Friday, May 31, 2013

The Hips in the Golf Swing Video

Great video by Mike McLoughlin and Dana Dahlquist discussing the role of the hips in the golf swing.








3JACK

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 21

The best driver on Tour returns to the winner’s circle.



Here’s how my Colonial picks finished:

Charl Schwartzel: 14/1 (MC)
Rickie Fowler: 25/1 (t-54th)
Jim Furyk: 25/1 (t-31st)
Graham DeLaet: 66/1 (t-22nd)
D.A. Points: (DNS)
Robert Castro: 150/1 (t-46th)
Bud Cauley: 150/1 (t-14th)
D.H. Lee: 150/1 (WD)
Colt Knost: 250/1 (MC)

Value Pick: Greg Owen 250/1 (MC)

Here are my picks for the Memorial:

Rory McIlroy: 16/1
Luke Donald: 28/1
Brandt Snedeker: 28/1
Jim Furyk: 50/1
Henrik Stenson: 66/1
Ernie Els: 66/1
Chris Kirk: 90/1
Charles Howell: 90/1
Camilo Villegas: 150/1

Value Pick: Justin Hicks 300/1


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS




1. Weekley, Boo
2. Rose, Justin
3. DeLaet, Graham
4. Stenson, Henrik
5. Bradley, Keegan
6. Mahan, Hunter
7. Streelman, Kevin
8. Reavie, Chez
9. Spieth, Jordan
10. Horschel, Billy


182. Allenby, Robert
183. Williams, Lee
184. Noh, Seung-Yul
185. Ogilvie, Joe
186. Curtis, Ben
187. Kelly, Troy
188. Bradley, Michael
189. Wittenberg, Casey
190. Baddeley, Aaron
191. Weir, Mike


BIRDIE ZONE



1. Wi, Charlie
2. Haley II, Paul
3. Castro, Roberto
4. Noh, Seung-Yul
5. Chappell, Kevin
6. Klauk, Jeff
7. Clark, Tim
8. Bradley, Michael
9. Donald, Luke
10. Taylor, Vaughn


182. Romero, Andres
183. O'Hair, Sean
184. Kelly, Troy
185. Herman, Jim
186. Ogilvie, Joe
187. Poulter, Ian
188. McDowell, Graeme
189. Jones, Matt
190. Kaymer, Martin
191. Gillis, Tom


SAFE ZONE



1. Mickelson, Phil
2. Kirk, Chris
3. Fisher, Ross
4. Stadler, Kevin
5. Singh, Vijay
6. Reavie, Chez
7. Duke, Ken
8. Every, Matt
9. Cauley, Bud
10. Sabbatini, Rory


182. Day, Jason
183. Parnevik, Jesper
184. Hoffmann, Morgan
185. List, Luke
186. Presnell, Alistair
187. Gove, Jeff
188. Ernst, Derek
189. Klauk, Jeff
190. Ridings, Tag
191. Herman, Jim


DANGER ZONE



1. Garrigus, Robert
2. Palmer, Ryan
3. Owen, Greg
4. Furyk, Jim
5. Colsaerts, Nicolas
6. Watney, Nick
7. DeLaet, Graham
8. Weekley, Boo
9. McIlroy, Rory
10. Tomasulo, Peter


182. Potter, Jr., Ted
183. Gates, Bobby
184. Letzig, Michael
185. Klauk, Jeff
186. Baddeley, Aaron
187. Kelly, Troy
188. Watkins, Aaron
189. Hanson, Peter
190. Taylor, Vaughn
191. Marino, Steve


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Leonard, Justin
2. McDowell, Graeme
3. Furyk, Jim
4. Immelman, Trevor
5. Stenson, Henrik
6. Kelly, Jerry
7. Estes, Bob
8. Park, Jin
9. Stroud, Chris
10. Choi, K.J.


182. Hoffman, Charley
183. Yang, Y.E.
184. Overton, Jeff
185. Wagner, Johnson
186. Meierdierks, Eric
187. Fisher, Ross
188. McNeill, George
189. Lee, Richard
190. Garrigus, Robert
191. Short, Jr., Wes


PUTTS GAINED

1. Woods, Tiger
2. Garcia, Sergio
3. Chalmers, Greg
4. Ames, Stephen
5. Molder, Bryce
6. Baddeley, Aaron
7. Kirk, Chris
8. Henley, Russell
9. Mickelson, Phil
10. Horschel, Billy


182. Colsaerts, Nicolas
183. Maggert, Jeff
184. Singh, Vijay
185. Fisher, Ross
186. Owen, Greg
187. Daly, John
188. Tomasulo, Peter
189. Meierdierks, Eric
190. Castro, Roberto
191. Mathis, David





3JACK

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Diagonal Sweetspot Path Drill

Here's a video from the 5 Simple Keys crew discussing diagonal sweet spot path and a drill to help with that.











3JACK

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Road to Golf Club Fitting Nirvana: Part VIII

In Part VII, I finished assembling the rest of the irons with success. I have found that I am hitting the new 575MMC irons about ½ club further in general and about 1-club further into the wind. The heft of the irons feel excellent and the Dynalite Gold SL shaft in the 4-iron is working out very well. Plus, Wishon has really made a gem with the 575MMC’s as he has been able to replicate that ‘Mizuno feel’ when you make contact with them.

Here is what is left for me to do with the irons:

- Adjust the lie angles for certain clubs

- Add a Gap Wedge

- Fix the 3-iron issue For this part of the series, I will go into what I did with my hybrid, the 775HS by Wishon Golf.



I view the hybrid for me a bit differently than Mr. Wishon. We know from the Trackman averages that the 3-iron spins about 200 rpm’s more than a hybrid. This is why I believe the better Danger Zone players on Tour typically carry this type of bag setup:

Driver
3-wood
Hybrid
3-PW
SW
LW

Because they can hit a 3-iron and 4-iron well enough, they can hit those shots and get them to hold the green better than if they were carrying an extra hybrid.

Where I believe Tom is correct is for the higher handicap golfers who simply cannot hit a 3-iron or 4-iron or 5-iron with any consistency. They are not likely to hit the green even with hybrids as a replacement. But, the hybrids allow them to consistently advance the ball towards the cup, which generally results in better scores.

For me, the hybrid is really a ‘rescue’ club. I believe that it should be the best club in the bag. Meaning, it’s the club that I have to typically use to hit the ball the furthest from the more difficult lies. I simply cannot count on hitting a 3-wood from difficult lies. The same with a 5-wood or a 2-iron. And the same could be said for a 3-iron, but also remember that I hit my 18° lofted hybrid further than my 3-iron.

Again…it’s the club that I want to be able to hit the furthest from the most difficult of lies.

I have been making really good contact with the hybrid, but I have had some issues with controlling the club. My misses tend to be pulls or cuts. My guess was that the MOI Balance Index is too high, requiring me to add weight to the shaft in order to make the clubhead feel lighter.

Here’s a comparison of the Hybrid after I disassembled it and then when I re-assembled it:


The Balance Index was well within the range of the target Balance Index (38.0 to 42.0). When I switched grips to a slightly lighter PURE Grips Pro model and used less grip tape; that altered the MOI to 2,790. However, the fix was simple. I just removed the 2-grams of lead tape that I put onto the hosel.

This would explain why I made good contact with the hybrid as the MOI and Balance Index match. I think the next step to determine the issue with the control is the lie angle which I’m guessing may be a little too flat for my swing.





3JACK

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 20

Sang Moon-Bae wins the Byron Nelson:




Here are how my Byron Nelson picks finished:

Keegan Bradley: 18/1 (2nd)
Dustin Johnson: 20/1 (No Show)
Ryan Palmer: 22/1 (t-33rd) B
en Crane: 35/1 (t-57th)
Jeff Overton: 35/1 (t-33rd)
Freddie Jacobson: 40/1 (t-17th)
Charley Hoffman: 50/1 (t-8th)
Harris English: 50/1 (t-17th)
Casey Wittenberg: 125/1 (MC)

Value Pick: Morgan Hoffmann 150/1 (t-5th)

Here are my Colonial picks:

Charl Schwartzel: 14/1
Rickie Fowler: 25/1
Jim Furyk: 25/1
D.A. Points: 40/1
Graham DeLaet: 66/1
Robert Castro: 150/1
Bud Cauley: 150/1
D.H. Lee: 150/1
Colt Knost: 250/1

Value Pick: Greg Owen 250/1


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Rose, Justin
2. Weekley, Boo
3. Bradley, Keegan
4. Stenson, Henrik
5. DeLaet, Graham
6. Mahan, Hunter
7. Streelman, Kevin
8. Horschel, Billy
9. Fisher, Ross
10. Potter, Jr., Ted


183. Wagner, Johnson
184. Ogilvie, Joe
185. Curtis, Ben
186. Williams, Lee
187. Kelly, Troy
188. Noh, Seung-Yul
189. Bradley, Michael
190. Wittenberg, Casey
191. Baddeley, Aaron
192. Weir, Mike


BIRDIE ZONE PLAY




1. Wi, Charlie
2. Haley II, Paul
3. Clark, Tim
4. Chappell, Kevin
5. Noh, Seung-Yul
6. Castro, Roberto
7. Klauk, Jeff
8. Gates, Bobby
9. Bradley, Michael
10. Schwartzel, Charl


183. Piercy, Scott
184. Kelly, Troy
185. Herman, Jim
186. Blixt, Jonas
187. Ogilvie, Joe
188. Poulter, Ian
189. McDowell, Graeme
190. Jones, Matt
191. Gillis, Tom
192. Kaymer, Martin


SAFE ZONE PLAY



1. Mickelson, Phil
2. Fisher, Ross
3. Kirk, Chris
4. Stadler, Kevin
5. Karlsson, Robert
6. Duke, Ken
7. Sabbatini, Rory
8. Singh, Vijay
9. Cauley, Bud
10. Harrington, Padraig


183. Jobe, Brandt
184. Day, Jason
185. Parnevik, Jesper
186. List, Luke
187. Presnell, Alistair
188. Thompson, Michael
189. Gove, Jeff
190. Klauk, Jeff
191. Ridings, Tag
192. Herman, Jim


DANGER ZONE



1. Garrigus, Robert
2. Owen, Greg
3. Palmer, Ryan
4. Colsaerts, Nicolas
5. Watney, Nick
6. Furyk, Jim
7. DeLaet, Graham
8. Weekley, Boo
9. Hicks, Justin
10. McIlroy, Rory


183. Potter, Jr., Ted
184. Claxton, Will
185. Gates, Bobby
186. Letzig, Michael
187. Klauk, Jeff
188. Kelly, Troy
189. Watkins, Aaron
190. Hanson, Peter
191. Taylor, Vaughn
192. Marino, Steve



SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Stenson, Henrik
2. Leonard, Justin
3. McDowell, Graeme
4. Immelman, Trevor
5. Furyk, Jim
6. Kelly, Jerry
7. Hoffmann, Morgan
8. Estes, Bob
9. Park, Jin
10. Villegas, Camilo


183. Thompson, Michael
184. Yang, Y.E.
185. Norlander, Henrik
186. Hoffman, Charley
187. Meierdierks, Eric
188. Fisher, Ross
189. McNeill, George
190. Garrigus, Robert
191. Lee, Richard
192. Short, Jr., Wes



PUTTS GAINED

1. Woods, Tiger
2. Garcia, Sergio
3. Molder, Bryce
4. Ames, Stephen
5. Baddeley, Aaron
6. Chalmers, Greg
7. Kirk, Chris
8. Jacobson, Freddie
9. Henley, Russell
10. Mickelson, Phil


183. Maggert, Jeff
184. Singh, Vijay
185. Weekley, Boo
186. Fisher, Ross
187. Owen, Greg
188. Tomasulo, Peter
189. Meierdierks, Eric
190. Mathis, David
191. Castro, Roberto
192. Daly, John






3JACK

Monday, May 20, 2013

3Jack Golf's First Annual Top-30 Clubfitter list

Below is my first annual Top Clubfitter list. As with my Top Instructor lists, this is hardly a scientific process. And at the end of the day it is judged by the clubfitters ability to best fit the equipment to the customer. Technical expertise weighs heavily into the selection process. I hope to be able to expand the list for years to come, but will strive keep the list to only the very best in the clubfitting business.


The list is put in alphabetical (last name) order:

Mike Bednarcik
http://customclubsoffrederick.com
Ijamsville MD


Gene Bonk
www.adsgolf.com
San Marcos, CA


Keith Chatham
www.precisionfitgolf.com
Kerrville, TX


Greg Courtnay
Ionia, MI
www.courtnaysgolf.com


Don Coyle
www.countryacresgolf.com
Mt. Vernon, IL




Chris Darakdjian
www.pureimpactgolfstudio.com
Commerce Township, MI


Monte Doherty
dohertym001@yahoo.com


John Dranschak
www.deadsolidperfectgolfclubs.com
Sunbury, OH




Doc Griffin
www.docgriffingolf.com
Columbia, SC


Dave Hanson
www.hansonsgolf.com
Fort Dodge, IA


Larry Harding
http://www.lrhgolf.com
Ellicott City, MD


Mike Hawton
www.southwestgolfguru.com
Tiverton, UK


Dave Hohnke
hohnke@bluemarble.net
Bloomington, IN


Rich Hurley
RichH@WesternPulp.com
Corvallis, OR


Martin Jones
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Richard Kempton
www.theclubdoctors.co.uk
Kent, UK


Pat Kinsley
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Jerry Lovell
www.customcraftedclubs.com
Port Saint Lucie, FL


Roy Nix \
www.mcnixgolf.com
Columbus, GA


Gordon Palmer
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Ed Robertson
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland




Russ Ryden
www.fit2score.com
Colleyville, TX


Frank Stranick
www.fsgolf.net
Gilbertsville, PA


Gary Tozer
www.aussiegolfcentre.com.au
Gateshead, NSW Australia


Bob Uebelhor
http://ubiegolf.com
Indianapolis, IN


Dana Upshaw
dana@danagolf.com
Warner Robbins, GA


Bill Weitzel
www.conquestcustomgolf.com
Liberty Township, OH


Dan Wilt
www.linktothelinks.com
Columbia, TN




Tom Wishon
www.wishongolf.com
Durango, CO


Tony Wright
http://gameimprovementgolf.com
Oak Ridge, TN





3JACK

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Short Game Trajectory Ladder with Mario Bevilacqua

Here's a couple of videos discussing 'trajectory ladders' in the short game with Mario Bevilacqua.

In my junior golf days, I used to be very good with pitch shots, lobs, flops, etc. In my college days I became quite exceptional at it...likely due to me missing so many greens

Now I am not as adept as I once was because between the wirey Bermuda turf and wind in Florida, you have to play a lower trajectory.

But, IMO, short game shots...even chips...really start with getting the right trajectory on the ball. And when I was in my junior golf and collegiate golf days, trajectory is what I primarily focused on.

I loathe the words 'creativity' and 'imagination' around the greens. I always felt it was about visualization and being able to 'feel' the shot required based off the visualization of the trajectory needed.

I think these videos go a ways in helping explaining that











3JACK

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

New GolfWRX Column: Tiger's Game is Statistically Primed for the US Open

Here are my picks for the Byron Nelson:

Keegan Bradley: 18/1
Dustin Johnson: 20/1
Ryan Palmer: 22/1
Ben Crane: 35/1
Jeff Overton: 35/1
Freddie Jacobson: 40/1
Charley Hoffman: 50/1
Harris English: 50/1
Casey Wittenberg: 125/1

Value Pick: Morgan Hoffmann 150/1



When I made my Masters picks a month ago, I mentioned how conservatively Tiger Woods has been playing off the tee. I felt that would work against him at Augusta, where distance usually takes reign over the course. However, I feel that this conservative strategy and style of play will have him primed for a U.S. Open victory at the shorter Merion Golf Club. And this was on display this past week at Sawgrass.

First, let’s go over a couple of key metrics that appear to mean the same thing, but are very different in what they describe.

Read More: http://www.golfwrx.com/87369/tiger-is-statistically-primed-for-the-u-s-open/

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Road to Golf Club Fitting Nirvana: Part VII

Part I: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana.html
Part II: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_3.html
Part III: http://richie3jack.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=blog&action=display&thread=4180
Part IV: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_16.html
Part V: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_23.html
Part VI: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_29.html

In part VI, I assembled some of the new irons that I got from Wishon; the 575MMC model. This set is cavity back from 3-iron to the 6-iron and muscleback from the 7-iron thru the Pitching Wedge (and eventually the Gap Wedge).

First, I have had people ask why I am using Cavity Back in the 3 thru 6-irons despite being a proponent of the muscleback blade design.

The answer is that I wanted to experiment with these clubs and I figured that since my ‘Danger Zone’ (shots from 175-225 yards) clubs are the 3-iron thru the 6-iron I wanted to be able to add higher trajectory on those shots if needed. My personal philosophy is that it is generally easier to hit the ball lower when needed from a swing mechanics perspective than it is to hit the ball higher than normal. Thus, get a head design that is more suited for higher launch which is what a cavity back design does.

The 575MMC, even in cavity back, has a smaller head design than my muscleback blades 555M models. Thus it has nothing to do with ‘forgiveness’, but all to do with being able to more easily hit higher trajectory windows.

I finished up the rest of the irons (4, 5, 8 and 9-irons). Here are the main specs with regards to each iron

CLICK TO ENLARGE



I highlighted a few key measurements in red. I will go over each of those highlighted, starting from left right.

DYNALITE GOLD SL SHAFT IN 4-IRON

One of the issues that Balance Index matching presents is regardless of what your optimal MOI Balance Index is, the longer irons will likely need a lighter shaft (conversely, short irons will need heavier shafts). If we need to raise the MOI Balance Index number, that means the shaft needs to get lighter. In the case of the 3-iron and the 4-iron, I needed to raise the MBI number.

The other issue is that MOI and Shaft Bend Profile take precedent over MBI. The shaft that had the closest Bend Profile and weighed less than the Wishon Stepless Steel shaft is True Temper’s Dynalite Gold SL

CLICK TO ENLARGE



What True Temper has done is they have made a lightweight shaft with a balance point more towards the tip. This allows the shaft to be lighter without losing a lot of heft for swingweight or MOI purposes. This also makes the ball fly higher, but I am fine with that in the 3 and 4-irons.

Unfortunately, I only had one Dynalite Gold SL shaft handy. I installed it in the 4-iron and I found that the Balance Index number needed to go lower which means that I needed to add some weight to the shaft. That is as much weight I could add to the shaft with lead tape and not go over the target MOI.


CLUB LENGTH DISCREPANCIES

I prefer to use 3/8” shaft increments instead of ½” increments. With my 555 irons, I used the 6-iron at 38” long as my baseline and went in 3/8” increments from there. However, I decided to use Wishon’s recommended 5-iron length of 38.5” based on his book 12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Game (pg. 22)

http://wishongolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/12mythsPDF.pdf

A problem occurred when I got to my 9-iron and Pitching Wedge. The total club MOI would be too high when I assembled the clubs. That is because the shafts were getting a bit too long at that point. Here are the differences between my current club lengths versus my old club lengths and ‘standard’ OEM club lengths



So had I stuck with the 3/8” increments, the 9-iron would have been 1 full inch longer than ‘standard.’ That’s a reason why the MOI was higher too high. I countered that by trimming an extra 3/8” off the butt end of the shaft and then could simply add lead tape to the shaft to get the MOI and the Balance Index where I wanted it.

RAW HEAD WEIGHT DISCREPANCIES (3-IRON VS. 4-IRON)

Wishon’s heads have a +/- 2 gram tolerance from spec. The 3-iron came in light (I had ordered the 3-iron head over a year ago). When I was ordering the rest of the irons, I had Wishon ‘hand pick’ the heaviest 4-iron head they had on hand. Thus, they hand picked a 248.8 gram head (spec is 246 grams).

From MOI and MBI, I know that generally we have to add either a hosel weight or lead tape to the heads of the long irons. By ordering a heavy head, this just means I would not need as heavy of a hosel weight or lead tape. I will probably do the same to the 3-iron in the future.


GRIP TAPE WEIGHT

Since the ‘shaft-grip’ combination has to generally be heavier for the shorter clubs so the clubhead feels lighter with relationship to the entire club; I tried to put the heavier grips on the shorter irons.

I use an air compressor to install my grips and it is extremely helpful for the MOI and MBI matching process. I typically put 2-wraps of blue painters tape under the grip to ‘build them up’ a little.

When I dry installed my 5-iron I found that the Balance Index was a little too low, meaning I needed a little lighter weight in the ‘shaft-grip.’ I simply used the calculator and found that if I used 1 wrap of tape instead of 2 wraps, it would reduce the tape weight by 1.1 grams and that would allow me to reach my target MBI of 38.0 to 42.0. I can hardly tell the difference in 1 less wrap of tape.


3-IRON MOI AND BALANCE INDEX

I could not get the 3-iron’s MOI and MBI within the targeted range due to the Wishon shaft being too heavy. In order to counter that, I need to either find a lighter trimmed Wishon Stepless shaft which is a completely guessing process…or install another Dynalite Gold SL shaft. However, I have hit the 3-iron very well so far outside of some occasional pulls which may be a lie angle issue.

I plan on looking at this in the future and possibly re-assembling the 3-iron.

So far I’m happy with the performance and the feel of the entire set of irons. Time will tell how the yardage gapping performs and if I feel I should try a different 3-iron. In part VIII, I will do my Hybrid.







3JACK

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Impact and Post Impact: Amateurs vs. Pros

Neat little video from the PGA Tour showing the differences at impact and post-impact of the pros versus the amateurs.








3JACK

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 18

Derek Ernst with the most shocking victory of the season:



Here's how my Quail Hollow picks finished:

Rickie Fowler: 22/1 (t-73rd)
D.A. Points: 40/1 (t-16th)
Lucas Glover: 50/1 (t-27th)
Ryan Moore: 66/1 (t-6th)
Kevin Stadler: 75/1 (t-73rd)
Ted Potter, Jr.: 150/1 (t-32nd)
Brendan Steele: 150/1 (MC)
Rickie Barnes: 175/1 (MC)
Jason Kokrak: 175/1 (t-50th)

Value Pick: Peter Tomasulo 250/1 (t-50th)


Here are my picks for the The Players:

Justin Rose: 25/1
Lee Westwood: 25/1
Graeme McDowell: 33/1
Brandt Snedeker: 40/1
Billy Horschel: 40/1
Nick Watney: 40/1
Jim Furyk: 50/1
Keegan Bradley: 50/1
Tim Clark: 66/1

Value Pick: Hunter Mahan 66/1


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Stenson, Henrik
2. Rose, Justin
3. Mahan, Hunter
4. Bradley, Keegan
5. Weekley, Boo
6. DeLaet, Graham
7. Duke, Ken
8. Clark, Tim
9. Dufner, Jason
10. Horschel, Billy


181. Allenby, Robert
182. Curtis, Ben
183. Kelly, Troy
184. Bradley, Michael
185. Marino, Steve
186. Herron, Tim
187. Wittenberg, Casey
188. Baddeley, Aaron
189. Na, Kevin
190. Weir, Mike



BIRDIE ZONE



1. Chappell, Kevin
2. Gates, Bobby
3. Wi, Charlie
4. Choi, K.J.
5. Haley II, Paul
6. Norlander, Henrik
7. Castro, Roberto
8. Molder, Bryce
9. Clark, Tim
10. Taylor, Vaughn


181. McDowell, Graeme
182. Piercy, Scott
183. Kelly, Troy
184. Romero, Andres
185. Jones, Matt
186. Thompson, Michael
187. Herman, Jim
188. Poulter, Ian
189. Blixt, Jonas
190. Kaymer, Martin



SAFE ZONE



1. Van Pelt, Bo
2. Schwartzel, Charl
3. Fisher, Ross
4. Curtis, Ben
5. Mickelson, Phil
6. Sabbatini, Rory
7. Kirk, Chris
8. Karlsson, Robert
9. Stadler, Kevin
10. Harrington, Padraig


181. Parnevik, Jesper
182. Marino, Steve
183. Ridings, Tag
184. Presnell, Alistair
185. Klauk, Jeff
186. Gove, Jeff
187. Senden, John
188. Ernst, Derek
189. Day, Jason
190. Herman, Jim


DANGER ZONE



1. Garrigus, Robert
2. McIlroy, Rory
3. Snyder III, Joey
4. Leishman, Marc
5. Palmer, Ryan
6. Westwood, Lee
7. Watney, Nick
8. Villegas, Camilo
9. Furyk, Jim
10. Colsaerts, Nicolas


181. Claxton, Will
182. Klauk, Jeff
183. Potter, Jr., Ted
184. Kelly, Troy
185. Meierdierks, Eric
186. Hanson, Peter
187. Na, Kevin
188. Watkins, Aaron
189. Taylor, Vaughn
190. Marino, Steve


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Stenson, Henrik
2. McDowell, Graeme
3. Leonard, Justin
4. Jones, Matt
5. Gove, Jeff
6. Furyk, Jim
7. Els, Ernie
8. Hoffmann, Morgan
9. Kelly, Jerry
10. Immelman, Trevor


181. Norlander, Henrik
182. Yang, Y.E.
183. Sabbatini, Rory
184. Cabrera, Angel
185. Lee, Richard
186. Fisher, Ross
187. Hoffman, Charley
188. McNeill, George
189. Garrigus, Robert
190. Short, Jr., Wes


PUTTS GAINED

1. Woods, Tiger
2. Molder, Bryce
3. Baddeley, Aaron
4. Jacobson, Freddie
5. Chalmers, Greg
6. McDowell, Graeme
7. Na, Kevin
8. Ames, Stephen
9. Kirk, Chris
10. Garcia, Sergio


181. Colsaerts, Nicolas
182. Sabbatini, Rory
183. Fisher, Ross
184. Stanley, Kyle
185. Mathis, David
186. Tomasulo, Peter
187. Maggert, Jeff
188. Claxton, Will
189. Castro, Roberto
190. Meierdierks, Eric







3JACK

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Great Swings That Were Slept On - Keith Fergus

My introduction to Keith Fergus was actually through putting. Fergus was one of Dave Pelz’s first students on putting. Little did I know that Fergus’ actual strength was his incredible driving.

In fact, from what data I have his 1980 season was one of the very best years a golfer has had driving the ball in the past 30 years. And he was a top-10 driver of the ball using my metrics in ’81, ’82, ’83 and ’85. And he was a top-25 driver of the ball in ’84 and ’86. He was very accurate off the tee for any golfer, but considering he was quite long his accuracy was even more impressive. Here’s a look at his distance rankings off the tee:

1980: 15th
1981: 30th
1982: 44th
1983: 50th
1984: 74th
1985: 33rd
1986: 45th

At this time he was ages 26 to 32 years old. So there should have been some concern towards his dip in distance over the years. And from judging his GIR numbers; he appeared to be pretty good with the irons from 1980-1982, but his iron play really dipped off after that and he was off the Tour by 1987. Here’s the only video I could find of his swing, filmed recently.





The player he appears most similar to is Robert Allenby. Another golfer who was a very excellent driver of the ball and a good irons player who is rapidly losing clubhead speed, distance and his irons game is starting to regress as well.







3JACK