20
Jan '12
Start getting ready for spring golf now
By Vikki Vanderpool, SwingFix instructor
It has been a mild winter in many parts of the country, but golfers everywhere are still looking forward to the arrival of spring and more time on the course.
I spent five years early in my career in the New York/Connecticut area as an instructor.
Once spring was approaching, I started to see many of my students returning from our work together in the fall and after what for many was a long winter layoff.
Here are a couple of things I noticed that they all had in common and things that you can easily address or work on before getting serious about your golf game in 2012:
1. After they’ve maybe been sitting in the garage or the trunk of your car, or even after a long summer of play, it's probably a good time to check the grips on all of your clubs. Some of them may just need a little bit of warm soapy water and a good cleaning, but playing with worn grips is no good for your game, so change them now if you need to.
2. Many of us have taken the winter completely off, stayed indoors and possibly become somewhat complacent. If that’s the case, it’s likely that our bodies are not reacting like they did in the fall, and our little muscles will try to take over our golf swing. Try doing some drills by holding the club with both hands and placing the club length wise on the back of your neck. Next, get in a good address position and start making some backswings and through swings. This will get you moving your torso, as well as your back and shoulders.
3. Another good drill to do is to hold the club with one hand about midway down the shaft in a straight up and down position with your thumb on the top of the shaft. Slowly start to rotate the club to the right until it becomes parallel with the ground. Now go back to the left. If the club is too heavy, grip a little closer down on the club to make the overall weight lighter. Now switch hands. This is a great drill for building up your muscles in your arms.
4. I can't stress this enough; stretch and walk. We need to be limber in golf, and it's easy to injure yourself at the beginning of the season due to inactivity. You might have been able to easily walk 18 holes at the end of the fall, but if you haven't kept it up all winter, try nine holes first and then work your way up. The same can be true for stretching or making a better rotation on your backswing and finish.
5. Work on your balance and finish. When starting to hit balls, try holding your finish for three full seconds. As you continue to get stronger, and faster, you still want to have control over your power in terms of being able to swing at top speed without losing your balance. And good balance is a key component to solid, consistent ball-striking.
Take a lesson with Vikki Vanderpool.
Here are a couple of things I noticed that they all had in common and things that you can easily address or work on before getting serious about your golf game in 2012:
1. After they’ve maybe been sitting in the garage or the trunk of your car, or even after a long summer of play, it's probably a good time to check the grips on all of your clubs. Some of them may just need a little bit of warm soapy water and a good cleaning, but playing with worn grips is no good for your game, so change them now if you need to.
2. Many of us have taken the winter completely off, stayed indoors and possibly become somewhat complacent. If that’s the case, it’s likely that our bodies are not reacting like they did in the fall, and our little muscles will try to take over our golf swing. Try doing some drills by holding the club with both hands and placing the club length wise on the back of your neck. Next, get in a good address position and start making some backswings and through swings. This will get you moving your torso, as well as your back and shoulders.
3. Another good drill to do is to hold the club with one hand about midway down the shaft in a straight up and down position with your thumb on the top of the shaft. Slowly start to rotate the club to the right until it becomes parallel with the ground. Now go back to the left. If the club is too heavy, grip a little closer down on the club to make the overall weight lighter. Now switch hands. This is a great drill for building up your muscles in your arms.
4. I can't stress this enough; stretch and walk. We need to be limber in golf, and it's easy to injure yourself at the beginning of the season due to inactivity. You might have been able to easily walk 18 holes at the end of the fall, but if you haven't kept it up all winter, try nine holes first and then work your way up. The same can be true for stretching or making a better rotation on your backswing and finish.
5. Work on your balance and finish. When starting to hit balls, try holding your finish for three full seconds. As you continue to get stronger, and faster, you still want to have control over your power in terms of being able to swing at top speed without losing your balance. And good balance is a key component to solid, consistent ball-striking.
Take a lesson with Vikki Vanderpool.