Free Online Golf TipsFree Online Golf Tips and Discussions About Golf

One of the basic tenets of golf is to take care of your equipment.
The appearance of a player and his golf accessories can tell a lot about that person.  By taking pride in your golf apparel,
especially your clubs and golf bag, and keeping everything in shape, you will look better and most importantly, your expensive
golf equipment will last a lot longer.

Keeping Your Club Faces Free From Dirt

Whenever you hit a shot, you will see that the grooves of the face on your iron will be cluttered with dirt.  To keep this
area clean and free of grime, simply wipe off the clubhead with a rag or small towel and then use the sharp end of a tee to
scrape each groove.

Cleaning your club face like this is not just for appearances either. By removing encrusted dirt and mud, your shots will
maintain distance. With a dirty club, you can lose control and your ball will not reach the distances desired.

Cleaning Your Golf Balls

When you arrive at each tee box, you will see a small structure on a pole designed to help keep your golf balls clean.  Some of
these contraptions have a round handle on top, and some have a crank-type handle on the side.

These are called ball washers and the purpose is to enable you to clean your golf balls. You simply place the ball in the
designated area and once finished, the ball will come out erfectly clean.

When cleaning your golf balls, keep it courteous. These ball washers can be extremely noisy so be sure not to use the machine
when one of your playing partners is about to make a shot. It’s best to wait until the swing is over before you operate the ball cleaner.

Keeping Your Shoes Clean

If you wear spiked shoes during your golf games, as everybody should, keeping them clean is also standard procedure for the
player who takes care of his or her equipment.  At the end of the day, be sure to scrape off any of the excess dirt and grass
from the spikes before taking off your shoes.

In addition to preventing the trunk of your car from getting dirty from your shoes, you’ll also be able to keep an eye on the
spikes and know when it’s time to get new ones installed in your shoes.

Note: You can purchase a package of spikes to keep your footing fresh at all times.  Each package should come with a small wrench
that has two claws. You will insert these claws into the holes at the base of your cleats in order to remove the spikes.
Replace them with the new spikes but be sure not to tighten them up too hard because it may be extremely difficult to remove the
spikes for future replacements.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

Golf takes time and practice, especially when you are just starting out with the sport and are frustrated by common flawed shots, like the annoying slice or the dreaded
hook, which essentially causes the ball to veer off severely left or right, instead of straight towards the intended target.

Then there is the “shank”…YIKES   >:-0

The shank has got to be one of the most embarrassing shots a golf player can make. 

(I should know, because I have certainly made my share of them…)

Look at it this way, hitting a shank is worse than missing a one or two-foot putt.

This is one experience that you want to avoid at all costs!

What Causes The Shank?

You create a shank whenever you hit the golf ball with the “hosel” portion of the club, instead of the actual club face. When the ball hits the hosel, which is a thin and round surface, it is sent sharply to the left, or right, and hardly becomes airborne, traveling at the most 25 to 35 yards.

If you are shanking the ball  too often on the golf course, the odds are very good that you are probably extending (pushing) the club out and away from the body on the downswing portion. 

Or you may be coming into the ball with a severe outside-in movement, which causes the hosel to come forward and hit the ball before the clubface can reach it.

In order to fix this problem, the first thing to do is be sure that your swing path is coming from the inside. By practicing this adjustment in your swing, the toe of the club will lead the hosel and your swing will come inside and out, producing a properly released clubhead, and the end result is a shankless shot.

Try This Practice Drill

You can easily train yourself to avoid hitting a shank with this simple, two-step drill:

1. Using 2 tees, place one into the ground where your ball would be placed. Take the second one and place it approximately 2 inches outside of the first tee.

2. Now you simply swing and aim for the first tee. Keep your swing easy and try to hit the first tee on target while completely missing the outside tee.

If you are hitting both tees then you are pushing the club out and away from you. Keep on practicing until you are only hitting the first tee at each shot, thereby eliminating the shank with consecutive in-to-out swing paths.
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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

The location in which you place the golf ball in your stance will depend almost entirely upon the type of club you are going to use. 

For example, when making a shot with the driver, you will typically play the ball off your left heel. 

When using a fairway wood, it is generally required that the ball be moved over about 1 inch to the right. When using long irons, the ball will be roughly in the same position, but
just a tad bit behind that. Middle irons will typically have the ball placed an inch or so towards the left of mid-stance.

And lastly, wedges and a short irons should be played from the center point of your stance.

Where To Place The Ball

As a beginner, golfers should concentrate on the basics and learn to initiate contact with the ball as best possible, and for every shot made. Once you have achieved repetitive
contact each time you make your swing, you can start to experiment by varying the positions of the ball.

Doing so will inevitably change the flight path of the ball, however, this is often necessary when you are playing a hole that has you facing unusual circumstances.

Let’s look at an example: By moving the ball an inch or two to the right while using a short iron, you will be required to come into the contact zone on a bit of a steeper angle.
The result will be a lower shot, which is necessary when playing the ball into fierce winds.

If you move the ball to the left side of your address position, a higher shot will be produced, which is required if you must shoot the ball over a tall bush or tree. Another way to induce a higher ball flight is to tee the ball up a little higher when
preparing to drive it. Teeing the ball lower will of course cause the ball to travel closer to the ground.

A Little Practice Goes A Long Way

You heard it before: Practice makes perfect! 

This is especially true when experimenting with ball position.
Whenever you are on the practice range, spend time adjusting your tees and making shots to find out what the results are. Significant changes can be made with the slightest
placement of the tee.

Professional golf players understand this and regardless of your skill level, you should also take the time needed to work on these exercises. You never know what type of shot
you will be required to make on the course. Having the knowledge ahead of time to know what adjustments you can make to get yourself out of a sticky situation is the mark of a great golf player.
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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

OK, I know, it’s another tip about playing in the wind

One of the great things I enjoy about golf is the fact that
the playing conditions on the course can change at any moment
due to the weather. Now some of you might be wondering why rain,
wind, or extreme temperatures gets me excited on the golf course.

Well the answer is simple: I like the challenge!

Beginner golfers have the exact opposite attitude, and rightfully so,
as they are just learning the basics and would like nothing more than
to simply make contact with the ball each time they swing. Rain and
heavy winds are not going to improve their day, only cause them to quit.

On the other hand, more experienced golfers, like myself, look up and
smile when stormy weather comes to join me on the golf course. One of
my favorite challenging weather conditions is high winds, blowing
everything around on the course.

Embrace The Challenge

The next time you are playing golf and heavy winds start to interrupt
your game, do not get frustrated, instead, try to embrace the new playing
conditions. It is inevitable that your score is going to be higher, so
except that truth and welcome the challenge. Once you can understand this,
heavy winds will not be as stressful as usual and having a positive mental
attitude will make the game more interesting for you.

Expect The Worst

Expect the wind to do its best to challenge each and every shot you make.
A good wind tends to shorten a well-hit drive and increase the length of
an approach shot that was perfectly hit, sending it flying by past the green.

Perfect shots will be reduced to slices or hooks. The wind will blow your
ball in every direction but its intended target. Long holes become twice
as long. Dozens of golf balls may be lost in the adventure after being
forced by the wind into the rough, heavy wooded areas, and water hazards.

What You Resist, Persists!

If you have not heard the old saying “whatever you resist, persists”,
it simply means that the more you try to fight something, the more it
fights you back.  This is a perfect way to describe playing golf during
windy conditions. The best way to handle this strong adversary of mother
nature is to use the wind to your advantage.

For example, let’s say that you are getting ready to tee off and the wind
is coming in strong from the left and blowing hard to the right. This is
a perfect opportunity to see how well you can work with the weather by
teeing off your shot far left then you would have normally.

The wind is obviously going to push the ball towards the right, so it will
be interesting to find out how well you can judge the wind strength by
making a far left shot, and getting as close to your target is possible.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

Golf is all about giving yourself the absolute best opportunities to make shots onto the green. 
This is done by keeping the ball on the fairway, which means that accuracy should be one of the focal points of your game. You can increase your accuracy when playing golf by keeping in mind the following points:

1. No matter where your ball is, you should always be aiming for a target. Developing accuracy and playing with a strategic mindset means choosing a target to shoot at, even if you cannot see the hole.

By choosing a small target, such as an object or a location on the fairway, visualize the ball heading in that exact direction. This technique has been proven to help thousands of golfers to hit more accurate shots in line with their target.

2. Just because you are hitting the ball from the tee, that does not mean that the driver should be used each and every time.
Yes, the driver will hit the ball the farthest, but it also has the least accuracy of every club in your bag. You may be facing a shot with a narrow fairway, or perhaps risking advanced hazards on each side of the fairway.

Either way, your driver may not be the best choice. Instead, consider using your woods, preferably a 3-wood or the 5-wood. You could even use an iron when hitting the ball from the tee if it is deemed necessary.

3. Learn to take your ego out of the game when necessary. Always take the safe shot if you are unsure of what strategy to use. Trying to be the golf hero of the day may ruin your score. Have the mindset to simply keep the ball on the green and finish
the job with your putter.

4. Regardless of playing skill level, all golf players who have been involved in this sport for any amount of time have one thing in common: We all have a “lucky club”.
Beginner golfers may not have such an experience yet, but in time you will. We like to call it our “go to” club. It is the one club in our bag that we consistently
hit the ball well with.

Always use your lucky club whenever you have a very important shot to make. Remember, different clubs are designed to hit the ball in different manners, but any club will work for any shot, most of the time. 
For example, even if your tee off is on a par-5 hole, but the shot absolutely must go well, and your lucky club is a 5-wood, then use it!  Does the 9-iron do the trick for you every time, regardless of the circumstances? Use it!

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben