Improving Your Golf Swing In A Day For Dummies (eBook)

Gary McCord (Scottsdale, Arizona) is a PGA Champions Tour player and a golf instructor to many celebrities. He's best known for his 24 years of experience providing color commentary for CBS. Fans and critics alike praise him for his knowledgeable perspective, refreshing humor, and sometimes irreverent wit towards a game that is known for taking itself too seriously. In 1999, Gary McCord joined the Champions Tour and took it by storm. He won the first and last events of the year -- the Toshiba Senior Classic and Ingersoll-Rand Senior Tour Championship. Over the past few years Gary has continued his excellent play, proving himself to be an extremely talented golfer. Gary has also established himself as a talented author. Non-golfers might recognize McCord for his appearance in the Kevin Costner movie, Tin Cup, in which Gary played himself and served as a technical director.

Introduction 1

What You Can Do In A Day 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Chapter 1: The Basics of the Swing and the Stance 3

Understanding Swing Basics 4

Starting with Your Hands 4

Getting a grip 5

Completing the grip 9

Positioning Your Body 10

Aiming 10

Nailing down the stance 11

Considering knee flex 12

Deciding on ball position 13

Maximizing the bottom of the swing 14

Keeping your eyes on the ball 16

Observing the one-hand-away rule 17

Chapter 2: Unleashing Your Swing 19

Making Miniswings: Hands and Arms 19

Turning Your Torso 20

Unwinding 22

Getting Yourself Together 23

Finding your rhythm 23

Visualizing shots 24

Watching a near-perfect swing: Hey, that's me!
25

Time to Refine: Establishing Your Swing Plane 25

Mastering checkpoints 26

Taking it from the top 28

Chapter 3: Chipping and Pitching: Short-Game Secrets
31

Making Your Pitch 31

Setting Up a Solid Chip 35

Pick your spot 35

Choose the right club 36

Lies and secrets: Consider your ball placement 37

Chip away! 37

Chapter 4: Putting: The Game Within the Game 41

You Gotta Be You: Throwing Mechanics out the Window 42

Building Your Putting Stroke 42

The putting grip 43

The conventional grip 43

Left hand low 45

Putting posture: Stand and deliver 46

Toeing the line 48

Standing just right 48

Matching your putt to your full swing 50

Getting up to speed 51

Chapter 5: Solving Common Faults with Easy Fixes 53

For Better Golf, Use Your Head 54

Fixing Common Swing Faults 54

Slicing and hooking 54

Hitting from the top 57

The reverse pivot 60

Swaying off the ball 60

The belly-button twist 61

A swing that's too short 62

A swing that's too long 62

Chapter 6: Where to Go from Here 63

Taking Your First Steps 63

Visiting dummies.com 64