Swing Tips archive at ProgolferDigest - The Golf Blog by Junger Woods

Archive for the 'Swing Tips' Category

How to Play the Knock Down Shot

2 Comments Published September 13th, 2007 in Knock down shot, Swing Tips.

In honor of the British Open we would like to pay respect to the wind-cheating knockdown 5-iron. Take a 5-iron, choke up a little; open your stance about 20 degrees; play the ball toward your back foot; shift your weight forward; have your hands pressed forward; and take the club back waist high and come down aggressively on the ball with very little wrist action. This shot can be used from under trees, from out of divot, off hardpan, off loose sand, into the wind, or when loft simply isn’t necessary. The shot will produce a low roller that will keep you out of trouble.

excerpt via steveandersongolf

The above is an excerpt from a master PGA professional. Although I have full due respect for his experience, it’s in my experience through teachers like Butch Harmon and players like Tiger Woods, that that’s NOT the right way to hit the knock-down shot. First, don’t choke. Second, don’t open your stance. And third, don’t play the ball off the back foot. Finally, fourth, do not shift your weight forward.

Choking will really choke you mentally and physically. Opening your stance will only confuse you. Playing the ball off the back foot and shifting your weight forward will only make you hit down on the ball, causing the ball to shoot up in the air.

So, just take your regular stance, play the ball in the middle, have weight balanced 50-50, and do NOT come aggressively down on the ball. Just swing nice and smooth 1/2 or 3/4.

That’s my 2 cents from the best coaches and players who have played this shot. If you don’t believe me, just go ask Tiger or Butch Harmon.

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Crocodile Eats Golfer

1 Comment Published September 12th, 2007 in Swing Tips.

Crocodile Eats Golfer

Holy Cow, a crocodile easts a golfer! Well, just don’t play in areas where there are lots of crocodiles…

I can remember about 100 times where I almost died from a rattlesnake though… (that might BE more dangerous…)

via urbanlegends

picture via gotpetsonline

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Junger Woods Swing Tips - The dreaded 60 yard wedge

1 Comment Published September 12th, 2007 in Golf News, Swing Tips, sand wedge, wedge shots.

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

The 60 yard wedge is probably the hardest for regular joe golfers. This is the shot I practice the most. This IS the shot that Tiger practices most too. (and probably more than 50% of the tour players)

The difference between Tiger and rest of the tour player is that he can hit the 60 yard fade and the draw. He will be able to work the ball even though he’s not hitting it far.

Well here’s simple guideline for practicing your 60 yard wedge:

1. keep your golf grip super light for distance control

2. Rhythm, rhythm, and rhythm

3. Try to hit it in the middle or slightly inside of your sand wedge.

4. Try to hit the ball only, no divot for super control. Whenever you make a big divot, you are inviting dirt into your clubface grooves, which causes your ball to either:

- bounce too much after landing

- fly too long

5. It’s just a smaller version of your full swing. Master this shot and it will help all other parts of your ball striking.

6. If this helped you, leave a comment!

P.S. Youtube video might be hard to see, but that ball landed 5 feet from the pin.

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Swing Keys on My PING Bag

2 Comments Published September 12th, 2007 in Golf News, Swing Tips, golf bag.

My Bag1

Remember I said I wrote down 3 swing keys the other day when I hit the ball so great? Well above is the picture of it.

My Bag12

Well, I had an even better ball striking day so I had to add two more keys which are:

4. Longer Followthrough - meaning as long as your followthrough is longer than your backswing, you won’t de-accelerate and have any of those shanky problems.

5. Rhythm - meaning you need a smooth flowing swing. Think of Freddy Couple’s swing before you hit your shot.

I am ready to try out for the mini-tours again! My swing looks bad but I can hit it where I need to score.

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Adam Baldwin the best Celebrity Golfer

3 Comments Published September 12th, 2007 in Swing Tips.

It turns out Adam Baldwin is the best celebrity golfer yet… not too shabby for a celebrity who has all the time in the world to play a little golf…

Here’s the rest of the list:

1. Adam Baldwin - 2.5 - from The Patriot
2. Jack Wagner - 3.5 - from General Hospital
3. Michael Jordan - 4 - NBA Basketball great
4. Craig T. Nelson - 5.6 - from “Coach” and The District
5. Randy Quaid - 6.1 - from “Independence Day” and “Days of Thunder”
6. Chris O’Donnell - 6.6 - from Batman and Robin
7. Dennis Quaid - 7 - from The Big Easy
8. Bruce McGill - 7 - from Bagger Vance
9. Thomas Gibson - 8.1 - actor from Dharma & Greg
10. Bob Newhart - 8.2 - actor from Newhart
11. Tea Leoni - 8 - from The Family Man
12. John O’Hurley - 9 - from Seinfeld
13. James Garner - 9.4 - from The Rockford Files
14. Jack Nicholson - 10.7 - actor from One Flew Over the Cucko’s Nest; The Shining
15. Scott Wolf - 10 - from Party of Five
16. Sylvester Stallone - 10 - from Rocky
17. Clint Eastwood - 11.0 - actor / director from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Dirty Harry; Unforgiven
18. Andy Garcia - 11 - from Internal Affairs
19. Robert Redford - 12 - actor from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; The Sting 12
20. Kevin Costner - 12.6 - from Dances with Wolves
21. Bill Murray - 13.4 - actor Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation
22. Sidney Poitier - 14.6 - actor from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner; In the Heat of the Night
23. Joe Pesci - 14.1 - actor from Goodfellas, My Cousin Vinny
24. Richard Kind - 14.2 - actor form Spin City
25. Stephen Baldwin - 14 - from The Usual Suspects
26. Will Smith - 14 - from Men in Black
27. Rob Lowe - 14.5 - from The West Wing
28. Dennis Franz - 14.6 - from NYPD Blue
29. Sean Connery - 15.0 - actor from Goldfinger; The Hunt For Red October
30. Tom Smothers - 15.5 - from Smothers Brothers
31. Frankie Muniz - 15 - from Malcolm/Middle
32. Michael Douglas - 15.5 - from Wall Street
33. Tom Poston - 15.9 - from Newhart
34. Alan Thicke - 16 - from Growing Pains
35. Martin Sheen - 16 - from The West Wing
36. Mikhail Baryshnikov - 16 - from White Nights
37. Bruce Willis - 16 - from Die Hard
38. Steve Van Zandt - 16.2 - from The Sopranos
39. Cheryl Ladd - 16.4 - from Charlie’s Angels
40. James Wood - 16.9 - from Any Given Sunday
41. Jack Lemmon - 17 - actor from Some Like It Hot; Grumpy Old Men
42. Leslie Nielsen - 17.8 - actor from The Naked Gun
43. Kevin James - 18 - actor from King of Queens
44. Ray Romano - 18 - actor from Everybody Loves Raymond
45. Cheech Marin - 18 - from Nash Bridges
46. Dean Cain - 18 - from Lois and Clark
47. Peter Falk - 18.2 - from Columbo
48. Robert Stack - 18.4 - from Untouchables
49. Matt Damon - 20 - from Good Will Hunting
50. Catherine Zeta-Jones - 20 - from The Mask of Zorro
51. Patrick Duffy - 20.9 - from Dallas
52. Kirk Douglas - 21.4 - actor from Champion; Paths of Glory; Spartacus
53. Dennis Hopper - 21 - from Easy Rider
54. Tom Cruise - 23 - from Risky Business
55. Arnold Schwarzenegger - 24 - from The Terminator
56. Richard Crenna - 24.5 - from The Real McCoys
57. Tom Selleck - 24.7 - from Magnum P.I.
58. Richard Schiff - 25 - from West Wing
59. Catherine Bell - 32 - from JAG