MISCELLANEOUS
(15).."POOR SHOT RECOVERY"
.....If you're like most golfers, hitting a poor shot starts you analyzing
the mechanics of your swing. This is the worst thing you can do because it activates left brain thinking and makes it even harder to perform well.
It's the old case of analysis leads to paralysis. You start to think of what
you were doing versus what you were supposed to do. Then if you weren't using mechanical swing thoughts, you start to use them and your mind begins to race.
Within moments you may even begin to question every part of your swing. The
result is often another poor shot.
Actually, most poor shots are due to mental errors which then lead to physical errors. Try to limit the thought process. How was my grip, my stance,etc, etc, etc. Relax..Let your swing work..Don't work your swing...
To get yourself back on track after a poor shot, ask yourself these questions:
(1)... How was my tempo or rhythm? ....If it wasn't too good, focus on saying a feel type swing thought to keep you in the tempo you want.
(2)... Were you committed to the club, target and type of shot? ....If you were
having second thoughts, you know you need to make a firm decision and a stronger commitment to your decision on future shots. Go with your first thought
if there is any indecision.
(3)... How well did I visualize the shot?....If you couldn't see the shot in your mind's eye before you hit it, make sure you focus on visualizing your next shot or putt. "Take Dead Aim"
(4)... How was the feel?....Could you feel the shot during your pre-shot
routine and practice swing. Did the swing feel the same as my practice swing? If not, focus more on this.
By looking at this side of your game for the reason for a bad shot, you'll
keep your tension level and emotions in check.
Don't get upset...put the bad shot behind you. The more your emotions get involved in your shot, the more likely another poor shot will result.
Use the techniques above to find the reason for the poor shot and you'll be
amazed at how well you recover from bad shots and bad holes.
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(16).."THREE WOOD PUTT
Here is one of the trickiest shots in golf. Okay, I take that back. No, it's not a crisis that is going to need the finesse of Vijay Singh's flop shot or even a Daly raw muscle out of some treacherous fescue to cure. Those are pro shots. This one is one that sneaks up on you every ten rounds, and you say, "what do I do here?" .
What I am referring to is that darn putt that has the ball resting right up againstthe cut on a green. You can't hit a wedge. You can't get to it with a putter, and if you try you'll either grab the grass, or top the ball and bounce it halfway to the hole.
The solution? Take out your three wood. Knowing this little trick can save you some worry and strokes. Tiger Woods recently used this method in a similar situation to great success. Except nobody thought he was crazy like your playing partner will! (We know that Tiger could probably hit it close with a stick anyway.)
You want to know why this shot works? It is very simple. Your putter, or even an iron, has too thin of a flange on the bottom of the club which allows the blade to grab, throwing the momentum and direction of the club off your target. Think about how hard you hit a 15 foot putt. Not very. This finesse shot won't allow you to "muscle" through any amount of grass, and with a blade you will surely get thrown.
The three wood on the other hand has this long flat bottom that bounces into the rough and stays very true. This will get you down to the ball so you will also get a very flat roll just like you would a regular putt.
Take your regular putting stance, we are not chipping here. Come through the ball and just putt the ball as you would normally. Choke up on your grip, right up to where the grip meets the shaft, and after a few tries on the practice green, you'll be putting out of this trouble spot with much more consistency.
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(17).."6 HANDICAP HELPERS"
1. Get Proper Equipment
This doesn't mean you must go out and spend thousands of dollars on the latest gadgets. However if you are using an older set that isn't fitted properly for
your swing, this may be holding you back. Many of the developments of the last few years do make a difference in the consistency and distance of your shots. For many people, clone clubs are a perfect answer.
2. Make a Commitment to Some Daily Golf Activity
Ben Hogan once said he hated to miss a day of practice because that meant one more day before
he could get better. The average golfer isn't going to practice this fantastically but the old saying "you get out what you put in" is very true with the game of golf. For many golfers with limited time, this could mean as little as taking a golf club into the back yard and taking 15 minutes of practice swings. Make time for some sort
of golf activity each day.
3. Play 'Golf' When You Play Golf
By this I mean when you take the time to play a game of golf, play seriously and
try to focus on each shot. Try to never hit a careless shot during a serious
round of golf. This will improve your mental abilities and reduce mental errors. This doesn't mean you can't have fun while playing and in between shots. it just means to turn up the focus a notch. Use the driving range for working on technical things re. your swing, and the golf course for focusing on the target. Measure your results after the round by your score and the quality of your shots.
4. Play Form the Forward Tees
This can be a very good way to break through mental barriers. Often, golfers find a comfort zone as far as their scoring and are afraid to break through it. By playing shorter tees it will be easier to lower your scores and comfort zone. Playing a shorter course will instill a go for par or birdie mind set which you can maintain when you lengthen the course. If you can't score any better from the forward tees this is good message that some extra work on the short game is required.
5. Practice the Short Game
Chipping and putting account for more than half the strokes taken in most golfer's games. Spend a good portion of the practice time you have on the short game. A good analogy is what a football coach would say to his team if they can't score touch downs. " It's great to be able to get the ball onto the 2-yard line but it doesn't work if you can't get it into the end zone."
6. Keep Records
Depending on how serious you are, it is a great idea to keep records of your
hits and misses. This way you can see the gradual progress (hopefully!) Track your scores and when you hit a good shot and when you miss a shot. Was it right or left or on top? How many up and downs did you make? How many putts inside 5 feet did you miss ? etc. Adding these up after a round will show patterns and give you a much better direction on where you should direct your practice.
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(18).."MORE DISTANCE OFF THE TEE"
....There are many times when golfers are faced with an alternative when they cannot get their desired results with the driver. The use of an alternative such as a 3 or 5 wood may be better than you think. You might even hit it longer.
Let's discuss some interesting and revealing information.
To get the optimum ball flight that carries its potential distance, it should be launched at approximately 16 degrees. If a player uses a club with less loft, how do they achieve the optimum launch angle?
• First, the ball being tee'd up.
• Second, the clubhead speed.
• Third, the mass and location of the
center of gravity on the clubhead.
The problem is that many players do not have enough clubhead speed to get The
required launch angle. Therefore, they never reach their maximum distance.
For increased distance, many of these players opt to use their higher lofted
woods off the tee.
If your clubhead speed is not at least 70 mph, you would find it very difficult
to consistently use a driver with 10 degrees or less.
Conversely, on the PGA Tour you will find players using drivers whose loft can be as low as 4.5 degrees and many of these clubs rarely exceed 8 degrees.
The average clubhead speed on the PGA Tour on any given drive will range
approximately 102-115 mph. When the big guns rev it up, they can approach 130 mph. The world record for maximum clubhead speed is 152 mph!
Let's take this a step further.
When the ball is on the ground, you lose the main advantage of launch and
added loft. On paper, everyone thinks that they should hit the 3 wood from the
ground for maximum distance.
Again, the lofted wood may prove to be more effective in obtaining maximum distance.
Give yourself a chance and go to the course and hit a variety of shots with
different clubs.
Try what I've suggested and you may be pleasantly surprised with your success
in achieving increased distance.
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(19).."MASTER THE BASICS OF PUTTING"
Putting has often been called the game within a game, acknowledging that to be
a complete golfer one must poses the skills to play golf from tee to green but also to be skillful on the green. Many of the talents required to be a
good putter are removed from those required for the rest of the game. There
have been many great golfers in history but you'd be hard pressed to find one
who was not a good putter. In fact, studies have shown that in the game of
golf, putting accounts for 43% of the game among better players.
Armed with this knowledge, it makes good sense for golfers pressed for time to
invest some of their's into improvement of the putting game. The vast majority
of the lessons students ask for involve almost anything but putting, and I am
usually coaxing students to improve this part of the game if they're serious
about lowering their scores. Following are some simple suggestions to consider.
PUTTING FUNDAMENTALS
Proper fundamentals in putting leave plenty of room for personal preferences.
However, there are a few that I have found to be common among most good putters.
GRIP
The hands should work as a unit and not be spread too far apart. The further apart the hands are the more tendency there is to get the wrists
involved in the stroke, which is not desired. A normal (proper) golf grip is
fine or you can experiment with cross hand, reverse overlap, or a 3 and 3 grip (3 fingers of each hand on the club and the others just along for the ride Grip pressure should be relatively light (5 on a scale of 1-10) in order to promote feel.
AIM
Find a target and imagine a straight line coming through your putter. Don't get too caught up in the line of your feet but make sure the putter face is
"square" to the target. This line is also the line your stroke should follow.
When aiming in golf, especially in putting, keep the head level. Tilting it one way or the other distorts the perspective.
SETUP
Be sure to have your eyes over the intended line of the putt (ball line). Placing the ball either inside or outside the ball line will distort the perception of the path to the hole. To determine if your eyes are over the correct line, try holding your putter loosely and directly under your eyes as you address a putt and let gravity take it straight down. Now make sure that when you look down at the putter that it covers the ball. If not, move closer or further until it does. Ball position should be slightly forward toward the left foot (for right handed players) and the hands forward as well. Align the putter shaft with the left forearm. This
position promotes a good roll on the ball as it leaves the putter face.
STROKE
A consistent stroke is usually dominated by the shoulders and arms and should involve as little wrist movement as possible. Minimize body movement and try not to shift weight or turn the hips. (Forget what every instructor has told you on the full swing!)
ACCELERATION
Most successful putters will have at least as big a follow though as their back swing. This promotes acceleration and aids in distance control. One of
the most common faults I see is a player taking the club way back and then
stopping at the ball on the down stroke, anticipating the hit. Remember to
stroke through the ball, not at it.
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(20).."OPTICS IN PUTTING"
Seeing the line. If only we could see that line!There are fundamentals for doing just that.
First, realize that each of your eyes sees the ball and the green from a
different angle, and one of your eyes dominates the other as well. So, try looking at a shot with one then the other eye. You'll pick up on variations that may be important.
For those of you that are not sure which is your dominant eye, here is a simple way to find out. Look at some object in the distance. Now close one of your eyes as if winking. When you close the weak eye the object you are looking at will not change or not seem to shift positions and this means that open eye is your dominant eye. Simple as that.
Favor your dominant eye with your putting stance. If you're right handed and your left eye is the dominant eye, you've got an advantage since your "good" eye is clearly seeing the target. If your right eye is your "good eye", then open your stance and body to get that eye over the putt's line. You might need to get the ball back a bit more in the stance to adjust to your new "eye position". Find a level of comfort. The goal is to give the best eye the best view of the putt.
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(21).."PUTTING YIPS"
How to beat the yips
Yips. Ain't they awful? Once the fear gets a hold on your nervous system, it seems like it will never end. Goodbye confidence.
What to do?
Realize that this can be easily handled with simple techniques.
First thing to do is realize that the yips are a series of patterns. Stop any of these patterns and you've got a control point on the yips.
Spotting the fear earlier and earlier is your goal here. When spotted, step back, take a breath, restart your routine. Don't give the yips an even break. Once your body/mind learns you won't "put up" with such nonsense, they actually gets the message!
Once you start a re mediation process like this, you put your mind on the present, not the future where fear and its buddy, imagination, do their dirty work.
Following the putting setup routines brings you to the "now". Use this to combat fear. Practice this and at some point it becomes so automatic that fear is wiped out as a part of your pre-putt routine.
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(65).."PRE SHOT ROUTINE"
....No matter what your athletic ability, if you take a little time and learn to set up a shot properly, then you can build a golf swing. Everyone can do it, no matter your talent level - just learn a pre-shot routine and you can build a proper golf swing.
...FIRST...Your pre-shot routine starts with the grip. If you watch the players on T.V., their left hand goes on the club first, while the club is on the ground. Then all of a sudden the club comes up with the club head above the handle, and that's when their right hands goes on. The hands fit nice and easy. It is so hard to find the right grip when the club is on the ground. But if you just flip it up with the head above the grip and put your hands on the club, the thumb fits nice in the middle of the right hand. Then you have the proper right hand grip
...SECOND:... You need to establish a pattern on how you set up to and address the ball. "Your Pre-Shot Routine"
Some pros pre-shot routine is as follows:....
When you approach the ball, put your right foot in the approximate position where it will be when you finally address the ball to hit. After your right foot is in the desired position, keep your back straight, bend in the knees and begin to align the clubface and the ball at the target.
The key to the whole thing now is - with your eyes on the target, move your left foot into position. Not at the target - but parallel or left of the target. Use a little motion to bring the left foot into position - all the while with your eyes on the target. Now you can drop the right foot wherever you want. - open, closed or square to the target. But every time you change your foot position, your eyes have to be on the target.
My routine is as follows:
...I establish my grip as above. I then walk behind the ball and find a piece of debris 1 to 2 feet in front of the ball that lines up between my target and the ball. The piece of debris is now my target. I walk around a place the club head behind the ball and square it to the debris, which I am now using for my target. (it is alot harder to miss align the face when using something close to the ball to aim at). Now, making sure the club shaft is perpendicular to my target line, I set my feet parallel to the target line and then I make sure my shoulders are parallel with my toes. I know now on every shot I make that I am in prefect alignment.
Watch the pros on TV...Do you really think they walk behind the ball and look down the fair way to see if its raining on the green? Think about it..
The important thing here is that know matter what pre-shot routine you decide upon.
• Do it on every shot.
• Be 100% sure you are aligned correctly to the target.
...Most golfers have a tendency to look at the ball while they place their feet. They invariably end up way right of the target. At the top of the backswing the target will be way behind you and you'll have to spin around to get to the ball, creating those big slices and bad shots.
...
So all you serious golfers out there, give yourself a chance. Work on your pre-shot routine. Believe me, if your toes, shoulders, and club face are aimed correctly you will hit the ball with more consistantly and that my freinds is were its at... You'll be amazed at how quick your swing will improve!
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