Author Archive: Brian Fitzgerald

Lengthening The Golf Doctors Swing

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I recently experienced a first. I went to see Golf Physiotherapist.

This came about as I have noticed (and you will have too no doubt) that my golf swing is very much on the short side these days.

I first noticed this when I started filming some of my golf videos. I felt I was using my normal swing (normal to me in my playing day was hands above my shoulders and the club to parallel). I couldn’t believe how short it was. I went out and hit balls every day for a week working on lengthening my swing. At the end of the week there was no change in length of swing. I felt as if I was over swinging and it was no longer than before.

I figured the answer is in one or a bit of all of the following reasons:

  1. I have just turned 50 and my body can’t do what it used to do in my 20’s and 30’s.
  2. I have averaged 8 to 12 games a year for the past 4 years. If you don’t use it you lose it.
  3. There are physical reasons why I can’t swing the club to my desired length.

I didn’t know the answer so I thought I would seek some professional.

While I was thinking of doing this I got a phone call from Physiotherapist  Jeremy Cross at Physio Health.

Jeremy had just had a visit from a client of mine and wanted to talk about what we could both do to help out this client.

In 30 years of coaching I have referred many people to physiotherapists and this is the only time I have ever received a phone call  back from them wanting to talk about a client.

I subsequently met Jeremey and was very impressed with his background. He went to college in the US on a golf scholarship and then went on to become a physio after deciding not to pursue a career in Professional Golf.

Jeremy is the first to point out he is not a golf coach but works hand in hand with golf coaches to get the best  performance for golfers of all standards, allowing them to achieve their potential both in terms of improved performance and in reduced pain and injury prevention.

I underwent a screening session with Jeremy at PhysioHealth Kew a few weeks ago. This took about an hour. I performed a series of movements and tests. Nothing too physical but just too see what my ranges of movement was.

A week later I went back to see Jeremy and he gave me a laminated report detailing my issues and the exercises I needed to perform daily to improve.

I must admit I have not been as studious (daily) with my exercises but I have been pretty regular with them. They take about 20 minutes a day to do and I am already seeing results. My swing has already lengthened noticeably and I know I am hitting the ball further.

I used FlightScope to gather data (Driver & 7 iron) before I underwent the screening. I will also do it on several occasions over the next few months.

Stay tuned for an upcoming video series of my experience.

The first can be found here Lengthening The Golf Doctors Golf Swing Part 1

Jeremy works at PhysioHealth Kew (03) 9853 2224 and Williamstown (03) 9397 4977

Use your Putter Instead of Chipping To Lower Your Score

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One of the best ways of lowering your golf score is to get your putter in your hands more often from off the green instead of chipping (if the conditions allow it).

You will find that your worst putt will finish much better than your worst chip.

When you see Tiger Woods with all of his skill mess up chip shots from a perfect lie what chance do normal every day golfers have?

Get the putter in your hands.

What Should You Think Of Over The Ball

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What should you think of over the ball.

That is a very common question.

When you are on the golf course (playing in a competition) where score matters (as opposed to a few holes after dinner in the evening) you should think of as little as possible.

The golf course is for scoring and as my golf coach Alec Mercer often said to me “The box on the scorecard is not big enough to paint a picture. Just put a number in it. Make it the lowest one you can”.

Improving your Inner Game is one of the keys to lowering your handicap or score. It’s what gives you consistency.

Let me paint a scenario for you.

A tour player Joe Schmo is playing the 72nd hole of a tournament and is 1 stroke behind. The 72nd is a par 5 and he has a 235 yard carry over water to the flag. Joe hits his 3 wood to 10 feet, cans the putt and wins by 1 shot.

At the Press Conference a journalist asks Joe “What were you thinking standing over the 3 wood on the 72nd Joe”?

Joe smiles and answers “I just pictured the shot and I hit it”.

On another occasion Joe might have had the following inner conversation ” Gee I have 235 over water. I hit my 3 wood 230. I better take the club back slow, stop at the top of my back swing, have a slight pause, rip my right hand through impact.” This results in a miss timed 3 wood that fails to carry the water, resulting in a bogey.

To help improve this part of your game I suggest you try the following:

  1. Stand behind your golf ball (about 3 meters back).
  2. Picture the shot you are trying to hit and have an inner conversation describing exactly the shot. Where it starts, how high it flies, which way it spins etc.
  3. Move into the ball and keep the picture fresh in your mind.
  4. Hit the shot.

This takes a bit of practice but is well worth it. If you still have trouble try saying the word “Back” in your mind as you take the club back and then say “Hit” when your club makes contact with the ball.

Try it on the range in practice and then put it in to play on the course socially (maybe 2 or 3 holes) and see how it goes. When you have confidence in it put it into play on the course.

Regards

Brian
Brian Fitzgerald – The Golf Doctor

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How far do you hit the ball?

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So do you know how far you hit the ball?

I am not talking about your driver. Although it is handy to know how far you can carry the driver so you can determine whether you can comfortably carry that lurking fairway bunker or not.

You really need to know how far you hit the ball with each club on average. Most people think they know but they totally overestimate how far they hit the ball. The result is less greens in regulation. Either because they are coming up short of the green or they are trying to hit it too hard.

I use a Flightscope Launch Monitor at Morack to measure the distances of each club in what I call a Gapping Session. I then make up a little card with the distances written on them so you take the guesswork out of choosing the right club. Many people to go to the trouble of using a GPS device to measure the distance they have to the flag but they are letting themselves down by not knowing how far they hit the ball.

If you only hit 3 more greens in regulation in your next round (by hitting the right club) that is going to at least save you 3 strokes a round (probably more) for little effort.

 

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Putting from off the green a smart option

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During the US Open, I found it interesting to see Martin Kaymer choose the putter from just off the green instead of chipping.

Putting is an easier shot than chipping as it is much easier to make solid contact resulting in more consistent distance control.

A highlight for me was when he was playing the 16th hole in the last round he had a shot where there was a bunker between him and the flag. If he had chosen to play a little pitch over the bunker it would have been a great shot just to get it within a couple of flag sticks from the hole. If he miss hit it the bunker was an option or going over the green bringing the possibility of a double or triple bogey.

Instead Martin chose the putter (taking the bunker out of play and making his worst score a bogey), hitting it to 20 feet with little risk.

My suggestion to golfers is the first choice is to putt, second choice is to chip and third choice is to pitch.

If you use this rule as a guide you will see your scores improve and become more consistent.

 

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Is a 7 iron a 7 iron?

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Back in 1983 when I was a 2nd year trainee golf professional I had my golf club construction theory exam. To this day I can still remember the standard lofts of golf clubs. I have created a table below showing the different lofts of the same clubs 31 years apart. It makes interested reading.

 

CLUB 1983 2014
1 iron 18 degrees Hybrid
2 iron 20 degrees Hybrid
3 iron 24 degrees 20 degrees
4 iron 28 degrees 23 degrees
5 iron 32 degrees 26 degrees
6 iron 36 degrees 29 degrees
7 iron 40 degrees 32 degrees
8 iron 44 degrees 36 degrees
9 iron 48 degrees 40 degrees
PW 52 degrees 45 degrees
SW 56 degrees 54 degrees

From the table above. A Ping G25 7 iron is the equivalent of a 5 iron from 1983. So if we allow a 10 m difference per club, we are looking at a modern 7 iron going some 20m difference in distance to that of one from 1983.

As you can see down the bottom of the table there is a 9 degree difference in loft between the present day PW and the SW. This gap is difficult to cover and requires a great deal of skill touch and feel.between these clubs. So the golf club manufacturers have created new clubs called things like a Gap wedge, U Wedge, A wedge etc to fit in between this gap.