If You Think You're Too Old.....You're Wrong!

Had a student today that was 81 years old! He was great fun too! Great shape for his age and wanted some more distance. Don't we all! Well he thought that by turning his chest more he could create more energy and hit it further. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for me, (because he finally got frustrated and called me) the exact opposite medication was in order.

In fact, he would probably hit the ball further if he stayed perfectly still and flailed at it with his arms and hands. I gave me the "swoosh" drill which will get his arms going and help him release the hands at impact better. I also lightened his grip and he began to hit the ball higher and further right on the spot.

He is a veteran of the Army 101 Airborne division. I'm not using his name without his permission but I can tell you that gentlemen like him is what made our country great. I pray that we can continue to have great Americans willing to defend freedom at all costs.

You can see the "shwoosh" drill by going to http://www.bobbylopezgolf.com/dev/images/Drills/woosh_drill.wmv

You can always reach me at 804.378.7456

Wet, Cold and Windy and We Still Did the Lessons!

Don't you love it when golfers care so much about their game that they don't let a little thing like weather stop them! OK so we had cover...and yes I really enjoyed myself. When my students are really eager to do well I have a great time teaching. It makes it all worth while, (the griping I hear from my wife about why I don't have a regular job).

I remember when I was getting ready to go on tour and I was practicing my butt off and she said to me, "why do you spend so much time practicing, I thought you already knew how to play."

Anyway, one thing we learned tonight was that the weight shift was very much over sold over the years. As Chi Chi Rodriguez said, "there is no weight shift in the golf swing." Well there is and there ain't.

Bottom line is hurricanes go around, tornadoes go around and electric motors go around. They don't wobble from side to side. I always say, "do the twist not the mambo!"

Yes by virtue of your body turn your upper body will be more over your back foot and thus you will have more weight on your back foot but you do not "shift" to the back foot your turn on to your back foot. Big, big difference.

Here's Some Tips For Rainy Day Golf

Although there were no lessons yesterday due to the weather it does remind me to give you a few tips from the tour on playing in bad weather. When I first played on the European tour I learned quickly that the British players were far more prepared than I was to play in bad weather. They're used to it.

Here's some of the things they would do. 1) They would take their golf gloves, (yes maybe 4 or 5) and hang them below the braces of the umbrella. This way they could alternate gloves constantly. 2) They would spray their umbrella with a scotch guard waterproof spray, 3) Their caddies would also have a towel stuff around the top of the bag so water wouldn't get down in their bag and get the grips wet. 4) They always had a second towel zipped up inside the golf bag 5) They never ever grounded the golf club at address. I notice amateurs I play with ground the golf club in wet weather and worse yet take a practice stroke brushing the grass which makes the club face wet. You want to keep the club face as dry and clean as you can before impact.

I hope these tips will help you in this wet weather.

I'm Confused...Do The Arms Go First or The Body?

Well I had a lesson yesterday that also taught me a lesson. It is real easy for the student to interpret what you asked them to do and multiply it by four and get themselves in more trouble then what they are in in the first place. Don't over cook it.

The student said, wait a minute....you told me to turn my body and now you're telling me to lead with the arms and shut the body down? Yes. Well earlier this student had very little movement in the body and now exaggerated the first assignment to such an extent that he was moving all over the place. What some refer to as "swimming" in the golf swing.

What we're trying to achieve is a balance and coordinated effort between the body and the arms. Under normal circumstance MOST people will feel as though their arms are moving faster than the body but in actuality the motion is coordinated. The arms do move faster on the downswing because of "angular acceleration" just like a line of soldiers marching a column left.

Moral of the story is don't over cook it, and if you do don't fret. Touring pros do it all the time. How do think pros can go from winning a tournament one week and then missing the cut the next! They had a good thing going and then they started to over emphasize it and it bit'em.

Now the pro has to start all over again. I don't feel sorry for him...he probably has a jet plane!

Can Ballet Improve Your Golf Game?

There you go, now you need to join your kids in ballet lessons so you can improve your golf game! Not at all. But, I had the pleasure of teaching yesterday a member of the Richmond Ballet Company and he was a beginning golfer which is why I chose to include this experience in the daily blog.

Even though he was a beginner, (I'm not mentioning the name without his permission) he had a very keen understanding of balance and knowing how to feel where is body was going. Dancers are used to working in front of a mirror and understand the effort to "teach or train" your body to go to a specific place or position.

It was amazing how quickly his swing began to take shape in a very short period of time. Maybe Ballet lessons would help but I think a better emphasis on SLOWLY moving yourself around the swing plane in front of mirror will help anyone build a better swing path and thus a more consistent swing.

Maybe you saw the video of Ben Hogan practicing in slow motion If not you can see it at http://www.bobbylopezgolf.com/dev/images/HoganHomeVideo.wmv

Do your drills slowly and deliberately and "feel" where your body is going. Do it all 'in balance".