Mar 21, 2014 phil mickelson and butch have worked together since 2007. Just off the front heel with driver then a bit further back the shorter club you go. Watch lessons with butch harmon solid iron strikes. As the former golf coach of tiger woods, phil mickelson and greg norman, and current coach of many of the top touring professionals including dustin johnson, rickie fowler and gary woodland, harmon is the most soughtafter instructor in the. Butch harmons 5 truths about learning to play better golf. Butch harmon is a worldrenowned golf coach, most famous for his past tutelage of tiger woods, phil mickelson and ernie els. Play the ball so its just inside the front heel above. The ultimate guide to ball position at address usgolftv. Also, where should i place the ball when using a driver, wedge etc. The four cornerstones of winning golf will teach golfers how to strengthen their performance by concentrating and mastering the four elements of the. All you have to do is take your head cover off your driver.
Golfers of all abilities struggle with how to hit driver. Find out how norman became the perfect model for a consistent setup. Position the ball back a little in your stance, and aim more to the left. If you slice, ill bet your ball position is too far forward. Jul 06, 2015 rickie fowler and butch harmon show you how to fix that drive slice. And, while plenty of things can go wrong with the swing, harmon says its not hard to fix them if your teacher and you keep it simple. Butch saying keeping the arms infront of the chest is a feeling or has an intention but likely not completely literal. Pros like tiger woods, davis love iii, and grog norman know theres more to a worldclass golf game than striking a ball well. Butch harmon is based at rio secco golf club in henderson, nevada. Should i place the ball further forward in my stance towards front foot if i am hitting a bigger iron i.
My dad, claude harmon, who won the masters 70 years ago, always said he wanted to help players without taking away what they did naturally. Heres how tiger woods grip has changed through the. Apr 14, 2016 grip, stance, ball position, posture never change. Thats why i like you to think of a constant ball position. So, i suppose the answer is that theres no right or wrong thing to do with ball position. Its short but it uses a drill youve probably seen before.
Its possible that a hand position very slightly forward of the ball with a driver might assist in hitting. School of golf host martin hall teaches the proper golf stance for addressing the ball with your driver and irons. With the driver, lets look at a few things you need to get right. Now, just as author butch harmon taught these pros, he can teach you. Butch harmons driving lesson australian golf digest.
That allows you to turn behind the ball, then drive. Butch harmon is a golf digest teaching professional. Aug 02, 2012 basics of good posture good posture is crucial to hitting it solid. Over the years, theyve tried to make mickelsons driver swing shorter and wider, which he does well on shortiron approaches. Make a full turn behind the ball, and then keep that right shoulder passive so your upper body doesnt spin out.
Likewise i believe aids like butch harmon right grip golf gloves can be helpful putting your hands in the correct position on the griphandle, so long as that hand position matches with your hip motion. The butch years the defining swing change of tigers career came under legendary coach butch harmon. It restricts the hip turn, which restricts upperbody turn. An indispensable part of that process was a slight tweak to tigers grip. The man who finetunes the swings of dj and koepka has some advice to improve your driving as a thirdgeneration coach, claude harmon. May 26, 2016 position the ball back a little in your stance, and aim more to the left because its harder to square the face at impact from a downhill lie. Maintaining the knee flex set at address is the master move here. Instead, pick a shot that favors position over power, and then follow a plan to hit it. Butch harmon hooks and slices golf features into the. Rickie fowler on how to fix your drive slice golf lessons. They set their feet about as wide as their hips, head in line with the ball, shoulders level above, right.
As butch harmon said in golf digest, one of the biggest mistakes i see with amatuers is, they hit off their right foot. As the club gets shorter, the ball position should moves little to the right. Golf instructor butch harmon, who has taught pros such as phil mickelson and tiger woods, maintains that some amateurs make the mistake of trying to help the ball into the air while swinging fairway woods. Butch harmons greatest driving lesson instruction golf digest. From what ive seen, there are three main issues people have off the tee. Bring it over here, and put it right next to the ball. The shorter wider driver swing phil mickelson and butch have worked together since 2007. If youre someone who gets nervous on the tee box, that mental state is affecting how you physically swing your driver. Dec 14, 2015 butch harmon shortirons ball position with captions. If youre interested in shooting better scores, forget your driver spend your lesson and. Golf 7 r play golf golf cart accessories golf breaks golf trolley used golf clubs woods golf golf videos golf club sets butch harmon. Get into your regular, fullswing address position, but without a. Ball position butch harmon school of golf dubai youtube.
Butch harmon wants you and your golf pro to nail down your fundamentals and. Nov 28, 2012 topranked teacher butch harmon shares his keys for striking iron shots. Keep the ball in one place for every club golf tips, golf fashion. Still another solution would be playing the driver with a more forward ball position to maximize distance and put all your other clubs in a middleish position for the consistency.
Pga tour stats, video, photos, results, and career highlights. Turning and extending your arms will help you do that. Keeping tension out of your arms at address sets up a freeflowing swing back and through. Butch harmon hooks and slices golf features into the rough. When they stay wide, theyre in position to swing the club back to swing the club back to the ball on a straighter path. Photo by jamie squiregetty images by joel beall in our biennial poll of the best teachers in america, butch harmon was the overwhelming top choice according to. Butch harmon shortirons ball position withcaptions. Butch likes using the same ball position with all your clubs at least for full shots.
Butch harmon offers a nice explanationball position is very, very important. Butch harmon golfs most respected instructor golf video by pete styles in the year that i got interested in golf and grew up watching the game on the tv, there was a partnership that i saw develop really nicely over the years, that was butch harmon and tiger woods. One good way to do this is to hover the club off the ground before you start below. So its fair to say he knows a thing or two about pro golf swings, but in this interview he lets into the rough in on the secrets for amateurs too. The flagship location of the butch harmon school of golf is located at rio secco golf club in las vegas. See more ideas about golf, golf tips and golf lessons. While i want you to read the article, at first i didnt realize exactly how he was determining where he wanted the ball. Justin parsons, the director of instruction at the butch harmon school of golf, reveals his 3. Butch says the trick to creating distance with the driver is finding out how fast you can swing it without losing control. But to make a good iron strike, you must hit down on the ball. As you take your stance, as described in golf swing drill 108 setup. This is great advice for any golfer who tries to max out shorter clubs by swinging them like a driver. Many players struggle to hit their fairway woods solidly.
Always position the ball off the logo on your shirt. You have to set them up in a correct way, and swing in a way that makes use of them. Although different teachers may appear to contradict each otherfor example, butch harmon will say the ball should be played back and travis fulton will advise playing the ball forwardvirtually all teachers describe this position the same way. More important than backswing length is backswing width. Turn your body, and push your hands away from your head. Harmon maintains that a good strike with a fairway wood actually begins with a descending blow.
Teaching pro conan elliott suggests aligning the ball one balllength inside of your typical driving position. When setting up to hit a driver, some teachers might tell you to put more weight on your back foot at address. Harmon recommends playing the ball a few inches inside of your front heel. Because i can straighten their ball flight, even teach them to hit a draw, in a matter of minutes. If you sole the clubhead behind the ball, youll tend to push it. Scoring well in golf requires you to progressively narrow your focus as you move from the tee to the green. The caveat was, if any of those things hurt a players performance, it had to go. You hear the words position or positioning in sports a lotand with good reason. Phil mickelson and butch have worked together since 2007. Jul 17, 2016 weve all heard the drill on ball position. A simple drill for perfect ball position and pure strikes. Play the ball forward in your stance, but not as far forward as you would play it with a driver. Tee the ball up so that half of the ball is above the driver face when the driver is on the ground addressing the ball. Hitting it solid with a hybrid ball position is key to correctly utilize a club that should be in your bag.
At the other end, hitting the driver captures the imagination of every golfer. Butch harmon, known as the best golf instructor in the world, has a teaching facility at rio secco. This might feel powerful, but it sets some bad things in. Butch harmon shows you the four faults that are sabotaging your iron game and how to fix them. Driving tips with koepkas coach claude harmon todays golfer. Addressing the golf ball, set the ball slightly further forward, the back of the ball level with your left heel 2 golf balls ahead of standard. At the event, harmon talked about his new instructional dvd, butch harmon about golf presented by titleist, and shared stories about some of the most memorable moments of his life one which has been enmeshed with golfs most legendary names since his childhood. Long irons help you cover significant distance and achieve accuracyplacing the ball on or near the green. Dec 15, 2015 seve tended to move the ball around in his setup.
Take an extra club, focus on the strike to hit more. Jun 28, 2019 the butch years the defining swing change of tigers career came under legendary coach butch harmon. Today im linking to a golf digest article from butch harmon on ball position. Its much easier to match up the arm swing with the body turn coming down when the motion is shorter and wider going back. But there are now four other locations across the globe where every day golfers can learn the same secrets and philosophies that harmon and his staff of professionals instill in the worlds greatest players. From the fairway, position the ball in line with the logo on your shirt.
Butchs reference point for ball position with the driver is the logo on the left breast of your golf shirt. If you dont have a logo on your shirt, position the ball in line with your left breast. The family also lived part of the year in florida, when butchs father served as the winter professional at the seminole golf club. His father was the head pro at the nearby winged foot golf club in mamaroneck. Ive been messing around with it lately and came across some images i found interesting. The only way to do that is to get your weight left. Keep the ball in one place for every club instruction golf digest. Here is what i mean, in the back swing if you keep your arms in the center of your chest that means your torso is fulling rotating. They make the mistake of trying to sweep the ball off the ground, sometimes even trying to lift the ball with the club. For a lot of golfers, i know when i say dont swing allout with the driver, its a lost cause. With the club dropping to the inside, you can swing out to the ball, which lets your arms release and square the clubface. How butch harmon has helped the best golf digest middle east. Remember, the purpose of the backswing is to get in position to make an athletic move down. Michael breed explains consistency is key with where you place the ball at address for various shots.
I like keeping the ball in the same position for all clubs on standard full shots. Thats not a stable position, and usually sends the ball short and right. Michael breeds tips for correct ball position golf channel. Butch harmon offers a nice explanation ball position is very, very important.
Butch harmon keeping arms in front of chest golfwrx. Nov 20, 20 tee the ball up so that half of the ball is above the driver face when the driver is on the ground addressing the ball. It didnt take long for butch harmon to tweak phil mickelson s swing back into championship form. Rory mcilroy golf swing driver faceon view plus butch harmon analysis, sky sports, may 2015. Harvey penick said that the ball position for a driver and 3 wood off the tee should be just the opposite of left heel. Butch harmon shows you the four faults that are sabotaging your iron game. Director of instruction justin parsons talks us through the importance of ball position in the golf swing.
Watch lessons with butch harmon basics of good posture. Butch harmon has an article at the golf digest site called finding your rhythm with the driver. The ball position for the driver should be relative to the hands and upper body, not the feet, and poorer players tend to push the ball position to far forward, especially when hoping to hit a pushdraw. A more controlled rotation keeps the hands and arms from getting too deep. You lefties will have to guess at that, i suppose, since most companies dont make lefthanded golf shirts. Butch harmon was raised in new rochelle, new york by eugene claude harmon 191689 and alice cullen mckee harmon 191870. Ball position butch harmon school of golf dubai by butch harmon dubai.
So ball position varies from the left heel to the center of stance. Rickie fowler and butch harmon show you how to fix that drive slice. Jul 23, 2018 my dad, claude harmon, who won the masters 70 years ago, always said he wanted to help players without taking away what they did naturally. When you come to 9 iron, he said the ball should be in the center of stance. However, a wellhit fairway wood shot feels solid, and the loft of the club does all the work of getting the ball into the air. Keep the ball in one place for every club golf digest. Butch harmons greatest tip for getting off the tee. Topranked teacher butch harmon shares his keys for striking iron shots.
Your goal with short irons is precisionconsistently getting the ball close. With a driver, your objective is to get the ball in the fairway, which is usually a fairly wide target. Football coaches talk about the importance of field position and positional matchups in regards to players. Just pick the point halfway between your right armpit. Earlier wrist set, club straight back weve worked to sync up his takeaway, hinging the wrists sooner and not being as quick with the body. Harmons visit with the local pros was a homecoming of sorts. Rickie fowler, with butch harmon at the 2014 ryder cup, says butch will tell you how it is. Ball below your feet butch harmon golf digest south carolina golf tip by discover south carolina. Also, his ball position would tend to creep too far back, which contributed to that early turnhe was trying to load up behind the ball. So the same impact with a driver versus, say, a 5wood can be the difference between having a shot to the. This simple drill gives you perfect ball position for pure strikes with every club.
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