Month: January 2014

Categories
Golf Equipment

Invest in the Right Putter

By Shooting 90

Last week was the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida, a yearly showcase of new advancements in golf equipment. New advanced equipment comes out every year aimed at improving your golf game. Through equipment upgrades, golfers have the opportunity to immediately improve their game.

The most advanced equipment, however, is not always right for the high handicap golfer. Many high handicap and beginner gofers play with a Titleist Pro V1 golf ball. Although Titleist may tell you differently, a Pro V1 tour ball is almost always the wrong choice for a high handicapper. A less expensive two piece ball is most likely a better fit.

Many golfers also have no problem dropping several hundred dollars on the newest driver, a club they use 14 times a round at the most.

The club you do not see many golfers begging to show you the bright, shiny, new model they just bought is the putter. In fact, more than a few golfers probably use a $10 putter. Golfers take a majority of their strokes with their putter. We need to put some effort into making sure the putter we are using is best for our game.

Length is an important factor when choosing a putter. You need a putter that conforms to your stance instead of changing your stance for a putter. A proper putting stance has you bent at the hips with your eyes over the ball. Cutting a putter shaft that is too long down to size is not a good thing to do as the weight of the putter head is matched to its length. Your shortened putter will feel too light.

Your putter also has to match your putting stroke. Your putting stroke will fall into one of three categories – straight back straight through, slight arc, or strong arc. A straight back straight through stroke is just what it implies. The putter head goes straight back and then straight through impact with the ball, with the putter face remaining square to the target line all the way through. An arc stroke means the stroke travels on a path that starts inside of the target, moves out to the target line for impact, and then back inside. The putter face will be slightly open at the start, square to target at impact with the ball, and then closed at finish.

Putter heads are weighted differently. A face balanced putter, where the weight is equally distributed from the heel to the toe of the head, is ideal for golfers that have a straight back straight through stroke. A toe weighted putter, that has more weight in the toe of the head, assists the face in moving from open to closed through the shot, making it ideal for golfers with an arc putting stroke.

So how do you tell if your putter is face balanced or toe weighted? Balance the shaft of the putter in the palm of your hand. If the face points up and is horizontal, it is a face balanced putter. If the toe hangs lower than the rest of the putter head, it is a toe weighted putter.

Finally, should you use a blade or mallet putter? While personal preference plays a small role as you can get both face balanced and toe weighted versions of both blade and mallet putters, face balanced  mallet putters are best suited for straight back straight through strokes and toe weighted blade putters are best for arc strokes.

Go to your local golf store or pro shop if you’re not sure what type of putting stroke you have. They can analyze your stroke and make sure you have the right putter for your game.

Categories
Golf Equipment

Super Low Compression Golf Balls

By Shooting 90

The ability to compress the golf ball is what allows golfers to hit for long distance. The ball compresses after impact with the club and then springs back to original shape. This gives the ball a “slingshot” effect off the club face. Many golfers do not have the ability in their current game to compress the ball to a high degree. This inability is caused mostly by slow swing speeds. Swing technique does impact the ability to compress the ball, as some golfers with higher swing speeds still do not effectively compress the ball, but swing speed is the main driver in compressing the ball.

Historically, most of the golf balls available had compression ratings from 70 to 100. The higher the compression rating the more density the ball has. Tour balls used by professionals and low handicap golfers have a high compression rating. Better golfers typical have higher swing speeds which allow them to compress a high density ball. The benefit of a high density ball is that it offers more control to advanced players.

The average male golfer has a swing speed in the mid 80’s mph while the average swing speed for women is in the low 60’s mph. For a long time, golf ball manufacturers have provided balls with lower compression ratings (around 70) to help golfers with slower swing speeds to better compress the golf ball. These balls have less density which allows them to compress more and offer more distance. The majority of these balls are targeted to women golfers. I’m not sure if that is the best marketing ploy, as there are a large number of men who could benefit from a low compression rating ball but refuse to play a women’s golf ball.

The Wilson Duo golf ball was introduced in 2012 and created a lot of buzz in the golf community. Wilson was able to produce a ball with a super low compression rating of 40, providing long distance and minimal spin off the driver while still having a soft feel around the green. Many amateurs, including some with relatively faster swing speeds over 100 mph, find success with the Wilson Duo. It is a great ball for high to mid handicap golfers. Low handicap golfers will most likely find that the 2 piece Duo does not give them the necessary high spin, especially with their wedges.

Callaway recently introduced another ball into the super low compression market, the Super Soft golf ball. The Super Soft golf ball has a compression rating of 38 and incorporates Callaway’s HEX Aerodynamics as the dimple pattern. Like the Wilson Duo, it’s main selling point is long, straight drives off the tee with more softness around the greens than other two piece balls. The Callaway Super Soft provides another option to those looking for a super low compression ball.

If you’re a high to mid handicap golfer looking for more distance, give a super low compression ball a try. The Wilson Duo and Callaway Super Soft both offer super low compression to give golfers with slower swing speeds added distance.

Categories
Putting

Become a Better Lag Putter

By Shooting 90

There are a few areas that high handicap or beginner golfers should focus on to most quickly improve their game. Hitting the ball in the fairway off the tee might be the first and most important. Improving your pitching and chipping around the green is another one.

Today, we will be discussing an equally important area of focus for high-handicap golfers which is eliminating three putts. Of course while the goal is to eliminate three putts, no one ever does, but the point is to drastically reduce the number that you have. While hitting a ball out of play off the tee can derail your hole before it starts, nothing is more deflating than hitting a green in regulation only to three putt for a bogey. Worse yet is to three putt after struggling from tee to green and ending up with a blow-up hole. The ability to putt well can make up for earlier mistakes on a hole but there is nothing to cover up for bad putting.

The most important skill to develop when working towards eliminating three putts is effective lag putting. Lag putting is not trying to make the putt but instead getting it close enough to insure that you can make the second putt. So we’re talking about getting within a few feet of the hole. The chances of a high handicap golfer making a putt outside of 10 feet are low, while their chances of making one outside of 15 feet drop down to almost nothing. You obviously will make a long putt now and then but outside of 10-15 feet you are much better off to concentrate on getting the ball within a couple feet of the hole instead of trying to make it.

Quite possibly the biggest difference between the putting of a professional golfer and that of an amateur is the amount of feel that a professional golfer uses in putting. Many high handicap golfers have a very mechanical putting swing. While it’s very important to have proper mechanics while putting, there is a great deal of feel required in putting especially for distance control.

Check out the video below from Charlie King. He provides three great drills to develop your feel for lag putting.

There is another, just an important, skill required to be a successful lag putter. You need to be able to make short putts! A successful lag putt to within two to three feet of the hole is wasted if you don’t make the putt. The best way to make more short putts is too practice making more short putts! Check out this next video from short game guru Dave Pelz with tips for if you continue to miss short putts.

Change your practice routine if yours currently consists of putting a few 10 to 15 footers before your round. Dedicate regular practice time for working on your lag putting and you can drastically reduce the number of times you three putt.