The Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines has arrived. It is Tiger Woods first tournament of the year, and don’t forget Torrey Pines will be the venue of the U.S. Open in 2008. The local media has been building this tournament up as a match-up between Tiger and Phil. When I look at both of those guys and their swing, one word pops into my mind, feel. Both Tiger and Phil have great feel in their golf swing. The professional level player has an incredible feels with the clubhead through every stage of the swing. How about you? Are you able to ...

The Palmer designed Classic Course has been dubbed the “most difficult” course on the rotation this year at the Bob Hope Classic. Wind in the Palm Springs area can have a definite effect on the play at this PGA Tour event. Thursday was a prime example of such a case. The wind picked up and the scores were not as low. The location of the Classic Course in the Coachella Valley makes it more vulnerable to the wind, and should make for a interesting finish on the course come Sunday. Additionally, water is in play on almost all the holes making ...

The PGA Tour has returned to the mainland and the beautiful Palm Springs area. Many call this area of a golfer’s paradise, and in my mind, I agree wholeheartedly. Tough duty for me this week. The number of golf courses in the area is unbelievable and great courses from course designers such as Palmer, Dye, Nicklaus, and Norman. The Bob Hope is a unique event with five days of golf spread over four different courses. La Quinta, Bermuda Dunes, PGA West, and the new course on the rotation, the Classic Course. The Classic Course is a Palmer designed course located off Cook ...

I was watching the Golf Channel the other night. The show was an instructor breaking down the swing of an amateur golfer on video. As the instructor viewed this guy’s swing he was speaking about the inability of the golfer to release the hips correctly in the swing. The instructor pointed out that the reason for the hips not releasing was a lack of flexibility in the golfer’s hips! For me it is another example of the connection between your swing and the body. The golfer in the above example, regardless of how hard he works at the range, will not ...

The dreaded slice: an out-to-in swing path in which the clubface is open at impact causing a tremendous amount of side-spin on the ball sending it off course. A swing fault many of us have had to deal with at some time or another in our golfing careers. Well, improving your golf game is fundamentally a process of improving both the body and the swing. I was reading some results of research conducted by a professor from UNC. Professor Bob Christina is also the head teaching pro from Pinehurst (venue for the 2005 US Open). A group of golfers prone ...

During my golf practice this morning, I was working on getting a complete and full shoulder turn. This is important because a full shoulder turn with level hips sets up a proper downswing and gives me the ability to hit the ball with more power. I see many amateurs who are unable to make a full shoulder turn, robbing them of distance and power. If you can’t turn, you can’t swing a club very well. In our training programs I talk about the “four pillars of the body” in relationship to the golf swing. One of those pillars is flexibility, and ...