Observations from The PGA Tour at PGA West this week provided a fresh look at the players this year. 
Over the last several decades it sure seems as if the average tour player is a much better ball striker. I say this with reservation because I recently published a post proving that ball striking statistics have not improved since 2000. The only big change was from 2000 to 2005 when players added about 15 yards off the tee. See statistical PGA Tour changes since 2000
But my eyes tell me something different. There used to be many more players with “unique” swings. The players these days swings look much more alike than different.
SWING PLANE
Swing planes have become much closer to on plane than in the past. Imagine looking from behind a player on line from the golf ball to the target. Then imagine with the player ready to hit the ball, drawing a line from the golf ball through the back shoulder. This is called a swing plane line. In theory a perfect plane swing with have the club head, then shaft, the hands travel up the line on the back swing. Then the club head, shaft and hands will dip slightly inside that line on the downswing returning the club head to the ball at impact. After impact the club head, shaft and hands will then travel out the other side of the body on the same line.
After watching old videos from the 2000 Mercedes Championships and other events the back swings were evenly split between inside the line, outside the line and on the line. In 2016 players are closer to this line that I have ever seen. When you talk about boring swings your are talking about a swing that the club travels on plane and does not need correction before impact. Most of the guys on the range this week model that boring swing.
They are younger, stronger, more fit and have more people helping them. It used to be after a tour event in La Quinta you could go to the Beer Hunter and see a bunch of the guys drinking beers having fun, not anymore. They are mostly either working out, talking to their golf coach or communicating with their sports psychologist, hitting balls on the range or playing video games in their hotel room. Not to say that they are more boring but they are. This is also why they are in better shape and seem to play at a higher level than the guys in the past.
ARM POSITIONS
Other than Jordan Spieth, Lee Westwood and Ratief Goosen it is hard to find a guy on the PGA Tour that has a “chicken wing” at impact. When you watch the mechanics of a player from the face on position these guys set the club much more consistently than in the past. Next time you watch on TV you should learn from their example.
When the left arm is horizontal in the back swing it is straight, the right arm is bent 90 degrees and the shaft is in a 90 angle vs the left arm. On the follow through with the right arm horizontal the right arm is straight, left arm bent approximately 90 degrees and the shaft is at about a 90 degree angle from the straight right arm. I may repeat this until my last days but I still have not seen a bad golfer that makes the above swing. So, if you accomplish the above arm mechanics you will almost be guaranteed to at least strike the ball like someone that shoots in the 70’s or 80’s.
PRACTICE
These guys spend more time on the greens practicing than in the past. Again the statistics don’t show any improvements this century but they practice in a much more discipline manner. It seems just about everyone have a string line, putting mirror, distance tee placement and a small horse shoe ring to putt through. They are not out there slapping around a few short ones, a few longs one then heading to the tee. The theme I took from it is that these guys have found a way to make practicing their putting fun and challenging. They are not getting bored like most amateur do after five minutes and moving on.
This same theme carries over to the range. You will see more aiming devises, alignment sticks and other toys players at the range making their practice more interesting. This is a big cue to us. If you are anything like me it is hard to just rip balls for 30 minutes then putt without a purpose for 10 minutes. The guys on tour are better at making practice less boring, more interesting and more fun.
Just think if you made your practice more fun how much you could improve? If you made a few more putts from 5′ to 15′ each round how much would you lower your score? If you chipped the ball to inside 10 feet more often what would happen. Odds are that if you shoot around 90 and practiced enough to chip and putt like the worst tour player you would probably shoot in the mid to high 70’s, so go make practice fun!
Jim Hartnett, PGA
www.myhome4golf.com
Very interesting article Jim. Making practice fun is the key to more practicing. What aids did you see most on the range and how did they use them?
Thanks for the comment Gregory, the most common aids I noticed during the tournament mostly involved alignment. Here are a few of the aids;
1. Alignment sticks at their feet.
2. Alignment sticks on both sides of the ball to show divot pattern.
3. Alignment rod 5 yards in front of the ball, on the target line to see where the ball flight started.
4. TrackMan, seems like a large percentage of players either own or have access to a trackMan and use it on the range and the golf course.
5. Putting mirror, use this by placing ball on mirror then setting up to putt to make sure your eyes are vertically aligned with the ball and target line.
6. Putting ring, a small horse shoe type object placed about 3 feet in front of the ball. This is used like croket where you roll the ball through the target. The ring is only about 3″ wide at the ground.
7. Putting string, using something similar to kite string and two barbecue skewers. Place one skewer behind the ball on the target line and the other 10-15 feet down the taget line, place the ball under the string then make sure when you set up to have your eyes vertically aligned with the string cutting the ball in half. Then start the ball on the target line.
I hope this helped!
Jim Hartnett