Putting is about 40% to 50% of the entire game. Chipping, Bump & Run and Pitching is about 15% to 20% of the scoring! The entire ‘Short Game’ is responsible for 55% to 70% of scoring!
Do you invest 55% to 70% of your total practice time on Short Game Skills?
If not, you are taking a dull-edged ‘Bowie Knife’ out to the place where one is supposed to ‘Skin and Prepare Game’ or to ‘Play Better and Score Lower’.
Fat chance of that happening any time soon!
“Is Common Sense Logical?”
You can answer!
Firstly, our underlying topic is ‘Spinal Configuration and Knee Flex’. Not much is more pertinent or important to making an effective golf strike! (see Clubface Aim [Open, Square & Closed], Clubhead Path [Inside-out Square & Outside-In] and Club Shaft Swing Plane’ [Above, On & Below … also Under, On and Over’].
When we discuss ‘Alignment’ (#5 of the 5 Set-Ups) we can be ‘Open, Square and Closed’. It might be thought that perfectly ‘Square’ is ideal. That is simply not always the human case in golf or just plain old life! We are ‘Imperfect Beings’ so our activities are not always perfect. There are many alternatives, variables and nuances. Ball Flight is always our biggest critic!
How might we get into a neutral or a different yet ideal ‘Take-Away and Strike’ configuration? We have a big range of ‘Spinal Inclination’ (forward & back) as well as ‘Spinal Tilt’ (aft Brace & fore Target)(see ‘Out Of Plumb Conditions’).
The ‘5 CONTROLS’ ..... always!
If he or she is your ‘Carbon Copy Fraternal Twin’ … perhaps! But, your ‘555 Team’ would seldom promote this method of accomplishing a decent and repeatable golf swing.
“Why!” you ask. Two good answers … 1) Because we are all different physiologies and mentalities! We never ascribe to any ‘Cookie Cutter’ approach to developing a golf swing. It is a path to frustration. 2) Because we all see and perceive a third parties golf swing differently from both a mechanical and from a perspective point of view. They practise every day! You don’t!
What you think you see may not really be true! This is very much like the bold difference between ‘Mechanics & Feel’. Knowing golf swing basics takes training and experience.
The foundational ‘Golf Stroke Procedure’ is the ‘Push Basic Stroke’. You already know this as ‘The Putting & Chipping Stroke’. The ‘Full Swing’ is called the ‘Punch Basic Stroke’. (‘Stage 3 with Pivot’)
I have had decades of telling this story, but seven clients and non-clients recently asked about how they might improve their ‘Flat Stick - Dance Floor’ performance. Pretty simple! OK, here we go!
Putting is simply ‘Distance & Direction’ … ‘Clubface Aim and Weight’ with energy management controlled by ‘Stroke Length’. (see ‘Inching’ or “AskUs!”) Remember that ‘All Putts and Chips Are Dead Straight’! We putt to the stick or to an ‘Off-Set Aim Point’ and, if e miss, strive to roll ‘The Little White Ball’ 12 to 17 inches past the cup. We do not want to ‘Come Up Painfully Short’!
All ‘555 Golf Family’ knows that ‘Stance’ is item #3 in the 5 Set-Ups … Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location & Alignment. We all know that ‘Stance’ encompasses ‘Two Conditions’ … 1) Foot Width and 2) Foot Aim. Both matter a lot when considering a free and invited ‘Pivot Engine Release’!
Stance MUST facilitate (invite) a smooth ‘Back & Up Swing’, the ‘Transition’ as well as a repetitive, comfortable ‘Down & Out or Front Swing’. We must return through the strike to Square with Hips Pointing to the Far Target. This is known as ‘Pivot Release’. (see ‘Deliver & Release’ in the ALSDR)
If we are ‘Too Wide or Too Closed Footed’, either or both of these conditions ‘Impede our proper ‘Pivot Engine’. If and when we cannot ‘Properly Load Coil and Un-Load Release’, we shall not be able to ‘Deliver The Ball’ efficiently with our ‘Lower Body Machine’. (LBM or Core)
The primary movement is what we refer to as ‘Protraction and Retraction’. What does that mean? Think about rowing a boat in the direction that your back is facing. Moving the ‘Oar Blade’ backwards, to the front of the boat, gets you ready to move water and do work in a positive direction … towards the bow or front of the boat. You extend your hands and thus your shoulders forward (anterior to your body), which moves the ‘Oar Blade’ posteriorly to the body core … pushing your hands forward moves the ‘Oar Blade’ back. When you ‘Pull On The Grip Of The Oar’, you move water aft or towards the stern of the boat. Newtons ‘Action & Reaction’ goes into effect and we advance or propel the boat forward.
So, ‘Protraction (Anterior Hand Movement – away from the chest) also Moves the Shoulder Blades Forward’. The opposite occurs when you actually ‘Pull On The Grip Of The Oar’ to move a volume (Mass) of water. It is referred to as ‘Retraction or Posterior Hand Movement’.
What is the purpose? There has got to be a sensible reason or why make them? Right?
The purpose is to ‘Feel The Steel’ and your entire ‘Body Machine’ in a motion as close to the real needs and profile of the impending strike. If this is not the case why make a ‘Practice Swing’?
We must therefore make our practice swing as close to the real ‘Preselected Procedure’ as possible … both On Path and On Plane with grip pressures and velocity that make us feel the forthcoming task. Is it a powerful, all out, bash or is it a bit softer and smoother? One must ‘Feel The Steel and ‘The Entire Body Machine’ as stated above!
