The PGA AT&T Classic Golf Tips
The 2008 PGA AT&T Classic leader board after 2nd round is:
It is a pretty solid leader board considering the Player’s Championship was last week. Ryan Palmer is the only player from that list who has yet to win a PGA Tour title. All the others are former champions, which mean they know how to win. The question is who will keep it together and make their move on the weekend. Ryan Palmer - The PGA AT&T Classic He is a talent, but is in a little bit of unfamiliar territory as he does not have a PGA Tour win. Maybe this will be his time to shine. When they show him hit an iron shot, watch how smoothly he hits it. He does not swing hard. He swings so that he is always under control. He never uses maximum power on his iron shots because direction is so important. Accuracy is a premium when hitting your irons, so don’t lose control of that by swing too hard. In order to hit smooth and accurate irons, try to get your body to move the same speed on your backswing and downswing. Don’t worry your club head will move faster on the downswing because you are unwinding. You just don’t need to move your body faster to do it. Watch Ryan and how the core of his body, particularly his hips, travels at the same speed throughout the whole swing. This ensures great contact. Charles Howell III - The PGA AT&T Classic You may remember that he was a young phenom. But unfortunately only two wins have been in the cards for him. Howell has been working really hard on his distance control this year. If he can play that shot well, he will certainly give himself more opportunities to win. When he has a shot that is not a full length for one of his irons he will have to make an adjustment. The easiest way to do that is to shorten the length of your swing. The key to that is to shorten both the back swing and downswing. Watch this video and you will see that for this particular shot his hands stop at shoulder height before and after contact. This helps keep him in a smooth rhythm so that he makes great contact. If the shot was even shorter you would make an even shorter back swing and shorter follow through. Maybe the shot only needs your hands to be hip level? The extra benefit of this technique is that it is easier to make adjustments, when you face shots of different lengths. David Toms - The PGA AT&T Classic Toms has a very simple swing which has lead him to several wins on tour. When you watch him this weekend…pay attention to his right foot through the shot. It is amazing how he just rolls up onto his right toe at the end of the swing. His toe does not slide, lift, or stay flat on the ground. His body turns and moves through the shot, and the foot rolls up to quietly on its toe. This is a very good sign that he did not over power his swing. When you overpower your feet tend to move a round a lot, and that leads to poor contact. I hope you enjoy the rest of the 2008 PGA AT&T Classic. Good luck with your practicing, playing, and watching. May you “Play Your Golf Dreams” sooner with the help of free-golf-lesson.com. Return to the Home Page from The PGA AT&T Classic
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PGA Tour Winner Quick Lesson
Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.
A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.
His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.
European Tour Winner Quick Lesson
Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.
Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.
In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.
One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.
If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.
Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.