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LAG SHOT HITTING A DRAW

I like to call this off-green putting. Because it is the same action as a putting stroke. This is where you start to learn how to compress the ball. And what gets the ball in the air. It is also the part of the game that will save your scores. And if your short game is good. You are not afraid to miss the green. You know you can get the ball up and down. So it takes the pressure off your full swing. Everyone can have a great short game. It fore sure is not about strength and or flexibility. IT is attainable for anyone.

SKILL PATHWAYS: CHIPPING

When your toes move, your body knows it is unbalanced. Practice your natural standing position.

BALANCE

Billy Fitzgerald, a Malaska-certified coach, addresses a question from viewer Peter Zhu about the slapping motion of the hand through impact in the golf swing and the role of the right wrist. Billy explains how the wrist and forearm should align at a 90-degree angle to the spine to ensure proper mechanics.Using a dowel for demonstration, Billy shows how this alignment keeps the club on plane, allowing the hand to return to impact naturally without twisting. He emphasizes the importance of shoulder alignment, as maintaining a 90-degree angle with the spine enables the arms and hands to follow a vertical path, supporting a consistent swing.The slapping motion at impact, Billy explains, is achieved by this vertical arm and hand movement. Without the proper shoulder alignment, the arms can twist, causing the clubface to open and making square impact difficult. This coordination is key to a powerful and accurate strike.Billy highlights the role of grip, especially the left hand, referred to as the "chopper." This grip position stabilizes the clubface, allowing the right hand to slap through impact without twisting, making the swing more reliable.To build awareness, Billy recommends practicing the feel of each body part—the shoulders, hands, and arms—independently before integrating them into a cohesive movement. This approach helps golfers understand each component’s role in a fluid, powerful swing.In summary, the correct grip, along with coordinated movement of the shoulders, arms, and hands, enables a clean, effective slapping motion at impact. Billy thanks Peter for the question, hoping this breakdown clarifies how each part contributes to optimal performance.

WRIST POSITION FOR PERFECT IMPACT

Rotating your left arm out of the top is what pins your arm against your side and gets your club in the correct position.

ROTATING THE LEFT ARM IN THE DOWNSWING

Jim Flick Invitational Part 3 -- The Hands Square The Face

THE HANDS SQUARE THE FACE

Developing a set of skills to learn and teach can be very helpful in improving the swing.

TESTING YOUR TEACHING

Elbow curls work on mobility and flexibility in the shoulders and keep the triangle in your arms on the backswing.

ELBOW CURLS

If your body gets too close to the ball, you won't be able to swing. Practice getting your center away from the ball.

YOUR PELVIS AND THE GOLF SWING

PBA Champion Josh Blanchard demonstrates how body alignment can make your bowling and golf swings easy and consistent.

PBA BOWLING PRO JOSH BLANCHARD

Before you can add speed, you must first understand rhythm. Learn how to create a tempo that will help you practice.

TEMPO AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SPEED

How the handle of the club works directly effects the club head. So in this drill the task is to hit the ball. Then pull the handle back until it is even with where the ball was. The club head should stay closer to the target than the handle. This helps establish your lead sides roll in the swing and creates a snap or whipping effect on the club head. 

PULL BACK DRILL

Control of the club face must be gained before speed is introduced. Practice different techniques and find which works swing works best for you.

FINDING A SWING TO USE UNDER PRESSURE

Understanding how to practice is critical in developing your game. If you do not practice correctly most of the time you will spend will be wasted. There is a process and a step-by-step approach needed to maximize your practice time. It also becomes the process that finds the problems that you might be having in your swing. It becomes your base for the swing. Take control of what you have control of. Learn the visual complexities of the game. Stay consistent with these and your game will never get too far off.

SKILL PATHWAYS: PRACTICE

As Scott demonstrates a martial arts movement, we see how all movements can be strengthened with a step-by-step understanding of sequence.  

MOTION THROUGH MARTIAL ARTS

Practice path, face and curve with full swing.

FULL SWING PRACTICE

ON THE RANGE

The momentum of the clubhead should move you through the shot.

FEELING THE CLUBHEAD

When we look at the body it plays a very important roll in the swing. But the first and most important part is to understand the task of the pelvis or the hips. What are you really trying to do. We started with the hammer throw. That is what a golf swing is. Most people move correctly when the copy that sport. We talked about sitting down in a chair. How that relates to a swing. We used cables or bands that created forces for us to move against also giving a feel for what a swing is. Shooting a basketball also has relevance to how you hit a golf ball. These are task or skills you already know how to do. So just learn what they are and use them in your swing.

HOW THE BODY WORKS - REVIEW

There are many phrases in golf. Once you know what needs to happen, the game will become much simpler.

THE SWING PLANE

A Malaska Golf Member has a question that relates to humor, and Mike thinks it’s one of the most important aspects of playing golf.Mike says that golf is supposed to be fun. If you come up to a ball, hit a bad shot, blow up, and throw your club on the ground, you probably won’t get very good because there is too much pressure to perform. Your body starts to anticipate whether it will hit a great shot or a poor shot. You rarely see Tour Players play this way, especially when they are leading tournaments.It is better to laugh at yourself than get mad at yourself. Mike understands that it sounds easy, but it’s hard to do.If you have a concept with something you are trying to do in your swing and hit a bad shot, then go over what you did and try to process it. The more that you do that, then the better chance you have at becoming a better player.The more you get mad at yourself for a bad shot, bad round, or mad at the person you played, or the greens were bad, etc., all that is going to do is build up anxiety. Then you won’t be able to enjoy the round. You should enjoy it even when you don’t play that well, because you should learn from it.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FUN

Preparing your golf bag for a tournament.

TOURNAMENTS

Before you can hit a ball far, you must first learn how to control the face. Learn how to use the face of the driver to your advantage.

DRIVER CONTROL

Exercising, keeping fit, and stretching will help your golf game. It is the focus of this Malaska Golf Quick Fix Friday. Mike uses exercise bands to warm up and to get the blood flowing. 

You can do bicep curls and other exercises to work the upper body. Put a band around your legs and do leg stretches to warm up your hips.
There are multiple exercises you can do with leg bands.

Then move on to stretching by touching your toes, bending, or twisting.
This helps prepare you to be loose and ready to go when you hit that first driver.

USING EXERCISE BANDS

RAPSODO PARTNER VIDEOS

Lag is letting weight of the club maintain the angle in the wrist as you swing forward to the ball.

In the set up you want to make sure that your weight is on your front foot. Your weight stays on your front foot through out the swing.

SET UP & BODY

With the driver you want the club to catch the ball on the up swing. So the ball goes up off the inside of the lead foot. Or off the lead toe. Your weight is more on your trail foot than on your lead foot. This creates more tilt and an upward strike on the ball. This works because the ball is on a tee.

DRIVER AND ANGLE OF APPROACH

A Malaska Golf Member makes some brilliant observations about the golf swing. The member notices that the arc of the backswing is different from that of the downswing. When you start on the downswing, the club comes down on a steeper arc than the backswing.

The member wants to know if it is correct that your hands move away on a wider arc when you start down. He also wants to know if the reason you feel you are wider coming down and your downswing arc is steeper than your backswing is because of the change of direction.

Mike agrees with both of these assessments. Mike says you must be careful with how these things fit together. Mike has made a lifetime of observations and practicing the swing to figure this out.

Again, the backswing arc is different from the downswing arc. The downswing arc is steeper, but not because you aren’t pulling your hands in. It is the change of direction that causes this to happen.

Good players feel like their hands are moving away from them and that their right arm is constantly straightening from the elbow, not the wrists.

Mike concludes that if you understand this concept, you are well on the way to understanding the golf swing.

THE SWING ARCS ARE DIFFERENT

The mental side of golf is very important. Once your head is in the game, your swing will improve.

SWING STRATEGY

In order to swing correctly, your hips need to work in your favor. Learn how your left hip helps your swing.

GETTING YOUR LEFT HIP BACK

Mike talks with a Malaska Golf member about what encourages him to teach and draws on his shared experience of golfing after being injured.

MR. ESMOND - GOLF AFTER INJURY

When setting up to the ball. First make sure that you are balanced your bending from your hips but your toes are quiet You need to make sure that your arms have room to swing back. Set up with your lead arm on top of your left breast and your trail arm is on the side of your trail breast or on your side. This creates an open path way for your arms to swing back on the backswing. You then do not have to move your arms out and around your body. 

ASHLEY - SETUP & BALANCE

INSIGHTS: LAUNCH ANGLE

When it comes to pitching and chipping, you want to avoid letting your shoulder drop. Learn how to keep your shoulder at the optimal level.

PRACTICING PITCHING AND CHIPPING WITH ONE ARM

Swinging the driver while on your knees is a great exercise to feel how your arms loosen up and your wrists work.

DRIVER PRACTICE FROM YOUR KNEES

PLAY THE HAND YOU'RE DEALT

Video honoring Toski at the 2017 Jim Flick Award ceremony.

JIM FLICK AWARD WINNER VIDEO

WELLS ADAMS

INTRO TO FULL SWING

All Day I Dream About Sports. You do not have to say much. Since I was in High School. I have worn Adidas products. To be a part of a global sports brand whose commitment is to continually come up with more functional. Better performing and great-looking sports shoes and apparel is again an honor. Every time I take a new pair of shoes out of the box. I ask myself. How can this perform better and or in my case feel better on my foot. And create a platform that I believe makes the games we play much easier to do. They are able to do it. I can not wait for my next pair of shoes to show up.

ADIDAS

Golf is all about recreating feelings. Practice deciding what swing you need to make.

Get on your knees, tee a ball up in the middle of your body to slightly forward. Make a few practice swing. You will have to loosen up your shoulder sockets to allow your arms to swing rotate and fold as they go around you. Then hit some balls getting the feel of loose arms and wrists. Your arms move much more than your body. 

ASHLEY - KNEE DRILL

Your eyes are uneven with your target line, which causes you to hit the wrong path. Here is how to overcome your brain's limitation.

OVERCOMING YOUR BRAIN WITH NOCY

Starting the downswing too fast is like approaching a corner too fast.

FORCING THE CORNER

Brian Gott, Malaska Golf Certified Instructor and a nationally ranked club fitter, takes us through a five-day putting challenge to improve your overall putting skills on the green. He covers setup, correct grip, posture, and stance.

Brian then moves on to tempo and the importance of finding the putting cadence that works for you.

The next topic Brian covers is path and the significance of getting the clubface square to the ball.

On Day 4, Brian shows us his favorite drill for judging the correct putting speed.

Finally, on Day 5, Brian shows us how to put together all the putting skills you have learned so far. He also reiterates the importance of getting fitted for the right putter from a local club fitter. Your putter, not your driver, might be the most important club in your bag.

GOLF CHALLENGE: PUTTING

A Malaska Golf Member wants to know about the right hand. She explains that several teachers talk about holding the club in your fingers more than the palm of your hand. The member wants to know the upsides and downsides of this.

If it’s not more in your fingers than your palm, it is a downside because you won’t be able to do the lever system and create speed.

If the club is in the palm of your right or left hand, Mike says that’s called putting or maybe chipping. You do that to stop the hinging and unhinging of the wrists when you are putting or chipping. Turning your right hand under also gives you more stability. But if you do that in full swing, you won’t be able to create speed. 

Mike shows us how he holds the club in the fingers of his right hand. He places his left hand on the handle, and the right hand wraps around and over the thumb. Mike reinforces that his fingers are what is holding the club.

Your fingers are where your control and speed are. For full swing, you want it in your fingers! Some people make the mistake of putting it in their fingers and wrapping their hands too far over the top of the club. Your hands hinge back and sit on the thumb.

Mike uses a sports connection with throwing a baseball and how you use your fingers to throw a ball. You use your fingers to hold the club. Again, the club is in your fingers with your palm at the right angle.

RIGHT HAND IN THE GRIP

Sammy Slice is in the bunkers this week, practicing throwing sand with his club and watching where the sand goes.

It doesn’t matter if Sammy closes or opens the clubface; the sand still goes in the same direction. The key to remember is the ball goes where the sand goes.

Sammy gets comfortable in the bunker and has an alignment stick pointed at the pin. All Sammy does is hit and throw sand down the stick.

The ball goes towards the hole because the ball goes where the sand goes.

SAMMY SLICE BUNKERS: PRACTICE THROWING SAND 

Mike Malaska works with MLB Baseball Players, Kevin Pillar, Kevin Plawecki and Ryon Healy how the clubface is the bat and club shaft is an extension of your left arm.

CLUBFACE AND THE BALL WITH MIKE MALASKA, KEVIN PILLAR, KEVIN PLAWECKI AND RYON HEALY

A Malaska Golf member wants to know how to use the natural forces around him when he swings. When you make a golf swing, you are directing the momentum of the club, and the club just goes. It is very similar to a baseball swing.

Mike grabs a baseball bat and demonstrates. When you swing, you are getting the bat in the same arc as the ball. You let the bat go once you hit the ball. At the same time, your body pushes back away and throws the bat forward. It's the same flowing motion in the swing if you apply it to your golf swing as long as your grip is correct.

When you swing, as your body turns, the club will push out in front of you. With the correct grip, the club's momentum will square the clubface at impact. If your grip is off, something else must come into play to square the clubface.

If the grip is correct, then when you swing, it is like you are pushing the club down into impact, and then you are letting the momentum of the cub run into the ball. It will go where you want it to. When your arm straightens out and your hands pressure the shaft, it does feel free flowing, like a baseball swing. It is the same as a forehand in tennis and throwing a ball.

It must be a flow of motion and not positions. The game gets in trouble when too many positions are going on, and you don't know the motion that connects them.

FLOW OF MOTION

Do sports really connect? Well, your body is a pattern machine.

Let's talk about fitness, nutrition, and how it all works together.

There are two basic movement patterns:
1. Throw (or Lag in Golf)
2. Hit (Impact)

Baseball and Golf Connect
Tennis and Golf Connect
Basketball and Golf Connect
Hockey and Golf Connect
Soccer and Golf Connect
PickleBall and Golf Connect
Bowling and Golf Connect
Ping-Pong and Golf Connect
Football and Golf Connect
Racquetball and Golf Connect

SPORTS CONNECT™