Phil Mickelson: Putting

I my prior two posts (here and here), I described Phil Mickelson's bunker and chipping style based on the "hinge-and-hold" swing. The primary issue with the hinge-and-hold style is keeping the arms and hands moving toward the target without flipping the hands. Phil feels that putting raises the same issue: the hands and arms must continue forward toward the target (see Phil's explanation in the video above).

I have been using Phil's approach to chipping, bunker play and putting for the last week, and so far the results have been great. I have always been a good bunker player (it seemed easy, just hit the ball fat), but the hinge-and-hold has added more control and better direction to my bunker play. My direction control, distance and line have improved using the putting approach. For chipping (which is the weakest part of my golf game) I have had some great shots and some bad shots. It seems I will need more practice, but the hinge-and-hold gives me something to work on (notice that Phil says he doesn't really "hold" the club, just accelerate the hands toward the target after hinging--I have had some success starting the forward motion before the hinge is complete, at least mentally).

From looking at a lot of Phil's instructional videos (here and here), it seems that he uses hinge-and-hold chipping (with a 60 or 64 degree wedge) and putting exclusively around the green. If he is on the fringe with a smooth path to the green and the hole, he will typically putt the shot. Otherwise, it's some variant of hinge-and-hold. Given Phil's great short game (and strong work ethic for practice), the approach is in some ways a simplification of conventional chipping, where any club in the bag (to include hybrids and fairway woods) can be used around the green (see my earlier post here). The problem with the conventional approach is knowing how far each club will run out on the green (in many videos you will see, the instructor knows this from having hit lots of shots before the camera starts rolling). Phil's simplification is worth considering and practicing. The goal is to get the chip shot within a three-foot radius of the hole for the easy up-and-down.

Phil Mickelson: Bunker Play

Here is another great video from Phil Mickelson on the Bunker Shot. In a previous posting (here), I looked at Phil's chipping style, called "hinge-and-hold". What's interesting about Phil's bunker play is that he uses the same hinge-and-hold style!

Some notes from the video:

• As bunker play increases so does driver performance (bunker play rhythm improves driving).
• Average bunker play on tour takes place from 10 yards (get it inside the three foot circle, Phil's record is 28 in a row and he tries to break his record every week).
• Typical concerns (how far should I hit behind the ball, what should be my angle of attack, etc.) don't matter! What matters is that you continue the emotion through the shot.
• Break wrists early like the hinge-and-hold, continue the hands into the finish.
• Bunker play is just like chipping and putting!
• Some adjustments need to be made for up-hill and downhill lies but it's the same concept as the lob shot (discussed in the hinge-and-hold video)
• Develop the rhythm and basic motion.

Basic Bunker Shot setup:

1. Play ball off front heel.
2. Open Face.
3. Then adjust the body.
4. Weight slightly forward.

Uphill Buried Lie setup:

1. "Stick" club into the ground.
2. Keep leading with hands.
3. Arm and club stay in straight line.
4. Move weight forward.

Downhill Buried Lie setup:

1. Move weight forward.
2. "Stick" club into sand.
3. Hands stay ahead of club.
4. Play ball forward.

One obvious and important point is that Phil really does practice and tries to set personal records. How do you get to win a British Open? Practice, practice, practice!

Phil Mickelson: Hinge and Hold Chipping

I have to admit it, my short game is miserable. In recognition of Phil Mickelson's recent wins in Scotland (the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and the British Open Championship at Muirfield Golf Links -- Phil now has 42 PGA Tour wins), it's long past time for me to look carefully at Phil's great short game. The video above starts the explanation of the "hinge-and-hold" chip shot done with the 60 degree wedge. For me, this is really a difficult shot: on the short grass and the hole is no more than a few yards on the green (normally I putt this shot). My favorite is the third shot below: hit it fat like a bunker shot for the high lob (I can certainly hit it fat and I love playing out of the sand)!

Here's a summary Phil's approach from the first video:

1. Break wrists immediately going back.
2. Hold/accelerate going through impact.
3. Continue hands toward hole.
4. Keep leading edge and bounce the same.
5. Arm and club form a straight line on follow through.
6. Arm and club move at same speed.

The video above is Part 2 of the "hinge-and-hold" chipping stroke, where Phil discusses variations. When we need to get the ball to stop more quickly and land more softly on the green.

1. Open the face
2. Open stance until face aimed at target
3. ...then regrip

The second approach is to come in steeper at the ball with a slicing-type impact position:

1. Put weight forward.
2. Move ball fractionally forward
3. Open face.
4. Align body so that face is aimed at target.
5. ...then regrip

The third approach for softer impact, is to hit it fat like a bunker shot for a high lob:

1. Hit "fat" like a bunker shot.
2. Open Face
3. Come in steeper, drive club in behind the ball (three inches!!!!).

Look at the swing length, the height of this shot, how far he hit behind the ball and how it almost landed on the cup. Amazing!

This is excellent instruction, Phil is a great Open champion, one of our generations best golfers and a nice guy on top of all that. At some point, I will report back on whether I have been able to pull off these shots (practice, practice, practice,...).

NOTE: Phil's hinge-and-hold method completely contradicts other post I have written on chipping (here, here and here). Obviously, I have had poor results with the other methods since my short game is still mediocre. One reason I think I will be successful with hinge-and-hold is that it is similar to an approach I used with the width swing: sand wedge open face, sharp wrist break, and hit slightly behind the ball using the bounce of the sand wedge to prevent the club from digging in (Phil's third approach, above). I dropped this approach because it didn't seem to "fit" with Stack and Tilt!

Rickie Fowler Wakes Up at ESPN

No, Rickie Fowler is not color blind, but he can play golf (and has a sense of humor about it)!

Stevie Ray Wakes Up Early for a Sound Check

From Bob D, Matt Warnock and Guitar International Magazine:

Sleepy 'ol Stevie just waking up then warming up. Insane how good can you really be that tired? Bless Mr Stevie Ray Vaughan now rocking from above. "Please share, like, comment, show interest in posting more of these old and rare recordings. I'll keep on hunting.. Check my channel for more great SRV Video. 

These videos are intended to help keep Stevie's memory alive and to introduce his great work to younger generations. 

Filmed Jan 1986 by Greg Savage ---"theguitarbuzz.com/tag/srv" --- "savageguitar.com"

My Gary Player Story

At 77, Gary Player recently posed for ESPN's 2013 The Body Issue (video above). After a remarkable accomplishment like this (I will not be asked by ESPN to pose in the 2023 issue), my encounter with Mr. Player seems a little insignificant, but it meant a lot to me.

I attended a practice round of the Milwaukee Open Invitational, evidently held at the North Hills Country Club in Menomonee Fall, WI*. This particular event was noteworthy because (1) Arnold Palmer elected to skip the event to prepare for the British Open (which he won, was well covered by the media, ensured that future US professional golfers would attend and started Palmer's rise to superstardom) and (2)  the Jack Niklaus father-son duo played in the tournament for the first time. And, of the big three professional golfers at the time, Gary Player was also in the field.

Tournaments in the 1960's were run differently than they are in 2013. One difference was that ropes were not put up for the practice rounds and you could walk in the fairways behind the players. We were following Gary Player on a short, downhill par 4 hole** and, off a downhill lie, Mr. Player hit a low wedge shot into the green that hit hard, took one bounce and stopped near the hole.

I was 15 years old at the time, had never seen a shot like that (my fluff wedge shots went high in the air and not very far) and blurted out "How did you do that?" Mr. Player turned around and gave me an intense stare (I was sure that I was in deep trouble) and said "Son, let me show you that shot again." He proceeded to hit three more low wedge shots, talking rapidly all the time, each shot landing within three feet of the other shots, turned to me again and said "Got it?" to which I said "Yes sir, Mr. Player" and kept my mouth shut for the rest of the round.

For two weeks after this lesson, I was able to hit the low wedge shot (to the amazement of my playing partners) but eventually lost it (at the time, I was not one to write things down). I have never been able to hit that same shot again. If I ever again get a chance to ask Mr. Player how to hit the low wedge shot, I will make sure to write it down as a blog posting (you can see Mr. Player hit what I think is one of these low wedge shots here).

* My recollection was that the original course the tournament was played on had been sold and turned into a subdivision. I can't verify this recollection and it actually does not matter to the story.

** Looking at the current Golf Course Tour for North Hills, none of the holes fits this description, seeming to support my prior note. I also followed Jack Niklaus in the tournament (I saw him hit a 1 iron as a second shot on a Par 5 hole but was not close enough to gasp in amazement at the height of the ball flight he was able to get out of such a straight-faced club) and I know that Palmer was not there, so it must have been 1961.

Mysteries of Modern Medicine: The HEAd Anastomosis VENture

Slate Magazine recently produced a short video titled "Who's Ready for a Full Head transplant?" The staff had a lot of fun with this, taking clips appropriately from Frankenstein ("He's alive! He's alive!"), Young Frankenstein (Marty Feldman playing Igor singing I Ain't Got Nobody), The Incredible 2 Head Transplant ("This Brain Wants to Love You, this Brain Wants to Kill You"). Dr. Sergio Canavero is the evil scientist here who even invents his own product, an inorganic polymer glue called "Heads On Glue". In attaching the new head, how could Dr. Canavero possibly get all the nerve connections working properly? With a slight toss of his head and the confident tone exhibited by all great neurosurgeons, he replied that "only few nerve connections need to be correct"!