Upper Body Stretches to Improve Your Golf Swing

Recently, I had the opportunity to receive hands-on instruction from golf teaching guru, Hank Haney. Now, this was obviously a special opportunity since Hank basically only teaches Tiger Woods, and the junior players at his academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Hank has a specific golf swing theory that he is confident will allow the golfer to hit the nine main golf shots with consistency, at will. This includes the straight shot, with low, medium or high trajectory, a draw with these three trajectories, and a fade with these three trajectories. If a golfer can swing the golf club efficiently, he or she should feel comfortable hitting any one of these shots when the situation calls for it.

Hank’s theory is that the club shaft should maintain the same angle throughout the golf swing as its starting position at address. This is not the so-called one-plane golf swing. Hank dismisses that idea. However, he does suggest that there is one plane “angle” that the shaft should maintain, on different planes, throughout the golf swing.

Now, although I always felt I had a pretty good shoulder turn, my lesson with Hank indicated that I was not getting the full shoulder turn I need to maintain this one plane angle with a full golf swing. Instead, my left shoulder would drop slightly, and my head would also drop, during the back swing. As a result, I was not making the full shoulder turn that would allow me to swing the club on the consistent shaft angle that Hank indicates will lead to more consistent ball striking. Instead, the angle of my club shaft would at times be too flat or too steep, and ultimately I would need to have exceptional timing to hit the ball straighter.

I’ve stated in a previous article that flexibility is more important than strength for initially trying to add distance to your golf game. In trying to make the fuller shoulder turn that Hank was making me do during my lesson, I realized that I probably need to work on stretching my upper body some more. I will note that I also have a bit of a neck issue related to a skiing wreck when I was a teenager. As such, this may limit how much of a turn I can ultimately make. The swing can still be effective if I must make only a three-quarter swing, and I can still generate power in other ways, but I will make a go out of trying to generate a full swing by increasing my flexibility.

Increased flexibility is so important to improving the golf swing, that even Charles Barkley is working on this as he works with Hank Haney in trying to solve his full swing yip problem. At the same time, he has lost 30 pounds as well. It is no secret now that fitness is one of the big keys to improving your golf game!

With that in mind, in the coming weeks, I will continue to focus my attention on stretching the upper body. Below are descriptions of the primary stretching exercises I will utilize in improving my flexibility. If you want to improve your golf game, I suggest you work on these simple exercises as well!

Back Stretch – Twist

Lay flat on your back, arms out to sides and palms down, with your knees bent and feet flat to the floor. Shift onto your left hip, keeping your back flat to the floor. Lower your knees to the left side, so that the left knee and thigh lay on the floor. Place your left hand on your right knee, and pull the right knee down to floor…at the same time your head should be turned to the right, facing your right hand. Hold for 30 seconds, then slowly switch positions to the other side.

Lying Down Shoulder Stretch

While sitting on the floor, legs stretched out front, and back straight, interlock your hands on the floor behind your back. Slide your feet forward as far as they will go, feeling the stretch in the front of the shoulders. Hold that position for 30 seconds.

Trunk Rotations

Hold a staff or a broomstick behind your neck, with your arms outstretched along the staff. At the golf course, you can do a version of this with your driver, with on hand on the grip, and the other down near the clubhead.

Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, slowly turn your body as far to the left as possible, hold for a second, then slowly twist to the right, as far as possible. Repeat 10 times to each side, and each time try to turn a little further.

Elbow Pull Shoulder Stretch

Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, or sitting in an upright position with your back straight, extend your left arm forward, reach under and slightly behind your left elbow with your right hand, then draw the left arm in toward your body and across to the right. You should feel this stretch in the back and side of your left deltoid muscle of the shoulder. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds, then perform this same stretch with the right shoulder.

Scott Cole

Johnson wins Pebble Peach

Dustin Johnson picked up his second win on the PGA Tour this week without having to play another round after Saturday's 67. Although he did not have to finish it off after sitting on the lead overnight, he still proved he will be a force to reckon with, as this is his second win in under a year.

I happened to catch a few swings by Phil Mickelson on Saturday, and he looks like he is still struggling. I caught him on a par 3 where he was hitting about a 5-iron. He pull hooked his first shot, which hit a cart path and bounced out of bounds. Bad luck, but the shot was way off line. He nearly did the same with his second swing off that tee.

Phil appears to be struggling mightily with the swing changes he is making under Butch Harmon. A recap of the first swing on Golf Channel showed that he was very steep in the downswing. He may have been trying to hit a fade into the hole, and released his hands too quickly, causing the pull. Nevertheless, he was still way too steep on the downswing, and I don't see how he will strike the ball consistently with that swing. As a result, for the third consecutive week, he was nowhere near being competitive.

I'm off to Florida this weekend to work on my game!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Want more distance? Improve Your Golf Swing!

There are plenty of golf fitness gurus out there who insist that you can gain greater distance by doing a few exercises and stretches. This will be true if you already have a good golf swing. But, the bottom line is, if you have a faulty swing, you can exercise until you are blue in the face, and it won't matter.

A week ago I was in Dallas attending the Hank Haney "Teaching the Teacher" seminar that he holds annually. We all had the opportunity to work with Hank's staff on our swings. Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to get a full swing lesson from Hank in front of the rest of the pros. He analyzed video of my swing, showed me my faults, then showed me how to improve my swing. He essentially gave me the same lesson that one of his instructors, Doug Alexander, had given me a couple days earlier. However, it did reinforce what I needed to work on.

A couple hours later, I took these ideas to the driving range. I struggled for a while, mainly because I was not getting the release at impact correct, and my follow through was off. After a while though, it finally clicked. I ripped four straight 5-irons with a slight draw, and decided to pull out the driver. I made perfect contact with the driver, and the ball flew dead straight. I have no idea how far it went, but the ball flight was beautiful, and the ball shot off the clubface like a bullet. The beauty of all this was that the physical effort required to hit these shots was far less than with my old swing.

So, first thing is first. If you want more distance, improve your swing. Then, when you want to take it to the next level, work on your fitness.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Hank Haney Teaching Seminar

As I wrote last week, I attended the annual Hank Haney teaching seminar this past weekend. This was an incredible experience to say the least. In my view, Hank Haney is the best teacher on the planet, and it is no wonder that Tiger Woods has such faith in his abilities as a teacher. Unfortunately, very other people have access to Haney himself due to his demanding schedule. However, there are a number of Haney facilities in Texas, not to mention those of us that will be listed on the website who attended the workshop this weekend.

For me, the weekend began Saturday shortly after I landed in Dallas. After checking into my hotel, I rushed out to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville for a lesson with instructor Doug Alexander. Doug has been a Haney instructor for ten years, and his passion for teaching was evident from the start. I spent over an hour with Doug, and he didn't charge me a dime.

On Sunday, we began with Hank discussing his ball flight philosophy and how to diagnose swing issues. Later in the morning, he gave 5, 20 minute lessons to students who were picked from a group of 200 that auditioned two weeks prior. This was to demonstrate how he diagnoses a problem and corrects the problem in the golfers swing. We broke for lunch, and then returned in the afternoon to watch Hank work with five more of these students. We then had a question and answer period before breaking for the day. Most of us went out to the range to hit some balls, and Doug Alexander worked with me some more. The owner of the JC Video golf swing software was out filming our swings as well.

On Monday, Hank spent a couple more hours answering questions, and of course talking about his work with Tiger Woods, as well as Charles Barkley. And then, the big moment for me arrived. Of the 50 or so teachers in attendance at the seminar, Hank chose me, Scott Cole, to give a swing lesson to. Basically, he was looking for a swing that was a bit different than the rest, and I guess mine fit that definition. So, for about 30 minutes, Hank worked on my swing using his typical hands on approach and video analysis. This was the thrill of a lifetime. One of my colleagues in attendance took some photos, which may be seen below. We then broke for lunch, and I had a chance to have lunch with Hank and a few of the other senior instructors, including Doug Alexander, Steve Johnson and Brian Mahon. While at lunch, Hank received a text message from Tiger Woods announcing the birth of his son, Charlie Axel! Very cool stuff indeed!

After lunch, we had another question and answer session with Hank, and then we worked on our own games for the day. I had the chance to work with Brian Mahon who kept me focused on what I had worked on with Hank and Doug previously.

Overall, it was an excellent trip, and I will be attending this event annually. I should also mention that I thought it was incredible that Martin Hall, 2008 PGA Teacher of the Year was also in attendance. He has been teaching for 31 years. It just goes to show that you can never stop learning!

Scott Cole

Golf Lesson

As I mentioned in my last post, I am attending Hank Haney's "Teaching the Teacher" seminar this weekend. I flew into Dallas today, and went out to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch for a lesson from one of Hank's senior instructors, Doug Alexander. Now, keep in mind, I have not played a lot of golf in recent years, and decided to start teaching late last year. I knew I had some swing issues, which had kept me from not wanting to play in recent years. Little did I realize how much I really needed to work on!

Now, this was the best golf lesson I have ever had, by far. It is clear to me that there are your typical golf professionals working at a club who have gone through the PGA process, which actually focuses very little on teaching. And then you have pros like Doug, and his mentor Hank Haney, who KNOW how to teach! Doug admitted he gave me too much information, but since I would likely only have this opportunity to work with him, he worked on a lot of things with me.

What he has learned from Hank, and what will be reinforced this weekend, is a hands on approach to teaching. With my hands on the club, he swung the club with his hand on the shaft, showing me the positions I needed to be in within the swing. He positioned my head and shoulders, and worked me through various phases of the swing to get the proper feel for what he wanted me to do.

This is the first lesson I have had in over 10 years, but no one else has come close to providing me with this kind of information. This is why I am attending the seminar, to learn from Hank Haney and his staff. If he is good enough to be Tiger Woods' swing coach, then he is the one I want to learn from!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Hank Haney Teaching Seminar

This weekend, I am off to Dallas to attend Hank Haney's annual Teaching The Teacher seminar. Although I have had a bit of experience with teaching, and will be doing it professionally this year for the first time, you can never stop learning. And, who better to learn from than the teacher of the number one player in the world, Tiger Woods!

Each of us attending will have a chance to work with Hank and his staff on his teaching methods, as well as on our own games. I am truly looking forward to this event!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Veteran Perry Wins Again

Kenny Perry won another tournament on Sunday, his fourth win in the last two seasons. With his performance over the last year or so, and Vijay Singh's continued strong play, it is becoming more evident that golf is a game that can be played at a highly competitive level into your late 40's and early 50's. This is especially so if you can stay in shape and hold onto that length off the tee. Perry and Singh continue to hit the ball a long way, and it is not just due to technological advances. When either one gets hot with the putter, they are a force to be reckoned with.

The message here is if you take care of yourself and keep working on your game, there is no reason you can't play your best golf even if you are approaching 50. If you are in this age range, focus on stretching so that you won't lose that shoulder turn so important to maintaining length off the tee. And don't forget to work more on that short game than anything else! That is where you can score!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net