IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR GAME
How to avoid losing control your swing
By T.J. Tomasi
If you watched the final holes of the Valspar Championship, you saw players under great pressure hitting a variety of shots to the right of target ― even with 9-irons. In the end, the block to the right was what lost the tournament for Jay Haas, as he pushed numerous shots, including a 30-yard flare to the right off the tee box on the first (and last) playoff hole. This was followed by another right shot into the bunker, which led to a losing bogey when matched against Charl Schwartzel’s routine par.
What is happening when the greatest players on the planet lose control of the ball to the right (left for left-handers), and how can you avoid these un-civil rights?
What the clubface is doing at impact determines the quality of the strike, and your position halfway down ― where your target arm is parallel with the ground ― is the make-or-break point. What you do with your right palm here determines if your shot will be a good one. If the palm is up, facing more toward the sky, you must aggressively manipulate the release to square by impact, and under pressure, that’s hard to do.
Kinesthetic clutter
The release itself is tough to isolate because there’s so much kinesthetic clutter going on -- the mixed feels of arms swinging, body turning, etc. While you may feel as if you’re releasing the clubface, the ball flies to the right. This is why just swinging your arms faster on the next shot makes it worse. You’re not squaring the face; you’re simply making the club go faster with an open face.
To rectify this, imagine your trail arm can elongate, reaching out to the ball while your target hand turns knuckles to the ground. This is the definition of a full release.
Bent-wrist drill
Get the feel for a full release by hitting short shots and trying to retain your right-wrist cup until your hands are waist high, then roll your lead-hand knuckles toward the ground. Don’t worry about distance ― the idea is to isolate the feel. If you normally hit a 7-iron 150 yards, it will fly about 90 yards while doing this drill.
Dr. T.J. Tomasi is a teaching professional in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Visit his website at tomasigolf.com.
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Imagine that Fred Couples’ trail arm was suddenly elongated by 3 feet so the ball on the ground could be grasped in the exact middle of his palm as his arm telescopes out to take hold of it.
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It’s like turning a doorknob — you turn your left knuckles to the ground but keep the cup in your right wrist to prevent the push/slice, just as Ian Poulter does here.