September, 2013 | Wayne DeFrancesco

Online Students: Tom Richards Part 6

Tom has taken more online lessons than anyone, and has also come to see me face to face at least twice. I am proud of the improvement he has made in his swing, as it is obviously apparent that he makes a much better overall move than he used to, and he is getting better all the time. Of course, there are always things to work on, and in this lesson we focus on improving his leg work in order to get the hands to continue to move more out toward the ball and less down, and eventually more forward…

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Online Students: Neil Aitkin

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

Here we see how a poor start to the swing affects everything that follows. Neil sets up fairly well, although I do suggest that he stand up a bit taller, a feeling that would be made much easier if he aimed the grip end of the club at or above his belt buckle as opposed to well below it as we see here. This would also give him more room away from his legs at address which will help him move the hands and the grip closer to his right leg as he takes the club back. Neil has a…

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Swing Analysis: Bruce Lietzke

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

Lietzke was renowned for his ability to fade the ball in any and every circumstance, and he made quite a nice career out of it, winning 13 times on the PGA Tour over a 17 year span, and another 7 victories on the Senior Tour, including the U.S. Senior Open in 2003. He wasn’t one to grind too much, and played in far less tournaments per year than his compatriots, never playing in more than 25 in a single year. One famous story has it that after his last tournament of one year his caddy put a banana under the…

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Online Students: Derrick Bracewell

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

This lesson continues the pattern of having swings sent in from good players seeking to improve a swing that is already way better than the vast majority of golfers. It just goes to show you how difficult it is to identify flaws in a nicely sequenced swing and to figure out just what can be done to make things better. Derrick’s swing has tons of good stuff in it: great sequence with a “hard catch”, good lines with the club not really varying much from being “on plane”, and plenty of lag with a nice looking impact. Most of the…

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TP&C: Brad Faxon

By Wayne | Tour Players and Celebrities

A couple weeks ago Kevin Streelman called Brad to ask him for some help with his putting, and Brad, knowing that I had done a swing analysis on Kevin, gave me a call to see if I had spent any time with him. I hadn’t, but we began to discuss teaching in general and eventually I asked Brad how his game was going. We had worked together for a day back in 2010 up in New York, but subsequently Brad decided to work with Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer and has been doing so up until last month. He remembered…

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Online Students: Ted Haley

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

Here we have another exceptional swing with excellent rhythm and tempo and seemingly spot on mechanics that under closer scrutiny reveals some key issues that has its owner seeking help. Many times I do these swing analysis’ and through laziness or just procrastination don’t write the copy for a while and then am forced to watch the whole video over again in order to come up with a coherent summary of what the swing was doing and what I thought would be good ideas to help it out. What strikes me as I watch is the subtlety of problems that…

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Welcome to the Guru Invitational

By Wayne | Articles: Technology, Equipment and Teaching

I have a great idea for a golf tournament. Let’s invite all the so-called teaching gurus to a 72 hole stroke play event and call it “The Guru Invitational”. Like the Masters, we’ll have to make it fairly difficult to qualify for the field. After all, we only want those recognized as true golfing geniuses, the men and women who have figured out a technique and a mental attitude for every possible situation, and have earned a nice living dispensing such knowledge to the masses. So who qualifies to hold the title of “guru”, and thus earns an entry…

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Swing Analysis: Miguel Angel Jiminez

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

The “most interesting man in golf” has one of the most interesting swings you will ever see, as evidenced here in my analysis. He starts with a conventional set up and grip, then begins his swing with a slight lift of the arms and very little upper trunk movement. At about shaft parallel things start to get weird. He makes a deep move back with his right leg (without straightening his right knee) and folds both his arms into to his body, the antithesis of “width”. At left arm parallel that arm is more bent than any good player I…

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Lesson of the Week: Ravi Makam

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Ravi is a 13 year old who is just starting his freshman year at my old Alma Mater, Langley High School in McLean, Virginia. Ravi is quite large for his age, and his size 14 shoes suggest he will only get a lot bigger. This is not only his first lesson with me, but his first lesson ever, and what you see to start with is what you would call “homemade”, with a lot of common elements I see in young kids left to their own devices. The beauty of this is the natural fluidness of the movement, and the…

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Lesson of the Week: Elliot Smith

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Elliott is a 90’s shooter (although it looks better than that) who has come to Woodmont for his first lesson with me, and as we have seen before first lessons are always interesting as I have to assess the student in a short period of time by asking a few pertinent questions and then videoing the swing. I usually take a bit of time watching a swing for the first time as I have to formulate a game plan going forward without overwhelming the student with too much too soon, always a juggling match (what is too much or too…

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Monthly Archives: September 2013