COACHES’ TIPS

Swing suggestions from some of Southern California’s top professionals.

Randy Chang

PGA director of instruction, Arroyo Trabuco Golf Academy

This will help you: The two things I’ll tell everyone are: Hold your finish at the end of the swing, and maintain a constant grip pressure throughout the golf swing. That transition from the backswing to the forward swing is the most important move in golf. If your tempo is good, you keep your balance and you can put it all together, bring all your compensations together. Why is maintaining tempo so hard? It goes against all our instincts, and there’s the anxiety of not knowing how you’re going to hit the ball. It’s the mystery of the game, every day you wake up you feel different. A lot of times the days you’re injured are the days you play well, because you can’t swing hard. Everyone has to consistently work on tempo. But holding the finish and constant pressure with your grip will help you maintain it.

This one helped me: This has stayed with me from Day 1, a putting tip: Keep your head down and listen for the ball to fall in the cup. Ironically, that’s the best tip, but can be one of the worst tips if you’re talking about the swing. If you keep your head down too long on the golf swing, it starts restricting your body and your arms take over. But in putting, it’s the one thing that has carried through my whole life. And keep the constant pressure on the grip while you’re putting too.