Golf Tips with Bobby Lopez

Constant updates on new golf tips to improve your golf game! I post any new methods we used to resolve a specific golf swing fault. I'm always searching for a better way to communicate improvements in our student's golf games. As an added bonus we have golf comedy clips from our radio show on ESPN and tips for doing business while on the golf course. Golf is the game of business...start golf networking!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Holy Cow Lopez...You Gave Me Too Many Drills!

I hear this comment often and it concerns me as well so I wanted to clarify my reasoning for the drills. When doing weight lifting you don't just do curls. You might work the same muscle group from several different angles. I could assign a student four to six different drills which all relate to the same problem. Here's an example.

Let's assign a given golfer these drills:


Stick Drill - Feel the proper path slightly exaggerated
Short Impact Zone Punch Shots - Good for clean ball contact and getting the forearms over.
Lift Over Head - Great drill for golfers who "swing over the top"
2 O'clock Drill - Great drill to get your arms started first
Turn & Tilt Drill - You'll look and swing like a pro once you dominate this drill

There you go Lopez. Too many drills and now I'm confused!

Here's the problem at hand. The student turns his shoulders "first" on the down swing. The shoulder need to "TILT" so the golf club comes down in the slot with the impression that it is traveling on an outside swing path, Adding to that t,he golfer also takes the golf club back low and inside the swing plane.

The stick drill will help the golfer start to feel the "lifting" needed to get the golf club "up" and on plane. That will help the low and inside back swing path. In fact this drill will exaggerate the lifting because in most cases you need to over do a movement to change it because you will fall back a bit once you try and hit a ball. Old habits die hard!

Now once the golfer begins to attempt to swing outside the stick on the back swing and then inside the stick on the down swing they will most likely NOT rotate their forearms to square up the golf club face. You MUST work on the path AND the golf club face at the same time.

The lift the golf club over your head drill will help in "slowing down" the shoulder turn which is the key to repairing the swing path. The outside the stick drill does somewhat the same function with the feedback of the stick which provides feedback telling you you're not completing the drill properly.

The 2 O'clock drill will also help slow down the shoulders or chest turn and the "turn and tilt" drill will help one feel the tilt of the body on the downswing which allows you to get outside the stick.

All these drills attack the same issue. The key is to perform the drills "SLOWLY" and "Deliberately" as well as often. I always say, "do the drills for five minutes every time nobody's looking!" It is the repitition that will help you "reprogram" your faulty swing movement.

Hope this helps and if you have a problem with "swinging outside in" or "over the top" your drills are above. Get to work!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Are Lady Golfers Better Than the Guys?

Well, in some ways they have an advantage. Most lady golfers are generally more flexible and are more willing to rotate their body for power rather then using their arms or upper body exclusively.

Looking at several of them like I have, I definitely notice more shoulder turn among the lady pros. I've attached a sample video below of a lady pro golfer. The sad reality is that many of the recreational lady golfers do NOT take advantage of their flexibility because on day one, a well meaning golfer tells them to "keep your head down". Probably the most mis-understood statement in golf!

The true statement should be, "maintain your spine angle constant". The spine must remain steady as you turn your body however your head can move away from the ball...just stay level.

The back swing should feel somewhat like the coiling of a shot put thrower or discus throw. When you throw the shot put your head actually goes down because of the TILT!! Funny enough not many ladies do either sport! However, they instinctively realize that their arms can NOT carry the entire load so they will turn their body if instructed to do so.

One negative is they seem to have trouble hinging the golf club back for the same reason that their arms and wrists are not strong enough to take the load. Lighter graphite shafts might help.

Take a look at the video and send me your opinion, bobbylopez@bobbylopezgolf.com






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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sometimes Little Minor Chages In Your Golf Swing Can Make A HUGE Difference!

Of course I've hit about a trillion golf balls in my lifetime, (Wow that sound like Congress.....A Trillion!) but it never ceases to amaze me how the very slightest of adjustments can make such an enormous effect on your entire golf swing.

For instance, I went out to a driving range in Tampa yesterday to make sure I get my practice in even though I'm away, (liar....I couldn't stand a minute longer with the out-laws, I mean In-Laws) and even though I was hitting the ball very respectable and acceptable to me something just didn't feel quite right. I felt like I could do something better to explode at the ball and pick up additional club head speed.

Well, I took a look at my right hand grip after I hit a shot and noticed it was not in it's original position. I positioned my right hand just a little more to the center or turned it counter clockwise. I hung on a little tighter with my last three fingers of my right hand. Then at the ball I let the right hand explode and I was knocking the snot out of it!

I also noticed another benefit. The grip adjustment lowered my hands slightly at address and put me on a better plane on the back swing which allowed me to swing as hard as I wanted without fear of the ball hooking left! The golf club and my hands were in a better position at the top of the back swing.

In case you want to try this for yourself, I suggest you first take a look at the grip drill and make sure your grip is proper to begin with. Watch the grip drill here. If your right hand grip is too strong, (the V or crease points towards your right shoulder rather than maybe off your right ear) you might hook the ball when you unload your right hand at impact.

When you get to impact, feel like your right hand rolls over the left as hard as you want. If you hook the ball you need to take a second look at your grip. See what your grip looks like AFTER you hit the shot. Did your hands move? Hogan was famous for hitting some 24 shots in a row without his hands moving at all. He would hit a shot and then hit another without re-gripping!

Good luck and let me know if you have some success with this and also let me know if you don't.

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