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Using your hands to control the face to make the ball curve the way you want it to curve.

CURVING THE BALL: FACE CONTROL

Face control is necassary before speed. Feel how to create spin on the ball.

HOW TO IMPART SPIN WITH YOUR DRIVER

PIVOTING THE CLUB

How to "tip" or pivot the club without casting.

TIPPING IS NOT CASTING

Mike uses his exercise bands to perform overhead extensions. He begins by standing on the end of the cords. He holds the handles behind his elbows and raises his arms straight up and down.

Mike repeats this exercise, and the key is to try and extend your arms straight up.

OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS

Mike takes his exercise band and wraps it around both ankles. He turns his toes inward while placing his hands on his chest. Mike takes three steps to the left and then three steps back to the right. This motion focuses on stretching the legs by not leaning with your body. The key is to stretch with your legs and lead with your heels. Go back and forth and do a set of five.

Next, turn your heels outward, walk forward three times, and then back. You are swinging your legs out and around. Your upper body still stays relatively still.

Stretch to the sides and then walk to the front and then back. This exercise will help your hips.

FITNESS BANDS

Mike believes many people get too mechanical with their swings because the golf industry fixates on golf positions.

Mike sets up multiple balls in random positions and swings continuously, one after the other hitting each ball. Part of this exercise is to trigger your hand-eye coordination and your athleticism. The key is to get the clubface on the ball.

This exercise is like tennis, where you constantly hit multiple shots in different positions. It is the same as playing baseball and swinging at different pitches.

Continuing this retains your balance and control of the club and puts the clubface on the ball. Your wrist also levers, which creates force.

This drill is fun to do. It takes the mechanics out of the golf swing. Start with a wedge and experiment with different clubs.

Again, this drill gets you back into athleticism and hand-eye coordination rather than positions.

DON’T GET SO MECHANICAL WITH YOUR SWING

Learn what Hale means when he says, "a tick up is better than a tick down."

WORK TOWARDS A POSITIVE DIRECTION

Getting your hands on the club correctly and getting a feel for how the force transfers throughout your swing will help you hit the ball straighter and farther.

MICHAEL CONFORTO - GRIP & TRANSFERRING FORCES

Start every practice by learning your tendencies.

FIRST SHOTS OF THE DAY

Join Mike and MLB Hall of Fame Pitcher Goose Gossage for a Player Lesson.

CONNECTING  PITCHING AND GOLF WITH GOOSE GOSSAGE

Sliding sometimes occurs as people try to shallow the club. Here's how to get the result you way

EXAGGERATE TO FIX SLIDING

Brian began Gott Golf in 2008. As he developed his unique approach to fitting clubs for golfers of all skill levels, demand grew.  For 2015 and 2016, Brian was awarded Golf Digest’s coveted “Top 100 Club Fitters in America Award” (new award winners will be announced by Golf Digest in November).  Today, he works with some of Colorado’s most prestigious golf clubs, including The Broadmoor, Cherry Hills Country Club, Castle Pines, Maroon Creek, and others. “I wanted people to know that they could get a tour quality club fitting experience without having to break the bank to do it. They don’t just have to settle for off the rack clubs, either. Give me about 45 minutes in a fitting session, and I can build a custom set that is tailored to your specific needs and abilities.”

Though the current season is winding down, Gott has interesting plans for Colorado golfers and encourages people to visit www.gottgolf.com for new offerings that will be launching next season. Some things to keep an eye on include putting clinics, the launch of a new online store, and the expansion of his current events and relationship with Common Ground Golf Course, the PGA, and golf courses throughout Colorado.

MALASKA CERTIFIED: BRIAN GOTT

PUTTING AND ROLLING THE LINE

Knowing how the handle and bounce works are the first things to gain familiarity with for hitting these lob shots. Here's how you practice that.

LOB SHOT FUNDAMENTALS

Mike works with MLB Players on the Rapsodo Launch Monitor.

MLM MLB PLAYERS

AIM AND PRACTICE STATION

The biggest similarity in all sports is the loop that that racket or the bat or stick or club makes. If you take a tennis racket and hit a forehand. The racket goes back on one line and down on a shallower or more from the inside line. A baseball bat does the same thing. A ping pong paddle also. So if you take a sport you know make the motion. Then put a golf club in your hands and copy the motion. You will be really close to a great golf swing. Your body is a pattern machine it does not know sports only motions. So tap into what you already know.

HOW TO PRACTICE - SPORTS CONNECT

A Malaska Golf Member has a question about the backswing. Sometimes, his arms get too far back behind him. The member wants to know a drill that he can use to make the club do what it’s supposed to do.When Mike takes the club back, the club gets behind his hands, and his arms and hands swing back and straight up; that’s okay. That’s how Mike takes the club away. He doesn’t necessarily bring it back and make a loop with it.Mike swings back with the club in line with his hands and then moves it behind his hands, demonstrating this.He is swinging the club on a line (arc), and his shoulders keep this all in sync.The problem most people have is that their shoulders don’t turn on the same arc of the swing, but they turn back. This is what gets most people in trouble.Holding an alignment stick with your golf club is a good drill for feeling how your club works and getting your shoulders steep enough. Mike holds the stick together with his club, and the stick extends up past the handle and the back of his belt.&nbsp;The key to this drill is to take the club back. As you do this, you have to get the stick off your hip and make it swing down on the other hip. When you do this, your shoulders turn steeper. Mike again demonstrates the swing with the alignment stick on the end of the golf club.Again, this is a great drill to help you turn your shoulders steeper instead of turning your shoulders and arms back.

DON'T TURN YOUR SHOULDERS

Matt Baker, a Malaska Certified Coach, is subbing for Mike this week. Matt answers a question from a veteran who is 
an amputee above the knee. He has an issue with his right leg because it must remain straight. Unfortunately, he is losing distance and contact with strike on the ball. He also feels like he can’t transfer his weight properly.

When Matt practices and plays, he can sometimes practice multiple shots just balancing off one leg. You can pivot around your left leg. You don’t need to rely on your right leg. You can start on your left leg and keep your right leg straight, almost like a post, to help stabilize yourself.

The best thing to work on first is to drop your right foot back while you open your hips, allowing you to get a bigger turn in your backswing. This will help you generate more speed and power.

Second, work on the Lever System, creating an ‘L’ on the backswing, an ‘L’ on the forward swing, and
pivoting around your left leg.

Matt demonstrates the swing and summarizes. Drop the right leg back to open the hip, allowing you to turn more. Hinge the wrist and do the lever system from the M-system.

BALANCING OFF ONE LEG

What should your mind be doing when you hit a golf ball? The last thing you want to do is to start thinking about positions and giving yourself
verbal commands.

Mike often makes practice swings off to the side and incorporates a couple of drills for what he wants his swing to do. Then Mike ties this all together with the motion of taking the club through the ball.

Once Mike has a feel for the swing, he has a mental picture of how he wants to execute the shot. Mike has programmed the flow and
motion of the swing when he sets up to the ball. Now it’s about focusing on the motion and hitting the shot.

Mike will also immediately assess how his shot went and, if necessary, make the appropriate adjustments.

When you are over the ball, what is the target? The target is not the destination and where the ball is going, but the ball. If you are focused on hitting the ball correctly, it will go to your destination.

This concept is the same for baseball; you concentrate on hitting and knowing where the ball is going. This feeling also applies to tennis and ping pong.

Mike has a clear picture of what he wants to do with the club, path, and face to make the ball go to the destination.

The ball is the target and what you are going to hit.

WHAT’S YOUR MIND DOING

A Malaska Golf Member has a question about how to make a shot that hooks and fades, but more importantly, what you do with the clubface.

Mike uses an oversized club to demonstrate what the clubface does. If Mike swings the club and the clubface comes into the ball 1 or 2 degrees from the inside and is square to the path, he will hit a slight draw.

If you want to hit a bigger draw, you only need to add more face rotation. Mike doesn't want you to twist your hands. The reality of face rotation is that you only have to move the clubface in small increments to hit a bigger draw or fade. Combining that with changing the club path a few degrees makes the ball curve. You aren't doing much to make the ball curve.

Mike is a former pitcher and could throw a slider, curveball, and fastball. When Mike comes down into the ball and wants to hit a draw, he adds extra pressure from his index finger. He adds extra pressure from his middle finger if he wants to hit a fade. If Mike wants to hit the ball straight, he simultaneously pushes with his index and middle fingers.

Mike demonstrates this with the oversized club. He has been hitting this way for a long time and can feel tiny bits of force on the club by using his fingers.

Mike doesn't understand why some experts in the golf industry tell players to "take their hands out of the game." It's all in the hands. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and most superstars have phenomenal hand-eye coordination. Bob Toski is also a savant with his hands.

It takes practice to figure out how much you integrate to get the ball to do what you want.

Again, you can make the ball curve, do it with your hands, or make the same swing and set the clubface closed or opened. You must ensure that your eyes and swing stay on the same path when you open or close the clubface.

When making small adjustments to your swing, you must make exaggerations to make the ball curve big. Then you dial it in from there. The key is to work on feel and touch with the clubface to get the curve you want.

HANDS CONTROL THE CLUBFACE

Find the drill that challenges you, and practice it.

FULL SWING DRILLS

First put a dot on the club face on the forth grove from the bottom and in the center of the face. Now set up to the ball holding the club in just your trail hand. Place the dot on the face on the back of the ball. Now roll the ball towards the target. The ball should not slide off the face. This helps you feel impact and how you catch the ball on the face. Then do the same with your lead arm. Then put it together and do the drill with both hands. Great for feeling impact and how to compress the ball. 

ROLL THE BALL ON THE FACE - WEDGE

The toe should make contact with the ground, not the heel.  Also your arms should swing to the left.  Watch this video to learn why, as well as to review.

WHERE TO PLACE THE TOE

The topic of this Quick Fix Friday is to get a feel for how your hands work.

According to Mike, the idea that you should take your hands out of the swing is simply ridiculous.

Mike motions with his right and left hands to illustrate how they work. He uses his club to swing back and forth, switching from his left to right hand as he makes a swing. He then uses both hands to hammer home the point, basically the "L to L"  Drill. 

This is your golf swing.

HOW THE HANDS WORK

Nibley Park helped me to become a better player because of its elements.

THE FIFTH GREEN AT NIBLEY

The golf swing is very similar if not close to an exact duplicate too many sports. The way you hit a ping pong ball or a forehand in tennis. Swing a baseball bat or a Hockey stick. The golf swing follows the same motion. The racket or bat or club swings back on one arch and down on a lower arch. It is a loop to the inside of the take away or target line in golf. There is a shallowing out of the club from the backswing to the downswing arch in most all sports. So use your tennis racket. Make a few forehand swings. Then take your golf club and copy the motion.

THE LEVER SYSTEM - SPORTS CONNECT

When you find drills that help you, integrate them into your practice swing. Here's how to blend it all together.

USING DRILLS FOR YOUR PRACTICE SWING

When your arms and body work with the club, you gain more control of your swing. Practice getting a feel for the forces of the swing.

DOUG ROBERTS

Standing on your left foot, while balancing on your right toe when making swings is a great drill to master shots 100 yards in.

LEFT FOOT RIGHT TOE DRILL

If you are not practicing swings with your non-dominant side, you might be creating imbalances within your body. Here’s how to improve awareness of your body and swing better.

NON-DOMINANT SIDE TRAINING

The handle of the club stays fairly level to the ground as the clubhead breaks up. That’s not lifting the club and actually creating width, which is keeping the handle or club level to the ground.

HOW THE HANDLE WORKS LIFTING THE CLUB

Joe Nichols related Mike's background in sports such as baseball into the golf swing.  Of everyone Mike has encountered, Joe knew the swing the best.   Hear Mike recount some of why that was.

THE MAGIC ABOUT JOE

Practice putting and chipping with tempo.

PUTTING CHIPPING AND TEMPO

These are some of the best companies in the world as it relates to Golf, Sports, and Lifestyle. We've partnered with them to highlight how Mike utilizes them through the year and in everyday life.

MALASKA PARTNERS

To get great results on the golf course, focus on impact and follow-through, not your backswing.

IMPACT AND FOLLOW-THROUGH

Playing from your worst shot will help you get an understanding of what your game is like.

UTILIZING YOUR WORST SHOT

In a golf swing like all sports there is no real top. That is a point in time where the club is transitioning from one direction to another. In your swing it works just like a forehand in tennis, hitting a baseball or throwing a ball. As your arm goes back your body starts forward. It is a natural motion. There is no top. That makes your swing static and impossible or very difficult to create the correct sequence. Your instinct is your best teacher.

CLUB TRANSITION POINT

Pickleball is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis for two or four players. Mike demonstrates the cross-over between Pickleball and Golf as another way to relate sports together.

PICKLEBALL & GOLF

Making a golf swing is similar to driving a car. The club head is the car and your are using the club as the stering wheel to turn the corner. As the swing changes directions you need to feel as though you are directing the momentum of the club back out in front of you. This gets the club in the correct arch so you can accelerate the club head into the ball. The picture is that the club head is coming over the top of your hands from inside the target line. As you make this move momentum, Gravity and centripetal force make it look much different than it feel. That is why most players never figure out how to make the positions they have seen actually work in outcome.

TURNING THE CORNER

How you set the club up can help you on miss hits.

HOW TO SET UP THE CLUB PROPERLY

Maintain the swing arc by constantly pushing away from the momentum.

CONSTANTLY PUSH AWAY

When it comes to getting a wedge fitted, the bounce is a very important factor. Learn how different bounces change your swing.

FITTING WEDGES WITH BOUNCE

When you stand, your hips and shoulders can rotate safely independent of each other. When you swing a golf club, you reduce the amount of rotation that can happen in your spine. Here is how you can generate speed safely.

GENERATE SPEED SAFELY

A Malaska Golf Member recovering from back surgery is returning to playing golf and wants to know how to get more speed again.Mike first ask what the member did before the surgery to cause that. It may not have happened because of golf, but golf could have aggravated it.In golf, you need to learn that the shoulder and hip sockets are in a box. When Mike turns back, his right shoulder goes down, and then his right hip goes back, maintaining the symmetry of the box. Then, as he comes back, his left shoulder goes up, and his right hip goes down. Or you could think that Mike's right shoulder goes up and his left hip goes down. You come back into the ball, and they switch.What happens when you start having back trouble? Many Tour Players are taught to maintain and rotate their backs, and when they start down, their right hip comes up, and their shoulder goes down. This creates a lot of side bending, which forces you to twist your body to catch up. It is a great way to hurt your back.You don't want to swing this way. As Mike describes, you want your box (shoulders) to turn together.&nbsp;Once you can do that, speed comes from creating a lever system with your hands and wrists. Then, your right hip has to push out of the way to accelerate the club while maintaining the body's position.It's a step-by-step process. First, ensure your swing doesn't put any pressure on your body, and then you can gain speed.

RETURN FROM BACK SURGERY

This is part 1 of a more complicated move. Learn what it is and how it increases distance automatically. Warning: Looking too cool can be dangerous.

RECOIL FINISH - PART 1

Get in a set up position holding on to bands or a pulley system. The goal is to pull the pulleys or bands and create more space with your hips. On the backswing side you push away from the pulley. Your force goes into he heel of your trail foot and on the inside. Then you go back to set up or impact then around on the follow through side. Always pushing away from the force on the bands or the cables. This is how you offset the inward force that the club puts on your when you swing. 

PULLEY DRILL

Mike uses a band to perform tricep extensions. 

He holds the handle with his right hand above his shoulder and lets the band hang behind his back. Reaching back with his left hand, he grabs the band to stabilize it.

Use your right hand to raise the handle up and down to do the tricep extension. Do this exercise on both sides.

The object is to balance and strengthen your triceps and biceps.

TRICEP EXTENSIONS

Here are the four stages of pre-shot routine. 

PRE-SHOT ROUTINE REVIEW

ENJOY THE GAME MORE
Golf is not a complicated sport when you really think about it. It’s been played the same way for hundreds of years. My goal is to give you a better understanding of why things happen the way they do. So, ask me anything. If one of my videos raises a question, post your question in the comments section beneath it. Every week or so I’ll be exploring the most common questions, and I’ll post my video responses right here for everyone in the Malaska Golf community to see.