WATCH: The right way to start the downswing
In this video, I give you the appropriate foundation for transitioning from the backswing to the downswing correctly. Hope this helps!
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
stephenf
Dec 4, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Hate to nitpick, but this isn’t nitpicking: It really isn’t a matter of “torso then arms,” or “torso then arms then club.” In a good swing the arms are swinging across the front of the body as the upper body turns back toward the ball. This is seen in the swing of _every_ great player in how the arms are swinging down at a rate actually outpacing the turn of the body on the downswing — increasing distance between hands and trailing shoulder, etc. I’m not sure anybody’s improved much on John Jacobs’ ideas of how this happens, and how it’s typically the single most critical thing in the development of any player — learning to feel the timing of the arm-and-club swing and how it relates to the turn of the upper body, how the arms swing by the body as it turns, etc.
But the “think target” advice — as in, swing to the target, and only _through_ the space the ball happens to occupy (not _to_ it) — is critically important and will improve many swings just on the strength of that thought alone.
So yeah, the torso has to move. It’s dynamic. Torso and shoulders have to move. But it’s not torso-then-arms. In fact, if the torso and shoulders drag the arms around, it’s completely destructive to a swinging motion.
Put another way, all the insanity about “rotation rotation ROTATION” these days is way too much emphasis. The truth is that the turn (or rotation) adds some degree of power, but not nearly as much as people think it does, and increasing “rotation” for somebody who’s already dominating the swing too much with the upper body and shoulders, and who’s likely already getting steep and outside, is just going to kill the swing.
Not saying that’s what Alastair is advocating here. I’m talking about if people misunderstand the “sequence” (it’s not 100% of one thing followed by 100% of another) and overemphasize rotation in general. For anybody who hasn’t seen it already, the club-throwing exercise described by Fred Shoemaker in Extraordinary Golf is essentially the same as you see here, but with high-handicap amateurs who, when put to the throw-the-club-to-the-target task, pretty much instantly lose many of their flaws and take on a real swinging motion. It’s something to see in photos, and it’s good to see the same principle addressed here.
geohogan
Nov 5, 2018 at 11:08 pm
If we understand the kinematic sequence, then we will know that it is the deceleration of the arms
that is the CAUSE of the acceleration of the golf club. It is not a conscious throwing of the trail arm or straightening of the right arm or a flick of the trail hand.
The power from body rotation is transferred from proximal to distal(deceleration of proximal causing acceleration of distal) until the clubhead is whipped by radial acceleration, through the wrists acting as free hinges. What is commonly called release is actually the acceleration of club lever as a reaction to, a result of, deceleration of the arms.
geohogan
Nov 4, 2018 at 8:44 pm
Begin the DS with a throw and the club will be buried in the ground behind the ball. That has been a fact since time immemorial. Its basis is in our genes. Scoff at genetics at your peril.
Genetics control the hands, unless we make the conscious effort to interfere with that genetic
predisposition to OTT. Palm facing the sky at start of DS, worked for Ben Hogan and it will work for everyone in the same way, for the same reasons.
geohogan
Nov 4, 2018 at 1:40 pm
The Throw starts at P6(club parallel to the ground), not from the start of the DS.
From top of DS (aka transition), intent has to be to keep the palm of dominant, trail hand facing the sky.
The balance of the DS happens too quickly(less than 1/4 second)for conscious control.
With dominant, trail hand palm facing the sky as intent at top of DS, the arms will fall(gravity move) positining club, arms and hands for the throwing position at P6. The throw, like skipping a stone and the side arm throw from short to second base happens whenever the dominant palm is facing the sky.
Ref. The Hogan Manual of Human Performance: GOLF, 1992
Tiger Noods
Nov 4, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Ben Hogan was a good golfer, and the first person really able to describe things in a publishable manner. That doesn’t mean things don’t get honed and improved. There were people good at golf that would have scoffed at that newcomer Hogan, too.
geohogan
Nov 5, 2018 at 1:05 pm
Arguably Ben Hogan was the best ball striker we have seen. This is not my opinion, but judgement of many of the best golfers in history.
“People good at golf” are a dime a dozen and their opinions mean nothing, unless backed by facts. False equivalency is a weapon of the articulate these days.
Tartan Golf Travel
Nov 5, 2018 at 6:16 pm
I will have to save you lost all credibility when you said “Ben Hogan was good at golf”. I guess that’s a step up from so so but that has to be the biggest understatement in history.