Golf Swing Instruction & Golf Tips for Lower Scores by Doug Kercher PGA Golf Pro

I have just begun helping a young 15 year old golfer who is already off 12 handicap (November 2007). His dad purchased Golf - Your Perfect Plan For Practice And Play and we started by talking about his short game.
I took him through chipping to pitching and showed him how to record the distances of each swing with different clubs on the table in the book (which by the way, is now his constant companion on the range and on the course).
He then had 38 points in his next competition and won the event against all members of the club on a Saturday. This is one of the more challenging courses on the Gold Coast. He told me he chipped in twice and although he did not hit the ball that great, his short game had improved to the point it covered the other mistakes.
The thing that is great about 15 year olds is that if they see something that makes sense to them, they do not analyse and question it, they just do it and put it into action. He is reaping the rewards and look out when I help him with some other strategies in the book.
Update - Matthew is now on 4.6 with a lot of victories in the club competitions behind him.

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I had another keen golfer come out for a 9 hole playing lesson today. He felt like he hit the ball pretty straight and wanted some more distance.
On the first hole, a par 3 he hit a great shot onto the green, hit his next putt 8 foot past and holed it for a par. Not bad for a 17 handicapper with borrowed clubs.
Anyway I asked him how long his putt was on the first hole and he said 20 feet (7 metres). He was shocked to learn that it was in fact 15 metres. So the first thing we addressed was distance control of putts. Pace out the putt, find out what backswing will send the putt that far, rehearse it three times and putt.
Next hole, he hit a nice drive and then had a 5 iron to the green which he hit into the right hand bunker. I checked his ball position and alignment and he was aiming right where he hit it and the ball was opposite his left heel. You just cannot have an efficient swing if these basics are not right. If you have to move forward to hit the ball, you lose power and direction. We hit another couple of balls and bingo, he had a taste of true golf shot.
On the third hole, he hit a slice but just down the right side. He had to carry a tree 130 metres and I suggested a pitching wedge over the tree short of the bunkers guarding the green. He thought he could make the shot and did, a beauty onto the green, but then 3 putted.
He tried the layup shot as well, which was great as well, leaving a 60 metre pitch to the pin which was up the back of the green. He said he wanted to putt the shot, such was the state of his short game. Once again, his setup was the main problem.
So I showed him a simple punch shot. Once I got his setup and ball position right, I simply got him to swing mainly with his upper body and he hit down and through the ball, and it flew straight and solid with a lot of backspin. Then he repeated two more shots the same.
On the fourth hole, a slice into the trees onto a bare sandy lie just required a chip out onto the fairway. Instead, he tried a miracle shot, a big slice out of the trees onto the green which was tucked out of sight. The shot went too far, out of the frying pan and into the fire. A double bogey or worse. So I got him to take his medicine, and hit a controlled chip onto the fairway. A nice pitching wedge from about 80 metres to about 20 feet and an easy bogey.
Fifth hole, a par 5, and a reasonable drive put him in good position to make par. A well struck shot straight into the right trees, again poor alignment was the culprit. A chip out and a nice 60 degree wedge (from the middle of the stance) flew onto the green and a bogey. He did not carry a lob wedge, but just about every pro does, and a middle handicapper needs just as good a short game, if not better.
Next hole he hit another slice and it hit a tree and bounced back on the fairway. Then we started to do some swing work. Even though there were a few poor shots, the good ones were exactly what he needed to get a taste of. More distance, higher ball flight and straight where he was aiming.
On the last hole, I showed him how to chip and those shots came out great instantly. The six steps to setting up for successful chipping are as follows:
1. Open stance
2. Lower spine more toward the target
3. Head over the back foot
4. Ball position of the back foot
5. Weight over the left leg
6. Hands forward so front arm is in line with the shaft
Then you just swing the triangle you have formed witht he arms and club with the chest and shoulders. You will swing down into the ball, catching the ball first and then the turf, giving you the spin and control. To change distances, just change length of swing and the loft of the club.
So that lesson will save him plenty of shots and win him many bets. Once again, it is not a lack of ability that prevents the average player becoming a good one, it is a lack of knowledge and a lack of motivation.
Once you have a taste of what you are capable of, you will want to make a bit of time to put a bit of work in to master these skills. If you can learn them in an afternoon, it does not take a lot to maintain them.
If you want to learn some of these strategies and plan your improvement, why not get Golf - Your Perfect Plan For Practice And Play from my website - www.dougkerchergolf.com (any difficulties, just post a comment…)

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Two golfers of different standards had lessons today. One a C grader, a fellow who hit 2 out of 10 7 irons straight about 100 metres, the rest weak slices, and the other an A Grader, who hit 7 irons 145 metres with a loopy draw.
While both had totally opposite ball flight problems, the first thing I addressed was the alignment errors. When fixing an error, you must have the static areas of alignment and ball position correct before any swing mechanics.
The C Grader was aligned well to the left of target with both feet and shoulders, and shoulders even further left with clubface aimed to the target which was was to the right of where he was aiming. So a correct swing would have sent the ball 20 metres left of the target. So if he made a good swing, it would not have gone to the target, so he would try to hit to the target by making a bad swing, he could not release the club squarely, it would always have to be open to hit to the target, causing a weak slice and lack of distance.
At the end of the lesson, after having moved on to some swing mechanics, he was hitting 9 irons high and straigth 100 metres, a 20 metre difference in distance.
The A Grader had another problem. His feet were aiming correctly, parallel left of the target, but his shoulders were aiming well to the right. He was feeling like he was slapping the ball and the ball had a 10 metre draw with a 7 iron and when he felt like he made solid contact, the ball would be pushed to the right.
The alignment problem also caused swing problems. He was taking the club straight back, but this was done with the arms only. So he could not start his pivot early enough in the swing, so the arms got out of balance to the body, even causing him to fall forward onto his toes in the downswing.
Once we had the shoulders aligned correctly, he was able to start the club back on line with his pivot. His balance was immediately better, ball contact was solid and the 10 metre draw became a 2 metre draw.
He played today and said - Swing was good today, hit some very long drives.
80% improvement in both lessons. You just need to know where to start, build on the base of setup and then build the swing on top of the correct foundation.
Using clubs laid on the ground or a mirror are very simple aids you can use to get your alignment right in practice. On the course, simply lift your front arm as you are looking at the ball. If your arm points left or right you will know your aim needs to be adjusted.
Until next time, Doug..
Author Doug Kercher

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My name is Doug Kercher from the Gold Coast in Australia and I am in my 17th year as a PGA golf professional. I am currently in my second year on the Australian PGA Senior Tour.
I have just completed the first part of my life work, Golf - Your Perfect Plan For Practice and Play for golfers at any level and time availability. It consists of two unique pocket size books, a 12 Week Practice Diary and 21 Game Playing Record to help you set your goals and test and measure all aspects of your practice and play, accompanied by a Manual explaining the process of step by step permanent improvement. There are 75 specific and detailed charts that record your progress in practice and play.
My blog will include the challenges and progress of my students as well as mine on the Tour and reviews of products and topics of interest in the golfing world. I look forward to getting to know you and helping you through your roadblocks and encouraging you on your journey to better golf.
Below is a sequence of my golf swing. When I started as a golf pro in 1990, I did not have much idea about my swing. It was based on a few basic lessons, reading books and mostly feel and timing. I was playing nearly every day in my quest to turn pro and shooting some pretty good scores (except in tournaments of any consequence when my technique did not stand up to any extra pressure).
My game suffered with the shock of turning pro which was largely brought about by working 40 hours in a pro shop for minimal wages while having to pass the stringent year long playing test by playing weekly Monday tournaments at a different course every week set up to tournament standards, back tees and difficult pin placements.
Video technology was in its infancy and I played by feel. I was plagued by the occasional blocks, pulls and hooks that even Adam Scott said on the Fox PGA Golf Show that he battles when he is off his game. So we are all in good company.
These poor shots would inevitably cause a few bad holes and put me under severe pressure on tournament days and week to week while trying to maintain the required average score of 6 over par. By the way, in 3rd year my average was 3.5 over par while my handicap was 1.2, remember no home course, tournament conditions at 50 different courses during the year, often 36 hole events and involving an hour travel to hit off early morning, arriving home late and getting to work at dawn the next day.
Anyway, my average form compared to some of the other trainee pros started me on a search for better techniques in all areas of the game through lessons, books and studying the academic requirements of the course. I literally lived golf for four years and the improvement was noticable but nowhere near where I wanted to be in terms of competing against the best. So I turned to teaching (those who can, do, those who cannot, teach) probably a bit harsh but I am sure all golfers dream of competing at the top level and there is not much room at the top). A lot of things have to go right to get on to a major tour, the biggest one is the monetary support to stay out there to practice and play until you step up to the required level.
Anyway with all my research I still had not found a level of golf that I was happy with until the year 2000 when I put into practice a lot of the principles taught by Jimmy Ballard at the 2000 PGA Coaching Summit. Jimmy mentioned being taught by Sam Byrd, who had helped Ben Hogan, whose swing I was trying to understand and execute.
However, my swing that I was happy with for seven years has not held up during the Senior Pro events I have played in for the last year or so. I have had some Top 10 finishes but also some disappointing results.
I liked Ballard’s methodology and connection but there was still something missing. Perhaps it was in the translation but videos of my swing did not look right and the results were not quite what I was looking for. So I started looking at the One Plane Swing by Jim Hardy and the Stack and Tilt method that Aaron Baddeley was having success with. I had helped Aaron just before he won his second Australian Open.
Interestingly, I had a Swingjacket I had purchased a couple of years ago, endorsed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy. I hit the ball well when I used it but it felt a lot different to my normal swing and I could not repeat the swing when I took the Swingjacket off. It was really because I did not understand the swing principles that the training aid was wanting me to do. I also bought Jim Hardy’s book but I could not really understand how this one plane swing worked. Jim Hardy also had a very interesting section about Hogan’s swing in his book.
Anyway, after one particularly disappointing tournament, I made up my mind to fix my swing once again. This time I actually really understood both Ben Hogan’s Swing and the One Plane Swing. Jim Hardy had explained some things that put the missing pieces from the Ben Hogan Modern Fundamentals book into place and started to make it work. It is very exciting to have a new lease of life with your golf after 50.
Until next time, all the best for your golfing future…’
Doug

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Does anyone agree that Hogan is a great model for the swing? If so, check out your book of Modern Fundamentals or do a search for Hogan stuff on youtube.
You will see that he turns his chest at the start, he said you feel as if you are pushing your feet into the ground.
As you keep turning, the right elbow stays in the same relationship to the right hip until halfway back. Then the left arm is close to the chest and the forearm rotates to the top. You will feel your chin touch the top of your left shoulder. Hogan wore a hole in his golf shirts doing this.
When you rotate the left arm, the right elbow will point to the ground. The arms stay connected to the upper chest.
If you do this properly, you will see your core rotates about 12 inches and then your left arm moves about 2 feet connected to your chest. There is a rotation of the arm as the clubface begins to open.
Fairdinkum, if you are trying to do anything in your downswing except hit the ball, you are making compensations. And you will be inconsistent.
From a great top of the backswing position, you can just perform a natural throw down the plane to the ball. Once again, Hogan demonstrates a sidearm throw and a 2 handed basketball pass. A powerful throw is initiated by the shoulder and chest. You can help that throw by helping it with the right knee going toward the ball. On the downswing, Ben Hogan said his forearms were rotating and he wished he had three right hands to hit the ball.
If your spine is not tilted correctly, the downward throw will not cause the hips to shift laterally. BUT you have to be in good position at the top. Elkington said, at the top, your backswing position is exactly right or completely wrong.
Hope this helps, Doug

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I went to the range today to hit a bucket of balls. A fellow was asking about demo drivers. I ended up hitting balls in the next bay. He was struggling a bit but soon started hitting a few nice straight shots mixed in with the usual ugly ones. Then he worked his way up to the driver. Again, he was inconsistent, but a few nice straight ones.
The sad thing was that he showed quite a bit of talent, a big strong fellow, and those drives were getting out there, maybe 120 metres. As I hit my 8 irons past his best driver, I wondered about the priorities of this fellow (and a lot of other golfers).
Spending a couple of hundred dollars on a driver or getting a package of lessons from a good pro? The other sad thing is the amount of people who have taken the last option and still haven’t had the results they should have. But that’s another story.

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In the classic movie Caddyshack, Judge Smailes asked Chevy Chase, (Ty), this question who replies, ‘By height” after he tells the Judge he does not keep score.
It is interesting that most people measure their performance by handicap, which really is not a reflection of scores at all (at least in Australia). I have heard that the Slope System is a better measure, but handicap is not the best way to measure your golf game. With course ratings and a fraction of a stroke added to each shot over par, it is a messy system but necessary because of the number of competitions that do not even require you to hole out every hole to return a score. After all, if you have had 36 points with 3 wipes, have you really played to your handicap?
Improving your golf requires a dose of reality and brutal honesty. Try keeping your average score as well as tracking your handicap. Measure your stats like fairways hit, greens in regulation and some short game stats like up and downs when chipping, how many times you hole out in 3 shots from 50 metres and of course, putting.
Even when you practise, how many shots do you hit well out of 10? Better still, give each shot a score out of 10, and see what you score out of 100. These are the real measurements of a golfer’s game. When you can measure your skills in each area of the game in practice and play, you are ready to start lowering your scores (and that handicap).
But for you to improve your golf, you need to write down your goals, find out where your performance rates in different areas of the game, make sure your what you are working on will help you improve, find ways to get better technique, schedule practice times, get a strategy for playing on the course, record how the game unfolds and then analyse the statistics to see where shots are being lost so you work on the important things.
My program Golf - Your Perfect Plan For Practice And Play will help you with an easy fill in the blanks way to measure the skills of your own game. And start improving them for lower scores. The Training Diary and Playing Log are filled with different charts for each area of the game in sequential order. You just fill them out and watch your game improve.

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