Article #55
To meet this week's teacher, or to purchase a copy of MUNIE ~ The Jitterbug Collection, go to www.bobbysteiner.com
Dear Jitterbug:
My problem is inconsistency with my driver. Half the time, I hit it great-long and straight down the middle-while other times I hit it directly into the ground, dead left, right, or pop it up. Any advice?
Chip Ramsey
Jitterbug Gang Fan
Jitterbug:
Let's face it, Chip, there is a great deal of difference between hitting the ball straight down the middle and straight into the ground.
For starters, it has to do with where on the clubface you contact the ball. To drive the ball long down the middle of the fairway, you've got to hit the ball near the center of a square clubface. To hit the ball down into the ground, you have to almost miss the ball entirely. Same with popping it up. And, if you're just as likely to hit it too far right as too far left, then you got all kinds of things happening.
And, oddly enough, that explains why you hit some balls straight, because after all, sometimes the planets all align, which is what has to happen for you to find any part of the golf course.
I think you need to work on some pre-swing and pivot fundamentals to orthodox a method of returning your club squarely to the golf ball.
Mr. Vaughn:
That's harsh, Jitterbug.
Chip, let me talk you through what Jitterbug is saying to you.
When he talks about pre-swing fundamentals, he's talking about your grip and set up. If you grip the club the same way every time (provided it's a workable grip), and then set the club properly at the top of the backswing, you'll be well on your way to returning the club to the ball in a consistent manner. At the very least, you will have eliminated one direction or the other (severely open or closed face).
As for pivot fundamentals, it's all about turning away from the ball, and then returning in a manner that makes it easy for you to hit the ball squarely.
The thing to remember is that if your arms stay the same length throughout the swing (which, surely to Goodness they will), and your spine remains basically where it is from takeaway to impact, then hitting the ball cleanly is easy.
So, Chip, if you're just as likely to top the ball as ground out before impact, then you got some pivot issues to address. Go to your local pro and have him help you fix it.
Lord Berry:
Golf is a game in which anybody, with any sort of bad swing, can hit brilliant shots once in a while. Granted, a good shot might be the result of seventeen mistakes and a like number of compensations, but anybody can hit it well on occasion.
That's good and bad. It's good because even the beginner can find encouragement here and again.
It's bad because it misleads people into believing his or her technique can be relied upon.
Proper fundamentals have one purpose: to allow the golfer to hit good shots with the fewest moving parts as possible.
As long as numerous compensations are required to make good shots happen, there will continue to be a fair number of disasters.