2010 Expert Answers: Your golf questions answered! (PGA.com)
February 8, 2010
Editor's Note: We receive hundreds of questions each week for our PGA Experts. Though we can't answer every one of them, we will take some of the most illuminating and beneficial questions and have one of the top authorities from the PGA of America to answer them for you. We are in the process of finding ways for more experts to answer more of your questions! Thank you for your support and keep the questions coming!
Instruction: Mike Bender, 2009 PGA Teacher of the Year Question: Hi. I have a lot of problems with pulling the ball. It happens with the driver and the irons. The ball flight is straight or sometimes a hook. It is worse when hitting off a tee. I must be coming from outside. Is there something I can concentrate on or a drill that will help me stop doing this? Thanks Brian Anderson
Answer: Brian – Most likely what you are doing is starting your downswing with your shoulders instead of firing your hands and arms towards the ball. Jack Nicklaus had a great swing thought or key which was "try to keep your back towards the target as long as you can in the downswing". This thought allowed his hands and arms to get down before the rotation of the body had a chance to move the clubshaft out. A drill that you can try is to place a tee in the ground and then place another one out in front of the tee about 3 inches and to the right. Then make a swing and try to hit both tees. This will be a slight exageration making you swing more in to out and should help to stop your pulls. Hope this helps and best of luck to you. Mike Bender
Question: I'm a 8 handicap. just bought a 3 and 4 hybrid iron. i'm pull hooking them left. as of now, my 3 and 4 iron are more accurate. how do i adjust? brett parham
Answer: Brett – Hybrid Irons are usually a bit longer than the normal 3 or 4 iron which sometimes can effect the lie angle of the club. you may need to make sure that the lie of the hybrid matches your regular irons because even though it is a hybrid you still need to hit down on the ball with those clubs. That may be one cause and the other could be that you are swinging down into the ball a bit steep causing the pull. If you do not pull your driver then it is most likely your lie angle but shallowing out your downswing will help as well. Try setting up to a ball and make a practice swing stopping at impact position with the shoulders square and the right arm under the left and the hands forward of the ball. Hold that position for a few seconds and then make a swing hitting the ball and try to feel the position that you rehearsed. Repeat this many times and that should help straighten out your shots. Good luck
Mike Bender
Rules: Ron Hickman, Vice Chairman, PGA Rules Committee
Question: If you are hitting out of a sand trap in which you are not actually hitting the ball rather letting the sand blast your ball out. If your club hits the ball on your follow through is it a double hit? Jorge
Answer: Jorge – Regarding your question on playing from a bunker the player makes a stroke striking sand 3 inches behind the ball, the displacement of sand is what caused the ball to move, then as the stroke continues the ball is then struck by the club head in continuing the stroke.
The definition of a stroke is: A "stroke" is the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball… There are many occasions when direct contact with a ball is not part of the process and playing from a bunker is the most common example. Other examples include when a player's ball is covered by loose impediments or against a boundary fence and the player elect to play in hopes of advancing the ball.
Regarding the ball played from the bunker that is struck for a second time during the process of making a stroke, Rule 14-4 with the heading: Striking a moving ball more than once and reads If a player's club strikes the ball more than once (meaning 1, 2 or more times) in the course of making a stroke, the player must count the stroke and add a penalty stroke, making two stroke in all.
This applies to all forms of play and the player will then play his next stroke from where the ball when struck in breach of 14-4 came to rest.
Question: Consider a ball which lays outside a lateral hazard but the player has to stand in the hazard to play it. There is a plam branch laying both in and out of the hazard, interfereing with the swing. Can the player move the palm branch?
Answer: Frank – In your question regarding a palm branch which interferes with your next stroke. Your golf ball has come to rest in water hazard and part of the branch also lies in or touches the hazard. The status of this branch needs to be clarified for my answer.
If the palm branch is broken off and detached from the palm tree, then the branch has status under the rules as a loose impediment. The rules of golf expressly prohibit the removal of a loose impediment when your ball lies in or touches a hazard (bunker or water) See Rule 13-4c. This applies even during the making of a backswing for a stroke at a ball in a hazard. So if during the making of your normal backswing you cause the loose impediment to move you will be deemed to have breached Rule 13-4 and incurred the general penalty of 2 stroke in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.
If the palm branch was overhanging the margins of the hazard and thus attached to the tree it is not considered to be a loose impediment. The touching with a club at anytime is not a breach of the rules provided no action is taken which would improve the protected area of the player next stroke. See Rule 13-2.
Equipment: Eric Hogge, PGA Director of Club Fitting
Question: If your using a shaft thats to stiff, would the flight of the golf ball tend to slice or hook?? Thanks very much Paul Dudding Centerville, OH
Answer: Paul – The common wisdom is that the ball will tend to fly lower and more to the right for a right handed player if the shaft flex is too stiff. I think this a general rule and individual results may vary.
Interestingly, stiffer shafts should not cost you speed but feel. If you are playing a shaft that is too stiff, it will most likely seem "clunky" especially on off-center hits. The only issue is that stiffer shafts also tend to be heavier which will cost you speed and distance. I think the issue with shaft fitting is a question equally of weight as well as flex.
Thank you.
Question: I'm a 10.4 Index. I dipped to a 9 for a brief time using a set of "super game improvement" irons. They saved me a lot of strokes.
That's when I told myself "Gee, I'm a single digit, a 'player'". So I went the other direction to a beautiful set of forged "player's" irons.
My GIR is way down. I really am leaning to go back to a much more forgiving club , a set of Wilson Di9 irons. Seems like "experts" pigeon hole people like me into certain ability types. We believe the label and get screwed up. What do you think?
Joe
Answer: Joe, I am going to agree with your assessment. Game improvement clubs can help a wide variety of player types. The "player" clubs are not bad by any means but are set up more for a player who likes working the ball with consistent ball impact.
The game improvement clubs are, by design, more forgiving on off center hits (larger MOI) and can lead to a more consistent game. I know many "expert" players that have a larger, more forgiving iron in the bag. Personally, I have a split set with a blade style club six iron through the wedges and a game improvement club in the longer irons. This might be the best of both worlds and worth the experiment. I feel with this set up I can play speciality shots with the scoring clubs and be more consistent in the higher register.
Thank you.
Fitness: David Donatucci – PGA Director of Fitness
Question: With my current job I spend a LOT of time sitting behind a desk, talking on the phone. I was wondering if there were any exercises I could do while sitting and talking on the phone that would help my strength, swing motion, and flexibility. I use a hands free, cordless headset, so I am not too restricted.
I know that sounds lazy, but I assure you it's not. Where I live the winter months can really lessen the number of days I can get out and play/practice and I'm always looking for ways to stay "crisp" during these cooler months. I'm thinking a few simple exercises that I can do at my desk, or even standing in my office, during the winter would really give me the jump on my buddies this spring!
I already have a putting cup and surface in my office (I PROMISE it's a tougher job than it sounds!). I guess the two things I am most interested in is my flexibility, and maybe some drill I could do to help my brain "remember" the proper positions in my swing.
Thanks!
Marty Faulkenberry
Answer: Marty – There is not one exercise that will help you improve strength, flexibility and your swing motion while sitting at your desk. The majority of activities you can perform at your desk will be mobility/flexibility exercises.
1) while sitting; place your hands behind your lower back and squeeze your shoulder blades together as if you were puffing out your chest. Also place your feet flat on the ground, try and maintain your hip position and rotate your shoulders to the right and then to the left. Working on torso rotations. Good for hip shoulder separation.
2) when talking on the phone stand up and get yourself in proper golf stance, you may need a full length mirror in your office at first to ensure proper posture. Talk while in the golf stance, this will help to work on your posture, increasing strength in your stabilizing muscles. You can also perform shoulder rotations while talking as well, just try not to breath heavy will rotating.
3) sometime during the day you should perform angry cats (AKA Cats and Dogs or cats and cows) it is a yoga move on your hands and knees. As well as 1/2 kneeling torso rotations, in which you place your right knee on the ground and left foot on the ground, place your hands across your shoulders and rotate to your left, then switch legs and rotate to the left. Also just standing up frequently and bending backwards is also helpful, the more you can limit your sitting time the better.
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