The Players Championship Golf Tips & Video Analysis
The first two rounds of the Players Championship has been awesome. The first round saw a resurgence in Sergio Garcia. He posted a 66 and had a two shot lead at the end of the day. The winds then picked up from round two and turned a scary golf course into a nightmare for a lot of players. At the end of round two the same score of -6 is leading, but it is not held by Sergio. He dropped a shot and is now heading into the weekend on shot back of Kenny Perry. The best played round on Friday had to go to 50 year old Bernhard Langer. He carded a sweet little 67 while a number of players went backwards. The Leaders after round 2 are:
Lurking is recent Wachovia champion Anthony Kim at -4, and Verizon Heritage winner Boo Weekley. Sergio Garcia - The Players Championship It is nice to write about Garcia. He is such a talent. I truly look forward to him winning his first major. It will have been a long time coming, but so sweet for him in the end. Garcia generates a ton of power. He is a great ball striker. One of the reasons he is such a good ball striker is in his downswing. He does a great job of getting his right elbow tucked in close to his body on his way back down to the golf ball. When his elbow is close to his hip like that he almost guarantees himself that he will be hitting the ball from the inside. This means he can not come over the top and hit a wicked slice. It also means he is going to make proper contact which will get him extra yards. It sounds easy right. Get your elbow in front of your hip. The trick is to let your lower body start the downswing…but…let your arms and club catch up so that your elbow gets in front of your hip. When you watch Garcia make his move you will see what I mean. He starts by shifting and rotating his hips to the target. He does it slowly so that his arms can fall into the right slot and get his elbow close to his side. Once it is in place then he pours on the power. An image that has often worked with getting the feel for the elbow is the concept of skipping a stone. When you go to throw it notice how your elbow tucks into your side? This is the same sensation in the downswing. Anthony Kim - The Players Championship The young kid has made his mark with is first win last week. Now he seems ready for more, and potential greatness. This week when you watch Kim…watch his pre-shot routine. He has no wasted motion. He gets his yardage, selects his shot, selects his club takes two looks and hits his shot. The key to his routine is that he takes two looks and then pulls the trigger. The less time you take between your practice swings and your actual stroke the better. It gives you a better shot at repeating the practice swing. This is the key for hitting shots in all kinds of situations. When the pressure is on you want to be able to rely on a great routine. Once he has taken is stance he takes a look at his target. Then he looks at the ball. Then he takes one last glance at the target, looks back to the ball and then starts his swing. This is a great routine to follow because it is both effective and efficient. It will be hard to accused of slow play when you follow his routine. I hope you enjoy the rest of the 2008 Players Championship. It should an entertaining weekend of golf, especially holes 16, 17, and 18. 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 Players Championship
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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.