GOLF Top 100 teacher Joe Hallett explains his “pull it out in an emergency” method when a round starts to go wrong.
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As your round begins to head south, there’s little you can do when your head is spinning on the fifth tee box. Sometimes on this day you just have to work with what you have.
However, there are some band-aids or quick fixes that can be applied. Or as the 100 best golf teachers Joe Hallett saying, there’s a “pull it in case of an emergency” lever that he likes to teach his students.
“When you’re playing and you feel like the wheels are falling off, it’s very easy to say, ‘go to a three-quarter swing,’” Hallett says during the Top 100 GOLF Teachers Summit at Cabot Citrus Farms earlier this month. “If you look at some of the best players in history, like Tiger, when he was playing his best, the club was second to none. But the secret to making a three-quarter swing is to take three-quarter practice swings.
Hallett explains that while the three-quarter swing is a good technique to use on a day when there is not a good opportunity to hit the ball, most amateurs may think they are doing it, but in reality they are swinging full time for practice anyway. There is a big difference and it is important that you do it the right way.
“Make him swing three-quarters of the way through the exercise, and do it with your feet very close together,” says Hallett, adding that they should be about six inches apart. “It forces you to have balance and timing. This simple thing of feet together and three-quarter swing. If you can do this without falling over, it will improve your balance and timing, and now you can step up to that shot and have half a chance of hitting it.
Hallett says when you’re ready to shoot, take your normal stance and then use a three-quarter swing. A shorter swing will minimize movement and swing length, which means the face will stay square a little longer.
