The Flexible Golf Swing: A Cutting-Edge Guide to Improving Flexibility and Mastering Golf's True Fundamentals

For more than 400 years, the secret of the golf swing has been one of the most fascinating and frustrating mysteries known to mankind. Despite remarkable advances in golf club technology, golf instruction, and golf course conditioning, the average golfer's handicap hasn't changed in the past 30 years. Not coincidentally, the nation as a whole is becoming less healthy due to the sedentary lifestyle that is harming our bodies at an alarming rate. We are then taking our dysfunctional bodies to the golf course.

Roger Fredericks, a leading golf instructor and golf fitness pioneer who has worked with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Arnold Palmer, takes readers on a step-by-step journey to explain precisely why golfers have a hard time improving and more importantly, what to do about it. In The Flexible Golf Swing, he lays out his commonsense approach and explains in detail the true fundamentals of the golf swing, and precisely how the mechanics are merely symptoms of how a body functions.

“I am glad to see that Roger is bringing the principles of anatomical function into the golf world.” —Jack Nicklaus

ROGER FREDERICKS has been one of the most influential figures in the golf fitness movement over the past 20 years and is one of the few golf professionals with expertise in both golf instruction and physiology. He has worked on the golf swings and bodies of more than 20,000 golfers, including more than 60 tour professionals and seven Hall of Famers. The creator of the smash hit infomercial "Roger Fredericks Reveals Secrets to Golf Swing Flexibility," he travels around the country conducting seminars. He resides in San Diego.

CHAPTER 1

MY STORY

"YOU MUST HAVE ONE HECK OF A SORE LEFT ANKLE WHEN YOU HIT A LOT OF GOLF BALLS." Those words were uttered to me in 1985 by a physical therapist named Ric McDonald, who at the time was the head trainer for the San Diego Chargers football team. Although I didn't know it then, that one sentence would change the course of my life and would actually start me out on a new career.

That sentence became so important to me that it is etched in my memory. Ric said it just as I was reaching for the doorknob to leave his office. We had just concluded a business meeting that had nothing to do with physical therapy or golf. Flabbergasted, I turned to him and asked, "How did you know that?"

"Look at your posture," he said. My posture at the time was horrible. I had severe rotation in my hips, and my right shoulder was rounded and pulled down and forward (like with many golfers). He explained the body's natural and correct posture, and he showed me how severely out of balance I was. From there, Ric described my golf swing tendencies and pinpointed precisely how my poor posture was contributing to my swing faults. He explained in detail how my tight right hip and impinged right shoulder were inhibiting my ability to turn my right side on my backswing, how the lack of extension in my right wrist (due to a prosthetic) was forcing the club open, and how my weaker left hip didn't have the ability to stabilize properly as I shifted my weight onto it in the downswing, thus forcing me to spin out, which in turn forced my left foot to roll to the outside, causing me pain. (I remember thinking, "So that's why I've had so many left ankle problems!")

I was shocked. He had never seen me before, let alone seen me swing a golf club. Yet his diagnosis was absolutely right on. It was like he had a supernatural gift. I was amazed. It was the start of a grand awakening. For the first time, I realized I might be able to end a lifetime of confusion about the golf swing. I might be able to find answers to questions that had been plaguing me since I was a kid.

THE BEGINNING

My life in golf started back in Santa Barbara, California, where I grew up. At about age 7, I began following my father, Elmer Fredericks, around the golf course. He was a fine player with a beautiful swing and could hit the ball a mile. I eventually got my first set of clubs--Bobby Jones Juniors. There were two woods, four irons, and a putter. Like most kids starting out, I'd take a wide stance and give it a hockey slap shot type of motion down the fairway.

When I was 9, my father got me a complete set of First Flight clubs. I couldn't wait for them to arrive. My anticipation was off the charts. They were too long for me, but my dad said they would be fine and that soon enough I'd grow into them. I immediately went out to play with them at La Cumbre Country Club, where my parents were members, and I couldn't have hit the ball any worse if I had tried. The new clubs felt terrible. I was demoralized. My dad had left work early and joined me in the middle of the fourth fairway to see how I was doing with the new clubs. What he found was a very disconsolate son.

He told me to hit a few balls so he could figure out why I was hitting bad shots. He watched for a few minutes, and then he confidently said, "I've got it! I know exactly what is happening. Because the clubs are longer, you're going to need to take it back longer so you can create more leverage." He told me to take the club back low and slow, and swing it back as far as possible--and wait for it at the top. His advice produced a much longer, rhythmic swing. Up until then, I had a very short backswing that had worked just fine with my old set, but it wasn't well suited for these longer clubs.

Fig. 1.1 Roger in the early days

THE MAGIC MOMENT

This actually was my first lesson, and it changed my relationship with golf. It was unbelievable. Every shot I hit was high and long. From that moment, I became compulsive--amazed that by simply making one little change in my swing I could make such a profound difference! I had discovered the magic that is legendary in golf. That particular day was the beginning of my search for the secrets of the golf swing.

Most golfers, I have come to realize, are looking for this magic in their games. Nearly all golfers spend their lives searching for some swing secrets, or that one little thing that will make a difference. Everybody goes through this, from Joe Hacker to golf's greatest players. I see this all the time in my golf schools, and it never fails to remind me of that day when I first found the magic in the company of my father. I remember it vividly: the flight of the ball, the consistency of my shots, and the absolute joy of discovering that one little thing that made such a dramatic difference.

There is purity and innocence in this joy, and it is something I see frequently in my students. We can be incredibly successful as adults and yet, at the same time, we can retain that childlike quality of excitement and zeal about golf.

The game of golf offers a lifetime of discoveries--new swing tips that lead to the overwhelming feeling that we've finally got it and it won't go away. Even when it disappears, as it inevitably does, we can get it back. Golf, after all, is a quest that never ends. Looking back now, I realize that magic moment with my father was the start of my golf instructional odyssey. It didn't take me long to become one of the greatest golf swing psycho junkies who ever lived. There wasn't a round of golf that I played when I wasn't trying something new or different, and this pattern went on for decades.

ADDICTED TO GOLF LESSONS

As a junior golfer, I took lessons from several renowned teachers, but ultimately I still played by feel. I received a partial golf scholarship to Arizona State University, which had (and still has) one of the top college golf programs in the country.

In 1972, after college, I turned professional and worked hard on my game in preparation for the PGA qualifying school in the fall. In June of that year, I suffered a very serious wrist injury, which eventually required two major surgeries. In the first surgery, doctors did a bone graft, taking bone out of my hip and transplanting it into my wrist. That surgery failed and my wrist got worse. In the next surgery, a year or so later, they literally cut one of my metacarpal bones in half and inserted a prosthetic (which is still there today). The recovery process took more than a year and a half, and I was in a cast much of that time. When I was finally able to resume playing, I noticed a tremendous difference in the way I hit the ball. What I discovered was that my old reliable right-to-left draw, the shot I had hit all my life, was completely gone. It was replaced by a weak push-fade that really didn't go anywhere. My accuracy was gone, too, along with my confidence.

This confused me terribly. To get back on the right track, I sought golf instruction from anyone and everyone. I took lessons from a legion of teachers. You name them, I probably went to them. If I didn't see them, I read their books or watched their videos, or I picked the brains of people who had seen them. I tried everything imaginable. Even more confusing was that many of these teachers had opposing theories about the golf swing. These theories often conflicted with each other so much that I became entirely confused. When I say I took lessons from them, I don't mean an occasional lesson here or there. I mean I worked at it. I'd sometimes hit 500 balls a day trying to groove what they were teaching me.

I also trained with Chinese martial arts teachers to learn and adapt energy transfer and power concepts to the golf swing. More than once, I persuaded a Chinese kung fu master to try to figure out the golf swing. Each one was as fascinated and confused as I was.

Claude Harmon and Paul Runyan were two of the great instructors whom I saw for several years. Although both were incredibly knowledgeable, their teaching concepts were diametrically opposed. For example, Claude wanted me to play with a weak left-hand grip; Paul wanted a strong left-hand position. Claude advocated a wide stance; Paul liked a narrow stance. Claude told me to keep my hands high at address; Paul wanted them low. Claude wanted me to set my wrists early; Paul wanted me to drag the club back. You get the picture? And that was just to address and start the swing. When it came to the full swing, I was unable to simplify things. Every teacher had a different theory.

I wouldn't be surprised if I drove many of these teachers to their psychiatrists' couches because of the countless questions I asked. While I listened and tried to learn each system, I couldn't help but notice that a high percentage of great players had unorthodox swings. Furthermore, their swings were so distinctive that seldom did you ever see any two people swing the same way. Just look at the swings of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Doug Sanders, Miller Barber, Jim Furyk, and others, and you'll see what I mean.

There were dozens of great players whose golf swings weren't even close to each other. I'd watch very successful players with short swings and long swings, strong grips and weak grips, early wrist sets and one-piece takeaways, cupped wrists and flat wrists, upright swings and flat swings. I would often go to my teachers and say something like, "You know, I was watching Lee Trevino and Gene Littler play the other day, and their swings are completely different. They don't do what you're telling me to do."

Most teachers would tell me those players were exceptions. That made sense at the time. Yet, it never occurred to me that maybe I was an exception. In fact, maybe we're all exceptions and are all "uniquely unique."

CLUELESS ABOUT THE GOLF SWING

This instructional journey lasted for nearly 12 years, and my golf game went from PGA Tour material to an 8-handicap. The odds were 50-50 if I would break 80 on any given day. I can honestly say that, after all the different methods and all the different teachers, nobody made me a better golfer. Nobody gave me the "secret" or made me feel confident in my skills. In fact, I got so confused that I was literally lost in a maze from which there was no escape. I barely knew which end of the club to hold. I thought of quitting the game all the time, but I couldn't. I was a psychological mess.

I didn't realize at the time that all my experiences--as a player and especially as a student of all these great teachers--would eventually help me become a better instructor. Everything I went through--all the joy and frustration--would motivate me to understand the complexities of the golf swing. I feel strongly that to be a good teacher, one has to experience much of this to be able to comprehend what is happening inside the minds and bodies of one's students. Golf is a perplexing mental game, and an excellent instructor has to be a psychologist and a motivator, as well as a master of the golf swing.

DOCTORS AND FAITH HEALERS

To complicate the situation, my body began to deteriorate as I struggled with my golf game. My left knee was painful all the time. This required two knee surgeries to go along with my two wrist surgeries. Occasionally, I suffered from shooting sciatica that would sear down my hip and legs. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life.

The story of my body parallels the story of my golf swing. That is, I went to everybody to fix my knee pain. You name them, I've been to them-- orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, Rolfists, chiropractors, deep- tissue massage therapists, acupuncturists, acupressurists, martial artists, even a Filipino faith healer (who actually helped by explaining to me that my knee problem was a symptom of my misaligned hips). And, just like with my golf swing, nobody or any of their treatments provided a definitive answer. In fact, with each passing year, my knee got worse and worse until my left patella (kneecap) would literally slide off of its track.

Despite all this, I never gave up the dream of playing on the PGA Tour. I worked very hard on my game with the intent of someday, somehow, making it to the Tour. I never gave up that dream--until I played a round of golf one day with Craig Stadler.

THE CRAIG STADLER DECISION

I was invited to play with Craig Stadler at La Jolla Country Club near San Diego. Craig arrived at the course about 1 minute before our tee time and didn't hit one warmup shot. He went straight from the parking lot to the first tee. Despite missing two 20-inch putts, he shot the easiest 65 that I've ever seen. And he didn't seem elated at all. In fact, he seemed like he didn't even care. If that had been me, I would've been celebrating for weeks. Even the good rounds that I had shot seemed like hard work. Never had I shot a round with the ease that he had--and I had been practicing my game for years. Right then I experienced a moment of clarity. I asked myself, "What in the world am I trying to do?" And right then I gave up my dream of playing on the PGA Tour. That decision turned out to be a good thing because fate had something else in mind.

THE MEN WHO CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF MY LIFE

By the time I met Ric McDonald, he had been the head trainer of the San Diego Chargers for 19 years. His reputation in the field of physical therapy was legendary. He had recently joined forces with a unique anatomical functionalist named Pete Egoscue (who eventually became Jack Nicklaus's trainer and opened the internationally renowned Egoscue clinics).