Ronald Bruce Romberg
For most shots out of the sand, use your 60-degree wedge unless the flag is across the green, then you might go to your 54-degree or pitching wedge. Start by addressing the ball with an open club face. Play the ball off your left heel and set about 60 percent of your weight on your left foot.

Next, pick a spot approximately an inch behind the ball, as this is where you want the clubhead to enter the sand. From there make an outside in swing, making sure to use a full wrist hinge on the backswing.

As you swing the club head through the impact zone let the club head release to create the proper speed through the sand. Most golfers don't swing hard enough in bunkers to let the sand propel the ball out of the trap. Feel like you are pounding the sand and accelerating the club head through the shot to improve your bunker play.

Ronald Bruce Romberg Info

DENVER - Are you wondering how PGA Tour pros make such effortless swings but still hit the ball such a long distance? If you are you are not alone. In about 85 percent of the lessons I give, I hear the comment, "If I could hit it straighter and a little further I'd play better like the pros. They make it look so easy."

Tour pro's have either been taught or have learned through experience how to maximize the arc or width in their golf swings.

At GolfTEC, a part of the swing that we measure is Hand Sway. Hand sway is a measurement of how far the hands move laterally in the golf swing on the backswing and the follow-through. The tour pro's that we've tested have a hand sway measurement of 47cm from their starting hand position by the time they stop at the top of their backswing. Most of our amateur clients measure between 20 and 35cm of hand sway.


The average tour pro's hand position at impact is 17cm in front of where their hands were at the address position. This is an indication that the pros maximize the lateral motion of their hands in their golf swing creating more distance and straighter shots. This also indicates that their shaft is leaning forward at impact. Most amateurs' hands at impact are 5cm behind the position they were at address.

The golf club passes the hands and the shaft is leaning backwards at impact. This is a big loss of power in the swing. The longer the hands maintain their distance on the backswing the bigger the arc. The further the hands are extended through impact, the longer the clubhead moves down the target line.

A longer arc and more extension down the target line will create greater distance and straighter shots. This is what you've seen on television or if you've had a chance to see a live pro tournament. This hand sway is a "good sway" to have in your golf swing!
Golf tip: Maximizing your hand sway

Let me give you some help on maximizing your hand sway. First, from your address position, it is very important to start your backswing by extending the golf club as far back and straight as possible without falling off balance. This will keep the club traveling back on the correct path and increase the width of your golf swing.

The further you can keep your hands away from your chest maximizing your hand sway width, the greater your potential for distance. If this is done correctly your body and golf club will be in a very good position to start your downswing and you will have completed the first step to gaining more distance.

As a check, make a swing and stop at the top, have a friend pull your hands further away from your chest. If they pull and your hands and club move more than 3 inches, you have not maintained good hand sway. Do this drill until your friend can not pull your hands away from your chest.

Second, from the new position at the top of your swing through the finish of your swing you must maintain the distance from your chest for as long as possible. This will give you extension and the look of the effortless swing that the pros seem to exhibit. Maintaining your hand sway to the finish gives you the best possible chance of hitting it straight by allowing the club to stay on the target line longer.

Try this drill. Make mini-swings with a ball teed up. Take the club about half way back and on the down swing try to lead with your top hand (for right handed golfers that is your left hand) and hit the ball on the follow-through only after you have checked that your top hand has passed the ball. You should start with very slow swings until you are sure that your top hand is leading and the golf club is square at impact. You can speed up and lengthen your swing until you reach the top of your backswing.

Ronald Bruce Romberg Contact

Ronald Bruce Romberg Bio:
Yes, Lard, ugly fat, impedimenta, your gut, extra baggage....what would be the most important thing you could do for your golf? ... learn another "trick" for your already befuddled swing OR drop some baggage? I submit the following for your ponderment.

Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus (in prime), Tiger, David Duval. Think about this...they were all in great shape. Arnie looked like a full back. Sam could pass for a star athlete in any sport. Gary and Ben, tough as nails. Tiger and David workout and eat correctly...stomachs flat as a table.

Think about this...near greats...Billy Casper, Lee T., Phil M., and many many others who could have been better. What was missing...conditioning. How good do you think Tiger would be with a 42" waist?


The diff between the greats and near greats and also rans could have been the amount of lard they were toting. Jack could probably have his original hip if he didn't have a weight problem.

And...I will bet ya that if he would drop the extra baggage, get serious about nutrition, do some yoga, lift some weights, and ease the club back a little further (easier if your not swinging around a gut).... that he would have a few more horse races left in him.

Go pick up a 20 or 30#...or 40# dumbbell and walk around with it for a while. Try doing this for 18 holes. It is not only more difficult to swing around a fat middle but you can be super tired after an 18 hole stroll. These dumbbells represent the extra weight you are lugging around, Chubby.

Lets have a golf match between Tiger and Jack. Lets say they both have to be the same age. But....Tiger has to use Jacks body and Jack gets to use Tigers. Do NOT misunderstand my point..... I am focusing on conditioning. Who are you going to put your nickel on?

Golfers sit around and discuss the importance of the left wrist and dominant eye and other nonsense when their focus should be on dropping the ugly fat.

Your best golf? Stand in front of the mirror naked and see if you can find the culprit. Better yet, hop in your shorts and have someone take a front and side picture of you....You may be shocked.

Reach down, right now and pinch your stomach. Whatcha got? Pinch an 1" or more.....how about a hand full? Want to swing back further...it is not your flexibility its your gut.

Want to walk 18 holes without life support? Drop the lard. It is the single most important thing you can do. I could never had taken a 30 year lay off from golf and come back "swingin like a kid" if I had a pot.

To learn more about Jim McLellan's simple way to learn your best golf in the shortest period of time visit his website and read what golfers are saying...www.mcgolf.com
Reader Comment: Education by the Anti-Pro

This semester, I took a beginning golf course to fulfill my phys-ed requirement. I didn't take it just to fulfill the requirement, but also because I really wanted to learn how to play. Besides, isn't that the real corporate boardroom in this country.

The semester comes to an end tomorrow and I was researching golf articles to write a 2 -3 page paper on and I came across several of yours and I just want to say...YOU ARE A GOD!!!

I go through the same thing every time I get to the range. I get to the tee, I hit the first ball or two BEAUTIFULLY!! As I kid myself and say that I could be a pro, that's when I start to make my mistakes. I find myself thinking TOO MUCH after the first two hits. I think "Wow, that was great, how did I do that?" Then before the next swing I stand there and think "OK, slight bend in the knees, don't bend left arm, look at the ball, turn from the hips and not the knees, don't slide your right foot back on your follow through, right elbow, right pocket, etc. etc..." and then I swing and I miss, or I slice or I send it 20 feet or knock the tee out from underneath and never touch the damn ball!!! Then the rest of my time at the range I am frustrated because I can't copy the first two hits I did. NOW I KNOW WHY!! Because I didn't think about them, I just did it! Even though when the instructor sees those beautiful hits he tries to correct a good thing because my swing is kind of akward....but it works when I am not thinking about the mechanics of it.

I can't tell you how much I wish I would've read your articles BEFORE I took this class. That way I would've shut my instructor out and just got up there and did it. After all, everybody is different and everyone is going to swing differently. You do what works for you. I feel an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders. From now on, no more thinking....just hit it.







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