MISCELLANEOUS
(171).."CORRECT POSTURE"
We all know the importance of the grip as a basic fundamental in the golf swing, but what about posture ?
Many golfers and also experienced players underestimate the importance of an "athletic posture" at address. Many bad habits developed in a swing can be traced back to a faulty set-up as the root cause. What does an athletic posture look like and how do you position yourself to do this?
1. Hips out
2. Flat Back
3. Knees flexed over arches of feet
4. Shoulders positioned over balls of feet
5. Arms hang down form shoulders without any tension
Sometimes woman feel uncomfortable positioning themselves this way because we've been taught to tuck the derriere under and not out.
This drill should help produce a good posture
1. Stand erect and lay a club along your spine and then bend from hips while maintaining a flat back until the shoulders are over the balls of your feet. Knees flexed only enough to feel your weight is in the middle of your feet, not out on the toes or on the heals.
It would be a great advantage to practice this drill in front of a mirror so you can see for yourself whether you are in the correct position.
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(172).."BALL BELOW YOUR FEET"
I think the ball below your feet on a side hill lie is the most difficult of all sloping lies. It is for me anyway.The biggest mistake made when faced with this type of shot is too bend the knees to much to reach the ball.
With the knees bent to far you will have the tendency to raise up as you swing through causing you to top the ball.
To correct this tendency to raise up, set up to the ball with your normal knee flex and bend at the hips a little more than normal.
Now as long as you keep your spine angle, you will not raise up.
Here are a few suggestions for the side hill, ball below your feet lie:
1.. Keep your normal knee flex and bend a little more from the waist.
2.. Keep the back swing short - if you try to swing to your normal position there will be a tendency to raise up
3.. Take one more club (use an 8 if you normally hit a 9 from that distance)
4.. Aim to the left as the ball will have a tendency to fade or go to the right (for right handed golfers)
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(173).."DANCE FLOOR TIPS"
Steep Downhill Putts
It can be difficult to execute a tiny, soft putting stroke. When faced with a relatively steep, downhill putt, use the toe end of the putter head to stroke the ball. This will deaden the impact and greatly reduce the velocity of the ball leaving the clubface. This, of course, will be less effective with some extreme perimeter weighted putters - such as the heavily toe-weighted Carbites.
Check Where Your Eyes Are
Think of a sharpshooter shooting a rifle. Can you imagine any sharpshooter not sighting directly down the top of the barrel? Can you imagine one holding the rifle ten inches out from his body? Five inches? Even two inches? Of course not. Every human being can aim and sight better when gazing directly down the target line. This is the reason that it is so crucial that your eyes are directly over the ball. Have a friend stand behind you and see whether your eyes are immediately above the ball when you are in your stance. A piece of string with some weight tied to one end so you can hold it next to your eye when you have addressed the ball also works.
Try a Thicker Grip
If you have a tendency to be too wristy in your putting stoke try a thick, jumbo grip. This will go a great way towards taking your hands out of your stroke. It will make it difficult to flip at the ball through impact.
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(174).."THE DOWNSWING"
A solid swing starts with a good grip, set-up position and a good turn in your back swing. But just as important is a good move to initiate the downswing.
As I observe many golfers making their swing, many have a pretty good back swing, but really mess up on the downswing by starting back down with their hands and arms. What happens when you do that is you hit a lot of scull slices.
Another result is that you end up finishing flat footed on your swing. This is the result of a poor pivot and poor weight transfer, or even worse a reverse pivot which robs you of both accuracy and distance.
After you get into a good position at the top of your back swing, concentrate on starting your downswing with your hips moving a little bit laterally, but mostly turning them through the shot. Bring the arms and hands through impact naturally, don't throw them at the ball. When you watch the pros on T.V., you'll notice their belt buckle is facing down to the target by the time they hit the ball. So concentrate on moving the hips first. Unturn from the bottom up and not the top down. "Make sure your hips lead your body through impact" A good way to practice is to look into a mirror and watch yourself turn your hips first and get the belt buckle facing to where the target would be.
Finally, take a look at your follow through. Make sure you are getting all the way onto your left side. You'll notice that the good golfers finish - not flat footed - but with their weight on their left foot with their right heel up. Finishing your swing is important to get the ball on your intended target line. A flat-footed finished prevents a complete follow through, forcing the ball out to the right.It's always good when practicing your golf swing to go back to the basics!
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(175).."THE WEIGHT SHIFT"
When finishing a golf shot correctly with the weight on the front foot, it feels great and you can feel the power from the club and it seems effortless to hit the ball a long way. However, if this is not happening as much as it should, maybe we need some drills to help enhance this feeling. Finishing with the weight on the back foot causes loss of distance and it seems to take extra effert to make the shot. It feels much easier and crisp when you finish on the front foot. Consciously trying to shift the weight is not the way to correct this problem and will only increase your inconsistency. This should be a natural occurance when making a golf swing. I have noticed alot of golfers have a great weight tranfer when making a practice swing, before hitting the ball, but somehow manage to forget it when that little round white thing is in front of the club face. Ever wonder why your practice swing feels different than your swing swing. Go figure.
Most golfers with this problem can find the root
of the problem in the fact they are making an effort to get the ball airborne. They try to get "under" the ball, and subsequently holds the weight back.
Here are some drills to to help you get the feeling of a good weight shift.
Drill #1
Take a ball in your right hand and stand in your golf posture with your left hand behind your back. Now toss the ball underhand as far as you can down the fairway.
You will note that you naturally transferred your weight to your front foot in order to get the necessary power. Remember, the golf swing is similar motion to this underhand throw.
Drill #2
Same set up, except replace the ball in your right hand with a pitching wedge, tee one up slightly and hit the ball. Try and get the same feeling as the first drill. Do not worry about hitting the ball, just concentrate on the weight transfer feeling.
Drill #3
Now put both hands on the club, start with only a small pitch shot, and again duplicate the same feeling as tossing the ball down the fairway. You should finish this drill with your arms extended out in front of you and your weight on your front foot.
And finally, go to a full swing, and feel the weight transfer through to the front foot in a smooth and effortless manner. Any problems, go back to drill #1
All of these drills are intended to get you to shift your weight naturally, but obviously this can only happen if you spend time on the range working on them. No move in golf happens through osmosis or just reading about them, so get out there, work on these drills, and see your power improve after just a few times out on the range.
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(176).."PUTTING TIPS"
Putting is 45% of your total score on average. Good putting can cover a multitude of problems. If you are scoring over 90 you are not putting well - commit to improving. Here are 5 tips to help you on the road to successful putting.
1. Use a soft ball for best control of speed and line - speed determines the line.
2. Work diligently on lag putting from 30 feet or longer - your goal is to go past the hole by at least 1 foot if you miss. Try #4 on these-you will be impressed.
3. When on the practice green putt to slightly uphill holes - a practice putting green is usually faster than the
greens on the course because of all the walking on it.
4. Putt while looking at the hole instead of the ball to help improve your feel for distance of different length putts.
5. Spend time putting to a coin or tee - you'll find the hole looks much larger after that.
As you practice expect improvement not perfection. Putting machines set to exactly the same line and speed miss one or two 6 foot putts out of every ten.
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(177).."PUTTING STROKE"
In order to see the line of the putt and make a straight back and through stroke, it is essential that the eyes remain directly over the ball and the shoulders are parallel with the target line. If your eyes are inside the line of the putt an inside-out motion may result, and conversly if the eyes are to far across the line of the putt a outside-in stroke may result. Either motion is destructive to consistent putting. The most consistent motion is a square-to-square motion where the putter travels on a straight line back and through the ball on towards the target.
The Mirror Drill
One sure fire way to accpomplish a square-to-square motion is to place a mirror underneath the ball. Put a peice of 3/4" masking tape down the center of thr mirror to show the ball-target-line of the putt. As you assume your address position you now can easily get the eyes directly over the ball-target-line of the putt. Simply look to see that your target-eye is covered over the ball as you assume your address posiiton. Also the mirror can assist you on keeping your shoulders parallel to the ball-target line (another vital key in a consistent stroke). As with the golf swing, the swing follows the shoulders, so they must be aimed at your target and not right or left.
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(178).."OVER SWINGING"
Over-swinging is very common among players striving for more distance. Mathematically a longer arc should create more clubhead speed, not so, unless done correctly. Over-swinging will definitely throw the clubhead in a very poor swing plane, because you take the shoulders out of their level plane or cup the wrists.
How far should you take the club back? Only as far as you can turn your shoulders with balance. If the club goes back farther than the shoulders, the left wrist will break down (cup). This will not only open or close the clubface but will take the pulling action away from the legs, thus allowing the shoulders or hands, or both to take over and dominate the forward swing. This type of motion puts the club in an outside-in plane (Over the top).
How do you cultivate the proper length of backswing? We are all individuals and our muscle coordination is not the same, therefore it would be foolish to try to force the club to a parallel position at the top of the backswing. Trying to take the clubhead to parallel will not only shorten your distance; it will wreck your accuracy. So returning to the earlier premise: The club should not go back any further than you can turn your shoulders.
How can golfers learn this? By feel. Keep the left wrist in a flat position in relation to the back of the left forearm and back of left hand. This will allow the wrist to hinge naturally, not break, which will allow the club to go back only as far as the shoulders turn.
Practice this drill daily, and before you know it your muscles will get conditioned and trained to stretch further under control to create the arc you desire without over-swinging. Going to parallel is not the answer to solid shot making, and power. Distance is the speed of the lower body pulling the speed of the motion of your left arm corresponding together to launch the ball towards the target.
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(179).."BUNKER SAND"
Sand traps bother all golfers, some more than others. One reason for their fear is the skulled escape shot that sails over the green, often into another trap. To cure this ugly shot, you first must understand how different textures of sand affect your play.
Although designed primarily for bunker play, the sand wedge is not always the right club to use from a trap. Its wide, rounded flange makes the club bounce through dry, fine sand, throwing a thin layer -- and the ball -- into the air. But sand isn't always soft and fluffy. Wet sand is heavy and tends to stick together, and if you're playing after a hard rain, the surface probably will be packed down and as hard as a cart path.
As if that weren't enough, not all dry sand is soft and grainy. The sand on some courses is simply rougher and coarser than on others. Like everything else in golf, you have to know what affect this variety of conditions will have on your shot making and plan accordingly.
FIRM SAND: USE A PITCHING WEDGE For a green side shot from firm sand, trade your sand club for a pitching wedge. Its sharper face and smaller flange dig in and under the ball better than the sand wedge, which would bounce off the hard surface and skull the ball. But don't let the blade of the pitching wedge dig in too deeply. Set up a little wider than usual and make a low, sweeping takeaway and hit down briskly about an inch behind the ball to "skim" it out.
If the sand is hard-packed so even the sharp edge of your pitching wedge will bounce up and "belly" the ball, play the shot as you would off hard dirt. Square the blade, play it back in your stance, set the hands ahead and pick the ball cleanly off the surface.
TEST THE SAND WITH YOUR FEET....Use your feet to test the texture. For example, make sure that what you think is packed sand isn't really a thin crust with fluffy sand underneath. If it is, take the sand wedge and play a normal explosion shot.
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(180).."PRACTICE ROUTINE"
"Developing a Good Practice Routine"
If you've made the commitment to play golf, it would be very helpful for you to develop a good practice routine. Plan your time wisely. Let's say you have five hours a week to devote to practicing. You should spend at least 60% of that time on the short game, which is chipping, pitching, sand bunker work and putting. This is the area that will allow you to shoot lower scores. Also you will have more success in hitting good shots which will build your confidence. This is the scoring area and no matter what level of skill you achieve in golf it will always be of great benefit to be efficient around the greens.
The other 40% of your time should be divided between the tee shot and the fairway shots. Golf is one of the those games that should be taught from the hole back to the tee, but most of us don't do it that way. If you go to any golf course or practice facility you will see the majority of the people whaling away with drivers. Don't fall into this trap. Yes it is true, you need to be able to drive the ball in play and with some length but ultimately you score with the irons and the putter.
Feel is a big part of the game, and I believe it is easier to develop feel working on the short shots. The swing is softer and slower so you get more feed back. You hit more solid shots and you can carry this feel over into the long game. During a round of golf you probably won't hit every shot perfect or hit every green in regulation so you will have to rely on your short game for help. Learn it and practice it right from the beginning and you will never be sorry. If possible find a place to practice the shots that give you touble with on the course. Ball below your feet, downhill lie, etc. How may times have you had a lie and can not remember...does the ball go back in my stance or forward? Do I aim a little right or left? Figure these things out when you practice and not out while your playing.
Even the tour players who are the best players in the world rely on their practice to maintain and improve their game. I think that is what sets them apart. If you wish to improve, practice is a requirement in anything you try and wish to do better at.
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(181).."SWING vs PRACTICE SWING"
You Know You Can Make A Great Practice Swing, but Why Can't You Swing the Same Way When You Hit the Ball?
You've seen your playing partners do it. You know you've done it. But if it's so simple to make a smooth, fluid, effortless practice swing, why does that same fluid swing turn into a quick, jerky, chopping motion when the intent is to hit a golf ball?
The answer is very simple. When you take a practice swing, it doesn't matter if the club face is square. It doesn't matter if the club head is traveling down the target line. It doesn't matter what the trajectory of the club head is as it nears the impact area. Because none of these things matter, there is no need for the body to go through contortions in an effort to make them happen. You are relaxed and just letting the swing happen. Your body, arms, hips, everything do the natural thing as you turn and unturn.
Put a golf ball in front of a golfer, and it's a completely different situation. Some turn into cave men, some get so stiff they look as if some one ironed them. Some have a couple dozen swing thoughts floating in their heads and the end result of each is a unnatural swing. When hitting a ball, the club face does need to be square. The club does need to be traveling down the target line at impact. The trajectory of the club head at impact does matter. Your practice swing achieves this and the others do not.
If your practice swing and real swing are different, it's because you are causing it. That seemingly great golf swing isn't really so great-it and doesn't work while trying to hit a ball, because your brain knows this and attempts to make corrections during the swing and the end result is a bad feeling, inconsistent swing.
This also explains why golfers with poor swings hit the ball better when they swing easy-by not hurrying, they allow the body to make the correct moves during the swing and do not force it into unnatural positions. Good golfers can, and do, swing hard. They can do this because the club never gets too far out of position during the swing, thereby requiring little, if any, manipulation..
Next time your at the range put some effort into hitting the ball using your practice swing. You might get a surprise.
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(182).."ALIGNMENT"
Lots of times errant shots can be traced back to poor alignment. Pick a target and do your normal set up and when you have addressed the ball, take your club and lay the club across your toes and see how good your alignment really is, you might be surprised. Here's a great tip to improve your alignment and can easily be incorporated into your pre shot routine.
BEHIND
..Stand behind the ball and pretend you are standing on right side rail of a set of rail road tracks and that rail runs all the way to your target. Now find an object, piece of dirt, blade of grass, golf tee, anything that is about 12" in front of the ball that is lying on that rail.
FACE
..Keeping your eye on that object walk up and set the club head behind the ball and line the face of the club to the object. Do not set your feet, stand with an open stance. Align the face so the face lines are perpendicular with the rail and pointing at the object . Do not look at the real target, Keep your eyes on the object.
SHAFT
..Holding the shaft so it is straight up and down, now place your feet on the left rail, about 3" apart. The rails and shaft should create the letter "H" lying side ways. The toes of your shoes should create a perfect "T" with the shaft. Spread your feet to accommodate the club you are using and keep them on the rail. You are now perfectly aimed at your target. Your ball and club head are on the rail aimed at the target and your feet are on the other rail aimed left of the target.
HAND
..Once you have established your rail road track address a great way to check if you are the correct distance away from the ball is to simply relax and release your right hand. If you are the correct distance away your hand will fall straight away from the grip staying parallel with the rails. If it does no,then move closer or further away until it does. You are now set perfectly to make the golf swing. Make this part of your pre shot routine and part of every golf shot and your score will drop.
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(183).."THE WAGGLE"
The waggle is a familiar sight: Prior to hitting a shot, the golfer moves the club back and forth by gently hinging and unhinging the wrists. It's a good way to minimize muscle tension during the swing.
For some players, however, a waggle may not be such a good idea. Not that loose and relaxed hands aren't important; it's just that a one-piece takeaway -- in which hands, arms, and shoulders move the club back together and the wrist do not break at the start of the back swing.-- is more important. Waggling can increase the changes of starting the swing by breaking the wrists, which can pull the club off-line and throw your timing off at impact.
Try the one-piece waggle during your preshot routine: Keeping the wrists firm, move the club back and forth by rotating the shoulders. Make two or three waggles, then swing. This will encourage a backswing controlled by turning the body, rather than lifting the club with the hands and arms. The result will be a bigger turn and more power.
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(184).."GRIP PRESSURE"
Arguably, the most important part of a golf swing is the grip pressure. Improper grip pressure causes more swing problems than you can imagine.
You must maintain a "Constant Light Pressure" to have consistent golf shots and maximize your distance potential..
A common problem for Average Golfers is gripping the club too tightly. Tight muscles slow club head speed and rob you of distance! It also will cause the face of the club to come through the impact zone unsquare.
Ever heard "Hold the club like you are holding a bird"? Why is it so important? When you maintain a constant light grip, two things "DO NOT OCCUR" which destroy good golf swings.
1...You do not energize the fore arm muscles and this allows the hands and arms to come through the impact zone square. Don't believe me..next time you address the ball squeeze your grip and watch the club face.
2...You'll also notice that when you squeeze the grip that your upper body, chest and torso muscles also tighten, not good. The power you develop to hit a golf ball is stored in the coil tension created by your torso muscles as you make your turn in the back swing. Full power is achieved only when you allow these muscles to uncoil freely. Tightening of the torso muscles on the down swing "SLOWS" the uncoil and you slow your swing, simple as that. Watch Couples or Els and you'll understand about a no tension swing is all about.
A Constant Light Pressure, just tight enough to hold onto the club through the swing, will keep your upper body relaxed. This facilitates a full turn and full acceleration through the ball. Funny game... golf. The harder we try... the worse we do.
During the whole swing.....keep the hands relaxed... if hands are clenched so are the arms and the chest muscles. If the hands are relaxed... so are the arms and the chest. This is also why a lot of golfers practice swing feels "SO GOOD" and the real swing does not.
A good drill to see if you are getting tense during the swing is to HUM. Yeh, I know, people will probably think your nuts if you are at the range, but try it anyway. Just before you start your back swing start an even consistent pitched hum. A relaxed swing will result in the pitch remaining the same through out the swing. Most of you, however will be in for a shock. That nice easy relaxed swing you thought you had does not exist.
Give it a try...Hum your self to a better swing.
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(185).."SWING THOUGHT"
If your swing thought is
"Please don't let me screw up"
to say the least, you have a confidence problem... which will feed on itself... and you will screw up.
The process should be:
Engage Brain
decide what to do.
Disengage Brain
hit the ball.
Make it part of your Pre-shot Routine. If you do not have one, develop one and use it before every shot.
Stand behind the ball and
1.."THINK" about the next shot... not this one. Where do you want your next shot to be from? That's your target for this shot.
2.."CHOOSE" the club you need to easily reach the target... (hit an easy #7 iron instead of a hard #8)
3.."PICK" a spot on the ground along the target line...one or two feet in front of your ball.
4.."APPROACH" the ball and take a relaxed practice swing
5.."KEEP" your eyes on the spot on the ground...
6.."ADDRESS" the ball... Square yourself along the line between the ball and your spot.
7..DISENGAGE" Brain... and hit the ball.
With the thinking done... You can relax and make a smooth swing.
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