Golf Putting Experts List!

These are the best of the BEST!

David Edel - www.edelgolf.com

Geoff Mangum - www.puttingzone.com

David Orr - www.orrgolf.com

Mark Sweeney - www.aimpointgolf.com

Bobby Clampett 5 Key Dynamics

Which of the five dynamics is most important?

The Impact Zone by Bobby Clampett identifies the five key dynamics in the swing:  flat left wrist at impact, a 4 inch forward swing bottom, loading, lag while sustaining it through the body pivot, and a straight plane line.  Last week, a student having just finished reading the book asked, Which of the five dynamics is most important?  I pointed out that Bobby listed the flat left wrist as the master dynamic however I wanted him to look at the book from a broader perspective.  I knew he was an amateur gourmet cook so I asked him to tell me his favorite recipe.   After he told me I asked him, which ingredient was the most important?   We enjoying a huge laugh as he grasped my point.  Each ingredient brings itís own needed flavor to the completed recipe.   In relation to the golf swing, each dynamic brings itís own necessary component to the shot being played.  Ranking them in terms of importance isnít really necessary nor recommended.  As a student of your game, you should know that dynamics applied in the short game are the same as the full swing.  Good habits learned in the short game will provide good habits in your full swing shots.  That is why I highly recommend applying the Impact Zone fundamentals to your game in the order that Clampett has laid them out in the book.
    In this first installment, weíll look at Dynamic #1.  Keep checking back into the Impact Zone website to read more about all five dynamics and other interesting Impact Zone related articles.

Dynamic #1:  Flat Left Wrist
The quickest way to understand the importance of a flat left wrist at impact, (and itís partner, a bent right wrist!), is for you to apply this dynamic directly into your putting game.  As you begin your putting stroke, keep in mind that wherever the clubface is pointed when the ball leaves the face (separation), that is the direction that the ball will go.  When it comes to pure direction, the clubface is the dominant factor where the ball goes, not the clubhead path!  Because impact is easier to comprehend at your slowest stroke, putting is the perfect place to grasp the importance of Dynamic #1. 
Keeping your face square to your intended target line is always easier when you have a flat left wrist to help you control your impact alignments.   Remember that your best golf lies in your ability to deliver the clubhead into and through impact on a consistently correct basis.  Being able to repeat your impact alignments on the golf course will immediately make you a much better player.   So, if you are interested in becoming a better golf player, then start by paying attention to your flat left wrist at impact.
A left wrist that is changing itís angle into impact and separation will be much more difficult to control during game conditions and will lead to inconsistent contact along with variable results.   A left wrist that is changing angles through impact will surely make your golf shot like a box of Cracker Jacks, (each box has an unknown surprise!).   If your left wrist is flat, (rather than cupping or bent), it will be easier to deliver the same dynamic loft of your clubface at impact, it will be easier to have a consistent angle of approach into impact, it will greatly improve your rhythmic delivery of the clubhead because your rate of speed will match up with your left arm, and it will help deliver your clubhead on plane into impact.   Learn to do it right, while keeping it simple (one key focus point at a time!) is the fastest way to become the best you can be.  Once you acquire the ability to have a flat left wrist at impact while putting, then apply that skill to your chipping stroke, then pitching stroke, etc. etc. etc.
Above all remember that the game of Golf is a journey.  Allow yourself the luxury of learning it slowly - one practice session at a time.  The process of learning new golf skills combines mental AND physical exercise.  Enjoy the wonderful process involved in your mind and body learning new golfing skills.   Be positive with yourself during the journey.  Realize that golf is a game of misses, (and the golfer that misses it the best usually wins!) therefore don't let a bad shot ruin your confidence that you can learn the skill or allow you to lose your energy and enthusiasm for acquiring the skill.   I'll say it again, be positive with your self!  At the same time be disciplined enough to find the necessary time to understand what you are trying to accomplish, to repeatedly apply the correct movements necessary to execute the technique, and eventually to learn how to let the good shots happen while playing the game on a golf course.   There isn't a better game on the planet so start improving today and enjoy the ride!
Ed Ibarguen

Bobby Clampett- Sand Chip Shot

Photos courtesy of Kerry Corcoran

The Chip Shot Sand Drill

This “go-to” drill will help develop – or re-focus – a forward swing bottom. The Sand Drill begins by drawing a straight line in the sand, and, using your sand wedge, addressing that line as if it were the ball and you were preparing to hit a chip shot. Now simply make the chip shot swing.  Even though you will not use a ball, the goal is for your club to enter the sand at the front edge of this line, then to continue swinging down and forward, so that the center of the divot lies four inches in front of the line. Look at this picture of me executing the sand drill with my wedge and my chipping stroke. You may be surprised, but the photos indisputably prove that even with the small chipping stroke swing, the center of the divot does, indeed, fall four inches in front of the ball.

Bobby Clampett Aimpoint

Photo courtesy of Kerry Corcoran

Start the ball on the target line for more consistent ball striking.

Grab a 5 iron.  (A 5 iron is a good middle-length club to use for practice) Place a coin 5 feet in front of the ball, in line with your target.  Then place a clubshaft or something similar 10 yards in front of the ball in line with the target.  Practice lining up to the coin, then tracking your eyes to the shaft in the ground and then to the target.  Practice this a few times then hit the shot.  Having someone stand behind you and tell you whether the ball started left or right of your target can be helpful feedback. 
If the ball is starting to the left of the target consistently, try moving the ball back in your stance a little bit. If you are still pulling the ball to the left, try visualizing your target more to the right and aim your hands on the downswing more toward the inside part of the ball so that you feel as if you are going to push the ball to the right of your target.  Do this until the ball consistently starts on line.
If the ball is consistently starting to the right of the target, try moving the ball more forward in your stance. If you are still pushing the ball, work on clearing the left hip quicker on the downswing so that the hands will aim and swing more quickly and farther to the left through the impact zone.  In changing your ball position, keep tabs on making sure you’re maintaining a 4 inch in front swing bottom.
If your shots start on your intended line of flight, but then hook or slice off line down range, feel good about the fact that you have swung correctly on plane through The Impact Zone, then make a grip adjustment. To correct hooks, weaken your grip by turning your hands to the left on the handle of the club. To correct slices, strengthen your grip by turning your hands to the right on the handle of the club.
The same drill can be used outdoors or inside hitting into a net.
Bobby with a 5 iron just past impact. This shot started a hair to the right of the target.  I made a small correction moving the ball 1/2  inch more forward in my stance.  Through constant use of this drill, I’ve improved the start line on my shots.  The better your start line, the more accurate a player you’ll become.

Bobby Clampett Chip Shot

Bobby demonstrates the dynamic impact position of chip shots.  Note the amount of forward lean of the clubshaft.  Without the aid of full loading and the use of the pivot, such forward lean (established at address) is needed to get the swing bottom in front of the ball to create dynamic impact.

Chip Shot Tips

The chip requires us to hit the ball up into the air, which imparts backspin on the golf ball.   The only way we can accomplish this effectively is to strike down on the ball with an accelerating stroke so that the bottom, meaning the center, of the swing arc and divot falls approximately four inches in front of the ball.  In other words, during the chipping stroke, the club moves downward and strikes the ball before it reaches both the ground and the bottom of its arc.  It then continues to descend to its low point of four inches in front of the ball, before it swings back up to complete the stroke. 
We want to maintain a Flat Left Wrist throughout the stroke, just as we do in putting.  Therefore we will address the chip with our left wrist in a flat position in the same manner as we did with our putting stroke.  However, because unlike the putt, a chip shot requires us to decisively strike down on the ball, we do need to adjust our set up position slightly from the putt to assure that we do so.   
We do this in two inter-related ways.  First we move the ball back from the (approximate) three inch position inside of our left heel where it was when putting, to a point past or behind the middle of our stance line, which automatically positions our hands more forward in relation to the ball.  This rearward ball position also automatically creates a clubshaft that leans or tilts even more pronouncedly forward.  As the chip shot lengthens and the swing gets longer, it will be less critical to have a “back-in-the-stance” ball position because of the increase in load, clubhead lag and the use of the pivot or workhorse will move the swing bottom farther forward.

Bobby Clampett Pitch Shot

Bobby demonstrates the pitch shot.  Note the divot and the 4 inch in front of the ball swing bottom.  To me, the pitch shot is the most important shot in the game.  That’s right, the most important!  Why, because it is the pure, fundamental building block of the entire golf swing.  The pitch shot has all the components of the full swing, in shortened version.  (Photos courtesy of Kerry Corcoran)

Loading and the Pitch Shot

The pitch shot requires some loading or cocking of the left wrist on the backswing.  The cocking of the left wrist builds potential power during the backswing.  Retaining the angle between the left wrist and the clubshaft “stores” that Loaded power until impact. The forward pivoting motion of the body initiates the pitch-shot’s downswing, while the mental focus throughout the downswing is on keeping the left wrist cocked for as long as feasible.  Letting one’s attention shift to the ball and the clubhead is another great disrupter of sustained Dynamics through the Impact Zone, whether on a pitch shot or a full drive.  Even if the golfer has hinged his or her wrists and the club fully on the backswing, normal human anxiety can easily take over and an over-eagerness to hit at the ball, rather than swing through it convulsively flips the clubhead prematurely. The ball should never be the focus in the swing, but rather the ball should just be in the way of the swing.
The left wrist will uncock before impact completely on its own during the downswing as a result of combined centrifugal force and gravity, and there isn’t a human being on earth than can stop if from doing so. In fact any uncocking or unhinging of the wrists during the early stages of the downswing in an attempt to add power, speed and/or loft to the club instantly annihilates any chance you have of striking the ball with a Flat Left Wrist and a Forward Swing Bottom through The Impact Zone. 
Learn to load the club on the backswing during the pitch shot, then practice storing this load for as long as feasible on the downswing, while initiating the downswing through the driving of the hips.  This will improve your strike of the ball and give you better results.

Bobby Clampett Impact Zone

How to increase clubhead lag on the downswing?

I often get asked during my clinics after convincing my audience of the need to Load and Lag the club, “Bobby, just how do I increase Lag?” It helps tremendously to exercise the art of visualization, because increasing Lag on the downswing is only possible when one has a clear mental image of having fully Loaded the club on the backswing and visualization the delaying the release of this Load on the downswing. 
But first, let me describe what Clubhead Lag is. From a purely descriptive point of view, Lag describes the condition of the clubhead continually trailing the body, arms and hands, and of course, the clubshaft, right up to impact and through The Impact Zone, where we want to apply all of our swing’s power and energy into the ball. So that’s a kind of moving or kinesthetic description of Lag looks like. 
We can also measure Lag and further define (and see) it as the size of the angle created between the left arm, wrist and hands and the clubshaft. The narrower that angle, the more Lag our swing will have at that point during the motion. Lag also involves the stress or bend we place on the clubshaft at the start of the downswing. In fact this very change of direction from the top of the backswing to the start of the downswing adds more Load in the club than that which we created in it with our wrist cock during the backswing. In other words, very shortly after we start down toward the Impact Zone, we have more stored power in our club than we had when we reached the top of our swing.
 When we successfully create Lag in our downswing, we certainly feel that clubhead trailing and retaining its stress or Load.  So Lag is both this quality of the clubhead trailing and the quantities of the angle between the left arm and the clubshaft, and the amount of stress or bend we create in that shaft.
Now that we know what lag is, let’s focus on how to deliver it into the ball.  The pivot is the workhorse of our swing, and we’ve already gotten some of the work we need out of it when it completed our backswing for us. Now is when we really need to drive our steed across the finish line.  By this I mean that we want the pivoting motion of the downswing to relieve our hands of any tendency they may have to become too active, because only by remaining soft and quiet on the club can our left wrist increase its cocking action (i.e., increase the club’s Lag) all the way through the Impact Zone.
Since we’re building our swing incrementally from the short shots to the long ones that on the full swing, it stands to reason that the hips will work even more authoritatively in the full swing to move our body and club through the Impact Zone. Indeed, the number one key that sustains our Lag from the top of our full swing all the way through the Impact Zone is a sound downswing pivot driven and led by the hips, with the shoulders arms and, finally, the club trailing throughout the motion. We said that Lag describes the condition of the club trailing, and that means something has to be leading. Well, what leads are our hips.