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GOLF COACH TO ELITE GOLFERS

PGA GOLF ACADEMY-MISSION HILLS CHINA​

                  TEACHING PHILOSOPHY​ 

*My teaching philosophy is based on Impact and Ball Flight Principles as well as making sure the student is able to translate the information into feel.

*The body serves as a support base for balance and momentum--but the hands and arms swing the club. As John Jacobs used to say: "You can either swing the club or you can swing yourself"

*If you can't hit a pitch solid, there is not much chance for the full swing.

*Deliberate practice is practicing drills that benefit movement. Hitting hundreds of balls every day with the wrong concepts will only make you worse.

PGA MASTER PROFESSIONAL

DOC HOLLOWAY

                   A LIFETIME OF LESSONS

*Simple instruction based on feel rather than positions.

*There is no substitute for good fundamentals of GRIP-AIM-POSTURE

*The ball only cares about impact factors of the club (FACE-PATH-ANGLE).

*Head still and left arm straight are mostly destructive concepts.

*Not interfering with the momentum of the swinging club is the secret to the golf swing. You can only feel this when your thoughts are in your hands.

*Most of your practice should be on hitting 40-50 yard pitches. This is the heartbeat of the swing.  

PIVOT POINT AND MOMENTUM--THE GATEWAY TO THE SWING

LEARN THE FEEL OF HOW THE CLUB PIVOTS AROUND THE WRISTS   

Having a mental image of impact is so destructive to the swing. There seems to be a lot of instruction now trying to get the golfer to the impact position. I hear words like LAG-LATE HIT-PULL. I see people dragging the handle forward in the downswing trying to get to a late hit position. The problem is the brain can't process still positions within the swing. Anyone trying to get to this position will most certainly be late with the release of the club. Let the club pivot around the wrists in the downswing. To do this, the club has to be accelerated longitudinally away from the target. As this occurs the left forearm will feel like it rotates down plane in the downswing and don't interfere with the momentum of the swinging club. This pivot point will feel like the club head passes the handle near the right hip. When you add the turn of the body the club will arrive at impact. 

ATHLETIC MOTION IN THE GOLF SWING

TWO COMPONENTS TO THE GOLF SWING

I have always said that your golf swing is only as good as your concepts. Every motion starts with your thoughts. I think the golf swing is most similar to a throwing motion. So I will call this----(LOAD-FIRE-STAND UP). There are only two components to the golf swing. 1) Swing the club with the hands and arms. 2) Get the body working in an athletic way. Your thoughts should always be in your hands. Hopefully, this will free up your thoughts to make a more athletic motion.

DOC HOLLOWAY HONORED AS THE FIRST US-PGA MEMBER IN CHINA ---1996

AT THE MISSION HILLS SPORTS FORUM (2018)--SHENZHEN, CHINA

 JEFF OLYNIEC AND RAY ROESSEL

DIRECTORS OF FIVE STAR SPORTS AND

PACIFIC PINE SPORTS

MISSION HILLS GOLF CLUB

DONGGUAN-CHINA 

TINIEL CHU-DIRECTOR

MISSION HILLS GROUP-CHINA

 LESSONS FROM THE BEST

Shake hands with the right hand in the backswing and throw a frisbee with the left hand in the thru swing

Your thoughts should always be in your hands when swinging the club

DRILLS TO TRAIN THE HANDS

SHAKE HANDS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

THIS IS THE FOUNDATION THAT THE SWING IS BUILT ON

 L TO L

MOST OF YOUR PRACTICE TIME SHOULD BE WITH THIS DRILL

SWING PLANE TRAINING

*There is no better teaching aid than the SWING PLANE TRAINER.

*Ten minutes a day on this with an alignment rod will give the hands the feel of how to move the club.

BODY ROTATES LEVEL

*This is how the body rotates. Passing the tray of balls to the side allows her to turn the body in the same spine angle as address position. The head has to move a couple of inches to accommodate the correct turn.

* (The mental image of keeping the head centered

is one of the most destructive concepts.)

*This is the only way the body can keep its balance.

*Doing these drills is the only way to learn correctly

because it allows you to get the feel of what is correct. Hitting hundreds of balls every day just reinforces bad habits.​

BACKSWING IS A SWINGING SET

The backswing is a swinging set with the right hand and arm.

The best way to feel this is with only a couple of fingers on the club, just let the weight and momentum of the club swing to the side. The end of the backswing is when the right arm makes a 90* angle. Then, If you reach over and put your left hand on the club you will see that the body has turned. This is an easier concept than trying to turn the shoulders. Your thoughts should always be in your hands while swinging the club.

THE BODY RESPONDS TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE CLUB

There are only two components to every swing: (1) Learn the feel of swinging the club with the hands and arms. (2) Learn the feel of how the body works in any athletic movement. Then learn how to sequence the two together.

 BRAKING SYSTEM IN GOLF SWING

If you look at other throwing sports, you will clearly see the concept of putting on the brakes.....The javelin thrower runs and then plants his left leg which allows his right side to be catapulted to release the javelin. The bowler plants his left leg to allow the right hand to roll the ball down the alley.There has to be a braking of the left side of the body to allow the right side to release. If you slam on the brakes of a car, anything that isn't attached will fly forward. This force of momentum is present in every golf swing. The object is to not interfere with it.

BACK TO THE TARGET DRILL

RELEASE IN THE GOLF SWING

I don't think any topic on the golf swing has been discussed more than the release of the club. The release from the top of the swing is simply learning how to not interfere with the momentum of the club. The best drill I have ever used is the -(BACK TO THE TARGET DRILL). There is nothing better to get the feel of how the club swings down and pivots thru the ball.

NSIDE OUT PATH

Generally speaking, good athletes usually swing the club on a path that is too in to out across the target line. They know how to use the hands and wrists to swing the club and create a good release of the club but many times the release is in the wrong direction. In this case the player may have to feel the club swing outside in the takeaway and then point left at the top and then release more to the left in the downswing. POINT LEFT-RELEASE LEFT

                          Xili Golf Club-Shenzhen, China 

THAI TOUR PLAYERS

CHIPPING

*If you have trouble with the short game, you most likely don't have a steep enough angle of attack. A golfer who is outside-in with his full swing, generally has an easier time with the short game. Get the path of the club to swing a bit out to in and you will get much better contact of ball-turf.

Strike a match to generate some speed in the downswing.

It is not a push through impact. There must be some acceleration.

BIG MUSCLES VS. SMALL MUSCLES

There is a lot of talk now about using the big muscles to move the club and not using the hands. You can't get club club speed trying to use the shoulders, core, hips, etc. 80% of your club speed comes from the hands, wrists, and arms. The body is used for support, balance, and resistance. 

CLUB FACE ROTATION TO THE ARC

The club face is your right palm or the back of the left hand.

Assuming you have a good grip and you shake hands on both sides of the ball, the club face will open and close to the arc.

Too much right hand is not responsible for bad shots. It just has to be used correctly. The image on the left is Rickie Fowler just past impact. You can see the shake hands position of his right hand as well as the left wrist bent back and the left elbow folding on the body. This is one of the few times I will use a still image to make a point. This is for everyone trying to get to the impact position with the left arm and club shaft in a straight line. (Homer Kelly and the Golfing Machine). The club is tearing thru impact and the left hand and arm is getting out of the way.The brain can't handle the mental image of the Impact position.

SANTIBURI GOLF COURSE-CHIANG RAI THAILAND

The Perfect Holiday--A couple days of golf instruction + Seeing some of the sights of northern Thailand

PGA MASTER PROFESSIONAL

DOC HOLLOWAY

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