Golf Instruction

LEARN FROM XANDER’S OUTSTANDING FUNDAMENTALS

ONE

By JOHN BURCKLE Photos MICHAEL WEINSTEIN A great way to improve your swing is to learn from the best players in the world. With the help of his father Stefan, Xander Schauffele has built one of the best swings on tour that’s been able to produce quality shots under the most extreme pressure. Let’s take a look at four different sequences in his swing and point out the things he does that you can learn to do to improve.

In our first photo we see Xander at the completion of his backswing. What to look for? Number one is his full 90 degree shoulder turn while getting his head behind the ball without swaying. To achieve this position you’ll need to use your hips and feet correctly. Notice how Xander’s right hip is inside his back foot and his right leg is balanced and supporting his weight. His legs are stable and balanced. To get to this position you’ll need to learn a few things. As you start your backswing teach your right hip to turn behind you. Most amateurs sway the hips moving the weight to the outside edge of the back foot which compromises balance and restricts the shoulders from turning properly behind the ball. Next step is to make sure to get your head and chest behind the ball. If you draw an imaginary line up from the ball at address your head should be behind the line so you only need to turn your right hip which will allow the shoulders to rotate properly and transfer weight into your athletic and balanced back leg. Learn how to use your shoulders and hips correctly and you’ll be off to a great start.

TWO

THREE FOUR

This second photo is a beautiful example of how to start the downswing. If you look closely you’ll see Xander’s left knee and hip have started to shift into the forward foot. The shoulders and arms are soft letting his core and legs do the work. You can see how little his shoulders and arms have moved from picture 1. Notice how balanced his feet are as the right foot is still grounded. Most poor golfers start their downswing with the shoulders or arms which we call hitting from the top. Let that lower body do the work while the arms and shoulders stay patient. This will allow the club to be delivered powerfully and properly to the ball.

The fundamentally sound positions from the previous two photos allow the sequence of photo three to take place. Xander’s timing is fantastic, his legs, arms and golf club are delivered to the ball at the perfect time. You can see his foot work is dynamic using the ground to push off his back side with his legs. Most importantly his head stays behind the ball allowing his arms and hands to release the club head freely through the ball. Look how long his eyes stay down as his arms and body continue to move through impact. If your head or body get to far ahead of the ball before impact a free release is almost impossible. One last thing to look at and very important is the posting of the forward leg. We call this finishing against the wall. His left leg straightens through impact not allowing the knees and hips to slide or move latterly. Want to hit further? Post up!

The Finish is an accumulation of everything that precedes it. It’s fairly easy to get to a balanced finish if the backswing is fundamentally sound. I was always taught you’ve got to get behind the ball to get through it. Xander has super extension through the ball because of what has occurred in his backswing. His backswing allows his body to move correctly and finish in a perfectly balanced position. Of course he’s young and flexible but you also can achieve similar results if you can learn from Xander’s wonderful fundamentals.

JOHN BURCKLE – Director of Instruction at GolfLabAcademy.com • 25 Years Teaching Experience • 80 Professional Wins • 6X Golden State Tour Order of

Merit Champion

Golf is 100% Mental – 3 States of Mind

By RANDY CHANG

Why is it that you can get your student to do whatever you want when the ball is not there making a practice swing on the driving range, then when you put a ball there or get them on the course, they struggle performing the same physical task? We have identified that there are 3 different states of mind that effect your ability to communicate to your player what you want them to do physically:

RANDY CHANG

PGA Director of Instruction Journey at Pechanga & Randy Chang Golf Schools

www.randychangpga.com

HIT THE BALL MODE

First state of mind is Hit the ball mode, where your mind is focused solely on one thing which is hitting the golf ball.

This is where all of your new and beginner players are mentally at and gets in the way of getting your player to do what you want physically. This is the worst state of mind as it inhibits accelerated learning, but every new student is in this mindset because that’s what they’ve been told, and it makes natural sense. The biggest fallacy in golf is that in order to be able to hit a golf ball, you need to have good hand-eye coordination. You MUST keep your eye on the ball and your head down. We all know that is not true as evident when you see swings such as Annika Sorenstam, David Duval or Dustin Johnson. The object we’re attempting to hit is NOT moving! All that is required is to return the club back to where it first started, and we all have our individual ways of teaching how to accomplish this task. The process of making physical adjustments will always be a challenge if we continue to stress the importance of focusing on the ball.

Second state of mind is Target mode, where your mind is totally engrossed with where and how you want your ball to go.

The great Harvey Penick stressed this mindset to his players as “take dead aim.” This is a great mindset to be in and we spend the hours on the range doing repetitions to be able to play golf in this ultimate state. This is when you have practiced enough to get feels and develop keys that frees your mind to visualize a desired outcome and your body just responds. But, if your ball is not doing what your mind is envisioning, then you can’t be in target mode. For most average and beginning players they end up going back to hit the ball mode. Target mode is emphasized when working with your more advanced players.

Third state of mind is called Swing mode. In this mindset, there is no ball we’re worrying about striking or a target we’re trying to hit.

In this mental state of mind, you can only have 2 thoughts. A thought going to your backswing and a

TARGET MODE

SWING MODE

thought to your follow through. Basically, it’s what you do when you are making a practice swing without a ball, focusing on a specific physical action. The conflict takes place when the ball or a physical target surrounded by trouble is added which adds another thought and automatically changes your mindset and NOT allowing you to think yourself through the initial action. This is one sport that you can actually “think” yourself through a specific motion because you’re not reacting to anything! Unlike baseball, hockey or tennis where there is no time to think and must be prepared to react through physical repetition.

Once you can convince your student to let go of hitting the golf ball, not worry about a result and get into swing mode, you can train the body to make the physical changes immediately. For your better player, understanding swing mode gives you a mental fall back when you lose the feels and keys that have worked for you temporarily and target/feel/reaction mode isn’t complying!