On a recent trip to Abu Dhabi with Golf Pride, PGA Professional Jack Backhouse had the chance to spend some time with golf swing legend Robert Rock. Below are 4 things he learned from Robert Rock that will help you improve your golf.
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A Great Grip Starts You Off On The Right Foot
Robert Rock obviously has one of the prettiest golf swings of recent years, but a big part of that was in his grip. I could not believe how meticulous he was about getting his hands on the club in the right way. He wanted the grip to touch the right parts of his hands and to have his hands on the club in the same alignment every single time. This way, he could trust that the clubface was under control and shouldn’t expect anything weird to happen. He uses a Golf Pride Align grip to ensure this is the case.
Practice Your Pre-Shot Routine
As we all stood and watched Rock hit balls on that hot afternoon in Abu Dhabi, it jumped out to me how he stood behind the ball for every single shot he hit and went through his pre-shot routine, and this wasn’t by accident.
Robert Rock believed that every shot starts well before you move the club away in your takeaway and that you should be diligent about how you pick the club up, step into the ball, and get your thoughts squared away. These things contribute tremendously to how you swing and are things you do on every shot on the course.
How You Practice Matters
When Robert Rock was working from being good to great, he hit more practice balls a day than most of us hit in a month, but this wasn’t just machine-gunning balls down the range and calling it a good session. Rock would work on his technique, trying to perfect movements and positions to then see his desired ball flight.
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When Rock swung the club his best, the ball flew with a 1-yard fade, so this was the feedback he was looking for to confirm his swing was on track. This is EXACTLY how the club golfer should practice. Know what ball flight you are looking for, then keep hitting balls and repeating that flight until it’s second nature.
Stop Shot Shaping
Rock doesn’t believe that there have ever been more than two or three players who have been successful in deliberately changing their shot shape depending on the shot in front of them. He told me that nearly everyone he played with on tour basically had their one shape that they stuck to all the time. This made practice much more simple, repetition was the key to staying on the DP World Tour for such a long time and winning events.
Keep an eye out for more golfer’s swing analysis’ in the future.
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