Golfing is Fun

The Situation: When you take your address in the fairway the ball is well bellow your feet.

Why It,s difficult: Your club can’t reach the ball from your normal address position.

The Solution: All you really need to do is stand closer to the ball. This makes your club a little longer so you don’t hit the shot thin. The only other change is to aim a little bit left because this lie almost always produces a left-to-right ball flight. The farther you are from the target, the more the ball will fade. Once you’ve made these adjustments, the most important thing is to make your normal swing -the more you try to manipulate the club, the more likely you’ll hit a bad shot.

PGA Tour Player Heath Slocum

The situation: Your read tells you the putt is going to bend in one direction and then in the opposite-direction as it gets closer to the hole.

Why It’s Difficult You don’t know which break is bigger. Plus it’s hard to determine the correct starting point on a putt that breaks twice.

The Solution: After a first read, walk to where you think the ball will change direction. Make a practice stroke like you’re trying to make a putt from there, and sense how the slope will affect the ball as it nears the hole. Return to the ball and focus on getting it to the turning point at the right speed. Pick out a mark three feet in front of you to make aim easier. Get the ball rolling to the turning point and let gravity do the rest.

Top 100 Teacher Peter Kostis

The situation: You missed your target on the green by a mile and now need two good putts to save par.

Why it’s difficult: The length will magnify any errors in your initial read and speed.        

The solution: The first thing you should do is walk the length of your put, noting with your feet the change in slope. Pay special attention to the second half of the putt because as the ball loses speed it will be more affected by the slope. once you have a feel for the pace, walk back to the ball, take your stance and make the same motion you’d use for a short putt. Obviously, your stroke should be longer, but it shouldn’t be faster. Since it’s easier to hit the ball thin with a longer stroke (causing it to bounce instead of roll), position the ball one inch farther back in your stance than normal so you can catch it on your down-stroke.

Article From Golf Magazine

A beautiful, utilitarian box. It features a bas relief sculpture of a golfer on his backswing. Solid cast and finished in Cold Cast Bronze but with a painted ivory finish.The box is 6 1/2″ long x 4 3/8″ wide by 3 1/4″ high.

Good players tend to blame pulled putts on a breakdown of the left wrist, but it many cases that’s not the problem. often your hands, wrist and arms do exactly what they should, but your shoulders are misaligned.

It’s a common error. In a standard putting grip, your right hand is below your left and the back of your left hand faces the target. these positions encourage your right shoulder to be closer to the ball than your left, which aims your shoulders left of the target line. When you rock your shoulders to make your putting stroke, your path is from out in, causing a pull.

Here are two easy fixes to make sure your shoulders are in line: First, push your hands as close together as possible. The closer your hands are, the less likely you are to dip your right shoulder toward the ball. Second, think about the line of your shoulders as you address the ball. If you are fighting a pull, rotate your shoulders clockwise slightly so that they are parallel to the line of your putt. Then your arm-and-shoulders movement will produce a stroke that follows the target line back through.

Article From Golf Magazine

One And A Half Knuckles

Like you, young Ben Hogan had a smasher’s instinct and a sometimes wicked hook. But instead of trying to throttle back , he found a method to control his hook. One of the main changes that transformed Hogan from Captain Hook to Captain Power Fade was the position of his left hand on the club. Rather than fight a strong , three -knuckle grip, Hogan turned his left hand  so that he saw only one knuckle on address. Weakening his left hand let him hit as hard as he wanted -without worrying about hook.

Keep in mind that Hogan had a very strong forearms that allow him to take a weak left -handed grip and still square the club-face at impact. You’ll probably find more success if you can see a little more-one or one and a half knuckles-of your left hand at address. Then put your hand on the club so that the palm is facing the target.

Hit balls on the practice range using this grip. You’ll slice the first few but the more you let the right side back in the swing, the smaller the slice will be. Plus you’ll never hook it, so you can swing as aggressively as you want.

Article From Golf Magazine

As long as you get the ball off the ground, you have lots of chances to hit plenty of greens every round. So why don’t you hit more? It’s not that the greens are to small; more likely, you simply don’t hit the ball far enough.

Don’t Under-club

You’re capable of hitting the ball far enough to reach at least some greens. But whether it’s a 3-iron or a three-quarter wedge, the most common place for high handicappers to miss greens is short. The problem is called “underclubbing” but this can be more difficult to fix than you realize. For example, you miss a green short, then swing harder on the next hole, tensing your muscles and inhibiting, your swing. The result: an even shorter shot. Now it’s a head game when in reality all you need is to make your normal swing. The key is to chose the right club to get you there.

Move The Pin

To make sure you take enough club to reach the green., mentally move the flag-stick. Instead of playing to the middle of the green, imagine that the hole is positioned on the back of every green. Your goal is to hit the ball so it finishes pin-high. Setting your sights a bit longer is a good way to break free of the under-clubbing routine. If you take more time than usual , you’ll swing easier. The result is better contact, and you,ll be surprised how much easier it is to reach the greens that used to be a struggle. you’ll make relaxed swings and gain confidence as the round progresses, both of which are crucial to improvement.

Article From Golf Magazine

Before playing your next round of golf find out how far you are hitting the ball with each club.  Write them down or memorize what club you need to carry the ball 80 yards ,100 yards, 150 yards and so on. When you play,take two more clubs than you would normally hit for each shot . If you determine that that your 6-iron goes 150 yards, hit a for 4-iron from 150 yards on the course. You will be surprised at how much more effective you will be, you will not be trying to kill the ball every shot, since you know you have power to spare, and your more relaxed swing will help you hit more greens.

Article From Golf Magazine.