Problems with Fairway Irons Continued!

WOW! The fairway iron problem article yesterday turned into being a treasure trove of good comments and questions. I have set aside 2 or 3 really good questions to be used for the topic for one of these daily articles. For today, I will feature a question/comment relative to poor fairway iron play from yesterday for more emphasis and coverage. Thom's comment the problems (which are absolutely correct) of golfers he plays with who hit the smorgasbord of bad fairway iron shots, needs to be highlighted and expanded on.

thom says:
Don,
hmmmm '¦ not sure about this one boss '¦ I have lots of duffing friends and I'm no golf pro, but the one thing I see all the time from those who hit awful iron fairway shots (push, pulls, scuffs, tops, chunks, flares, etc.) is SWAY '¦ big SWAYING action that the whole body back over the right foot (if he's right handed). It pulls the pendulum out of line and now no two swings (sways) are ever the same ' therefore, every shot is different. Fairway woods are easier to hit because they're more forgiving and force people to swing slower from shorter distances. Not saying, just saying it's possible.

I don't comment because I'm not a teaching pro and I don't believe people should correct swings unless they're on the driving range ' there are a few exceptions to that with lower handicapper close friends who understand it, in which case 'swing in the barrel' usually tightens up the sway and corrects it quickly.

Love the column brother,
Thom

The Surge says:
Thom, you are spot on with your observations that many golfers' myriad of bad shots are the result of swaying big time. I overlooked this big time problem because I was wearing blinders in my thought process. I was addressing Bob's issues first because he was hitting his fairway woods OK. And, because of that, from the standpoint that he was using the PPGS wide knees with outward pressure setup and resisting his forward knee and foot in the backswing (your reference to swinging in the barrel),swaying would not be a big issue.

Big time swaying usually is the result of golfers reaching back for the big turn backswing to get the power they have been told comes from the big turn windup. To get the big turn, they lift the front foot and kick the front knee inward so they can turn more and wind up for that power. Add to that swinging to parallel or longer and the spine is moving like a tree swaying in a hurricane. They not only sway back and forth but also can have a lot of up and down due to the lifting of the front foot and it having to get replanted in the transition.

The problem for them is that with their front foot up and knee inward, their feet foundation contact to the ground is not stable. Then, when they sway too far to the back foot their spine or pendulum, as you say, is pulled out. Now their balance mechanism (Balance Buddy 'BB' as I call it) kicks in to take control to keep them standing up and not falling down. The Key here is that the Balance Buddy does not care about them hitting the shot well. The BB's only concern is keeping them in standing. And to do that the BB sets in motion all the compensations and corrections needed to maintain standing and balance. Many times, despite all efforts of the BB, the player's sway is so bad he still falls or steps out of the shot, one way or another, to remain vertical. Unfortunately, the Balance Buddy's assistance in most cases does not help or assist in good ball striking and hitting a good shot.

These instinct-generated compensations and corrections are a major dilemma to most golfers because they just happen without any mental input by them. Many times golfers say their practice swings were perfect but they can't do it with their real swing. That is because, for starters, their practice swing was just that, a practice swing and not likely at full power and thus remains somewhat in balance. Then, and most importantly, there is no hitting a ball in the practice swing. The problem is not so much the swing as it is the ball. Why?

The practice swing without a ball has no reference to target as a priority. Add the target and ball to the equation and power up with the front foot lifting and knee kicking in and the real swing is a completely different event. It becomes a speeding car out of control and needing the brakes to be applied by the Balance Buddy to maintain balance and control.

Thanks, Thom, for your good observations and comments. You were a good 'Teaching Pro' yesterday, relaying good information in your comment. I am sure what you wrote helped a lot of readers yesterday, as will my additions today.

The Surge!

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