#RinkersGolfTips SiriusXM March 23 Guests Laurie Rinker, Nathaniel Crosby, and Peter Jacobsen

RinkersgolfTips SiriusXM March 23rd Guests were Laurie Rinker, Nathaniel Crosby, and Peter Jacobsen. My sister Laurie was on first and gave a great tip about how, "weight supports motion" and how important it is to hit off of your front foot when swinging a golf club.

Nathaniel came on in the second segment and talked about becoming the tournament host at 16, at the Bing Crosby National Pro-am at Pebble Beach after his father passed away in 1977. Not only was he in charge of the amateur invitations, but he was in charge of the pairings, which was extremely political.  He also had 25 exemptions to give out to the pros and his father had all these pros that he had met in his travels, that he invited that were not tour pros. A lot to handle for a 16 year old. Nathaniel and I met at the International Four Ball in Florida in the 1970's and we have been friends ever since.

Lastly Peter Jacobsen, ala Jake Trout, came on the show and he talked about how he got started playing golf with his family in Oregon. He said that one of the best golf tips he ever received was from Ken Venturi, and Ken told him to move the ball more forward in his stance. Peter said that it activated his body and motion to be able to get up to the ball move forward in his stance. We talked about the record that Peter set at Pebble Beach when he won hitting 69 out of 72 greens which is still a record. He said his swing coach, Jim Hardy, gave him a tip to aim at the middle of the greens at Pebble Beach, because the greens were tiny. I asked Peter how he got started doing impersonations of players, and he said it was from watching Arnold Palmer on TV and going out and trying to recreate his swing and mannerisms. 

Lastly we talked about our good friend Payne Stewart and all the fun we had in Jake Trout and the Flounders. Peter said Payne had a lot of highs and lows in his life and loved his family and friends. Payne's wife, Tracey, will receive the Bob Jones award later this year.

#RinkersGolfTips SiriusXM March 16th Guest Top 100 Teacher Brian Manzella

#RinkersGolfTips SiriusXM March 16th Guest Top 100 Teacher Brian Manzella

Brian Manzella grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and got started playing golf with his dad (like a lot of us) when he was around 10 years old. His dad was a weekend golfer who had a five handicap. Brian played a little bit of college golf and at the age of 20, took an assistant pro job at City Park in New Orleans. The pro there was 71 year old Henry Thomas and he was king. Brian talked about the good old days, when the tour would play an event in a city, and the head pro would be invited to play in the field with the Hogans and Sneads. Henry Thomas knew all the players and was quite a teacher and stick himself. Mr. Thomas was doing a convention at the club one day and needed someone who could work a camera. Brian became part of the show, and showed Mr. Thomas that he could interact with the guests and help them with their games. Before this, Brian was working with the juniors as kind of a talent scout for Mr. Thomas. Brian said, "There is nothing better to teach than little kids. You can't tell them too much, there attention span is minimal, and the lesson can go bad really quickly." Brain recalled a junior program where he had a lesson with Tour player Johnny Pott, and how that impacted him in a positive way. 

I asked Brian about how he got started with the book, "The Golfing Machine" by Homer Kelly that was published in 1969. He said he remembered an article in Golf Digest in the early 1980's called, "Players and their Bibles." Dave Stockton had "Psycho cybernetics," Larry Nelson had "Hogan's Five Fundamentals" and Bobby Clampett had "The Golfing Machine." Brian played in a college event in Jackson, MS and finally found the book, which wasn't easy in those days. In 1987 Brian flew out to California to see Bobby Clampett's instructor, Ben Doyle. Ben taught him that you can never underestimate a student. While they may not be able to hit the ball as far as a pro, they could hit it as pure as a pro, just not quite as often. Ben and Brian became fixtures at the PGA Coaching and Teaching Summits after this.

I asked Brian about the lower body in the golf swing and how ground force is used. He said the center of pressure moves to the back foot by the first parallel or when the shaft gets parallel to the ground on the back swing. If it's not then, it's just after that first parallel. On the forward swing, when the lead arm gets parallel to the ground which isn't that far forward, the weight has already moved as far forward toward the target as it is going to. He simply stated the swing is, "Right foot hands to the right ear, Left foot hands to the left ear" for a right handed golfer.

Brian ended with a tip for a caller about how to stop coming over the top. He talked about how Hogan, at the start of his down swing, turned his hips even more away from the target, and he backed into the ball with his left hip. His left hip moved forward and his hips finished their rotation on the back swing. He said that has helped a lot of people. Brian Manzella can be reached at BrianManzella.com.

#RinkersGolfTips recap Show March 9th w Tom Stickney

#RinkersGolfTips SiriusXM March 9th Guest Top 100 Teacher Tom Stickney

Tom grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and lived on the 15th hole at Colonial Country Club where we used to play the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic. The first one that I played in was in 1981 where Jerry Pate won and then did a swan dive into the lake on number 18. Around 12-13 Tom started to get more serious with his golf game. When it came time for college he wanted to stay close to home, and went to the University of Memphis to play golf. He recounted how much he enjoyed helping his teammates on the range, and when he graduated, he didn't have the passion to follow in his father's footsteps as a banker. His father told him to find out what he was passionate about and the money would come. 

Tom played the mini-tours for awhile and one day he played with a guy that shot 64 when he shot 74. As fate would have it, the owner of the Houston-Levee course in Memphis, who was a pro golfer and wanted to play instead of teach, asked Tom if he wanted to come work with him and teach at his club. It was a great opportunity at a 45 hole facility with 1000 members. There was another pro there named Charlie Long, and he introduced Tom to the Golfing Machine, a book by Homer Kelley published in 1969. Charlie had worked with Ben Doyle, an authorized instructor of the Golfing Machine who worked with Bobby Clampett. Later Tom would meet and work with another disciple of the Golfing Machine, Mac O'Grady, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Tom is currently the Director of Instruction at the Big Horn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California and in the summertime at the Promontory Golf Club in Park City, Utah. He uses a Trackman launch monitor, but still relies on his eyes and video to help students feel the difference between what he has taught them, and what they used to do. He said, "If the student can't feel the difference, I haven't taught them." He always asks his students what their goals are with the whole point of lowering their scores. Visit www.TomStickneyGolf.com for more information.

#RinkersGolfTips Show recap March 2nd with Mike Bender

Sunday, March 2, 2014 #RinkersGolfTips @SiriusXMPGATour Guest Mike Bender

Top Teacher Mike Bender was my guest this week. We discussed how he got started in golf at age 12 in California with his mother and then in the summertime with his dad in Iowa. There was a great amateur circuit in Iowa and a great place for Mike to learn the game. He was first introduced to golf instruction by Ben Doyle, who was a Golf Machine disciple. Then it was David Leadbetter and Mike Adams who he met playing the mini-tours in Florida. Once Mike qualified for the Tour for the 1987 season, he met Mac O'Grady who was a two-time PGA Tour winner, and another Golf Machine disciple. 

Mike's first teaching job was in the summertime in Waterloo, Iowa. The head pro called him and asked if he wanted to come teach, which he did. Mike would continue to pursue a playing career and win the Iowa Open before qualifying for the Tour in the fall of 1986. After three years on the Tour, Mike would again return to teaching in Iowa in the summertime and at the old min-tour hangout in Orlando, Cypress Creek in 1990. The rest is history. Mike was named National PGA Teacher of the year in 2009 and in 2011 ranked as one of the games five best teachers by Golf Digest. He has worked with many Tour players including former Masters Champ, Zach Johnson. He has a new 5000 sf learning center at Magnolia Plantation in Lake Mary, Florida with fitness, video bays, and a putting studio. Outside Mike has built a distance wedge range with zones for skill tests. Many of you may remember the wedge shot that Zach Johnson holed out on 18 to beat Tiger in his tournament last fall. Mike said the best wedge players have low trajectory with the ball back in their stance, with a shallow angle of attack. I couldn't agree more!

#RinkersGolfTips Sun Feb 23rd Guest Top Teacher John Elliott

Sunday, February 23, 2014 #RinkersGolfTips @SiriusXMPGATour Guest John Elliott

Had top 50 Teacher John Elliott as my guest on Rinker's Golf Tips. John is a 35 year member of the PGA of America, a Golf Digest instructor, and works with all skill levels from beginners to tour players. We talked about John's playing career and winning the 1964 Florida state high school tournament. He turned pro at the age of 19, and while in college was drafted into the Army. He was awarded the Bronze Star during his service in Viet Nam. 

John shared how he practiced where he had to hit 50 balls in a row on the green from 25 yards. Then he went to 50 yards and worked on the same thing. He went all the way back to a six iron where he had to hit 35 out of 50 balls on the green. He said it really focused him in on the target and he went from a scratch to a plus four!

Other highlights: "Learning to swing on the range is easier than learning how to play." Golf swing vs golf shots. Variable is where your head or thinking is. We tend to experiment more on the range than on the golf course. He talked about the Prospect girls high school team that he works with in Chicago where he came up with five levels of learning. 1) Whiffing and topping, 2) Topping less and whiffing less, 3) air born most of the time, 4) hit down, and 5) play golf. John said that anything that helps hand eye coordination is good for golf. Let kids pick the sports, not the parents. 

We talked about Bob Toski and John shared one of Bob's quotes, "If you're good enough, you're big enough." Bob weighed less than 125 pounds when he played the PGA Tour and was the leading money winner in 1954. Bob pioneered and led the Golf Digest Schools in the mid 1970's and he has been my mentor since 1976. A lot of what I teach and how I teach, I learned from Bob. John Elliott did many schools with Bob and Jim Flick, Peter Kostis, Davis Love Jr, Jack Lumpkin, Bob Rotella, and Chuck Cook through the years in the Golf Digest Schools.

#RinkersGolfTips Sun Feb 16th Guest Edwin McCain recap

#RinkersGolfTips on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Sunday February 16th w Guest Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist Edwin McCain

It was great having Edwin McCain on the show today. We've been friends for about 15 years and have had a lot of fun playing golf and music. 

Edwin said he learned how to play golf with his dad on a nine hole par three that was part of the Greenville Country Club in Greenville, South Carolina. He said the par three is now only three holes and he goes out and plays golf with his two sons whenever he can. He said you can find a lot out about people playing a round of golf and all his good business deals have happened out on the golf course.

I asked him about taking a classical guitar course at Coastal Carolina. He said it wasn't much of a classical guitar course, but his teacher left a lasting impression on him that had a major effect on his career. Tom Yoder, his teacher, asked each student to learn a song and then perform it for the class. After Edwin played his song, Tom came up to him and said I think you have what it takes to make it. Edwin talked about how powerful it was when Tom basically gave him "permission" to go out and be great. Edwin said, "sometimes that's all it takes to inspire people. Just give them permission to be great!"

We talked about the song, "I Could Not Ask For More" written by Diane Warren and how that came to be. Edwin said when they asked him to do the song he didn't want to do it and he didn't even know who Diane Warren was. (She's written 90 top ten hits) He wanted to record his songs. When they said we will pay you to record it for a movie, Edwin finally said ok. The song was his second top 40 hit and continues to be played at many weddings around the country.

I asked him where he learned his great rhythm and he said listening to Earth, Wind, and Fire. He talked about meeting Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan and going to open mic nights at Muldoon's in Columbia, SC and always asking them if he could play. This was before Mark and Darius formed Hootie and the Blowfish. They have been great friends ever since and Darius sang on Edwin's fist single, "Solitude."

We had a head pro call from the Dye course at Barefoot Plantation where the Monday After the Masters is played hosted by Hootie and the Blowfish. He was very thankful for all the money that the tournament has raised for junior golf. Edwin told a story of his caddie one year there, Justin Wheelon who is now an actor, and how much he enjoyed the caddies, athletes, celebrities, and pros that play each year. For more information on Edwin McCain visit www.Edwin.com. 

#RinkersGolfTips Feb. 9th Guest Deane Beman

February 9, 2014 #RinkersGolfTips @SiriusXMPGATour

Former PGA Tour Commissioner, Deane Beman, was my guest on Rinker's Golf Tips. Deane discussed his amateur days winning two U.S. Amateurs and a British Amateur. Deane went into the insurance business after graduating from the University of Maryland and didn't turn pro for several years. He said he got hurt and didn't want to turn pro until he was well. In five years on the PGA Tour, Deane won fives times before becoming the PGA Tour's second commissioner in 1974. He talked about his first formal golf lessons with Carl Loren and how he helped him to understand the fundamentals of the game.

Deane is now in the putter business with CurePutters.com. I ran into Deane at the Allianz Championship last week and he showed me his new putter which helps you aim the putter through triangular alignment. The lie and weight of the putter is adjustable and it made the list of great new products at the #PGAShow in January. We had several calls about the new putter and it was great having Deane on. #RinkersGolfTips is on @SiriusXMPGATour Radio every Sunday 9:00-10:00 ET Sirius 208 and XM 93.

#RinkersGolfTips James Leitz @CoreGolfAcademy 1-24-14

January 24, 2014 Trackman and 3D expert, Top 100 Teacher, James Leitz did a presentation @CoreGolfAcademy for the coaches titled, "My road to 4/10,000th of a second" Impact, only time ball is told what to do. Here are some highlights.

What the club does trumps what the body does. Great players:
1. Have enough speed to compete at the level they are playing.
2. Impact alignments produce the type of shot that is desired.
3. Impact alignments are repeatable.
4. Golf Swing doesn't cause injury.

Four things affect ball flight.
1. Club head speed
2. Path and angle of attack. Path = direction of the force. Vector of force is both path     and attach angle. 
3. Sweet spot or where the club face is pointing at the moment of impact.
4. Impact point or where you hit the ball in the club face.

Attack angle is a true indicator of shaft lean. Plane is golfers feeling of path. The starting direction of the ball is 70% club face angle with irons and 85% with the driver.
5 degrees off with club face at impact is 40' at 100 yards.
1 degree off is 8' at 100 yards.
1 degree off is 13' at 250 yards.
That's why you don't want your club face more than 2 degrees off at impact.
Golfer has to "feel" the correct geometry at impact. A bad mental state can only screw up geometry (Pressure). Perfect mental state can allow geometry to work. (Zone)

For more information on James Leitz, please visit his web site at www.Leitzgolf.com. 

#RinkersGolfTips Sunday Show on SiriusXM w Rudy Gatlin

Had a great show yesterday, Sunday February 2nd with Rudy Gatlin as my guest on Rinker's Golf Tips SiriusXMPGATour. I opened with a story about Payne Stewart on Super Bowl Sunday 15 years ago. Payne had invited me to fly privately with him in 1999 (the year he passed away in a private plane) from Scottsdale (Phoenix Open) to Pebble Beach (AT&T.) We landed at Million Air at the Monterey Peninsula Airport and got to where I was staying in Pebble Beach before halftime. The phone rang and Payne answered it. The caller said, "Who is this?" Payne said, "Who is this?" The caller said, "This is Geoff Couch and you're at my house." Payne responded with, "If this is your house you'd better hurry up and get home because we're drinking all your beer and smoking your cigars!" Geoff came home, we went to Spanish Bay, and we had a great evening after the Super Bowl. We got together again on Tuesday night with Payne at the Sardine Factory with Geoff and Harvey Mason, drummer for the jazz group Fourplay. After dinner we came back to Geoff's played some music and had a great time. Payne went on to win that week and it was only the second win since his victory at the U.S. Open in 1991 at Hazeltine. (Other was 1995 Shell Houston Open) Four months later, Payne would win his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and on October 25, 1999 we lost Payne with five other people who were on the plane. Many of you probably remember where you were when you heard the news. I certainly do and I still miss my friend, Payne Stewart, every day...

Rudy told a great story about playing golf with Jack Nicklaus in Palm Springs during a Pro-Am at the Skins Game. Rudy hit his second shot on a par five, with a driver off the deck from 265 yards. As the ball continued to roll and get closer and closer to the hole, the crowd kept getting louder until there was an ahh. Rudy's ball had stopped on the front lip for a double eagle. Rudy turned to Jack and said, Don't need you!" Rudy commented that he didn't think anyone had ever said that to the great Jack Nicklaus.

We talked about all the fun times at Pebble Beach we had with the wind, weather, pros, and musicians that we played with at the Clambake on Wednesday night of the "Crosby" or as it's now known, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. We talked about guitars, and the best  D28 Martin Rudy had ever played, that Marty Stuart had at a gig that used to belong to Hank Williams. I told the story of trading three MacGregor persimmon blonde woods for a Takamine acoustic guitar with Stephen Stills back in the late 1980's.

We talked about music and golf and the Celebrity Players tour where "you have to count them all!" Also, how some of us are frustrated musicians who played golf for a living, while there were frustrated golfers like Vince Gill who had to play music for a living. It was a lot of fun having Rudy on and talking golf with someone that I have known for over 30 years.We had some callers call in for tips on their golf game. Tune in on Sundays 9:00-10:00 am EST for more of Rinker's Golf Tips on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Sirius 208 and XM 93. Call in number is 866-469-0026.

@VokeyWedges Seminar at #PGAShow #RinkersGolfTips

Last Wednesday, January 22, 2014, Bob Vokey spoke and did a seminar at the PGA Show for the Titleist Staff professionals. He went over the new Spin Mill 5's or SM5's coming out in March and described the different grinds available. He talked about the difference between the effective bounce (what you have at impact) vs bounce angle (which is built into the club.)

Low Bounce: L Grind 14 degrees of bounce, but effective bounce 4 degrees. Firm conditions.
Mid-Bounce: T Grind only on the 62 degree wedge which has a forward and trailing bounce. S Grind Full Sole
Mid/High Bounce: M Grind The grind that I use and it's for players who like to play different shots. F Grind Full Soles Most forgiving wedge.
High Bounce: K Grind High lofted only.

I personally like the M grind because it is a mid to high bounce and the sole allows the player to open and square the club face to hit different trajectory shots. I asked Voke why he made mid-lofted wedges 54-56 with only 8 degrees of bounce and he said they are not going that low with the bounce anymore on those wedges. Lowest will be 10 degrees. Voke also talked about swing types for bounce and someone with a more up and down swing, which I prefer and teach with a sand wedge, can use more bounce. A flatter swing could use less bounce.

I'm looking forward to getting my SM5's in March. For the record I play a 55/12 and a 60/10 with the M grind. For my students I recommend SM5's with a 54/10 and a 58/8 all in the M Grind. These can be bent to a 55/11 and a 59/9 if you add one degree of loft to those wedges. Add a degree of loft = adding a degree of bounce. I've been playing Vokey Wedges since they came out on Tour in the late 1990's.

#RinkersGolfTips Short Game Seminar with James Sieckmann

PGA Tour Short Game Coach, James Sieckmann visited the Core Golf Academy on Thursday, January 23rd and did a presentation for the coaches and then worked with the students on their short games. James said he watched Seve Ballesteros and Raymond Floyd, two of the best short game players of all time, and came up with his short game program based on these two Hall of Famers.

To me it was a breathe of fresh air to hear a short game coach talking about the club head swinging and passing the body on these shots. James said the club head moves first and fastest from the top of the swing with the finesse wedges inside of 30 yards. He explained the sequence from the top with 3D graphs, and the 3D graphs showed the finesse wedge shot is not the same kinematic sequence as the power golf swing. Different mechanics.  
Here are some highlights.
Set-up
1. Weak trail hand grip.
2. Where chest is at set-up determines the bottom of the arch which you want in front of the ball.
Swing
1. Swing plane. Handle and club head on plane. Right elbow has to fold or external rotation on the back swing. Yips in chipping is caused by under the plane with a shut or closed club face.
2. Shaft lean at address will match shaft lean three inches past impact.
3. Energy always flows to the pin.
4. Tension ruins motion.
5. Wanted students to hit four trajectories to the same pin.
6. Said lob wedge should be 2 degrees flatter than 6-I and SW one degree flatter than 6-I.
7. Want to expose the bounce with the club head is passing the body.

James also talked about bunker play,distance wedges, and how to practice with block, random, and tests or playing games. It was a great seminar and it was nice to hear someone who coaches the mechanics of the short game very similar to the way I do.

#RinkersGolfTips #PGA Show #TPI

Great seminar at the PGA Show with Dave Phillips and Greg Rose of TPI or Titleist Performance Institute. The focus was on power and how to get more club head speed. 
Rose's top three exercises were:
1. Train both sides of body for power. Be explosive in the opposite direction.
2. Overload vs Over speed. Make it harder, make it easier. Run uphill and then run downhill. Live in over speed swinging a bat, throwing a baseball, swinging a club. Swing a heavier club first, then swing your driver, then swing the lightest club. 6 balls each.
3. Sprinting. 

Power technique.
1. Load the back leg. Let lower body and head move in the back swing. Lift left heel off the ground for right handed golfer.
2. Get your hands high at the top of your back swing with a bent lead arm. 100% width with the lead arm at the top doesn't mean anything. Want to go from narrow at the top to wide going through the impact area.
3. Squat down in downswing and jump through impact. Power is coming through the traction in the ground. After the lower body shifts, the trail foot, leg, and knee fire first and then the forward leg pushes up from the ground rotating the lead hip as the club head goes flying through impact.

#RinkersGolfTips January 19, 2014

@RinkersGolfTips on @SiriusXMPGATOUR Host @LarryRinker had on special guest Dr. Bob Winters, who specializes in Sports Vision and Sports Medicine. Dr. Bob has a new book coming out Masters week titled, Mistake-Free Golf, which goes over the nine most common mental errors all golfers make. Dr. Bob said, "The most important number in golf is one and that is the next shot." He stated that many golfers have conditional confidence, which is results orientated, and therefore susceptible to a loss of confidence after one poor shot. Another mental error is worrying about what other people think or social evaluation anxiety. Dr. Bob said, "we have to play our game, not someone else's and it's just you, the ball, and the target. Disconnect from everything else." To gain trust in your game, there is the building block of composure. With repeated exposure to being uncomfortable, which he described as stretching your risk potential, we learn how to better execute when it matters most to us. Lastly he said, "KISS which is not keep it simple stupid, but keep it simple and specific." RinkersGolfTips is on weekly 9:00-10:00 am EST on Sirius 208 and XM 93.

January Golf Tip-Putting-Module I Rinker Five Fundamentals

Many people have come to me for help with their putting. To putt well you need to master four things: 1 Set-up, 2 path and clubface, 3 rhythm and tempo, and 4 mental focus. Over the years I have had to continually work on all four of these skills sets to improve my putting. When I had the yips in college and also when I fist turned pro (yes I had them twice), my mental focus was the issue. I had to change what success meant, and in college, that was a smooth stroke where the ball rolled nicely. At least the ball now had a chance to go in the hole. Then I had to work on my path because I was cutting my putts. I remember hitting 50 putts every night in a track to get my stroke more straight back and straight through. My first year on Tour, I struggled with the speed of the greens, and finally realized that I was decelerating with my putter. I shortened my backstroke, and worked on my rhythm and tempo to be able to putt Tour speed greens more aggressively. Lastly I had to keep an eye on repeating a consistent set-up. In 1990 my dad and I worked on maintaining the fundamentals of a solid set-up, and I led the Tour in putting. I've pretty much been a good putter ever since. If you are struggling with your putting, identify one skill set that you think would help your putting the most, and work on that.

Student finds the sweet spot!

Here's an email that I received from one of my students who did a full day private with me on Thursday January 16th: "Thank you so much Larry. I played at Eagle Marsh today and my full swing shots were awesome. I only missed the sweet spot with 2 swings. Have not done that in years. I will keep in touch."

Ken

Rinker's Golf Tips January 2014-Putting