Last evening I decided to go practice with a Golf Talk club that has been in my golf cabinet in the garage for three years. It had been spanked and put in the dark for being a really naughty club - it never allowed me to hit good shot. It's a 60 degree wedge.

For some reason, I thought this was the time to make up with the 60 and learn how to hit it. So, out to the golf course we went. The first shot from in front of the practice green was a disaster. The hole was about 20 yards uphill at the top of the green, and I hit the ball with the leading edge of the club - rocketing it completely over the green.

On the second shot, I reminded myself to just take a half swing with this devil of a golf club, and to keep my left arm and wrist straight. The club pitched the ball up into the air, as I watched it go through contact. My brain exploded with "YES!", then I looked up to see the golf ball coming back down to earth about seven yards in front of me. My only thought was "How the hell do you get any distance with this thing?".

The next tactic was to move the golf ball either forward or back in my stance during set up. Taking smooth half swings with as little wrist action as possible, I discovered that with the ball forward toward my lead foot I could hit it almost straight up in the air with the 60 degree. Wow, that'll really come in handy...Yeah, right!

Moving the ball back toward my trailing foot, the 60 lifted it beautifully into the air, but I couldn't hit it more than 30 yards toward the target. Keeping the ball back in my stance, and adjusting my swing to about three-quarters put the ball up really high, and out about 40 yards. Then, I decided to try a full swing, and skulled the ball about 100 yards over the green.

After about seventy or eight shots with the 60 degree, I was able to hit the ball 35 to 40 yards with some consistency, and some accuracy, using a three-quarter golf swing. I won't even think about using a full swing with that diabolical little B#@$&*D!

Can't swing it inside that dark cabinet, anyway.

Thanks for visiting Golf Talk.

Hit ‘em long, straight and often!

Click on the “COMMENTS” button above to post your golf tips and thoughts on the game.

Contact: darabbitt@gmail.com

Tags: golf, golf talk, golf ball, golf course, golf club, golf swing, practice green, talk about golf, golf talking

It's difficult to Golf Talk without discussing the importance of having a solid foundation to support your golf swing.

The Natural Golf wide stance, single plane setup always reminds me of Moe Norman. As we said in our earlier post Tuning Up The Natural Golf Swing For Accuracy And Distance , Moe spent his life striving to hit a golf ball to a target consistently, and is considered to be one of the two best ball strikers in the history of the game. To achieve this, he created his own golf swing - the single plane swing - which became the Natural Golf swing.

The single plane setup starts with a wide stance. In order to swing a golf club on one plane consistently or repeatably, we need a solid foundation from which to swing back and forward through the golf ball. That solid foundation comes from a wider stance than in a traditional golf swing. In the single plane swing the feet are placed just outside the shoulders, setting up a strong triangular base with the feet, legs and torso.

Over this foundation, or golf stance, the arms and shoulders can be rotated into the back swing without throwing the golfer off balance. By keeping the lead arm and wrist straight with the club becoming an extension of the arm, and folding the trailing arm toward the body as the club moves into the back swing, the lead arm and club stay on one plane traveling around the golfers torso.

See if you can visualize this: The club head behind the golf ball is facing directly at the target, the players arm and the club stay on one plane through the back swing, that single plane is maintained through the forward swing - bringing the club face precisely back to the same position facing the target when it goes through the ball. That's what gives Moe's Natural Golf swing so much consistency. In fact, once you are comfortable swinging the golf club this way, you can actually hit the ball with your eyes closed!

It all starts, however, with that solid foundation. You will be pleasantly surprised how sturdy you feel by simply moving your feet further apart when swinging the golf club.

From this wide setup we are able to turn the shoulders to begin the back swing without turning or "winding up" the hips. With the single plane swing, the lower body remains relatively still and parallel to the target line. No swaying, and no "coiling" of the body to produce torque or club head speed. Club head speed and torque comes naturally with a single plane golf swing on a solid foundation.

Thanks for visiting Golf Talk.

Hit ‘em long, straight and often!

Click on the “COMMENTS” button above to post your golf tips and thoughts on the game.


Contact: darabbitt@gmail.com

Tags: golf, golf talk, golf ball, golf club, golf swing, natural golf, talk about golf, golf talking