Tip Of The Month
By John Pallot
Director of Instruction
March 08: A Practice Round With Tiger And The Blue Monster
My mission, to capture images of the greatest golfer of our generation prowling his natural habitat. It's an intellectual need of mine to learn more about what makes him the paradigm. To be up to the task one must be of ruddy constitution, possess the stamina to trek the vast topography that is the Blue Monster, and be ready to jostle with several hundred other pros, writers, photographers and golfaholics, all after the best vantage spots. The weatherman predicted a lousy day for golf. I was off before dawn. After a bowl of oatmeal. Arriving before sun up I didn't catch Tiger un til his second hole. Weather did not disappoint the weatherman. Blustery was the word for it. Despite that I was pleased and excited with being right next to #1 himself and the high quality stuff I was getting on camera and camcorder. It was an experience worth the advance planning and time and effort .
The heavy wet winds strafing the course were not to Tiger's liking. He picked up after ten holes. Yeah, disappointing, but still cooperating were many other top players like KJ Choi, Luke Donald, Aaron Baddeley, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, and Justin Rose. So I spent the rest of the day enjoying these extraordinary players making it look easy in the beautiful garden called The Blue Monster.
This year's tournament endured many starts and stops. Stormy weather and delays plagued the golfers on three of the four days. The tournament finished on Monday. This seemed to affect Tiger and his usual putting prowess was absent the last 36 holes. The tournament finished on Monday. The winner of t he 2008 CA Championship, a World Golf Championship event, was Jeff Ogilvy. He led Tiger by one after 36 holes and held off Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen to win his second World Golf Championship title. The winning score was -17, 271 strokes. Tiger finished two strokes back at 15 under par 273. Broken was Tiger's streak of seven consecutive tournament wins dating back to last year 's Target Challenge. Watching Tiger live and on slow motion video makes it easy understanding why his ball striking and swing mechanics are universally envied and emulated. This month's tip highlights Tiger's foot action and his amazing impact position.
What's happening in a swing at the moment of impact, when club-face smashes ball is critical. In studying Tiger's impact position I see these three critical elements:
1. Right heel is off the ground.
2. Left knee is slightly flexed.
3. Hands are well forward of the ball.
Too many amateurs make three critical faults at the moment of impact. These are:
1. Flat footed as club-face meets ball.
2. Left knee is stiff.
3. Hands are behind the ball.
Correcting these flaws. The key is depending upon your right foot and leg to support the pivoting action of the backswing. Looking at the ground, it's the inside edge of the right foot that will, on the downswing, serve to push your weight toward the left side toward ball and target. Here's a drill to promote the proper weight shift that should be occurring during the pivoting action on your backswing.
1. Step on club-head under ball of your right foot and take a practice swing next to a bag stand. The stand and club-head serves to prevent lateral sway on the backswing which ruins your ability to push off the inside edge of your right foot. Picture, if you will, a pitcher throwing from the stretch position. He pivots around his foot and leg,then pushes off the pitching rubber thus initiating lower body weight shift toward the plate as the ball is released.
Back to Tiger. His right heel is up even before impact. This means 80% of his weight is on his left foot at impact, his left knee is slightly flexed, hands well forward of the club-head at impact. Check your own impact position in slow motion. Where's your weight? Is your left knee flexed? Did you push off the inside of your right foot? On the swing to the finish, is your right foot perpendicular to the ground? Pay close attention to Tiger the next time you see his swing. It will improve your swing.
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