•An Easy And Simple Golf Conditioning Program
Your body dictates your golfing ability. There’s no way around it. If you’re fit, chances are you’ll play better golf. If you’re not fit, chances are you’ll play poorly. While you should stay in shape all year round, the winter is great for starting a golf-specific fitness program. Regardless of age, gender, or playing level, participating consistently in a golf-specific exercise program pays dividends in your game and in your life.
A golf-specific conditioning program consists of resistance...
•Ball Position For Different Clubs
Ball position is a critical component that’s often overlooked by players with high golf handicaps. Ball position decides a shot’s initial direction. While theories on ball position abound, you need to find one that’s right for you.
Ball position affects a clubhead’s swing path, as I explain in my golf lessons. If the ball is too far back, the clubhead moves on an in-to-out swing path at impact, sending the ball to the target’s right. If the ball is too far forward, the clubhead moves on an...
•Building A Repeatable Swing Like Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods hits his irons straighter and more accurately than most pros. By swinging the club exactly the same way, he’s able to repeat his golf swing again and again and again. The more he repeats his swing, the more often he generates predictable results. For Tiger, predictable results mean more tournament wins and higher earnings. For the rest of us, it means better scores and lower golf handicaps.
Building a repeatable swing is ultimately the goal of all golf instruction. The secret to...
•Can Well-Maintained Greens Lower Your Scores?
I don’t often mention green maintenance in my golf lessons. Nor do I often discuss it in my golf tips. That’s because golfers want to talk about hitting the ball instead. But the care and feeding of a club’s greens—how they are mowed, watered, fertilized— can have a major impact on a player’s golf handicap, especially if he or she plays the same course a lot.
Speed is the key factor when considering green maintenance. Usually, players want a superintendent to increase green speed. It’s...
•Dealing With Down Slopes
In some of my golf tips I tell the story about playing a course which had severe fairway undulations. I could see where the course would be discouraging for recreational golfers. I seldom had a flat lie on the course. In fact, it was so hilly, I was almost always hitting from some kind of slope. More often than not, I was hitting down hill.
If you’ve ever played a course like this—and you probably have—you know how tricky hitting from a downhill lie can be. It’s especially difficult for...
•Dealing With Water: Know The Rules
Water hazards probably account for more penalty strokes than anything else in golf. But water hazards—as dealt with under Rule 26—often lead to controversy when interpreting the rule. So I’m careful to review the topic in my golf lessons and discuss it in my golf tips.
The controversy stems from interpreting where the ball last crossed the water’s edge. Since the decision affects where you take a drop, it makes sense to have a good understanding of the rule, especially if a match is on the...
•Do You Have A One-Plane Or Two-Plane Swing?
The concept of plane confuses some players. It also confuses some players that come to me for golf lessons. Many are unclear about what it is and what its impact is on your golf swing. Whether you understand the concept of plane or not, swinging off plane is never good.
Focusing on two points—spine angle at address and the position of the left arm on the downswing—clears up the confusion about swing plane and explains its effect on your golf swing and your golf handicap.
Several reasons...
•Easy Distance Off The Tee
How can I generate more distance off the tee? Recreational players, it seems, are always looking for golf tips on how to generate more distance off the tee. While proper technique is the true secret to generating distance off the tee, other isolated factors also affect distance. Taking advantage of these factors, as I urge players who take my golf lessons, is an easy way to get more distance without swinging harder or faster.
Loft is one of those isolated factors. Unfortunately, some players...
•Five Mistakes Weekend Golfers Make
Most of us are weekend golfers. If we’re really lucky, and the weather holds, we play on both Saturday and Sunday. If not, we play either Saturday or Sunday. Occasionally, we play during the week but that doesn’t happen too often. Our jobs and families keep us too busy to play regularly.
Weekend golfers tend to acquire bad habits, habits that can completely derail a round and ruin a good day. Below are five faults to keep in mind if you play sporadically. While these tips derive from many...
•Five Steps For Improving Bunker Technique
Although hitting from a bunker is straightforward once you learn the basics of stance and posture, the thought of hitting into a greenside sand trap unsettles many golfers. Improving your technique reduces the fear of bunker play and builds self-confidence in your shot-making capabilities.
Assuming the texture of the sand is similar, and the ball is not plugged, the technique for hitting out of a greenside bunker remains the same for shots up to 30 yards (27m). The key to making this shot, as...
•Fix Your Finish To Improve Your Golf Handicap
How you finish often reveals what’s happening during your swing In fact, I often key on a player’s finish in my golf lessons to determine exactly how to help he or she can improve their game. You can do the same for yourself—if you know what to look for.
Below I describe four of the more common finishes I see when giving golf lessons, possible causes of the finish, and ideas on how to eliminate, the swing faults that cause them.
High Finish The high finish position is among the most common....
•Get Up And Down From Anywhere By Mastering These Three Shots
What’s the difference between a player with a high golf handicap and one with a low golf handicap? Often, it’s the low handicapper’s ability to get up and down on a hole. Or, in other words, it’s the low handicapper’s ability to turn three (or more) shots into two around the green. It’s called scoring. And it’s the low handicapper’s secret weapon.
The key to getting up and down is more mental than physical. It includes:
1. Assessing the existing lie 2. Selecting the right shot 3. Choosing...
•Getting Out Of The Rough
During the 1972 British Open at Muirfield, Scotland, Tony Jacklin and Lee Trevino attacked the 9th hole from the tee. Jacklin went for the carry over the left-hand fairway bunker, while Trevino played more conservatively down the right side. Both finished in the rough, but within iron distance of the green. Two amazing shots followed, both landing about 20 yards (18 m) short of but running onto the green. Both players then holed their putts for eagles.
Hitting into the rough is the most...
•Golf Swing Thoughts Help Develop Consistency
Swing thoughts on the practice range are an unquestioned strategy. They simplify a complex situation. They speed the learning process. And they help develop trust in your swing. How about during a match? Do swing thoughts help there? What are the best swing thoughts to have?
While instructors differ on which are the best swing thoughts during a match, they all agree on one thing: Thoughts like “Keep your elbow tucked in,” Finish with your belt buckle facing the target,” or “Keep your head...
•Golfers- Crush Your Drives...And Keep It In Play!
So you want to drive like Tiger and putt like Ben Crenshaw, huh? Don’t we all.
Long drives and accuracy are a bit like oil and water in terms of a combination but they don’t have to be. Just imagine if you could hit your drives consistently in the fairway 250 yards + nearly every time…wouldn’t that make the game a lot easier…and fun?
Having a good tee ball is critical to your confidence and placing the ball where you can score. We all can get easily frustrated when things go sideways with...
•Hitting Golf’s Toughest Shots
Always going for broke can cost your strokes and inflate golf handicap. Still there are times when going for broke is called for—like when the club championship is on the line or you need a birdie to break 70 or 80 for the first time. If your luck’s like mine, that’s usually when you face a pretty tough shot.
The six shots described below are among the toughest going. They’re extra difficult for amateur golfers who aren’t accustomed to hitting shots under pressure, especially for those with...
•How Golf Instructional Videos Can Take Your Game To The Next Level
I’ve been providing golf instruction for many years. And while I enjoy giving golf lessons and discussing golf tips, there’s something to be said about golf instructional videos as teaching aids. Increasingly popular, videos have several advantages other instruction methods don’t. Below are four advantages that I especially like about videos.
1. Visual Learning We’re all different and we all like to learn in our own way. Research has found that two major categories of preferred learning...
•How The Golf Channel Can Help Your Game
If you’re tired of golf instruction magazines, check out the Golf Channel (TGC) cable station and its popular Web site (www.thegolfchannel.com). Available through cable, satellite, and wireless companies, the TGC offers enough instructional material to more than satisfy both the beginner and the scratch player.
The Golf Channel The Golf Channel is the brainchild of Joseph Gibbs and Arnold Palmer, who co-founded it in 1991. It offers a unique blend of golf information, news, features, and...
•How To Chip As If You Were Putting
The chip shot is one of the easiest to learn in the game. Yet, many recreational players have trouble hitting the short chip shot, even after several golf instruction sessions. In fact, they’re so bad, they substitute their putter for wedge, which isn’t always wise, as I explain in my golf lessons.
Using a putter when you need a pitching wedge or a sand wedge is, needless to say, a poor decision. It can add strokes to your overall score or cost you a hole in match play. It’s a problem you...
•How To Choose The Right Shaft Flex For Your Golf Clubs
All low handicappers and golfers who are serious about shooting the lowest scores possible consider flex in their clubs. It makes the science of hitting the ball so much easier, which translates to more enjoyment on the course. Now, when I say "flex", I am referring to the ability of a golf shaft to bend as forces are applied to it during the golf swing. Just go ahead and “waggle” your club a little and see how much the shaft bends and you will get an idea of what “flex” is. There are...
•How To Cut Five Strokes From Your Game By The Weekend
If you're serious about lowering your golf handicap and doing so quickly, master the three scoring clubs—the driver, the wedge, and the putter. These clubs have the greatest impact on your golf game and provide the greatest opportunity for cutting strokes from your scores. Mastering these clubs will improve your game as much as 5 strokes per round.
Specifically though, let’s focus on the wedges. Knowing which wedge to hit in different situations is really the best way to drop shots because...
•How To Deal With Sloping Greens
Reading slopes correctly is vital to putting well. All putts start out straight, but the green’s contour curves the ball. If you’re going to improve your putting and lower your golf handicap, then you must learn how to read a green’s slope.
Reading a green’s slope comes with experience, like a lot of things in golf. The more you play, the better you’ll become at it, as I stress in my golf lessons. Nevertheless, there are some proven techniques I’ve used that will make learning how to deal...
•How To Practice Golf Properly
Practicing your golf game properly is vital to improving. Knowing how to practice increases self-confidence, reduces scores, and lowers golf handicaps. It also increases the fun of playing as you see your scores drop on each round. I consider it so important that I discuss how to practice with all my students during golf lessons.
Unfortunately, some students don’t always follow my advice. They either focus on the wrong things during practice or they practice without purpose. Some students do...
•How To Read Greens Like A Pro
Ever hit a putt you thought was going in only to have it drift wide right? If you have, chances are you misread the green. My golf lessons teach that reading greens takes skill, good judgment, and experience. Since there’s no formula for determining the direction a ball must start based on the slope of the green and the distance to the hole, reading greens is key to sinking more putts. And sinking more putts, as my golf tips emphasize, produces a lower golf handicap.
Let’s talk about ball...
•Improving The Mental Picture Of Your Swing
Visualization techniques help improve your game. All good players do it, whether consciously or unconsciously. PGA pros, for example, visualize every shot they take. It’s the key to their success. I also encourage it in my individual golf instruction sessions. Below are a couple of visualization techniques that I’ve written about in my golf tips.
To improve your scores quickly, try developing a good mental picture of your swing. Too many recreational golfers have a poor mental picture of...
•Keys To Improving Distance From The Tee
Players taking my golf lessons often confuse length off the tee with muscle power. They’re not the same. While you may never drive the ball as far as John Daly, quite possibly the Tour’s longest driver, you can generate additional power off the tee—and improve your golf handicap —by developing a sounder technique.
Here are 7 keys to a great drive:
• Widen your stance for stability • Point your left toe slightly toward target (for right-handers) • Hover the clubhead above the ball • Don’t...
•Pitching From Bad Lies
Everyone eventually lands in a bad lie. It’s just a fact of life. Even a good shot sometimes ends up in a divot. Shots off the mark, on the other hand, sometimes land on bare ground or in the rough. Pitching successfully from a bad lie cuts strokes from your score and positions you for your next shot.
A key to pitching from a bad lie is maintaining your focus. Pitching from a divot or bare ground isn’t as tricky as it seems, if you do. In fact, it’s fairly straightforward, as I’ve often say...
•Principles Of Accurate Chipping
Here’s a question I sometimes ask when giving a golf lesson. What do pro golfers Jose Maria Olazabal, Tiger Woods, and Sergio Garcia all have in common? Answer: They don’t hit into trouble often, but when they do, their short games save them, and accurate chipping is one of the most potent weapons in their short game. In fact, most players with low golf handicaps chip accurately.
The chip shot is one of the easiest shots to learn in golf. It’s also one of the most crucial. In medal play,...
•Simple Indoor Golf Drills To Keep Your Game In Shape During The Winter
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...
•Six Keys To Pitching From The Fairway
Accurate pitching reduces your golf handicap. Turning three strokes into two by pitching close to the pin cuts strokes from your scores. Cut enough strokes and you’ll lower your handicap significantly. Learning to pitch accurately from the fairway is crucial to improving your game.
Pitching accurately from the fairway, as I mention in my golf lessons, requires good distance control. That’s not easy to achieve. The tendency is for your swing to be either too long, in which case the clubhead...
•Synchronizing Your Arms And Body
Whatever your golf handicap is, you’ve probably experienced days when everything on the course seemed to fall into place. You’re golfing with a fun-loving foursome. You’re playing a great course on a great day. And you’re driving, chipping, and putting well. In fact, you’re doing everything well. It all seems so easy.
And, then, for no apparent reason, you lose it. You can’t do anything right. Your drives miss the fairways. Your approach shots fall way short. And your chip shots run by the...
•The Buzz About “The Quiet Eye” For Putting
What’s the difference between a good putter and a bad putter? Usually, we attribute the difference to mechanics. Good mechanics produces good putting. Bad mechanics produces bad putting. At least, that’s what I’ve always stressed and taught in my golf lessons and golf tips.
However, research shows that mechanics may not be the only difference between good putters and bad putters. According to Dr. Joan Vickers, University of Calgary, the difference may lie in how you use your eyes. The secret...
•The Four Key Factors In Your Swing
When I mention the word basics in my golf lessons, players start thinking about things like grip, posture, ball position, alignment, and so on. That’s only natural. Golf pros talk so much about these subjects in golf instruction sessions that players assume they’re the focus when the discussion comes round to the basics of a golf shot.
But there are four other basics—plane, centering, radius, and face—that key good ball striking. Players must master the four factors to cut their golf...
•The Proper Swing Sequence
Some people who listen to my golf lessons think the swing is all about moving the right body parts. But knowing which parts to move isn’t enough. You also need to know what sequence to move them in, when, and how quickly. Building rhythm, timing, and tempo into your swing is a prerequisite to hitting good golf shots time and time again.
Helping players develop swing consistency is a priority in my golf instruction. I work diligently with them, to help them learn both the components of a good...
•The Proper Takeaway And Backswing
When it comes to the swing, my golf instruction hinges on a simple idea: The swing is a chain reaction. What occurs at the start of the swing influences what happens at the end. If you execute the takeaway and backswing properly, you’ll hit the ball with accuracy and power. If you don’t, you’ll hit the ball off-line and with little power.
A proper takeaway is critical to a good swing. Like the catalyst in a chain reaction, the takeaway starts everything in motion, as I stress in my golf...
•The Pros And Cons Of Cavity Back Irons
Whenever I talk about irons in my golf lessons, students invariably ask which style is best—cavity back or blade. The cavity back has its advantages and its disadvantages. It also has its fans.
Golfers, however, shouldn’t choose an iron style because it’s popular in the clubhouse, since the style many not fit their game. The key to iron styles, as I’ve said in my golf tips, is finding what’s right for you.
Cavity backs are popular these days—and for good reason. A cavity back has a small...
•Three Drills For Generating More Clubhead Speed
Weekend golfers often equate “muscle power’ with length off the tee. I see it all the time in my golf lessons. The player swings his or her driver as hard as he or she can, hoping to hit a monster drive. They never do. In fact, swinging the driver harder, as I tell these players, shortens your drives because it tightens your muscles, decreasing their ability to producing power.
The secret to more distance off the tee is generating more clubhead speed. Mechanically, you generate more clubhead...
•When To Leave The Driver In The Bag
Supposedly, Tiger Woods used his driver only once in winning the 2006 British Open. In its place, he used low irons and fairway woods. I’m not sure exactly sure how many times he used his driver, but it wasn’t much, highlighting something I advocate in my golf lessons and golf tips—knowing when to leave the driver in the bag cuts strokes from your score and your golf handicap.
Tiger succeeded at the British Open because he played smart golf. That requires strategically positioning the ball...
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