I was hitting balls on the range the other day next to a guy I've run into a few times on the putting green. He's very analytical and his swing and putting stroke look very mechanical. He's a perfect example of someone who really needs to let go of all his swing thoughts and swing freely. His practice swing doesn't look half bad. He was hitting most of his irons fat, leaving a divot well in front of the ball. If you're hitting your irons fat, you're likely hanging back on your right side at impact.


Alex Ovechkin Slapshot

He asked for some help so I had him move his aim point well out in front of the ball so he'd more likely strike the ball, then the ground. He still struggled to get his weight transferred to his front leg, but he did begin to take some divots that started past the ball! His ball striking definitely improved.

I've always thought that golfers who struggle to hit down and through the ball need to purchase a hockey stick and puck learn how to shoot a slapshot. If you can get a puck up in the air, you can hit a solid golf shot. I'm certain that learning this skill before taking up golf is the primary reason for my good ball striking.

The key to a slapshot in hockey is the footwork and - as goal-scoring phenom Alex Ovechkin demonstrates above - an incredible shift of weight toward the target. Ovechkin's weight shift is so severe that he ends up standing on only his front skate. All of his weight has shifted to his target-side foot. If he hung back, he'd catch the ice, not the puck. Hitting crisp iron shots requires the same movement, with weight on the front foot at impact that stays there into the finish.

Hockey players actually hit with the stick into the ice and then use their hands as fast as they can going through. They also turn their shoulders through the golf shot when they play golf, or when they hit a hockey puck. A lot of times they are skating when they are hitting a hockey puck, skating on the lead skate, rear back with the stick, the elbow is in the air, and when they hit that slap shot, a lot of times you will see the back skate actually go in the opposite direction. They are not turning the hips in this direction, they are actually turning their shoulders more as they go through. So from the top of your backswing, instead of turning your hips through the ball, which often times can lead to a tilty shoulder turn, try leaving your hips in place and turning your shoulders through the shot. You will be amazed how much it moves your hips through.

If you're a scooper, give it a try.

Credit: Think like a hockey player to improve your faulty swing

Labels: Golf Instruction, Hockey

Anyone who teaches golf using a drill that involves hockey skates is certain to get my attention! The Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre in Toronto, Shawn Clement, does just that, focusing primarily on momentum in the golf swing. Clement has been teaching and coaching golf since 1987, and is now on the top 25 list of CPGA Teachers in Canada as rated by Score Golf Magazine in September 2007.



Shawn authors an excellent website with links to insightful articles, dozens of his instruction videos on YouTube, and a "Watchdog Blog". Here you'll find great tips and instruction on all aspects of the game. His videos are very easy to follow, light-hearted, and packed with great instruction!

Interestingly, Shawn trains and plays from both the right and left side of the ball and carries a scratch handicap playing from either side. He has qualified and played events in several professional tours, such as the Canadian Tour and US Mini Tours, with a set of clubs consisting of seven right-hand and seven left-handed clubs in the same bag. This is the combination he used to qualify first in the 1999 CPGA Playing Ability Test in Montreal. This experience has been invaluable in teaching his students how to truly maximize their technique and potential on the golf course, whether they play right-handed or left-handed.

In addition to his personal coaching, Shawn also shares his expertise with a wider audience of golfers. Shawn has been a regular contributing instruction editor with Golf Tips Magazine since 2000. He has also contributed to numerous other publications, including Fairways and Score Golf Magazines, and is one of the first Canadian golf teaching professionals to appear on the Golf Channel’s "Academy Live" program.

Shawn has studied nutrition through the "Energy First" program for sustained focus during play, and fitness to make sure his students are in the right fitness program. He has worked with Sports Psychologist Bob Rotella and Peak Performance specialist Bob Palmer to help his students keep the right perspective and the right frame of mind. And of course Shawn has worked alongside some of the very best golf teachers, doctors, and neurologists, to make sure he has a full grasp of the proper fundamentals and teaching techniques available.

Plan to visit www.shawnclementgolf.com for some artful golf instruction.

As a sidenote, with a little help from the Artful Canuck and Artful Aussie (last post), my game is back down to my career low index of 3.3. I've shot rounds of 74 or below 6 times in the past 20 rounds! Yesterday, I shot 74 with 3 3-putts (missing 3 footers on the last 2 holes). The friend I played with noticed I was taking my putter back quickly and peeking after stroking the ball. After the round, I practiced slowing things down and keeping my head "Tiger-like" still. What a difference! That sub-70 round is coming!!

Labels: Golf Instruction, Links, Shawn Clement

Last month, after posting my Artful Golf Links, I started reading one of the golf blogs that I had recommended on a daily basis. I had only recently discovered this blog and quickly learned that this Australian blogger, Cameron Strachan, teaches a very similar approach to the game that I've taken, stepping outside the box and thinking a little differently.


Aussie Golfers by DJ Bass at flickr

Interestingly, Cameron's approach was inspired heavily from instruction he received in Scotland from Kendal McWade, who was taught by none other than Fred Shoemaker! Also interesting is that Cameron worked with another artful Aussie, Aaron Baddeley, before he was a PGA Tour star, on his putting game. Baddeley is well known for his putting skills, which were on display yesterday as he battled Tiger all the way to the 20th hole in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Cameron spoke to Baddeley about keeping the putting technique simple and learning to trust his subconscious to perform the motion. The foundation of Strachan's approach is this learning to trust your subconscious, and to play automatically. This theme of playing automatically is discussed frequently and in depth in his daily blog entries, an approach that first requires that you quit trying to fix your swing!

In a recent blog post, Cameron shares, "I think improving at golf can be difficult because the path to do so is not always obvious. In fact, I believe if you want to reach a higher level of play you need to take counter intuitive steps. These steps are not obvious and actually go against traditional concepts. This approach can feel uncomfortable and requires a shift in mindset. Uncomfortable - yes. Beneficial - YES!"

He then lists some of his "counter intuitive" steps, most of which I'd already incorporated into my own approach to learning and playing the game. Among my favorites of his suggestions are to try less, think less, and practice less, and instead play more and most importantly, leave your swing alone - quit trying to fix it.

After initiating some dialog with Cameron via email and sharing a little of my own story with him, he sent me a copy of his ebook which includes unique instruction on basic golf mechanics and on how to find your natural game. He also sent me his ebook on putting.

The vast majority of swing instruction assumes that if you can groove your swing it will naturally give you a better golf game. Cameron believes, "that improving at golf can never be as simple as changing your swing or thinking positively." He says that the first step in learning how to go automatic and play naturally "is to stop fixing your swing. At least for the moment (you may find out down the track you may need some adjustments). Continual fixing does not allow for one to get into the automatic phase, at least not consistently."

He teaches his students to accept their swings and imperfections and to learn to appreciate and score with their own unique abilities and limitations.

"When you swing naturally and automatically", Cameron says, "the golfer's mind is not filled with irrelevant details about the technique, but rather, where do I want the ball to go? He then allows his automatic process to do it. He simply repeats this process until the final putt is home... This does not mean that every shot is perfect. The bad shots remind us that we are human, the game is an art and even good shots can get a bad bounce... The beauty of golf is that it can be played and played well by many different types of people. There are short hitters, long hitters, fast and slow swingers just to mention a few. All of these people can play the game to their own high standard if they allow it."

"Golf is a magnificent game as it allows the cat to be skinned many ways, no one is disadvantaged if they learn to play their game and not someone else's."

"If you want to play your best golf all of the time, then you must learn to trust your swing. And the only way to do that is to commit to the automatic process... The best time to think about your shot is behind the ball. This is the time to work out what club to hit, the wind or whatever else you need to know. Imagine this process is like using a road map to figure out where you're going. Once you know where to go, you jump in your car and drive there, you don't worry about how to drive. Once you have made your mind up it is time to go completely automatic and hit the ball. This is when your subconscious will deliver your own natural swing... I call this playing with your heart! You give up full control... what you get back in return is YOUR own swing."

"The beauty of learning to automate your skills is that your subconscious will do the hard work for you. There's no need to worry about every small detail. Your subconscious mind is suited perfectly to putting or swinging well... you just have to let it!"

Plan to start visiting Cameron's Artful Golf Blog regularly and consider purchasing his ebook, Golf Instruction 2.0. Cameron is now offering his Perfect Putting ebook for free. You can find Cameron on YouTube too!

Labels: Books, Cameron Strachan, Golf Instruction, Links