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Preparing for a tournament is very important. Practice finding your tempo.

FINDING YOUR TEMPO

Spring Training 2022. Tee it up and start the golf season off right. Learn how baseball and golf connect. Start slow and build up speed.

SPRING TRAINING TEE IT UP

Mike works on his grip in the next part of the lesson with retired MLB pitcher Garrett Richards. Mike explains that your hands to the golf club are the only connection to the game. How you put your hands on the club is then critical. If you don’t put them on correctly, it can have an adverse effect when you swing the club because the way the club puts force in your body will make the clubface do weird things.Then what happens is that you will find yourself trying to catch the clubface up.Mike is first going to show Garrett the correct grip, have a conversation about baseball, tie in what instincts he already has, and not try to fight them. Then Garrett should hit the ball more solid and not hit it as high as he does. Mike says that he has an early release, and this is the reason he is trying to catch the clubface up. Garrett’s grip is off, and he is trying to catch the clubface up because it is out of position.Mike gets Garrett to relax, bend from the hips, and let his hands and arms relax. Mike explains how the joints line up in this position. If you twist the right hand out, as Garrett currently grips the club, then any kind of force hits his right arm, and the right hand will twist back and be wide open. Then, his right hand will roll over to try and catch the clubface up.Mike elaborates that the right hand’s job is to push and throw. There is no twisting. Now Mike gets Garrett a baseball bat and swings it straight out in front of him. Mike stops the bat, twists the bat and hands, and asks Garrett why he wouldn’t hit the ball like that.Garrett responds that it wouldn’t be as powerful. Mike now moves his hands back and adjusts his thumb slightly. Mike drops Garrett’s hand with the baseball bat down into a golf club position.&nbsp;This is your golf grip, Mike explains. You want to hit with your hand positioned just like you would hit a baseball. Unfortunately, Garrett currently can’t because of the way he grips the club. If he tried to, he would hit it to the right because the clubface is wide open.Mike wants to change his grip so that he can hit a golf ball the same way he hits a baseball. Mike takes the baseball from Garrett and swings the bat. Mike’s Dad played professional baseball, and Mike played until college. Mike used to take a baseball bat and swing it at a tire hanging from a tree. When Mike came to golf, he adjusted his thumb slightly and dropped his arms and hands in front of him. This was his golf swing. And it was the same move as a baseball swing.Mike takes the club, places it in Garrett’s fingers, and wraps his hand over it. Mike explains as far as in the golf industry, it is a strong grip,However, as far as joint alignment is concerned, it is a neutral grip. The key is to line up all the joints with the clubface the way they are designed to work.Mike sets his grip and guides the club back and forth so that Garrett can feel the motion of the golf swing. Currently, Garrett twists the clubface open on the backswing, comes down, and twists the clubface back to square at impact. Mike is eliminating the twisting action.Mike gets Garrett to do an exercise where he takes a golf ball back and just throws it down to the ground. Again, as Garrett takes the ball back to throw, there is no twisting of the hand. You want your hand to line up with the ball. Mike again illustrates that there is no twisting in the hand and equates the throwing of the golf ball to the back and downswing.Mike adjusts Garrett’s grip and gets him to hit a couple of balls the same way he would hit a baseball bat.

GARRETT RICHARDS USE YOUR BASEBALL GRIP

Mike discusses golf and motion with Martial Arts expert Scott Williams.

GOLF AND MARTIAL ARTS

INTRO TO ADJACENCY

This fitness exercise uses a cord to perform upright rows. 

Mike takes one cord and steps on it. Holding the handle with the other hand, he pulls it up to his shoulders, ensuring they are pinched backward.

Lift the cord up and down, which doesn’t require a lot of tension. This exercise aims to strengthen and loosen and get the blood flowing in your shoulders.

UPRIGHT ROWS

These are the shots that everybody loves.  Here we will take a look at what they are, how to do them, and what the basic concept is.

HIGH RISK LOB SHOTS

A Malaska Golf Member comments on how the left arm immediately rotates on the downswing.

This is external rotation. Mike explains that the right arm is also rotating. As it goes back on the swing, it externally rotates to the top; then, as the arm comes down, it internally rotates into the ball.

When you take your left arm on the backswing, it does the opposite of the right arm. It internally rotates to the top and then externally rotates on the downswing and partially through the follow-through.

Mike demonstrates a swing holding the club with only his left arm and hand. He says his left arm is rotating in his left shoulder socket. He makes the same swing with his right arm.

Combine internal and external rotations of both arms, and you have your golf swing.

Mike shows how the right and left arms rotate in either shoulder socket. It is not your hands and arms rotating but your shoulder sockets. Your shoulder sockets must be relaxed. If not, they won't be able to rotate, and your hands and wrists start to twist, making it hard to time when you are trying to hit the ball.

Again, both arms' internal and external rotations match and are crucial to making the shoulder sockets work through the ball.

ROTATION IN YOUR ARMS

Athletic motion has certain commonalities in every activity and sport.

ATHLETIC MOTION

The LPGA players are amazing athletes. Practice using the skills they use to improve your game.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE LPGA

This week's Malaska Golf Mulligan Monday focuses on improving your swing path. 

Put four tees in the ground slightly larger than your clubhead. Make swings through the tees without hitting them. You can also use four head covers to achieve the same exercise. If you swing over the top, you will hit a head cover. 

Make fifty swings or more daily and concentrate on making your swing path work without a golf ball.

IMPROVE YOUR SWING PATH

Your short game is what's going to help you score. Practice dialing in short distances using your wedges.

DIALING IN YOUR SHORT GAME

Being able to master your short game will prepare you for a tournament. Practice making the line roll.

MAKING THE LINE ROLL

How you throw a fastball, a curveball, and a slider in baseball is how you hit a hook, draw, and straight in golf.

SPRING TRAINING THROWING CURVE BALLS AND SLIDERS

The Cable Pull Drill is all about getting a feel for how you shift weight in your golf swing. Once you get the right feel, you'll understand what offsetting the forces in your swing is all about.

THE CABLE PULL DRILL

Take out your a baseball bat. Get set up and just make a few swings. Feel what is happening. As the bat goes back what is your lower body doing. When your lead foot hits the ground then your lead leg pushes away from the forward motion of the bat. That is what causes acceleration. Once you have a feel for the transition and the push away. Then take out your golf club and duplicate the motions. Hit some balls feeling the sequence and the forces that you are dealing with. 

BASEBALL DRILL

When you are practicing working on curve control, start with a 7 iron. Using a pitching wedge or a sand wedge with more loft in the clubface doesn’t create a lot of curve. 

The 7 iron has the right amount of loft where you can start hitting curves to the left or the right. It doesn’t take much face angle to see the ball curving.

The driver is the easiest club to see curve because it has the least amount of loft in the clubface. This will curve the ball to the side the most.

Mike likes to take small swings with his driver and hit fades and draws. The driver can really empathize side spin or axis tilt.

If you are working on trajectory control, Mike uses his wedge, as this is all about hitting the ball high. This is because there is not a lot of loft in the clubface.

Again, work with a 7 iron to start to master curve control.

THE PROPER CLUB FOR CURVE CONTROL

PERFORMANCE COMBINES INTRO

Practice working on swinging the club with the right and left arms. This drill helps you keep your shoulders level, not slide your body, stop the up and down motion in your wrists, and get your hips out of the way as you pivot through the ball.

RIGHT & LEFT ARM

Mike Malaska discusses where the greens break with beginner golfer Sandy James. He instructs her to aim the putter with the line on the ball where she needs to start. 

She makes a practice stroke to the side of the ball, and Mike tells her how hard she needs to hit the ball. Sandy needs to get the ball in the hole in four shots or less. She continues to aim the line and roll the line. Sandy barely misses the hole on the fourth swing but is improving. This is the point where she can begin to keep score.

ENTRY-LEVEL COACHING PUTTING

Mike Malaska and colleague Chris Lebiedz discuss trends in the PGA and LPGA teaching industry.

ASPECTS OF THE INDUSTRY

Mike Malaska works with Javier Montoya. In previous lessons with Javier, Mike worked to prevent him from rolling his wrists and flipping at impact. Javier also had issues shanking the ball. Mike used an alignment stick to ensure Javier’s hands were coming under the stick on the swing. Javier has good days when he plays; however, he still misses hard to the left with his irons and driver.

Mike gets Javier to make some swings. Javier shanks the ball to the right. This happens because he hit the ball off the hosel of the golf club. His next shot is a pull to the left. Javier continues to pull the ball to the left or shank the ball to the right.

After assessing Javier, Mike explains that when Javier hits the ball on the hosel, his hands and arms move farther away from where he started.

Javier makes some swings. Mike gets Javier to review the video swing analysis. Mike notices that Javier’s swing is too much to the inside and explains that he will be in trouble if he does that. One or two things will happen, either he will come out and over with his swing, or he will come so far from the inside that he will have difficulty catching up to the ball. Javier’s clubface is wide open at impact, coming too much around to the left on his follow-through.

Mike then demonstrates what Javier is doing with an iron. Javier is still swinging too flat on the backswing and the follow-through. Mike’s solution is to have Javier’s club stand more up on the backswing and the same on the follow-through.


HITTING THE BALL ON THE HOSEL

Mike Malaska shows us how there are three ways to hit a draw.

First, you can set the clubface closed and make your normal swing. That will make the ball draw.

Second, you can put the ball back in your stance, making your swing path come more from the inside, which will also make it draw. 

Third, you can swing and use your hands to make the clubface work. This is ideal for putting you in pressure situations and trying all three ways to hit a draw. The critical thing is that you need what works best for you on the range and then take it to the course.

There is no right or wrong way to make the ball draw or fade and go high and go low. Try some experimenting on the course and figure out which way suits you the best.

BEST WAY TO HIT A DRAW

Tom Sorenson helped many young kids at Nibley park. Learn how Nibley shaped me into the player I am today.

HOW NIBLEY PARK HELPED YOUNG PLAYERS

Tendencies are very tough to break. Learn how to improve your swing by exaggerating.

EXAGGERATING TO BREAK TENDENCIES - 20181113

Kory Budinger joins Mike Malaska at Superstition Mountain for a one-on-one lesson.

WHEN THE CLUBFACE WORKS - NO PULL HOOKS, NO BIG SLICES

POSTURE AND BALANCE

Create force from the ground into the club.

SPEED PRODUCERS

To get into the correct posture for you. First take a club and hold it up your spine on your back. Take your normal standing posture. Make sure your toes are quiet. Now just push your hips back and then tilt your spine slightly towards your trail foot. Your knees should be directly over your ankles and your weight should be in the center of your feet so that your toes are quiet. If your toes are grabbing or lifting you are off balance. 

POSTURE DRILL

How your body moves is an important part of the swing. It is also a big speed and control producer (if it works correctly). However, if it is trained incorrectly it can make it almost impossible to reach your speed and control potential. It can also potentially create patterns that can lead to injury.

ASK MIKE: BODY MOTION

Hitting slow L To L swing creates dramatic improvement through the winter.

INDOOR L TO L

Utilizing your putting grip and stroke with a lofted club will get the ball in the air and onto the green.

CHIPPING OFF GREEN PUTTING

When you get to chipping, you determine where you will be on the green. Practice playing your worst shot.

CHIPPING YOUR WORST SHOT

When you get on a pulley system with the cables on the same angle as a golf club. As you pull the cable or band back on your trail side. You will notice that your force goes into the heel and inside of your trail foot. Your hip won’t sway and you will not move closer to the ball. As you let the cable come back to start position force moves back to the center of your feet. Then to the ball of your lead foot. Then as you continue into the follow through side. Force moves into the heel of your lead hip. Your hips will not move closer to the cable machine or the ball. It is again instinct. That is how force moves in your feet. You are offsetting the inward force of the cables.

PULLY DRILL

Now that you know the most important patterns to the L to L, here's how to turn that into a full swing.

THE FULL SWING

Practice both path and face control with a starting line.

PATH AND FACE CONTROL

Take your putter. Set up 4 or 5 balls. Start hitting putts longer than 3 feet but shorter than 60 feet. Just find a tempo that you like. Once you find it count it out. Using a count of one, two. Or one, two, and three. Then regardless of the length of the putt or the swing. Maintain the same tempo. Tempo is the pace, Rhythm is the sequence and timing is what holds it together. If your tempo changes the rhythm changes which means the timing also has to change. That is impossible to  be consistent with. 

TEMPO DRILL

You need to understand the basics of your own body. How it moves. What it can and cannot do. Every swing is unique. Even though you are trying to make the same moves you will look different doing them. That is Ok. You also need to understand the importance of your health. What you eat and drink has huge consequences on how you perform. Knowing how to control these variables can make big differences in your ability to perform and learn the swing and the game.

ASK MIKE: FITNESS & HEALTH

Mike Malaska works with MLB Baseball Players, Kevin Pillar, Kevin Plawecki and Ryon Healy about the importance of grip.

GRIP WITH MIKE MALASKA, KEVIN PILLAR, KEVIN PLAWECKI AND RYON HEALY

Getting your body moving correctly while you make a full swing is important. Practice pitch shots.

BODY ROTATION

The key to creating speed is staying relaxed and swinging without tension. Mike Malaska suggests that words like "trying to hit the ball harder" or "pound the ball" impact how you swing. People usually tighten up when they try to hit the ball harder. Thinking about it from the perspective of creating speed will help.

Mike tells a story of how sprinters in relays would start to grip the batons tighter as they tried to go faster. This actually made them slower because just gripping the baton harder created tension in the shoulders, neck, head, and body. They learned that when they accelerated and didn't tighten up their hands, that made them faster.

Gravity plays a role in creating speed. This principle applies to golf too. Hold your driver above your head with both hands and drop it. As you can see, it produces quite a bit of acceleration. If you want to create a lot of speed, make sure on your backswing that you get your right hip out of the way and shoulders turned.

Also, ensure that your arms go up because if they do, they must come down, creating a downward force. If you pin your arms against your side and have a shallower swing, you may have more control, but you won't have any speed. When you come down, your left leg plants and stops the forward motion, just like in a baseball swing. Your left leg pushes back your left hip and accelerates the club through the ball. When you hit a golf ball, it's not about driving your legs or spinning your hips.

Mike takes us through a few steps to create speed and more distance. First, get set up and get your right hip out of the way on the backswing. Make sure that you are using the lever system. Make some practice swings and get a feel for how that flow works. Now, as you come down, focus on your left leg pushing your left hip out of the way. Make some practice swings. To get your maximum distance, ensure you have enough arm swing and that your arms are soft.

Combine all the steps and accelerate the club forward. Remember, no tension, get out of the way, let your arms swing up so they can drop, and then time your left hip getting out of the way as your club comes through the ball. You will create the maximum amount of speed out of your arm swing, body motion, and the lever system.

CREATING SPEED

Golf is a game of off-setting motions. If your set up is flawed, physics will force compensations to occur. This is how you set up for a swing that produces a natural draw.

CREATING A BALANCED SET-UP

Mike analyzes Kory’s swing from face-on, looking at stopping Kory’s left leg and left knee from sliding forward at impact.

ANALYZING THE SWING PART 2

A deep dive into Pitching with Mike Malaska and the M-SYSTEM

PITCHING

When you use your sand wedge, ensure the toe touches the ground and not the club's heel. This helps with the bounce of the shot.

LOB SHOTS

Training videos on how to use the Lagshot Wedges.

LAGSHOT: WEDGES

A Malaska Golf Member wants to know about the release pattern in the swing. Mike says this member is typical of those players who swing from the inside and have to roll their hands over at impact. He has a weak grip, holds the clubface open, and twists his forearms. The member wants some advice and drills to keep from doing this.

Mike uses a frisbee to show hand action. He first uses his right hand to throw the frisbee. Notice that Mike doesn’t twist his hand as he throws it. If he did, it wouldn’t go. He now throws the frisbee with his left hand, and you can see that hand action.

Throwing a frisbee with both your right and left hands gives you a feel for the hand action of the golf swing. Mike demonstrates this hand action with a golf club.

Mike has also put an ‘X’ mark with a sharpie on his left golf glove. The reason to have the X on the glove is to make sure that Mike’s hand was facing outwards on the follow-through. This was to teach Mike not to turn his hands over because if he did, the palm of his glove would be facing upward. 

These are two of the best ways to practice hand action.

LEARNING HAND ACTION

Sergio is an example of the "Malaska Move." The club is shallow out of the top, but never under the plane.

SERGIO AND THE MALASKA MOVE

This is the training of the imagination. It can be the most enjoyable part of the game to practice. And when it works under the pressure of the game it can be the most rewarding. Learning how to practice all the potential shots that the game can present you with. Is also the part that lets you connect with not only your imagination but your ability to create what you see. And how to get out of trouble. Golf is not always the middle of the fairway and the center of the green. In fact, it is more the other. You need to learn how to enjoy that challenge.

SKILL PATHWAYS: TROUBLE SHOTS

The lever system starts with the proper grip that allows the joints of the wrists to work correctly for the most speed and control. Then it becomes how well can you control the face. Once you have those two it becomes where does most of your speed come from. How do you get your arms into the correct arch to create an angle of attack that maximizes your potential. What are the main drills and or skills necessary to become proficient at these basic skills or tasks.