A portable summary of 11 key lessons - Brief Article

Golf Digest, July, 2000

Let the left heel lift

BY JACK NICKLAUS

I work periodically in practice on consciously allowing the left heel to be pulled clear of the ground going back proportionate to the amount of shoulder turn I am making. By doing that, I reduce the amount of tilting or rocking in my hips, which enables them to to rotate enough to make room for my arms to swing freely.

The swing in four steps

BY HARVEY PENICK

Here's a simple way to construct a golf swing, shown by Mike LaBauve. 1. Address the ball correctly in good position. Distri-bute your weight equally on both feet at address, or a tiny bit more on the right to help you hit the ball on the upswing with the driver. The club and the left arm form a line to the ball with the irons, but the hands can be slightly back with woods. 2. With a cock of the wrists and an upward motion of the extended arms, lift the club directly upward. Maintain your posture. 3. Now, turn the body to the right until the hands and arms and body are where they would be at the top of the backswing. 4. Next, turn directly around to the follow-through position. A good finish shows me what has gone on before in the swing.

Always keep your head still

BY ARNOLD PALMER

It isn't enough to keep your eye on the ball. You must consciously force your head to hold still through the stroke. It isn't easy, and it takes prolonged concentration. You just have to practice it until it becomes second nature.

Swing with more power

BY DAVID LEADBETTER

If you really want to hit the ball solidly, learn to time your swing so that the clubhead reaches the maximum speed at the point of contact. That's how a black belt in karate can chop a block of wood with a bare hand. Forget the impulse to hit at the ball from the top. Concentrate on making a smooth move down and gradually accelerating the club.

Chipping from deep rough

BY TOM WATSON

I play these shots as I would one from sand. With the ball in the middle of my stance, I open my setup and the clubface. I take the club back steeply, then slide the clubhead under the ball on the downswing.

Keep the left wrist firm

BY HARVEY PENICK

The biggest mistake made by poor players, medium players and experts-and it runs from the full swing to the chip shot to the putt-is the breaking down of the left wrist. The only things the left wrist must do in the golf swing are hang onto the club and not break down (see Lee Trevino). Collapsing the left wrist causes an instant loss of pow-er.

The basics of putting

BY HARVEY PENICK

I like to see a player putt the ball off the center of the putter, not back toward the heel or up toward the toe. The putter should be flat on the ground. Any grip that is comfortable or reasonably orthodox is all right. I don't care much for a lot of wrists in putting. An exercise that helps is to face the wall, put the top of your head against it, and then stroke with the putter along the baseboard. This helps you feel swing path.

Stay on backswing plane

BY JIM GOERGEN

One of my students struggled with lifting his hands and rotating the club open on the backswing. To fix it, I asked him to feel his hands staying down and in on the backswing instead, the butt end of the club closer to his right foot. The clubface should "look" at the ball going back. The result? The club stays outside the hands on the way back and the clubface is on the same angle as his spine. He's now on plane and striping the ball.

Take the wind out of play

BY JUSTIN LEONARD

Most players think you need to keep the ball low only when hitting into the wind. My goal is to have the wind affect all of my shots as little as possible, so I hit the ball lower even when the wind is helping or crossing. Wind can change at any moment, but you can estimate what the ball will do down on the ground.

Develop your own swing

BY HARVEY PENICK

A scratch player often spoils a good player in the making. Mickey Wright (left) said to me, "I sure wish I could get my hands high like Betsy Rawls [above]." I had to tell her: "You don't want your hands high. You just like what Betsy has done with her hands high."

The buried lie from sand

BY GARY PLAYER

When the ball is buried in the sand, I follow the same procedure as with a normal sand shot, with three exceptions: My clubface is square, I swing more upright than normal and I allow more roll on the green.