Golf Tips: Getting Your Game To The Course II

Golf is like any other physical or athletic activity. The old adage that you play like you practice many times hold true.

Let’s take a look at a simple golf practice drill that can help your game make the transition from the driving range to the golf course.

First of all, change your targets frequently.

Think about it.

When you are on the course you rarely hit back to back shots from the same distance (if you do, then your swing needs more general work).

Start with your driver and hit it.

Then, for example, imagine that you are 180 yards from the tee. Pick out a target, select your club, and execute the next shot. If you miss hit your approach, then imagine you are just off the green in need of executing a pitch shot… and so forth.

This type of practice drill will better emulate what happens while your are play a round of golf and it adds that little bit of extra pressure on your swing when you only have one chance to make a particular shot. This is more of what occurs during an actual round of golf.

When you are on the practice tee and going through this simulated round golf practice drill, don’t forget to include your pre-shot routine.

If you don’t think you have one, then begin to develop one and use it before each shot.

This is an area that is grossly overlooked by golfers when they are practicing their various golf shots.

If you don’t include your pre-shot routine in your practice drills then you will have a different rhythm on the course than you do on the practice tee and you will most likely produce different results. Remember we want consistency.

Getting your golf swing and golf game from the driving range to the course is a natural trouble area for most all of us. But, if you remember that you play like you practice, then making the transition will be much less of a chore.

Golf Tips: Getting Your Game To The Course

At some point in your golfing learning curve there will come a time (and probably with mild to moderate frustration) that you will ponder the following conundrum: “how can it be that I hit the ball so well on the driving range, then a different golfer shows up on the tee.”

Yes it’s true… we practice golf at a 2 handicap and play at a 20.

You what the problem is because it’s so obvious… you continually leave your game at the practice tee.

It has become an all too familiar routine and you want to get your game to that next level. But to do so, and to ultimately play better golf, you have to get your driving range game to the first tee and beyond.

First of all, before we discuss possible solutions, one must understand that at least in part this is a natural progression to one’s game. Everyone goes through this phenomenon to some degree or another. Even accomplished golfers experience this when they work on a swing change or practice a new type of shot for them.

There is not any doubt that in order to successfully and consistently execute a fluent golf swing, you have to have paid your dues with practice time and many buckets of ball launched from the driving range.

Let’s fast forward a bit and assume that you have in fact improved the mechanics of your golf swing to the point where you make reasonably consistent contact and direction on the practice tee, but your swing takes a 180 degree turn for the worse when you get on the golf course.

When this happens, the natural evaluation most of us make is to examine what we are doing wrong on the golf course. The solution more often than not is not to critique and examine your on the golf course golf swing, rather you should take a look at how you practice your golf swing when you are on the driving range or practice tee.

Up next… let’s take a look at a practice drill for your golf game that will help you make the transition from the practice to the golf course.

Golf Tips: The Pre Round Routine

I want to discuss a topic that we haven’t touched upon to this point and incorporate it into our series on improving your golf game.

Needless to say so much focus and topical time is given to the golf swing and all the elements that surround and go into making and executing a golf swing.

Our series here is no exception, but we need to discuss an element of playing better that really does contribute a large part to the success of your golf game (or the lack of it) and that is getting yourself properly warmed up and prepared before you hit your first golf shot.

Last time we talked about the importance of our pre shot routine… now let’s talk about the importance of a good pre round routine.

First of warming up is essential if you are serious about getting your handicap down. Even if you’re the type that say’s “it only takes me a hole or two to get loosened up”, then how many strokes do you lose in the process? And don’t they all count? So don’t bemoan your score and your round if you are going to just toss caution to the wind on the first couple holes as you get loosened up.

Your pre golf round routine will return benefits in the form of strokes if you:

• Warm up. Take short walk to the driving range. Tell your buddies to go ahead if they are in the golf carts already. Or, leave the golf cart by the clubhouse and walk to the range. Even on a warm summer day your muscles need the circulation and they need to warm up. Taking a couple extra practice swings on the first tee doesn’t constitute warming up.

• Do some stretching.  Again, get some heat and circulation going in your muscles. If you are not worried about the strokes, at least do some golf stretches so you don’t injure yourself.
• Once you get to the driving range, hit a few golf balls. An entire bucket is not necessary; nor is breaking out every single club. Start with a short iron, the go to a mid iron or two, then a few drives. Hit some pitch shots and even some long chip type shots. Finish back with the short irons getting back to rhythm and feel and swing confidence.

• Then allow some time for the putting green. Start by knocking in some very short ‘gimme’ type of putts to get a good mind set. Then get yourself back a ways and get a feel for the speed. As an amateur, many of your approach shots will leave you a good distance from the pin; so it’s very important to have a good feel for your distance control in order to avoid the three (or four) putts.

• Know that warming up before a round of golf is not practice. It is not ‘working on something’ so, don’t try knew shots, swing keys, or anything else. Avoid this temptation. If your swing doesn’t feel quite right, now is not the time to go into repair mode. If this is the case work on one thing and one thing only – smooth rhythm and timing. Put all else out of your mind.

Understand during your warm up what your golf swing is trying to tell you. If you seem to be fading the ball and struggle to draw it (even though you usually do), don’t fight it; go with your fade for the day. Don’t fight with yourself. Be pragmatic.

Probably 90 plus percent of amateur golfers don’t bother with any type of pre round warm up, let alone any type of pre golf round routine. I’m hoping if you don’t; then you’ll soon make an effort to do better with this. If not, then you’re not really committed to playing better golf.

Committing to getting yourself warmed up and in touch with your swing before you stand over the golf ball on the first tee will take strokes off your game before you even hit that first one of the day. And certainly nobody wants to start the day with a double bogey or triple bogey.

Online Golf Lessons

Some golf basics for you with an easy online golf lesson.

If you are just beginning to take up the game of golf and as such just learning the mechanics of the golf swing or perhaps you’ve been on the links a bit and are perhaps struggling a bit with your golf swing and hence your game, here are a couple online golf tips that you can take with you to your next practice session.

This next concept, for me, was one of the more difficult for me to get into my brain and subsequently my golf swing.

But I will assure you it is one that you must begin to understand and get comfortable with both physically and visually if you want to develop a solid consistent golf swing.

Once I began to develop consistency in this concept and motion, my drives (and all other golf shots for that matter) began to rapidly straighten out and my scores became better and more consistently better. And I guarantee yours will too!

The first active component of the golf swing is the takeaway. For the purpose of this discussion I am making an assumption here that your, grip, stance, setup, posture, etc are all on the straight and narrow and conducive to making a good golf swing.

The Takeaway – Work to take the club away from your address point by turning your shoulders.

Both your shoulders should act in unison, not just the left ol’ straight left arm and shoulder crossing over the front of your chest (this for a right handed golf swing). A good way to get a feel for this is to get into your setup position (no golf club involved here) with your waist slightly bent just like real golf folks, then cross your arm across your chest.

Do this by putting your left palm on the front of your right shoulder and your right palm on the front of your left shoulder. Then simply rotate or turn your shoulders in the manner of taking a club back away from the golf ball.

This is the same motion you want when you have the club in your hands. By doing this and not manipulating or ‘helping’ your golf club back on its takeaway with your hands and arms you will soon develop a consistent swing plane and swing path away from the ball and ultimately put your golf swing in a good position for the return trip.

Again, DO NOT pick the club up with the hands or otherwise introduce the hands into the swing. Work on getting a good feeling for this with the arms crossed over the chest drill again and again. And don’t be afraid to go back to this drill as much as needed even after you begin to get the hang of it.

The next part of my online golf lesson for you is to tell you to be sure not to over-swing.

Yeah, I know, you’ve heard that a million times and you know it’s true. Sometimes hard to not to do, but nonetheless true. But here is the really cool part about the one piece takeaway initiated and conducted by the shoulder turn.

If do this correctly, you’ll find that over-swinging becomes few and further between because you then begin to develop the natural, yet elusive for many, tempo to your golf swing.

In the golf swing, over-active hands and forearms, causing you to spank at the ball instead of rotating and hitting through the ball, is one of the biggest reasons for inconsistent, runaway shots and golf scores.

Getting the club head through the shot and releasing the stored energy of your golf swing down from your larger muscles in the shoulders and hips in a funneling effect to the point of contact, is all a product of a good, one piece shoulder turn that your arms and hands will gladly oblige to follow if you allow them to do so.

Once you begin to get comfortable with swinging the club with your shoulders and committing to rotating with the shoulders instead picking the club up and swinging with your hands and arms, your confidence will build and you’ll begin to relax over the ball. This will bring with it yet more improvement in your golf game.

Stay with it. Any change takes time. Any change is going to initially produce some pretty rough looking shots, but stay with this and it will work.

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