Ask Barney Anything...

[Barney the Pro]

Thanks Barney - very helpful. Starting with the tee peg gate drill, how far apart would you have the tees when first trying this drill?

Around about 2 inches wider than the club you are using. I have seen Vijay do this with a water bottle instead of a tee on the far side of the ball with a driver too which takes a bit of timing , although entertaining if you get it wrong!

 

[Barney the Pro]

Thanks for the advice Barney. I’ve been working on walloping the ball and I have combined this with the over-the-top manoeuvre you told hines57 to avoid. Great results – the ball is going all over the shop and I’m getting to play shots from much more interesting places. This is the entertainment and enjoyment that I have been missing for such a long time. I’m so glad you didn’t suggest fluffing chips or missing putts, as that part of the programming is not editable and I wouldn’t find to be it as much fun as my current game. The handicap might rise by 2 or 3 shots by the end of May and I can then revert to the “old me” for the board comps and plod down the middle of the fairways with that boring old swing. What a great year lies ahead for me! I’ll mention you in all my speeches. The only other advice I need now is about how to refute the accusations of handicap manipulation. I’ve thought of a few excuses such as, age, bad back, lack of practice, “what a strange year its been for all of us” and inner ear problems. Have you got any that you could add to this?
Do any of the pros play badly and then put a huge wager on themselves after their odds go up? Is this what Tiger did for a while? Has he taken it a bit far this time? Could Spieth be a good bet for the Masters in this respect or will he be holding out for longer odds next year?

Glad you can use some of the suggestions , and becoming a golfing Jekyll and Hyde is a wizard plan that will flummox your opponents and increase your trophy count ! Your list of excuses is a good one, perhaps citing personal issues ( best delivered looking glumly at the floor) or being affected by your favourite football teams poor form , which unless you follow Manchester Citeh holds true for most of us
The idea of playing badly deliberately as opposed to letting that happen naturally is an interesting one, and certainly if Jordan Spieth misses the cut in the Masters this year only to return next year and sweep all before him as part of an elaborate hoax would make a story, and certainly the film rights on that would be epic.

 

[Barney the Pro]

What set composition would you recommend for a total,never swung a club, beginner?

Definitely a half set so as a beginner the gap between say a 7 and 9 iron can be understood when struck, whereas one club increments are too subtle at this stage. I would go for 5 wood, 5 Hybrid , 7,9, and sand wedge and putter. Drivers have become so much easier to hit over the years however wait until the player has got their swing in a reasonable shape then a nice lofted driver will be of use.

 

[Voyager EMH]

I started with a spoon, mashie, mashie-niblick and putter. So yes, very similar to what Barney suggests.

 

[Barney the Pro]

Barney, I am suffering from hitting everything out of the heel with my longer clubs, it's like I don't know where the club face is.

Any tips?

So there are a couple of things to check out if the shots are coming out of the heel. Firstly check your stance as you could be crowding the ball , so do a bit of mirror work and ensure you are in an athletic position, with the weight evenly distributed in the feet. During the shot it could well be your weight is moving towards the ball on your through swing bringing the heel of the club more towards the ball. This often comes from the player becoming too ' ball bound' and a good tip is to hit a few shots on the range with the club addressing the ball 6-8 inches away rather than in it's normal position next to it. By doing this I've found players focus on sweeping through and 'collecting' the ball rather than tightening the muscles as we hit at it. If you You Tube the legendry Moe Norman he actually hit all of his shots from this position.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Hi Barney
what would you suggest a player do when arriving at the club pre-round?
Time of arrival, time practicing/warming up each part of the game, etc?

This is how it goes for me. Gently remove oneself from driver’s seat with no sudden movements. Walk slowly round to back of car and open boot. Strap the neoprene lumbar support on. Very carefully lift bag and then powacaddy from boot. Stand erect and stretch for a bit before attaching bag to powacaddy. Take golf shoes out of car and walk round and open door to back seat. Sit down and remove ordinary shoes and put on golf shoes. Stand up slowly, stretch gently and chuck ordinary shoes into boot. Close boot and lock car. Make decision as to whether to leave lumbar support on for the game or “risk it”. Remove spectacles and then put on face mask. Put spectacles back on. Walk slowly with golf kit through carpark towards proshop. Take steamed-up spectacles off, give quick wipe with hanky and replace. Go into proshop and pay entry fee for comp. Exit shop and trundle kit up towards first tee. Do not try to remove mask whilst on the move as always gets tangled with spectacles. Stop and remove mask when a safe distance from proshop and clubhouse. Wait for fellow competitors arrive and either exchange pleasantries or merely nod and grunt depending on who they are. Remove any random club from bag and pretend to do a warm-up routine. That’s it. Ready to go.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

This is how it goes for me. Gently remove oneself from driver’s seat with no sudden movements. Walk slowly round to back of car and open boot. Strap the neoprene lumbar support on. Very carefully lift bag and then powacaddy from boot. Stand erect and stretch for a bit before attaching bag to powacaddy. Take golf shoes out of car and walk round and open door to back seat. Sit down and remove ordinary shoes and put on golf shoes. Stand up slowly, stretch gently and chuck ordinary shoes into boot. Close boot and lock car. Make decision as to whether to leave lumbar support on for the game or “risk it”. Remove spectacles and then put on face mask. Put spectacles back on. Walk slowly with golf kit through carpark towards proshop. Take steamed-up spectacles off, give quick wipe with hanky and replace. Go into proshop and pay entry fee for comp. Exit shop and trundle kit up towards first tee. Do not try to remove mask whilst on the move as always gets tangled with spectacles. Stop and remove mask when a safe distance from proshop and clubhouse. Wait for fellow competitors arrive and either exchange pleasantries or merely nod and grunt depending on who they are. Remove any random club from bag and pretend to do a warm-up routine. That’s it. Ready to go.

Ok

 

[Curls]

This is how it goes for me. Gently remove oneself from driver’s seat with no sudden movements. Walk slowly round to back of car and open boot. Strap the neoprene lumbar support on. Very carefully lift bag and then powacaddy from boot. Stand erect and stretch for a bit before attaching bag to powacaddy. Take golf shoes out of car and walk round and open door to back seat. Sit down and remove ordinary shoes and put on golf shoes. Stand up slowly, stretch gently and chuck ordinary shoes into boot. Close boot and lock car. Make decision as to whether to leave lumbar support on for the game or “risk it”. Remove spectacles and then put on face mask. Put spectacles back on. Walk slowly with golf kit through carpark towards proshop. Take steamed-up spectacles off, give quick wipe with hanky and replace. Go into proshop and pay entry fee for comp. Exit shop and trundle kit up towards first tee. Do not try to remove mask whilst on the move as always gets tangled with spectacles. Stop and remove mask when a safe distance from proshop and clubhouse. Wait for fellow competitors arrive and either exchange pleasantries or merely nod and grunt depending on who they are. Remove any random club from bag and pretend to do a warm-up routine. That’s it. Ready to go.

Such rich detail. I feel like I’m there.

 

[Traminator]

This is how it goes for me. Gently remove oneself from driver’s seat with no sudden movements. Walk slowly round to back of car and open boot. Strap the neoprene lumbar support on. Very carefully lift bag and then powacaddy from boot. Stand erect and stretch for a bit before attaching bag to powacaddy. Take golf shoes out of car and walk round and open door to back seat. Sit down and remove ordinary shoes and put on golf shoes. Stand up slowly, stretch gently and chuck ordinary shoes into boot. Close boot and lock car. Make decision as to whether to leave lumbar support on for the game or “risk it”. Remove spectacles and then put on face mask. Put spectacles back on. Walk slowly with golf kit through carpark towards proshop. Take steamed-up spectacles off, give quick wipe with hanky and replace. Go into proshop and pay entry fee for comp. Exit shop and trundle kit up towards first tee. Do not try to remove mask whilst on the move as always gets tangled with spectacles. Stop and remove mask when a safe distance from proshop and clubhouse. Wait for fellow competitors arrive and either exchange pleasantries or merely nod and grunt depending on who they are. Remove any random club from bag and pretend to do a warm-up routine. That’s it. Ready to go.

Have you read the thread title? ?

 

[Barney the Pro]

This will make you light headed:
What is the gravitational attraction between 3 objects, in this case the ground, the ball and the club?
With the result compute the distance the ball will travel at a club head speed of 100 mph on - a) the earth b) the moon.

(Hint: use Einstein's theory of general relativity).

Crikey high brow stuff. There was a character on the Harry Hill Show whose tag line was ' If it's too hard I can't understand it ' , I am now him

 

[Tashyboy]

How is being 52 a fossil , it's no age at all !! I think for me increased length for those of us over the 40 age group need to look at better swing mechanics and increasing our flexibility. In my experience the better a player strikes the ball and improves their smash factor ( ball speed divided by club speed) the further they will hit it. Too many players hit the ball with a glancing blow and trust me the speed is irrelevant then! I like the Orange Whip trainer as think that gives a player a really strong sensation of the transfer of power, so you will engage your core but crucially not think about . Practice swing with the right foot well back always helps in terms of getting the player to transfer the through swing shallower as a steeper swing increases unwanted spin. Then I always encourage Yoga and Pilates for flexibility , and the poster boy for that would be Miguel Jiminez who still pops it out there and his famous warm up routine tells us all we need to know about suppleness...

? the swing with the right foot back is one I was taught on my last lesson. Many thanks. Although being able to use your teams poor performance as an excuse is no help to me. Am a Citeh fan ? good job Ave loads more excuses ?

 

[Barney the Pro]

Hi Barney
what would you suggest a player do when arriving at the club pre-round?
Time of arrival, time practicing/warming up each part of the game, etc?

Ideally I think around 45 minutes is fine , and studies show after stretching then 25 full swings will be enough to get the swing loosened up. A few chips and pitches always good to gain feel in that department , and then rounding off with some putting. The key here is roll some between 25-40 ft range as this is most likely the length your opening putts will be, then finish off with some 3 footers to hone your holing out skills. A couple of deep breathes and you are ready to rumble !

 

[Barney the Pro]

Such rich detail. I feel like I’m there.

Puts my reply in the shade, expecting a missive from GM at any moment requesting that I up my game to this sort of level !

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Ideally I think around 45 minutes is fine , and studies show after stretching then 25 full swings will be enough to get the swing loosened up. A few chips and pitches always good to gain feel in that department , and then rounding off with some putting. The key here is roll some between 25-40 ft range as this is most likely the length your opening putts will be, then finish off with some 3 footers to hone your holing out skills. A couple of deep breathes and you are ready to rumble !

Thanks Barney, your answers have all been very informative ?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Puts my reply in the shade, expecting a missive from GM at any moment requesting that I up my game to this sort of level !

The difference between your answer and his are that I could be bothered to read yours.

 

[USER1999]

Your article in this months GM looks at the reverse pivot, and how to fix it.

I am watching Bryson at the matchplay, and it doesn't half look like a reverse pivot at the top of the back swing.

What am I missing?

 

[Tashyboy]

Puts my reply in the shade, expecting a missive from GM at any moment requesting that I up my game to this sort of level !

Don’t worry about that, we will just put you on ignore ??

 

[Barney the Pro]

Your article in this months GM looks at the reverse pivot, and how to fix it.

I am watching Bryson at the matchplay, and it doesn't half look like a reverse pivot at the top of the back swing.

What am I missing?

Yes I think the thing with his swing as opposed to Tommy Fleetwood is that as his back leg straightens more due to his huge hip and shoulder turn , whereas Tommy still retains pretty much the flex he had at address ( super swing sequence and analysis of the great man in GM on page 90 whereas that joker they've got on page 82 ...) giving the impression that Bryson is reverse pivoting. If you look closely at his spine angle at address and then at the top of the swing that is pretty consistent with his starting position. The classic reverse pivot at our level is when the spine moves towards the target during the backswing and then the players first move is to try and realign it starting back down, usually with mixed results !

 

[MarkT]

And that concludes our first Ask Me Anything. An unadulterated triumph! Thanks everyone for all the many and varied questions and enormous thanks to Barney who, for three days, has shared so many pearls. The perfect early-season MOT. Thank you Barney!

 

[Tashyboy]

The forum at its very very best. Cheers Mark and Barney.