Clip It

Harvey Penick taught his students to "clip the tee." They warmed up practising clipping the top of a tee. Then he would have them place the ball on the tee and clip the tee again. What a great teaching method. Harvey said he didn't exactly know why it worked so well, but it made his students square the club face.

For most of us, when we're hitting that little white ball, we think we have to, as my buddy Carl likes to say, "add force to the equation." Rather than trusting the club to do the work, at the last instant we feel the need to give it some extra help. It rarely helps.

We all wish we could hit the ball with our practice swing, The way to do it is to realize that the weight of the club head and the speed with which it is already travelling is more than enough to send that ball screaming on its way. Bob Toski talked about picturing that golf ball as being as light as a ping pong ball. No need to worry about making it fly. That's what the club is perfectly designed to do if we can just let it.

I know that my swing is much smoother and free when I just clip the tee, or as Harry Vardon said, "chop the legs out from under it."  If you're having trouble hitting at the ball, or trying to force it, why not try clipping the tee--chopping the legs out from under that tiny wee ball. It will help, Don't believe me, believe Harvey Penick and Harry Vardon.