King Finishes Third

Congratulations to Dave King for finishing the year as the 3rd ranked Super Senior in the country. Dave finished the year strong with a 2nd place finish at the Dixie Amateur and two other top 15's at the Ralph Bogart and the Golfweek Seniors.

Jim McLean's X-Factor Stretch

I generally try to read most of the instruction articles in the likes of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine only because everyone of my students is reading them and many will come to see me trying to do something they saw in the magazine. Most of the time this leads to nothing but trouble. This is because articles are written in very general terms and are not able to address an individual’s problem.

One of the things I read about often is how the lower body creates power on the downswing and if you want to hit it 10 yards farther you need to swing your hips faster. So, I have students constantly coming to me trying to swing their hips faster, and the faster they swing their hips the worse they hit the ball. Why? Because, what majority of the articles do not talk about is what role the shoulders or upper body play in the power process.

In the recent issue of Golf Digest, Jim McLean’s article entitled Triple X-Factor (http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/swing/2008/01/mclean_xfactor1) he talks about what he calls the X-Factor stretch. The X-Factor is the difference in shoulder rotation versus hip rotation at the top of the golf swing. To maximize power you should maximize shoulder rotation and minimize hip rotation. The X-Factor Stretch takes this a step further and shows that to truly maximize power the X-Factor is increased at the beginning of the downswing, meaning the hips start the downswing but the shoulders do not move as seen in the picture to the right. As Mclean says in his article “The upper body and lower body should work independently. The hips and legs separate from the upper body and start forward.” What McLean does not address is that the average person does not have the flexibility to properly make this move, so when they begin to shift and rotate their lower body their upper body will automatically follow. When this happens all of the stored energy is depleted prior to impact and the club will generally swing on an outside to in path which ultimately creates weak left to right shots.

In McLean’s article he has two drills, Turn Your Hips and Keep Your Coil that are excellent drills to work on improving your X-Factor Stretch but you first need to find out if you have the flexibility to make this move. Dr. Greg Rose from the Titleist Performance Institute (http://www.mytpi.com/) has a test called the Pelvic Rotation Test which checks the player's ability to rotate their lower body independently from their upper body. Dr. Rose says that “this is an important skill to properly sequence the downswing and generate a good x-factor stretch (increased separation between the upper and lower body on the downswing). This movement requires good mobility of the spine, hips and pelvis, and simultaneous stability of the trunk.”
To do this test stand in your golf posture and cross your arms across your chest. From here, do not move your upper body and try to rotate your lower body (belt and below) only. Look for any movement of your shoulders or excessive lateral motion of the pelvis verses rotation.

If you have trouble moving the lower body independently of the lower body it is going to be extremely difficult for you to make a good X-Factor Stretch. When I see that a student has difficulty making this move which is about 75% of my students I encourage them to feel their arms dropping into the correct downswing position before beginning to rotate their lower body, this prevents the student from coming over the top and leads to better ball striking.

So, next time you want to try an increase distance make sure you can physically make the move and remember a ball struck in the center of the club will always go further than a off center strike.

PGA Tour Professionals Visit Iraq

Most of us take for granted how lucky we are to be able to go out and play a leisurly round of golf. We are able to go out and forget about everyday life and the freedoms that are given to us and enjoy this wonderful game we play. For the men and women who are defending our freedoms in war torn areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan, enjoying the game is reduced to the occasional opportunity to watch the PGA Tour on international television or read the Golf Digest that a relative or friend has sent.

My brother Ryan Buytenhuys, who is stationed at Camp Fallujah in Iraq is one of those individuals who truly loves the game. Ryan often spends his free time in Iraq hitting old golf balls off the hard desert sand, hoping that he does not brake the only club he has, when he catches it just a little heavy.

Recently, Ryan and the other servicemen and women stationed at Camp Fallujah were treated to a visit by Butch Harmon, David Fehrety, Tom Watson, Tom Lehman and other PGA Tour Professionals as part of a PGA USO Tour to the Middle East. This was an extra special break from the war they are fighting and extra special for guys like Ryan who love this game.

It also reminded me what a great game we play and the fact that individuals like Watson, Lehman, Fehrety and Harmon are true ambassadors of the game and that is the way it was meant to be. Thank you for bringing a piece of the game to our troops and more importantly thank you to our troops who put their lives in danger on a daily basis to protect our freedom.

Maclain Huge

I am fortunate to have a wonderful group of students who work extremely hard on their golf game. I believe in developing programs and not just giving that quick fix. Because of that I often see my students games improve over an extended period of time, which is very gratifying. However, every so often an individual comes along who you know is extra special.

About 18 months ago a father approached me about working with his 12 year old son. I agreed to see him and am I happy that I did. When Maclain Huge first came to see me he was about 5’6” and reminded me of a young Ernie Els. He was shooting in the mid 80’s but had a real desire to get better. Maclain’s swing was good but it had a lot of moving parts. Maclain tried to produce his distance by hitting with his upper and lower body which caused a steep outside to in swing. Over time we have worked extremely hard on shallowing his plane and reducing the amount of body movement. We also spent a lot of time on developing a putting stroke, and I say developing because this was by far the weakest part of his game. Since we first met Maclain he has grown to just over 6’ and so the changes have been a challenge because his body is continuously changing, but it has also been a wonderful learning experience for both him and me.

I am very proud to announce that because of Mac’s commitment and hard work he has managed to have one of the greatest season’s I have ever seen. Mac capped off his 2007 campaign with a very impressive win in Virginia Beach over the weekend. In 30mph winds Maclain shot rounds of 75-77 to win not only his division (13 under) but also the overall title (19 under). Not bad for a 13 year old. Below is a recap of Mac’s year:

MAPGA Spring Fling- 2nd place
PJGT Herndon - 1st place
Wake Forest Camp Tournament - 1st
MAPGA Fairfax National - 1st
MAGA Boys Championship @ Holly Hills CC- 1st
MAPGA South Riding - 1st
Bobby Bowers-2nd
VSGA 13 under State Championship – 1st
MAPGA Piedmont-1st
Nordlinger Cup – 1st
PGJT Arnold Palmer Old Dominion Adventure – 1st

Wow, what a year.

MyTPI.com

As a golf instructor it is critical that I be in tune with each one of my students physical make-up. Often, I have students come to me who have been battling a particular problem in their swing only to find out that they are struggling because of a physical limitation. Whether it is a lack of flexibility or a lack of strength in a certain muscle group, diagnosing the problem and addressing it can lead to improved golf swings.

Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips, PGA co-founders of the Titlest Performance Institute have spent countless hours researching all aspects of the golf swing in relation to the body. This knowledge has been put together on a website called MYTPI.com. MyTPI.com is the largest collection of golf-specific health and fitness information from the world's leading experts in the game.

Through MYTPI.com golf professionals like myself are able to offer students a complete golf fitness assessment and custom build a workout program that will help build flexibility and strength in areas that are directly affecting your golf swing.

Winter is a perfect time to begin a program like this mainly because we have the time do commit to the program as we are not able to play due to cold temperatures. Also, when working on your golf swing and physical fitness their will be an adjustment period to get used to the changes in your swing and how your body is working. These changes can be frustrating in the middle of the season because it leads to poor scores. However, if you make these changes during the winter you can come out firing with all cylinders early spring.

Why Titleist?

As a teaching professional I am not sought out by equipment companies offering me six figure endorsement deals. However, I do have the opportunity to receive equipment for my personal use as well as balls, gloves, shirts and hats and a nice big staff bag that makes me look like a tour player. If I play well in local Club Professional tournaments or if I win awards such as Teacher of the Year I am eligible for small monetary bonuses. These perks are about the same with each company so at the end of the day I am choosing to play a brand that I think is the best for my game and is also the best for the clients that I am working with on a daily basis. I am a Titleist Staff Member so I often ask myself the question "Why Titleist?".

Recently, I was surfing the web and came across some equipment counts provided by Darrell Survey. Darrell Survey is on the first tee at every PGA, LPGA, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and European Tour event. They count the type of equipment that each player is carrying that week and provide the results to the manufacturers and the general public. There are also counts done at every USGA event and at most major Club Professional events such as the National Club Professional Championship. I was amazed at how many players are trusting their game to Titleist. More importantly Titleist is leading the counts in events such as the US Amateur where no one is payed to play a certain brand, they are playing it because they believe it is the best.

After reading all of the results I believe that I once again I answered the question "Why Titleist?" and the answer is because the best players are trusting their livelihood on Titleist equipment and so will I. Below is a sampling of some of the results of equipment counts from 2007.

Titleist Golf Balls 158 Worldwide Wins
Nearest Competitor 25 Worldwide Wins

2007 US Amateur
Drivers 45%(1st)
Fairway Metals 46%(1st)
Irons 48%(1st)

2007 US Junior
Drivers 53%(1st)
Fairway Metals 47%(1st)
Irons 45%(1st)

2007 NCAA Champ.
Drivers 46%(1st)
Fairway Metals 47%(1st)
Irons 49%(1st)

2007 PGA Professional Championship
Drivers 49%(1st)
Fairway Metals 41%(1st)
Irons 48%(1st)

2007 YTD PGA Tour
Drivers 24%(2nd)
Fairways 16% (3rd)
Irons 22%(1st)
Wedges 43%(1st)
Putters 35%(1st)

So next time you are considering new equipment I strongly advise you to find a PGA Professional who can properly fit you for equipment and consider what the best players in the world are playing, it may just work for you to.

Stack and Tilt; Whats the Buzz About?

Over the past couple of months the big talk on the driving range is whether or not the “new tour swing”, Stack and Tilt is good for you or not. I feel that anything and everything involving the golf swing has been tried and analyzed millions of times and there is nothing new to the way the golf club should be swung. Each and every one of us has a slightly different way of interpreting the swing and of conveying our interpretations, but I feel that there is only one point in the golf swing that is important and that no one can argue about and that is impact.

If you watch any tour player hit an iron shot, their weight is moving on to the forward foot, the hips are slightly open to target, and the hands are slightly ahead of the club head. This position provides the best contact and that is not debatable. This position changes slightly with fairway woods and the driver primarily because we change ball position by moving it forward in our stance in order to promote an upward angle of attack. If we were to play the ball in the same place as our irons or further back we would never get the ball airborne. This brings us to the subject of Stack and Tilt.

The most important thing to remember about Stack and Tilt is that we have all learnt about it from a magazine, and the magazines goal is to sell as many copies as possible. So, writing an article that talked about the “new tour swing” that was not dramatically different than what we know and understand would not be very successful. If the article showed actual pictures of Aaron Baddely’s swing as opposed to posed pictures we would all see that he really is not doing anything dramatically different from norm.

The Stack and Tilt concept is to have majority of your weight on the forward foot with a straight back knee at the top of the backswing. This promotes the forward hip to be considerably lower. I am all for limited lateral movement in the lower body, but we have to remember that if we are going to rotate our upper body and get the club and hands over our right shoulder we are going to have moved our weight towards our back foot, since the club, hands and arms all have weight. Also, to encourage majority of our weight to finish on the forward foot we should have room to move in that direction. If we were to have majority of our weight on the front foot at the top of our swing in order to make solid contact we would have to add significant curve in the back (the old reverse C) in order to get the ball airborne, especially with long irons, fairways woods and the driver. Not only does this put extreme pressure on the lower back but it also forces our energy to be transferred away from the ball as opposed to through the ball. This is similar to asking a sprinter to setup in the starting block with no weight on the rear foot. They would have no leverage to push off. Same in the golf swing, if our weight is on the forward foot we have no ability to push off and transfer our weight through the ball.

At the end of the day, I feel that if you are trying to improve your iron play and produce more consistent contact then the concepts of Stack and Tilt are good, however you will have to produce a different swing in order to get the longer clubs airborne.

Keywords: Stack and Tilt, Aaron Baddely