Thursday,Sep 3 2009, 02:02:04 PMRonald Bruce Romberg - Become a Golf Pro

Ronald Bruce Romberg

I've watched golfers set up to the ball correctly only to turn their chin toward the target or away from the ball before they start their backswing. This movement of the head will ruin good alignment and solid posture causing golfers to make bad swings.

It is important to note that these bad swings are all due to the position of your head at address. By tilting your head you misalign your posture, this makes you alter your swing path through the impact zone. The bad swing is directly caused by improper posture and alignment.

Here's a tip to think about: In the last few seconds before you make a swing, point your chin at the ball and keep it pointed at the ball until the club face hits the ball and you are following through.


Pointing the chin at the ball during your swing enables you to retain the proper body position and spine angle during your swing. When you turn your head, your posture and spine angle change, which alters your swing path causing all sorts of problems - lifting your head, opening your shoulders, pulling or pushing shots.

Remember to "point the chin" for every shot, from driver to putter, and you'll keep your spine angle and posture in place during your entire swing. You will find that your shot inconsistencies and ball sticking will improve dramatically with just this quick fix.

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Ronald Bruce Romberg
One of the most common faults students display is not loading their weight over their back leg when taking the club back. Perhaps because they have been told for years to "keep their head down," most golfers don't make a good enough move off the ball to get in a power position.

Try throwing a ball with your back against a wall. Then throw a ball standing away from the wall. Note that there is no comparison, when your back is against the wall you have no leverage and can only throw the ball a short distance, no matter how strong or flexible you are. Yet standing away from the wall you can load up on your back leg by leaning away from the target and then generate a greater amount of force once you step into the throw.


Swinging a golf club is no different. In order to maximize your power you must load up your back leg by turning and moving off the ball during your back swing. If done correctly, your upper spine will be tilted away from the target and you'll create additional energy by letting the momentum build. After all, this is what centrifugal force is based upon. We build up the energy then gradually release it starting at the core and increasing the speed outwards as it nears the target.

So the next time you want to hit it big think of a throwing motion. Load up your back leg to create some leverage then plant your forward foot creating a brace with your forward leg that you can swing against. Once the brace is established drive the lower body into the shot as the arms swing the shaft through impact.

Remember, an outfielder can't throw a runner out if he doesn't first load up his back leg. Just as true, a golfer can't hit a long shot without creating the same sort of leverage during the swing motion.

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Do you have a current handicap index? Do you really know your game? How far do you hit each club? What are your tendencies? What distracts you on the course? To improve your golf game, you must know yourself and your game to a greater degree. What do you do well, what could you do better, and what are your strengths?

When I give a lesson for the first time to a new student, I ask them to rate their game. How do they feel about the different shots? We can then make a game improvement plan from those answers.

Take a few moments and assess your own game: On a scale of 1-10 (10 being excellent, 1 being poor), rate how you feel about your:


Putting _____
Chipping _____
Pitching _____
Greenside bunkers _____
Fairway bunkers _____
Short irons _____
Longer irons/hybrids _____
Fairway woods _____
Driver _____
Uneven lies _____
Shot shaping* _____

Take a look at the lowest numbers. Improving in these areas will be the best place to start with lessons/practice/improvement. Maintenance of the higher rated numbers will be important as well for overall improvement.

Remember: When rating your shots, it is how you feel about your shotmaking, not the opinion of others about your game!

Buy a small notebook that you can keep in your golf bag. This will be your personal golf journal with knowledge written down about you and your game. One of the most common comments I hear from students is "I forgot." If you write it down and look at it, it will help in storing it in the memory bank of your brain.
How far do you hit each club?

If you are a relatively new golfer, just start noticing the approximate distances your clubs go. If you are a lower handicap player, you'll want to be more precise with this knowledge. You want to know how far you hit the ball with each club, both in the air and on the ground. Learn these distances with just three clubs.

Measure your 9 iron, 6 iron, and a fairway wood or hybrid when the wind is calm. You'll be able to measure the other clubs off the knowledge of these three. How far your approach clubs land (vs. where they roll out) is really important in determining what club to select. For example, if the pin is at 100 yards and is placed 10 yards from the front of the green, your 85 yard on-the-fly club will not land on the green but rather 5 yards in front of the green. Is the front of the green wet? Is it hard in front of the green? Would the ball roll more or less when it lands in front of the green?

To learn more about your distances, hit 10 balls with the same club to the same target and see if 8 out of 10 balls went + 5-10 yards of each other in distance. This knowledge will help tremendously in your club selection when playing. Write it down. Know your game, know your abilities. "This is what I can do," should always be in the
forefront of your mind.


Bruce Romberg
Louisiana State University Community, University of Texas Community