I know many of my students have heard me talk about the D-Plane and why it is important. The cool thing is that many of you understand it. I had a 13-year-old junior that know how to work the ball now because of D Plane. As a student you need to have a general understanding of why the ball flies the way it does. As an instructor my job is to help you change your pattern to get the desired ball flight that you want. Some of you have asked me what I need to do to work the ball in both directions and this usually opens up a discussion about “The Descriptive Plane” or 3D ball flight. I usually pull out a couple of sticks or my monster wedge and try to explain it in a fashion that anyone could understand. There is so much more to it than just the path and club face relationship that is hard to explain (angle of attack, friction, spin loft etc.) and also impossible to see without a trackman to give you the exact numbers. As coaches we do our best to read ball flight, match it up with what we see with our internal high-speed cameras (our eyes) and then look at it on camera in slow motion to decide where to start first. The understanding of D plane principles has helped me to read ball flight better, diagnose quicker and help my students faster by changing their ball flight in a positive way. I have to thank my good friend John Graham (check out his site for more info) for our many talks on the subject and his videos that help explain this. I also have run across some other great videos fromBrian Manzella and this one from James Leitz that I would like to share. I know most of you have seen this but I never assume anything and think it can be useful for coaches and students. Along with some of my favorite videos I have included some pictures that might help paint the picture of the DPlane as well. Enjoy my montage and I am so grateful to all the great coaches that have helped me with this subject as it has taken my teaching to a new level.
James Leitz
Brian Manzella
John Graham
To understand your golf swing is to understand ball flight. I know your head is spinning right now so you must come to the lesson tee and I will explain it live.
Check out our website @ www.danarader.com or call 704-542-7635 to book a lesson with the Guru.
I know that you saw the opening for the scoring zone school that I did with top 50 instructor, Todd Sones but you didn’t get to see what shots that we hit around the green. Here are a couple of shots that I will think will help you lower your scores. There will be more to come.
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check out our website at www.danarader.com or call 704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson with the Guru
As most of you know, I started a new junior golf program for elite juniors called (J.E.T.S.) that includes 2 coaching sessions per month as well as 2 private lessons per month as well. I wanted to do something different from the normal junior golf program so I partnered with my T.P.I. level 3 trainer, Mark Kane (kanetraining.com) to help develop the kids physically as well as help them improve their golfing skills. I just finished my second month and I am very excited to say that is going very well. We have five kids currently signed up and I am so proud of how hard they have all worked. They are required to keep a journal of what they do when they practice and keep track of their stats using shotbyshot.com. My goal was to create athletes through the fitness and the drills and then teach them golf. The kids did a nice job of setting goals and writing them down and a few of them have been able to mark off a few which is pretty cool. Here are some wins to report so far:
Luke Thalman shot a career low tournament round of 65
Henry Shimp won a NJGC event by shooting 69-71 and is now ranked number one on that tour.
Aaron Walker shot 79-72 to win his first NJGC event
All of the kids have worked so hard and they have pushed each other which was one of my goals of this program. I try to promote a competitive team atmosphere to help motivate each of these fine young men. Here is a couple of videos that will give you an idea of how my coaching sessions are set up. Enjoy.
My student Mike Smith using the swinkey as a putting aid
My boss came by the other day to watch me teach for a bit and noticed this Carolina Blue pole in my bag and was curious. “What is that?” she asked. “It’s my Swinkey I said” I proceeded to show her all of the uses that were possible as I unscrew the top of my training aid. “You are becoming quite the gadget guy,” she said. I never thought of myself as much of a training aid teacher as I try to utilize my hands to manipulate the student into feeling the changes that I want them to make and I still do. For those who know me are aware of how picky I am in what I use as aids for my teaching so it has to be good and it has to be simple for the student to use. I like training aids that are basically hard to screw up and I have found the one that you can use for the rest of your career. “The Swinkey”. The golfers toolbox or the Swiss Army Knife of training aids is many aids in one which makes it convenient and versitile. I was introduced to it by my good friend, National Canadian Teacher of the Year, Jason Helman (jasonhelmangolf.com) when he appeared on my Guru TV show last year passing through Charlotte. I met Todd Halpen, one of the owners of this fine training tool on twitter (swinkeytodd) and later met the rest of the guys at the PGA show and they are all great guys. They are all accomplished players and have an excellent idea of what golfers need to get better. I posted a question on the golf pro facebook group the other day to see what training aids were being used by some of the best instructors in the game and the Swinkey was on many of their lists which says alot.
The Swinkey Boys, Jason Helman and Me at the PGA show
The Swinkey is a solid metal tube that holds two alignment rods and two metal stakes that can transform into so many different forms to help you get more out of your practice. I currently use it for :1) warmup swing trainer 2)alignment 3) ball position 4)swing plane 5)putting aid )putting string aim line 7) holding my impact bag in place. I am sure there are many others that I will find as I use it more. I would highly recommend that you order
my student Brian McAlpine using the Swinkey string for alignment
your today and start to get more out of your practice.
visit http://www.swinkey.comto order yours today and use PRO CODE:( Swinkey_26) to get a 10% discount. Just tell them The Guru Sent You and they will say Who is that? Anyway. I suggest you go get one now!
Please visit our website at www.danarader.com or call 704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson with the Guru and see the swinkey in action
This is a video that I did for the Golf Channel. Special thanks to my good friend, Tim Morrisey for filming it and editing it as well. I hope it helps refresh your thoughts on fixing the dreaded out to in swing path.
To schedule a lesson with the Guru, please call 704-542-7635 and be sure to check out our website @www.danarader.com for more info on the Dana Rader Golf School
Special thanks to everyone who has supported Guru TV the last two years. As a tribute to my most popular video, I wanted to repost it for those who haven’t seen it. This is called “How To Drive a Golf Ball Straight”. Guru TV will be back shortly. I am putting together some new ideas and am looking forward to sharing my ideas that will hopefully make you a better golfer. Always feel free to leave a comment or an idea that you would like to see on the show in the future.
For more information check out our website @www.danarader.com or call 704-542-7635 to schedule a lesson with the guru.
Distance from the ball can mean many things when it comes to golf. For instance, After I hit my driver…I am still standing too close to the ball. (wink,wink). Chi Chi Rodriguez used to joke that in order to hit your driver farther…..you must hit your ball and then turn and run backwards, haha. All kidding aside, there are a few things that I have been thinking about lately when it comes to driver setup that I want to share with you all. Feel free to jump in at any time and call me crazy but I tend to learn things from observing, testing, tweeking and then bouncing ideas off of people that are smarter than me…..you guys! Are you struggling with your driver. Maybe you are not getting the ball flight that you want although you feel you are creating the pattern that your coach is prescribing. You have the perfect driver for your swing. You have all the components in your swing that you are looking for. So what is missing? Have you checked your contact point on the clubface and most importantly have you checked your DISTANCE FROM THE BALL- I know that sounds basic but hear me out.
I attended a trackman seminar a couple of years ago and they were talking about gear effect. For those of you who don’t understand gear effect here is an excerpt from about.com that explains it nicely: “Gear effect” is the term used to describe the action of the clubhead, during impact with the ball, that causes a shot hit off the toe to curve in a draw or hooking motion, and a shot hit off the heel to curve in a fade or slicing motion.
These actions of sidespin and shot curvature happen because the clubhead rotates around its vertical center-of-gravity axis whenever the ball is hit off the toe or heel.
When the head rotates in response to a toe-hit, the ball slides, then rolls, sideways across the face from the toe toward the center of the face. This causes the ball to leave the face with a hooking or draw sidespin. Conversely, when the head rotates the other direction in response a shot hit off the heel, the ball slides, then rolls, sideways across the face from the heel toward the center of the face, which causes the ball to leave the face with a slicing or fade sidespin.
The reason all woodheads are designed with a horizontal curvature across the face (called “bulge”) is because of the gear effect. If shots hit off the toe generate a hook or draw curvature, the face needs to be radiused (curved) horizontally so the toe shot will leave the face angled to the fade side of the target. Thus the bulge radius causes the ball to start off more to the right (for a right-handed golfer; or to the left one a toe shot by a left-handed golfer), after which the hook spin generated by the gear effect takes over to bring the shot back toward the center of the fairway.
For shots off the heel, the bulge radius across the face of the wood causes the ball to take off to the left (for a right-handed golfer; or to the right from a heel shot for a left-hander), after which the fade spin generated by the gear effect takes over to bring the shot back toward the center of the fairway.
The presenter was telling a story about a player who was swinging 4 degrees from the outside with a 6 degree shut club face and was hitting a PULL FADE! Doesnt make sense, right. Until you check the contact point. The player was hitting the ball extremely on the heel of the driver which made the ball curve to the right. (Gear Effect). I don’t give a driver lesson now without a piece of face tape so I can see where the ball is contacting the face. After studying some of the best drivers of the golf ball, I have noticed a couple of observations.
1. Many PGA Tour pros address their driver closer to the TOE of the club. A few notables include: Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Kenny Perry, Trevor Immelman, Jason Sutton (hacking teaching pro, sorry) and many others. Now I know there are many that don’t but bear with me.
2. Set-up distance from the ball (hands to body distance) is larger. The hands tend to hang out from the body and under the eye-line. Where iron set-ups, the hands tend to hang below the shoulder sockets. Here is my theory on this……..
Guru’s Theory (inconclusive): since the physics of the driver swing is flatter by nature, the arms will tend to swing out and away from the body as they get back out in front of the body which throws the club a little farther away from the player than it started. I know in most golf swings, the hands rise up through impact as well. This leads us back to our distance from the ball.
The Punch Line: If the golfer is standing too close to the ball and assuming that they are swinging on a shallow plane/path (in to out)……They will hit the ball in the heel. Even if you are swinging out to the right, the ball will still fade which drives alot of golfers crazy. This is why it is important to check your contact point as well as your swing mechanics and adjust your distance from the ball accordingly. I gave a lesson to a guy the other day that had a very nice pattern, could hit his irons with a beautiful draw but struggled with his driver. I merely moved him 2 inches farther away from the ball and his fade turned into a draw……coincidence ( I don’t know). Just some food for thoughtbut these are the things that keep me up at night. I am just looking for the truth and I appreciate you for reading.
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Here is the 2nd part of the social media presentation that I did at Innisbrook for the Golf Inc. Conference. I am joined by Justin Smith (GM @ Olde Homestead GC) and Ricky Lee Potts (content specialist for IMAVEX) www.rickyleepotts.com. This guy is a master blogger and you should check out his site. Follow them both on twitter. I will post the last 7 minutes of this presentation tomorrow. How is your social media campaign working? What are you doing? Fee free to share your story or link up your blog. I am always anxious to learn something new. Feel free to share this but clicking on one of the social media buttons at the bottom. Leave a comment below and check back later for the end of the presentation.
Check out our website at www.danarader.com or call to schedule a lesson with the Guru @704-542-7635
The Golf Guru Show 