Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

The following are several drills that will help almost everyone.

1. Take your golf towel and hold it against the upper part of your chest just under your armpits. This golf swing only should be a half-swing for this exercise as your right arm in a full swing moves away from your side. Swing the club back and forth, letting your wrists cock upwards on the backswing and then recock upwards on the through swing. This will help you to feel connected and your body and arms swinging in sync.

2. Try standing on your left foot only (right foot for you lefties) and make small swings at first, then increasing to full swings as your balance improves. If you are unable to do this, you can cheat a little by touching the tip of your toe of the back foot to the ground. This will teach you how the swing is in a circle and not straight back and forth. You will improve your balance immensely doing this drill.

Just grab a metal driving range bucket with your fingers on the sides of the bucket. Now get in your golf posture and swing it back and swing it forward as if you were going to throw it out on the driving range. Give no thought about golf for a while when you are doing this drill. Just do it naturally, without thinking.

Sense how your weight naturally goes back and to the front and how you use the larger muscles in harmony with your arms without any conscious use of your hands. After a time doing this, pick up a club and try to feel the same as when you were swinging the bucket. Trust me, this does work.



Rules teaser:

A bunker lies between a player's ball and the hole. He walks in the bunker to remove a rake that may interfere with his next play. On the way back, he smooths out his footprints to restore bunker to its original condition. Ruling?



Answer to last teaser:

A player's ball hung on the lip of the hole. The player allowed his shadow to be thrown over his ball, thinking the grass would wilt or grow causing his ball to fall in the hole. Ruling: No penalty. Ha ha! If anyone thinks that he can influence the growth of grass in the 10 seconds of delay allowed under the rules, he can be my gardener anytime.



John Lucas is the professional at SkyRidge Golf Course and can be reached at john98382@olypen.com.