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Archive for January, 2009

A Quick Drill For Consistent Shots Creating consistent shots in golf is a must. What happens with a lot of players is that, as you look from down the line, the golf club has a tendency to get too vertical on the downswing. It leads to taking too much turf, steep divots, and a ball spinning off to the right.  All of this is influenced by your setup. For example, if you have too much bend in the upper body, and the arms are extended far away from the body, there is a lot of tilt. This causes the golf club to get too vertical on the backswing, which will also create the steepness in the downswing, sticking the club into the ground, and the arms tend to reverse rotate.  So by standing taller at address and getting the end of the golf club pouring more toward your belt buckle, that will put you in an ideal position from address. However, this doesn’t mean that your swing will get more rounded to produce a consistent shot, so a simple drill can help. The 15, 10, 5 Drill First take a practice shot with the ball 15 inches above the ground. By swinging so high you have a nice rounded swing, almost like a baseball swing, and after swinging through, it allows you to square up the clubface. Next move to 10 inches above the ground, around and through, then 5, around and through, then on the tee, making sure the end of the golf club is pointed at your belt buckle.

Yikes! - got the Yips???

Well, let’s try to cure those yips, shall we?

The best cure is usually the one that you find yourself, so head on over to the practice green and work on creating your own remedy. To get you started here are a few drills:

1. Try hitting some putts with your eyes closed. (Yes, you read that right )

2. Test different putting grips. Include the cross handed grip.

3. Hit a few putts with your eyes focused on the hole. Which means keep you eye OFF the ball…

4. Hit some putts while keeping your wrists, hands, arms, and shoulders all moving as one unit, stiff like a robot.

5. Try hitting some putts by hitting the middle of the golf ball with the bottom portion (leading edge) of the putter blade. Of course do not use this type of putt in a real game, but it is great shock therapy to help get your mind from the yips.

6. Ram several putts into the hole with some extra speed and power.

 7. Try hitting some putts with only the grip of your leading hand. Totally neutralize your other hand by tucking it in your pocket. You may find that you putt more solid this way. If so then this learning experience may tell you that when your back hand is gripping the putter, the back wrist may be flipping before impact.

When you step foot into a bunker to blast out your shot from the sand and save your score, consider going against the grain and leave your sand wedge behind.

Blasphemy! You might say…

But the fact is that there are numerous times when a chip shot is without a doubt the best strategy shot to make to get the ball out of the sand and closer to the hole.

First, Check 2 Things:

1) Chipping the ball will cause a low shot, without much climb, so there should be little-to-no lip on the trap.

2) Plenty of putting surface should exist between the trap and the hole.

Assuming that both of these conditions are right, feel free to have your caddie hold onto your sand wedge and pull out your 8 iron or 9 iron.

Ah… you DO have a caddie, don’t you?

Hit firmly down on the ball, without hitting any sand behind the ball. Now focus hard, keeping your head steady, as this is a delicate shot. The ball should come out clean and crisp with a lot of over-spin so expect a bit of run.

When you’re putting the ball on greens that are spiked or bumpy, the most important thing to remember is that you need to control golf ball both at the moment of impact - and immediately after.

When putting with a regular putting stroke, the ball has practically no spin when it leaves the club head. So for the first several inches (depending on the length of your putt) the ball is really just skidding along. Then it picks up it’s own rotation and rolls towards the hole.

The problem is that when you try this standard putting on a green that is unusually bumpy the lack of spin becomes a big issue. There is a high risk that the ball may hit something small on the way and deflect from the target, long before it creates its own inertia. Being knocked off just a half an inch in the beginning will translate into a miss by a few feet by the time it reaches the hole.

The Solution

To develop the control you need when putting on bumpy greens, try to putt the ball with an upswing. This may sound like a small change in the way you stroke the ball, but hitting with an upswing will give the ball over-spin from the time it leaves the club head. This over-spin will help the ball to remain on target, especially during those first few crucial inches.

I got this from a good golfing buddy of mine the other day, and I just had to share it.

Feel free to send it on to your friends as well - or even better - put some of your golf jokes in the comments below…

The Golf Poem…

In My Hand I Hold A Ball,
White And Dimpled, Rather Small.
Oh, How Bland It Does Appear,
This Harmless Looking Little Sphere.

By It’s Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I’ve Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.
 
My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.
 
It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.
 
To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.
 
It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree Or Take A Swim.
 
With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.
 
It’s Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows … I’ll Be Back Tomorrow.
 
Stand proud you noble swingers of clubs and losers of
balls…. 
 
A recent study found the average golfer  walks about 900
miles a  year.
 
Another study found golfers drink, on average, 22 gallons
of alcohol a year.

That means, on average, golfers get about  41 miles to
the gallon. 
 
Kind of makes you proud.  Almost feel like a hybrid.

It is obvious that you can hit a good shot even if you follow through awkwardly, for nothing you do after the ball leaves the clubhead is going to influence where the ball goes. But a sound follow-through is still a vital element in a golf swing because it helps insure that everything that went before was done properly. 

What is a good follow-through?

In general, there are three important elements to look for:

1. How the hands finish.

2. How the right shoulder finishes.

3. The position of the head.

Ideally, the hands should finish high. This indicates that you have brought them straight through the impact area and out toward the target. If the hands finish past and below the left shoulder, it usually means the swing has been too flat or the wrists have rolled over excessively at impact.

At the same time, the right shoulder should stay down and underneath the left. This indicates that you have hit straight through the ball with all your power, and not pulled the face of the club across it.

Finally, the head should be kept down but slightly tilted, to the point where you watch the flight of the ball almost entirely out of the corner of your left eye. This means you have maintained a steady position throughout the swing and stayed down on the shot.

Truth be told, one of the best things about golf is having a good LIE… :-)  

Seriously though - when you have the opportunity for a perfect lie, why give yourself a mediocre one?

I ask this question to myself every time I’m on the golf course and I see golfers, some good and some bad, hitting a tee shot on a par-3 hole without ever teeing up the ball.

Drives me crazy…

These golfers just drop the ball and then roll it around with the end of their club until they “think” they have a satisfactory lie. Most of the time that’s far from the truth (pardon the pun). In any case, it’s certainly NOT the best possible lie.

 The Guaranteed “Best” Lie 

Even on the most accurately mowed tee areas, tiny blades of grass will come between the ball and the clubface should the ball not be totally clear up and above the ground. These tiny blades of grass can reduce the backspin as well as magnify any mistakes you might make in your swing.

The most frequent result is a shot that holds its line pretty good but has a tendency to “sail” up and over the green. A par three hole is already hard enough as it is without making any mistakes that could be easily prevented.

What you need to do is always tee up the ball so that it sits above the top of the grass. You now are clear for a clean, crisp shot, with absolutely no obstructions from grass.

In most discussions of the golf grip, excessive attention is paid to how many knuckles should be visible or which eyeball the “Vs” should point at, but too little focus is advised on the fingers that are actually be resting on the shaft.

For instance, take the so-called “trigger finger” of the right-hand. Many players, more through carelessness than by design, put their right hand on the club as if they were actually pulling a trigger. In other words, the trigger finger is stretched away from the middle finger.

This to me, seems like a big mistake. A good grip has the hands working together, not as two separate entities fighting for control of the club. The more space the hands take up, the more difficult it will be for them to work together.

 The less space, the more control you will be able have. So resist the temptation to “reach for the trigger” the next time you grip a club. Instead, keep all of your fingers snugly together

Here’s a typical golf game nightmare…

You’re on the course about 100 yards from the green but an annoying, low hanging tree branch is right in front of you some 10 to 15 yards away, keeping you from hitting your normal 9-iron approach.

Man, I hate it when that happens

Instead of grabbing a saw and shopping the branch down, as I’d sure we would all like to do, the solution is a shot that will carry no farther than a 9-iron, but start off with the trajectory of a 7-iron.

Either one of these clubs can be used.

The 7-iron can be used so long as you’re choking down on the grip and then hitting the ball as normal as possible. The 9-iron will work just fine as well, which I prefer to use in such a circumstance, so long as swing adjustments are made, as follows:

You have to shut the face of the club, move the ball back toward the middle of the stance, and keep your hands ahead of the ball. The effect is a reduced loft of the iron.

And finally, place all of your weight on the left side and keep it that way throughout the entire swing. The result should be a solid 9-iron shot that takes off low to the ground and shoots right under the tree branch.

Now that pesky tree branch is no longer a problem

Hit em straight!

Ben

Are you looking for a way to increase the quality of your golf gear and get your accessories back into tip-top shape?

Then consider a brand-new shaft upgrade.

Although it seems simple, choosing a new shaft is a bit more complicated than it sounds. You have to ask yourself a few questions:

1. What are your needs?

2. Are you looking for more control?

3. How about increased distance?

4. How about both of these qualities?

Shafts are constructed to meet various needs of the player. Specific demands from each individual golfer may entail an entirely different choice for each person.

To find the right shaft for you, it is important that you study up on the details and consider carefully the information and specs that are provided.

Examples of how complex some of these specs can be, simply take a look at the most recent shaft designs and products that are available. 

Some shafts are created to flex more during lower speeds.  Others may flex less when moving at higher speeds.

Different shafts are created for woods, others for drivers, and still others created for irons, etc..

Wow - it can really get confusing!

But don’t worry, your friendly local clubbuilder or golf shop owner is there to help. Of course, they may ask you a few questions, but in

the end all we want to build the right club - with the right shaft - just for you.