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A Malaska Golf Member says that working on his grip has really helped his golf swing. Mike reinforces that how you put your hands on the club determines how you move through the golf swing and what your hands must do to square the clubface to the ball at impact.

In an ideal world, you want your joints to work as designed, where they are the strongest, and also, you want the least compensation to straighten the clubface at impact. Mike laments that he had the correct grip when he started; however, along the way, coaches talked him out of it, as they thought it wasn't the right way to grip a golf club. Now, Mike is back to gripping the club like he did when he was eighteen.

The member talks about when he put his left hand on the club, his thumb was on top of the handle, but now, it is off to the side. Mike says this is important because your thumb acts as a stabilizer. It doesn't push the club or add force.

For instance, your thumb stabilizes the club at the top of your swing so it doesn't float around. At impact, you hit with the back part of the hand, which faces out. The wrist bows, but the watch face side isn't facing out. That is old-school teaching. The thumb is on the back of the handle supporting the shaft, so when the club hits the ground, the thumb stabilizes in the clubface.

Mike uses the following analogy all the time. Grip a baseball bat and take a swing. The grip at impact for a baseball bat is the same as that with a golf club at impact. There is a sports connect!

Mike shows you how to put a golf grip on a baseball bat. He grips the back with his left hand, and his thumb is on the back of the bat handle. His right hand grips the bat, which is slightly more up than a baseball grip. Mike brings the bat back in front of him and drops it down behind the golf ball.

This is your golf grip! Now you are in a position where your hands are moving in a chopping action when you hit the ball. You would never swing a baseball bat with a bowing action at impact. It is weak, and Mike believes you shouldn't swing like that with a golf club.

Mike notes some players swing like that, but it fights against how the joints are designed and puts your left wrist in a compromising position. You are more prone to injury gripping the club that way.

When you have the correct grip and step up to swing the club, it feels more like a baseball swing. You will find you have more stability in the back of the ball and the shaft.

ESTABLISHING GRIP

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

RYAN GROVES - INDIANA, USA

Side extensions are a great exercise to perform if you have shoulder issues.

Mike takes both exercise bands and steps on the ends with his shoes. His arms are outstretched at shoulder height. You want to be careful with this exercise. Raise your arms and start with small motions until you can raise your arms higher. You can also add more tension by standing closer together on the bands. The tension starts lower, causing you to lift more.

This exercise works your shoulders, triceps, and back.

SIDE EXTENSIONS

Practicing youe short game is very important when preparing for a tournament.

PLAYING 100 YARDS AND IN

When it comes to golf, you should always be having fun. Learn how to have fun and practice at home with just a club and a plastic ball.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING FUN

Set-up and constant processes will help with consistent feels.

MICHAEL GARDEN - PUTTING - FEEL - 202104

In this Player Lesson, we see how the M-System has changed the approach of a Malaska Golf member's playing.

PLAYER LESSON WITH MR. ESMOND - HAWAII - 201905

By working the bounce with this safety feature, you can eliminate stress and increase your overall game.

SAFETY FEATURE

INTRO TO IMPACT

This conversation with Eric Cogorno about hip movement in the full swing is one of the most important concepts I think every golfer must understand. The idea of turning vs. rotating is key to building a solid foundation for your swing. 

FULL SWING HIP MOVEMENT WITH ERIC COGORNO

THE SWING DOESN'T FEEL HOW IT LOOKS

Keep your shoulders parallel as long as possible. It's all about your hands. Don't get your lower body moving in towards the ball. Here are several things that will improve your game in baseball and golf.

BASEBALL RELATED TO GOLF

SET-UP USING THE HEEL

ACCELERATION

Longer clubs are swung just like shorter clubs.

SWINGING LONGER CLUBS UNDER CONTROL

INSIGHTS: SMASH FACTOR

Here is an overview into the different sections of grip as well as what role each section serves in hitting more consistent shots.

RECAP

Mike Malaska works with Frank Cox on his golf swing. Frank played college golf, and his lowest handicap was 2.4. He played 55 rounds of golf last year.

Mike will work with Frank on his driver. Frank has a unique swing, and Mike likes players with unique swings. Mike names a few players like Jim Furyk, Fred Couples, and newer players on tour, Bryson DeChambeau, and Matthew Wolff, who also have unique swings. They may not have what is considered the perfect swing, but if they have the two or three things that make a player consistent, that's what matters. Mike quotes an old saying, "What is the perfect swing? Something that duplicates itself under pressure."

Mike only judges swings and players based on where their misses are. The better your misses are, the better player you are. If you have a double miss, right and left, you can't play. The better the player, the misses go in one direction and get tighter. How good you are is more about when you are off than when you are on. 

Frank sets up and crushes a few shots with his driver. He tends to fade with a giant pull. After looking at Frank's swing, Mike comments that speed is not an issue and that Frank has basically eliminated the left. This is ok; however, it's hard to be consistent with that swing. Mike says that the only thing that matters in golf is impact position. There are a lot of ways to get there.

Frank has a weak grip, and he sets the clubface very open. Because of the grip and setup, it forces Frank to twist and turn hard on the swing to get the clubface square at impact, and Frank will rarely pull hook. Frank hits the ball right to right if he doesn't twist enough. 

Studies have shown that you can't square the clubface with the rotation of your body. It can be helpful, but with the amount of clubface rotation from waist height to the ball, you can't create enough of it to work at impact. This means there will be some rotation of the arms.

Frank will not have to worry about hitting pull hooks with his driver but will flare some shots to the right. He will be steep with his irons and hard to control.

The game is played from 100 yards and in, and whoever is the best from 100 yards wins.

FRANK COX DRIVER: HAVING A UNIQUE SWING

Practice using a tennis racket or a baseball bat to feel the up to under of the backswing. This motion is the same as the golf swing.

FEELING THE UP TO UNDER

When establishing tempo, make sure your right shoulder does not move out, but under and forward.

MICHAEL GARDEN

Ball position is the final step to a proper setup. What you do before you swing makes a big difference.

FINDING YOUR BALL POSITION

Learning how to control the club is very important. Learn how momentum effects your swing.

MOMENTUM AND WEIGHT

Depending on the club the ball position and weight distribution changes. The short irons most of your weight is forward and the ball is in the center of the body. The middle irons the weight is about even in your feet. Ball position is still center this causes a little less angle of attack. The fairway woods and long irons the ball is more forward and even more weight is in your trail foot. Again to change the angle of approach into the ball. The driver the ball is the most forward and weight is more towards your back foot to cause a slight upward blow into the ball. The circle is the same just the ball position and body position changes the angle of attack.

BALL POSITION REVIEW

ADIDAS PARTNER VIDEO

A quick reminder of how tense shoulders lock your arms.

SHOULDERS AND TENSION

Start with standing upwright with the putter in your trail hand. Your weight should be even in your feet. Your toes quiet. Line your trail forearm up with the putter shaft. It should be pointed just above your belly button. Then push your hips back keeping your toes quiet. Place the putter head behind the ball. Then make a stroke and let your trail forearm push the shaft through the ball. Fell the force into the back of the shaft and into the ball. This should happen in all shots.

PUTTING

There are two types of speed to consider when putting. Brian discusses distance control and speed control.

PUTTING SPEED

Mike works with Kory on getting the left hip out of the way at impact.  Offsetting forces create more speed with the driver.

OFFSETTING FORCES

The Malaska method of teaching is very different from most teachers. Practice getting a feel for what your hips need to do at impact.

FROM IMPACT AND BACK

How your body moves is an important part of the swing. It is also a big speed and control producer if it works correctly. But 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.

BODY MOTION

IMPACT POSITION

When it comes to chipping use the same grip as you do for putting which helps to stabilize the stroke when hitting a chip.

CHIPPING GRIP

This exercise concentrates on how much flexibility you have in your hips.

Mike sits on a towel with his legs stretched out and bends his back toward his knees. His arms are touching the sides of his legs, and he bends as far as he can. Mike can lay his chest on his legs.

If you want to add more difficulty, then flex your toes back toward you. This exercise helps to loosen up your hips and allows your pelvis to rotate. You may not be flexible at first, but keep working on this, and you will improve.

This flexing exercise will help you push your hips back and maintain the correct angle when you swing. It will help your golf swing dramatically. 

FITNESS FLEXING

It’s Malaska Golf Quick Fix Friday again. This fix will help you to chip around the green.

When you get out to the golf course, grab your putter and make a couple of strokes on the green.

Move off the green, take your chipping club, use your putting grip and just putt. The ball gets in the air because there is loft in the clubface.

Your chip is just a putting stroke. Get confident with this shot, and you will find that you will get a lot better with chipping off the green.

USE YOUR PUTTING GRIP TO CHIP

How golf and music are played the same way.

PLAYING GOLF AND PLAYING MUSIC

I saw Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer doing this at an expo. They looked so cool doing it, I went home and copied them while looking in a mirror. Here is what this pivot teaches you.

DRILLS TO STAY LOOSE, LOOK COOL

A great way to hit your driver well is to drop your right foot back which allows you to open your hips.

STRIPE THE DRIVER

Brian covers how to pick a line for the putt, and he uses a mark on the ball to help aim the putter on the intended line.

PUTTING LINE AND AIM

An open face leads to flipping at impact.

OPEN VS SHUT

Draw a dot on the center of your clubface. Concentrate on putting that dot on the back of the ball, and you'll make great shots.

DOT ON THE FACE

Advanced players grip the clup mostly in their fingertips. Beginners use their palms. Find out why this works for professional players.

CONTROL THE CLUBFACE WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS

Mike Malaska goes over a drill where you make a swing, and as you run the club into the ball, you let your right hand come off, so your left arm swings through.

This is a great drill to feel how the momentum of the club straightens your arm and stabilizes the clubface. Your right hand will not twist and roll at impact because you let your right arm come off the club.

Practice making small pitch shots with your right hand coming off the club. You will see that the ball goes straight, and you can feel how stable the clubface is because there isn't much twisting in your hands.

Try the same drill with a longer club, and again if your grip is good, there will be no twisting of the hands, and the ball will go straight when you release your right hand.

When hitting the ball, one thing to be careful with is that your body doesn't stop, and your arm doesn't straighten on the follow-through. Ensure your body continues to rotate around, and your arms swing to the left. Your arm will rotate and fold up. It is the same action that happens when you hit a baseball.

This drill is a great way to practice stabilizing the clubface.

USING MOMENTUM TO STABILIZE THE FACE

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

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

Begin using a club to feel what needs to happen in order to achieve a center face hit.

FEELING CENTER FACE HITS

Your right arm needs to line up with the club shaft. Learn this through chipping.

CHIPPING

Having an understanding of how the face works relative to your swing arch and your target line is critical. You must have the correct task in your mind. “Your eyes perceive, your brain receives your body reacts”. So the picture is very important. Once you understand the picture it becomes much easier to create the motion.

PATH, FACE, SWING, ARC

Malaska Golf Certified Coach Billy Fitzgerald is subbing in to answer “Ask Mike’s” from Beverley County Club in Chicago. A Malaska Golf Member says he's doing okay on the range, but once he gets out on the golf course, he feels like he must overuse his body, and he tightens up a little bit. Billy says that he sees this with many students all the time, almost every day. It's a great question and thanks for your comment.Billy suggests taking some time between golf shots because that's what will happen out there on the course. Hit a golf ball, take a minute or two, hit another one, and see if you can make what you're working on with the M-System show up. For most, this is a very effortless feeling when you go from overusing your body to learning how the circles work, how to get your hands involved, and how to swing the club head a little bit more freely.Billy says that for many people, it is a dramatic change, so when we go out on the golf course, we tend to tighten up and revert to the same old situation.If you can get past the range where you feel like you can hit a golf ball, wait a couple of minutes, and you will have success on the range with time between shots. Then go out to the golf course with no score in mind and hit a couple of shots really trying to hone in and feel what you did on the driving range.Again, there's a process to this. First, there's a different feel, and then there's a different feel with a golf ball on the range, and taking it to the course is a whole new level.At some point, you must be patient with yourself, but again, you have to trust enough that you don't have to overuse your body to hit it as far as you need to.It’s going to go farther, so again, get out on the golf course without scoring in mind and practice what you do on the range.I promise you that it'll be so much better when you put time between shots. Be patient with yourself and good luck.

TIME BETWEEN SHOTS

ALICE COOPER

Malaska Golf Certified Coach Matt Baker reviews the M-System M3: Slap Drill.

This is a wonderful drill that is flexible enough to do anywhere. It helps Matt organize his body and how he uses his shoulders and chest correctly. It also helps with the body motion of his hips and legs. The Slap Drill gets his hands and arms on the right path and helps with early extension.

Matt gets into his golf stance and has both arms out in front with his hands against each other. He swings his right arm back and feels his chest stretch and shoulder blades contracting together. At the same time, his right hip is pushing back with his right leg. From there, Matt can keep his spine angle correct, feel the pressure on his right heel, and start pushing into his left leg.

Matt then brings his right hand down from the top to slap his left hand out in front. This helps Matt to organize his swing. As Matt hits his left hand, his right arm is lower than his left as he is lining up to the "shaft." Matt feels the pressure of slapping in his other hand as his hips push away. From there, Matt's left hand completes the swing on the follow-through, and his right hand stays in the center. Again, he feels his chest stretch and his shoulder blades contract when his arm goes up.

Matt concludes that this is a great drill if you struggle with the concept of body action.