Ken Venturi on "Shotmaking"

Here's Ken Venturi with some thoughts on Shotmaking



 




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The mental side part 2

Here Rick Nielsen and Dr. Phil Lee continue their discussion on the mental side of Golf.




 




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Dan and Jayne on "Ground Forces"

To learn more about Jayne, please visit www.chipowergolf.com



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1996 Masters

In my opinion there was no more dominant player in the 80's and 90's than Greg Norman. Unfortunately he will be best remembered for his historic collapses and being struck by lightning by his opponents' miraculous shots.
In the early 90's he sought out Butch Harmon to assist him with what was then his nemesis, a block to the right, which would haunt him under pressure. In my opinion Butch took Greg's raw talent and athletic ability and refined and harnessed it. The end result was what I would call a Masterpiece. Norman shortened his swing and that resulted in leading the PGA tour in almost every statistical category. I still believe the stroke pattern Butch and Greg developed was the best for him. After his historic collapse at the Masters in 96, Nick Price (a close friend of Norman's) kidded him about his close clubface at the top. Norman's answer was to seek out Price's coach, Leadbetter and dump Harmon. Go figure.

Here's how Wikipedia described it:

After a career slump in the early 1990s, Norman turned to Butch Harmon for help. Together, the two rebuilt Norman's game to top form by solving mechanical problems that had crept into Norman's swing. The new swing brought him great results including his second major at Royal St George's. In ideal conditions, Norman defeated a star studded leader board including Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Corey Pavin. Norman returned a 64, the lowest final round in Open history. Gene Sarazen, who stood at the 18th Green of St Georges later said of Norman's achievement: "I never thought I would live to see golf played like this." Norman's playing partner Langer also commented, calling it the finest round he had ever witnessed. The year's PGA Championship was again staged at Inverness. He had a final green putt of around twelve feet for victory that lipped right around the hole and failed to drop, and lost the subsequent playoff to Paul Azinger. At the PGA Championship, he became one of only two players to have competed in – and, like Craig Wood, to have lost – playoffs in all four of the major championships. The next year at The Players Championship, Norman obliterated the records for the lowest 18, 54 and 72-hole scores. After opening with a course-record-tying 63, he followed with three 67s to give him a 24-under 264 total – six strokes better than any previous winner.[7] Norman started 1995 with a third place finish at the Masters and again found himself with the 54 hole lead at the U.S. Open. Even though he held the lead for most of the day he was over taken by Corey Pavin on the back nine. In June, Norman won his second Memorial Tournament, a victory that marked the beginning of one of his best years on the PGA Tour. After his win at the Canon Greater Hartford Open, aided by a chip-in in for eagle on #14 in the final round, Norman overtook Nick Price as the number one golfer in the world. Later, he won the NEC World Series of Golf, holing a 70 foot birdie chip shot to defeat Price in a playoff on the first hole. He ultimately held the #1 ranking for 331 weeks in his career. He also topped the money list for the third time and was named PGA Player of the Year. 1995 is arguable Norman's greatest year even without winning a major title. The following year, Norman came into the 1996 Masters Tournament having already won at the Doral-Ryder Open (though he also missed the cut at the Players Championship and the Bayhill Invitational beforehand). He opened his championship with a course record 63 which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard. He held the lead through three days for play. With 5 previous top five finishes at Augusta, and a 6 shot lead. Norman's long awaited Masters victory seem to be evident. In one of the worst meltdowns in major championship history (along with Ken Venturi shooting a final round 80 in 1956 Masters to lose by one shot, and Rory McIlroy's collapse, also shooting an 80 in 2011), he took a six-stroke lead into the final round and lost the tournament to Nick Faldo by five strokes, shooting a Sunday 78 to Faldo's 67. Norman's 6 shot lead evaporated quickly with 3 straight bogeys on holes 9–11, and after Norman found water on the 12th hole, resulting in a double bogey, playing companion Faldo had taken the lead. Norman tried to give himself a chance down the stretch including an eagle chip on the 15th which lipped out of the hole dropping Norman to his knees. Maybe the most infamous shot of his career was on the very next hole; a hooked tee shot into the water ending any chance at victory. ESPN, as part of their "ESPN25" 25th-anniversary celebration, ranked Norman's 1996 Masters disaster as the third-biggest sports choke of the last 25 years. Despite the losses, though, Norman still has 30 top-ten finishes in the majors. And, amazingly, he came back to lead the very next major, the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, after 36 holes, though he faded on the weekend. In January 1997, Norman won his largest winner's check to date, 1 million dollars, when he won the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf (the precursor to the WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship), making birdie on the last hole to defeat Scott Hoch in the 36 hole final. Then Norman won twice in 1997, but they were his last. In 1998 Norman missed part of the season after suffering hip and shoulder injuries. Norman did make one more run at the Masters in 1999, battling José María Olazábal on the final day, and even briefly leading the tournament after an eagle on 13, before fading to finish 3rd behind the winner Olazabal and Davis Love III. After this, Norman's name virtually disappeared from golf leaderboards and Norman only showed an occasional flash of his previous brilliance, perhaps due to age, shaken confidence, the new technology, the emergence of Tiger Woods and other young golfers, and/or Norman's increasing involvement in business ventures

Here's an opportunity to watch Norman at his best and arguably at his worst:










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Golf Stroke Checkpoints

Here's Rick Nielsen discussing some Golf Stroke Checkpoints.










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JJ Killeen with Dan Whittaker

Today we're going to have a look at Dan Whittaker working with JJ Killeen.


First let's have a look at JJ's stats this year:

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Gregg Mchatton's Grip

I received the the following question from fellow Gotham Golfer, KOC:

Any chance you can ask Gregg why he has his right hand grip at the top like this?

(click on image to enlarge)





Gregg's Response:

(click on image to enlarge)




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Dan Whittaker on Footwork

Here's Dan Whittaker with some thoughts on footwork.






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Foresight Launch Monitor

Foresight Launch Monitor

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Martin Chuck on "Lag Pressure"

Here's our friend Martin Chuck with some thoughts on "Lag Pressure"






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Introducing Ms. Jayne Storey and Chi-Power Golf

Jayne's Biography

Based on the ancient exercise and martial art of T'ai Chi (Taiji), chi-power GOLF has been hailed as the ‘missing link’ in performance enhancement. It has been created and developed by Jayne Storey, a student and teacher of Yang family T'ai Chi since 1987, and long-term member of the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain.

Profile:

Jayne started her personal and professional journey back in 1987, when she began taking lessons in T'ai Chi, at a class in East London.
Captivated by the grace and power of the T'ai Chi "form" (a choreographed sequence of movements), Jayne went on to study with some of China’s most elite masters and their senior students in the UK.
After ten years of continuous study, she opened her first weekly T'ai Chi class and this grew into a number of classes at health and leisure centres in and around her home county of Surrey.
Around 2002 Jayne turned her attention towards the world of golf, after hearing the great Jack Nicklaus comment that "golf is played with the feet". Nicklaus went on to explain that the power in the golf swing comes from the ground upwards, and indeed he was famous for leaving his footprints in the ground after his swing!
Hearing Nicklaus’s comments instantly reminded Jayne of the writings of the grand-master of Yang style T'ai Chi, the much revered Yang Chen Fu, who wrote that "T'ai Chi is rooted in the feet, moves though the waist and is expressed in the hands".
This synergy between golf and T’ai Chi lead Jayne to intensive research and study and eventually to the Professional Golfers’ Association, where her two seminars – "The Tao of the Mental Game" and "Performance Biomechanics" are now among a number of innovative new methods that currently form part of the PGA’s Professional Development Programme.
Other elite golfing organisations that have given their approval to chi-power GOLF being used as a development tool for players include: European Senior Tour, Ladies European Tour and World Golf Teacher’s Federation.
Here are some of the key areas of a student’s game that can be improved with the practise of chi-power GOLF
POWER

Achieving a more balanced and athletic set-up

Developing leg-strength and ground-force energy

Rooting (compression) and relaxation skills (greater club-head speed)

FITNESS & FLEXIBILITY

Warming-up before playing

Spinal health – for increased rotation/torque and longer playing life

Unity of motion (developing whole-body power)

PERFORMANCE ENHANCMENT

Breathing to win

Mastering the mind~body connection

Taking your ‘A’ game onto the course

Here's a video:







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Aaron Baddeley

I've always said that his Pre-Leadbetter-Dale Lynch action was one of the best I've seen. I'd describe it as Compact Dynamics. Note the Natural wrist set.


Here he is describing his Leadbetter pattern. Note the early wrist set.




When he was in his late teens, Baddeley was seen as one of the most promising talents in world golf. He was the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the Eisenhower Trophy and he won the Holden Australian Open as an amateur in 1999 and retained his title in 2000, by which time he had turned professional. In 2001, he won the Greg Norman Holden International in Australia. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit in 2000/01

After accomplishing so much with your natural stroke pattern why would you let some Guru change it?


Here he is at the 2009 PGA Championship, it's good to see he's come full circle.






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Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey

I've always said that there is no "The Way" to swing a golf club. As long as your alignments and underlying dynamics  are in sync, it's all good by me.
Today we're going to have a look at a classic example of the notion that therer is no "The Way". The footage used is courtesy of our friend, Kelvin Miyahira.
Let's Hear what our friend Dan Whittaker has to say about this.

Enjoy,



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Ben Hogan "The Hogan Mystique"

Here's the best yet from Hyno Designs, this version of The Shell Match was so well re-mastered that it almost looks Hi-Def.





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More Knudson

In keeping with the Knudson theme, here's one from our friend Lagpressure.







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George Knudson 1979 interview

Here's a great one from Hogansquest. In the words of George himself, "You never do anything at the expense of Balance".






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George Knudson

Here's someone who I consider to be in the top 5 ballstrikers of all time, Mr George Knudson.

Here are some of George's thoughts on the Golf Swing






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No UP in the Backswing

Here's our friend Shawn Clements exploring this concept.

BTW: Gregg McHatton throws clubs





Here's Gregg with his take:





The Mchatton Video is available from OHP Direct, it's called 4 keys.


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Charles Howell III

Today we're going to look at one of my favorite swings on Tour, Charles Howell III. Charles has a classic golf swing with tons of Lag. While many may think that Howell is a product of the Leadbetter camp, those of us  "in the know", know better. The Michelangelo behind that Masterpiece is Mr. George Kelnhofer GSED.  Mr. Kelnhofer is probably the best instructor you've never heard of, however any great player who's played for Georgia Tech has experienced his tutelage. Some names you might recognize are, David Duval, Stewart Cink and Craig Perks. Mr. Kelnhofer was supposed to do an interview with me earlier, but I guess he chose to avoid the limelight. Anyway, I think people like him deserve the recognition (even if they don't want it).
We've asked Gregg Mchatton and Les Johnson to discuss Charles' swing.

Here it is:



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Rick Nielsen on "Lag"

Today we have Rick Nielsen discussing "Club Head Lag".


Rick has quite a pedigree, he worked for Mike Hebron for 15 years and experienced the tutelage of such luminaries as Gregg Mchatton, Jim Petralia, Bill Strausburg, Lynn Blake, Ben Doyle and many others. If you're looking for some top notch instruction you can't go wrong with Rick.


 



You can reach Rick at: www.ricknielsengolf.com


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Severiano

Here's another cute one from our friends at Hyno Designs. With music from "The Mosquitoes"










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John and Gregg 2011

Here's my good friend John M. working out with Gregg Mchatton.









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Rick Nielsen on "The Pivot"

Today we're going to have Rick Nielsen discuss the Pivot and some of the misconceptions that arise with other parts of the Golf swing







You can reach Rick at his website: www.ricknielsengolf.com


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