Too far from the ball? Too close? Butch Harmon Has ‘Great Training’ to Check Out

Are you standing too far away from the ball? Butch Harmon believes his training will tell you.

What should I do if the distance is too close? Same.

So what if it’s perfect? Yes.

“It’s a great drill,” he said, “to put some distance between you and the ball.

“It applies to every club.”

The Top 100 Golf Teachers Hall of Fame member and former coach of Tiger Woods spoke about this important topic in a recent video posted on the Golf Teacher App Instagram page (you can watch the full video here ). The correct distance from the ball allows you to initiate the correct shot. A wrong answer will get you a high score. Your suggestions are then welcome.

It’s worth noting that Harmon’s approach is simple. Hold the club tightly. Stand over the ball. Release your right hand (if you’re right-handed) and let it hang.

“It should be right across from where you’re holding it,” Harmon says in the video. “In other words, just by letting it go this way, it hangs, and you put it back and you’re the right distance from the ball.”

If you get too close to the ball, your hands will go back to the shaft of the club. If you’re too far away, your hand will reposition itself on top of your other hand or on top of the club — a setup Harmon said he finds often.

“The most common mistake we see among male golfers is that they tend to stand too far away from the ball because it’s a feeling of power,” Harmon said in the video. “Unfortunately, this makes them bend over, and as they swing, gravity pulls you toward the ground and you end up standing up into the ground. [and] Usually hits weaker slice shots.

“If you use this drill from too far away, you’ll find that your right hand will come back here to your left hand.”

This exercise is worth trying, and the author has tried it too. I found that I was standing maybe a little far away from the ball. That would at least explain something.

Let’s continue Harmon’s conversation. A few weeks ago, the author wrote an article titled “‘Fixing Cancer in the Swing’: 10 Lessons from Butch Harmon, According to Top Coaches,” which can be found by clicking here or scrolling directly below to find the story.

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Ryan Mouque seems to be in a state of nirvana.

Butch Harmon worked in front of him for two days.

“It was definitely a pinch-yourself moment,” he said.

Mook described this on his X social media account following a recent two-day visit with Harmon, Tiger Woods’ former swing coach and Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Hall of Fame member. It’s worth noting that this was a teacher-to-teacher meeting, and since Mook is a top coach based in Australia, it was understandably an educational meeting.

So what did Mook take?

He also shared ten nuggets on X, which we share below. Here we also recommend following Mouque on X (you can do this here) and Instagram (you can do this here).

1. “Solution to Golf Swing Problems”

“Butch famously said golfers should work to cure cancer of the golf swing,” Mook wrote. “What he means by that is, if you address the most harmful parts of the swing that are causing the ball action or contact, then you might be able to address some of the other issues as well.

“If it’s not the ‘thing’ that makes the impact, don’t focus on your gains. Address the most important thing (cancer). If you don’t know what that is, that’s why I’m here to help you.

Editor’s note: Trickle-down effect. Get to the root of the problem.

2. “Practice within 100 yards”

“Butch insists that golfers don’t practice within 100 yards enough,” Mook wrote. “This includes wedge play, pitching, chipping, bunker play and putting.

“If you were to write down your practice times inside 100 yards and outside 100 yards, what would it look like?”

Editor’s note: Good question. How many of us are just drivers on the driving range for an hour?

3. “What is most important when trying to make change?”

“In the two days I was with Butch, I watched him coach multiple players, and he told each student the same thing: When trying to change the swing, it doesn’t matter where the ball goes or how far away it is. ,” Mook wrote. “You have to learn the moves first and then worry about the ball and how far it’s going to go.

“Of course, once you understand the movement and can execute it slowly, the ball can serve as feedback on whether your movement is good or bad. As you get used to the new movement, you can increase your swing speed and then distance. becomes very important.

“Butch had Tiger do hundreds/thousands of pause/slow swings as Tiger changed his swing.”

Editor’s note: Trust the process.

4. “Butch will tell you what’s going on.”

“Butch doesn’t sugarcoat anything,” Mook wrote. “He will tell you 100 percent of the time what’s going on, even if it’s not what you want to hear.

“Certainly, he gets results from his players and he can stand up there confidently and tell the truth. If a young coach does that, the students might go the other way. Butch told me a little bit about him Stories of personally sacked players because of their attitude towards what he wanted them to do.

“If you want to work with Butch, you better listen to what he has to say. You don’t argue with him. After winning tours and major championships, he has authority – he helps his players win.

Editor’s note: A little tough love never hurts.

5. “He instills confidence in you.”

“On the other hand, if you were one of his students and you were doing your best, he would say something confident,” Mook wrote. “When you hit a great shot, he celebrates with you. When you don’t, he explains why and makes you do it the right way.

“He never makes you feel like you’re not improving. It’s a great skill to have to get the best out of your players and make them feel like they’re one step away from mastering what they want to do.

Editor’s Note: A pat on the back never hurts.

6. “It’s easy to play golf without a ball.”

“I heard him say this many times: Golf is easy without a ball,” Mook wrote. “What he means is that when it comes to practice swings, most players can do what they want to do without the ball in front of them.

“That means you can make the moves you want, but sometimes you need to give up on results when you have the ball in front of you. Don’t always be so eager to hit the ball when you do it. Practice your swing without the ball, as I’ve done with What students say: ‘Your practice swing is your future swing.

Editor’s note: Trust the process again. It’s worth noting that “your practice swing is your future swing” – why bother with a practice swing if you’re not going to use it?

7. “You need a clear plan”

“Basically every student I saw he taught had no idea why they were hitting the ball the way they were and how to fix it on their own,” Mook said. “They may think they know the solution, but they don’t.

“One guy said that the lesson he learned that day cured him of 15 years of frustration. 15 years!! (He may be exaggerating, but my point stands.)

“If you’re a golfer who doesn’t take lessons and you’re having a problem with your game that doesn’t improve year after year, please seek help from your coach (me). I hope you enjoy the game – Experience 15 Years of setbacks have been crazy.

“As I sat there watching, my takeaway from this comment was that this golfer was just trying to do everything himself and getting nowhere. He was probably getting worse in the process of trying to solve the problem himself.

Editor’s note: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results may prompt golfers to switch to another sport.

8. “Swing change takes time.”

“Butch told a story about how Tiger wanted to change his swing after 1997,” Mook wrote. “During 1998, Tiger won just one PGA Tour event, thanks to his continued work and changes to his swing.

“After a full year of practicing his swing and making the changes he wanted, we saw golf’s greatest performance ever, with Tiger winning seven majors and 20 PGA Tour events between 1999 and 2002. event (I think my math is correct). He also won five more events in 2003.

“The moral of the story is, if it took the goats a whole year to make a change, what makes you think you can do it in a week or after a few classes? Be realistic and understand that change takes Time. Also, don’t try to take your swing apart – you can’t. Just work on addressing the low-hanging fruit and the “cancers” in your swing.

Editor’s note: Be patient. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but know that the rewards are coming.

9. “External Devices”

“Butch was passionate about using external devices to make necessary changes,” Mook wrote. “If something is blocking your path, try to avoid it. A box, a dowel rod, etc. It can be as simple as changing the path by placing something in the way and trying to avoid it.

Editor’s note: Training aids can be helpful.

10. “Wonderful Story”

“Butch had approximately 10,000 stories and never lacked for one to tell,” Mook wrote. “He’s played with President Obama and others, plays at Augusta National a few times a year, and obviously he can go anywhere in the golf world and be treated like royalty, which is what he deserves.

“There are a lot of stories that I absolutely cannot repeat. In one of them, I filmed him in the middle of his narration and when he looked up, he quickly told me to stop recording. Haha! That’s certainly not suitable for the internet.

Editor’s note: Our loss!

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