Jaacob Bowden's Swing Man Golf Blog

Wider stance for more power?

Question:

Does widening the stance really help distance or is there more to it than that?

Jaacob's Answer:

I've seen people hit powerfully from both narrow and wide stances.  I think it's a matter of personal preference and what you find works for you such that you can both generate the maximum amount of controlled club head speed and also make consistent sweet spot contact.  So there's an acceptable range...but like with many things in life, an extreme of either probably won't work as well.  Too narrow and balance is compromised...too wide and it's hard to pivot and/or turn.  Experiment around and find your comfortable spot.

Count Yogi had an interesting take on how to determine stance width - working backwards from the finish.  It's what I do.

"The width of your stance is not governed by the width of your shoulders, but rather by the length of your legs from the arches to the knees."

Notice how towards my finish both of my knees are even with my hips. I feel really balanced in this position (and balance is good because it can help you hit more consistently in the center of the club face). My right foot is only back far enough such that the knees are even. If my right foot was back further, I would feel too stretched out.

To determine the stance width, just turn back towards the setup position and bring the right foot down. Wherever it ends up is where to make the stance.

How to perfect Dan Shauger's twirl?

Question:

I have a problem twirl club as described by Dan Shauger.  How can I make a "perfect" twirl?

Jaacob's Answer:

You might be over-complicating the motion - hehe, that's what I used to do.

As long as you are getting to a good spot at the top of the back swing, simply put it is nothing more of a motion than would get the club back down to square at impact.  Make some slow practice swings and stop on the way down at impact.  If you are getting back squarely consistently, then you are probably doing it well enough to not have to think about it.  This is good because in the end, the less thought during the swing, the better.

2 of My Swings Posted on YouTube

by Jaacob Bowden

Recently, a couple videos popped up on YouTube of my swing during a District Finals competition for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships in Arizona in September 2007.

A few comments...

In this particular competition, I was experimenting with using a 48" 4 degree driver because of the lower spin rate that I was getting with the lower loft. It gets me in to the 1800-2200 spin range which I find gets me more roll once the ball lands. The problem is I had to make a number of swing compensations away from my normal swing with a 44" regular playing driver (usually between 6-9.5 degrees) to still be able to hit it high enough. At address with the lower loft I widened my stance, tilted a little more to the right, have more weight on my right side, and bent my right knee more than usual (which would make it look not as straight at the top of the back swing). The ball was teed up on a 4" tee too.

The collapse of spine angle at impact is a little thing I have to fight through sometimes. I don't think it's due to too much hip thrust as much as I tend to drive a little too much towards 10 o'clock with my whole lower spine (forcing me to raise my head slightly) rather than just posting on the left leg and driving towards 10 with only my right knee.

I also tend to let my left elbow bend a little more than I like in the back swing (especially with drivers). That's one reason why you'll see the club go beyond parallel in these videos. I debate about changing it, though. I think it looks nicer when it's straighter, but when I straighten it I get a little more rigid and my swing speed slows down. If I remember correctly, I was swinging in the high 130s to high 140s and maxing at 148 mph that day.

You'll also notice the head movement to the right during the backswing, and more importantly the excessive movement of that C7 vertebrae. It would probably not surprise you to hear that my ball-striking in that particular competition was as bad as I can ever remember for a long drive event.  It's really important from a ball-striking standpoint to keep that C7 still.

Some of these things came from breaking my own rule of swing speed training by not focusing on retaining good swing fundamentals. Prior to this year I had never swung above 144 mph. This year I got it up to a max of 155 mph in training...but got sloppy with my swing.

For next year's long drive stuff, I was looking at:

1) Going to a 6 degree driver so I don't have to make as many swing compensations. This would let me use a shorter tee and it would be easier to make good contact.

2)  Using a 46-47" driver instead of 48" which will also help with good contact.

3) This year I wasn't fast enough to hit it far enough with my normal tempo swing (which I can hit straight)...and when going all out I was fast enough, but wasn't making good contact and losing accuracy. Both equated to not enough distance to advance and win the World Championships. So for next year, I think I'll try to get my max speed up in to the 160s so I can make a cruise speed in the mid to high 140s (as funny as I'm sure a cruise speed in the 140s sounds).

How do I keep the number 7 position?

Question:

Hello.  I have problem loosing figure 7 position before I have hit the ball.  Any hints on how to fix?

Jaacob's Answer:

Yes, from a power-standpoint it is important to maintain that connection between your left chest and left arm (for a right-hander) until after you've hit the ball.  Otherwise, you are just hitting the ball with your left deltoid muscle as opposed to getting your whole body in to it.

As far as keeping it together, a pretty common drill is to put a towel or head cover between your inside upper left arm and your left chest.  If you can swing and the towel doesn't fall out until after you have hit the ball, then you are maintaining the connection to your body.

Other than that, just making a conscious effort to keep it together during your swing will help until it becomes natural and you don't have to think about it.

Merit in overspeed device?

Question:

Is there any merit to swinging a club that is lighter than normal - the exact opposite of a heavy club - ie a shaft with no head?  Therefore swinging much faster than with your own driver?

Jaacob's Answer:

You mention a lighter club...or what's called an overspeed device.  Yes, I do think there is merit in it.  It works kind of like an olympic swimmer being pulled through a pool at record speeds with a harness - the idea being that the swimmer gets a sense of what speed feels like.  The same applies to golf with an overspeed device.  I have one, however, to be honest I wasn't using it when I made those big gains (26 mph in 37 days) with my top speed.  I'm curious to know what kind of effect it would have by integrating it more fully in to the other things I do...I just haven't done it yet.  Feel free to give it a go, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.

Short game horrible - suggestions?

Question:

I just played my worst round in over 5 years. A lot of it had to do with my short game. From 100 yards and in, I was HORRIBLE. Most of my pitch shots were fat, I shanked my chips, and my speed on the greens was HORRIBLE. Do you have any suggestions on what things I can work on since I'm going to have to spend a LOT of time working on my short game?

Jaacob's Answer:

I'm sorry to hear about your worst round.  Those things happen to the best of us.  I think Tiger's worst round on the PGA Tour is an 81.  In fact, in any given week if you look at the professionals who missed the cut there are inevitably a few of them who shot in the 80s...and these are the best players in the world.  As much as we don't always like it, "bad" days happen.  So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

However, I can tell you by the tone of your message that it was emotionally upsetting to you and probably not fun.  Do as best as you can to let it go and put forth positive thoughts and feelings for the future.  Science tells us we're all existing within a massive energy field.  As different thoughts produce different frequencies, much like a magnet, we attract circumstances with similar vibrations.  If you are in a "negative" state of mind, you will only be drawing in to your experience things of a similar nature.  What complicates things further is that in this state of mind you would also be repelling the "positive" things.  This is one reason why when someone has a bad hole, unless they put it behind them and get out of their mental garbage space, they are dooming themselves to more bad holes.

It can be a lot easier said than done, but I think this is where the old saying "Fake it 'til you make it" comes from.  As best as you can, think and feel the things that you want to have be in your experience, and eventually you will attract them in to your life and it will become your reality.

Beyond the mental stuff, as far as getting the speed down on greens, check out the video in the Chipping section of the Swing Man website.  It's a chipping demonstration, but the same concept also applies to getting a feel for distance on putting.  It's what I do to get it close to the hole even when I haven't been practicing much at the time.

If you are shanking your chips, make sure that your chipping motion is smooth and fluid, try to keep all of your weight in the same place (most pros chip with a narrow stance and the weight only on the front foot - but as long as you aren't moving around too much it will simplify things), and try to keep your head relatively still.  I suspect you might be subtly moving in towards the ball on your down swing.

Many of the same things will apply to your pitches...smooth out your motion, get rid of the tension, keep it simple, and try not to move your head much.  I don't know where you are playing the ball in your stance, but I'd recommend in the middle of your stance.  If it is back further, you will be coming down steeper on the ball and will be using more of the digging edge of the blade...so your margin of error will be smaller.  For the same reasons, make sure your hands at impact aren't too far forward either.  These things could be causing the fat shots, and also you may be slightly dipping on the way down...so keep that head still.