Putting Neuroscience with Geoff Mangum

Interesting video with Geoff Mangum getting into the neuroscience of putting:








3JACK

SAM Puttlab on Arc Strokes vs. Square-to-Square Strokes

Little video from SAM Puttlab on the differences:







3JACK

Moe Norman Bunker Play

Here's a couple of videos showing Moe Norman hitting bunker shots. While Moe was known for his ballstriking, he was also known for being and incredible bunker player. It starts at 6:50 in the first video









3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown (2014) - Week 2

The year starts off with Zach Johnson winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions:




Here are my picks for the Sony Open:

Zach Johnson: 10/1
Jordan Spieth: 14/1
Matt Kuchar: 14/1
Chris Kirk: 28/1
Marc Leishman: 40/1
Brian Gay: 40/1
Jeff Overton: 66/1
Russell Henley: 66/1
Ryan Palmer: 66/1

Value Pick: Daniel Summerhays: 100/1

This year my rankings will be different in the sense they will based on an event-by-event basis instead of a cumulative basis.

For example, let’s say a golfer hits his Danger Zone shots to 30 feet in one tournament. Then in the next tournament he does the same thing, hitting his DZ shots to 30 feet.

Instead of measuring him as averaging 30 feet to the cup for the year, I will use the average of the field as the baseline. So if the field average in the first tournament from the Danger Zone is 40 feet, then the golfer did quite well performing in the DZ. However, if in the 2nd tournament the field average was 25 feet from the Danger Zone, then the golfer performed below average in the DZ in that tournament.

The following rankings are based on the 2013-14 season, starting from the Frys.com and ending at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions:


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Boo Weekley
2. Justin Hicks
3. Jason Gore
4. Ryan Palmer
5. Kevin Stadler
6. Sang-Moon Bae
7. Chez Reavie
8. Luke Guthrie
9. Doug LaBelle II
10. Brian Davis


174. Seung-Yul Noh
175. Retief Goosen
176. David Carr
177. Steven Bowditch
178. Bob Estes
179. Alex Prugh
180. Jimmy Walker
181. David Duval
182. Mike Weir
183. Don Littrell


BIRDIE ZONE (75-125 YARDS)



1. Ryo Ishikawa
2. Kevin Penner
3. Matt Every
4. Boo Weekley
5. Bill Lunde
6. Billy Horschel
7. Chez Reavie
8. Kevin Streelman
9. Jim Renner
10. Jason Dufner


174. Erik Compton
175. Michael Thompson
176. Tommy Gainey
177. Graham DeLaet
178. Josh Teater
179. Mike Weir
180. Luke Guthrie
181. Kevin Stadler
182. Jordan Spieth
183. Don Littrell


SAFE ZONE (125-175 YARDS)



1. Bronson La'Cassie
2. Troy Merritt
3. Chris Smith
4. Camilo Villegas
5. Hideki Matsuyama
6. Brooks Koepka
7. Sang-Moon Bae
8. Kevin Stadler
9. Ken Duke
10. Michael Thompson


174. Cameron Beckman
175. Don Littrell
176. Rory Sabbatini
177. Angel Cabrera
178. Marc Leishman
179. Scott Verplank
180. Alex Prugh
181. Gary Woodland
182. Jhonattan Vegas
183. Bobby Gates


DANGER ZONE (175-225 YARDS)



1. Mark Hubbard
2. Matt Every
3. Jason Dufner
4. Seung-Yul Noh
5. Heath Slocum
6. Brooks Koepka
7. Chad Campbell
8. Mark Wilson
9. Harrison Frazar
10. Geoff Ogilvy


174. Freddie Jacobson
175. Woody Austin
176. William McGirt
177. Michael Thompson
178. David Carr
179. Bob Estes
180. Bronson La'Cassie
181. Tim Wilkinson
182. Chris Williams
183. Max Homa


SHORT GAME PLAY (<20 strong="" yards="">

1. Chris Williams
2. Matt Every
3. Alex Aragon
4. David Lingmerth
5. Kevin Streelman
6. Ben Martin
7. Doug LaBelle II
8. Bronson La'Cassie
9. Retief Goosen
10. Scott Verplank


172. John Peterson
173. Marc Leishman
174. Andrew Loupe
175. Angel Cabrera
176. Brian Davis
177. Billy Horschel
178. Harrison Frazar
179. Scott Piercy
180. Marc Turnesa
181. Chris Smith


















3JACK

Richard Franklin on Upper Body Mechanics w/ Motion Analysis

Here's a video from golf instructor Richard Franklin and what he has discovered thru his use of Motion Analysis software. Warning, much of what is being talked about is extremely detailed using scientific verbiage. But, Franklin later explains it in terms that are not technical and scientific so one can apply it to their golf swing:







3JACK

New GolfWRX Column: Players on the Rise and Fall in 2014

With the 2014 PGA Tour season starting, I wanted to give the readers a look at a few players on Tour that I feel will be on the rise and falling for the season. The data below is the player’s 2013 metrics.

Players on the Rise

 

 

NICOLAS COLSAERTS


Colsaerts was the hot prospect headed for the Tour in 2013 coming off splendid play at the 2012 Ryder Cup. He generates a ton of club head speed and is one of the longer hitters on Tour. He was also eighth in approach shots from the rough and fourth in approach shots from the fairway. Thus, he’s an excellent iron player if he keeps the ball in play. He actually drove the ball quite well for most of the season, but he regressed toward the end of the year.

The reason why I like Colsaerts is that he hits it so long and hits it so well with his irons that the only part of the game that held him back was on and around the greens. And where he excelled with his irons was in the ever-important Danger Zone. He also was first in shots from 225-to-250 yards.

Colsaerts was saddled with the strongest strength of schedule on Tour last year, while only ranking 100th in Purse Size per Event. I believe that he can get used to the greens along with working on his putting in the offseason that he will have much more success in 2014. As I have mentioned in Pro Golf Synopsis, the biggest statistical advantage that distance provides is it allows the golfer to putt overcome poor putting. This is due to the par-5’s on Tour playing more like par-4’s for long hitters such as Colsaerts. Therefore, he can still be a mediocre putter on Tour and have a big year. He just needs to stop putting like one of the worst putters on Tour.

 

Read More: www.golfwrx.com/163945/pga-tour-players-who-will-rise-and-fall-in-2014/


Mangum on Putter Fitting

Some interesting stuff as usual from Geoff Mangum on putter fitting. You can find this discussion on his forum. The link to the thread is here:

www.network54.com/Forum/52812/thread/1379107306/Are+These+Putter+Science+Claims+Valid-

Geoff's approach to putter fitting is a bit different from what we typically hear from instructors and golf magazines. For starters, most golfers are told that their eyes should be 'above the ball.



However, Mangum does not believe in that instruction. Instead, he feels that the direction of the face and the direction of where the eyes are looking should be the same. And the direction of the face and the eyes should be pointing at the ball. Sevam1 from Secret In The Dirt fame discussed this nicely with regards to the full golf swing:




So, if we look at the picture of the golfer with the 'eyes over the ball', we will see that his face is not pointing at the ball (yellow lines show where the face is directed):



From reading Geoff's work, he feels that the golfer should be able to bend over from the waist and neck 'naturally.' Then hand the arms naturally.

From there, the putter length should be about 2-inches above the wrist line of the hands as they are hanging. So the golfer will still be gripping down on the club. I measured myself on this and found that I needed a 35-inch putter to achieve this.

The other part that Geoff discusses in this thread is that the lie angle of putters are often too *flat*. He feels that the shaft of the putter should be as such where it is in line with the forearm. In TGM terms, this is often referred to as 'getting the right forearm on plane.'



Geoff discusses that with most putters being too flat, it creates a stroke that requires additional torque which is problematic.

In the end, Geoff has an illustration showing what it should look like:



So as we can see:

1. Waist Bent naturally

2. Neck Bent naturally

3. Arms hang naturally

4. Eyes and Face are pointing in the same direction

5. Eyes and Face are directed at the ball

6. Shaft on the same plane as the forearms I just thought this was interesting stuff for those interested in a different viewpoint on putter fitting.





3JACK