will feel as if you never released the club head, however it does release it is just much later and subconscious.

Again, it is recommended to have a square to slightly closed club face during the backswing to do this as you more than likely won't get the results if the club face is too open during the backswing.

The "hold-off" finish is a great feel to work on and something that when incorporated into an amateur's swing can really move them in the direction of hitting the golf ball like Charlie Hoffman.

Just Because

Football is here and I am pumped. The ever revolving door of my Seattle Seahawks continues as the Peter Carroll era has certainly begun. As I have been preparing for my trip to Seattle to attend Week 1 against the 49ers next week, the Seahawks have continued to trade and waive players in which many of us fans would expect but also many that you wouldn't.

How about the release of wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh? Guaranteed to make just over six million this year -- Cut! A little uncomfortable I must admit but as I think back to what we have looked like over the last two years with a total of 9 wins -- it was time for the over-haul.

It will be interesting to see what the Hawks look like this year. One would have to think we are a couple years away and this is a re-building season but for some reason I just feel like we have a chance to surprise some people and perhaps win the division. Our division isn't exactly the poster division of the NFL so you never know. However, one thing I know for sure is if you don't perform and your attitude is suspect -- you will be shown the door that has not quit moving since Pete has arrived.

Football is here everyone -- get excited!

Travis Fulton is PGA TOUR Academy's Director of Instruction. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR. To learn more about the TOUR Academy, click here.