Kelvin Miyahira's Thoughts on Jason Day's Back Injury

Here's a video from Kelvin Miyahira (www.kelvinmiyahira.com) explain his thoughts on what is the cause of Jason Day's back injury:







3JACK

3Jack Golf's 2016 PGA Tour Rundown - Houston

Jason Day wins the WGC Match Play and Bay Hill in back-to-back weeks:




Here are my picks for Houston:

Dustin Johnson +1200
Louis Oosthuizen +2000
JB Holmes +2500
Tony Finau +6600
Daniel Berger +8000
Jason Kokrak +8000
Charley Hoffman +8400
Patrick Rodgers +9000
Hudson Swafford +22500

VALUE PICK: Jhonattan Vegas +22500


ADJUSTED DRIVING DISTANCE



1. Bubba Watson
2. J.B. Holmes
3. Dustin Johnson
4. Andrew Loupe
5. Rory McIlroy
6. Gary Woodland
7. Luke List
8. Tony Finau
9. Jason Kokrak
10. Ryan Palmer
11. Patrick Rodgers
12. Jamie Lovemark
13. Robert Garrigus
14. Brooks Koepka
15. Smylie Kaufman
16. Charlie Beljan
17. Justin Thomas
18. Charles Howell III
19. Harold Varner III
20. Jason Day


186. Chad Collins
187. Abraham Ancer
188. Billy Hurley III
189. Kevin Na
190. John Huh
191. K.J. Choi
192. Lucas Lee
193. Ken Duke
194. Dicky Pride
195. Zac Blair
196. Colt Knost
197. Steve Stricker
198. Brian Gay
199. Tim Clark
200. Mark Wilson
201. Brian Davis
202. Justin Leonard
203. David Toms
204. Jon Curran
205. Darron Stiles


ADJUSTED HIT FAIRWAY %




1. Colt Knost
2. Thomas Aiken
3. Jason Bohn
4. David Toms
5. Danny Lee
6. Justin Leonard
7. Emiliano Grillo
8. Zac Blair
9. Mark Wilson
10. Jerry Kelly
11. Brice Garnett
12. Graeme McDowell
13. Darron Stiles
14. Kevin Kisner
15. Tim Clark
16. David Hearn
17. Justin Hicks
18. Russell Knox
19. John Huh
20. Chez Reavie


186. Gary Woodland
187. Camilo Villegas
188. Miguel Angel Carballo
189. Luke Guthrie
190. Charley Hoffman
191. Carlos Ortiz
192. Ricky Barnes
193. Retief Goosen
194. Tony Finau
195. Carl Pettersson
196. Rhein Gibson
197. Ernie Els
198. Seung-Yul Noh
199. Luke List
200. Steven Bowditch
201. Rob Oppenheim
202. Andres Gonzales
203. Robert Garrigus
204. Andrew Loupe
205. Nick Watney


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Emiliano Grillo
2. Kevin Kisner
3. Jason Bohn
4. Scott Piercy
5. Rickie Fowler
6. Jordan Spieth
7. Russell Henley
8. Danny Lee
9. Jim Herman
10. Hideki Matsuyama
11. Bubba Watson
12. Justin Rose
13. Boo Weekley
14. Thomas Aiken
15. Colt Knost
16. Russell Knox
17. Rory McIlroy
18. Webb Simpson
19. Keegan Bradley
20. Shane Lowry


186. D.J. Trahan
187. Aaron Baddeley
188. D.H. Lee
189. Billy Hurley III
190. Bronson Burgoon
191. Rhein Gibson
192. Steve Stricker
193. Robert Garrigus
194. Carl Pettersson
195. Ricky Barnes
196. Bud Cauley
197. Luke Guthrie
198. Luke Donald
199. Derek Fathauer
200. Andres Gonzales
201. Robert Allenby
202. Steven Bowditch
203. Retief Goosen
204. Ernie Els
205. Rob Oppenheim


RED ZONE PLAY (175-225 YARDS)



1. Hideki Matsuyama
2. Adam Scott
3. Jason Bohn
4. Ian Poulter
5. Robert Garrigus
6. Rory McIlroy
7. Jason Gore
8. Paul Casey
9. Emiliano Grillo
10. Lucas Lee
11. Justin Thomas
12. Webb Simpson
13. Hudson Swafford
14. Branden Grace
15. Tom Hoge
16. Graeme McDowell
17. William McGirt
18. Kevin Streelman
19. Chez Reavie
20. Graham DeLaet


186. Rory Sabbatini
187. David Hearn
188. Ken Duke
189. Miguel Angel Carballo
190. Derek Ernst
191. Hunter Mahan
192. J.J. Henry
193. Thomas Aiken
194. Carl Pettersson
195. Brian Harman
196. Anirban Lahiri
197. Morgan Hoffmann
198. Scott Pinckney
199. Stuart Appleby
200. Steve Marino
201. Chad Collins
202. Brendon Todd
203. Robert Allenby
204. Bo Van Pelt
205. Brian Gay


YELLOW ZONE PLAY (125-175 YARDS)



1. Henrik Stenson
2. Ken Duke
3. Kevin Na
4. Brian Davis
5. Robert Garrigus
6. Luke Donald
7. Phil Mickelson
8. Kyle Stanley
9. Billy Horschel
10. Padraig Harrington
11. Marc Leishman
12. Greg Owen
13. Jon Curran
14. Adam Scott
15. Bryce Molder
16. Webb Simpson
17. Dustin Johnson
18. K.J. Choi
19. Bubba Watson
20. Kevin Kisner


186. Michael Kim
187. Charl Schwartzel
188. Brian Harman
189. D.H. Lee
190. J.J. Henry
191. D.A. Points
192. Stuart Appleby
193. Wes Roach
194. Ryan Moore
195. Geoff Ogilvy
196. Jordan Spieth
197. Hunter Mahan
198. Derek Ernst
199. Steve Marino
200. Robert Allenby
201. Andrew Landry
202. Billy Hurley III
203. Jarrod Lyle
204. Steve Stricker
205. Bud Cauley


GREEN ZONE PLAY (75-125 YARDS)



1. Charl Schwartzel
2. Andrew Landry
3. Vaughn Taylor
4. Will MacKenzie
5. Stewart Cink
6. Justin Leonard
7. Matt Every
8. Justin Hicks
9. Luke Guthrie
10. Greg Owen
11. Darron Stiles
12. Henrik Norlander
13. Rob Oppenheim
14. Jimmy Walker
15. J.B. Holmes
16. Derek Fathauer
17. Dawie van der Walt
18. Scott Piercy
19. Brendon de Jonge
20. Steve Stricker


186. Miguel Angel Carballo
187. Brian Gay
188. Adam Hadwin
189. Bo Van Pelt
190. Chesson Hadley
191. Jason Day
192. Hiroshi Iwata
193. Will Wilcox
194. Jhonattan Vegas
195. Sung Kang
196. Sean O'Hair
197. Chad Campbell
198. Keegan Bradley
199. Charlie Beljan
200. Blayne Barber
201. Webb Simpson
202. Morgan Hoffmann
203. Angel Cabrera
204. Andres Gonzales
205. D.H. Lee


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Bud Cauley
2. Rickie Fowler
3. Padraig Harrington
4. Tim Wilkinson
5. Brice Garnett
6. Luke List
7. Jarrod Lyle
8. Scott Langley
9. Hideki Matsuyama
10. Jordan Spieth
11. Fabian Gomez
12. Retief Goosen
13. Patrick Rodgers
14. Brian Gay
15. Chad Campbell
16. Gary Woodland
17. Jon Curran
18. David Toms
19. Kevin Na
20. Freddie Jacobson


186. Ryo Ishikawa
187. Carlos Ortiz
188. Miguel Angel Carballo
189. Russell Henley
190. Charlie Beljan
191. William McGirt
192. Scott Stallings
193. Martin Laird
194. Brett Stegmaier
195. Hudson Swafford
196. Jhonattan Vegas
197. Scott Pinckney
198. Charl Schwartzel
199. Andres Gonzales
200. Daniel Summerhays
201. Graeme McDowell
202. Johnson Wagner
203. Matt Kuchar
204. Chesson Hadley
205. Pat Perez







3JACK

A New Mindset for Golf

With the news of Nick Watney being out for the year with a back injury and Jason Day re-injuring his back, the world of back injuries in pro golf has gotten me back to some concepts that I could see being very beneficial to future of golf. This was reinforced even more as a friend of mine sent me this video from David Epstein at TED Talk.



Epstein's speech covers a wide range of topics, but one of the key sticking points for me was idea that there have been advancements in sports technology and understanding of the sport that has led to athletes performing better even if they are not necessarily 'bigger, stronger and faster.'  One of the concepts that he mentions is how the *mindset* of sports has changed.  For instance, Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile barrier.  Not only did people think it was impossible for a human to physically break that barrier, but just attempting to break the 4-minute mile would lead to death from cardiac arrest.  Then Bannister broke the barrier and other runners followed suit.  Even with the new technology as Epstein describes, there are runners that would have broken the 4-minute mile using the same technology as Bannister.  Bannister broke the mold and now the mindset was established that it was possible to run a mile in under 4-minutes and to survive that endeavor.

While I could use this to say in golf we could create a mindset to do many great things that we never thought of being possible (Tour player with legitimately 135+ mph club speed dominating the Tour, hitting putting make % records, iron play performance, etc), I wanted to go more into the aspect of golf injury prevention and optimizing practice time instead.


THE LEGEND OF LIETZKE



If there's one thing I've grown frustrated as a golfer and a consumer of golf instruction is the constant practicing in order to achieve new swing mechanics and then to sustain new swing mechanics.  It often seems that golf is the only endeavor where it is needed so much.  If you have an expert guitar player that hasn't touched a guitar in over a month, they may not be quite sharp at first, but they'll still be proficient and after a little while they will start to play like they have never took any time off.  The same with a good free throw shooter in basketball.  With golfers often times we see drastic differences from day-to-day, even if they have been practicing.

Back in the 80's and 90's, one of the finest ballstrikers on Tour was Bruce Lietzke.  In fact, I did an article in 2013 Pro Golf Synopsis looking at all of the players since 1980 that were 1 standard deviation above the mean in both driving distance and hit fairway percentage in the same year.  It was a select group and nobody has accomplished that feat since 2001.  Lietzke did it twice.  So did Jack Nicklaus (1980 and 1982) and David Duval. 

The thing about Lietzke is that he was known for NEVER practicing.  In fact, there's an old story where his caddie wanted to see if it was true and at the end of the season left a banana inside Bruce's bag and when the season started up again months later, the banana (now spoiled) was still in his bag.

Furthermore, we look at the players of yesteryear and have to remember that driving ranges were not nearly as common nor were they filled with golf balls for golfers today.  As one famous retired Tour player once told me, if he could find a range the problem was that he and his caddie would have to pick up their own golf balls.  And I think it would be hard to contend that the great ballstrikers of yesteryear of Hogan, Snead, Nelson, Watson, Nicklaus, Trevino were not as good if not better than today's great ballstrikers.  Again, the last time somebody was better than 1-standard deviation from the mean in both distance and fairway percentage on Tour was 2001.

Experienced golfers are practicing more but it can be argued they are not better than experienced golfers of yesteryear.  And they seem to be getting injured more despite all of the advances in medicine, exercise and transportation.  To me, something doesn't quite add up.  I would expect at the very least the case of Usain Bolt and Jesse Owens described by Epstein...Bolt being technically faster time wise, but mostly thru the technology of running surfaces, shoes, etc. If everything was on the same level, Bolt and Owens would be in a dead heat. 

I don't think we have a dead heat these days.  As much as I like the guys on top of the golfing world right now, I don't believe any of them could are better than Nicklaus if they had the same equipment. I would easily argue for Tom Watson against and the same with Hogan and Snead.

To me, one of the major differences is in how we practice.

***

A few weeks ago, I got this message from a reader who had read my thoughts on utilizing slow motion practice to improve his swing.

Richie,

I just wanted to say I've started slow motion training and am seeing results like I never thought were possible. I thought of you, because I remembered reading your posts advocating it last year.

Anyway I've come up with a pretty solid practice routine where I use a ball every time, I hit seven different positions in slow motion, pause at impact, then release the club pushing the ball a few feet and holding into the finish position. It seems to help if all practice swings include a ball so when it's time to hit a shot your brain doesn't know the difference.

At impact to get into a tour pro looking impact position took a little time. My hips did not want to go there, but after hundreds of perfect reps it started to feel normal. What's interesting is there is absolutely no chance I could have hit that position at full speed consciously.

This whole thing is mind boggling. The only swing thought I still have is to get the takeaway right then I am just picturing the shot and where I want it to land. To my surprise most of the time the shot comes off how I imagined. The ball has a high penetrating flight when no swing thoughts are involved. The club is truly released. So if any swing thoughts are involved I know I'm manipulating the club and that needs to be avoided. Anyway I'm still in the honeymoon phase with this, but I know I'm on the right track.

I'm not a golf instructor, so I'm not trying to sell any type of practice or swing methodology.  But, I had seen the benefits of slow motion practice and here we see a golfer that was diligent enough to follow and he is now seeing those same benefits.  The big thing is that we both have cut out or swing thoughts from the swing.  It not only allows us to perform better on the course, but we are essentially grooving in the mechanics we wish to achieve.  Which brings me back to the Ikkos Advanced Motor Learning System.  I wrote a review about them here:

http://www.3jack.blogspot.com/2016/03/ikkos-advanced-motor-learning-review.html

The Ikkos system is based on slow motion practice and also uses a visual element to help.  What I've found is that you can get the mechanics you want, but still have some initial struggles with your ballstriking because your brain is not used to the timing of your body being in different positions than normal.  But with enough repetition, it starts to adapt unless you adjust your mechanics because you're initially not hitting it as well as hoped.

The point being?

I don't think it's impossible for golfers to learn mechanics much more quickly and to be able to do so with far less repetition.  I think there is room for practicing less and putting less stress on a player's back and striking the ball just as well, if not better.  We may not see the second coming of Bruce Lietzke, but I do not see any reason why players cannot have something where their main purpose of practicing on the range each day is to get in a small amount of practice to help with their timing and then they can head to the practice green and work on putting and short game practice. 

I think players like Lietzke had that innate ability to visualize and sense what they needed to do and players like Hogan, Nicklaus and Watson knew what to work on and how to work on it and get the most out of their practice time.  So a new mindset for golf may just end up being an old mindset for golf.





3JACK

Deciphering DeChambeau - The Driver

US Amateur Champ, Bryson DeChambeau made it to Bay Hill this past week and finished t-27th with a final round of 66.  I had the pleasure of watching Bryson in person and came away impressed.  He was also gaming a new driver which was out of the ordinary...but that's the ordinary for DeChambeau.

Bunkersparadise.com wrote an article about DeChambeau's driver that can be found here:

http://www.bunkersparadise.com/48568/bryson-dechambeaus-radical-new-driver/

What makes this really interesting is that DeChambeau had them remove the weight completely in order to make the club extremely light. A swing weight scale runs from A0 to G10 and Bubba Watson swings a driver that is D3. Bryson’s new driver is B9 which gives you some idea of how super light it is.

In addition to removing weight from the head the driver also has a JumboMax XL grip that weighs a whopping 121 grams vs normal grips at 50 grams. This puts even more of the weight away from the club head.

***

As many know, I do not use swingweight and prefer MOI measurement (total club MOI) to determine the heft of the club.  Although B-9 is very light, but not all B-9 swingweights are the same.  Also, the theory that adding weight to the grip will create a lighter feeling of heft is very misguided which is where the biggest flaw in the swingweight measurement resides.  It does not account for the total weight of the club and therefore it is saying that a club becomes lighter when you add weight to the total mass.

I tried the JumboMax Grips on my 3-iron a few months ago.  The JumboMax grips are exactly like they sound, they are far larger and heavier than your standard grip:

One of the interesting things I found with the JumboMax grips is how it actually increased the MOI (made it heftier).  I had my 3-iron set to 2,725 MOI with a Pure Grips P2 Wrap model.  Adding the JumboMax XL and the MOI shot up to 2,755 MOI.

What we know about swingweight is that adding 10 grams to the grip will change the swingweight by roughly 1.5 points.  So with a 70 gram difference between the JumboMax Grip and a normal grip, the swingweight would roughly be at D-0 if there was a regular grip on the head.  And with the difference that the JumboMax grips make on the MOI, it's a 'heavier' D-0 swingweight.  Still light for a Tour player, but not actually as light as the B-9 swingweight implies.

The big thing about Bryson's driver is that static weight of the club should be rather heavy.  I play my 45-1/2" driver at 2,825 which is at about D-4 swingweight (relatively heavy).  The static weight comes out to 318 grams (203 head weight + 50 gram grip weight + 65 gram trimmed shaft weight).

Bryson's driver should come out to roughly 375 grams.

180 gram head weight (estimated, we'll say 198 grams is Cobra headweight and remove the 18 gram weight)

120 gram grip weight

75 gram shaft weight (estimated after trimming)

So perhaps with the JumboMax grips, Bryson may have needed some weight taken off or he would have close to a 400+ gram driver.

Also remember that Bryson utilizes the JumboMax grips as he grips the club in the palms.  And when you look at his swing, it does not have much wrist-cock in the backswing.



So perhaps with a club that is as long as the driver, the weighting has to change in order for him to feel comfortable due to his grip in the palms and less wrist-cock in the backswing.  Either way, Mr. DeChambeau keeps it interesting for sure.






3JACK

Golf Smart Academy Video on Bowing the Left Wrist and Closing the Clubface

Here's a video from Golf Smart Academy explaining the bowing of the left wrist and its effect on the clubface and the club head path in the golf swing:







3JACK

How Jason Day Used FocusBand to Help Him Get Rid of the Yips

Interesting video on Jason Day's use of the FocusBand on how it helped him get rid of the yips:







3JACK

Pressure Plates vs. Force Plates with Golf Smart Academy

Here's a video from Golf Smart Academy discussing the differences between Force Plates and Pressure Plates.







3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Valspar

Adam Scott wins for the second week in a row at Doral:



Here’s how my picks finished:

Dustin Johnson +1100 (t-14th)
Bubba Watson +1100 (2nd)
Jason Day +1200 (t-23rd)
Rickie Fowler +1400 (t-8th)
Justin Rose +2500 (t-17th)
JB Holmes +2800 (59th)
Brooks Koepka +3000 (t-23rd)
Justin Thomas +4000 (t-35th)
Hideki Matsuyama +4000 (t-35th)

Value Pick: Graeme McDowell +5500 (t-28th)


Here are my picks for Valspar:

Jordan Spieth +500
Henrik Stenson +1200
Justin Thomas +2500
Jason Dufner +2500
Matt Kuchar +3000
Branden Grace +3300
Ryan Palmer +5000
Danny Lee +6600
Luke List +14000

Value Pick: Harold Varner III +20000



ADJUSTED DRIVING DISTANCE



1. Bubba Watson
2. J.B. Holmes
3. Dustin Johnson
4. Rory McIlroy
5. Andrew Loupe
6. Gary Woodland
7. Jason Kokrak
8. Tony Finau
9. Ryan Palmer
10. Luke List
11. Jamie Lovemark
12. Billy Hurley III
13. Ollie Schniederjans
14. Patrick Rodgers
15. Scott Hend
16. Robert Garrigus
17. Brooks Koepka
18. Smylie Kaufman
19. Charlie Beljan
20. Charles Howell III


194. Chad Collins
195. Kevin Na
196. John Huh
197. Cameron Smith
198. K.J. Choi
199. Brian Stuard
200. Lucas Lee
201. Dicky Pride
202. Zac Blair
203. Tim Clark
204. Andy Sullivan
205. Colt Knost
206. Brian Gay
207. Mark Wilson
208. Brian Davis
209. Steve Stricker
210. Justin Leonard
211. Jon Curran
212. David Toms
213. Darron Stiles



ADJUSTED DRIVING ACCURACY



1. Colt Knost
2. Thomas Aiken
3. Billy Horschel
4. David Toms
5. Jason Bohn
6. Danny Lee
7. Andy Sullivan
8. Zac Blair
9. Justin Leonard
10. Emiliano Grillo
11. Graeme McDowell
12. Kevin Kisner
13. John Huh
14. Brice Garnett
15. Jerry Kelly
16. Mark Wilson
17. Darron Stiles
18. Tim Clark
19. Blayne Barber
20. Chez Reavie


194. Miguel Angel Carballo
195. Luke Guthrie
196. Tony Finau
197. Ricky Barnes
198. Shawn Stefani
199. Derek Fathauer
200. Charley Hoffman
201. Rhein Gibson
202. Steven Bowditch
203. Carl Pettersson
204. Andres Gonzales
205. Andrew Loupe
206. Seung-Yul Noh
207. Carlos Ortiz
208. Luke List
209. Robert Garrigus
210. Ernie Els
211. Retief Goosen
212. Nick Watney
213. Rob Oppenheim


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Kevin Kisner
2. Jordan Spieth
3. Emiliano Grillo
4. Jason Bohn
5. Scott Piercy
6. Rickie Fowler
7. Jim Herman
8. Danny Lee
9. Russell Henley
10. Webb Simpson
11. Hideki Matsuyama
12. Rory McIlroy
13. Bubba Watson
14. Colt Knost
15. Bill Haas
16. Boo Weekley
17. Chez Reavie
18. Ryan Moore
19. Thomas Aiken
20. Lucas Glover


194. D.J. Trahan
195. D.H. Lee
196. Steve Stricker
197. Chad Collins
198. Rhein Gibson
199. Carl Pettersson
200. Robert Allenby
201. Ricky Barnes
202. Robert Garrigus
203. Luke Donald
204. Bud Cauley
205. Jamie Donaldson
206. Andres Gonzales
207. Steven Bowditch
208. Luke Guthrie
209. Derek Fathauer
210. Blake Adams
211. Ernie Els
212. Retief Goosen
213. Rob Oppenheim



GREEN ZONE PLAY (75-125 YARDS)




1. Charl Schwartzel
2. Henrik Stenson
3. Andrew Landry
4. Rob Oppenheim
5. Will MacKenzie
6. Matt Every
7. Stewart Cink
8. Justin Leonard
9. Luke Guthrie
10. Vaughn Taylor
11. Greg Owen
12. Darron Stiles
13. Henrik Norlander
14. Danny Lee
15. Jimmy Walker
16. Derek Fathauer
17. J.B. Holmes
18. Francesco Molinari
19. Camilo Villegas
20. Dawie van der Walt


194. Brian Gay
195. Robert Allenby
196. Will Wilcox
197. Jason Day
198. Adam Hadwin
199. Jhonattan Vegas
200. Ollie Schniederjans
201. Hiroshi Iwata
202. George McNeill
203. John Huh
204. Blayne Barber
205. Ian Poulter
206. Rod Pampling
207. Sean O'Hair
208. Webb Simpson
209. Morgan Hoffmann
210. Keegan Bradley
211. D.H. Lee
212. Angel Cabrera
213. Andres Gonzales


YELLOW ZONE PLAY (125-175 YARDS)



1. Brian Stuard
2. Rod Pampling
3. Luke Donald
4. Vaughn Taylor
5. Kevin Na
6. Brian Davis
7. Kyle Stanley
8. Robert Garrigus
9. Phil Mickelson
10. Padraig Harrington
11. Jerry Kelly
12. Greg Owen
13. Graeme McDowell
14. Hideki Matsuyama
15. Justin Leonard
16. Kevin Streelman
17. Bryce Molder
18. Webb Simpson
19. Bill Haas
20. Adam Scott


194. Geoff Ogilvy
195. Brian Harman
196. J.J. Henry
197. D.H. Lee
198. Andrew Loupe
199. D.A. Points
200. Troy Merritt
201. Wes Roach
202. Stuart Appleby
203. Robert Allenby
204. Derek Ernst
205. Steve Marino
206. Andrew Landry
207. Jarrod Lyle
208. Jordan Spieth
209. Charl Schwartzel
210. Blake Adams
211. Bud Cauley
212. Scott Hend
213. Ollie Schniederjans


RED ZONE PLAY (175-225 YARDS)



1. Rory McIlroy
2. Vaughn Taylor
3. Hideki Matsuyama
4. Jason Bohn
5. Adam Scott
6. Robert Garrigus
7. John Merrick
8. Jason Gore
9. Paul Casey
10. Ryan Moore
11. Emiliano Grillo
12. Andrew Loupe
13. Jhonattan Vegas
14. Webb Simpson
15. Henrik Stenson
16. William McGirt
17. Chez Reavie
18. Justin Thomas
19. Lucas Lee
20. Branden Grace


194. Anirban Lahiri
195. Thomas Aiken
196. Greg Owen
197. Steve Marino
198. Rory Sabbatini
199. Brian Harman
200. Harris English
201. J.J. Henry
202. Carl Pettersson
203. Stuart Appleby
204. Hunter Mahan
205. Chad Collins
206. Scott Pinckney
207. Brendon Todd
208. Brian Gay
209. Ernie Els
210. Bo Van Pelt
211. Vijay Singh
212. Jamie Donaldson
213. Robert Allenby


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Bud Cauley
2. Brian Gay
3. Rickie Fowler
4. Padraig Harrington
5. Hideki Matsuyama
6. Tim Wilkinson
7. Luke List
8. Brice Garnett
9. Jarrod Lyle
10. Stewart Cink
11. Scott Langley
12. Retief Goosen
13. Chad Campbell
14. Brian Stuard
15. Billy Horschel
16. Peter Malnati
17. Fabian Gomez
18. Zac Blair
19. Rod Pampling
20. Lucas Glover


194. Scott Pinckney
195. William McGirt
196. Scott Hend
197. Brett Stegmaier
198. Scott Stallings
199. Matt Every
200. Andres Gonzales
201. Russell Henley
202. Blake Adams
203. Graham DeLaet
204. Jhonattan Vegas
205. Vaughn Taylor
206. Rory Sabbatini
207. Johnson Wagner
208. Hudson Swafford
209. Charl Schwartzel
210. Matt Kuchar
211. Pat Perez
212. Chesson Hadley
213. Graeme McDowell





3JACK

Putt Geometry Video with John Graham

Here's a video with John Graham (www.johngrahamgolf.com) showing speed vs. line with putt geometry:










3JACK

Ikkos Advanced Motor Learning Review

The product that I was most excited about at the PGA Merchandise Show was the Ikkos Advanced Motor Learning system.  I don't know all of the specific details, so I will explain Ikkos as best as I can.  If there are any inaccuracies, I apologize.

The Ikkos system was developed by former US Olympic Swimming Coach, Sean Hutchison.  Swimming is very technique oriented and Hutchison was frustrated that his swimmers would struggle to incorporate the techniques he coached them on.  Eventually, he decided to research as much as he could on how people learn.  He eventually compiled enough information thru various scientists and researchers and thru trial and error came up with the Ikkos system which uses virtual reality headgear, a blindfold or blacked-out goggles along with binaural beats.  This system was then used by his swimmers and their techniques and swim times greatly improved.  So, why not try and apply this to another technique oriented sport like golf?

The Ikkos system consists of 3 things:

1.  The virtual reality headgear.

2.  A blindfold/blacked-out goggles.

3.  The app on your smart phone.

The app is actually free.  They charged for the headgear and the blindfold/blacked-out goggles (they were supposed to give me blacked-out goggles, but I received a blindfold instead.  I purchased some goggles and blacked them out myself which I will go into later on in the post).

Here's a video where I explain how things work.


The beauty of Ikkos is that you can use virtually any video.  Whether it's a video of your own or one off of YouTube.  For me, I had been having issues with shallowing out my shaft angle on the downswing and doing Kelvin Miyahira's 'right elbow move.'  So, I decided to tape my swing from DTL a week ago, Sunday February 28th.  Here's what I had:



I decided to use this drill which was basically me going in slow motion focusing just on making right elbow move.



I had been working on this for about 2 months.  In the past I had gotten it down for stretches at a time, but would lose it.  However, for the most part this was a move I struggled to execute.

I decided I would practice using the Ikkos Advanced Motor Learning system once a day for 6 straight days.  I would use the head gear as prescribed, then do the emulation with the blindfold on and then go to the range going at slow speed and working my way up to full speed.

I never taped my swing during the week.  I wanted to see how good the Ikkos system was, so I waited until today to video tape my swing and see what the changes looked like.  Here's what I had.



All I was really working on was my right elbow and right shoulder motion in the downswing.  I did not work on the backswing or any other part of the body.  Most people don't understand Kelvin Miyahira's work, so one of the main purposes of this drill was to flatten out the shaft angle.  Yes, I know there are potential parallax issues, but I think there are legitimate changes as to what has been going on in just 6 days.

Before (Feb 28th) is on the left, after (March 6th) is on the right:

These stills are not exactly at the same time in the swing, but I don't think it makes a difference when we look at the big picture.  The shaft in the Feb. 28th swing is bisecting the top of the right shoulder while in the after swing (March 6th) it is bisecting lower, closer to the mid-humerus bone.

Here the club head on the Feb. 28th swing is difficult to see as it is on the hands and almost outside the hands (closer towards the ball). In the March 6th swing, the club head is inside the hands a little.

So in just 6 days of using Ikkos, I have seen results.  And I have not hit anything more than a large bucket of balls each day which is about 85 balls.  And again, I only use the headgear once per day and follow the instructions.

There are a few things to note:

1.  In a presentation that Hutchison made at the PGA Merchandise Show, he said that they found that blacked-out goggles were preferable to blindfolds because the blindfolds close the eyes and the goggles do not and having the eyes open, but blacked-out advanced the person's learning.  That is why I bought my own goggles and found a way to black them out.

2.  You will feel a weird effect of the binaural beats that I can't quite explain.  As my friend Justin Blazer said when I showed him the system 'it feels like you're being brainwashed.'  It's not hazardous nor will it make you sick, but it has a mesmerizing sensation.

3.  The question was posed if Tiger Woods could watch his old swing and get back to it.  The question was 'yes' and 'no.'  The idea was that the swing would be a close facsimile, but the person's ability to come closer to replicating the model will depends on their flexibility, range of motion, injuries, etc.  So if you want to download Ben Hogan's swing, don't expect to make an exact swing like his if you don't have the body for it.

4.  Does this translate to better performance?  For me, it has.  I've noticed some increased ball speed and shots I simply couldn't hit before.  I don't know if that's due to the Ikkos system helping or the mechanics working.

To me, the big difference between this and learning something like swimming is that there is more timing involved in golf and you have to time that with a golf club and direct all of that towards a golf ball.

There were a couple of interesting things I have found:

A) You can execute the mechanics like you want, but the timing becomes a factor because your brain is not used to the new positions that your body is in.

B)  *IF* you understand the mechanics of what you *want* to do going into this, it is a great help and you can focus on working on 1 part and get a bunch of other mechanics to fall into place.

For instance, in my work I was trying to work on the right elbow and right shoulder movement and that started to move the path more towards the right.  After a while that started to produce some over-draws.  When I started to think about it for a second, I knew that my hip slide was problematic and only helping promote the over draw with the shallower shaft plane.  While I could not do it every time or even 75% of the time, my brain started to more naturally adapt and started to develop more pelvic rotation and that made it easier to straighten out the ball flight.

David Orr (flatstickacademy.com) says it a lot, there's a 'inner genius' in golfers.  In my mind, I translate that as golfers are far better at adapting than given credit for.  Unfortunately, too many golf instructors coach that 'inner genius' out of the golfer because they don't recognize the human's ability to adapt.  Since I knew Kelvin's mechanics with some competency, it was easy for me to understand why I was struggling with the over-draws, but with the Ikkos system my brain was able to SENSE the lower body action I needed to make to adapt and straighten out the over-draw without me actually having to *think* about it during my swing.

Thus far, I am very pleased with Ikkos and I'm very excited to continue to work with it in the future.





3JACK

Iron Spin Rates with Mark Crossfield

Here's a video from instructor, Mark Crossfield, discussing spin rates with the irons:









3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Doral

Adam Scott wins at PGA National:



Here’s how my picks fared at the Honda:

Rory McIlroy +550 (MC)
Rickie Fowler +1100 (t-6th)
Hideki Matsuyama +2000 (WD)
Phil Mickelson +2200 (t-37th)
Kevin Kisner +2500 (t-70th)
David Lingmerth +6000 (t-53rd)
Webb Simpson +7000 (WD)
Emiliano Grillo +7500 (t-74th)
Jamie Lovemark +9000 (MC)

Value Pick: Luke List +17500 (t-10th)


Here are my picks for Doral:

Dustin Johnson +1100
Bubba Watson +1100
Jason Day +1200
Rickie Fowler +1400
Justin Rose +2500
JB Holmes +2800
Brooks Koepka +3000
Justin Thomas +4000
Hideki Matsuyama +4000

Value Pick: Graeme McDowell +5500



ADJUSTED DRIVING DISTANCE



1. Dustin Johnson
2. Bubba Watson
3. J.B. Holmes
4. Rory McIlroy
5. Andrew Loupe
6. Gary Woodland
7. Jason Kokrak
8. Tony Finau
9. Ryan Palmer
10. Luke List
11. Jamie Lovemark
12. Ollie Schniederjans
13. Brooks Koepka
14. Patrick Rodgers
15. Robert Garrigus
16. Smylie Kaufman
17. Charlie Beljan
18. Charles Howell III
19. Justin Thomas
20. Charley Hoffman


199. Cameron Beckman
200. Cameron Smith
201. K.J. Choi
202. Ken Duke
203. Brian Stuard
204. Billy Hurley III
205. Lucas Lee
206. Dicky Pride
207. Zac Blair
208. Tim Clark
209. Colt Knost
210. Brian Gay
211. Mark Wilson
212. Brian Davis
213. Justin Hicks
214. Steve Stricker
215. Justin Leonard
216. Jon Curran
217. David Toms
218. Darron Stiles


ADJUSTED DRIVING ACCURACY




1. Colt Knost
2. Thomas Aiken
3. David Toms
4. Danny Lee
5. Jason Bohn
6. Zac Blair
7. Emiliano Grillo
8. Justin Leonard
9. Kevin Kisner
10. Andy Sullivan
11. Bill Haas
12. Ken Duke
13. John Huh
14. Graeme McDowell
15. Nicholas Thompson
16. Brice Garnett
17. Jordan Spieth
18. Jerry Kelly
19. Mark Wilson
20. Darron Stiles


199. Miguel Angel Carballo
200. Retief Goosen
201. Michael Putnam
202. Luke Guthrie
203. Tony Finau
204. Ricky Barnes
205. Steven Bowditch
206. Shawn Stefani
207. Derek Fathauer
208. Rhein Gibson
209. Carl Pettersson
210. Andres Gonzales
211. Andrew Loupe
212. Seung-Yul Noh
213. Carlos Ortiz
214. Luke List
215. Robert Garrigus
216. Ernie Els
217. Nick Watney
218. Rob Oppenheim



DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Kevin Kisner
2. Jordan Spieth
3. Emiliano Grillo
4. Scott Piercy
5. Rickie Fowler
6. Jason Bohn
7. Danny Lee
8. Jim Herman
9. Russell Henley
10. Webb Simpson
11. Bubba Watson
12. Hideki Matsuyama
13. Colt Knost
14. Boo Weekley
15. Chez Reavie
16. J.B. Holmes
17. Ryan Moore
18. Thomas Aiken
19. Russell Knox
20. Lucas Glover


199. D.J. Trahan
200. D.H. Lee
201. Steve Stricker
202. Chad Collins
203. Rhein Gibson
204. Carl Pettersson
205. Robert Allenby
206. Ricky Barnes
207. Robert Garrigus
208. Luke Donald
209. Bud Cauley
210. Michael Putnam
211. Andres Gonzales
212. Luke Guthrie
213. Steven Bowditch
214. Derek Fathauer
215. Retief Goosen
216. Blake Adams
217. Ernie Els
218. Rob Oppenheim


RED ZONE PLAY (175-225 YARDS)



1. Rory McIlroy
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Hideki Matsuyama
4. Paul Casey
5. Vaughn Taylor
6. Billy Hurley III
7. Jason Bohn
8. Robert Garrigus
9. John Merrick
10. Jason Gore
11. Ryan Moore
12. Webb Simpson
13. Emiliano Grillo
14. Andrew Loupe
15. Jhonattan Vegas
16. Chez Reavie
17. William McGirt
18. Adam Scott
19. Lucas Lee
20. Danny Lee



199. Greg Owen
200. Thomas Aiken
201. Steve Marino
202. Brian Harman
203. Rory Sabbatini
204. J.J. Henry
205. Carl Pettersson
206. Andres Romero
207. Michael Putnam
208. Hunter Mahan
209. Stuart Appleby
210. Chad Collins
211. Scott Pinckney
212. Brendon Todd
213. Brian Gay
214. Bo Van Pelt
215. Harris English
216. Vijay Singh
217. Ernie Els
218. Robert Allenby


YELLOW ZONE PLAY (125-175 YARDS)



1. Ken Duke
2. Brian Stuard
3. Rod Pampling
4. Branden Grace
5. Luke Donald
6. Vaughn Taylor
7. Kevin Na
8. Billy Horschel
9. Brian Davis
10. Hideki Matsuyama
11. Kyle Stanley
12. Robert Garrigus
13. Padraig Harrington
14. Jerry Kelly
15. Greg Owen
16. Adam Scott
17. Marc Leishman
18. Phil Mickelson
19. Justin Leonard
20. Kevin Streelman


199. J.J. Henry
200. D.H. Lee
201. Andrew Loupe
202. D.A. Points
203. Troy Merritt
204. Wes Roach
205. Stuart Appleby
206. Robert Allenby
207. Billy Hurley III
208. Nicholas Thompson
209. Paul Casey
210. Derek Ernst
211. Steve Marino
212. Andrew Landry
213. Jarrod Lyle
214. Blake Adams
215. Charl Schwartzel
216. Bud Cauley
217. Ollie Schniederjans
218. Jordan Spieth


GREEN ZONE PLAY (75-125 YARDS)



1. Charl Schwartzel
2. Andrew Landry
3. Rob Oppenheim
4. Will MacKenzie
5. Matt Every
6. Stewart Cink
7. Justin Leonard
8. Justin Hicks
9. J.B. Holmes
10. Ken Duke
11. Luke Guthrie
12. Vaughn Taylor
13. Sergio Garcia
14. Greg Owen
15. Darron Stiles
16. Henrik Norlander
17. Rickie Fowler
18. Derek Fathauer
19. Francesco Molinari
20. Scott Piercy


200. Ollie Schniederjans
201. Andres Romero
202. Hiroshi Iwata
203. George McNeill
204. Cameron Beckman
205. Nicholas Thompson
206. John Huh
207. Michael Putnam
208. Blayne Barber
209. Rod Pampling
210. Sean O'Hair
211. Billy Hurley III
212. Webb Simpson
213. Morgan Hoffmann
214. Keegan Bradley
215. D.H. Lee
216. Angel Cabrera
217. Andres Gonzales
218. Branden Grace


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Bud Cauley
2. Hideki Matsuyama
3. Brian Gay
4. Rickie Fowler
5. Padraig Harrington
6. Cameron Beckman
7. Tim Wilkinson
8. Luke List
9. Brice Garnett
10. Jarrod Lyle
11. Fabian Gomez
12. Stewart Cink
13. Scott Langley
14. Retief Goosen
15. Chad Campbell
16. Brian Stuard
17. Michael Putnam
18. Jordan Spieth
19. Peter Malnati
20. Zac Blair


199. Kevin Streelman
200. Scott Pinckney
201. Graeme McDowell
202. William McGirt
203. Brett Stegmaier
204. Scott Stallings
205. Matt Every
206. Matt Kuchar
207. Andres Gonzales
208. Russell Henley
209. Blake Adams
210. Graham DeLaet
211. Jhonattan Vegas
212. Vaughn Taylor
213. Billy Hurley III
214. Rory Sabbatini
215. Johnson Wagner
216. Hudson Swafford
217. Pat Perez
218. Chesson Hadley