Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
Since it's such a hot topic lately, I'd like to throw out my personal take on it.
In August, I played really well, emphasis on PLAYED, at our State Open. I shot 70-69-66 to finish one short of our friend Mark Sheftic (Congrats again, by the way). However, ballflight was floaty at times, and I couldn't turn it over to save my children. The last day, I had to hang back on 17 so bad to make sure it didn't work away from the dogleg I almost fell over. Anyway, like I said, I played well. Being 40 has its advantages in that you learn to get it around pretty well when you're not particularly sharp.
I had a few weeks before I had to play in another big event, the Nationwide Mylan Classic at Southpointe, a heavily draw bias golf course.
The Monday of the event, I called Brian. I said something like, "Brian, I'm about to play in front of hundreds of people on a course that favors a draw on 15 holes. And I can't f$@%^#g turn it over on a bet!". Divots were steepish and long and I felt like I was holding on thru impact.
He said, "You're going to have to find a way to isolate the feel of the clubhead from the top. You may even try to TOSS it wider and behind you before you tug on it". And that was it. It can be told like it is.
So that feel alone allowed me to draw it at will, STORE LAG for later use, get the club past my left wrist after impact, and basically play really well on a demanding ball strikers course. I hit the prettiest friggin little draw to a back left pin on my 36th hole to make birdie to make the cut by two. Loved it.
So the moral is, it isn't for everybody, but it's for plenty of golfers. The feel of it can morph into a complete tumble of the club over the hands before you get a chance to lag it open. So there's teaching and then there's guessing at what you think you may know or see. The more tools you have in the box the more golfers you can help and help faster, I might add.
Just sayin'
In August, I played really well, emphasis on PLAYED, at our State Open. I shot 70-69-66 to finish one short of our friend Mark Sheftic (Congrats again, by the way). However, ballflight was floaty at times, and I couldn't turn it over to save my children. The last day, I had to hang back on 17 so bad to make sure it didn't work away from the dogleg I almost fell over. Anyway, like I said, I played well. Being 40 has its advantages in that you learn to get it around pretty well when you're not particularly sharp.
I had a few weeks before I had to play in another big event, the Nationwide Mylan Classic at Southpointe, a heavily draw bias golf course.
The Monday of the event, I called Brian. I said something like, "Brian, I'm about to play in front of hundreds of people on a course that favors a draw on 15 holes. And I can't f$@%^#g turn it over on a bet!". Divots were steepish and long and I felt like I was holding on thru impact.
He said, "You're going to have to find a way to isolate the feel of the clubhead from the top. You may even try to TOSS it wider and behind you before you tug on it". And that was it. It can be told like it is.
So that feel alone allowed me to draw it at will, STORE LAG for later use, get the club past my left wrist after impact, and basically play really well on a demanding ball strikers course. I hit the prettiest friggin little draw to a back left pin on my 36th hole to make birdie to make the cut by two. Loved it.
So the moral is, it isn't for everybody, but it's for plenty of golfers. The feel of it can morph into a complete tumble of the club over the hands before you get a chance to lag it open. So there's teaching and then there's guessing at what you think you may know or see. The more tools you have in the box the more golfers you can help and help faster, I might add.
Just sayin'
