Bob’s Living Golf Book - January 2021 Update Bob’s Living Golf Book Bob Jones (The Recreational Golfer) August 2017 January 2021 Update Owings-Lemoine Publishers Salem, Oregon © 2017-21 by Bob Jones All rights reserved 1 Bob’s Living Golf Book - January 2021 Update Introduction Good golf is easy. Though no one intends to play golf badly, they do Also by Bob Jones: because of bad habits. This book is about building good habits that enable recreational golfers to play good golf. Better Recreational Golf There is a lot of material in here, much of it either things you have never heard before, or new ways of looking at old things. It has taken Better Recreational Golf me years to absorb all of this, and I am still working on much of it and (Left-Hander’s Edition) developing new ideas. You won’t take it all in during one reading. Browse through the book and pick out what interests you most. If you The Golfing Self keep coming back, you will always see something you didn’t see before, or understand old things in a new way. Six Fundamentals of the However, no book, no video, and no teacher can inform you exactly Recreational Golf Swing how to play good golf. All that can be done is to point you the right direction. From there, you alone determine how to translate what you All available for no charge at: see and hear into hitting good shots. http://therecreationalgolfer.com/blog/bobs-books/ This book evolves monthly. New things will be added and new interpretations of old things will come along. Check back in every so often to find out what’s new! To obviate the confusion left-handed golfers face reading instruction books, whenever the words right or left appear in reference to a side of the body, the word that applies to left-handed golfers will be in brackets, like this: right [left] hand. Key points are indicated by the red finger: ☛ Videos are indicated by the blue movie camera: ! Play well, and have fun. Cover: 12th hole, Angeles National GC, Sunland, CA 2 Bob’s Living Golf Book - January 2021 Update Contents -- The Nutshell A. Golf Swing Imperatives B. Pre-Swing Things C. More Swing Things D. Mental Guidance E. Chipping, Pitching, Sand F. Putting G. Playing the Game H. Gaining Experience I. Game Support J. Summary K. Bob’s Tweets L. References ----- The Nutshell The foundation of good golf is a good swing. After that, chipping and approach putting are the most important green game strokes for a recreational golfer. More importantly, only if your mind is relaxed can you pick the right shot and be at ease with how you are going to make your stroke, both of which allow you to play your best golf. This point cannot be overemphasized. More poor shots are caused by mental rather than technical lapses. Remember most of all that recreational golf is a social game. People will not remember the score you shot, but they will remember how you made them feel. By that do you measure your success as a golfer. 3 Bob’s Living Golf Book - January 2021 Update A. Golf Swing Imperatives slow. but I’m sure you will notice that you are making contact on the center of the clubface and the ball flight you get is superb. Try moving There are many ways to swing a golf club. A well-known but cryptic up to 50 percent of your normal swing speed. Still hitting the center? book, The Golfing Machine, lists a myriad of variations in the basic And have you noticed that even though our swing is slower, you're movements of the swing. There are two things—the rhythm and getting pretty good distance? Keep adding swing speed until you are tempo of the golf swing, and the handle of the club getting back to the no longer making consistent contact with the center of the clubface. ball before the clubhead does—that are common and present in the Your swing has a redline and you have crossed it. Back up to the last swing of every golfer who plays the game well. One or both are missing place you were making centered contact. That is your personal tempo. from the swing of those who don’t. They are golf’s imperatives. If you Here’s a story about rhythm and tempo. A few years ago, I was with learn them well, you are on the road to achieving your golfing my grandson on a course which in one spot has the tee boxes for potential. If not, you will always be stuck and no amount of work or consecutive holes right next to each other. One is a par three, which lessons on other matters will help you. you play, then walk back to the other tee, a par five. There was a group on the tee of the par 5, so when we got there, we sat down on the A1. Rhythm and Tempo bench to wait until they finished teeing off before we hit on the par 3. ☛ The marriage of rhythm and tempo is the foundation of the golf One guy, using a hybrid iron (there’s a pond across the fairway such swing. If this part isn’t right, nothing else matters. that if you have even moderate length with a driver you’ll hit into it), Rhythm is the relative duration of different parts of the swing. It it took a vicious swing, and cold-topped a 40-yard dribbler. You have takes more time to swing the club all the way back than it does to never seen so much effort deliver so little result. Well, maybe you swing the club forward to the ball. Tempo refers to the overall duration have. of the swing, usually measured from the time it takes to go from Anyway, he said, “I’m going to hit another one.” I thought to myself, takeaway back to impact. “Yes. Please. Hit another one.” I think of rhythm in two counts with a pause in the middle. One is a So he teed up another one, put a graceful swing on the ball and hit long, unhurried count, that corresponds to the backswing. There is a this beautiful, powerful shot, straight down the middle. He picked up pause during which the forward swing begins. The “two” occurs at his tee and said to his buddies, “You know, it’s amazing how well you impact. It is much like breathing in and breathing out. hit the ball if you just slow down your swing a little bit.” Tempo is the temporal frame within which rhythm fits. Its function Your rhythm and tempo should be the same with every club. (C11). is to promote timing—things happening at the right moment and in the right sequence. Your personal tempo is the fastest you can swing A2. The Handle Leads the Clubhead Through Impact through impact and consistently hit solid shots off the center of the ☛ In the forward swing, the handle must get back to the ball before the clubface. clubhead does and continue leading through impact. To find your personal tempo, go to the range and start hitting ball at Rory McIlroy shows you how this is done in Figure 1. Notice that his 30 percent of your normal swing speed. Yes, 30 percent. That’s pretty hands lead by only few inches. That’s all that it takes to ensure your 4 Bob’s Living Golf Book - January 2021 Update right [left] hand does not try to flip the clubhead into the ball, which is handle at the moment the forward swing begins, and “see” the tip of probably the most common and most disastrous swing fault in the handle moving leftward [rightward] all the way through the ball. recreational golf. ! See the video. Over the years I have developed several ways to practice this c. Swing the club with one hand - See C14. This is a drill really, technique. Use the one that works best for you. making a half swing with a sand wedge, with one hand only and the with the other hand only. Unless you are quite strong and deliberately want to make the clubhead lead, the weight and momentum of the club will cause the handle to naturally lead. Do this for a bit with your right hand only. Then do it for a bit with your left hand only. Now put both hands on the club and swing with the same feeling. d. Watch the Anne van Dam swing. If you are a visually-oriented learner, watch how she maintains the angle between the clubshaft and her left forearm in the forward swing all the way to the ball. ! See the video. Figure 1. Rory Left-handed golfers should watch this video of Eric Axley to see the McIlory driving, with same thing. the handle of the club ! See the video. slightly ahead of the clubhead. Like any instructional technique, you can overdo any of these methods. They might feel different when you first try them, but if they feel too different, you might be doing too much. They are means, not ends. When you perform this move your hands will be only a few a. Maintain the angle until it naturally releases. This is my earliest inches ahead of the clubhead. If this is not been something you have method, and one that works well. been doing, it will feel like they are much farther ahead the first few ! See the video.