Remember your fundamentals Part 1

As many of you know, I'M A FREAK FOR FUNDAMENTALS.

This is part 1 of a series of post which I will re-confirm, stress, educate the best I know how about the fundamentals of a good golf swing. Part 1 will be on the grip.

Prior to reading please understand my terminology of target hand and trail hand. The target hand is the hand closest to the target and the trail hand is the hand that trails the target. I use these terms because I have students who are right handed and left handed.


Grip

The grip is your only connection to the golf club. You don't hold it in the feet, hips or toes, you hold it in the fingers. I like to say fingers, because the biggest mistake I see is too many people holding the handle of the club in the hand or palm. If your were going to throw a baseball or wiffle ball, you would hold it in the fingers in order to send it. Same with the golf club, you should find in more in the fingers.

The best way I have seen students place the handle in their fingers is when they allow their target hand to hang down by their side. Just relaxed with no tension, then bring the club to their side as well and feel the fingers on the club and softly close the hand. The target hand should bring the club forward, in front of them and you should see at least two knuckels on the target hand and the pad of your hand should be on top of the club. Please understand, this is not the pad under the thumb, but the pad right of your lifeline for right handers and left of the lifeline for left handers.
I want to stress, excuse me, encourage (stress and tension free should not be used in the same sentence) you to always be tension free when applying your grip.

Now that you have your target hand on the handle, we will apply your trail hand.
There are 3 ways to grip the club
1. Ten finger, where all fingers are on the club- I find this a good grip for juniors and any women or men with small hands or short fingers.
2. Overlap, where the trail pinky overlaps the trigger finger of the target hand. A preferance used by men or women
3. Interlock, where the trail pinky interlocks the trigger finger of the target hand. A preference used by men or women

The role of the trail hand is to help guide the club. It should have very little influence. I ask students to imagine the thumb of the target hand to be "the car". I would then have them take the trail hand and place the fingers on the handle about 5 inches above the trail hand and "slide the car into the garage". If you do this, in order to "slide" the car into the garage, you must have a soft relax grip. I think this encourages the student to be aware of the grip pressure they are applying.

The picture above is a good visual of a good grip.
I welcome your comments and encourage you to let me know if this blog posting was helpful or confusing. Feel free to ask questions as well.
Next post will be on Set-Up

"FUELING" yourself before your round of golf.

I have heard this comment several times recently, "I lose it on the back 9" or “I run out of steam and focus towards the end of the round" How you "fuel" yourself prior, and during the round is so important. Imagine feeling your car up with the wrong type of gas, after a while your car would start to malfunction. It's the same with your body. Your body and mind need the right amount of protein and carbs. To get your through a round of golf. I remember the days I used to "fuel" up at the turn with a hot dog. I would find myself ready to fall asleep by the 13th hole, and all the time wondering what was going on. Hot dogs are in my mind the worse thing to eat during the round. It takes a lot of energy to break up all the substances in hot dog. And as far as a good source of protein or energy, it's not really a good choice.Good Choices- breakfast- eggs, fruit, oatmeal, yogurtat the turn/lunch- nuts, smoothie, veggy or chicken salad wrapI love just carrying some good trail mix or almonds and eat a few during the round. I also enjoy bananas and find them to be the "perfect" snack.I also encourage my students playing in competition, especially when it's hot, to remember to hydrate themselves days before the round. I have had people say that they drink a lot of water during the round to make sure they are hydrated. Making sure you drink plenty of water days prior to the match is most important.So, make sure you’re aware of what you’re eating before and during your day of golf and if it's not what it should be.....think of "fueling up" with the right grade!

Your kids and what to expect....

What should you expect from your kids when they are taking golf lessons?

1) You should expect them to have fun!

2) You should expect them to be in a group that is small enough for them to feel they are getting the attention they deserve.

3) You should expect them to walk away with some knowledge of the vocabulary of golf and rules and etiquette.

4) You should expect them to have a chance to develop relationships and oppourtunities that keep them playing.

These are my initial goals for introducing kids to golf. I also encourage social skills during my sessions, in a way they understand.

I love it when parents are eager to see their children play golf! It's great to see kids start the game at an early age, but we must remember, their kids!

It's so important that they enjoy what their doing, more so than shooting par. (that comes later)
Make it fun and keep their interest!!!

The future of the game.

Summer is coming to an end and I am amazed how fast it went, and how much my students accomplished this season.
As many of you know, the majority of students that I have in the summer time are juniors.
One of my focuses this year was to introduce younger kids to the game. How do I do that and keep them interested? That was the challenge!
The age group I'm referring to is 5-6, I even had some 4 year olds. I was amazed how well they did and how much fun it was for me.
I mixed the 5 and 6 year olds with ages of 7-9. I used the older kids to be role models and let them know that as well. I really think they enjoyed being the "older kids".
I used agility drills and exercises to work on eye/hand coordination.
With kids of this age, I found you always have to be moving, there can never be a dull moment!
That keeps me on my toes!!
The one thing I said so often is, "this is the future of this game", juniors. The earlier they start and have fun with it, the better they will be, and the more time they will have to spend playing this wonderful game!!
So thanks to all your parents for choosing me to be the one to introduce them to the game, a game of a lifetime!

greetings from 'tucket!

Kim, Was thinking of you and just wanted to say hi, I haven't been out to play since getting here - weather has not been great- but am planning to start next week - really! I think a golfapallooza sounds like a great addition to everything at Windstar! It sounds like you're busy and having a ball! Don't forget the roadtrip back to FL next fall! Miss you!! love, gayle


Gayle,
I just saw this post. No one was writing or viewing it, so I gave up checking it. Thanks for checking in....sorry to be late in responding!