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Golf is Physical Invest In your Body

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2 GOLF TODAY MAGAZINE NORTHWEST EDITION JULY 2009

SUMMARY

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TAI Golf Performance

JULY 2009 GOLF TODAY MAGAZINE NORTHWEST EDITION 3

Hes Back! FreddyCouplesreturnstoSeattlewithahostofothergreatchampionstotakeonSahaleeJuly26August1atthe2010U.S.SeniorOpen.

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Golf is physical, invest in your body. Truer words were never spoken. Therapeutic Associates, experts in injury prevention and rehabilitation, offer Golf Today Magazine readers the tools to help maximize physical abilities on and off the course. Imagine having a licensed Physical Therapist and an avid golfer providing insights into the biomechanics of your golf swing. With Therapeutic Associates offering the TAI Golf Performance Program, you can learn from a Certified TPI Instructor dedicated to your very own strength and conditioning program. See pages 2, 19 to learn how injury prevention and rehabilita-tion are essential to a healthy and fun time on the links. Cameron Healey, Publisher/Editor

Cover photo courtesy of Brian Beaky Varsity Communications


I was feeling good going into my third lesson at GolfTEC. During the previous lesson, I made a huge leap with my swing and I was excited to carry on with that suc-cess. I knew that I might not see the gains that I had in the last lesson but was positive I still had a little more to improve upon. As usual, I reviewed my videos and drills online to prepare for the day. I am really happy with my instruction so far and the bene t of being able to look at video and analysis of my swing both during and after the lesson.

As with the previous lessons, I was directed into a stall at GolfTEC to warm up. What warm-up would be complete without me ricocheting a shot o the glass computer barrier? Brett soon hooked me up to the computer and recorded a few shots to determine what we would work on. Th e three focus points for the lesson were preventing right leg lockout, short-ening my swing and reducing my vertical bounce. Th ese two later goals were very interesting as the rst was very counter-intuitive and the second was just hard to get the hang of.

My legs have been prob-lematic from the begin-ning. From a dead lower body in my rst lesson to lifting heals during the backswing in the second, I have been through the full gamut of problems. Brett quickly noticed that I was locking my right leg. Once I understood the problem, we were quick to x it. Af-ter adding some knee ex to my address and being more mindful of this habit, I stopped locking my knee. It was time to move on to shortening my swing.

Having so little experi-ence with golf, I think that I pictured a good swing as a hard swing including taking the club back as far as possible. Brett explained that with improvements in player conditioning, equip-ment and balls, the pros found that a swing can be shorter and result in a shot that goes just as far and straighter. Looking back at videos of my prior lessons I can see that the top of my swing was not what it should be. Th e club seemed to be in a di erent position every time and I looked more like a baseball player winding up rather than a golfer.

To remedy this, Brett had me shorten the top of my swing to 9 or 10 oclock and the results have been great. Th e rst few shots left me feeling as if I was hitting the ball more solidly than before and I had improved distance. Of course the new motion felt di erent, but what I really

struggled with was the nagging urge to give the ball a giant whack. After a few more shots I realized that shortening my swing gives me better reference points at the top of the swing for where my arms and club should be, making the top of my swing less erratic.

Fresh o shortening my swing, Brett had me address the vertical bounce that I have had since the beginning of my lessons. Th anks to the truthful video, I found that I always move my head up and to the right more than a foot. Brett pulled up video of

Tiger making a similar shot and compared our head movement. Up to the top of the swing my movement was much the same as Tigers, moving 1-2 inches to the right. However, at the very top of the swing my head lifted and moved further right while Tigers head remained essentially motion-

less. Brett had me focus on keeping my head down though this has proved to be the most complicated task for me to do so far in my lessons. It could have been the combination of the three major tweaks I was trying to mentally juggle but it seemed as though I could not keep my head down.

Brett tried a variety of techniques for mak-ing me more aware of my vertical bounce even resorting to putting a pool noodle just above my head while swinging. For the remainder of the lesson I continued to reduce but not eliminate my vertical

bounce. I resolved that it is something that will take a little longer to get right. Th e good news is that the computer now shows that my shots are improved through my shorter, less bouncy swing. My ball carry has improved to the high 160s and I am hitting the ball far more cleanly than ever before. Th e jarring sensation that accom-panied many of my shots in early lessons is mostly gone. I think I may be turning into a golfer!

I hit the ball a ton in this lesson and developed a nasty blister on my left index nger. However, this injury has led me to realize that I have a tendency to grip the club too tightly, which I will work on. In the meantime I will make my rst ever golf purchase: a glove.

It is amazing to me how much this project has a ected my daily conversa-tions. Th ere is a phenomenon that no matter how loud a room is you always hear someone call your name. I feel like that has happened to me with golf. When I meet new people or get together with friends, I nd that Im picking up on mentions of golf more and more. I knew a lot of people

played the game, but I am still surprised to see the number of people that have some type of relation-ship with this game. One of the common things that has come up lately when I tell folks what Im doing is Th e Haney Project, or Isnt that what Charles Barkley is doing?

I am now giving more thought as to what my relationship with golf will be beyond the GolfTEC training center and driv-ing range. When I started this project my goal was to learn to play golf. So far the swing has taken center stage, and for good reason. Im curious to see what playing an actual game is like and cannot wait to give it a try. If it goes well maybe I can publicly chal-lenge Charles Barkley to a game, though its too bad he has had such a big head start.

If you feel that you need a little help with your swing, please turn to page 20 to see this months specials from our friends at GolfTEC.

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Golf Equipment Manufacturers build their clubs to t the average American male. If youre 510 tall, weigh between 165 and 185 pounds, youre not too strong, not too weak, you can probably buy a set of clubs o the rack that will work OK for you.

Not so if youre a woman, a man over 50 or a junior under 18. In the last few years weve learned a lot by working with golfers who are not part of the target de-mographic.

After conducting club ttings for all types of golfers for ten years, I have some recommendations that will help all golfers who are not average.

Th is article discusses unique club tting factors for women, seniors and juniors. Common mistakes in choosing golf clubs can be avoided. In addition to the univer-sal truthsI have speci c tips for each group. Maybe youll be inspired to create your own Magic Driver.

Club LengthBy far, the most important variable

in club tting is club length. Most golfers think that they should play the longest golf club that they can swing. Th at is a very common misunderstanding. Golfers think that the longest club that they can swing will produce the most distance.

Not true. Most amateur golfers make the mistake of buying golf clubs o the rack that are too long for their stature and strength. Almost all drivers these days are between 45 and 46 long. Why would an amateur golfer expect to do well with a driver that is longer than most PGA Tour professionals play?

Good golfers generate power from a late release after a strong wrist cock. Th ink of that as a forceful right forearm over left forearm release move. If a golf club is too long it creates enough centrifugal force to pull away from a players bodyleading to an early release. Th ats a very common power leak.

Its not the longest club that you can swing; its the longest club you can control. Control implies nesse, not brute force. Control can be measured. Launch moni-tors reveal consistency by recording swing path, face angle at impact and launch angle. Impact labels can be employed to show center contact. Golf club performance can be compared. Th e best performing club can be identi ed.

One of the key tting factors in golf is the smash factor or Power transfer ratio

(PTI). Th at is the ball speed divided by the club head speed at impact. It is the ul-timate measure of e ciency in a golf swing. If a players ball speed is 140 MPH and his club head speed is 100 MPH, his PTI is 1.4. Th ere is a PTI that is theoretically perfect1.5. With the advent of launch monitors reporting statistics at PGA Tour tournaments on television, we have all become familiar with professional driving distances that seem to be unusually long.

Th ere is a simple reason. Professional golfers hit the ball squarely on the center of the club much more frequently than amateurs. Th e longer the golf club, the less likely that a player will make a solid, center strike. Th e three key words are control, consistency and center contact. Make sure that your clubs are the right length for you and your swing. If you hit the ball better, you will hit the ball longer.

Juniors are especially susceptible to su ering from long club disease. Parents tend to like the idea that kids can grow into their clubs. Th ats a bad idea. Raise your hand if you want to win next yearnot right now.

Quick Check on Club LengthTh e key measurement to determine the

correct club length is wrist to oor. Th e measurement is from the crease in your wrist just above your palm to the oor when youre standing straight, chin up. You can use a yardstick with a little help. Th e so-called standard for irons is a 35 wrist to oor measurement. Plus or minus one inch and a standard ve iron club length of 38 might be appropriate. If your measurement is less than 33 or more than 36 you should be very wary of standard length golf clubs.

Th e most proli c club designer today is

Tom Wishon. In addition to lling a cata-log with his club designs, he has written a series of books on club making and club tting. Here is the chart that appears in his Search for the Perfect Golf Clubhighly recommended.

Th e notion of wrist to oor is not an absolute rule. Some players stand up to the ball in a more erect position and require longer shafts. Just the opposite for players who get down to the ball. A good idea is

to get some help from a club tter who can use his eye to supplement the measure-ment.

Beware. Some manufacturers make their graphite shafted iron sets longer than steel shafted sets by an inch. Do not fall for that. It is just a lazy way to use the same head weight in both sets and keep swing weight the same. Only one length ts.

Exceptions to the Anti-Long Club Length Rule

We have learned a lot from the Long Drive Contestants. For a player who can control the club, a driver with a SIGNIFI-CANTLY longer shaft will produce more distance. We will always favor 44.5 over 45we never detect a signi cant ball speed increase from half an inch.

Women, seniors and junior girls fre-quently get up to 20 yards in increased distance from longer drivers with ultra lightweight shafts. Keep in mind, club length is proportional. If you stand 5 tall, a 45 driver shaft is the equivalent of 47 for a player who stands 6 tall. Th ere is no reason to guess at the best length. You can test various lengths, in half inch increments and record the center face contact and ball speed. You need a partner who can help by supplying test clubs and electronics. Its way better to spend a little time and money to nd out precisely the driver setup that works best for you. Th e alternative is inef- cient, expensive random trial and error. You may never get the best t.

Although longer and lighter shafts in drivers is a good thing, we have never seen a situation where the same holds true for fairway metals, utility clubs or irons. For clubs where accuracy is paramount, make sure you nd the length that you control the best.

Shaft WeightMost golf club heads weigh the same

within a few grams. Head weight di er-

Fitting Women, Seniors and JuniorsCreate Your Own Magic Driver

by LEITH ANDERSON

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continued on page 10


Chris Camarda could easily be talking about the newly opened Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla. Instead, the owner of the Andrew Will Winery, named after his son Will and nephew Andrew, on Vashon Island is referring to the 2005 Champoux Cab-ernet Sauvignon that was Washingtons highest ranked wine, 25th out of 19,500 in Wine Spectator last year with 94 points. A blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot, the 05 Champoux features grapes grown on 26 year-old vines on the renowned Champoux vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills 75 miles southwest of Richland. Th e wine spent 21 months in New French Oak barrels developing its distinctive avors. As much as I fall in love with the wines from Champoux, Camarda continues, I have to pull myself back and wait for a few years until the true voicing and pitch of these wines comes forward.

Wine Valley GC is so new it hasnt been ranked by the national golf magazines yet, but when it is you can be sure it will score the score as high as Andrew Will Champouxs 94, if not higher. And though it can only improve with age, just like the Champoux, it is absolutely drinkable right now: A complex, full bodied, Palouse track with sandy notes, overtones of inland links, and more than a hint of Nebraskas Sand Hills.

Th eres an important connection here, of course. Th e Andrew Will Winery is just 20 years old and produces some of the worlds nest Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine Valley is barely 20 days old and likewise, will soon be considered among the best in the world of its type. And heres something else of great interest, at least to normal people who like good golf and good wine that they can a ord: Look hard enough and you can nd a bottle of the 05 Champoux for under $50 while 18 summer weekday holes at Wine Valley cost a mere $60. Can I hear you say unbelievable value! Th e growth of the Washington wine industry parallels, actually outstrips, that of its golf industry. Both are providing world class product at pleasingly a ordable prices and the reputa-tion of each is, frankly, soaring.

Following the Lake Chelan areas suc-

cessful bid for American Viticultural Area (AVA or Appellation) status, there are now 11 AVAs in Washington and just over 600 wineriesa 400% increase over the last decade. Th irty three thousand acres of the state are planted with grapevines by over 350 wine grape growers, 145,000 tons of grapes were harvested last year (a record), and well over 20 million gallons of wine were produced. Fourteen thousand people are employed in the Washington wine business which impacts the states economy to the tune of $3 billion a year

and the nations by $4.7 billion. Perhaps most revealing is the fact that in 1998, Washington surpassed New York as the second largest wine producing state in the nation, behind Californiaa long way behind California.

Oregon meanwhile possesses nearly 400 wineries in 16 AVAs the largest of which, the Willamette Valley, stretches from Portland to Eugene and was established in 1984. Its wine industry is estimated to contribute $1.4 billion to state co ers.

Its not altogether surprising then the Northwests vineyards and wineries attract well over two million visitors a year. Th ose with the good sense to pack golf clubs for the trip can therefore indulge their two great passions during a very a ordable long weekend just a few hours east of Seattle or

Portland.Seattleites looking to save time and gas

money, however, can stay a little closer to home by visiting wineries on Bainbridge Island, which produce very good quality reds and, it seems, even better whites such as Perennial Vintners Muller Th urgau and Madeleine Angevine 2007, Bainbridge Island Vineyard and Winerys 2006 Pinot Gris and 2004 Muller Th urgau, and the Eleven Winerys 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, produced in Matt and Sarah Albees two-car garage. Our winery may not be the most impressive, but we like to think of it as the start of something great, says Matt.

Golf on the island is limited to the private Wing Point CC and nine-hole Meadowmeer G&CC, but Chambers Bay isnt far and the excellent White Horse GC

Missing The Pines, Hitting The Vines:Northwest Wine Country Golf

by TONY DEAR

Its beauty and compelling nature as a whole draws me to it in an almost narcotic way.



Creating proper understanding of how to instinctively move our body e ciently and eventually totally without thought in the golf swing can be di cult if students take the Band-Aid approach. Th at is time after time repairing a leak somewhere at each practice session never really on a sound track of swing map building. Regardless or your age, current level of play, and even athletic ability you can and certainly should develop a roadmap for your practice instead of just chasing your tail year after year. It

needs to include in each practice session a percentage of time in what many call, real time practice. Th at is creating a physical and mental personalized pre-shot formula with one ball only as it lies, for the long game, short game, and putting, creating the same feelings that you will have with the ONE BALL ONLY that you get when you play the game. Now that being said lets discuss likely the most misunderstood area of swing building that causes nothing but havoc in your entire long game. How to properly move your hips!!! Foundationally and fundamentally quite possibly the most important area of the entire golf swing. Without this understanding you will never reach your potential in ball striking.

Let me start by sharing with you my feel-ings of correct hip posture.

When you create a well balanced sound hip ex/sit, correct spine bend, and light athletic knee bend in your set up, it creates a strong sense of strength/connection that permeates throughout the swing.Th is HAS to be the rst order of business in your de-velopment practice program. Since many golfers bend from the stomach instead of the hips at address and also mid bend their spines as well, no amount of instruction on the long game will create for them an intel-ligent map of growth for their long game. So that set up is darn important and does not

take much to learn it and properly stretch some to make it all safe and e cient. Now lets take a look at correct movement for the rst time

At set up our hips have a prescribed distance away from the ball and the hands. Th is distance needs to be maintained and to do that we need to teach our legs, thighs, hamstrings, and hip exors how to move.

As you initiate the back swing the right hip will tend to accept the early athletic weight shift with the right hip sitting some. Th e important aspect here is that the right knee is held in ex and actually the right hip will move back just a little maintaining its original ex. Th e left leg plays a huge role here and has been misunderstood for many years. Th e left thigh must stay what I term inside with the hip ex maintained. Most tend to allow their left leg/hip to move out toward the golf ball and it pulls the right hip forward losing your entire set up start-ing position. Th is golf swing killer has now started the dreaded compensatory package of nding some way to hit the ball.

Nearly everyone who has not been taught this concept moves out of hip pos-ture immediately in the initial stages of the backswing, moving their stomach forward toward the ball which has dire consequenc-es in the chain reaction system.

Th e correct feeling is the right and left

hip ex is never lost even though there is some hip rotation in the backswing. Th e feeling is that we shift and turn without ever forward bending either hip toward the ball. Th e left thigh and foot stay inside and ex inward slightly toward the right knee and hip. Th e feeling also is that your lower body center(tail bone), never moves forward toward the ball but maintains the original start position save a little move to the right. Th is hold will also assist people with tons more leverage as they will nally understand what turning the upper against a stable and held lower body actually feels like. It is very interesting with proper move-ment here you can absolutely stabilize your right thigh and calf without ever changing their address angle and yet still move your hips/glutes to the right in your backswing. Th is is due to the correct hip sit established at address and then maintained into the backswing.

Returning that lower body on the for-ward swing is exactly the reverse of the backswing however nearly every golfer has never felt this powerful delivery position. Most everyone forward exes the right hip toward the ball losing that original hip ex. Th e right tends to pull the left forward again toward the ball as well creating an entirely new address position that demands

Hips Terribly Missunderstoodby JOE THIEL



Have you ever asked yourself that? When youre on the course, do you ever think, What am I doing out here? Its a good question no matter what caliber of player you are. Most people say they just want to have fun, be with their friends, and enjoy their surroundings, but it sure doesnt seem like that is whats happening out there. When I ask players what constitutes fun for them they say shooting a good scorewhoaTh ats the criteria for their enjoy-ment level? If thats the case, theyre going to struggle with the fun factor.

I was playing the other day with some friends and from across a couple of fairways the air turned blue with colorful expletives from another foursome. You know what I

mean, youve all heard it, maybe youve been that tortured soul. Didnt sound like much fun for him or his playing partners.

We all put so much pressure on ourselves to succeed in whatever we do that we forget that the game of golf is just that, a game. Its not life and death, even for those who make a living at it. Your score is not who you are. Does this sound familiar? Get a birdie, Im a good person, I have worth. Double bogey, theres something lacking in my characterwell, that may be the case, but making a double bogey or an eagle does not re ect the type of person you are. How you react to those events does. You know, no one cares how you play. Truly, they just care how you react to how you play. Th rowing your clubs, slamming them into your bag, or cussing and swearing, says more about you than your score or your level of play.

When you watch the pros on television you get a distorted view of their games. First of all, you only see the players who are playing well. Watching the Memorial last week you would have thought Tiger was playing by himself. Who was he playing with? Th e pros dont play great every week and they spend hours upon hours perfecting their craft. Th ey truly are the only ones who deserve to get angry and frustrated when they under perform, because they have put so much time and e ort in to their games.

Generally speaking, however, they dont waste a lot of energy being angry or upset with themselves because they have learned that it detracts from their games. Th ey dont carry a poor shot over from one hole to the next or one shot to the next. Th ey have to get ready to hit the next shot the best way they can. We can learn from that.

So, the next time you are on the course, monitor your thoughts. You might be sur-prised at how easily we can slip into negativ-ity. Th e good news is that we have control over our attitudes and you might have more fun if you put this game in perspective.

Relax, dont take yourself so seriously, and remember, no one cares how you play, they just want to enjoy your company. Revel in being outside with nature and your friends, and be grateful you are on this side of the grass.

Keep swinging and enjoy the game.

Erin Szekely is an LPGA teaching profes-sional. She can be reached at 425-398-0443 or visit www.golfi ngwitherin.com for more information.

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Why Do You Play Golf?by ERIN SZEKELY

good news is that it will reveal just enough chinks in its armor to entice and demand that you return for more and that includes players of all abilities. Yes, Camas is a goodie including their rst-class practice and teaching facility o ering 20 golfers a covered, lit, and heated area and grass tees during the golf season. Th e grass tees have up to 50 stalls. Director of Golf Jenny Duce and her sta are e cient, personable, and professional and the full service pro shop is one of the better ones Ive seen. Of course, it just wouldnt be complete without a visit

to the top-notch club house and Oaks bar and Grill offering golfers good food at reasonable prices, Yes, the Oaks Clubhouse Sandwich coupled with a pint of the Camas Meadows private label beer, did sit nicely af-ter our round. Camas might be a short ride from the hustle and bustle of downtown Portland, but if you truly want a quality golf experience, get out to SW Washington and visit Camas Meadows.

Camas Meadows continued from page 8

your golf performance, you ought to take your exercise time seriously. You can bet the top 10 golfers in the world work long and hard at creating strong, powerful bodies in order to compete at the highest level. A major component to every one of their workouts is core stabilization and strengthening.

movement. Just about every body part rotates in

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that they buy with their interchangeable shaft drivers.

Fitting for FlexTh e traditional way to measure ex is

to use the frequency method developed by Dr. Joe Braley in 1974 at Royal Preci-sion. Th e concept is to clamp the butt end of the club, oscillate the shaft with a clubhead temporarily attached to the shaft and count the Cycles Per Minute or CPM. Th e faster the shaft oscillates, the sti er the ex. Once you have a club length and CPM reading you locate a point on a slope chart and that tells you the ex value of that shaft. Th ats where the 4.5 for regular, 5.5 for sti and 6.5 for extra sti comes from.

Th e rule says that 80 MPH with a driver is senior, 90 MPH is regular and 100 MPH is sti . At 110 and over, youre pretty much on your own trying to nd a shaft that will hold up.

Th ere are two problems with tting for ex with frequency analysis and swing

speed. First, there are two completely different systemsthe original Royal Precision method and a later revision de-veloped by the (now defunct) Professional Clubmakers Society. Each uses di erent clamp lengths and interprets CPM dif-ferently. Consequently, you cant know for

sure what your ex value means unless you know the underlying system that was employed to complete the testing.

Th ere is also no good way to tell if the shaft you are testing actually plays true to ex. Th ere is no standard way to compare ex designations from manufacturer to

manufacturer. Even if there were, it is not a sure thing that two shafts from di erent manufacturers with the same frequency will play the same. It would be great if you could say that, after testing, your best fre-quency with a driver shaft was 250 CPM. Alas, its not so simple. You might nd that you hit an OBAN Devotion just ne at 250 Cycles Per Minute but you need a Fujikura Speeder at 240.

Shaft LoadIf youre a senior with an 80 MPH swing

speed you might faint if your club tter recommends extra sti shafts. At the Golf Lab, that happens pretty frequently.

Th e most reliable way to t for ex is by shaft load. Th e Max Out Golf Labs Shaft Max measures shaft de ection and plots that against a timeline. Th e result is a graph of a players acceleration and a power rat-ing. It is very common for senior players with short swings and quick transitions from backswing to downswing to load the shaft very heavily. Th at is particularly

continued from page 27

Endurance is a critical component of playing the best golf game you can. Any lack of endurance in your body usually becomes apparent somewhere on the back nine when you start to feel tired, less focused, and unable to maintain proper posture during your swing. You will often nd that your putting goes awry as well and you may also become quite hungry (a distraction, to say the least). Golf-speci c endurance must be consciously developed to meet the numerous physical and mental demands of golf. Fortunately, by focusing on just a few key areas any golfer can in-

crease his or her endurance for a round of golf, whether competition, tournament or just friendly play. Th e bottom line is that your score will thank you!

NUTRITIONProperly fueling your body is the easiest

way to increase your stamina. Please do not rely on the snack bar at the turn; fatty, ex-cessive protein or carbohydrate-laden foods will not help your golf game. Pack snacks for yourself that support keeping your body and brain focused, sharp and strong for 4-5 hours. You can never pack enough foodbetter to have too much than too little, but remember you dont have to eat it all. Try these ideas for munchies: nutri-tion bars (there should be no high-fructose corn syrup listed anywhere on the label), nuts (no more than a handfulnuts are quite high in calories, but are great in small quantities), fruit, low-fat string cheese, peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread, cut up veggies with hummus and, of course, water. Remember, small frequent snacks are better than one big meal. Avoid alcohol, ca eine, soda and anything loaded with sugar (this includes a lot of sports drinksread the labels carefully).

STRENGTHTh e stronger your muscles are the better

they can support your golf swing technique throughout the round and the less you will feel fatigue from walking. It doesnt matter whether you lift weights, practice yoga or do Pilates, but whatever it is that works for you, please incorporate 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week of some sort of full-body strengthening work into your routine if you have not already. Not motivated? Consider thisas you age, your body will wear out and an injured golfer is an unhappy golfer. Greater muscle strength helps to prevent injuries and keep you gol ng longer. Now, you may be wonder-ing if walking the course helps build and maintain endurance. Yes, if you do it at least three times per week. If you cant do that regularly, make sure to t workouts in instead. Certain types of cardiovascular ac-tivity will also bene t your golf game, such as walking hills or doing incline intervals on the treadmill, but not as a substitute for developing and maintaining muscle strength. However, the bottom line is that any sort of exercise o of the golf course is better than none.

FOCUSYour mind has to be in this just as much

as your body. Stepping onto the course carrying any sort of stress or negative emotion will detract from your ability to focus on your game (of course, golf can be a source of plenty of negative emotion as well), so before you tee o take a minute or two to take slow, even breaths and let go of any stress you might be carrying with you. While playing, keep your thoughts on your game, your surroundings and the present moment as much as possible. Take a second before each shot or putt to consciously relax and take a deep breath. Avoiding alcohol and ca eine will help you maintain your mental clarity. Also, make every attempt to put golf-induced frustra-tion behind you as soon as possible or your game may really su er. Above all, relax, enjoy and have a good time! Its just golf!

Pritam Kirstine Andreassen is the own-er of The Strength Connection, LLC, specializing in functional strength ap-plications for golf and life. She can be reached at 206-579-8927 or visit www.strengthconnection.com.

Developing And Maintaining Endurance For Golfby PRITAM ANDREASSEN, NSCA-CAPT


Create Your Own Magic Driver

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Jim Kepler, PGAGeneral Manager and Director of Golf


true for players who have been very good in their younger years.

It is also common for women to register surprising load values. If you really want to be sure you have the right ex, nd a club tter who can give you an opinion about shaft load.

Driver and Irons Head WeightMost drivers that come o the rack

have heads that weigh between 198 and 202 grams. Th at is the manufacturing tolerance that gives a D-1 swing weight (or pretty close) at a driver length over 45.

We have learned a lot from competitive long drive contestants about how to get maximum distance from your driver. Even the strongest of the long drivers know that their best results come from the lightest weight shafts and lightest heads that are available.

Keep in mind, the ability to move the club is much more important than the weight of the head. If a player could swing a driver with a heavy head as fast as a driver with a lighter head, the energy delivered would result in longer drives. Th e problem is that no golfers can swing a heavy driver head as fast as a lighter head. Most of the long drive contestants that we have worked with are searching for driver heads in the low 190 gram range.

Some component manufacturers will supply their driver heads in low weights. You will have to order them. Th e easiest way to get a lightweight driver head is to buy a head that permits you to change the weights such as an Adams or a Taylor Made R7 or R9. Get a weight kit and replace the heavier weights with lighter. It will be a simple matter to bring the weight down to the low 190 gram range.

Th e situation is just the opposite if you want to play irons with lightweight graphite shafts. In that case, you have to nd a way to add weight to the headsor get heavier headsto maintain a good balance. Some manufacturers, like Miura supply heads in heavier weights thinking about proper balance for graphite shafts. Others, like Tom Wishon, supply their components with weight ports that permit easy adjustment. Competent club makers can create correct club balance by adding weight at the tip of the shaft.

Driver Head SizeFor the last few years, drivers have

been manufactured in a 460 cc head size. Th ere have been very few exceptions. One exception is Miuraafter studying the problemthe company concluded that the proper head size was 390 cc.

For players who are small in stature, a 460 cc driver looks like a balloon on the end of a shaft. Th at is especially true for

juniors.Lately, there are concerns about the

wind resistance generated by large size drivers. In 2008 a trend (back) to aero-dynamic design was lead by Adams Golf with their Speedline Driver.

Recently, one very good junior girl player

chose the Miura driver after testing virtu-ally every driver in the universe.

Many component manufacturersincluding KZGhave old inventory of

smaller driver heads that are very good quality. Juniors are likely to nd that they work better than their larger cousins.

Driver LoftOne of the universal truths is that

golf clubs train the golfer, not vice versa. An inappropriate club choice can cause a player to develop swing faults that are harmful.

Th e most serious example is senior men who buy drivers with loft that is too low. Th e result is a swing move that blocks or scoops the ball into the air. Th at is the way to kill power. Practically all of the seniors that I see at the Golf Lab who are losing distance have a very weak release move or no release at all. Th at swing aw is frequently caused by a low loft driver that has trained its owner to change his swing to gain trajectory.

When a player who is hitting the ball too high with a low loft driver (a sure sign of a serious, power-leaking swing aw) I suggest a higher loft driver. Th e higher loft driver is a great training aid, forcing the player to gure out how to hit his drives loweror bring rain. Th e x for high ball ight is not always lower loft. Sometimes you have to x your swing.

The opposite is frequently true for women. Most women are tted into high loft drivers with very exible shafts. Th e

continued from page 28




distanceusually around ten yards with a driver and half a club with irons.

Th e major bene t of balancing clubs is not increased distance. Rather, it is better control over the club that results a more consistent swing path, face angle at impact, trajectory and center face contact. If this sounds preposterous, you can nd out for yourself with any club tter who utilizes launch monitor technology to compare the performance of golf clubswith and without counterweights.

Very few players do not see a bene t from counterweights in their drivers. Th e change in iron performance is more subtle. Th e major bene t is more solid feel and better consistency. Junior girl tournament players seem to get the most improvement from counterweights in their irons. Coun-terweights make weaker players stronger.

Your New Magic DriverYou will expect a couple of recommenda-

tions for a driver that might have a chance to change your golf game for the better.

Im in love with the new generation of lightweight shafts. Th ere are plenty of good choices. Aerotech makes the Power-coilthe lightest weight is 50 grams and it comes in .335 and .350 tip sizes which makes it a good replacement candidate for most consumer drivers. In heavier weights,

the Powercoil is a credible long drive shaft. ACCRA was our winner in 2008the 40 gram ACCRA Tournow replaced by the 45 gram S-1. It has the best paint job, hands downfull of pixie dust that catches the sun. Not good for conservatives. OBAN has hit the charts with a bulletpicking up a lot of Tour buzz with their Devotion modeldue to Jim Furek putting the shaft in his bag.

The key to making a lightweight shaft work is to play it in a sti er ex than you think. Th ere is no need to gamble. With todays interchangeable shaft systems, it is a simple matter to test indoors for ball speed and spin rate with a launch monitor (and good golf balls)and then seal the deal at the range or on your own course.

If youre going for dis-tance, you should nd the longest ultra lightweight shaft that you can control. But there is no free lunch.

For even the best players, long drivers are a little like playing Russian roulette. It will be a rare round that you dont su er at least one catastrophic miss. Th ats the reason that were reluctant to encourage

tournament players to adopt the long driver strategy.

The biggest breakthrough POTEN-TIAL will come from pairing an ultra lightweight shaft and a driver head that is SIGNIFICANTLY lighter than o the rack. Your best option to nd a lightweight head is to pick up a driver with adjust-able weights. Adams and Taylor Made are good candidates. In the super-cheap range, nd an old Adams 460Dstill a good performer after ve years. I also like the R7 linethe original Quad if you want a smaller head sizebetter for juniorsa Super Quador even an R9. Both Adams and Taylor made have stuck with their standard weight kits so you can get a few weights and a wrench and youre good to go.

How heavy? Th e quick answer is some-thing around 193 grams. If you wanted to do your own testing, a few grams at a time, you could have your club maker weigh the head with no weights before installing the shaft. Take notes. Its a simple matter to keep track of the head weight as you add and subtract weight to give you the best control over the club.

Biggest Winner this MonthFor the last month weve been working

with PowerBilt to see if we could nd a formula for tting the PowerBilt Air Force One (AF1) driver. If youve missed the story, the AF1 is a di erent approach to driver head construction. It is lled with Nitrogen gas under pressure. Th e original idea was to manufacture a driver head that would not break. Th e current story is a thinner face with a larger sweet spot because there is less reinforcement behind the face.

Weve conducted almost a hundred free ttings and supplied dozens of custom built AF1 drivers for players to test on their own course. Overall, the results have been good, but not miraculous. Roughly 30% of the testers liked their new driver enough to buy one.

Th ere is one story that borders on mi-raculous. For the last ve years Ive been working with a senior player that I feature from timethe pilot. Hes just that. Flew a bomber for the Air Force and then jets around the world for years. Hes retired in his seventies. Weve tried every trick with him. Longer lighter, every head we have. Hes a fairly common case. His swing speed is 85 MPH and that gives him 185 yards of carry on a solid strike. Pretty average for a senior.

We set the pilot up with a 45 gram AC-CRA S-1 in the M-3 ex with a 12* AF1 head. Its in his bag and hes con dent that it added 15 yards to his drives. Th ats a very unusual result for a player who has made a serious hobby out of nding the Magic Driver for ve years.

Th e experience also goes to show that there is no guaranteed result, no matter how good the idea seems to be. Some play-ers will nd that a certain combination will work, for another the same setup is a waste of time.

Th e only way to gure out what will work for you is to keep trying to nd the Magic Driver until you do nd it. You have the advantage of launch monitors and tting tools that help you discern the differenceeven small differencesin performance. Look for a little improve-ment from your shaft, a little from your head, a little from proper balance, a little more from improving your technique and youll have your own Magic Driver.

Good luck in the hunt.

Leith Anderson is a partner at the Golf Lab in Palo Alto, CA. He will answer any and all questions regarding club fi tting and club making. Contact: [email protected].


Enter-to-Win Golf Today Magazine is giving away four tickets to the 2009 Boeing Classic. Watch 78 of the PGA Champions Tours elite duke it out at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Aug.24-30. Email your name and phone number to [email protected] by July 18,2009. Our random drawing will be held on July 20,2009. Winner will be notifi ed by return email.

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Golf Today NW July Issue

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