I’ve played golf for, jeez, 30 years now. In 2018 I had my first driver fitting. I’m an idiot.

There’s always been a struggle between those that freak out over golf equipment, constantly tinkering and buying the next new big thing, and those that are still swinging their Tommy Armours and spouting the ‘it’s the native-american not the arrow’ sermon. I’ve always been sort of in between – I understand that technological advancements in clubs will certainly render better products, but I never thought my game was worthy of being labored over in an expensive manner. 

Every super hero needs a super villain. Where would Superman be without Lex Luthor? Where would Spiderman be without Doctor Octopus? Where would Dudley Do-right be without Snidely Whiplash? Without a foil to put the outcome in doubt, how can anyone be truly heroic? And because golf bloggers are, almost without exception, superheroes, I have acquired my own arch-nemesis. A foil so diabolical that not only does he thwart me at every turn, he does so in the most kung fu manner possible – turning my own fragile ego against me, casting my abilities in doubt, and taking my money in the bargain. I call him… Jon.

Despite not being a household name, Steve Wozeniak has taught some of the very best players and coaches in the world. Specifically, he spent 7 years with famous instructor Jimmy Ballard, whose ideas were learned at the feet of Sam Byrd. We’ve interviewed Ballard and discussed Sam Byrd’s contribution in other blog entries; but if you haven’t heard of him, he helped Hogan remake his swing,

Recently, I have been reading a number of blog posts on Steve Wozeniak’s website — no, not the Apple genius, but the seasoned golf pro from the Seattle area who is a long-time Ballard disciple and coach to many well-known pros. Beyond his passionate writing on the ill state of popular teaching methods, he details a number of very useful drills.

Fair or not, business gets done on the golf course, and if you cannot play then you are missing out on potential opportunities. Recently, I have been working with a number of people who have a specific goal: learn to play business golf. Here are my top 10 ways to get up to speed, and some course strategies to allow you to feel comfortable playing golf in a business environment.

I have written a number of posts about the takeaway but today I want to focus on where it all begins-the legs and specifically with the left knee. Lets start with our address.

If you watch any golf you undoubtedly have finally noticed the quiet Swede now playing the best golf on the planet. In terms of ball-striking, he’s been at the top of the PGA tour—1^st in GIR and 6^th in fairways hit. After a few top 3 finishes, Henrik Stenson finally got to hoist the victory trophy at the 2013 Deutsche Bank.

Since core strength and balance are at the heart of the Jimmy Ballard swing I wanted to find a simple way to improve both. Using a basic weighted medicine ball, I have found a great way to improve my core, leg and back strength while gaining flexibility and explosiveness.

Legendary swing coach, Jimmy Ballard, likes to point out that when Ben Hogan needed to make a swing change in order to cure his dreaded snap hook, he learned to use his right hand to throw the club head down the target line. Key to this move is getting into the proper position at the top of the backswing which greatly increases your chances of swinging through impact correctly. Here are three of Jimmy Ballard’s fundamentals:

Believe it or not, the basic concept of how to square the club face is actually highly  debated amongst various golf instructors. Like many people, I found myself quite confused after reading all of the different school’s of thought. However, over the past year or so I have spent a great deal of time studying and breaking down Jimmy Ballard’s concepts and I now have a greater appreciation for how Jimmy explains this concept. Specifically, Ballard talks about the dynamic between the inner force and an outer force and how it is fundamental in squaring the club face.

How we address the ball is critical to making a good swing because it sets the stage for everything that follows. Jimmy Ballard’s maxim is to set up and stay as tall as you can throughout the swing. Practically speaking, this means that you get your rear end underneath you in the setup, rather than sticking out. He always says to imagine holding something heavy like a sack of potatoes where you would naturally get your arms on top of your chest,

Recently, Charlie Rymer was on the Golf Channel talking about how Phil had experimented with the belly putter when his putting went awry last year. Charlie believed that the long putter helped Phil get the feel back for releasing his lead  hand down the line rather than holding off his release, AKA the ‘chicken wing.’ After a bit of time with the long putter, Phil took that feeling back to his short putter and subsequently won the AT&T. This got me thinking about how you can get that same “long putter” feeling without switching to a long putter.

The Golf Takeaway: A Common Fault and Fix

One thing that Adam and I have been discussing recently is the concept of keeping the club head in front of your chest and using your big muscles to take the club back, rather than a quick wrist hinge which leads to the club getting behind you and into a bad position.

Chipping is probably the most under-rated skill in most golfer’s bag, and it’s arguably the most important. Just for reference, if the pros only hit 2/3 of their greens in regulation that means that basically, 6 to 9 times around, the best ballstrikers in the world will be chipping to get up and down. If you’re a single-digit handicap, you might chip 9 to 15 times a round, and for those of you who are 10 and up, you chip nearly every hole.

This summer I had a chance to interview legendary teaching instructor, Jimmy Ballard. Seeing that Jimmy has so many fantastic thoughts on the golf swing I thought I would break out a few of these concepts. One of the most fundamental of these concepts is how to use the ground for leverage.