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| The putterface & its dependence for short putts |
| The putterface is crucial to making short putts. You need to square your putterface.
A problem many golfers have with short putts is not being able to keep the putterface square throughout the stroke.
You need to be sure to keep it square by using your shoulders to control the stroke and not your hands.
Your hands should stay still throughout the stroke while only your shoulders move through the putt. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Cure the Slice, Watch the Face |
| The simple cause of slicing is an open clubface. The simple cure for slicing is to get the clubface square through the impact zone on a consistent basis. To accomplish this, you must learn to properly rotate your lead arm in a counterclockwise direction. |
| Courtesy: Nick Kumpis |
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| Putting - Expect the ball to drop |
| The most important thing is to expect the ball to go in the hole. That is where it belongs. Keeping your body still, create a clockwork rhythm in your putting action. If you keep it as simple as counting one-two-three, you will create an ability to putt with the timing of a metronome and you can expect to sink more and more balls.
If you expect to miss you will. If you expect to achieve the putt you may well do so. Champions expect to make every putting attempt and just because they miss some, it doesn't affect their belief in making the next one. |
| Courtesy: Eddie Lester |
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| The Backswing |
| Keep the left arm straight (right handed players) during the backswing and go back as far as you can. Your tempo is dictated really by your personality, some people are naturally slow movers so will have a slower tempo while others tend to move faster so do what is most comfortable for you. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Get more Power - Anchor your right foot |
| One key to hitting more powerful golf shots is keeping your body behind the ball before impact. A premature lifting of the right foot during the downswing causes golfers to shift too much of their weight to the left side, resulting in a loss of power and distance.
One common flaw among amateurs is the tendency to hang back on their right side without a proper weight shift. But the move to the left side must be made in the proper sequence.
To keep from “leaving for the left” too early, anchor your right foot and avoid lifting it before contact. With your foot anchored, you’ll be able to ultimately fire more of your right side into the shot and maximize your power. |
| Courtesy: Art Sellinger |
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| Don't freeze up the Backswing |
| Once you have gone through your pre-shot routine and assumed your stance, don't stop - as so many golfers do - by grounding the club behind the ball and going into a trance that leads to muscle tension. Pull the trigger as quickly - yet as smoothly - as possible. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| How to play the Fade Shot |
| Remember that a fade will cost you distance, especially if you try to add more height to the shot. So take that into consideration when visualizing what you are about to do and selecting your club. In addition, if you are fading into the wind, you will lose considerable length, so go up two or more clubs if possible to compensate for that.
When you play the fade shot, aim slightly left of the target, move your grip fractionally to the left (weaker grip), play the all slightly farther forward in your stance, and picture the ball moving left-to-right. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| Curing the Slice |
| Hit some shots from a sidehill lie, with the ball several inches above your feet. This can help you to produce a better swing plane and promotes an in-to-out swingpath. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| Choosing the right putter |
| Just like any other club in your bag, a putter also has a lie angle, and having the correct one is vital to playing successfully on the greens. Choose a lie angle that sets your eyes over the ball when you adopt your posture. That's the secret to aiming correctly. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| Getting out of fairway bunkers |
| Since you can never ground a club in a bunker, it's a good idea to practice the technique you will use for this shot - and you do not even have to be in a bunker to do so. At the driving range, simply hold the club off the mat in the same way you would in a bunker and practice your strike, hovering the clubhead off the ground, then swinging and hitting the ball. You will quickly get used to making a good shot this way, and when you find yourself in a bunker, you will not be in such unfamiliar territory. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| Playing from a divot |
| Remember that to get out of a divot, you have to take another divot. Many beginners and even some intermediate players often do not take divots after the ball because they lack confidence and have never learned how to hit an iron with a sharp, descending blow. To build that confidence - so you can strike firmly and take another divot when faced with this tricky shot - practice by putting a tee peg an inch or two in front of a ball on the practice range. Then focus on hitting down and through the tee peg. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Better downswing against a slice |
| Most people with a slice problem cut across the ball on the downswing. To learn the correct path for the clubhead to follow, think of a rope attached to a tree above you. From the top of the backswing, you should feel that you're pulling the rope straight down. This forces the right elbow to stay close to your side. It also gives your stroke the correct inside path, and improves your ability to swing out toward the target rather than across the ball. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Using Visual Aids to Line Up a Putt |
| What are the professionals doing when they mark their ball, crouch down and then seem to fiddle with the ball before placing it back on the green? Many times, they're trying to line up the manufacturer's name with the target line to the hole. This visual aid can help both in aiming your putter blade correctly and instilling confidence, since you are giving yourself a specific cue that's easy to focus upon. Just imagine the ball rolling end over end - with the manufacturer's name holding steady at the equator - down the line to the hole. Using this method will get you into a sharper frame of mind and thinking about a positive result. |
| Courtesy: Chris Meadows |
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| Improve Your Balance and Game |
| When you're having problems making good contact, it's often because you start to sway, lose balance, and stop turning. One of the best drills to help cure this problem is to hit balls with your feet about six inches apart. Start out by hitting shots with short swings. You'll notice that in order to do this, your balance must be good. This drill promotes good footwork, balance, and a free swing with the arms. Also, it forces you to turn more; otherwise, you'll fall over! When you feel as though you're making good contact, increase the length of your swings. Eventually, you'll feel confident enough to hit from a normal stance again. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Getting more distance |
| The key to hitting a golf ball a long way is minimizing your hip turn and maximizing your shoulder turn. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make sure that your left knee doesn't slide to the right on the backswing and that the right knee stays firm and flexed throughout. (Opposite knee for left-handed players.) Also, get your shoulder behind the ball at the top of the backswing. This ensures good weight shift and allows for a longer swing. |
| Courtesy: Frank J. Peter |
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| Stroke the Ball, Don't Hit It |
| Often the difference between a strong, powerful swing and a misguided hack is the tendency to hit, rather than stroke, the ball. The difference can be seen when examining a short putt, when it is easy to stroke the ball. Hitting is not an option for a short putt, which makes it the easiest shot in golf. No desire to hit the ball allows a stroking, swinging motion. Perfect this technique for short-distance shots and you will find increasing accuracy and distance with your long shots as well. |
| Courtesy: Tom Ward, PGA Tour Instructor |
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| How to Stop “Looking Up” |
| Many beginning golfers have the “Look Up” problem. They are so anxious to see where the ball might go that they "look before they leap" and miss the ball completely. In some groups, if you do this you get charged with a stroke you have not made. Others beginners will let you get away with it and give you a chance to really hit the ball. Why do beginngers do this? Here are four important rules or techniques to keep in mind:
(i) Make sure you rotate your hips properly when you make impact.
(ii) Keep your arms fully extended until you complete your shot.
(iii) Concentrate on a low follow-through, keeping your eye on the ball.
(iv) Make yourself wait until the ball has been hit and is far into the distance before you look to see where it has gone. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Stay Flexible on Tee and Fairway |
| One of the worst things you can do to your golf game is to tighten up or get too tense when teeing off, or when you're on the fairway or green. Instructors have a cure for this; it's a drill called “the hip blocker.”
First fix your knees as if ready to swing at the ball. This will force the body to turn more correctly and increase flexibility. If you're right-handed, while swinging, turn your shoulders back until the left shoulder is under your chin. You should be able to feel a greater stretch along your left side. Do the same thing on your follow-through, but this time with your right shoulder under your chin. With this exercise, in time you will increase your ability to fully coil without using your hips. You'll achieve a new flexibility and at the same time increase the power in your swing. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Etiquette on the Green. |
| There are certain rules you are expected to follow when your ball is on or near the green.
Suppose one golfer in a Par-3 hole hits his ball into a sandtrap not far from the pin. Another player lands his ball on the green but it is several feet farther away from the pin than the first ball. Who shoots first? According to the U.S. Golf Association, the ball that's farthest from the hole is always played first. So in this case the ball on the green would be played first.
What about finishing out the hole? If the player in the trap gets lucky and places his ball near the cup, with only a tap-in left, can he finish it off before the other player tries his putt? It depends on whether they're involved in stroke play or match play. In either competition there is no penalty for playing out of turn. However, in match play his opponent has the option to recall the stroke and make the player finish his shot in order. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Putting - 'Hit and Hold'. Click on more to view this tip. |
| The most common cause for missed putts is movement. Golfers change their original posture in an attempt to see where the ball is going. This is suicide. At practice be aware of your posture as you line up your putt. Make this a habit and retain your posture till after the putt is executed. Infact, train yourself to hold your follow-through (however tempting it may be to check to see where the putt is headed) for a few seconds after your putt has been executed.
There are three elements that you have to constantly keep in mind while executing a putt. Correct body position, putter bead path on target and putter face square to the target. All errors on the green are due to one or more of these aspects missing. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| IMPROVE SAND PLAY:
The best way to find ones way out of a sand-trap is to hit the ball with the kind of force you would use to otherwise roll it from that position to near the pin. Technically, what is required is for the golfer to keep an open stance, weight evenly distributed on both feet and play ball an inch forward of center. It is vital to keep the club face open while executing this shot. While the swing should be a three-quarter effort the chest should ideally turn away from the target during the back-swing and rotate towards it while executing the shot. Rotating the chest through the swing essentially helps get over the problem of leaving the ball in the sand.
In case you are confronted with a plugged lie, concentrate your weight on the left foot to let the club dig into the sand. Play the ball in the middle with a square club face and shaft leaning toward target. It is essential NOT to swing hard as the harder you hit a golf ball the less effective the shot is going to be.
In case of a fairway bunker shot, it is advisable to take a longer iron, maybe an eight or nine iron and make a relaxed pivot and full follow-through. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| Playing in the 'NOW' is one sure-shot way to regroup. Living in the past has helped no one and fear of repeating previous mistakes often leads to a complete black-out of the present and of the 'NOW' situation. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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| The grip is essential to get your arms and the club working t |
| The grip is essential to get your arms and the club working together. The swing is entirely dependent on this. There should be no tension while gripping the club. While both overlapping and interlocking grips are ok, the former is far more popular. Tiger however uses the latter so the choice is entirely yours.
Place the "leather" of the club in your cupped left hand so that it starts at the heel of you palm and crosses the base of your index finger. Close you fingers around the grip, placing your thumb on top of the shaft a little to the right of center. The idea for this location is that at the top of the backswing your thumb will be directly under the shaft and supporting it. The groove at the base of your fingers clamps around the club. The 'V' of your thumb and forefinger should point to your right shoulder.
Now the right hand goes on with its little finger overlapping the forefinger of the left hand for the overlapping grip. Again the channel at the base of the fingers grips the club and the 'V' points to the right shoulder. The right forefinger should be gripping the club separately and a little farther down the shaft; this enhances directional control.
When addressing the ball the palm of the right hand should face toward the target and the palms of the right and left hands should oppose each other.
In order to get more power, the right hand may be rotated back slightly. This will generate more wrist action but there may be loss of accuracy. |
| Courtesy: 4moles.com |
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/ Weekly Tips Archive
