The news around the block is that Greg Norman might be able to win this year’s British Open if he only believed in himself again.

The former British Champion, Greg Norman, is 1 off the lead by shooting an even par today.

I believe Greg Norman has couple majors that the golfing world owes him.  At numerous majors, Greg Norman either got struck by lightening (metaphor here that is) or he simply gave it to the guy standing next to him.

I thought Greg Norman would have won many more majors if he only believed in himself again.

I mean for like 10 years or so, he was the shark.  Perhaps, Tigers do scare away sharks but come on.

It’d be like my dream come true if Greg Norman could win the Open this weekend at age 53.

Maybe that’s just my speculation but what the heck, Greg deserve one for sure.

10 years, british champion, british open, golfing, greg norman, majors, metaphor, shark, sharks, speculation, tigers, what the heck 10 years, british champion, british open, golfing, greg norman, majors, metaphor, shark, sharks, speculation, tigers, what the heck If you like this post, please subscribe to the ProGolferDigest via RSS or via E-Mail to receive updates.

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Okay, this does really happen to me every couple months.  That is that I find the secret to the golf swing.

You go to the golf course and return with this “amazing” feeling that you’ve finally mastered the game of golf, or at least just the golf swing in this case.

Let me tell you how it happend and the secret too.

I have been on a long-trail of hitting balls on the range and really not practicing my short game or putting.

Well, yesterday, I go to the range at Harding Park GC, and found that the range closes early on Mondays.  Of course, this was my first time going to the range after 6pm on a Monday.

So, I decided to practice my short game for 2 hours.  What happened after that was amazing.

For the first hour and a half or so, I was really struggling to hit these hard-pan lies.  After trying several things, I hit a goldmine, the secret to my golf swing.

You see, the secret is in the dirt just like Ben Hogan said.  Literally, I found it in the hardpan dirt, where it’s practically impossible to hit the shot good unless you strike the ball perfectly.

As such, I found the secret of the golf swing as the following:

Your full swing is an extended version of your short shots.  It’s never the other way around.

For example, you are hitting the 2-iron really well.  You miniturize that 2-iron swing on the short pitch shots.  It might work and it might not, simply because what’s working for the full swing isn’t guaranteed to work on the short shots.

However, if you are hitting your 30-yard pitch shots from a hardpan lie perfectly (as you do need to hit it perfectly on the ball in order to avoid chunking it or thinning it) and you extend that short swing into a 2-iron swing, you will find that 99% of the time, the swing works.

This is why tour pros practice their short game so much because the rhythm and the swing technique flows into other longer shots.

Now, that is how I found the secret, let me tell you the “technical” details of my findings:

You need to feel that on the downswing, you are rotating everything including your stomach, shoulders, arms, and hands to the left while your weight is centered over the left foot.  You also need to feel you are standing very tall.

Here’s the important part, you need to feel like your wrists are uncocking upwards toward the sky just after impact.

If you take a careful look at Hogan’s after-impact position, you will notice that his wrists are actually lifted toward the sky.  This really helps you to hit the ball perfectly while minimizing wrist action through impact.

Now how to achieve this feeling?

It’s pretty simple, try to imagine there’s a giant ball hanging from the sky sorta like the above picture.

Then, try to rotate your body to move that ball foward toward your target.  Also try to hit the big imaginary ball with your elbows, this will automatically uncock your wrists the correct way by letting your wrists lift upwards.

I tried this and boy, I am going to the PGA Tour Q-School next year baby!

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For most of 90s, my two favorite golfers were Nick Faldo and Greg Norman.  They always seemed to win tournaments more than others during that time and also shared number one and two of the world back and forth.

Although Nick Faldo may be a sportscaster right now, he may be the best pro golfer to be a sportscaster.

You look at some of the other guys but no one else has an extensive resume like the Masters winner Nick Faldo.

I’ve even bought every book he wrote and although they were all too technical and confusing for most hackers, Nick is really good at details of the golf swing.

Let’s take a look at his downhill iron swing here.

For the downhill iron shot, Nick Faldo sets up with his weight favoring his right and his ball about center of his stance to make up for the hill.

At takeaway, Nick sets his wrists slightly early but looks very good.

At top of Nick’s swing, he has a perfect 90 degree angle between the arm and the club while not swinging more than 3/4 of his full backswing.

On half-way down, notice the 90 degree of lag Nick has.  A lot of tour pros go beyond the 90 degrees which is not necessary and Nick proves the point here.  Too much lag can actually produce a smaller swing arc.

At impact, Nick looks really good.

After impact, Nick chases down the slope with his arms, fully releasing his club.

At finish, Nick looks very good, standing super tall.

Nick Faldo has one of the best swings in golf with one of the best rhythms to go with it.

If he kept playing competitively, he would have won couple more majors but I am surprised he decided to retire from competitive golf.

Here’s Nick Faldo’s downhill iron swing in slow-motion explained by the man himself:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Having Nick on golf channels is a really good thing.  I rather hear him saying stuff than an Peter Kostis.

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With British Open coming up, players like Padraig Harrington will be at advantage as they get to play the course more often than American players.

Let’s look at Padraig’s swing and see his strengths and weaknesses.

I like how Padraig takes his club away from the ball.  He turns everything together nicely.

At the top, Padraig looks real good, starting his lower body as his backswing is finished.

At half-way down, Padraig looks pretty good, maybe a little too much lag than necessary.  (That might be why he hit this ball slightly to the right)

Too much lag can cause the golfer to release too late (or release not at all), causing the ball to fly well right of intended target).

At impact, Padraig hangs back a little too much but looks pretty good other than that.

After impact, Padraig loses control of his left foot, this could really be improved to help his stability and balance.

Overall, Padraig has a really good swing except some minor stuff he might want to concentrate on.

Here’s Padraig Harrington’s Driver swing in Slow-motion:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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Bubba Watson is probably one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour today.  Let’s look at his unstable swing that makes the ball go far.

At takeaway, Bubba transfers his weight far into his left leg.  This might cause him to miss a lot of shots.

At the top, Bubba’s almost falling over his left side.  Not good, but maybe the only thing it’s good for is distance.

On half-way down, Bubba’s head is still over his left foot or even slightly outside.  This is asking for disaster in pro golf.

At impact, Bubba looks like his swinging a sledge hammer, not a golf club.

After impact, Bubba is completely out of balance with his right foot sliding forward and hit left foot coming out.

This is probably not the swing that’s going to win whole lotta PGA tournaments unless Bubba learns to control his swing.  It’s not about the distance, it’s about scoring low every week.

If he did however change his swing to be in more control, he should be able to win a lot of tournaments.

Here’s Bubba Watson’s Ugly Driver Swing Sequence in Slow-mo:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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