"The average guy, truth be known, hits more balls in a week than Bruce hits in a year," Duane [Bruce Lietzke's brother] said.

Why Playing a Fade May Help Your Golf Game

Here’s an excerpt from Hitting a Fade May Help Your Golf Game by Ken Ruggiero.

“Here’s why [a fade gives you more room for error]. If you can hit a driver straight down the middle into a fairway that is 40 yards wide, you create a room for error of 20 yards on either side of center.

However, if you can hit a fade a shot with consistency, then you can hit your tee ball down the left side of the fairway, knowing that your ball will be curving towards the center. You have in effect doubled the margin of error on the fairway by eliminating misses to the left.

You could do the same with a draw, but a draw is more difficult to contain because it tends to run out further. A fade generally moves from left to right and gently lands without much topspin. It’s more controllable.”

Paying Tribute

Lietzke Still Paying Tribute to Henry Homberg

Photo Source: Texas Golf Hall of Fame: H. Homberg

 Local Golfer Lietzke Reflects on Humble Beginnings

 

Looks like they have now made the linked article available only to digital subscribers.  However, if you google the phrase "local golfer lietzke reflects" you may be able to read the a entire article.

Flashback

Here's an oldie-but-goodie--a Dodge commercial from the late 70's.  Found it at TomWatson.com:

Nice Pants!

Hey Bruce, Bob Evans restaurant called.  They want their curtains back.

Photo is from The Venturi Analysis, 1981.

Ben Crenshaw Discusses Bruce Lietzke

I generally enjoy Feherty on the Golf Channel.  Here's a brief clip where Ben Crenshaw talks about Bruce Lietzke in a segment about golfers from Texas.

Yardages

This a screen shot from some video footage that shows Bruce Lietzke's club yardages when he was on the Champions Tour and playing Adams Golf equipment:

A Tip

I can't vouch for the accuracy of it, but I saw this tip in Golf Magazine's Complete Book of Golf Instruction:

Bodyguard?

Here's a photo I saw online of Bruce Lietzke with what looks to be a bodyguard.

Lietzke Footage

Someone was kind enough to send me a link to some Lietzke footage they recently uploaded to YouTube.  Good stuff.

Link to Lietzke Swing on YouTube

Bruce Lietzke in the News

Here's a news story about the Bruce Lietzke Junior Golf Classic:

How Bruce Lietzke Learned to Fade the Ball

The following is an excerpt from a 1995 Sports Illustrated article:

[Lietzke] missed qualifying for the Tour on his first attempt by a stroke, but it was for the best. Lietzke took his classic, upright swing to the mini-tours in Florida, where to be competitive in constant heavy wind, he had to learn to lower his ball flight from a towering draw.

Lietzke is the first to admit he knows next to nothing about the mechanics of the golf swing, and it showed in his diagnosis then. Rather than simply moving the ball back in his stance, he left it off his left heel and tried to lower the trajectory of his shots by "covering" the ball with his right shoulder. That move created a slight outside-in action that produced a consistent fade.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006631/2/index.htm