craftsmith golf academy online presentation by james f. smith the whole swomg motion

CraftSmith Golf Academy Online Presentation By

James F. Smith

The Whole SWOMG MOTION

Learning to Play Golf is a Team SportLearning to Play Golf is a Team Sport

There are two people on the lesson tee … you, the person who is being paid for both technical knowledge (diagnosis and instruction of specific points of instruction) and for a tactical learning plan AND the learner who will get the concepts if they are properly presented, but will not overlearn them to the degree required to use them in actual play. This scientific fact escapes both teacher and learner at times. Each player in this learning game has a critical role to play. The learner is not there to simply let go of some cash, try to do the things she is directed to do and then walk away fat, dumb and happy with an expectation things will get better.

What the Client Must Bring to the Lesson Tee

What the Client Must Bring to the Lesson Tee

The learner’s task includes much more than just cooperation and effort on the lesson tee. It also requires much practice away from the lesson tee in preparation for the next point of instruction to be presented in at the next lesson. Even skilled teachers cannot teach correct fundamentals in a single session. The quick fix lesson is reserved for diagnosis and one or two adjustments, or even band aid/gimmicks designed to hold up until the problems can be properly addressed. It is the learner’s job to practice until the skill is mastered. It is the instructor’s job to design a learning program that leads from fundamental to fundamental, pausing occasionally to tie the pieces of the puzzle together. A “program of instruction” should be the goal of both the instructor and the client.

Who Needs to Learn the Whole SwingWho Needs to Learn the Whole Swing

Poorly skilled or beginning golfers … this generally means anyone who cannot control the flight oh his/her ball to the degree that most shots: the ball gets airborne 9 out of ten times; may start offline, but in the general direction of the target, have curve that is generally limited to the 2/3 width of the target (fairway or green)

More skilled or progressing players who lack an understanding of the fundamentals that form the effect and cause of their success

Skilled players who are either correcting an error that has creeped into his/her game or is making an improvement to a specific flaw and needs a brief review of effect and causal relationships

Types of LessonsTypes of Lessons

Poorly skilled and beginning players need an A-Z program of instruction which means about 4-6 full swing lessons plus a short game a putting and regularly scheduled follow-up lessons for about a year. These students are excellent candidates for group instruction. The value of group instruction is that players with poorly formed mental concepts can see a variety of mistakes they may be making in the future, thereby giving them a head start on a more effective


Progressing players need the same basic instruction taught in a shorter, less formal manner and with some attention paid to individual differences. Depending on the individual, this type of instruction may be shorter than that of a poorly skilled player if the basic skills are a product of knowledge and practice. The worst case is when you get a “naturally” skilled, athletic player who is producing g


Skilled players may be limited to one diagnostic/review and one corrective lesson. A skilled play is capable of digesting the crux of the error and the solution as well as how the correction will affect other interrelated fundamentals. Hopefully, a more skilled player will have established, effective practice habits

The Natural Golf SwingThe Natural Golf Swing

Natural means your don’t have to learn a lot of technical information or to TRY to coordinate a bunch of complicated movements

All you have to do is initiate the movement and not interfere with the what has be set into motion.

Everything will go where it is supposed to go if you don’t override what you have started

This is true even if your experience tells you NO

General GoalsGeneral Goals

Fundamentals are REQUIREDAll Movements ARE Executed From a

Fundamentally Sound Pre-Swing Position

The NATURAL golf swing is a by-product of a correct pre-swing position

Individual Techniques allow you to adjust your fundamentals within acceptable limits

Follow a Learning PlanFollow a Learning Plan

Make an honest skills assessment, golf fitness go back to square one … develop correct pre-swing fundamentals

Improve “feel” by developing a deadly short game

Break the whole swing down into its critical positions and correct specific errors

Put the swing back together by improving your “timing” fundamentals

Integrate every phase of your game … putting, chipping, pitching, sand and full swing with one Master Pre-swing Routine

Ordinary Things Can Help Us Understand Golf Concepts

Ordinary Things Can Help Us Understand Golf Concepts

The power to move the club is exactly opposite of how the girl on the swing is creating her movement. The girl pushes with her feet against the ground to start the movement, then gravity assists the continuous movement. The golf swing isn’t a swing at all! The moving force comes from the rotation of the shoulders and the motion is a discrete (not continuous) event.If axis of a merry-go-round is tilted (like your spine), then the rotation of the platform is a good representation of the movement of the shoulders as they make the swing. The teeter-totter represents a common error in the swing. When a player’s front knee and shoulder “dips” (teeters), s/he is practically doomed to “lifting” the club on the backswing (totters) on the backswing. Weight transfer to the back foot does not occur. On the forward swing, the player is doomed to “fire and fall back”

Eliminate, Isolate and ConcentrateEliminate, Isolate and Concentrate

Eliminate the fear of failure by removing the target, the ball and the club if necessary to get the learner to focus his/her attention

This means using drills to teach various, correct feeling for a given checkpoint of performance

Isolate your concentration to a single point of performance then integrate what you have learned with your existing skills.

Perfect PracticePerfect Practice

It’s better to NOT practice rather than to practice slop. Perfect practice requires your full attention and intention … a systematic plan! There are three common reasons to practice.

First, there is practice for the purpose of learning. This might mean unlearning prior to re-learning. This type of practice is characterized by repetition.

Second, there is practice for the purpose of maintaining a skill you already possess. This type of practice is characterized by repetition AND novel situations … practicing under game situations.

Third, there is practice for the purpose of integrating skill into a game/competition package.

Pre-swing Fundamentals … Club, Grip, Point, Aim And “Hangle” Pre-Shot Routine

Pre-swing Fundamentals … Club, Grip, Point, Aim And “Hangle” Pre-Shot Routine

Club … clubface is correctly soled and aligned to the target … even a slight misalignment of the clubface causes major problems with both learning and performance

Most golfers are sloppy with this fundamental

Put the club in its place and leave it there … the club becomes your “teacher” by helping with posture and ball position

Pre-swing Fundamentals … GripPre-swing Fundamentals … Grip

Function of the PartsHolding Parts … last three fingers of the top handConnecting Parts … index finger of the top hand and pinkie of the bottom hand

Feeling Parts … first three fingers of the bottom hand

General Goals … Minimize and MaximizeMinimize Hand ActionPalms generally face each otherNo gaps or leversForearms are balancedMaximize Feel … grip pressure


Key Checkpoints for the Assembly of the GripTop hand, dot on topBottom hand, “taco” on the thumb (thumb in the pocket)

Third finger of the bottom hand slides up against the index finger of the top hand

Pinkie finger of the bottom hand “overlaps” (sits directly on top of) the index finger of the top hand


Common, critical errorsDuring the swing, bottom hand separates from the top thumb … results in a “flying elbow” and over length top of the backswing position which in turn leads to “casting” from the top

“White Knuckle Death Grip” … self explanatory, results in no feel for the movement which in turn drastically slows the learning process

Pre-swing Fundamentals … PointPre-swing Fundamentals … Point

Point … Ball Position and Forward PressBall Position between the Feet …

Short IronsMid IronsLong Irons and Fairway WoodsTee Shots

“Natural” forward press built into most clubsWidth of the Stance (balance)Direction of the Toes (flexibility)Distance from the Ball

Master FundamentalsMaster Fundamentals

Alignment of the shoulders (gives the natural swing direction)Obviously, but overlooked or poorly executed, bad alignment will cause the swing path to be off lineBall position (distance from the ball)The most common error is "reaching" for the ball which causes the swing path to be from outside to inside the intended target line


Ball position (between the feet)The most common error is to play the ball too far off the left heel which causes the swing path to be from outside to inside the intended target line

Whole Swing Fundamentals:


There are several fundamental tasks, which every golfer must master. Each of these tasks must be over-learned (the ability to execute without coaching) before consistent and dependable performance can be expected. These general learning goals include but are not limited to:

Posture (creates the possibility for a natural, free-flowing swing)

The most common error is "sitting" back on the heels which causes the hands to leave the clubface in and "open" position, which in turn causes the ball to curve to the right


Make a Circle Turn your shoulders in a circle around your nose. Turning the shoulders CAUSES the arms and club to swing. Looking at the ball gives the swing a "center" to work around.Maintain Your Balance Allow your weight to naturally transfer from the shoulders down to the feet. You do NOT have to make a deliberate weight transfer. Weight transfer is automatic and NATURAL (you don't have to learn how and you don't have to try) when the bio-mechanically correct turning of the shoulders is executed!

Pre-swing Fundamentals … AimPre-swing Fundamentals … Aim

Aim … alignment of the shoulders and kneesAlign your shoulders parallel to the intended target line after your bottom hand is on the club

Align your knees under shoulders and ignore how the feet look and how “closed” you may feel … also ignore all the helpful advice from the mass of golfers who get this critical fundamental dead WRONG!

Pre-swing Fundamentals … HanglePre-swing Fundamentals … Hangle

Hangle … Posture and balance check …

1. Butt up … the knees are barely flexed2. Chest down … bow over enough for your

shoulders to turn on an inclined “plane” around your nose

3. Chin up and back straight … allow the shoulders room to turn under the chin and “kill the humpback whale”

4. Arms “hangle” down … allow the club and arms to fall by relaxing the anterior (front) head of the triceps (shoulder) muscle; your arms will hang so the top thumb is directly below where a necktie would point

5. Weight balanced evenly from left to right foot and from toe to heel, you will sense the ground pressing up against the ball of your foot (behind the big toe joint)

Golf is a Target GameGolf is a Target Game

ALL of the elements presented on the illustration are required to hit a ball straight and far. It is easy to see how “paralysis thru analysis” creeps into everyone’s game. The key point of understand is not the size of the task to be mastered, but the art and science of taming the beast until it obeys your command!

Human Learning of Sports SkillsHuman Learning of Sports Skills

Expect to Succeed!• 80% of all mistakes are made before the club ever

moves; 95% of all mistakes are made before the club begins to move forward

• Pre-swing fundamentals require no athletic ability• You have 100% command and control over pre-

swing fundamentals• The basic motion of the golf swing is a natural

movement once pre-swing fundamentals have created the possibility for success.

GET COMFORTABLE WITH CORRECT!GET COMFORTABLE WITH CORRECT!

• There’s a lot of things in golf that don’t feel good at first

• Some things produce skilled performance when they are mastered and integrated with other fundamentals.

• As a teacher you will at times need to put a learner in an uncomfortable position.

• This is a “sales” job that needs to be handled with tact, but a sense of necessity

The 10-Ball GameThe 10-Ball Game

When working with an unskilled or even a moderately skilled player, they are very likely to be making more than one mistake.

The human brain is incapable of focusing on more than one problem/point of performance at a time. You task is to focus their attention to a specific learning task.

Actually two fundamentals can be worked upon at the same time, but it requires the learner to do something they will eventually have to do anyway.

You can work on a pre-swing fundamental, have the learner switch attention to another in-swing que and then execute the swing or drill used to teach the feel for the what, how and why given during verbal instruction.

Teach Practice SkillsTeach Practice Skills

Teaching the client how to properly practice outside of your supervision is critical to effective progress. Typically, practice is not a lot of fun. Making practice fun as opposed to work is a good teaching/learning strategy. Teach the 10 ball game to make practice more like competitive play than the mule work of practice.

First, separate ten balls into a group. Have the client focus ALL OF HIS/HER ATTENTION on the learning task you have just taught (i.e. … center the swing motion by looking down at where the ball was). That single task becomes the focus of the learning activity. Hit a ball. Every time the learner correctly executes the task, one ball comes off the pile of ten. When the ten balls are gone, you can move on to the next instruction. The objective of this technique is to focus and execute a single point of performance.

10 Ball Drill10 Ball Drill

With the learner’s attention focused on the task at hand, you can then “test” his/her concentration by asking pointed questions. For example, when teaching the person to “look at the ball … look at where the ball was and let your arms fly through your nose”, you might ask “Where was your nose”? The correct answer is “it was down”. The wrong answer was “it was up”. The worst possible answer was “I don’t know”.

If the learner fails to perform, two balls are added to the pile. If the learner is not sure, three balls are added to the pile. You are the coach, if the learner disputes your judgment, five balls are added to the pile. This of course is a tricky/fun way to extend the length of this part of the lesson.

As a coach, you may want to deliberately create a dispute (in a fun manner) … the technique might be for the purpose of review which you limit to successful trials or it may be for the purpose of learning something new in which case you extend the learning period. The learner can play the game on his/her own when practicing independently of your lesson.

Ball Flight AnalysisBall Flight Analysis

Effect, 1st Cause, 2nd Cause Relationships … What you see the ball doing

in the air is a result of What the club has done to

the ball Which is what you have done

to the club Which is indicative of where

you put the club at the top of the backswing

Which is directly related to how you set-up to the ball

Golf Physics produce … 9 Directional Patterns


Initial DirectionThe ball will always fly in an initial direction that is about ½ way between the

direction the club is swing and the direction the clubface is pointed. Both swingpath and clubface direction act on the ball.

Direction of the CurveThe ball will always curve in the direction of the clubface relative to the swingpath.

The more the ball curves, the greater the difference between the swingpath and the clubface. A small curve means the path and face were fairly closely aligned. A big curve means there was a very large difference. A big curve is usually caused by multiple pre-swing errors and how the hands have failed to (as they always will) to correct respond.

The Amount of Curve …It’s a Matter of DegreeThe difference between a banana slice and fade or a duck/snap hook and a draw is

the size of the difference between the swingpath and clubface … one swing is under control and the other is out of control

You don’t have to be perfect, but you do need to be consistent … a drive that curves less than 20 yards

Play By Knowledge and FeelPlay By Knowledge and Feel

Watch the Flight of the Ball and Learn

Compare what you see with what you feel with what you know

Play By Knowledge and FeelPlay By Knowledge and Feel

Watch the Flight of the Ball and Learn

Compare what you see with what you feel with what you know

Correct patterns of mistakes, NOT single errors


What the body and arms do to the club will determine swingpath

What the hands do in response to what the body and arms are doing will control the clubface

The ball will start it’s flight about ½ way between the swingpath and the clubface directions

CorrectionFix patterns of mistakes, not individual swing errors

Determine what your body and arms did to the club. Look first to pre-swing fundamentals such as posture, balance and shoulder alignment (you may have made a perfect swing in the wrong direction)

The Whole SwingThe Whole Swing

Center the SwingLook at the ball. You can't

hit what you can't see and you can't see what you're not looking at ... research indicates there is a higher probability of hitting something when you're looking at it

This is NOT the same thing as “keep your head down” or “keep

your head still”

Characteristics of Basic Swing SkillCharacteristics of Basic Swing Skill

Ball gets airborne … a primary function of looking at the ball

Ball goes in general direction of the target … a primary function of good posture and shoulder alignment

Ball has acceptable amount of curve … a primary function of minimum and correct use of the hands

Solid contact … a function of gaining more control and smoothly coordinating the interaction between the critical parts.

The Whole Swing …Critical Swing Positions

The Whole Swing …Critical Swing Positions

Address … start wrong and play catch-up the rest of the way …get this right or go play ping pong

“Reach” (1/4) … you can shoot yourself in the foot before the club moves 12 inches!

“Back” (2/4) … 95% of all mistake you might make can be seen at this point!

“Up” …(3/4) … full weight transfer, elbow down and weight balanced or you’ve got major problems!

At the Top … (4/4) … same place, same way, same rhythm every time … put the club in the wrong place and you will pay

Swing Arcs & PlaneSwing Arcs & Plane

The Horizontal Swing Arc … One arm is relatively straight on each side of the swing and one are bends. The rotation of the upper body + having one arm straight causes the clubhead to follow a semi-circular path

The Vertical Swing Arc …As the length of the shaft gets longer, the “angle of attack become more shallow … the critical point of performance is to keep the head level … do not allow the head to “yo-yo” up and down

Swing PlaneSwing Plane

Swing Plane is One of the Most Over Taught Concepts in Golf• Correct posture allows the arms to “hangle” from the shoulders like a pair of “Monkey Arms”

• The rotation of the shoulders takes the club up to its NATURAL position

•The position of the club/left hand is far more important

• There is NO ONE CORRECT SWING PLANE• Short people have flat planes• Tall people have more upright planes

What about the “Critical Parts” of the forward Swing? …

What about the “Critical Parts” of the forward Swing? …

There are four positions that can be analyzed during the forward swing … release point, impact, follow-through and finish. Analyzing any of these positions ONLY gives you information about what has ALREADY gone right or wrong … analysis of performance seen at this point in the swing is about effects, not causes.The swing is over, the ball is in the air and then you “feel” the swing… The forward swing in golf is a ballistic movement. In scientific terms this means the movement is faster than the rate of nerve transmission.

The Forward SwingThe Forward Swing

Release PointHold the release (uncocking of the wrists) as long as possible

Keep the hands “inside” the swing arc

Impact PointLook at the ball … you might hit it!


Followthru• Continue to point your nose at where the ball “was” and let your arms fly FREE through your nose … as if you were angry and just recklessly “throwing the club away” … you EARN this freedom from the discipline of correct pre-swing fundamentals

• Your left elbow folds


Finish• Your weight transfers to the outside of the front foot

• Your hips and chest “turn to” the target

• Your right toe “drags” forward; 95% of your weight is on the left foot

Drills and Learning TechniquesDrills and Learning Techniques

Bow, Squat and Hangle … learning technique for correct posture

Brick Wall … learning technique to teach whole swing motion by converting “baseball swing” into a golf swing

Shoulder to Shoulder … teaches weight transfer

Elbow … teaches swing path control

Split Hands/Staggered Release … cures ANY slice in 5 swings

craftsmith golf academy online presentation by james f. smith the whole swomg motion

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