nobackswing

when people say "baseball grip" do they mean both thumbs wrapped around the shaft like a baseball player? a 10-finger golf grip has the lead hand thumb aligned with the shaft, much like an interlock or overlap would. it seems like these terms are used interchangeably when it might be better to separate them.

interesting, i may have to try this with some of the beginners i work with.

great post adam.

when i have to convey D-plane concepts to a student who doesn't need (or want) all the detail, i say that the clubface should be pointing between the target line and the true club path at impact. we then work within that zone to improve accuracy.

if it's mats only, i'll hit driver and teed up hybrid clubs. nothing else. i regret spending so much time learning golf on mats and thinking i had hit "good" shots that in reality hit 3 inches behind the ball. i really like bobby clampett's sand drill to help my students make sure they master the "little ball before big ball" concept.

10-foot putting test I picked up from Mark Broadie at the WSCG : (Broadie is the guy that invented the "putts gained" stat for the PGA tour.) putt 10-footers from various spots on a green. +3 for every putt made -1 for every miss -5 for every miss short -10 for every 3-putt if you can score zero or positive over the long term, you are at or near the level of the top ten putters in the world.

no glove for me ever. honestly the #1 reason was i hated having to take it on and off 18 times a round. but golf is such a precision sport, every bit of feel is important. i don't know why anyone would wear a glove unless they needed to because of wet hands or blisters or something.

putting indoors is the best practice because you can take all the variables out except your stroke. i use a leveled wooden board to putt 3.5-footers on thru an opening about 2.5 inches wide. i can hit hundreds of putts while watching TV. and if i miss i know it was my stroke and not a misread or a spike mark.

don't be afraid to go to a weaker grip on the range, just as an experiment. it might give you some interesting feels and feedback. if you can groove a swing plane and clubface that are more "zeroed out", my guess is that you will be more consistent. you don't see pros hitting big benders (like the 10-20 yd draws you mention) very often.

that's really cool, it sounds like you're a quick learner/applier of the "new" ball flight laws. pretty nice how you changed your swing path just by opening up your stance. what happens to your face numbers when you weaken your grip?

great video!

man, i wish my range offered memberships. i'd have saved a lot of money. some people would probably disagree, but i'd say spend a lot of time hitting driver. it's such an important club. also probably groove two or three other clubs. are you hitting off mats? if so, hitting a lot of irons is probably not the best use of your practice time, at least until hitting it fat on the course isn't an issue. with those flight limited balls, i'd be working more on direction than distance. but i don't have a lot of experience with them.

somebody's got to make a name for it, might as well be you. hope you don't switch. i use the 10-finger and have tinkered with the others, they all make me feel like i have less control of the club.

i've been looking at this a lot and it seems like in every other sport where there is a dynamic hip motion to generate speed, the front toes want to rotate out during the motion. i don't understand this square stance thing in golf. from everything i can tell using biomechanical analogies, you get closer to max speed when you let that front foot go. and it seems like flaring them out at address just presets a good position. sadlowski rotates that front foot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ0dNIP-yoU so does lincecum in baseball. big time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaujydpE3Tc&feature;=related and here's one of andrew luck throwing a long pass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-LNTMYn50 their feet are all pointing toward the target or moving toward pointing to the target. regular (non-long drive) golf may be different for some reason, but i don't see it.

zimmster, i'm a no backswinger too, really good to hear that you're using it and playing well. i'd love to hear updates on your progress. i truly believe NBS is a more efficient way to swing the club. here's a video of my version of it.