Below is an un-edited review I just received via email about my Swing Machine Golf DVD series. I truly appreciate all of the support I have received over the years. If you would like your review published please contact me above.
Here it is:
Hi Paul,
For the first time in my life I just had to write to you to thank you for making the game of golf so simple and enjoyable again. I have brought many golf teaching courses, aids in the past so please forgive me for being sceptical about your course as I thought when I purchased it that it may just be another gimmicky system. I could not have been further from the truth.
I received the dvds very quickly, even over this side of the pond!! Sat down and watched them all the way through in one sitting and I could not believe the simplicity of what you were teaching. Having spent many of my hard earned pounds on golf lessons at my local club and coming away baffled with the complexity of the game I still could not believe what I was seeing.
So I tried some of the exercises and must admit I was not prepared to wait to hit some balls, sorry, as I was too excited at finding out what would happen. Almost instantly I was hitting effortless irons and even my driver was consistently going straight and all of a sudden I was hitting the ball as well as some of those that I had stood back and admired on the range.
The best bits about your course are that you make it so simple with only three key elements and you are the first person to tell me that you hit a golf ball with your body rotation not your arms. Now when I am down the range and hear players crashing their clubs into the mat I just want to turn round to them at tell them to stop trying to whack it with their arms!!!!
The other great thing about your course is you make the diagnostics easy to understand and when I do hit a bad shot like a top or a slice I instantly know what I have done wrong and can put it right for the next shot.
I could go on and on with superlatives about your course and the great value for money that it is, and the fact that it is so simple but I would just like to say again thank you, I am so glad I found your site. Golf is all of a sudden relaxing, exciting and interesting again and I can’t wait to see where my new swing will take me.
More people in the UK could really do with your course as I haven’t seen anything else this good over here. If ever you are looking for an agent or affiliate in the uk to bring this to the attentions of my fellow countrymen and women let me know.
Finally, thanks again Paul. Also the short game series is just as good as the full swing course (and I haven’t yet sat down and studied the book). I cant put my clubs down now!!
One of the emails I receive from time to time is from someone who has been hitting the ball well and playing great golf when all of a sudden they’ve lost their swing. This tip explains what the likely cause is and how to correct your golf swing (even Tiger Woods is in this category right now this just may be a very timely tip).
1. Slow Down
The most popular thing that causes people to lose their swing is simply trying to hit the ball too hard with their arms. I’ve seen this time and time again. Once people hit the ball well for a while they always want more and more power. In looking for more power golfers will try hitting the ball harder with their arms. The problem with hitting harder with your arms is the harder you hit, the tighter you get, the narrower your swing arc, the slower your wrist release, the slower the club swing, the more you will manipulate the clubface, the more over the top you come down etc. So you don’t want to keep hitting harder with your arms to increase your power.
A good swing thought to help you slow down and stop hitting with the arms would be to swing at no more than 50% of your ability both at the range and on the when you go to play. Once you start hitting better shots you increase your power by turning ONLY your body faster NOT by hitting harder with the arms. Increasing the rotational speed of your body will make your arms swing faster which whip the club faster giving you more power because they are connected to one another. Ideally, you never want to swing at 80% of your ability so slow down to 50% then rotate your body faster until you are swinging at a maximum of 80%.
Here’s a drill you can do (I have mentioned in previous tips). Go to the range and pick out a target. Then using a full swing hit each club at 3/4 of it’s actual distance. For example, let’s say you normally hit a 7 iron 150 yards. You simply try to hit it 100 yards. Doing full swings at 3/4 speed will get you to slow down because your normal swing speed will hit the ball too far. Try this drill a few times for a practice session or two. If you do, you will recognize that you have been hitting with your arms which will allow you to slow down and feel your body powering the swing.
2. Remember Back
The next thing you want to do to correct your swing is try to remember back to what you may have been working on right before your swing fell apart. For example, maybe you were trying to draw the ball, may be you were trying to learn how to hit punch shots or maybe you were trying to increase your lag angle or work on some other position etc. These things may give you clues as to why your swing fell apart.
Take trying to hit a draw for instance. Maybe you were trying to aim your body out to the right (closing your stance) while having the clubface aimed at your target. In doing so, your alignment got out of whack and you’re now aiming your body out to the right on normal shots. In this case, correcting your golf swing may be as easy as setting up an alignment station and checking your set up for each shot so you know that you’re perfectly aligned.
If you were trying to hit punch shots maybe you were favoring your weight on your left leg or picking up the club in order to hit down on the ball. So you double check your weight distribution at set up and work on the proper takeaway.
As you can see the list can go on an on. So think back to what you have been working on recently and what changes you made to your swing in order to hit these new shots. Check your set up and alignment first to make sure they are perfect then move on to fixing your swing positions if necessary.
3. Video Your Golf Swing
As I have been doing my golf schools this year I’m amazed at how many people have never seen their golf swing on video. With today’s technology you can easily record your swing literally on your cell phone or you can buy a Flip Ultra Video Camera or Kodak Zi8 for under $200. Once you do you can play it back to see if you can recognize what you are doing wrong. Better yet, you can can take this video and compare it to the pictures in your Swing Machine Golf book or freeze-frame the DVD series and compare your swing to the positions I’m in and get back on track.
NOTE: If you have an iPhone you may be interested in this app. iPhone App Store > Search > “Video Instruction Pro” or follow this link: Video Instruction Pro
4. Watch Your Ball Flight
Within the Swing Machine Golf Book there is a whole section entitled, Self-Diagnosis. In the Swing Machine Golf DVD Series I also talk about diagnosing your swing flaws on the 3rd disc. The whole reason I did this was so that you could correct your golf swing on your own instantly. To correct your swing just watch your ball flight and recognize the contact you are making. Then go to the book or DVD and find out what is causing the problem and apply the fix that I recommend.
5. Take a Lesson
If you still can’t figure out how to correct your golf swing then maybe it’s time for lessons. I would hope that you would come to Las Vegas to join one of my golf schools or book some private lesson time with me one-on-one.
Conclusion
Hopefully you’ve learned a lot from today’s tip. Correcting your golf swing doesn’t have to be difficult. Just think logically about it and track down the cause. Then, apply the correct fix or drill and you will get it back in no time.
The fade is the shot that I recommend people hit. Why? There are a few reasons. The first is because it is easier to hit than a draw. This means that even when you aren’t playing your best you can usually get away with hitting a fade allowing you to still shoot good scores when you are not at your best.
Jack Nicklaus refers to the fade as his “bread and butter shot.” If the best player of all time makes a statement like this, it’s wise to take note of it.
Now, don’t get me wrong … a fade is not a shot that curves wildly from left to right. That type of shot is a slice. A fade is a shot that starts out slightly to the left and falls slightly to the right. A real fade is also a shot that is purposely hit instead of making this curvature from a flaw in your swing.
Another reason the fade is better to hit than a draw is because a fading shot stops faster on greens especially with long irons. This is because a fading shot has more backspin thus making it fly higher. The higher the shot, the faster it will stop.
Finally, most golf holes are designed for shots that curve from left to right. So hitting a fade will allow you to take advantage of how these holes are set up.
2 Types of Fades You Can Hit
There are 2 types of fading shots a person can hit. I refer to them as the “real fade” and an “over the top fade.” Even if you don’t want to hit a fade as your regular shot, there will be times when you need this shot example: curving the ball around a tree or a dog leg left. If you’re a player that hits a draw and are presented with a situation like this, do your best to make the necessary adjustments to your stance and body position (as outlined below) to hit the “real fade.”
The “Real Fade”
The real fade is a shot that curves from left to right approx. 5 yards with irons (8 irons and up) and approx. 10 yards with woods.
A real fade is performed from an open stance and body alignment. Positioning your body like this creates a swing path that is to the left of your target line. As the club makes contact with the ball, the face is square relative to the target line. This means that it is open relative to the path the club is swinging on. It is this open clubface position (relative to the swing path) that causes the ball to spin from left to right back to the target line.
So a real fade has you with an open stance and body alignment. The ball starts slightly left of the target and spins back to the target.
How to Hit a “Real Fade”
The real fade is quite easy to hit if you understand what you are trying to do and make the necessary adjustments to your stance and body positioning. Let’s take a look at the different parts to the “real fade”:
Stance and Body Alignment
The first thing we have to look at is the stance and body alignment. With a real fade, the golfer has an open stance (to the left) and their body is also aligned open (to the left) of the target. This stance and body position is created on purpose by the golfer being aware of where a square alignment is then making the adjustment to the open position.
Path
From this open stance and body alignment, the path of the club swings to the left which starts the ball out to the left of the target. This is the critical part to developing a real fade.
*** IMPORTANT ***
With this shot, you are not starting the ball to the left because you have a swing flaw. You are starting the ball to the left because you aimed your whole body to the left. In other words, you are purposely trying to hit the ball left of your target. In trying to teach this shot to people this is where they go wrong. They aim there stance and body to the left yet they swing down the target line. REMEMBER: if you aim left, you have to swing left. The ball will spin right because of the clubface position.
Clubface
Once the golfer gets the ball starting to the left consistently, he/she has to put the spin on the ball to allow it to fade back to the target line. This spin on the ball is achieved by setting your clubface square to your target line. Remember … the swing path is to the left so if the clubface is square to the target line it is open to the swing path. This allows the ball to spin back to the target line thus producing the real fade.
So, who hits a real fade? Good players. This is because good players understand that to hit this shot they just have to make some minor adjustments to their normal set up position. In other words, they are telling themselves to hit this shot as opposed to hitting this shot because they have a flaw in their swing.
Just because better players hit this type of shot doesn’t mean that you can’t hit it. Again, it just takes a little understanding and some minor adjustments to your stance and body position.
Mistakes People Make:
1. The person doesn’t realize that they have to purposely swing to the left.
2. Hitting with the arms sends the club over the top.
3. Hitting hard tightens the wrists and holds the clubface too open through impact creating a slice.
4. They release the club too much which does not allow it to stay open thus they pull it left.
5. Grip may be in a weak position which may cause the ball to spin too much right.
6. Their grip is too strong which causes a pull as opposed to the fade.
So now you know how to hit a “real fade” it’s time to understand the over the top fade. If you want to fade the ball, you should really be doing a “real fade” but some people do have success with the over the top fade.
The “Over the Top Fade”
The “over the top” fade is a shot that is created because you have a flaw in your swing NOT because you are purposely trying to hit a slight fade. Now, I’m not saying this is a slice which would see the ball curving severely from left to right with the ball ending up well right of your intended target. The flaw I am talking about would see the ball move slightly from left to right with irons (approx. 5 yards) and a little more with woods (approx. 10 yards).
Here’s how an over the top fade is created:
Stance and Body Alignment
The over the top fade is performed from a square stance and body alignment or even a body alignment that is slightly closed. The swing path then swings left of this stance and body alignment which would be referred to as an over the top swing path.
Again, I’m not saying this is a huge slice. The ball with this shot is only fading back to the target line even though there is a flaw in their swing that sends the club over the top.
Clubface
The clubface in this over the top fade would be in a square position relative to the target line. If you couple this clubface position with a path that swings to the left, it means the face would be open relative to this swing path. This open clubface position causes the ball to spin back to the target line.
*** IMPORTANT ***
As you read the description of this shot, I really don’t want you to try to fade the ball this way. I’m simply making you aware of this shot so you can check to see if this is how you are making the ball fade. On the other hand, if you are a better player and consistently hit the ball this way then you may not want to change it. After all, it did work quite well for Bruce Lietzke.
To check and see if this is the shot you are hitting, just lay a club down parallel to your target and hit some balls. From this square stance, take note of where your ball starts. If it starts to the left then fades back to your target from a square stance and body alignment, you have an over the top fade.
Why Do You Hit The Over the Top Fade?
This over the top shot occurs by starting the downswing with the arms instead of the body. In doing so, the body tilts to the left in the initial stages of the downswing. This tilt to the left makes the club swing left. Because the clubface is square relative to the target line, it’s open relative to the stance and body alignment. This causes the ball to fade back to the target. In theory, these are the very same elements found in a slice it’s just that the club is not swinging severely over the top like a slice would be.
Conclusion
I truly hope you understand the 2 different fade shots you can hit and how to hit them. With a little practice you should be able to consistently hit the real fade and make this game a little easier.
