Golf Tips: Your Short Irons

For most beginning and higher handicap golfers putting and the short game overall just don’t receive the amount of practice that it should.

I fully understand the need and the desire and the need to work on the full golf swing and getting off the tee in good shape.

But having said that, many golfers just don’t understand how rapidly they can shave strokes off their golf game if they would just spend some consistent time on their short game and putting.

Let’s take a look a couple of real quick putting tips and short game tips that will help you improve both of those aspects of your golf game.

With wedges and short irons, a very common problem that I see is the tendency to play the ball too far forward in the stance. When you play a sand wedge or lob wedge… or even an 8 or 9 iron for that matter; you should position the ball not so far toward the front of your stance.

When the ball is positioned too far toward the front of your stance when hitting a shorter shafted golf club, you really are increasing your odds for failure.

With the shorter shafted clubs (short irons) you will run out reach with your club and your hands will naturally begin to release; and all of this will happen before you actually make contact with the ball (not a good thing).

The result is; you’ll get a ‘flipping’ action with the club head. And depending upon other circumstances within your swing you’ll have a real good chance of hitting the shot ‘fat’ or you’ll catch the ball on the upside of your ‘flip’ and you’ll scull it.

Either way, you’ve just added a couple more strokes to your round.

Before you rush off, you should check out my tips on the footwork, the backswing, and the downswing… just to make sure we’ve got a good foundation from which to work.

Golf Tips: Your Footwork

When you work to improve your golf swing, like any other motor skill, the fastest learning curve happens early on in the endeavor.

This is why when you’re first starting to learn the golf swing or you are first starting to get serious about improving your golf swing, it is so very important to develop good golf swing habits right out of the gate.

If you have been playing for a while and have bad habits, it’s probably because they were never corrected early on.

I can’t stress this enough.

Stay with what you know are good habits until they become natural habits and you‘ll get your golf game off to the proper start.

The first thing every new golfer wants to do is drop the ball down and take a whack at it without any thought to the basics that greatly improve one’s chance of actually hitting the target.

Your aim, your alignment, your set up… I find it incredible how many people either pay no to little attention to this, or they aren’t even lined up where they think they are lined up. I mean after all, when you’ve hit a bad shot into the trees only to find that is exactly where you were lined up.

I see this over and over again. There is absolutely no way that you are going to consistently hit good golf shots (even if you have a decent golf swing) if you aren’t lined up and aimed at your intended target.

Having said this, don’t rely initially on picking out your target and aligning to it by only using your own sight.

When you practice, if you don’t have someone behind you letting you know where your stance, your shoulders, and ultimately your clubface is pointing, then lay one of your clubs across the tips of the toes of with the handle of the club pointed down your target line. It is crucial that you get in the habit of doing this and getting into the habit early on in improving your golf swing.

I see so many people that think the key to improving their golf swing is to hit more balls and work on their golf swing.

The reality of the situation is; you can vastly improve your golf swing without even swinging the golf club. In other words, let’s get you lined up properly at your target and get you set up to the ball and your target on a consistent basis, then with your body properly aligned, we can permanently improve your golf swing.

Putting Tips And Drills

As you would imagine, most mid to higher handicap golfers leave themselves more often with longer putts than shorter putts (at least from a position provided by an approach shot or a chip shot).

Yet, I don’t see these same people practicing a part of their game that they are sure to encounter multiple times during their round of golf.

I’m referring to practicing the long putts.

By that I mean in excess of 25 to 30 feet or even more.

What’s to practice… you say?

When you’re that far away you just try to get it close right?

That’s partially true… but there is a bit more, and a more refined strategy. Let’s take a look.

On your longer putts it’s all about speed. Pick out your line, trust it, and then focus on the pace you put on the ball. With longer putts, many golfers focus too much on line and end up leaving the putt too short or too long.

Think pace and distance.

On your shorter putts, if there is but one piece of advice I could give you; it would be to keep your body and your head completely still.

It’s those shorter putts we all feel like we should make; and we want to make; so everyone has the tendency to want to watch the ball as it leaves the putter. This causes even the slightest bit of head movement and creates problems. Remain still. If you’ve picked the right line and applied the correct pace, the ball will go in whether you watch it or not.

Here’s a quick putting drill for you. Pick out a nine hole course on your putting green. I want you to pick out nine holes where the putts will have a substantial break to them. Vary your distances from about 6 feet to 40 feet.

Now, with your course in mind; making the putt, of course, is optimal but here is the drill.

Don’t leave the putt below the hole when you miss.

Work on hitting your putts so that when you do miss, you miss on the high side of the hole. If you get in the habit of reading the break and putting to the high side of the hole you’ll find that more of your putts will drop.

If you’re putting to the high side of the hole, and over read the break a bit, but under deliver the speed just a bit… you make the putt.

If you under read the break (from the high side of the hole) but over cook your speed just a bit… you make the putt.

If your putt never achieves the high side of the hole… you make nothing whether you get the pace correct or not.

Tee off on your putting course and give yourself something like two points if you leave the putt on the high side, and penalize yourself five points if you don’t.

Keep track of your scores and your personal bests; and have fun improving your putting game, and improving your golf game.

The Golf Swing Guru

The Simple Golf Swing (Re)Discovered

Discover the golf swing that is delivering consistent and accurate distance.

NOW is the time to fix that golf swing, once and forever. Start hitting the fairway!

Your GOLF SWING is what drives your score…not your clubs or the ball you play.

That is the truth in simple terms.

Is your golf swing is getting you the results you need to compete? Are you throwing strokes away by topping, slicing or hooking the ball? How many penalty strokes do you typically have during a round?

Only you can answer those questions. The “Simple Golf Swing” is eliminating those problems for thousands of golfers.

David Nevogt offers a unique and effective look at the golf swing and how you can employ these methods into your golf swing and start playing better sooner than later. It was developed specifically for the bogey or bogey+ golfer with CONSISTENCY as the end result. How many shots per round do you think you could save if you made solid impact, hit the ball straight, and hit it long every time? This system will give you the information and methods that will allow you to master these three problem areas, so you can move on to concentrate on your short game.

What “The Simple Golf Swing” Teaches:

• You will find a step-by-step guide with detailed photos that will teach you the correct way to grip the club. Instructions for the interlocking and the overlapping grip are included. This will let you experiment to see what works best for YOU.
  
• Learn a method to check that you grip the club in the same manner for every shot to promote consistency.
  
• Learn a detailed procedure that will ensure that your grip promotes straight ball flight, and not a hook or a slice.
  
• Learn a secret on how to align the club face so that you don’t push the ball right. This is a problem that many golfers face, but luckily it is an easy one to fix.
  
• Discover an easy method to hit more greens. It’s not difficult once you have the correct information.
  
• Learn the revolutionary setup. “The Simple Golf Swing” setup allows you to swing around your spine. The key is to limit the amount of horizontal and vertical body movement during the swing. This setup will automatically give you the correct swing plane that promotes consistency and power. It’s given to you in a step-by-step procedure that is easy to remember on the course.
  
• Discover the easiest way to make perfect impact with the ball on every shot. Just imagine the amount of stokes that you will save.
  
• You may have heard of the one-piece takeaway. Learn the method that will help you master this move, and keep your swing connected. This is the most beneficial part of the system. It provides consistency, and gives you a controlled swing that results in increased distance.
  
• earn how to get to the top of your backswing, and how to get into the same position for every shot. “The Simple Golf Swing” teaches you a method that promotes an inside-out swing that you can use to automatically hit the fairway.
  
• Learn where to stop your backswing. I teach a shorter backswing than most. A short backswing promotes consistency, and increased distance. Remember, golf is a game of opposites.
  
• Discover the distance secret that many instructors don’t even address because it’s so hard to teach. Here’s a hint: Hand Action that can increase your swing speed by 10 mph.

The program offers a unique setup and swing system
that will have you focusing on the fundamentals
that will improve your ball flight.

The system focuses purely on swing mechanics. It highlights unique points of the swing that add consistency. It’s consistency that is the key to the golf swing and ultimately lower scores.

And right now David is offering some killer bonuses absolutely free.

Learn More…

Simple Golf Swing

Symple Swing – Is The Next Generation Golf Swing

Specifically engineered from the ground up to be the easiest way to produce more distance and accuracy. It is a proven repeatable golf swing which eliminates slices, yet is simple to learn with only 3 basic fundamentals. It is the product of over ten years of research by Simple Golf LLC.

Symple Swing is the first complete swing system that works from tee to green with every club utilizing the same swing… a Symple Swing… and it works beautifully for any level golfer.

The original design goal for Symple Swing was to develop a swing that dramatically reduced the time it takes to learn to play good golf.

I believe the team at Symple Swing has done just that. Symple Swing still takes practice, but it can be learned considerably quicker than any other swing.

The best way to quickly improve your golf game

is to fully understand your golf swing.

Now the average person can finally understand what’s happening in the golf swing.

If you do make a mistake (even with Symple Swing that occasionally does happen) you will be able to figure out for yourself, exactly what went wrong and what to do to correct it.

Learning any new golf swing takes practice and it does take practice to learn Symple Swing. However, you can learn Symple Swing in a much shorter time than any other golf swing. You can do this because with Symple Swing there are fewer body parts moving and those parts that are moving are making much simpler motions. This is what makes Symple Swing is a simpler, more efficient, more consistent golf swing.

The easy to understand lesson segments in the Symple Swing video will enable you will quickly master the 3 fundamental concepts of the Symple Swing System.  More importantly, you will know why and how to make those changes so you can put Symple Swing to work immediately.

The Symple Swing breaks down the focus and fundamentals of the golf swing:

• Distance
• Accuracy
• Consistency

Cure Your Slice Immediately… for those of you just starting out or who have been battling that ugly stroke eating slice, Symple Swing works.

The team at Simple Golf have developed the Symple Swing™ System to be the longest, most accurate, most consistent golf swing ever.

Simple Golf is dedicated to making golf easier and more fun for the golfer who wants to play better, dramatically lower scores, hit great shots and have the same swing every time.

Here is your golden opportunity to learn a better golf swing.

This amazing new swing golf swing will definitely give you the edge over your competition by giving you a more consistent pressure proof golf swing.

Learn More…

Golf Tips: The Power Of Visualization

Eventually… you just have to put the clubhead on the ball.

At some point, you’ve got to just clear your head and put the clubface on the golf ball…

When it come time to play, you’ve got to stop practicing… start your pre-shot routine and then just put the clubface on the ball.

Sure this sounds simple… but when when I watch people take their game to the course… over and over again, I see them running their latest lesson or practice session through their head.

When it comes time to play, start thinking about managing the course and getting into the moment of each golf shot. Remember, the golf ball only goes where the club tells it to… so relax… drop the mechanics mentality and work on just putting a smooth swing… and ultimately to clubface on the golf ball.

Perhaps a better way to put it would be to practice your mechanics… but play with feel.

The mechanics part is easy and self explanatory… just take a lesson and go to the range to cement the lesson…

The feel part is where the mid to higher handicappers part company… they just can’t seem to leave the mechanics on the range.

Playing with feel is getting in tune with how you are not only going to play each hole on course; but it is also micro’d down to how you’re going to play each shot. Learn to make visualization a part of each and every pre-shot routine in your golf game. Visualize what it is that your are going to accomplish with each of your golf shots… this is imperative for good feel.

Many times an analogy I use when working with people is this; I grew up playing baseball… in fact, all the way through college… I was a pitcher. As a starting pitcher, before each game warming up in the bull pen, I would go through a very specific ‘game day’ routine. And just like any athlete there were days when my stuff was on fire… and there were days when… well… not so much so.

But point here is, when it came time to leave the bull pen and head for the mound the only thought in my mind was… “It’s time to go compete with what I’ve got today.” No more mechanics, no more adjustments… just me, the mound, and the competition.

And that’s what you’ve got to do if you’re struggling with getting your game from the practice tee to the first tee… just go with what you’ve got and when you step up to the tee… engage your eyes… visualize… command your eyes to commint your mind and your body to each shot and target.

For the champion athlete’s this is ‘in the zone’. You can get into your zone as well if you understand that you just go with what you’ve got and commit to your visualization.

Golf Travel

For me, one of the real beauties about the game of golf is the reason it gives you to pick out an interesting golf travel package and pack your bags (and your golf clubs) and head out… which reminds me… if you don’t yet have a good golf travel bag for your clubs, you need to pick one up. Don’t risk some airline employee giving your clubs the ol’ heave ho and snapping a couple of your heads off like they did mine on one trip. Makes sure you have a good quality golf travel bag to protect your investment and your vacation time.

No matter what time of year, you can find very attractive deals on a great many golf travel packages.

No matter where you’d like to go, because golf is truly a world game there is always an outstanding place to play golf and there will always be an off season somewhere offering a very good golf vacation package.

If you are an avid golfer there is never a problem trying to decide where to go for either a long weekend or on vacation. With golfing, there is always somewhere you haven’t been; somewhere you haven’t played waiting for you on the first tee. So call your travel agent, or better yet, check out some of the resources offered right here on this golf website and stop dreaming and start planning!

Whether it’s a semi regular get together with old friends, or a family vacation, a beautiful setting on an equally beautiful golf course, the game can accommodate you. If you want a very simple, easy to follow way to book your next most memorable golf vacation  then click right here on  Golf Resorts and Golf Vacations for a straightforward easy to follow listing of some of the best golf vacations and golf packages available today.

Golf travel packages are abundant and golf courses are usually are part of or not far from many other activities. If you’re a golfer one of the most fantastic trips you can do is a round of golf in Ireland or Scotland. For someone who truly appreciates the history and the genealogy a vacation to either of these can’t be beat.

Not to worry if you’re not an international type of traveler. Grab your golf clubs, book yourself a hotel, and hit the road.

You won’t be far from many beautiful golf courses that are right out your back door or certainly within driving distance. Even if not everyone in your family is a golfer, golf courses today are a part of just about any family destination and there is always a golf vacation package available for you to take advantage of.

With just a little bit of research you can find a great place for you to get your couple rounds of golf in and enjoy many other activities with your family as well.

Putting Tips

One of the quickest ways to start shaving strokes off your round is to improve your putting.

Yet it amazes me still how few mid to higher handicappers that I will actually see working on the aforementioned skill of putting.

Working on improving your putting should be a given routine of your practice time.

It doesn’t take a lot of time, nor does it require the physical energy of working on your full swing.

It does, however, require that you take your practice putting time seriously and engage in it with full concentration.

Improving your putting is simple math. Conservatively speaking… and be honest with yourself… if you are a mid to high handicapper; you could easily take 10 strokes of your game just by consistently making those mid to short range putts and by not three putting.

In fact, over the course of a round of 18 holes of golf, I would say the 10 strokes may be understated from what I see on the putting greens.

Think about it for a moment. On a par 4 hole… if you are on the green in regulation… 2 shots… the other 2 shots to make par… is your putter. In other words, 50% of par 4 holes fall to the responsibility of your putter!

Why would not take the opportunity to improve this part of your game?

And if you are mid handicapper… by improving your putting and gaining confidence in your putting skills, just think of the amount of pressure you’ll be taking off the rest of your game… and momentum will continue.

So, stop using all your practice time to just bang golf balls on the range and get yourself over to the putting green… consistently!

There are a multitude of putting drills that you can use to improve your putting, so find a few that make you focus and one’s that you can track your results with.

No, matter what type of drills you ultimately use, the two high level areas of your putting that you must work on are your line and hitting the line with a straight putt; and distance control.

Remember, direction control, and distance control… with these improvements in mind, you’ll begin to eliminate those three putts from afar and you’ll keep strokes (and your money) in pocket on those 4 to 6 footers.

Golf Tips: Correct Golf Grip

Let’s begin with the first physical connection that happens when you prepare to execute a golf shot.

You reach for and grab a golf club. And hence the golf grip is born! Perhaps not a proper golf grip… but you do have a hold of the club at least.

It seems that so little attention is given to such a large influence of (ultimately) your golf shot.

Developing and getting comfortable with a proper golf grip early on is essential to making consistent golf shots.

Quite simply, your golf grip is the foundation of your golf swing and as such we not only want to see a proper golf grip, but a comfortable one as well.

It’s important to develop an aesthetically neutral grip that doesn’t feel as though you need to make additional adjustments during your swing.

The prototypical golf grip is one where the ‘V’s formed between the index finger and the thumb of each hand end up pointing toward your right shoulder (right handed golfer). If someone is standing directly across from you they should be able to only see the first two knuckles of your left hand.
golf grip the golf grip

Most all lower handicap golfers will not have these said ‘V’s pointing very far off from this position. Variations of this ‘neutral’ position will affect the flight of the ball.

For instance, moving your left hand ‘V’ further toward your right shoulder is known as a ‘strong’ grip position and with such you’ll have more of a tendency to cause more rotation through impact and as a result, more of a tendency to hook the golf shot.

Side Note:
My good friend Jack Moorehouse is considered one of the best golf guru’s in the country and he’s here to help you with his best-selling golf eBook, “How to Break 80… And Shoot Like the Pros.”

I have talked him into not raising the price of his book for me, as he stated he would, so I want you to hurry and get this gem while it’s still half price.  It’s jam-packed with easy and simple golf drills, strategies and advice that will quickly improve your distance, accuracy and handicap.

However, for now and early on, we want you to get comfortable with basic or neutral positioning of your hands in the golf grip.

Get comfortable with this grip and use it as your foundation. Don’t experiment early on with weak and strong grips. We want a foundation or a baseline from which you can work. And certainly, don’t attempt to make radical adjustments to your grip in order to compensate for some other flaw in your golf swing. Stay with the basic grip.

Overlapping golf grip vs. the interlocking golf grip; the lion’s share of golfers today use an overlapping golf grip (otherwise known as the Vardon style). Some players still prefer the interlocking golf grip. No matter your preference, again, let’s keep the hand positioning neutral and build the rest of our swing around a good solid grip.

As far as grip pressure goes, I think the best description I have heard is that you want to grip the golf club as though you are holding a baby bird… not so tight that you will injure the bird… yet firm enough that the bird can’t fly away. Tight grips and muscles restrict flow and movement, while too relaxed muscles offer no control.

In summary, a proper golf grip will reduce your tendency to slice your golf shot. A proper golf grip will help produce a square clubface at impact.

Work to establish a firm but relaxed golf grip when it comes to the pressure you apply to the club.

Establish a good comfort zone with yourself using a neutral grip (your ‘V’s pointing somewhere between your chin and right shoulder).

Experimentation with grip changes can come later once your swing falls into place. Don’t attempt to correct swing flaws with radical (and frequent) grip changes.

Early on work to accept the feel of the proper golf grip by simply taking the time to grip the club and do some mock swings… no golf ball involved here… just learn to love that golf grip!

Simple Indoor Golf Drills

To Keep Your Game In Shape During The Off Season -

Master the three scoring clubs—the driver, the wedge, and the putter—and you’ll improve your game dramatically.

With 14 clubs to hit, golfers often have trouble deciding which part of their game to work on.

If you’re serious about working on your game, focus on the three scoring clubs. They have the greatest impact on your score.

Unfortunately, not all of us live in a climate where we can always practice outdoors. Even if we do, we don’t always have the time to go to a driving range and hit balls.

That doesn’t mean we can’t work on the fundamentals needed to master the three clubs. We just need to do it indoors.

Below are several indoor golf drills that will help you master these three clubs. They can are done in almost any location, even your office.

Putter

There are three “musts” in becoming a good putter:

1. your stroke must follow target line;
2. your putter must remain square to the target line;
3. and your forward stroke must equal (or slightly exceed) your backstroke. The following drill emphasizes these putting musts. The next drill focuses on distance control, also a key aspect of putting.

Drop two phone books on the floor. Position them far enough apart so that your putter head barely squeezes through them. Place a golf ball between the books, assume your putting posture, and make your stroke.

Use the books as a visual guide to match the lengths of your backstroke and forward stroke. Matching the lengths ensures a smooth stroke with perfect tempo. You’ll find it difficult to guide your putter between the phone books unless your stroke follows the intended putting line. If your putter strikes the side of either book, your stroke strayed off-line.

Also, mark your ball with a straight line. Set that line parallel to your target line. Marking the ball makes it easier to align the putter perpendicular to the target line at address. See if the line falls to the right or left of center as your ball rolls after impact. If it does, then your stroke may have deviated off-line or made contact with a slightly open or closed putter face.

This drill improves distance control. Set or balance a ball (or a tee turned upside down) on a penny and putt a second ball to this ball so that it touches the first, but DOESN’T knock it off the penny! This one is SUPER TOUGH! Try various distances. You should soon forget about the line and “making” the putt—distance control is everything. Rolling the ball to the target with an acceptable “sink” speed becomes second nature as you try to just touch the target ball.

Pitching Wedge

These drills can be done just about anywhere. It improves one of the most important parts of your game—wedge play.

Find about 10 feet of open floor space. Put a small towel on the floor and stand about 10 feet away. Use a short, smooth stroke, keeping your hands ahead of the clubface. Try chipping 50 balls onto the towel. Practice so the balls land on the towel, not come to rest on the towel. Start with an 8 iron, then move to a 9 iron, and then to a wedge. The more you practice the better control you’ll have over those short chips.

Next time you’re on the practice range, try the same drill. Watch how far each club makes the ball roll on the putting surface. Now you’ll have more control over your chips under different conditions. After awhile, you should be able to nestle every shot close to the pin, or sink it!

Driver

Many golfers turn their hips and shoulders simultaneously when they swing a club. Too much lower body rotation eliminates torque between the upper and lower body. Adding more backswing torque to your swing generates distance.

Sit down in a chair. Spread your feet out wide and keep them flat on the ground. Hold a 7 or 8 iron out in front of you. Hold the clubhead with one hand and the end of the grip in the other hand. Raise the club over your head and rest the shaft across your neck and shoulders. Turn your shoulders to the right. Hold this position for a few seconds. You should feel a lot of torque along your left side. The turn your shoulders back and face forward. Relax and repeat.

Many golfers use their hands and arms only when swinging the driver. They don’t rotate their shoulders, sapping power from their swing. This drill helps keep your hands, arms, and shoulders in sync as you swing back and through.

Lower yourself down to the floor onto your knees. Hold a ball between your hands and out in front of your. Start by making some small moves swinging the ball back and forth. The idea is to keep the ball in front of your chest as your arms swing and your shoulders rotate. Increase the length of your swing going back and through. As you reach the end of your backswing and forward swing, allow your arms to fold. Swing back and fold your arms. Swing down and unfold them. Swing through and fold them again.

These drills improve control of the three most important clubs in your bag—the driver, the putter, and the wedge. You can do them in your house or your garage. Each focuses on fundamentals you must master to take your game to the next level.

My good friend Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80…And Shoot Like The Pros!” and is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that was able to figure out the secrets of shooting in the 70’s on a consistent basis without quitting your day job. Jack has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.

I know he can you too.

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