I walked into the living room to eat my breakfast bowl of cereal and fruit and turned on the TV to The Golf Channel. 'Playing Lesson with the Pros,' featuring Padraig Harrington, was on. The lesson was at a course in Ireland and he dropped quite a few really great 'Pearls of Wisdom' on his lady student.
The day was windy and extremely damp, it actually rained off and on during the show. Padraig's advice for the lady concerning club selection in cross winds, especially into the wind, he referenced in regard to the temperature and humidity. With the temperature rather cold and the humidity high and dense, he said that he will many times hit 2 or even 3 clubs more than the yardage would normally call for. The key he said is that for one, the ball will not go as far because of the cold and dense air. But even more important, he said he uses more club (less loft) because he wants to swing easy and keep the ball flight lower and out of the wind.
The big key here is that he said he uses not one club more but many times 2 or three clubs more. More club/less loft with an easier swing greatly increases the odds of hitting a low shot and it staying low, out of the wind. Naturally he is hitting a knockdown shot where his finish is lower. Finishing high will shoot the ball up.
When the rain came, the lady student asked him how he handles playing the rain. He laughed and said he is pretty good at it since, in Ireland, they play a lot of golf in the rain and cold. Rule #1'¦Keep yourself Warm and Dry'¦especially your hands. When your hands get cold, you're done, he said. He suggested if you don't have mittens (which if you play when the weather is getting colder they should already be permanently in your bag along with an extra towel or two), you can place both hands under your arm pits to warm them up. Putting on your rain suit and even without it, keeping your hands in your pockets except for hitting is also a must for keeping your hands warm and dry.
Standing with his lady student under an umbrella held by his caddy, he went on to say that his caddie's job is to first help keep him dry, then the clubs and lastly himself. The lady pointed to a towel hanging from the spines in the top of the umbrella and Padraig said that is mostly for drying his hands. He also said that when rain is predicted they will have 2 or 3 more in the bag.
I was really impressed when he said that keeping the ball and the driver face dry was critical. He mentioned that most drivers today only have grooves toward the outside toe and heel of the face and there are none in the center or sweet spot. He said this was better for hitting the new balls with less spin, but is a negative when playing in the rain. He said that grooves on the face channel water off the face. With no grooves in the middle water gets between the ball and face and you can hit some real squirters off line. He said that when raining, he tees his ball up and hits it extra quickly before ball and club face can get too wet.
The big question the lady student asked is what he is working on in his swing. He said he works hard on his arms and club turning away in the takeaway in sync with his chest, and that his club rotates toe up not face down. He said for his transition he is trying to squat down a little like Tiger does and is the best at doing it but that it probably caused his injury and hopes won't happen to him. Lastly, he said that he turns through and swings up to his finish. He said that these three thoughts are primarily his attention in his new swing change.
I like his synchronized arms, club and chest turn, lifting the club up with it rotating toe up. I do not like the squat down transition as I believe in a lateral left shift/slide or 'Bump,' as I call it. I also don't agree with his trying to turn/rotate as much trough to the finish as he stated. But he does finish a little left of what I like to see, but not way left as he spoke of. This is because even though he says he is trying to rotate through impact to the finish, he really pop tarts up pretty good. He really swings his arms up quickly to over his left shoulder with his hands real close to his head, as I like to see. This quick up and over and hands close to his left ear actually reduces his rotation left and keeps him fairly close to finishing close to square to his target.
Overall, I thought his was a great, informative show. It was one of the best 'Playing Lesson with the Pros' I have ever seen. It was chock full of good to great playing information, especially for playing in cold and damp weather. The swing comments on the squat for the transition and rotating through impact are not my cup of tee, but I do really like his swing up and stand up to a T ' Finish, with his hands close to his left ear and shaft over the center of his left shoulder. If you can catch this show, it is a real good playing lesson and the views of the seaside course are pretty good too.
Padraig was also asked about 'The Luck of the Irish' and superstitions. I'll cover those in another article.
The Surge!