Golf Tips: Getting Up And Down

The quickest, easiest, surest way to shave strokes your golf score is by improving your short game… and if it’s not with your putter…

then you’ve gotta get up and down when you’re around the green.

This becomes even more amplified for the mid to higher handicap golfer simply because by definition the higher handicapper won’t be as accurate with their approach shots, hence they will miss more greens… when you miss more greens; you need to have a short game that can get you up and down from off the green.

A good short game is a great remedy for earlier misguided shots…

not to mention a good short game will put more pressure on your opponents.

A good practice drill for you is to take a handful of golf balls and from just off the practice green play a round of par 2 golf. Chip your five or so balls at the hole…

once done putt your chips in starting with chip that came the closest. If you’re down in 2 then you par… if not… you bogey.

A couple of benefits will happen here. First your chipping and putting will begin to improve. Secondly, you’ll be simulating what really goes on when you’re playing your rounds of golf.

Now if you want to even more accurately what reflects an actual round of golf, get together with one of your playing partners and work this drill with a bit of friendly competition added to the mix.

No matter what the stakes (or steaks) are, this will assuredly heighten your focus or even make you pucker up a bit… but this is what we want…

to get you to a comfort level with some real time pressure and game like environment. The more you put yourself in this type of situation the more comfortable you and your game will become. Don’t under estimate the value of this.

Now get out there and start getting better!

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Bad Golf Swing-Common Among Bad Golfers

Learning the mechanics of the golf swing… No. Let me rephrase.

Teaching the mechanics of a good golf swing to someone with a bad golf swing is a challenging task. Of course, we know that a bad golf swing will result in a bad golfer, but how do you get to a better golf swing?

This is a question that I would ask myself as I would take an initial look at someone who had come to me for help. After a while, and witnessing many bad golf swings, I began to realize that these golf swings (or lack thereof) did have some things in common.

Basically almost all bad golfers and their subsequent swings have some basic similarities. These are deficiencies in their grip – their stance or set up – their posture – and their weight shift during the swing.

If you want to improve your golf game, you have to improve your golf swing. And to improve your golf swing your have understand the aforementioned areas.

The interesting thing that we as teachers often times do is to go over the grip, stance, posture, and the weight shift. Then we have the golfer take a couple practice swings with all this new information, and drop a golf ball down and look for the results. This is fascinating.

The game of golf is so focused on end results.

Where did the golf ball go after I hit it? I’ve done this when working with someone… I would venture that we as instructors all have. A curious technique to be sure. We see the practice swing knowing that it’s … well not too good, but yet we still want to hit the golf ball (I guess only to verify that it is indeed a bad golf swing).

The point here is that once you initially get with someone to help you understand the various parts and aspects of the golf swing, then take a step back (from the golf ball) and work on the swing. Work on the muscles that execute the parts of the swing. Get comfortable with gripping the club, your stance, your posture. Swing the clubs over, and over, and over, without the hitting the ball.

Work to where you can just sweep the top of the grass or the practice mat over and over with a consistently executed golf swing. Once the grip, stance, posture, and weigh shifting through the swing become second nature, only then introduce the striking of the golf ball. Then get back with your instructor and have them evaluate your progress on the golf swing, not the results at this point.

A bad golf swing is going to produce bad golf shots. Work on your swing first and the shots will follow.

Golf Swing Help-The Footwork

One of the more overlooked aspects when it comes to learning about the golf swing when discussing various tips for golf is the importance of the role of the feet, legs, and hips in the golf swing.

Many professional and teaching professional would argue that a good reliable and consistent golf swing is built from the ground up.

Jack Nicklaus being one.

An interesting mind set that we humans have when it comes to achieving longer golf drives is that we must accelerate our hands faster or have our hand and forearms accelerate the golf club faster in order to gain more club head speed and distance.

With the golf swing, nothing could be further from the truth.

So without, gaining greater acceleration on the club head, how does one gain greater distance on their golf drives you ask? Well, it’s not that you don’t have to increase your club head speed; it’s that you don’t accomplish this by ‘firing’ the club head at the golf ball with your hands. Yet, this is probably the one biggest peccadillo of average golfers.

Your legs are unquestionably stronger than your hands and arms. And if you will learn to properly use the strength of your legs in unison with the proper turn of your hips and shoulders to propel your golf shot you’ll see distance and accuracy that you never thought you had.

And did I mention consistency.

Proper footwork and the use of your legs creating a grounded foundation for the hip and shoulder rotation results in torque or stored energy, that when simply released at the proper time will create more club head speed naturally and a more repeatable golf swing for more consistent golf shots.

If you’ll notice, to this point, nowhere in our discussion on this tip for golf have I even alluded to doing anything with your hand or arm speed to generate more club head speed.

This is not by accident.

Creating stored energy and releasing it at the proper moment just before impact is a result of proper footwork and body turn. The resulting paths and actions that the arms and hands take during the golf swing are a result not an action.

Glad you’re still with me!

Up next let’s take a look at some detail as to how the lower body works in the golf swing with Tips For Golf – The Backswing!