Foley in public eye as Tiger's golf swing coach

The new golf swing guru for Tiger Woods has admitted that his life is not the same after taking on such a high profile client.

Sean Foley, the Canadian tasked with returning Woods to the top of the world, was quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press as saying he has reluctantly, but unsurprisingly, become a public figure.



Three of Sean Foley's students in action - Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair and Stephen Ames.

"There's recognition in airports and restaurants, and that never happened before," Foley was quoted as saying. "People say 'that's got to be so annoying'.

"But I created it. I could have said no (when asked to work with Woods). You have to embrace it and take it on."

at 36, Foley is barely older than his famous student, who was 14 major titles and was world number one for more than five years before a nightmare 2010 that focused more on his personal life than his golf swing.

Foley, however, is there to give some some valuable golf swing tips, having worked previously with the likes of Stephen Ames, Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan and Justin rose.

His philosophy is to use the same teaching techniques for everyone, whether he is Tiger Woods or a 20-handicapper and takes his knowledge from all the great golf swing teachers, including David Leadbetter and Butch Harmon.

Three Sean Foley students - Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair and Stephen Ames.

Chelsea boys explain the golf swing

Footballers and golf swing experts are more closely linked than you think.

Ken Shellito and John Whittle (pictured right) were formerly with English Premier League champions Chelsea FC, a few decades ago. Shellito was a player and manager – seats since occupied by such luminaries as Ruud Gullit, Jose Mourinho and now by Carlo Ancelloti.

Whittle played as a kid for Chelsea and said Shellito (pictured left) used to “beat him up” at Stamford Bridge. Both are now my colleagues at the Asian Football Confederation.

Shellito is part of the AFC’s Technical Study Group, analysing matches, players and trends in the game while Whittle is director of the Grassroots & Youth Department.

Both are close to the game of golf, more so Whittle these days than Shellito, who once played to a handicap of 12 but whose only advice on a golf swing is “it’s like kicking a ball”.

Whittle was a bit more erudite, having got his handicap down to four and is regularly seen out on the fairways of Kuala Lumpur on weekends.Here’s what he had to say. Pay particular attention to his advice on the first part of the takeaway.

“In my view the proper golf swing is the path. What’s a golf swing path? The golf swing path can be said to be the curve that the clubhead pursues all through the course of the golf swing.

“This path or route starts with the takeaway, arches in the upward direction through the top of the swing, and then moves downwards through the ball and in the direction of the goal (just can’t get rid of those football terms – Ed).”

“The golf swing path depends upon his or her posture, swing speed, stance, grip and most importantly, the takeaway.

“All these factors also contribute to the proper golf swing. The takeaway happens in the beginning one or two feet of the swing. This is a negligible part of the swing but it controls the swing path to a great extent.

“A club taken away on a flat path will result in a flat swing. Similarly, if the club is taken away in an upright path, the swing has all chances of being upright too.”

In the 60s and 70s, golf was a major part of a professional footballer’s recreation time. After training in the mornings, there would be not much else to do except play golf.

That’s why many footballers became quite good at the game. But Shellito said there were rules in those days too.

“If there was a game on Saturday, you couldn’t play golf after Wednesday,” he said.

I parred the 17th

My golf swing needs a lot of work. I did nine holes at the club I recently joined, Port Dickson Golf & Country Club, about 70 miles south of Kuala Lumpur.

All I will reveal is that I parred the par-three 17th. Glorious shot to 15 feet and two-putted with aplomb. No danger of birdie given my utter lack of putting skill.

I had a reasonable session at the driving range before I played. Whenever I managed a clean hit with the driver, I seemed to be hooking the ball. Tried adjusting my stance but didn't work.

It appears that Moe Norman's aim to put a two-inch ball on to a 50-yard wide fairway is an over-simplification of reality, as far as I am concerned.

Surely, any golf swing can do that! I need an appointment with the local pro pretty soon. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Picture: that's me on the 17th, on my way to par.

Scott wins in Singapore: classic golf swing

Adam Scott, whose golf swing was initially modelled on Tiger Woods' swing, won the Singapore Open last week, the third time he has triumphed in the tournament.

The Australian is a popular visitor to the joint Asian Tour and European Tour event, winning in 2005 and 2006. I was a journalist covering the 2005 event for Reuters when Scott won and I remember his post-tournament press conference very well.



Adam Scott's (right) swing compared to Tiger Woods'.

He came across as a humble and unassuming individual and he said all the right things. He genuinely savoured his victory in Singapore and, reading the reports from the weekend, was equally delighted to have triumphed in 2010 after a gruelling tournament that went into a fifth day because of rain.

Scott was always compared with Woods early in his career. After all, he admits being influenced by Woods’ golf swing and his former caddy was the brother of Tiger’s caddy.

Experts consider Scott to have a classic swing. According to an analysis of his golf swing by Robert Anthony Prichard in 2008, a key aspect was the change in spine angle at impact.

While this is fine for pros, Prichard doesn’t advise it for us regulars. Why?

He wrote: “The problem is that you have to change it exactly the right amount with each swing. If you are one degree off either way, you will hit the ball fat or thin.

“It is very difficult to be accurate off the tee when you have such a large change in alignment. Alignment is what produces accuracy in golf.”

Scott has a lot of talent and was once ranked third in the world. I hope this Singapore Open win will spark another rise in fortunes and have him soon challenging for the number one spot as well as a major title.

Golf swing still going strong at 100

Richie McKay may be 100 years old but he’s still got a golf swing many amateurs would envy.

The Ormskirk Golf Club member celebrated his century birthday and the club had a special event in his honour, according to an article in the Ormskirk Advertiser.

He still plays twice a week off a handicap of 23, having once gone as low as 11, and said: “I don’t feel any different a 100. I try to walk a few miles a day and I eat good plain food.”

The former military man who served in Normandy days after D-Day is thought to be the oldest man in Britain with an active handicap. He has been playing the game for 60 years.

Picture: golf.co.uk

Easy, just pretend the ball isn’t there

The first time I saw Tiger Woods unleash his golf swing was while watching coverage of the 1997 US Masters, which he won – the first of so far 14 major titles.

I was amazed. I was in awe of his ability to whip the club around his torso in a blink of an eye … as if the ball was not even there. And then I thought to myself: “Why hasn’t any golf pro, or golfing mate, taught me this yet?”

Of course, I was referring to making a golf swing and treating the ball as if it wasn’t there. I thought this was a great golf swing secret that only I knew.

Indeed, I thought I was on my way to becoming a golf swing guru. Of course, this concept is quite a well-known theme among many teaching pros.

Among them is Dr Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA National Teacher of the Year, who analysed this phenomenon in an article in the Naples News.

The "hit" impulse

He calls it the “hit” impulse and highlights it as the reason a perfect practice golf swing is rarely replicated when a ball has to be hit.

“The hit impulse can be described as the golfer's desire to hit at an object instead of simply swinging through an area,” he says.

Dr Suttie says that good golfers would make “incidental” contact with the ball, which means the ball just happens to make contact with the golf club’s sweet spot as you make your golf swing.

He doesn’t offer any physical remedies to fix the “hit” impulse. However, he does emphasise a psychological approach, telling the tale of a great Canadian pro Moe Norman, who, when asked what he focused on when making a golf swing, replied as follows.

If the ball fits

“Don’t know, don’t know, just trying to fit my two-inch ball on that 50-yard fairway. I think my ball will fit on that fairway.”

Now, if only we could all think like Moe ... and swing like Tiger did in 1997.

Picture: Tiger Woods at the 97 Masters (augusta.com)

New app to measure golf swing speed

How fast is your golf swing? If you have an iPhone, this is your chance to find out.

Marvel Apps, from Huntington Woods, Michigan, has unveiled its iSwingSpeed1.0 for iOS, which, when used on your iPhone, can measure the speed of your golf swing either in mph or km/h.

In the previous blog post, we mentioned how guru golf swing coach Butch Harmon said the pros swing a club at more than 110 mph, going all the way up to 200 mph.

According to their press release, Marvel said the user operates the app by placing their iPhone flat on the ground, approximately 27 inches behind the ball in the swing path of the club. This is about six phone lengths away.

The machine's built-in mic measures the speed of the swing to an accuracy of plus or minus four mph up to 140 mph. There is no need to set anything, the speed is displayed automatically after every swing.

The app uses proprietary algorithm to function and registers the two loudest sounds of a golf swing - as the club passes over the iPhone mic and when it strikes the ball - to calculate speed.

It works indoors or outdoors, though accuracy is reduced on windy days.

Main features of the app are:
* Very simple to set up
* Large, easy-to-read speed numbers
* Improves golf game by providing instant feedback
* Accurate to +/-4MPH under ideal conditions
* Operates automatically, no reset required
* Swing speed can assist golfers in shot and club selection
* Determine optimum swing speed for best distance
* iSwingSpeed v2.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad available December 2010

‘Tempo, not force, for distance’: golf swing guru Harmon

Butch Harmon, the guru of golf swing yogis, was impressed with the distances achieved by some of the US military’s best swingers recently.

Harmon was witness as Ryan Hixon won his fourth straight Military Long Drive Championship, hitting drives past the 360-yard mark to earn US$10,000. According to the Desert Valley Times, he reached the final four with a 387-yard blast, which was the best hit of the tournament.

Harmon is well known as the former golf swing coach of Tiger Woods. He has also coached plenty of other top-class golfers such as Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, among others.

While there, he gave a few hints as to what you need to hit the ball long – and it has nothing to do with making humungous golf swings.

“It’s how fast you deliver the clubhead to the ball, it’s tempo, it’s not how hard you swing,” he was quoted as saying. “Most people swing hard in case they hit it. The average amateur player’s club speed is in the high 80s (miles per hour).

“The pros average between 110 and 115 miles per hour. These guys get their clubhead speed up around 140 miles per hour. I’ve seen some long drivers generating clubhead speed near 200 miles per hour.”

Harmon attended the drive-fest to introduce six men who were wounded in action who he had coached. So, will he take the blame if they don’t drive well and blame Harmon?

“It won’t hurt my feelings,” he said. “I took two guys (professional golfers) to No. 1 in the world and they both fired me.”

Can anyone out there hit 110 or more in their golf swing? If so, how do you do it? Comments welcome.

(picture armymwr.com)

Break 80 with this great program

Is your golf swing good enough for you to break 80? If you haven't yet reached that magic milestone yet, how would you like to do so this weekend?

According to Jack Moorehouse, this is entirely possible with his fantastic program "How To Break 80 a shoot like the pros".

Jack says he has helped more than 100,000 golfers all over the world improve their scores and he is promising to offer you the same assistance.

So confident is he that you will benefit from his advice, if you don't show any improvement whatsoever, he will "personally send you $50.00 just for trying it! That's how confident I am it works!"

The program is designed specifically for amateur golfers who do something other than golf to make a living and it covers your entire game, golf swing included, to ensure to have an overall approach to lowering your scores.

He covers grip, a four-step golf swing instruction, drawing and fading, shots in adversity, short game techniques, chip shots, putting secrets of pros, reading greens, mental strength, pre-shot routines, recovering from bad shots, sand play and much more.

Check out his website by CLICKING HERE and buy his programme now. It costs only $37 but hurry, he might jack it up soon.

New number one Westwood finds balance in golf swing

Englishman Lee Westwood has always been a popular figure on and off the golf course and his rise to number one in the world, knocking Tiger Woods off his five-and-a-half-year perch, is a testament to the hard work and effort of the Ryder Cup hero over the past few years.

One of the keys to reaching the summit, according to the man himself was taking responsibility for his own golf swing. As he said in a Press Association article, he was just "listening to just one person - me."



That he did so is astonishing for the 37-year-old, who revamped his golf swing several years ago after more than half a decade in the wilderness.

In executing his swing, Westwood tells us in his website that he tries to be evenly balanced between the feet and flexes the knees while leaning forward from the hips.

He advises forming a straight line with your left thumb, forearm, left arm, shaft of the golf club and the ball.

He says: "Like a spoke in a wheel, this structure will be the cornerstone of consistency when the moment of impact arrives."

Certainly, consistency in his golf swing has help Westwood rise to the top of the world.