Preset Drill
Get the feel of a solid, on-plane backswing in two moves: Lay a club on the ground and take your normal stance an inch inside of it (A). Without moving your arms, hinge your wrists until the club is precisely parallel to the shaft on the ground (B), then turn your shoulders to the top. Once there, check in a mirror that the club is parallel to the target line and your spine hasn't changed from its original angle at address.
Nick Faldo On the Air
Nick Faldo's commentary can be heard on these ABC golf telecasts:
September 4–5: Deutsche Bank Championship (TPC of
Boston)
October 8–9, WGC–American Express Championship
(Harding Park)
The Faldo Golf Institutes
Chip Koehlke, U.S. Director of Instructional Programs
The curriculum at Faldo Golf Institutes is built around fundamentals. Each site offers schools, private lessons and club-fitting sessions.
Marriott's Grande Vista; Orlando, FL
Marriott's Shadow Ridge; Palm Desert, CA
Seaview Marriott Resort; Galloway Township, NJ
Marco Island Marriott Resort; Marco Island, FL
Brocket Hall Golf Club; Hertfordshire, England
For the U.S. institutes, call 888-463-2536 or visit gofaldo.com. For Brocket Hall, call 011-44/1707-368-786 or visit brocket-hall.co.uk.
What's Your Trigger?
The waggle and the trigger are highly personal but critical, and you have to experiment to find which ones work for you. A good waggle, often a mini preview of the take-away, releases tension and primes the senses. But you don't want too many twitches and loops, because under pressure they will fail you. (Think of Sergio Garcia's absurd old regripping routine.) The best waggles are concise, relaxing and precisely repeatable. Coming down the stretch, you want your routine to be exactly the same as always, not suddenly different or longer. The trigger is the move or thought immediately before the take-away. Jack Nicklaus turned his chin to the right; Gary Player hitched his right knee in. Most players today are more subtle; many use breathing out (not in!) as a trigger. Whatever you hit upon, the key is to keep it simple and use the same trigger with every shot.
Beach-ball Drill
The knees are the key to consistency in a golf swing. Amateurs' knees tend to go soft like spaghetti. Most keep too much weight on the left side and straighten the right knee, because that's the only way they feel they can make a full turn. The result is the dreaded reverse pivot and a bobbing head. This drill conveys what proper resistance in the knees feels like: Trap a beach ball between your knees and keep it there by squeezing as you wind to the top. The goal is to brace your legs from address through the backswing, creating a strong base for your upper-body turn and a fairly constant gap between the knees.
