Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

In a past article Tiger Woods brought out that many of his amateur partners who take a real rip at the ball often get little out of it in terms of distance and direction. According to Tiger, “That’s because they fail to realize that what happens on the forward side of the ball is just as important as what happens before impact.”

There is no questioning the fact that what happens in the follow-through (forward side of the ball) is very important. However, it is not as important as what happens prior to contact. Once the ball is hit it’s on its way and no matter what you do, or no matter what the club does, or the pathway that it follows, or the range of motion that it goes through it will not change the ball flight or distance. Read more… »

Static stretching for golfers before beginning to play has been recommended for many years. You have been told to do static stretches to (1) increase your flexibility, (2) prevent injury, and (3) prepare for swinging the club without injury.

These are admirable outcomes but practical experience and sound research has shown that static stretches fail in these outcomes. Static stretches do increase flexibility but increased flexibility before playing a round does not improve the swing. Read more… »

According to some professional golfers, is important to keep the arms in close to the body in the downswing. The reason for this given by the pros is that it is necessary in order to rotate the body faster and hit the ball farther.

That you can rotate faster with the arms in close to the body is a well-known fact. From physics we know that the more mass (as in limbs) and the closer to the body it is, the faster you can spin. The further away from your body that the limbs are, the slower you will spin.
Read more… »

Most golf players believe that you swing the arms through a great range of motion in the downswing. In reality, however, the arms go through a very short range of motion with independent action. Most of the range of motion seen is created by hip and shoulder rotation.

Because the arms and shoulder girdle are connected, in order to move the arms through a full range of motion, you must move the shoulders and vice versa. In other words, when the hands are held together you create a “single” arm which greatly limits their ability to move through a great range of motion. Read more… »

Maintain a firm grip on the club at the top of the backswing. Do not open up the hands as this will lead to an excessively long backswing and a slower downswing.
This tip may appear to be elementary, but you would be surprised to see the number of golfers, including high-level golfers, that do this.

But by maintaining a firm but relaxed grip at the top you will be able to start the downswing faster and with more force (see Exer Rings for affective grip development). This will give you not only greater distance but also accuracy.

For more information on this topic, see Explosive Golf. For visual demonstration exercises for the grip and other exercises specific to the golf swing see the Explosive Golf DVD

The wrist break must be forceful in order to speed up and/or maintain clubhead speed. If you do not do this, you will not have timely rotation of the arms to square the ball to the target. As a result, the clubface will remain open and your chances of hitting a slice are enhanced.

To strengthen the muscles involved you should do the ulna flexion exercise. This exercise is best done with the Strength bar so that you can go through the full range of motion in a very dynamic manner. In addition to gaining strength in the muscles involved you can also develop the ability to have a more explosive wrist break.

For more information on this topic, see Explosive Golf. For visual demonstrtion of this and other exercises specific to the golf swing see the Explosive Golf DVD

To swing pain free and to hold the normal curvature of the spine during the swing, you should strengthen the muscles involved with the back raise exercise. This is the only exercise that strengthens the lower back muscles through the full range of motion.

By doing the back raise you will also find that you may eliminate back problems or not create any more back problems than you typically experience. As an added bonus this exercise will help give you good posture allowing you to do many daily tasks with less effort and pain-free.

For more information on this topic, see Explosive Golf. For visual demonstrtion of this and other exercises specific to the golf swing see the Explosive Golf DVD

Shift the hips sideways (forward) for weight shift. Hip or trunk rotation does not shift weight!

This recommendation is not always easy to execute. If in fact many golfers have great difficulty in isolating weight shift to the hips. They also have difficulty in sequencing weight shift via hip abduction with hip rotation to set up the X-factor.

To assist in learning and mastering these actions read Explosive Golf. Also of great benefit will be viewing the DVD Explosive Golf.

There is one action in the golf swing that sets you up for a powerful and accurate hit. It can significantly improve the distance and accuracy with which you hit the ball and perhaps even more importantly, will minimize the possibility of back injury. What is it?

It is clearing your hips on the initiation of your down swing. First your body weight transfers onto your forward leg and you then rotate your hips around an axis in the forward leg hip joint. The more forcefully you drive the hips forward and rotate them, the greater the power you can generate in the hit. Read more… »

To develop the ability to hold the neutral spine position and trunk angle during the swing, you should do the good morning exercise. As an added bonus you will develop greater strength of the lower back muscles and greater strength and flexibility of the hamstring muscles.

For more information on this topic, see Explosive Golf. For visual demonstrtion of this and other exercises specific to the golf swing see the Explosive Golf DVD

To increase the force of shoulder rotation, do the reverse trunk twist exercise. Not only do you strengthen the abdominal rotational muscles in this exercise, but you also increase your midsection flexibility.

For more information on this topic, see Explosive Golf. For visual demonstrtion of this and other exercises specific to the golf swing see the Explosive Golf DVD

It is generally assumed that most pros have the best or ideal swings. Many do have great swings, but it does not mean that they are perfect or cannot be improved. This has been established by comparing their swings and by doing biomechanical analyses of many touring pros.

I have found that all of them can improve their swings – to varying degrees - to hit the ball further and in some cases, straighter and more consistently. Understand that most golfers swings are evaluated not on their swing mechanics, but on ball flight, distance and accuracy. But mechanics (technique) is the key to continual success. Read more… »

The golf swing is usually thought of as a very complex skill. Because of this to date there has been not been a complete analysis of what is involved in the swing and how each body action contributes to the total swing technique.

It is possible to find some analyses of specific actions in the scientific literature but nothing of this nature has appeared in the popular literature. This includes popular golf magazines and books written by professional golfers. Read more… »

According to Golf Magazine, to make a more level shoulder turn lead the backswing with the right shoulder. It is stated that, “when the right shoulder turns back it pulls the left shoulder along for the ride.” Is this what really happens?

Your shoulders are not a rigid unit; you can move the left shoulder quite a few degrees with the right shoulder in place, or vice versa. Thus, to concentrate on only pulling back with the right shoulder, will not ensure that the left shoulder will also turn through exactly the same range of motion or postioning , unless you concentrate on keeping the shoulders rigid.
Read more… »

According to the Fundamentals of Hogan, “the hips start the downswing by turning to the left . . . and . . . slight lateral motion accompanies this turning of the hips back to the ball so that the golfer can transfer weight to the left foot.”

Considering the fact that Hogan came to these conclusions based on his playing and concept of the swing, he should be commended for this analysis. He came very close to accurately describing the initial actions that start the downswing, as found through scientific biomechanical analyses. Read more… »

According to various golf pros, the most important part of the swing is the first few feet from address to about halfway back. They state that by stopping at this position, you can check to see if your hands are swinging the club back properly, i.e., with the toe of the clubhead pointing at the sky.

This of course is effective movement of the club on the take-away as it allows for the wrist cocking action and continuation of the backswing. Without the arm rotation to get the toe of the club pointing upward, a full backswing is not possible. Thus it can be said that the first part of the backswing is most important for taking a full backswing, but is this the key to an effective swing or hit? Read more… »

One of the most common recommendations given to golfers is to rotate the arms on the backswing. There are even many devices now available that teach you to rotate the arms as you take the backswing. These are correct recommendations that also fail to bring out that you cannot take a full backswing without rotating the arms.

If you did not rotate the arms on the backswing you’d only be able to raise the arms to about chest level. And, it would feel very uncomfortable and put you in a more or less cramped position. You can easily verify this by trying to take a full backswing holding your arms in exactly the same position as they are in the stance. Read more… »

Static stretching for golfers before beginning to play has been recommended for many years. You have been told to do static stretches to (1) increase your flexibility, (2) prevent injury, and (3) prepare for swinging the club without injury. These are admirable outcomes but practical experience and sound research has shown that static stretches fail in these outcomes.

Static stretches do increase flexibility but increased flexibility before playing a round does not improve the swing. Nor do static stretches prepare the muscles to execute a powerful swing and even lead to poorer performances. Static stretching, if continued over a long period of time, may actually be the cause of injuries. Read more… »

After 52 years, Gary Player, a well known professional golfer, has decided that his appearance in the Masters tournament this year will be his last. Gary as most of you may know, is an avid fitness buff and has been well-known over the years for his great physical condition.

He stated that “I’m exercising profusely, but it’s very difficult at 73 to build strength. The golf course is so long. It is just so long. I mean, I’m hitting a wood to almost every single hole.” This shows that exercising to be in shape is not the key to hitting the ball a long distance. This, however, is possible even at 73. I and many golfers that I have worked with can attest to this. Read more… »

I have often stated that we do not know what takes place (what we do) in execution of a skill. You may think you know what what you do but studies have shown that we are wrong well over 95% of the time. Even the world’s best athletes can not accurately describe what they do in skill execution.

The reasons for this are not well known. Most likely they are due to lack of cognizance when learning and perfecting the skill. However this cannot be expected of the youngsters who learn mainly by imitation not through verbal instruction and understanding of what takes place. For higher-level athletes technique is often ignored and there is no discussion of what takes place in skill execution. Read more… »

Many golfers believe that a long backswing, in which there is much turning of the shoulders and hips, is an indication of good coiling. However in most cases it is not. In true coiling of the upper body, there should be a separation between the different body parts so that the midsection muscles are placed on stretch. You should feel tension not only in the midsection and lower back ,but in the hips as well.

In other words, when you have true coiling, there will be great tension in the muscles ready to be released in the downswing. Merely having a full turn of the body does not insure the tension that is needed in the muscles to produce a powerful downswing. There are several important factors involved here. Read more… »

A classic tip that keeps getting repeated in golf literature is “swing the club and that will move the body for you.” This myth is perpetuated not only by the everyday golfer but by many pros. Most likely it got started because golfers could see movement in the backswing but not in the downswing.

For example, when you bring the club back in the takeaway, the club leads the way. You move the body in response to the movement of the club. This can be seen very clearly if you have a wide takeaway. As you move the club to the rear and upward, the body rotates and you raise the arms to bring it back up to the top of the backswing. Read more… »

Golf pros bring out some excellent points in regard to positioning of the hands if you have an effective turn of the clubface to make square contact with the ball. Turning of the clubface however, has little to do with the hands; this act is accomplished by arm rotation.

Some pros teach that the club rotation is due only to the left forearm. This however, is inaccurate mainly because one arm cannot function by itself when both hands grip the club. It can happen if one arm is completely passive, but this does not occur in the golf swing.
Read more… »

Much lip service and print space is given to weight shift and the role it plays in execution of a swing to hit a ball. However little attention is given to this factor when analyzing swings both in golf as well as in baseball. It appears that most teaching pros take this action for granted.

But yet, learning and mastering the golf or baseball swing is relatively easy if you do not rush movement of the hitting implement. In the golf swing, there should be a distinct shifting of weight onto the forward leg before beginning movement of the club. Similar actions occur in baseball and other sports. Read more… »

Many professional golfers and athletes in other sports are turning to physical fitness to improve their games. This is done in the belief that greater fitness will translate to hitting the ball further and harder, throwing further and harder, running faster and so on. Very few, however, are doing specialized strength and flexibility exercises that duplicate the joint actions seen in execution of the game skills.

Most athletes do general fitness type exercises to get the body stronger and more fit cardiovascularly. This helps improve your game especially when playing in the latter half of the game, but not to the extent that specialized strength exercises can benefit you. Read more… »

Most golf instructors will correctly tell you to bend over from the hips when assuming your stance. Even exercise trainers correctly advise their clients to bend from the hips when doing exercises such as the squat, good morning and dead lift. It is usually taken for granted that you know how to do this. Read more… »

In a Golf Magazine article it was brought out that a top professional golfer had great footwork. However, this statement leaves much to be desired. Since when do the feet move during the swing?

Does the author mean that the feet respond well to what the hips and upper body do during the swing? If yes, it is not the feet that do the action, but the body actions that determine foot actions and position throughout the swing. Keep in mind that you cannot move the feet (or even roll them) during a swing to create movement of the upper body. Read more… »

With the Buick invitation now being played in San Diego I see that many writers are having difficulty writing about the tournament. Almost all the writers in both of the major local newspapers are having trouble finding someone to write about since they no longer have Tiger Woods.

There’s no questioning the fact that Tiger Woods adds a definite dimension to the game of golf. He is a great if not fantastic, player who has dominated the golf game in recent years. But, this does not have a mean that there aren’t other golfers who possess some, if not most,of the traits that Tiger has. Read more… »

According to Phil Mickelson, the arms and body move together. He states that “my only thought on the downswing is to keep swinging my arms fast enough to stay in front of my chest”. He may think this but does he do it?

Sequence pictures of his swing show that when the arm swing occurs the shoulders and especially the hips have already turned. If the arms stayed in front of the chest all the time during the downswing, it would not give you more clubhead speed. In fact, you would have less power. Read more… »

Because some pros straighten the left leg on the downswing, it is now considered to be an effective movement for getting more power into the ball. But, upward — and some backward — movement of the body does not translate into more horizontal force of the clubhead.

In fact, the straightening of the forward leg can lead to a reversal of weight shift, hitting higher drives or topping the ball if teed up low. This may explain why some golfers tee the ball up so high; they raise the body (by straightening the left leg) to make effective contact. Read more… »

Rotating the hips to the rear along with your shoulders is being recommended with increasing frequency to get a full shoulder turn. Is this a good practice?

When your hips and shoulders turn together, or if you’re hips lead, you have less separation between the hips and shoulders. This in turn decreases the amount of force that you can generate on the downswing. Read more… »

Most golf instructors will correctly tell you to bend over from the hips when assuming your stance. It is usually taken for granted that you know how to do this. However, in my work with recreational, semi- and professional golfers, I am continually amazed at how many do not have the ability to bend over from the hips.

Most players bend over from the waist and create a rounded back position in the stance. Some bend over from the hips and the waist simultaneously. In addition, you are often told to bend from the waist when in reality, the instructor means from the hips. Note however, that it is rare to have golfers or just about any athlete bend from the waist in order to execute a specific sports skill. Read more… »

According to Tiger Woods, you should “maintain a nice tempo and rhythm on the downswing, matching forearm with lower body rotation. A smooth tempo will help you avoid releasing the club head” . This sounds like sage advice but what does a nice tempo and rhythm mean?

Tempo is the speed of movement while rhythm relates to the alternation of speed over time. Thus rhythm is associated more with differentiation between the backswing and the downswing and if speaking only of the downswing, it means the alternation of speed between the different body parts and limb actions. Read more… »

Teaching pros often advocate a change in your basic stance in order to accommodate a greater body turn on either the backswing or downswing. For example, to get a greater back swing it is recommended that you step backward with the rear foot to allow for a greater hip and shoulder turn to the rear.

If you have difficulty getting the hips through on the downswing it is often recommended that you step backward somewhat with the forward foot (closest to the hole) to get the hips more open and to allow them to turn more in the downswing. Read more… »

The opinions of top-level golf coaches are highly respected when dealing with various aspects of the game. However, because of the lack of science that is applied to the golf swing, I use caution when I read articles by them dealing with what occurs in the swing.

For example, in an article by Butch Harmon, it was stated that the golfer, in a photo accompanying the article, had a takeaway that was too wide because the club and left arm formed a straight line when the club shaft almost reached the level position when the hands were almost waist high. The problem, according to Harmon, is that from this position the swing can only get narrower and the hands will tend to move too close to the head at the top – a weak position. Read more… »

It is often believed that the clubhead is accelerating through impact. However, this is a fallacy. The clubhead is actually slowing down somewhat although it is still traveling at a high speed. This is due to the long lever formed by the arms and club shaft.

From physics we know that the longer the lever, the slower the speed at the end of the lever. In the golf swing, the lever reaches its maximum length during the wrist break when a straight line can be drawn through the club shaft and arms, mainly the left arm for a right-handed player.
Read more… »

Every month golf magazines present excellent sequential pictures of a professional golfer. The analysis of the swing, however, often leaves much to be desired because the cinematograms are accompanied by statements that do not match what is visible in the pictures. The same can be said for most other magazines that publish sequence pictures with “analyses”.

For example, during the take-away it is stated that the “triangle formed by arms and shoulders moves away in one piece. Initially, this may have been true but in the pictures shown, we see both arms already bent. Thus, the original triangle is changed or modified. More to the point is that the upper triangle is always there because you cannot change the arm and shoulder anatomy. Read more… »

According to Golf Magazine your arms start down before the shoulders. Since your arms have a longer distance to go to reach the contact point, they must start before the shoulders.

This is a fallacy. The shoulders must precede the arms in order to give the arms their initial momentum. The shoulders carry the arms in the initial part of the downswing since they work as a unit. Read more… »

I recently had a high-level golfer come to me who heard that I can guarantee 20 or more yards in a matter of weeks. He was very skeptical of this since he thought he already had a good swing, was fairly strong and averaged 240 yards on his drives. However, he did not know if his swing was producing maximum distance nor was he sure that the strength he had was golf specific.

He agreed to work with me, and after video taping and analyzing his swing, it became clear that he did not have the most powerful swing. He had a very smooth swing, but it lacked the weight shift and hip rotation needed to produce maximum force in his arm and wrist actions. Read more… »