February, 2017 | Wayne DeFrancesco

Swing Analysis: Tony Finau

This is a great golf swing. Finau is a strong, rangy guy at 6’ 4” and 200 lbs., and he has come up with a simple, compact move that produces oodles of power. There just isn’t a whole lot going on here you might have a problem with other than the fact that the shaft is a hair under plane in the takeaway, but he opens the face and gets the club up on plane at left arm parallel so nicely that when that’s just about all the swing he needs to hit the ball a mile there’s not much that is going to go significantly wrong.

Playing for Money: Chas Narramore Part 2

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

After watching the video I sent him with suggestions regarding his first batch of swings Chas worked on it a couple days and then sent back these swings. It’s amazing how much difference there is between keeping the face shut on the backswing and trying to open it. You can see that he doesn’t really get the toe up when the shaft is parallel to the ground in the takeaway, but he does continue to try to open it to the top which completely uncrosses the shaft.

From the Vault: Swing Compilation: Floyd, Trevino and Watson

By Wayne | Videos: From The Vault

Here is another in my series of golf’s greatest major champions. Raymond Floyd won 4 majors between 1969 and 1986, along with 22 PGA Tour events and 15 Champions Tour events (and 4 Senior majors). Lee Trevino came out of nowhere to make his first Tour win a major, winning the 1968 U.S. Open. He won 5 more majors for a total of 6 between 68’ and 1984, with the 1984 victory being his last PGA Tour win. Trevino won 29 PGA Tour events and 29 Champions Tour events, adding 4 senior majors. Tom Watson won 8 majors between 1977 and 1983 along with 39 PGA Tour events between 1974 and 1998, and 14 Champions Tour events (including 6 senior majors).

Playing for Money: Chas Narramore

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Chas came to me through his friend and my long-time student Jason Gandy. Chas played well enough to earn his Web.Com card for 2016, but only made 8 of 21 cuts with 1 top 20. Jason encouraged Chas to send me a few swings to look at and that is what you will see here. Chas obviously has a powerful and fluid swing with excellent rhythm and tempo.

Online Students: Matthew Latham Part 3

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

Wayne, “It feels pretty good overall. The start of this year my play has been good and I managed to get to +4 which is cool, but largely thanks to good driving. My iron play is sporadic; with some misses that are too large and I definitely still need to improve the knock downs we worked on last year. – In this video lesson, you will see that Matthew (who incidentally has an excellent swing) is spot on about his concerns with his lower body movement and how that contributes to his right arm issues in the downswing.

Lesson of the Week: Andy Heiberger, PGA

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

I met Andy about 6 years ago, when he was an intern at Woodmont CC where I worked at the time, and he was struggling to pass his Player Ability Test (PAT). We managed to get through that and have continued to work on his swing periodically since then. Andy’s chronic issue has always been the fact that his lower body pushed out from under him and by the time he gets to impact he is standing almost straight up.

Pro Tip of the Week: Don’t Sweep Your Fairway Woods

By Wayne | Videos: Pro Tip of the Week

Once winter is over we will all be playing the ball as it lies on the fairways. This time of year the grass tends to be a bit thin, and when the ball sits a bit down in a “tight” lie, striking a fairway wood solidly may seem like an impossible thing to do. I think that a lot of problems players have with making solid contact with a 3 wood (the hardest club to hit off the ground) or even a 5 or 7 wood is that there is a perception that you are supposed to “sweep” the ball off the ground with these clubs.

Swing Analysis: Jon Rahm

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

It’s no surprise that Rahm has found his way into the winner’s circle at age 22 when you consider he was the #1 amateur in the world for more than a year. At 6’2 and 220 lbs. Rahm is a powerful athlete who takes advantage of his size and strength to feature a short, efficient swing.

Playing for Money: Josh Eure Part 2

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Josh is another young, strong, talented player who has been trying to qualify for any kind of tour since he got out of college a few years back. I taught Josh as a junior (he won 3 straight Maryland State Junior Championships and 2 State High School Championships) but lost track of him when he went off to the U. of Arkansas. He spent some time with other instructors and came back to see me about a year ago. And now for the good news: Josh just qualified for the Latin American Tour!

Playing for Money: Derek Gillespie Part 5

By Wayne | Videos: Playing For Money

Derek is about to start another season on the Latin American Tour, and his swing is really rounding into shape. By opening the clubface more aggressively in the backswing and all the way to the top Derek gets the club right on plane instead of crossing the line, which makes a big difference in his downswing and approach to impact. The rotation of the club with the left hand and wrist serve to externally rotate the right shoulder from left arm parallel to the top, which puts both the shaft and his upper right arm in better shape to initiate the sidearm throwing motion that will allow his hands to advance more forward at impact. As you will see this simplifies an already clean, simple looking motion that is powerful at the same time. I fully expect Derek to play well and continue to advance in his attempt to make the PGA Tour.

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Monthly Archives: February 2017