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Head movement is the subject of this Skill Pathway. Your head doesn't remain still, so how and why does it move, and what keeps it still? 

One of the biggest problems for players, especially amateurs, is how their heads move. The movement happens because they are trying to shift their weight.

Forces, not weight shift, are what causes your head to move. When you swing into your right heel, then into your left heel, and your left leg pushes back, your head moves as your body tilts. It is not because you are just moving it back and forth.

Mike stands on one foot and swings to demonstrate how his head doesn't move much as he pivots on one hip. He doesn't push off on his right foot when he changes direction and starts down.

It is vital to understand that you are not trying to shift your weight; you are trying to move force. Practice hitting on one foot to experience what it feels like to hit down into the ground instead of off the ground.

Correctly moving your body will make your head more stationary and not move around as much.

WEIGHT SHIFT

A waggle is a smaller version of your full swing. If it does not include elements of your swing that you wish to show up, you are waggling wrong. Here is a deeper look on what is a waggle.

WHAT DOES WAGGLE MEAN

As you practice for a tournament, you build up to each club. Pactice making swings with your pitching wedge.

WORKING YOUR PITCHING WEDGE

Billy Fitzgerald, a Malaska Certified Coach, is helping Mike this week. A Malaska Golf Member has a question about the right foot, right femur twist, and how it works down into the ground.Our members have probably seen the videos on the ROTEXMotion Floor discs. This is a great training aid because the discs allow your foot, thigh, and femur to twist in, which gives you a sensation of the femur working in. Even though you don't twist like that in your swing, the discs help you feel how the femur rotates in the hip socket.Both sides work in unison when you swing down into the impact position. As your left leg pushes the left hip up and back, your right femur is working down and in.Billy demonstrates how both sides are working as he swings down to impact. As Billy takes the club up to the transition point, he works the swing down; you can see how his right thigh works down and in. At the same time, his left leg pushes his right thigh up and back.Part of the member's question is, do you start to twist your foot when you are at the top of your backswing?Billy responds that it is about sequencing, and you need to talk about both the right and left legs simultaneously. Your left leg triggers the start of the downswing. As soon as your leg pushes back,you can feel your right foot and femur twist down and in.Your hip socket must be soft enough so your femur can rotate. Your foot doesn't twist, but you feel the pressure on the inside spike of your shoe.

RIGHT FOOT, RIGHT FEMUR TWIST

The feet are one of the two contact points in the swing. Here's how to gain a better understanding.

FEET AND FORCE

Making half swings on the driving range before you play is a great way to practice clubface control and control of where the ball is going.

HALF SWING WITH FACE CONTROL

The process of learning is to get the ball in the hole.

TOSKI - BEST IN THE WORLD

PLAY THE GAME WITH NIC SINGLETON

How is tee time in under 24-hours? Use this tip to quickly prepare for that match with your friends.

QUICK FIX FRIDAYS

Putting is the foundation of your swing. Any action you make here is magnified in your other clubs.  Here's where to start.

PUTT WITHOUT YOUR HIPS

This, is the 18th green for the members. It was the ninth hole in the last round of the Utah Open. This was probably one of the most influential shots I hit in the round, showing my confidence in how I was striking the golf ball. Now, if you look back there, you can see the members' tee.But if you go a little to the right, way back there, that's the very back tee. It's about 175, 180, 185 yards from here, and the pin was right here. So you've got the pin, the bunker, and you're in a canyon.If you miss right, you don't want to short-side yourself. The pin was way over on the right, with the bunker in front, and it's a tough bunker shot. If you miss right of the bunker, you're likely making double bogey. So here we are with this setup, which is perfect for hitting a fade. But because of the way I was playing, every shot I hit was solid, with a little draw.I was hitting about a 5- to 10-yard draw on everything. So where did I aim? The pin's here, and I’m back there. I aimed almost in the center of the bunker, and I hit it. It started in the center of the bunker and hooked in. I hit it about six feet from the hole and made birdie, which gave me a two-shot lead—an important moment for me.My point is, I was so comfortable with the shot I was hitting that the trouble didn’t even come into play. People would ask me, "You started it over that bunker. What if it didn’t hook?" Well, I hooked everything. Every time I hit it solid, it would draw 5 or 10 yards. This highlights that, to be a really good player, you need a shot where, if you make a good swing and hit it solid, you know what the ball will do.You can’t be trying to hit it both ways. Initially, everyone wants to learn to hit draws because your club comes from the inside, squares the face, and generates the most distance. That’s how I started. I played that draw almost exclusively for the first six years of my golf career.I was really good. I won this tournament, I won some college tournaments, and I was playing great. Then suddenly, someone said, "Oh, we’ve got to change who you are. You should never have tried that. You should hit the middle of the green and fade it to the hole." So, a lot of things changed. They changed my grip, they changed my swing, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t just stand up and make a swing knowing what the ball would do. I knew I’d hit it solid, but it might fade a little or hook a little.That uncertainty made me defensive, which is where most golfers are. The other approach is being offensive, like I was before, because I knew that if I hit it solid, it would always draw 5 to 10 yards. It wasn’t going to fade—no chance. Learning to have a consistent shot where you curve the ball the same way every time is crucial for playing your best.Now, this was the first tee and my first shot of the day. It was probably one of the most important tee shots I hit all day. I had warmed up on the range, found a rhythm, hit it solid with a little draw, and this hole set up perfectly for that. I just aimed at the left edge of the trees out there and hit my draw.At that point, you're no longer thinking about the swing itself. You're just feeling the motion you're going to make to hit the shot you want. It was a good shot, right in play.That first swing was one of the most important shots of the day because I got it in play, hit it past everyone, and gained a lot of confidence relative to the guys I was playing with.Okay, so now I’m here, as a senior, just short of the first hill. When I played the tournament, my tee shot would have been about 80 yards farther. I was right up here—there’s the 100-yard marker—where I could see the top of the flag. My tee shot was up here, and I had this shot left.I made birdie on number one, and then I came to number two. This hole, if you look at it, has out-of-bounds left, but you can see how it sets up for a nice, soft draw. I’ve always aimed at the hill, right over the white tees. There’s a hump, and I’d aim at it and draw the ball back into the fairway.Visually, this course set up really well for me. A lot of golf courses come down to how they set up visually for a player and what you need to do to feel comfortable.Even now, at my age, I still hit the draw. That was always my shot. They tried to take it away from me for a while, but I’ve returned to it, and I’m hitting it more consistently now than when I was trying to mix in fades and different swings. Back then, with the changes in my grip and swing, I was trying to hit fades and draws instead of just hitting one solid shot.Now, let’s talk about this tunnel. We had about 5,000 people out here, and most of them were following the last two groups. People follow the players they like. When we got to this hole on the back nine, the crowds walked with us, and the tunnel felt so claustrophobic. There were so many people around, and it was packed. I felt really edgy.But when I came out of the tunnel, it was like I experienced freedom. Everything calmed down. The same thing happened when I approached this par-3, which was the ninth hole for us. When I came out of the tunnel to hit my tee shot, I was much more relaxed. The tunnel had made me feel uneasy, but once I emerged, everything was calm again. I tapped into that feeling—high energy, but calm at the same time."

MANAGING PRESSURE

Starting the ball on a line will improve your face control. Practice making swings with different clubs to get a feel.

PRACTICING STARTING THE BALL ON A LINE

The palm of the hand and fingers are important when gripping the putter.

MICHAEL GARDEN - PUTTING- GRIP & HANDS - 202104

This drill teaches you to soften your arms and shoulders and focus on and feel the Lever System in your swing.

SITTING IN A CHAIR DRILL AND HITTING A BALL

Most of the time, you are not necessarily your best swing coach. Often it is better if you can have somebody watch, review, and give you feedback on your golf swing. You are usually not your best critic. Getting another set of eyes to look at what you are trying to accomplish will help in this process. 

Mike Malaska had PGA golf instructor Billy Fitzgerald recently review his golf swing in our ”Teach The Teacher” video. Billy noticed that Mike was getting a little twisty and ahead of the ball. The lesson was all about getting the club back out in front of Mike. Having the club a little behind you on the downswing only causes you to try to catch the clubface up at impact. Billy’s feedback was to try to tip the club out on the downswing, get the club going and turn with it. 

Joe Nichols always said that when the club is halfway down on the downswing, you want to feel that you are facing the club, and as when you go through the ball at impact, your chest is constantly facing the ball. Joe Nichol’s referred to this as leveling out. Mike was able to recall this lesson from him and apply this fix to his swing based on Billy’s observations. 

Make sure when you have someone review your swing and ask specific questions for feedback. This will help you to narrow in on the problem so you can focus on fixing the problem and achieve positive results. You can also use your phone or iPad to record and evaluate your golf swing.

YOU ARE NOT ALWAYS YOUR BEST COACH

Your mind is a muscle just like your body. It needs to and can be trained. The proper mindset is critical to maximizing performance. Your mind controls your body so how do we train it to make the correct decisions. React in a manner that gives us the best chance for success. And how do we train it to process what happens properly so it becomes a constant learning process and roadway to success.

ASK MIKE: MENTAL GAME

Tip the club out in order to get  the momentum of the club working for you.  If you are late, you will have to force the club to catch up.  This is avoidable by tipping the club through shoulder rotation.

FROM THE TOP

Joe hated a "floating right elbow." See what he wanted you to feel and learn how pivoting your right elbow will automatically steer your hands and arms.

PIVOT YOUR RIGHT ELBOW

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

FINDING YOUR TEMPO

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

SPRING TRAINING TEE IT UP

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

GARRETT RICHARDS USE YOUR BASEBALL GRIP

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

GOLF AND MARTIAL ARTS

INTRO TO ADJACENCY

This fitness exercise uses a cord to perform upright rows. 

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

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

UPRIGHT ROWS

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

HIGH RISK LOB SHOTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ROTATION IN YOUR ARMS

Athletic motion has certain commonalities in every activity and sport.

ATHLETIC MOTION

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

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE LPGA

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

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

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

IMPROVE YOUR SWING PATH

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

DIALING IN YOUR SHORT GAME

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

MAKING THE LINE ROLL

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

SPRING TRAINING THROWING CURVE BALLS AND SLIDERS

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

THE CABLE PULL DRILL

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

BASEBALL DRILL

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE PROPER CLUB FOR CURVE CONTROL

PERFORMANCE COMBINES INTRO

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

RIGHT & LEFT ARM

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

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

ENTRY-LEVEL COACHING PUTTING

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

ASPECTS OF THE INDUSTRY

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

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

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

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

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


HITTING THE BALL ON THE HOSEL

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

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

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

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

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

BEST WAY TO HIT A DRAW

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

HOW NIBLEY PARK HELPED YOUNG PLAYERS

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

EXAGGERATING TO BREAK TENDENCIES - 20181113

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

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

POSTURE AND BALANCE

Create force from the ground into the club.

SPEED PRODUCERS

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

POSTURE DRILL

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

ASK MIKE: BODY MOTION

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