January, 2018 | Wayne DeFrancesco

10 Smart Things Golfers Can Do to Help Their Games

By Wayne | Articles , Articles: Becoming a Better Player

“‘How long will it take me to master aikido?’, a prospective student asks. ‘How long do you expect to live?’ is the only respectable response. Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, its challenges and comforts, its surprises, disappointments, and unconditional joys. You’ll take your share of bumps and bruises while traveling–bruises of the ego as well as of the body, mind, and spirit–but it might well turn out to be the most reliable thing in your life. Then, too, it might eventually make you a winner in your chosen field, if that’s what you’re looking for, and then people will refer to you as a master.

Viewer Question: Tiger Woods 2018: Has His Hand Release Changed and Can it be Effective?

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

Jeff Mann sent me the link to video of Tiger’s 2018 swing and asked the question: “As a big fan of Tiger Woods, what do you think of his recent swing action where he uses a roller hand release action? Do you think that he can be competitive against the many PGA Tour golfers (like Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, and Tommy Fleetwood) who use a DH (Drive/Hold) hand release action-even if he doesn’t have a relapse of his back problems?” I think the video holds my answer…

Lesson of the Week: Chuck Winograd- Posture, Takeaway and Right Arm Pullback

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Chuck is a member of my new club, and he came to me as a frustrated golfer who felt he had ability but no concept of what is was with his swing that wouldn’t allow him to improve. Analyzing his first batch of swings I knew that to help Chuck I was going to have to give him a better understanding of what his swing was doing and why, and then work on changing the pattern he had created over time.

Online Lesson John Lamendola: Looking for More Driver Speed (163 mph ball speed)

By Wayne | Videos: Online Students

John has made remarkable progress over the 2 ½ years we have been working on his swing, and now that he knows where the ball is going and is comfortable with his technique we are looking for ways to increase his clubhead and ball speed with the driver. In this lesson I put him side by side with Charlie Hoffman, who I filmed a few years ago when I was at the Valspar Championship with Streelman. In the comparison I note that John is loading his pelvis toward his center instead of over his right leg, and when he cuts the right hip in and leaves the “wall” that is the right side of the face on hip box he short changes his upper body coil and leaves some potential energy unused.

Lesson of the Week: Dean Davison – Working on Early Extension and Forward Shaft Lean

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Dean is 65 and just now trying to become a PGA member, which means he must pass the Player Ability Test (PAT) in order to continue to earn credits toward his Class A status. The score required is usually around 155 to 158 for 36 holes, which may not seem very low, but for someone who has never really played competitively it can be quite stressful to have to shoot a number. Dean is in great shape for his age and has no real physical limitations, so we should be able to address what he described as his number one concern, solid contact and control with his irons.

Wayne D Practice Session: January 2018- Working on Using the Ground and Creating Better Impact

By Wayne | Videos: Swing Analysis

I thought this was a great practice session as I was (finally) successful in adding hip flexion and loading into the ground in both the backswing and transition, then addressed my recent (last 8 years?) tendency to throw release the club through impact with my irons. By the time I achieved a drive/hold release and got the club to move from P7 to P8 on plane I found myself pushing up off the ground and straightening my left leg in a much timelier fashion.

Lesson of the Week: Dan Small – Setup and Takeaway

By J | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Dan was visiting Florida from New York and being a website fanatic (his very nice girlfriend said that) he braved a very rainy and windy day (although warm) to try to figure out why he was “a 6 -handicap short game and a 24 – handicap long game”. It was evident after the first batch of swings that the priorities would be setup and takeaway oriented. Dan was somewhat slumped with his hands low and the ball back in his stance.

Lesson of the Week: Nicole Gargarella Swing Trigger and Right Arm Action

By Wayne | Videos: Lesson of the Week

Nicole plays for Victoria College up in British Columbia, Canada, and since her coach is a website member and uses some of the Wayne D. methods in his own coaching he encouraged Nicole to come and see me while she was down in Florida visiting her parents. David mentioned that he thought Nicole could be more consistent with her irons (who wouldn’t want that) but that the main deficiency in Nicole’s game was distance. I saw right away with the combination of her swing trigger and right arm movement that she was not efficiently utilizing her pivot to produce the loading and stretching in the backswing that could potentially lead to greater clubhead speed.

Monthly Archives: January 2018