improving performance
Bottle Tee Training Aid Helps Produce Inside And Upward Swing Naturally One of the most important
reasons good golfers can consistently drive it long off the tee is their ability to repeat the “in and up” swing plane time after time. Their downswing comes from the inside, and when the clubhead strikes the ball it is on an upward path. That is the right combination for big distance. Now there is a simple-to-use training aid that makes it easy to perfect the in and up swing plane. It’s called the Bottle Tee, and it is easy as sticking a tee into the ground and letting your natural instincts take over. “Learning the in and up swing can be challenging because there are a lot of moving parts to remember when you’re trying to perform what ultimately needs to be a natural, seamless movement,” said Frank Carroll, co-owner with his brother Jim of Green Keepers Inc., parent company for the Bottle Tee. “And it is typically taught in books or in person with a lot of visuals and verbal instruction. That’s where Bottle Tee is different. It places the ball up so high, your brain and body naturally and automatically adjust to swing from the inside out and on the upswing, producing longer and more piercing, draw-shaped drives. The idea is, if you practice enough hitting off the Bottle Tee, you will naturally develop the right in and up swing plane.” The name Bottle Tee comes from a non-golf product that was used by some instructors to teach this 34
method: a water bottle. They would fill it up with sand, pierce a hole in the lid, put a tee in the hole, place the ball on the tee, and then have their students swing away. “It looked ugly, but with the ball up so high, it worked great to naturally produce an in and up swing without having to think about it,” said Carroll. “Now we have our brand-new invention that works even better – and certainly a lot more consistent and effective – than using a bottle.”
Why does an inside and upward swing produce more distance? You’d need to sit through a physics class to fully understand why this produces longer shots, but in simply put, hitting the ball from the inside and on the upswing does three things: 1. It reduces spin. 2. It increases energy transfer (and therefore, ball speed). 3. It produces lower-lofted, draw-biased shots (which roll out after they land). Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 3
