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Several years ago a friend of mine wanted to learn how to play golf. We went to the golf range and he started hitting. He hit some erratic shots, chopped the ball into the ground a couple times, bladed a bunch and almost hit me once when he shanked one sideways. He looked at me and said; well what do you think? I remarked; your golf swing looks just like Norman. He beamed with a smile and said; Greg Norman? I shook my and head and said no, Norman Bates! You know from the shower stabbing scene in the movie Psycho. Your kidding he remarked. Yes I am however your swing is a little choppy.

We went on to discuss and learn how to smooth out a choppy swing and develop a smooth accelerating one. The following steps will help.

1	Get rid of the thought of hitting at the ball and develop a swinging motion as if the ball was not there. Swing at the daisies was Percy Boomer’s suggestion. The ball only weighs 6.2 ounces, 5.9 in the Pro V, so let the steel of the club impact the ball naturally without added force.
2	Maintaining a constant swing arc by bracing your arms together at address forming a triangle down to your grip will help diminish any independent chopping at the ball. Be sure to draw in your biceps toward your thorax and maintain a feeling of straightness in the elbows to establish a fulcrum or leverage effect that will insure a constant and controlled swing arc.
3	The next essential step is to power your swing through a rotary pivot of the torso, hips, and shoulders. If you were good at the Hula Hoop it may help. Percy Boomer coined a phrase turn in a barrel. I personally like the drill drill which is the image of twisting your body like a drill back and forth digging your spikes into the ground. This powering the swing from the ground up will generate the centripetal force that will travel up through the legs, body, shoulders, arms and hands whipping the club head through the ball as a centrifugal swing.
4	This fundamental power key of turning back and twisting through with the torso, hips, and shoulders allow the arms to swing up on plane automatically virtually free of strain in the shoulders. There should be no independent lifting or abrupt steering, guiding, or hitting at the ball that will interfere with the constant whipping action of the club through the ball. Bobby Jones coined the phrase Free Wheeling through Impact which is exactly the sensation you are looking for.
5	If you don’t want to swing the club like Norman Bates, power the club through a rotary pivot and let the club swing upon the back swing and down on the through swing sensing the momentum of the club head swinging throughout.

A quote that was made from teaching great, Percy Boomer, states it best in my mind:

“If at the moment of impact you stop the forward pull of the left side, which is what you will do if you hit at the ball, the power is not available and club head cannot, as it should, continue accelerating in contact with the ball until the ball rebounds from it.”

Rick Bradshaw 2004/2006 North Florida Section, PGA Teacher of the Year Director of instruction Dent/Bradshaw School of Golf Heritage Isles Golf Club

In the 33 years I have been a golf teaching professional I would venture to say that the majority of golfers that walked onto my lesson tee initially swung the club wildly with their arms trying to swat that ball down the fairway. I always tell them that you are swinging like a drunken sailor and that their arms are AWOL (absent without leave).

Swinging the golf club into the back of a golf ball is tough enough without trying to swat the club violently at the ball with the arms free of leverage and control of the upper torso. There has to be some point of control to keep your arms from going A W O L. This point is the connecting of the upper triceps upon your pectoral chest muscles. This connection limits the ability of the arms to run of and leave your body behind. This concept is why so many tour professionals place a towel under both arms to practice. The towel drill and connection of the arms on the chest not only limits the premature lifting of the arms on the takeaway but leaves your body no choice but to initiate the swing with a pivoting motion.

Once the pivot sets the club in motion and energy is passed to the club head as it swings back around a little and up into a set position at the top of your back swing. The pulling force may pull your arms off a little as the club swings up but don’t lift the arms actively on the back swing! If you do lift your arms it is more difficult to control the swing arc and stay on a constant path. Your goal is not to try to get the attention of a plane or ship like Tom Hanks waving his arms in the movie Castaway. I personally have my students hold a volley ball in front of them and tell them to use their body to toss the ball forward while all the time keeping their arms on the side of the body. They do have to yell WISLON loudly when they toss it.

Percy Boomer the most influential golf instructor of all time stated this about the arms in the golf swing. “Now I have told you not to use your arms to hit with, in fact you should not play golf with your hands and arms at all but with your feet and legs. Now this is an exaggeration but one that is necessary to correct the natural tendency to use our hands and arms to the detriment of foot and leg work. THE ARMS WANT TO WORK AND WILL WORK, so it is necessary to emphasize the importance of foot and leg action in order to get the proper balance”.

The control or counter balance is the connection of the arms to the chest to power the swing through rotation into the resistance of the feet both on the back swing and through swing. The arms will swing naturally reacting to this pivoting motion.

WAIT A MINUTE CALL THE M.P’S I SEE ANOTHER DRUNKEN SAILOR TEEING OFF HOLE #1.

Happy Golfing Rick Bradshaw

I recently collected all the data again in 2014/2015 on which body part should receive the National Golf School Sales Award and a trip for two to any island in the world that does not have a golf course.

The winner by a landslide was the right hand! Coming in a close second was the right shoulder and honorable mention was the left side of the brain.

The Winner : Right Hand

1	The right hand wants to take control of the golf swing right from the start through to the finish.
2	He does not care who he bullies around to achieve control.
3	Charges have been brought against him for choking the club and squeezing the life out it.
4	Murder charges for trying to chop, bludgeon and kill the ball are ever pending.
5	Refusal to be a team player and follow the lead of the legs, body and left side, have caused grief for thousands of golfers.

The results were thousands of golf lessons for teaching professionals and golf schools.

Close Second : Right Shoulder

1	The right shoulder is an accomplice of the right hand and should be held accountable on all charges the right hand receives.
2	The right shoulder is the force behind the right hand and wants to and does obliterate any chance of the golf club being pulled with great velocity down and through the ball.
3	The right shoulder is the pushiest of body parts in the golf swing and someone should shut him up. However I would like to personally thank him for his monetary contribution to my golf school lesson volume.

Honorable Mention : Left Side of the Brain

1	All right I know the left side of the brain is responsible for us reaching the moon, and our worldly successes but give me a break the golf swing is not that complicated.
2	I truly enjoy teaching articulate left brain analysts as I enjoy their knowledge on various issues and right brain lessons are quite a bore, but please refrain from over thinking Mr. Left Side of the Brain and be smart enough to focus on the most important issues and not every detail of the swing all at once.
3	Once the left side of the brain filters out the unimportant details and focuses on the main factors involved in swinging a golf club he could cost me lessons.

What is the responsibility of the right hand and side?

Hogan stated he wished he had 3 right hands through the moment of impact. He said that in part because he was a natural left hander swinging from the right side and felt that he lacked the strength to reactively transmit the power to the club head the way a natural right hander could. In a powerful golf swing the right foot, leg, and hip resist the turn on the backswing loading energy. The downswing is triggered by this resistance and the club is thrown back against the right hand and fingers. As the body continues to turn through the shot and the arms swing down and through the ball the right hand is the last man standing to deliver energy to the club. Unfortunately the right hand does not like to wait until last and hits prematurely at the ball in sooooo many swings.

Rick Bradshaw 2004 / 2006 North Florida Section PGA Teacher of the Year

With the holidays near and some of you setting up your train sets, let’s compare an electric train traveling on a circular track to the golf swing through several experiments. I personally had a train set that could either be pulled by the engine or pushed by the caboose, and the passenger cars were linked together by metal clasps.

1	When the engine pulls the train, the links holding the cars together are pulled taut. / When your legs power the body and left side in the golf swing, your body automatically unwinds and your golf swing remains taut and controlled. The feeling is that of effortless power!
2	When the caboose pushes the train, the links holding the cars together get jammed together and pile up as in a train wreck. When your right shoulder pushes your golf club into the ball, your swing becomes jammed up as well, resulting in an uneasy, forced swing motion or powerless effort.
3	When the engine pulls the train around the curve, the cars have a tendency to lean outward with the last car wanting to whip. When your legs, body, and left side unwind, the golf club has freedom to accelerate and to pull outward with the trailing club head smashing through the ball (automatically).
4	If the train hits an obstacle in the track, regardless if it is being pushed by the caboose or pulled by the engine, the cars will pile up in a train wreck. / If you stop your body from unwinding to hit at the golf ball, your golf swing will also result in a train wreck.

My swing thought through the holidays and forever will be to keep my swing pulled taut by the engine / legs and left side leading the swing, and not pushed together by the caboose or right side in an effort to overpower the swing.

Watch Rick demonstrate this move as he drives the ball 300 yards with just his left arm and hand holding the golf club. This drill proves that anyone can strike the golf ball with effortless power.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Rick Bradshaw Award-Winning PGA Teaching Professional G/M, Director of Instruction Dent/Bradshaw Golf School Heritage Isles Golf & Country Club www.tourexperience.com phone: 813-220-8099