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Control the momentum to create the correct arc - in golf and in auto racing.

Release From The Top

Proper grip square the face without compensations.

GRIP

Regarding driver fitness, leg and core strength are essential; however, flexibility relative to what your swing looks like is just as vital.

Put your driver parallel to you on your chest. Leave your hips still and rotate your shoulders back and forth. Try rotating your hips and not moving your shoulders. When you swing, there is much more separation between your shoulders and hips.

If you are limited in shoulder mobility and if you move your shoulders and your hips turn with them, everything has to stay more together. Being more flexible will help your swing.

Practice turning your hips, isolating them from your shoulders, and do the same with your shoulders.

DRIVER FITNESS

MAKING A SWING

A Malaska Golf Member has a question about the Front Loader Drill. Mike demonstrates how to do it, starting by extending your hands with the club out in front of you and then swinging back to hit the ball. Mike explains that it is a simple drill and does a lot of good things.&nbsp;The Member wants to know why her arms feel like they are floating all over the place on the backswing when she does the drill. Joe Nichols described the arms as pivoting on the backswing. Mike demonstrates the ‘pivot’ that Joe talked about. Once Mike has pivoted, the right arm moves away. Your right arm mustn't stay pinned against your body.After you pivot your right arm, your elbow goes up, giving you room to come down. You will feel like your arms are moving away from your body.Mike uses the concept of throwing a ball to the ground where his arm and hand would be on the backswing. He says you wouldn’t cup your wrist when you threw it. You wouldn’t have any leverage.Again, the Front Loader Drill is good because when you pivot on the backswing, the momentum of the club takes your arms up, and then you swing down into the ball. It is key to feel the freedom in your right arm.

Sync Out Your Swing

Face control is a critical component of the M2 Coaching Series, as it directly impacts a golfer&rsquo;s ability to hit consistent, accurate shots. Mike Malaska stresses that players with superior face control excel at every level, much like edge control in skiing or racket control in tennis. Developing face control allows golfers to adapt to different shot requirements, such as hitting fades, draws, high shots, and low shots.
Training the hands to control the face is essential. While advanced players rely on the momentum of the club to guide the swing, beginners must practice consciously manipulating the face. By learning how to adjust loft and curvature with their hands, players can respond instinctively to various on-course challenges.
Mike introduces drills that help golfers practice face control, such as using a clubhead or a small practice device to simulate different face angles. Players are encouraged to experiment with curving the ball left, right, high, and low, gradually building awareness of how their grip and hand movements influence the face.
Practicing face control regularly sharpens a golfer&rsquo;s instinctual response, enabling them to make adjustments mid-swing. This skill not only improves accuracy but also boosts confidence, as players gain mastery over their shots. M2&rsquo;s emphasis on face control underscores its importance in developing a reliable, versatile game that performs under pressure.

M2 Coaching Series-Face Control

This drill will help to develop a straight hit with no wobble or face tilt. It's also a great chance to see how your other skills are working towards a solid putt.

START LINE

Three alternatives to "holding the angle" for casting.

THREE WAYS TO STOP CASTING

A waggle is not a random jumble of movements. A waggle consists of elements that you are actively bringing into your swing. If it is random, it's not helping.

NOT A RANDOM WAGGLE

M2 focuses on mastering the lever system, grip, face control, and utilizing natural athletic instincts to build a consistent and powerful golf swing. Mike Malaska emphasizes that the lever system, comprising the hands, wrists, and arms, is the primary driver of distance and consistency in the swing. Practicing a correct grip and loosening the wrists are essential for achieving fluidity and effortless speed.
Through drills like the L to L and exercises designed to develop face control, golfers can refine their mechanics and better understand their swings. Integrating insights from other sports, M2 ties together athletic patterns and body awareness, helping golfers enhance performance and avoid unnecessary strain.
Mike reiterates the importance of consistent practice and patience, urging golfers to spend time mastering these fundamentals before progressing to more advanced techniques. M2 delivers a comprehensive guide to building a swing foundation that improves accuracy, distance, and overall enjoyment of the game.

M2 Coaching Series-Summary

Mike talks about maintaining the M-System after going through the videos. The most important part of the M-System is the first, and Mike practices this daily. Mike starts with Line of Compression, how your right arm pushes the shaft, and how your wrist works. 

Take your club, hold it with your right hand, and just make small shots. Feel that motion, and then add both hands and the pivot. This is about moving your left hip out of the way. Your right forearm is still on the back of the shaft, with the pivot of your body, and you are running the club into the ball. 

The next step is Impact. Set up to the ball, and move your body and legs to impact position. Again, make little swings and shots. Mike goes through the routine: Setup, Impact, back to Setup, swing, and hit the ball at the impact position. Start there every day and build into the Lever System with more body motion. 

Mike stresses that you must get to the point where you practice certain parts of The M-System daily.

MAINTAINING THE M-SYSTEM WITH IMPACT

Hi, my name is Matt Baker, and I’m a Malaska Golf Certified Coach based here in the UK. Today, we have a great question from Mark Helm. Mark is having trouble relating drills to specific movements in his swing. He also mentioned that others have had similar struggles.The key thing to remember about drills is that they are designed to create certain feelings, patterns, or skill paths, but they aren't always what you’ll be doing during a round. That’s why, for instance, when you see tour players making exaggerated practice swings, like big loopy motions, you don’t see them replicate those swings on the course.There's an old saying: “Feel versus real.” Drills are about creating the right sensations. For example, the "L to L" drill isn't necessarily something you replicate fully in play, but it’s great for feeling the hinging of the wrists in the backswing, unhinging through the ball, and rehinging in the follow-through. It's about the wrists' release pattern.Some golfers, including Mark, mention that forearm rotation feels extreme, but it’s a sensation they’re working on, not something they actively think about on the course. Drills are about building the correct feel.It's important to practice these drills as they create the right sensations and help with the overall swing. For example, the "right foot back" drill helps with hip clearance, creating the right feel for staying out of the way during shots.You don’t need to take drills literally. Even drills like hitting balls off your knees serve a purpose — to improve your golf. By practicing these drills regularly, you can blend the sensations into your full, athletic golf swing.Remember, it’s feel versus real. Drills enhance the speed of your improvement by building functional movement patterns. Keep practicing, and you’ll see improvements over time!

Drills And Movement

Once you are set up. Just hinge your wrists until the club is parallel to the ground. The only thing that moves is the club and your wrists. At this point your wrists are in the position you want them at the top. Then take the club and your arms back. The club head stays on the target side of your hands until your arms reach waist high. Then the club head breaks up and over your hands. As you swing to the transition of your swing the club head keeps moving away from the target line. Then as you change directions the momentum of the club will help your arms fall on the correct path into the ball. 

HINGE

PERFORM WHILE UNCOMFORTABLE

Brian Gott, Malaska Certified Coach, is subbing for Mike this week. A Malaska Golf Member wants to know how you can tell if someone is dragging the handle in a video.

Brian suggests that when watching, imagine placing a dot where the arms are at the top of the swing. If the arms and hands drop and pull forward, you are dragging the handle.

What should happen is that the handle should go out and away from you and down. If the handle goes down and forward, then you are in trouble.

You should be concerned with this because most people think that at the top of the swing, they should pull as hard as they can and get the lag. They believe that is the way to develop speed. The problem with this is that you are late with the clubface, and you find yourself trying to catch up.

An analogy that Brian has used with his students is towing an innertube behind a boat. The boat goes fast in a straight line, then makes a left-hand turn. What does the boat do? It slows down, and the innertube slingshots around using centripetal force and momentum. This creates a lot of speed.

Brian points to the top of the handle of the club and says this is the boat. Then, he points to the clubhead and says this is the innertube.

He demonstrates the swing at the top and says you should go down and out. As you start to release, your hands and wrists slow down, and the clubhead takes off. It’s a bit like whipping your clubhead through the ball. This is how you generate more speed. Pulling the club at the top of the swing does not create more speed.

The hands and arms move out and away to create a bigger arc with more width, and the clubhead will come through much faster.

Dragging the Handle

FOCUS ON MOTION

For some reason, people think that they must turn their bodies in order to hit the ball. This body motion disrupts the spine angle and throws you off completely. Here's what your body wants.

Body Motion and Impact

A Malaska Golf Member wants to know how and why Mike does the one-arm swing.

Mike begins by swinging an iron back and forth, independent of his shoulder moving. Mike places a finger on the outside of his shoulder socket to show the pivot point. You aren’t moving your shoulder forward as you swing.

Your shoulder socket must be relaxed for your arm to swing. Mike demonstrates this and hits a few balls with his right hand and then swaps to his left hand. You will notice there isn’t much body movement, and the pivot is at the shoulder socket. The key is to loosen up your arms without much body movement.

As you go to your full swing, you must keep that same lack of tension in the shoulders. Your arms need to go faster than your chest to create more speed. If your shoulder sockets are tight, you can only go as fast as your shoulders can turn.

Once you have a feel for that, then it’s about making a swing with the same amount of lack of tension in your shoulder sockets so your arms can accelerate and hit the ball.

Shoulder Socket Tension

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

An Instagram member wants to know why he keeps hitting slices now that he has a strong grip. Mike believes that the member's grip is more neutral than strong.

Mike demonstrates with a strong grip why the member slices the ball. As Mike hinges his wrists on the backswing, the wrists cup, and at the top of the swing, his left wrist is bent, and his right wrist is flat.
This causes the clubface to be open. When you start the downswing, your clubface is still open and will be open at impact, causing you to slice the ball.

Even though your grip is strong, it doesn't mean your wrist will work correctly.

This time Mike demonstrates the solution. When he takes the club back and hinges his wrists, it is flatter, so the clubface is facing the ball.

Mike then shows the difference between the two wrist hinges on the takeaways. It is obvious the member's wrist hinge will cause the clubface to be open. The key is ensuring your wrists work correctly with a strong grip.

CORRECT WRIST HINGE

Chris is an LPGA Class A instructor with over 30 years of experience. Born in Washington, D.C., she started playing golf at age seven at NAS Barbers Point in Oahu, Hawaii, and later competed in high school. She went on to play for the Lady Gators golf team and graduated from the University of Florida with a business degree.
After college, Chris played on the Futures mini-tour and caddied on the LPGA Tour, where she was on the bag for three wins with Sherri Turner &ndash; including the Mazda LPGA Championship, a major title.
As her teaching career grew, Chris learned from some of the best in the game, including Ted Sheftic, Mike Adams, Jim Hardy, and Chris O&rsquo;Connell. Their influence shaped her teaching philosophy, and she remains grateful for their guidance.
Now a Malaska Golf Certified Coach, Chris is excited to extend Mike Malaska&rsquo;s knowledge and the M-System to her students. She believes the M-System is spot on &ndash; and that she can help players of every level improve every facet of their game.

Malaska Certified-Chris Lebiedz

Born in South Korea, Julie swung her first golf club at age six. She achieved early success, winning her first tournament at seven and debuting in a professional tournament at twelve. She had an illustrious junior and amateur career, winning the 2007 U.S. Kids World Championship and becoming the youngest winner of an AJGA tournament. At fourteen, she moved to Scotland to experience golfing in different types of courses, and environments. There, she won multiple European national titles, ascending to the top of the world amateur ranking. In college, Julie played four seasons for Oklahoma State University, during which she earned NCAA All-American honors and claimed the title of 2014 Big XII Player of the Year. At age nineteen, Julie qualified to become an LPGA Tour Player. Throughout her professional career, she competed in professional tournaments worldwide, including all five major championships in women's golf, and posted a 6th place finish at the 2016 LPGA Coates Golf Championship.
Transitioning into the teaching aspect of golf, Julie brings a truly unique experience to Malaska Golf. Working with renowned experts like Mike Malaska, competing alongside the top athletes in the sport, and engaging at every level of golf, Julie brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and skill to her coaching.
Her teaching philosophy is rooted in empathy. Having overcome many challenges that golfers often face, understanding that each individual has their distinct learning style and natural movement pattern, and acknowledging the reality that solutions that make sense off the course don't always translate to success on it. Julie's approach focuses on discovering and refining individuals' innate abilities to produce attainable and enduring results. She currently offers tried-and-true golf guidance, personalized instruction, and mentorship in the mental and emotional aspects of golf, both virtually and in the Phoenix area.

Malaska Certified-Julie Yang

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

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

Pre-Tournament Routine

This is such a good golf course, and I want to make sure you can see some of it. They've just top-dressed the greens, which is what they have to do here in Utah during the summer. So there's a little bit of sand on top of them, which makes them look a little white. It's a maintenance procedure.Unfortunately, we couldn't get the greens to look perfect, but I can tell you that even with the sand, these greens putt great. Walking on this course, the property, the shots, the visual concepts—there’s a lot of golf here. I love trees, I love holes where the angles and trees and all that stuff come into play.Even though I live in Arizona, which is desert golf and doesn’t have the same dynamics with big trees, it’s a different type of golf. But I want you to see how beautiful this course is. And if you’re ever here and know someone who’s a member, you’ve got to come and play it. It’s one of the best golf courses in Utah, for sure.Now, relative to the last day, this is the 18th green here. The members don’t play it this way, though. This is part of the front nine, and they finish on a par three as their 18th hole. But for us, this was the 18th hole in the final round. The pin was right here. It's a huge green, with the pin placement at the back. I hit my best tee shot of the week—a nice high draw—and ended up right here, with about 82 yards to the front edge of the green and around 100 yards to the flag. They’ve thinned out a lot of trees since I was last here, which is interesting.This hole is tough for driving because the trees hang over the tee, which is set up for a cut. But I was drawing the ball consistently. So the question was, do I hit driver? My caddie, who was excellent and helped me a lot, said, "Mike, you haven’t hit a driver offline all day. Let’s just get on the right side of the tee or way over on the left and go right over the top edge of the trees." So I hit it perfect—the best drive I hit all week. I had a two-shot lead coming into this hole, so I knew that if I just hit the fairway, I wouldn't make worse than bogey.But the pin was clear in the back, which I think is the hardest pin placement on the green. If you miss the fairway to the right or hit it left into the trees, getting the ball back there is almost impossible. This club doesn’t really have a full driving range. You can see they’ve put the tees way up, and they can hit up to those flags, which are only about 150 yards away.When we played the Utah Open, the practice tees were set much farther back, near the cart path, so you could hit up to a 200-yard shot. But even then, we just used it to warm up. In fact, every day, the first full driver swing I made was off the first tee. I’d hit a couple of drivers on the range, but they wouldn’t go past the tees. I was making big swings, just trying to hit it solid and get a feel for the swing.It’s interesting practicing like this, where you can’t hit the ball far and are just focusing on hitting it solid and controlling its flight. That’s actually better than standing there and rifling your driver, which is what most people do. So, even though this is a restricted area, it actually sets you up for a better warm-up.Again, we're up here on the range. They’ve got maybe a 120-yard shot, and I suppose you could hit into the rough and get it up to 180 or 190 yards. Back in the day, this tee was cut all the way back to the cart path, so it was probably another 50 yards longer. But you couldn't just stand here and rifle drivers out. They wouldn’t let you. In fact, a lot of times, they wouldn’t even let you hit drivers. During the Open, they let us, but you were only supposed to hit it to the trees over here, which from the back tee was only like 200 yards.For me, I didn’t know what I was doing; I just made long, smooth swings, hit the ball solid, and got a feel for how it was curving. I’ve never been in a rush to hit it far. The biggest problem I see, which I instinctively avoided, is swinging too hard and hitting the ball randomly. When I was a kid, we practiced with a shag bag, and we had to pick up the balls after hitting them. So, I was always concerned with where the ball went, rather than how far.I’m confident that’s one reason I got so good so quickly—I never swung so hard that I’d lose control of the ball. I didn’t want to lose a golf ball.So anyway, this is the practice area. It’s pretty much the same as it was back then, maybe 40 yards shorter. It’s just a place to warm up.For the members, they play this as their 10th tee, but for the tournament, they wanted to finish on 18, so they used this spot. There was a lot more room for the galleries here than at the par three, which is where the members usually finish.The first day—or the fourth day—when I came up here, it was just a gorgeous hole. It drops down, comes up one level, then another, and finally up to the top. For me, at the time, every ball I hit had a slight draw. That's another reason this course is so great: about 75 percent of the holes set up perfectly for a draw. I just set up on the left side of the tee, aimed at the left edge of the right-hand trees, and swung. It was so comfortable, and I felt so good.The two best tee shots I hit during the final round were on the first hole and the 18th. I hit them all well, but these two stood out. The adrenaline, the atmosphere—it all played a part. This tee shot on the first hole was crucial because when I hit it compared to the other two guys I was playing with, I was way past them. I ended up making birdie on the first hole, which increased my lead and made me feel like, "Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go."

Visualizing The Course

In this video series, Mike Malaska looks back on his return to the Utah Open, 50 years after his remarkable victory as an amateur, providing valuable insights into both the mental and physical aspects of competitive golf. He revisits key moments from that final round, beginning with the surprising calm he felt on the day of the tournament, despite the pressure of trying to achieve something unprecedented. Mike explains how reading an article that underestimated his chances helped remove the pressure, allowing him to focus on playing freely and with confidence.
Mike goes on to highlight the importance of trusting his natural shot&mdash;a draw&mdash;especially on a course that played to his strengths. He emphasizes that, rather than forcing a fade or other shots outside of his comfort zone, he relied on the draw he had perfected over the years, which gave him the consistency he needed under pressure. Mike shares how this trust in his own abilities allowed him to navigate challenging situations and maintain control of the game.
As the series progresses, Mike reflects on his ability to manage crowd pressure, recalling how entering a packed tunnel full of spectators made him feel claustrophobic but also helped him focus once he emerged onto the course. He speaks to the mental strategies he used to turn pressure into performance, keeping himself composed in critical moments.
Mike also recounts a pivotal recovery shot during a par-5, where instead of using an iron, he chose a 7-wood to escape from the rough and hit a remarkable 50-yard slice to the front of the green. This decision proved to be a turning point in the tournament, and Mike highlights the importance of making smart shot selections under pressure. He explains that knowing when to take risks and when to play it safe is a key factor in competitive success.
In the final section, Mike discusses how he closed out the tournament, holding onto a narrow lead and staying true to his strategy. He reflects on the critical decisions he made, including opting to stick with his driver on the final hole, even though a safer choice might have been tempting. His decision to trust his instincts and stay aggressive helped him secure the victory.
Through this series, Mike provides an in-depth look at his thought process during one of the most significant moments of his career, sharing valuable lessons about mindset, decision-making, and self-confidence on the golf course. The series is not only a reflection on a past triumph but also a masterclass in how to handle pressure and play to your strengths in competitive golf.

Mike's Winning Mindset

The front loader drill will get your right hip out of the way and get your left hip working correctly.

THE FRONT LOADER DRILL

CHIPPING REVIEW

Seeing lines when you putt is very important. Learn how to set up lines so that you can improve your putting stroke.

Practice for Your Short Game

Hi, I'm Billy Fitzgerald, a Malaska-certified golf coach from Chicago. Jimmy Thorne writes in with a question about arm drop in the golf swing. To clarify, yes, your arms do drop, but they do so as a reaction to your change in direction. I often see people trying to focus on dropping their arms or pulling them down intentionally.If I reach the top or transition point of my swing and simply try to pull my arms down, my right side, or trail side, is likely to follow, causing me to come over the top almost every time. This often results in pulled shots. From down the line, you can see that when I get to the top and just pull down, my entire right side follows. So, your arms naturally drop as a response to the change in direction, not from consciously pulling them down.When I swing back and my hip socket clears out of the way, as soon as I finish turning and change direction, I plant my foot in the ground. This action tilts my shoulders, which allows my arms to drop naturally. So yes, your arms do drop, but how do we work on achieving this?I have a board here to demonstrate. If I allow my arms to drop as I move left to right, as soon as my right foot plants on the ground, I turn out of the way and shift left again. My arms drop naturally with this movement. This step is part of the transition point in the swing. There’s a small amount of lateral motion—just enough to plant my foot without sliding, which stops the momentum, lets my arms drop, and allows me to turn through the shot.To practice, I suggest starting without a club, making swings to feel this rhythm. You can even hold the club out in front of you for some balance and rhythm as you swing back and allow the arms to drop. Think of it as “left-right,” with a little step that causes the arms to drop from the change in direction.So, yes, your arms do drop, but it’s the change in direction that makes them drop. That’s why you need to stay soft in the shoulder sockets so that when your foot hits the ground, your arms drop naturally, the club stays in front of you, and you can then turn through the ball.

Stop Forcing Arm Drop

Malaska Certified Coach Matt Baker from The Manchester Golf Club in England answers a question from Randy Monroe about whether golfers should have a trigger to start their motion &mdash; especially when putting.
Matt explains that every golfer should have a trigger or movement cue to begin the swing. Whether it&rsquo;s a putt, chip, pitch, or full shot, a trigger creates rhythm, helps eliminate tension, and ensures the motion starts dynamically rather than statically. Starting from a frozen position often leads to a jerky, non-athletic motion that lacks flow and timing. He recalls how both he and Mike Malaska learned that even the best players incorporate a forward press or subtle shift before starting the stroke. Great players like Roger Davis used a pronounced forward press to initiate motion, while others kept it small and natural. Regardless of size, the key is that it introduces dynamic energy into the swing. Matt compares this to athletic movements in other sports &mdash; a goalkeeper leans one way before diving the other, or a long-drive competitor shifts side-to-side before launching the ball. The same principle applies to golf: movement creates motion.
For putting, Matt recommends a slight forward press with the hands to set the stroke in motion. As long as the wrists don&rsquo;t roll or manipulate the face, this trigger won&rsquo;t affect alignment &mdash; it simply starts the stroke smoothly and builds tempo and rhythm.
In this lesson you will learn: &bull; Why every swing needs a trigger to create dynamic motion. &bull; How static starts lead to tension and inconsistent rhythm. &bull; Why a forward press helps sequence the putting stroke. &bull; How movement before motion creates flow in every part of the game. &bull; Why triggers improve timing, rhythm, and overall consistency.
He leaves golfers with a timeless reminder: &ldquo;Every great swing starts with movement &mdash; find your trigger and let it set your rhythm.&rdquo; &mdash; Matt Baker, Malaska Certified Coach This Makes Sense. Own Your Swing.

Why You Need a Trigger

Brain Gott moves to the next phase of the putting challenge, which is speed, and he takes us through one of his favorite drills. Speed is critical, and you need to be able to judge it correctly. 

Brian places golf balls a couple of feet apart in a line at different intervals toward a flagstick lying on the ground. The flagstick is used as a target. You can also use the fringe of the green. Hitting one ball at a time as close as you can to the flagstick will allow you to gauge the speed and rhythm of your putting stroke. Work your way down the line adding more distance to the put. Work on different putting scenarios and pick various spots on the green from which to aim. Shoot for up, down, and side hills, and work on speed. You will get the ball closer to the hole if you get the speed right.

Day 4 Speed

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

BALANCE

Our Certified Coach, Matt Baker, commented on how good it feels to hit balls with just your left and right hands.

Mike recalls a recent video about Tiger Woods hitting chip shots with just his left hand and then his right hand.
Most Tour players can do this drill, and Mike demonstrates it. However, most amateurs can’t do this.

When it comes to playing golf, both sides of your body are important and have different roles. Mike shows us the motion of what the left hand and the right hand do.

Go to the range and hit shots with your right hand, and then switch to your left hand. Figure out how to do this drill. Every Tour player can do this.

The key is using the small motor skills and controlling what Tour Players have. This is why most amateurs struggle.

Learn how to do this, and your golf swing will get better.

Right and Left Hand Chips

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

Before making fast swings, you must first practice club face control.

EASY FULL SWINGS WITH A DRIVER

Hitting out is a priority over trying to reach the green.

CLEARING THE LIP

INTRO TO FULL SWING

Golf is a game of emotion and adjustment. You have to be able to read yourself in order to adapt to the game.

READING YOURSELF

Your body works best off 90 degrees

IFYP-Pre Swing

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

CURVING THE BALL: FACE CONTROL

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

Setting gates down your target line helps you to see line correctly. Once you set the gates properly. Then if when you set up over the ball the gates look wrong. You then correct your eye line until the gates line up. This helps you identify the issues in your stroke. Your stroke might be perfect but you see line incorrectly.

GATE & YOUR ABILITY TO SEE THE LINE

Greg Cesario uses data and his knowledge of the golf swing to fit every player with the perfect club.

CLUB FITTING WITH GREG CESARIO

Before you make a full swing, practice lining your arm up. Learn why this is so crucial.

DRIVING

How your feet pressure the ground makes your body move. Start by hitting some balls flat footed. Then let your feet roll in but your heels can not come off the ground. Then let your lead foot roll in on the backswing then your trail foot rolls in on the downswing and into the follow through. Last blend the trail foot roll and letting it be pulled up. 

FOOTWORK DRILL

How does force actually move through your feet and what helps it work.

HOW DO YOU MOVE FORCE THROUGH YOUR FEET

Several Malaska Golf Members have had questions about Ben Hogan and what he did with his clubs. Ben used to take a coat hanger and measure the length of the club handle against a metal coat hanger. He would then clip off the hanger, just barely the length of the grip.

He would then put that on the back of the club shaft and tape it on the club handle. Mike demonstrates this. Ben did this because when he gripped the club, he could feel a ridge on the handle with his fingers. Mike shows how he put the club in the crease of his fingers where the second knuckle of the hand is. Mike closes his hand over the club and grips it.

This is a really great way to get a feel of putting your hand on the club. The coat hanger helps you feel the ridge in your fingers. When you have a round handle, it’s hard to feel the back of the club relative to your hands.

Hogan also set the hanger a little off-center so that the clubface was slightly open when he gripped the club. This is a great way to feel the club in your hands.

Some companies like Lamkin have a reminder grip on the handle; however, they show the handle going into the third crease of the fingers instead of the second crease. It is the second crease where your knuckles are. When you wrap your hand around the club, you have the strongest finger-hand lever system you can create in the golf swing.

Using a coat hanger is a great tool to help you practice and feel the back of the club shaft with your fingers.

Ben Hogan Coat Hanger Trick

How path and face make the ball curve

IFYP-Impact

Our second installment of the Spotlight Member brings us to Utah with Todd Heugly.

Todd Heugly

Being able to separate upper body rotation from lower is a big part of swinging the club. It starts with the putter. You should be able to rotate your upper body and not move your lower body. This sounds easy but you hardly ever do this. So practicing it is important. It also addresses and makes you aware of how flexible you are relative to rotation between your upper and lower body.

PUTTING FITNESS

When you swing a golf club your head appears to stay fairly still. But it is not because your are trying to hold it still. It stays fairly centered because you body is constantly pushing away from the motion of the club. So as the club moves back my body is starting to move forward. As the club swings around me on the down swing my body is moving away from the motion of the club. As I swing into the finish I am again pushing away from the motion of the club. Most great players heads actually appear to move back as the club goes through the ball. That is because they are pushing back away from the forward momentum of the club. That also creates a tremendous amount of acceleration.

Head Still

POSTURE AND BALANCE

In the second part of this Player Lesson, Mike Malaska and Certified Coach Julie Yang continue working with a lacrosse athlete to build on the foundations established in Part 1. The first session highlighted how lacrosse passing mechanics&mdash;hand placement, leverage, and spatial awareness&mdash;translate directly into golf&rsquo;s fundamentals.
This follow-up lesson shifts the focus to the long clubs, where inconsistency and slicing are most common. Mike shows how the push&ndash;pull motion of a lacrosse pass mirrors the lever system in golf: the bottom hand acts as the stabilizer while the top hand drives, creating natural speed. By recognizing this parallel, the athlete begins to see how he can use familiar movements to simplify the golf swing.
A major theme of the session is learning to trust momentum rather than forcing the swing. Just as a lacrosse player relies on the natural flow of the stick for accuracy, a golfer must let the club&rsquo;s weight and momentum guide the motion. Forcing mechanics only adds tension and inconsistency. With the right grip, proper face awareness, and a reliance on momentum, consistency begins to emerge even with the longer clubs.
This lesson reinforces the Sports Connect philosophy of Malaska Golf: athletes from any sport already have the movements they need. The key is recognizing them, connecting them to golf, and allowing those instincts to create a swing that is powerful, consistent, and repeatable.
 Key Takeaways Grip Adjustments: Proper grip in the fingers&mdash;not the palm&mdash;creates control and reduces slicing. Lever System Connection: The push&ndash;pull motion in lacrosse translates directly to the golf swing. Momentum Over Force: Consistency comes from letting the club swing naturally, not from forcing mechanics. Face Awareness: Lacrosse-trained spatial awareness makes it easier to control the clubface. Sports Connect Philosophy: Building on existing athletic patterns simplifies learning and speeds improvement.

Fix Your Slice With Lacrosse

Putting is the difference between winning and losing. Here's what you need to win.

WHAT IS PUTTING

Take two alignment sticks. Place one through your front belt loops. So that it is parallel to your hips. Take the other rod and hold it on the club shaft so it extends up the lead side of your body. On the back swing point the club shaft stick at the target line or just inside it. On the down swing the club shaft stick needs to come down infront of the hip line stick and behind or to the right of your trail hip. Then you swing the club into the ball. This is an exaggeration but it is what a lot of great players feel. It keeps the club in the correct arch an position relative to the rotation of your upper body.

TWO ROD RELEASE DRILL

The walk through drill can be very helpful in staying balanced and maintaining consistancy.

THE WALK-THROUGH DRILL

If your knees bend too much, you will create tension. Practice standing normally.

BALANCING WITH YOUR KNEES

Hi, my name is Matt Baker, and I'm a Malaska Golf Certified Coach based here in the UK. This week&rsquo;s question comes from a gentleman named Jimmy Carlson. He commented on Billy Fitzgerald&rsquo;s video about the left hip and the clubhead swing, specifically using or pushing away from the ball.
Billy is fantastic at explaining this&mdash;probably better than any of us. He has a great way of breaking down this concept, and this feeling of pushing the left hip is incredibly important. If I stand this way and demonstrate, it&rsquo;s the feeling of the clubhead coming down to hit the ball while simultaneously pushing the left hip away from it. It feels like your body is moving in opposite directions as the clubhead comes through.
This movement creates natural forces that not only help speed up the club but also give your arms more room, as Jimmy observed. That&rsquo;s a great observation, by the way&mdash;it&rsquo;s not just about generating speed. A byproduct of this motion is that it does so many beneficial things, including directing the club on its arc or circle.
This drill is great to practice. It ties back to M1 in the M-System, and I absolutely love doing it. It&rsquo;s called the Pivot Drill, and it&rsquo;s one I do all the time. You swing with just one hand, standing there and hitting shots. It teaches you everything you need to know. I used to struggle with getting the left hip to push back, but the M-System simplified it for me. Once I could feel that motion, as Mike would say, "Once you feel it, it&rsquo;s very hard to forget it." And that&rsquo;s true&mdash;once you feel those forces pushing away and working together, it&rsquo;s difficult to lose that sense. Even if you temporarily forget it, the feeling comes back quickly.
For me, if I lose that feeling, I go back to making a few one-handed swings. It doesn&rsquo;t always start off great, but I&rsquo;ll grab a seven iron, hold it lower on the grip, and swing back while focusing on pushing the left hip back. As I do this, I can feel the clubhead swinging and the momentum working for me.
Even without a tee, I can practice just by swinging back, feeling that left hip push back, and creating space and room for the clubhead to swing around me. It&rsquo;s a fantastic drill, and if you ever lose that feeling, just return to these one-handed swings. They work superbly well.
So, great observation from Jimmy! Yes, Billy explains this concept really well. By focusing on pushing the left hip back and feeling those forces at work, you&rsquo;ll naturally create all the right movements at the right time. Once you master this, the timing becomes second nature, and if you ever lose it, just revisit the drill to regain that feeling.

Left Hip Push For Power

Hi, my name is Brian Gott. I'm a certified Malaska coach, and I'm filling in for Ask Mike this week. This question comes from Jamie, who asked about the position of the right arm at address—how it faces slightly downward—and what happens to it at the top of the swing.Well, Jamie, one of the most important things to remember is that we need to focus on where the clubface is at impact. I think some people get too hung up on where everything is at the top. I once heard Mike mention a comment Jack Nicklaus made when someone asked him, "Where’s your clubface at the top?" Jack responded, "Well, the ball’s not up there, so I’m not really concerned about where my clubface is at the top."Now, there are certain fundamentals we want to maintain to avoid excessive rotation of the clubface. You mentioned that as you reach the top, you’re getting a bit of a cup in your wrist because you’re trying to manipulate the right hand. Remember, as you start your takeaway, you want the right palm to stay down towards the ground to keep the clubface square.As you move to the top, the right arm internally rotates in the shoulder, making it feel like the palm is facing upward. People often use the analogy of holding a tray on either side, but that’s just a feeling, not an actual position. When you take the club back, ensure that the right palm stays in line, and as you reach the top, let the shoulder rotate naturally. As you begin your downswing, the shoulder rotates again, bringing the face back to square so you can release it properly.So, instead of trying to become a positional player, focus on the feelings that create these positions. Ensure that during your takeaway, your right palm moves away from you, keeping the clubface square. As you approach the transition—remember, there isn’t a defined "top" position—don’t be overly concerned about where everything is at that moment. The most important part is achieving a good position at impact, with the right hand and forearm aligned on the back of the ball for a square impact.

Right Arm Address

In a bunker doing a squat or a lunge helps strengthen your legs and gives you a feel for how stable your lower body is in a bunker. This strength and stability helps in many other shots but very important for being consistent in the bunker.

BUNKER FITNESS

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

Golf Talk With Chris Lebiedz

KRIS BRYANT

Start getting a feel for how the path of your arms controls where the ball goes.

CONTROLLING PATH WITH YOUR ARMS

Meet Ryan Groves with Bodi Trak and an early Malaska Golf Member.

Ryan Groves

Brian Gott, Malaska Golf Certified Coach is answering members questions. This question comes from a Malaska Golf member, who asks about using different clubs to achieve various distances.There are two ways to approach this: you can either maintain the same swing and change clubs to get different distances, or you can adjust the length of your swing—either longer or shorter—to vary the distance. The second approach is more challenging because it requires a lot of touch and practice. So, I recommend getting out on the range and learning how far each of your clubs carries. Remember, we’re focusing on carry distance, not total distance. Practice hitting different distances with each club.For instance, my pitching wedge goes about 155 yards on a full swing. If I want to hit that same 150 yards with an 8-iron, I’d use a half to three-quarter swing, which gives me the same distance with a shorter swing.To improve, pick a target and try hitting it with different clubs using various swing lengths—full, 80%, 60%, 70%. I often teach my students the clock system, where when your lead arm is parallel to the ground (around 9 o’clock), you see how far you can hit the ball with three different clubs.It’s easier to control one swing with different clubs, which is why you have a variety of clubs in your bag. Avoid taking too much off a club like a pitching wedge, as this can lead to chunking or blading the shot. You want good acceleration at the bottom of your swing, so shorten the swing slightly and change clubs to control distance.The key is to get out there, pick a target, and practice hitting different clubs at various distances. You’ll become a better player and have more tools at your disposal on the course.

Master Club Distance

Brian Gott, Malaska Certified Coach, is subbing for Mike this week. A Malaska Golf Member feels like he's hitting all his shots thin because he's not extending his arms.

Brian thinks it's the opposite. He says he is moving up closer into the ball and having to pull the left arm up so he doesn't dig it into the ground and hit the ball fat. This is causing the member to hit the ball thin.

Brian suggests the member move farther away from the ball, make a small swing, and see if that left arm extends out all the way. If that still happens, then you are moving too close to the ball. You will feel like you are running out of room, and your body knows it isn't going to hit the ball, so it starts to pull up.

The key is to get the hip out of the way. The Right Foot Back Drill will help you do this. This will help to extend the arm through impact. Make sure you get the right hip back on the backswing and the left hip back on the follow-through.

Brian says you are getting too close to the ball and crowded when you swing. Your arms will start to come up, and you will hit it thin.

Get farther away from the ball, balance your arm, and extend it correctly.

Hitting the Ball Thin

At first choke down on the club so some of the grip end of the club is above your hands. Then on the back swing make the grip end of the club point away from you and towards the ground. Then come back to impact the club shaft is pointing at your body. Then go to just above waist high on the follow through. The grip end of the club is again pointing away from you. This gets the extension you want and develops the lever system. 

HANDLE AWAY

Get in your set up position. Then put the club out in front of you where you want it to go after impact. Then let the weight of the club and or momentum swing the club back into the backswing. Let the club swing where it wants to go. Then swing down and hit the ball. This really helps you feel the momentum of the club and takes the tension out of the backswing. 

FRONT LOADER DRILL

When you are comfortable, put both hands on the club and see how the body moves. There is an important note for the grip.

BOTH HANDS

The hands are the only point of contact that we have with the shaft.  If we understand grip as well as practice gripping correctly, then we maximize our control over the clubface.

CONTROL IS WITHIN YOUR GRIP

Harry Hooker returns to discuss what you can work on if your swing with a driver resembles Harry’s. 

Harry’s normal grip has his right hand underneath the club handle. This Mulligan Monday, Harry will rotate his right hand counterclockwise around to the top of the handle. 

Mike sets up and swings the driver. The ball shoots to the right and is lost. Because of Harry’s grip, Harry will have to adjust his aim and path to compensate. 

The grip changed Harry’s curve, so he must now change his path.

Harry Hooker Driver Change Your Grip and Path

In the final video of this Player Lesson series, Mike Malaska and Certified Coach Julie Yang bring everything together. Over the course of six sessions, the athlete has gone from struggling with slicing long clubs to building a foundation based on grip, face control, swing plane, and posture.
This concluding lesson emphasizes how to take the new skills onto the course. Mike explains that the golf swing isn&rsquo;t about adding more complexity but about applying a simple process: &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Get the grip right. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Connect the hands to the face. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Control the ball&rsquo;s curve. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Use posture and plane to create consistency and compression. With these fundamentals in place, the athlete can now stand on the range, test which curve he controls best, and take that shot onto the course with confidence. The goal isn&rsquo;t perfection&mdash;it&rsquo;s developing reliable patterns that eliminate the slice, produce compression, and give him a repeatable ball flight.
The session also highlights the Sports Connect philosophy of Malaska Golf: athletes from other sports already have the instincts to succeed at golf. By connecting what they know to the M-System, they simplify the game and accelerate their improvement. This video closes the loop on the series by showing how small adjustments in grip, posture, and face control lead to major changes in ball flight, distance, and consistency. It&rsquo;s a clear reminder that the game starts in your hands, and once you master that, everything else falls into place.
Key Takeaways &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Grip First: Every swing starts with correct grip and hand placement. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Face Control Wins: Whoever controls the face controls the ball. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Curve with Confidence: Learn to curve it right, left, high, or low&mdash;then refine for control. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Swing Plane &amp; Posture: Simple adjustments create consistent alignments and compression. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Play What You Own: On the course, rely on the curve you control best for scoring. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Sports Connect: Athletic instincts from other sports translate directly into golf success.

From Slice to Consistency

When it comes to speed control you can do many things to help develop speed control of your arms. Before you hit a put get the feel of how hard would you have to roll or toss a ball to make it go the correct distance. Then set up to the ball and duplicate the speed of your arm. The putter head becomes your hand.

PUTTING SPORTS CONNECT

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

Mike tries to break 40 from the worst positions off the tee

IFYP-Mental Game

There needs to be room for your arms to swing. Practice nmaking swings with your right foot back.

HOW YOUR RIGHT HIP WORKS

Billy Fitzgerald, a Malaska Certified Coach, is subbing for Mike this week. A Malaska Golf Member has a question about how to determine grip pressure. The member says he is somewhere between extremely light and losing control of the golf club to extremely tight, where his arms and shoulder sockets tighten up.

Billy says this is a great question, especially since many people think they have the right pressure when, in fact, they don't. Billy notes that there is a point where you can actually hold the club too soft.

Grip pressure is important as it allows you to have control of the clubface. This is a constant feeling, and it never changes throughout the swing.

Billy suggests the first thing you do is grab and hold the clubhead with your hand. Feel the weight of the clubhead. Understand how that feels, even though you hold the club by the grip.

If you hold the grip of the club too tight, you won't feel the weight of the clubhead. If you hold the club too light, there will be a lot of play in the club. You won't feel the weight of the club either. 
The key is to feel the weight of the clubhead and secure it in your hands. Make sure there is no play in the grip.

One thing you can do is hold the club out in front of you and make big circles. This is a great drill to feel the weight of the clubhead without any play in your hands or your grip.

Billy recounts a story that Mike told him about Jack Nicklaus and that he controlled the grip pressure in his forearms. Jack was secure in his hands, but his forearms were soft.

You need to be soft enough in your wrists, arms, and club so that the weight of the club can hinge and unhinge your wrists, your elbows can fold, and your shoulders can turn. Billy notes that the member's grip pressure is probably more secure than his wrist, elbow, and shoulder.

To summarize, you want to feel the weight of the golf club. Even though you grip the handle, you still want to be able to feel the weight at the other end of the club. You want to be soft enough that the grip pressure is constant throughout the golf swing.

The Right Grip Pressure

The right hand squares to incoming force. In the golf swing, it squares to the incoming force of the ground. Here is what your right hand fingers should do to let the face square at impact.

RIGHT HAND PART I

In this episode of Ask Malaska Golf, Mike Malaska and Certified Coach Austin Graham respond to a great question from member Kyle O&rsquo;Brien about how to control the club handle through the swing &mdash; and what happens when you lose that connection at impact. They break down how poor handle control causes flipping, loss of speed, and inconsistent contact &mdash; and how a simple feel-based fix can help you stay centered, deliver the clubhead naturally, and strike the ball more solidly.
What You&rsquo;ll Learn in This Video: &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Why flipping happens at impact &mdash; and how to prevent it &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;How keeping the handle near your center improves face control &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Why relaxed wrists and passive hands produce better rehinge &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;How to feel the club&rsquo;s weight and let momentum do the work &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;How the M-System teaches motion-first mechanics for consistency &ldquo;When the handle goes too far out, you lose control. But if it stays centered and your wrists are relaxed, the club dumps to the ball and rehinges naturally.&rdquo; &mdash; Mike Malaska &ldquo;I feel the handle stay in front of me through impact &mdash; that&rsquo;s what helps keep my club working down the line.&rdquo; &mdash; Coach Austin Graham
Key Takeaway: To stop flipping, swing the handle &mdash; not the clubhead. Letting the handle stay connected to your body through impact gives you control, eliminates compensations, and allows the club to release naturally. The M-System helps you train this instinctively through feel-based motion.

Stop Flipping at Impact

GRIP - Part III

In this special Player Lesson, Mike Malaska is joined by Certified Coach Julie Yang to work with Liam Johnston, a recent graduate of Arizona State University and lifelong lacrosse player. Liam&rsquo;s grandfather introduced him to golf when he was just four years old, but between school and athletics, his time on the course has been limited. After 12 years of competitive lacrosse, golf has mostly been a fun activity with his friends or a chance to spend time with his dad.
Now that Liam has graduated, he wants to get more serious about his game. While his short game is fairly solid, he admits that his biggest struggle comes with his long clubs&mdash;especially slicing his driver and woods. Mike and Julie start by watching him swing but quickly shift to showing Liam how his background in lacrosse gives him built-in advantages for golf.
Mike uses the lacrosse stick as a teaching tool, pointing out that the way Liam controls the head of the stick, uses leverage, and maintains spatial awareness is exactly the same as what golfers must do with the clubface. The push-pull action of passing in lacrosse mirrors the lever system in the golf swing, and Liam&rsquo;s ability to feel the &ldquo;face&rdquo; of the stick translates naturally to controlling the clubface.
Julie helps guide Liam through setup and swing checkpoints, while Mike ties everything back to the M-System, showing that sports like lacrosse, baseball, or tennis already teach the core athletic patterns needed for golf. Instead of reinventing the wheel, golfers should connect what they already know to the game of golf.
By the end of the lesson, Liam begins to understand that his slice isn&rsquo;t about lacking ability, it&rsquo;s about grip, face control, and trusting momentum instead of trying to force the swing. This Player Lesson demonstrates how Malaska Golf&rsquo;s Sports Connect approach simplifies golf by linking it to movements athletes already know, making improvement faster and more instinctive.
Key Takeaways &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Sports Transfer Works: Lacrosse passing and shooting mechanics directly relate to the golf swing. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Grip Matters: Liam&rsquo;s natural lacrosse grip instincts give him face awareness, but need adjustment for golf. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;The Lever System: The push-and-pull action of the hands in lacrosse mirrors how golfers create speed and consistency. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Face Control: Hand-eye coordination from lacrosse builds a strong foundation for controlling the clubface. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Momentum vs. Force: Letting the club&rsquo;s momentum work naturally creates consistency; forcing movements leads to errors. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Slice Fix: Most of Liam&rsquo;s slicing issues come from grip and face position, not athletic limitations. &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp;Sports Connect Philosophy: Athletes from any sport can simplify golf by building on skills they already understand.