John Smoltz’s first foray into serious senior golf came at last year’s U.S. Senior Open, where he shot 85-77 at the Broadmoor to miss the cut. Not that the ultra-competitive retired pitcher was surprised.

“Look, I had a flight home Saturday,” Smoltz admitted to GolfDigest.com. “I wasn’t really thinking I was going to make the cut.”

But it was on that flight home where he also took copious notes about his performance to prepare for the next time a similar opportunity arose. And that time is now.

Smoltz, 51, will tee it up on the PGA Tour Champions this week at the Cologuard Classic. It’s the first of three sponsor exemptions the MLB Hall-of-Famer has accepted to play on the senior circuit this year.

“When the phone call came for this opportunity to play in three events,” said Smoltz, who is an analyst for Fox and MLB Network. “I was like a little kid who just got one of the best Christmas gifts.”

Smoltz joined me to discuss his latest opportunity to showcase his golf game on a big stage, his recent win at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, his impressive backyard golf setup, and how a big baseball trade changed both his career on the field and on the course. He also talked about his senior tour aspirations going forward and a special buddies trip he’s planning with some former teammates.

Plus, Sam Weinman and Keely Levins joined me to discuss Dustin Johnson’s latest win, the LPGA backstopping controversy, and punching out from the trees. Please have a listen:

SOURCE:  Golfdigest

How to Avoid the Most Common Golf Injury

Golf is a unique sport because you can often participate even if you’re not as physically fit as you once were. That said, golf isn’t always an injury-free sport. Low back pain is the golf injury you’re most likely to sustain. Luckily, it can be avoided.

The following tips will help.

Warm Up

Golf may not seem as intense as a sport like football or hockey, but you still need to warm up before playing. Loosening your muscles helps to prevent discomfort. Practice these basic exercises to prep your muscles for a few hours on the course:

• Hold the club behind your neck, one hand on each end, and rotate your torso to stretch your neck.
• Pull your knees towards your chest a few times to stretch out your hips.
• Keep your hamstrings loose by bending down and reaching towards your shoes.

If you’re having trouble with these stretches, or they don’t seem to be effective, getting direct access to physical therapy could help. A few sessions with an expert could help you learn how to properly stretch before golfing to avoid lower back and other injuries.

Practice Your Swing

Golfers apply torque and torsion to their lower backs in order to generate sufficient club speed when swinging. This puts strain on the lower back. That’s why practicing a swing regularly is important. You want to emphasize smooth motions. Additionally, researchers have found that attempting to mimic the “X-factor” swing of professionals (in which you attempt to maximize rotation of your shoulders relative to your hips) may result in injury.

Maintaining proper balance while swinging also helps protect your back. Keep your knees bent and shoulder width-apart, while maintaining a straight spine.

It will take practice to develop a smooth swing, but it’s necessary. Doing so will keep you comfortable while also improving your overall performance while playing.

Get the Right Golf Bag

Lifting heavy items incorrectly or repeatedly can result in low back pain. In other words, your swing isn’t the only part of your game you need to optimize if you want to avoid discomfort. You also need the right golf bag.

Don’t use one you have to set down on the ground every time you’re ready to take a swing. Get a bag that has a stand, so you don’t have to lift it up repeatedly throughout a round.

Don’t Make Assumptions About Age

It’s easy to assume low back pain is something only older golfers need to worry about. However, the X-factor swing described above is often more likely to cause certain injuries in younger players. They tend to have more muscle mass than older generations, which puts significant pressure on their spines during the swinging motion. They may also be more likely to apply excessive force. Even if you’re a younger golfer, you should keep these tips in mind. Doing so will also help avoid injury as you get older.

Again, golf is the type of sport you can play well into old age. You’re more likely to be able to if you avoid low back pain. Remembering these points will help you stay out on the course for years.

SOURCE:  Golftipsmag

Hosung Choi and his unconventional swing leave Pebble Beach after earning respect

Hosung Choi’s weeklong parade around Monterey Peninsula finished in bitter rain Saturday at Pebble Beach, the conclusion accompanied by a missed cut in the Crosby Clambake known officially as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Yet the 45-year-old from a small fishing village in South Korea, who took up golf when he was 25, couldn’t stop smiling as the waves crashed the craggy coastline. He had won the lottery, after all, and his first trip to American soil and his first start on the PGA Tour left a lasting impression not only for Choi but for those entertained by his affable personality, showmanship and outrageous follow-throughs full of twists and turns that have made him an internet sensation.

On the scenic stages of Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course, Choi was the biggest star in a tournament filled with celebrities and some of the game’s best players, his festive galleries larger than those following Bill Murray, Wayne Gretzky, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth.

“I definitely felt the love from my fans,” Choi said through an interpreter.

Choi returned the love. He acknowledged most every shout out from his followers, many coming in his native tongue. He signed tons of autographs and posed for hundreds of selfies. He was Mickelson without flashing the thumbs up.

Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, he showed his appreciation by plunking down his own cash to buy clothing featuring the tournament logo and wore his new duds through 54 holes. He literally ran to the media center for his pre-tournament presser to make sure he wasn’t late.

And Saturday he gave each of his playing partners – actor Chris O’Donnell, his teammate, and pro Jerry Kelly and his teammate, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – one of his clubhead covers that feature a silhouette of his one-legged follow-through.

“They were such great people,” Choi said. “And even when I had a bad shot or was struggling, they encouraged me, and they gave me words of advice out there. And I tried to give them a gift to remind them of me.”

Choi, Rodgers said, was the gift that kept on giving.

“We had him over to the house, him and his family. We had a blast,” Rodgers said. “There’s obviously some loss in translation with the language barrier, but we had his translator there, and we just had a blast. He’s a great guy. I think it’s great for the tournament and for golf. Obviously, his swing gets a lot of attention, but he’s a good player. It was a lot of fun to play with him.”

While the record will show he missed the cut by 11 shots after rounds of 72-75-77, Choi wasn’t out of his element in a week full of elements featuring hail, showers and bone-chilling temps. The four-time winner on the Japanese and Korean tours was baffled by the Poa annua greens but was far from a sideshow, as he impressed Kelly, who has six victories on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

“I really love the action,” Kelly said. “It made me want to get my leg into it just a little bit and see if I can get a little extra. His fundamentals at impact are pretty darn good, and he can shift it and roll it. So, there’s no reason that he can’t compete.”

On Sunday night, Choi left for Guam for a photo shoot and doesn’t know when he’ll play next. While he was disappointed in his play on the Monterey Peninsula, Choi was far from downcast about his future and said he hopes to receive more invitations to play on the PGA Tour.

“If I’m lucky enough to get another invite, I’ll be happy to play in any other tournament,” Choi said. “I learned a lot from this experience.

“I will continue to dream.”

SOURCE:  USAtoday

I’ve had a successful PGA Tour career, including a pair of wins, by keeping things as simple as possible. Yet, in the numerous pro-ams I play, I notice everyday golfers tend to make things more complicated than they need to be, and their games suffer. One area to simplify is off the tee. For amateurs, it’s the most critical part of the game to avoid big numbers. Keeping it uncomplicated will result in better consistency, which allows you to pay more attention on your approach shots and short game. Here’s your first tip: Swing with the thought of putting the clubface on the back of the ball. This will help keep your body from lunging ahead of it, which causes those toey slices no matter what club you’re using.

GET READY FOR TAKEOFF
If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s high launch with low spin is key to maxing driver distance. Most everyday players, however, have a negative angle of attack, with some hitting downward several degrees. That causes a low, spinny tee shot—not great for producing distance. Here’s a simple fix: Adjust your tee height. The people I play with in pro-ams tee the ball too low. You can’t possibly hit up on the ball if it’s only an inch off the ground. Tee it so two-thirds of the ball is higher than the crown of the driver (above), and adjust the ball’s position so it’s in line with the big toe on your front foot. Now drop your right shoulder slightly at address. You can see (below) how this helps get it in the proper position at impact. These simple adjustments at address will automatically improve your tee shots, and they’re so easy to make.

GROOVE THE RIGHT PATH
Swinging on an in-to-out path in relation to the target line is something most amateurs really struggle to do in the downswing, but it’s vital to making solid contact. I’m a big fan of the Orange Whip training aid to help with this. With its weighted end and flexible shaft, the Orange Whip keeps the arms and body moving in the proper sequence for that desired in-to-out path. For me, it’s not about where the club is at any given moment. It’s about feeling the proper motion. Another key is getting your chest behind the ball during the backswing. If your chest hovers over the ball, you’ll likely pitch forward on the backswing, eliminating any chance of being in the proper sequence on the way down. To help, set your lead shoulder so it’s pointing a little right (closed) of your target line at address. It gives you a head start for an in-to-out downswing.

GO SLOW TO FIND SOLID
The biggest problem I see amateurs have off the tee is, they don’t make solid contact very often. In trying to squeeze as many yards as they can out of their tee shots, they lose control of the swing. Their hands and legs are moving all over the place, and there are too many motions going on to find the center of the face. You need to back it down. A great drill is to swing a 7-iron at 30 percent of your max speed, and keep doing that until you’re hitting solid shots most of the time. Then increase to 50 percent, 70 percent and eventually full speed. This builds the feeling of controlling your swing. If you can’t find the center of the face at less than half speed, you have no chance full throttle. You can do this drill with any club, and I think you’ll be surprised to find how far you hit it without swinging out of your shoes. Better tee shots are as simple as that.

SOURCE:  Golfdigest