Phil Mickelson's Loch Lomond Loss

I watched Lefty’s untypical finish in the final round of the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond as he bounced between birdies and bogey’s, finishing with two bogey’s that cost him another tournament. In a segment on the Golf Channel, Brandle Chamblee showed us a swing analysis in which Brandle pointed out that the culprit was Phil’s inability to perform his normally flawless footwork. The video clip they played clearly showed Phil’s left foot spinning out on his drive - the one that went into the weeds.

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Here’s an example of the tempo that Phil swings at. There are three tones. The first tone initiates the backswing, the second tone is wrist cock and the third tone is impact. OR Swing, set, through! Learn more at Tour Tempo Golf. 

Why Tiger Woods Didn't Win His 8th in a Row!

During Sunday’s Accenture post round interview, after admittedly not playing his best, Tiger said, “I had a double miss going on today.” That was the clue that told me what had gone wrong that day. His brain had no idea what his body was doing. Our bodies have a monitoring system that keeps track of what’s called joint position sense and joint motion. When this system isn’t working properly the body doesn’t know where the joints are nor what they are doing. When this happens we are unable to control our voluntary muscles. When we ask them to perform they do more of what they want and less of what we want or expect from them.

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A Golf Swing and Music - They're both about Rhythm and Tempo

Most of us listen to music on a regular basis. Those of us who play Golf would benefit from understanding the reason that both golf and music use the terms rhythm and tempo.

In the Feb. ‘07 issue of Golf Magazine Peter Jacobs remarks - “Just take a little more club and swing a little bit easier to ensure a solid hit. Maybe go three-quarters on some shots until you build your RHYTHM.”

Now you’ve heard this before. But judging from what I see at the driving range most of you have no idea what this really means. Let’s see if we can use music to help us really understand what RHYTHM we’re attempting to build.

Most of the music you listen to day in and day out is based on the number 4. Four beats that occur over and over again in a space that’s called a bar. Tempo is how fast or slow those 4 beats happen in that bar. Thus each bar in a song takes a specific amount of time based on the tempo of the song. That’s how they determine how long a song is. They count the number of bars and multiple that by the length of time that bar takes based on the tempo. Thus the same song can last a different length of time depending on how long a bar is.

The great folks at Tour Tempo Golf discovered that the swings of all professional golfers also occur over a very specific length of time - depending on their tempo.

In essence a golf swing in much like 1 bar of a song. Each have four beats. The Tour Professional golf swing lasts from .95 (faster) to 1.20 seconds (slower). And to make it even easier to duplicate there’s a ratio we can use. The ratio is 3:1. That means the backswing is 3 times longer than the downswing. This corresponds to getting to the top of your back swing during the first 3 beats of a bar and striking the ball on beat #4.

Tour Tempo golf even created some music to follow along with that enables you to reproduce the exact tempo of your favorite Touring Pro. Sam Snead and Tiger (2002) swing at 24/8. This refers to the number of frames in a video. That’s 24 frames to the top of the backswing (1-2-3) and 8 frames to impact (4). Here’s a nice article that illustrates what I’ve been saying.

I’d like to add that I’ve been using the Tour Tempo audio training aids for about two months now. I cannot even describe the difference in my ball striking, distance and scoring. Tour Tempo Golf provides a “Y” drill and an “L” drill to sharpen the all important short game.

And remember each beat takes a certain amount of time. Rhythm is when you are right on the beat, not to fast where the arms are ahead of the body which will usually result in a pull to the left. Not to slow with the arms lagging behind the body and a shot that leaks out to the right.

The 4 beats in a bar of music occur evenly - not hurky-jerky. That’s what you want to happen in your swing. And here’s something counter intuitive. When you take a slow backswing and whip that club down from the top as fast as you can - you’re swing speed is actually much slower that swinging in the 3:1 tempo I’ve described.

During the masters one year Tiger hit a shot off the tee that he pulled left. When his swing was measured it turned out that his backswing was right on the mark 24 frames (3 beats) but his downswing was only 6 frames - a little to fast getting from the top to the ball.

Now that you know - watch the PGA, Champions or Nationwide Tour players and you’ll see they all swing at this 3:1 ratio. May you should too!

The Best TEES I Every Started and Ended a Round of Golf With

Maybe I’m not alone in the search for the best tee. Most of the gimmick tees I’ve tried are just that. I like the red, yellow and white molded plastic tees - but they break or I just can’t find them. The trusty wooden tees obviously break and haven’t really kept up with the technology that is consistently advancing iron, woods and balls.

 Over the weekend I tried out the new TaylorMade R7 TI  3-wood and a Tour Edge 3 wood. For me the TaylorMade won hands down. Especially when I landed 3 in a row in about the same landing zone. Being that I was planning on buying the TaylorMade on E-bay I made a purchase - yes Tees.

I decided to try those Brush tees and also one I hadn’t seen before called the Lift Tee. I had a three wood shot on the third and decided to use the Brush tee. Skied that shot. The brush tee is to high for me. I hit the 3-wood off the deck most of the time. So I reloaded and brought out one of the four Life Tees I’d brought along. Wam - straight and long. That was nice. I continue on to play about 15 holes before it got dark. When I reached into my pocket at the end of the round I still had the same four Lift Tees I’d started with. Now I don’t now about you, but that’s never happened to me before.

I was so amazed I had to post this. Let me recap - Lift Tees provide great performance, durability and findability - they didn’t break and I could find them whether I used them for fairway woods or irons.

The Specifics: Disributed by Goodfellows USA of Torrance, CA the Lift Tee comes in a packet of 8 long sized tee so you can use them for any club in the bag. There’s also a 10 pack of 2 1/2” tees. Just did a Google search for you.  Go to GolfStuffCheaper to get some of your own or call your local golf shop to see if they carry them. These have been in the UK awhile, but I believe they are pretty new to the States.

Happy Golfing - Dr. Ted

Advice for Senior Golfers aka "Seasoned Citizen's"

As I approach my 60th birthday I found the section on Seasoned Citizen’s in Harvey Penick’s “Little Red Book” (click to purchase) particularly helpful. I’d like to share the following excepts from this book - one I would suggest you pick-up and read, over and over.

Harvey says it’s vital to “let the left heel come off the ground in the backswing.” He emphasizes this as a must. “Let the left heel come up and the left arm bend for a longer, freer swing.” You see a straight left arm actually inhibits the turn which is “one of the most important factors in an older golfer’s game.

I agree with Harvey that putting fairway woods into your bag is really helpful. I recently got the Adams RMP Low Profile 11, 9 and 5 and got ride of my 3 and 4 irons. It’s amazing how easy these are to hit. I also went with the softer shafts that Harvey recommends. He also suggests using a ten-finger grip because this “allows the hands to move faster.”

MYTH BUSTERS: I especially liked the section where Harvey explained why “hitting down on the ball is an out-of-date technique.” I have never been good at this hitting down concept and the reason this was promoted was because in the old days grass was sparse on many courses and required one to hit down on the ball. With the “tremendous improvment in golf course maintenance” you usually have more than enough grass under the ball. I was really glad to read this as I’m a sweeper.

How many times have you heard practice your short game? Harvey says this is the “most important of all” and recommends that we spend “at least 75%” of our practice time dedicated to our short game - pitching, chipping and putting. Afterall, as he points out, “short shots don’t require strength or flexibility.” Most of us take a bunch of balls and pitch or chip one after the other after the other. Harvey doesn’t like that. You don’t get to do that on the golf course do you? No! He suggest you practice the same way you play. Take ONE BALL, pitch or chip it and than go putt it until you sink it. He notes that this “sharpens your focus and improves your touch.

I must admit I had trouble following this advice. I practice by chipping to three different targets and than I go putt each of them until I make them. Getting down in two is the goal here. Afterall, once your around the green age makes no difference and as we all know this is where you can improve your score the greatest.