Dale Hill Pro Newsletter - 19th August 2010
The game of golf has only 34 rules, but what percentage of club golfers do you think know all of them? Very, very few!
I’m of course referring to the incident during the final round of last week’s 2010 PGA Championship, where the leader at the time, Dustin Johnson, received a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a ‘bunker’ on the 18th hole – even though he didn’t realise the hazard in question actually existed!
The result of this judgement error was that he was eliminated from the three hole playoff with Kaymer and Watson, as his bogey ‘5’ now became a Triple Bogey ‘7’...
The “Good” news is that the infringement was identified BEFORE Johnson left the green (thus before he had signed his card) meaning he could change his score. If he hadn’t, he would have signed an incorrect card and would have been disqualified! (Suddenly a tie for 5th place doesn’t seem so bad does it?)
This just goes to show that the Rules of Golf are there for a reason and every player should read them from back to front before stepping out onto the course. Of course, the tricky part is the interpretation of them. So, to avoid making a “Major” mistake like Dustin Johnson, the best thing you can do is ask... Knowing those rules can save you shots as well!
The Search For Distance Is In Your Path
You can add so much more fun to your golf by increasing your accuracy off the tee (playing golf off the short grass) AND distance. I know our instinctive thought is that to improve one, you need to sacrifice the other. Golf’s cruel compromise! But it isn’t so. You can have both.
Many golfers have a swing path that will not only reduce their distance but make a trip to the rough more likely. These golfers are striking the ball a glancing, usually right to left, blow that doesn’t maximize ball speed and does create left to right sidespin.
If you recognize yourself and are familiar with the search for your ball in the right-hand rough then we can add both accuracy and distance by changing your swing path.
By changing your swing path so that you are coming at the ball from the inside, you are going to transfer more of your swing speed to the ball at impact. It is also more likely that you will able to actually INCREASE your own swing speed by being able to more freely release the club face through impact. Increasing ball speed is the quickest route to more distance.
At the same time if you are going to impart any spin on the ball with this swing path it is likely to be right to left that almost always create more distance than a fade or slice on the ball.
If you have a swing that is likely to create a left to right ball shape, with less distance than you would like off the Tee then contact us now and we can put in place a plan to add DISTANCE AND ACCURACY.
Regards,
John
I’m of course referring to the incident during the final round of last week’s 2010 PGA Championship, where the leader at the time, Dustin Johnson, received a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a ‘bunker’ on the 18th hole – even though he didn’t realise the hazard in question actually existed!
The result of this judgement error was that he was eliminated from the three hole playoff with Kaymer and Watson, as his bogey ‘5’ now became a Triple Bogey ‘7’...
The “Good” news is that the infringement was identified BEFORE Johnson left the green (thus before he had signed his card) meaning he could change his score. If he hadn’t, he would have signed an incorrect card and would have been disqualified! (Suddenly a tie for 5th place doesn’t seem so bad does it?)
This just goes to show that the Rules of Golf are there for a reason and every player should read them from back to front before stepping out onto the course. Of course, the tricky part is the interpretation of them. So, to avoid making a “Major” mistake like Dustin Johnson, the best thing you can do is ask... Knowing those rules can save you shots as well!
The Search For Distance Is In Your Path
You can add so much more fun to your golf by increasing your accuracy off the tee (playing golf off the short grass) AND distance. I know our instinctive thought is that to improve one, you need to sacrifice the other. Golf’s cruel compromise! But it isn’t so. You can have both.
Many golfers have a swing path that will not only reduce their distance but make a trip to the rough more likely. These golfers are striking the ball a glancing, usually right to left, blow that doesn’t maximize ball speed and does create left to right sidespin.
If you recognize yourself and are familiar with the search for your ball in the right-hand rough then we can add both accuracy and distance by changing your swing path.
By changing your swing path so that you are coming at the ball from the inside, you are going to transfer more of your swing speed to the ball at impact. It is also more likely that you will able to actually INCREASE your own swing speed by being able to more freely release the club face through impact. Increasing ball speed is the quickest route to more distance.
At the same time if you are going to impart any spin on the ball with this swing path it is likely to be right to left that almost always create more distance than a fade or slice on the ball.
If you have a swing that is likely to create a left to right ball shape, with less distance than you would like off the Tee then contact us now and we can put in place a plan to add DISTANCE AND ACCURACY.
Regards,
John
