Tag: beginner

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Hit More Fairways

How to Fix a Slice – Ball Flight Laws

By Shooting 90

Understanding the ball flight laws which govern why your ball is hooking and slicing is necessary to be able to build awareness of your own clubhead path and clubface angle. Knowing your own clubhead path and clubface angle enables you to easier make swing changes.

Our swing is determining how the clubhead path and clubface angle and the relationship between the two, at impact, create the ball flight pattern. What exactly is the relationship between clubhead path and clubface angle? Depending on the club, your clubface angle is 65 to 85 percent responsible for the direction your ball starts in. The clubhead path, specifically the relationship between the clubhead path and the clubface angle, is primarily responsible for the direction and amount of curvature in your ball flight.

In the video below, Andrew Rice explains the ball flight laws and the “Royal” relationship between path and face.

If you didn’t already, you now know that a slice is caused by the clubface angle being open relative to the clubhead path. The slice we’re all use to seeing is the one that starts on or left of the target line, curves way right landing well right of the target, usually so far right that you’re in trouble. The path moves from outside of the target line across to the inside of the target line. The clubface angle is pointing to the right of the path to some degree.

Many golfers try to compensate their slice by aiming more left, which doesn’t help. This move can increase the difference between your path and face, worsening your slice. Even if you can aim more left and not worsen you slice, there are just too many holes that you might not have the room to start that far left.

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Hit More Fairways

How to Fix a Slice – Stop Casting the Club on Your Downswing

By Shooting 90

We’ve previously discussed the key for a golfer looking for how to fix a slice is to create an in to out swing path. Many high handicap and beginner golfers have the opposite, an out to in swing path, which is the main reason for their slice. Many golfers with an out to in swing path also “cast” the club during their downswing. Casting refers to straightening your wrists and losing the angle between your left forearm (for righties) and the club shaft very early in your downswing which makes consistent ball striking very difficult.

One reason for casting is the tendency to lift the club up with your arms and hands to start the backswing. This sets up what is referred to as a narrow to wide to narrow swing. Golfers with this swing lift the club during the back swing (narrow), extend their arms and cast the club to begin the downswing (wide), and finally collapse their arms through impact with the ball (narrow).

Creating a wide to narrow to wide swing is a great way to stop casting the club.

If you watch any professional golf, you’ll notice that a professional’s swing is much different. In fact it’s very much the opposite, a wide to narrow to wide swing. A professional brings the club back wide with their arms extended, keeps a narrow downswing with their wrists still hinged, finally releasing the club by extending their arms and going wide.

The following video by Simon Weston is a great explanation of a wide to narrow to wide swing.

 

There are big benefits to a wide to narrow to wide swing.

The first is a more consistent in to out swing, helping you to fix a slice. Rotating your body with hip and shoulder turn minimizes you using your arms and hands to swing the club. It is difficult to build consistency in a swing with a lot of hand and arm movement.

Secondly, you lose club head speed and shot distance when you cast the club. By keeping your wrists hinged until later in the downswing, you create lag in your swing. Lag refers to keeping your hands in front of the club shaft and releasing the club right before impact with the ball. A wide to narrow to wide swing promotes more lag and gives you a higher club head speed at impact.

One of the keys to a wide to narrow to wide swing is getting your weight moving forward towards the target to start your downswing. This helps to drop your hands down inside to start your downswing. If you start your downswing by dropping your hands before moving forward towards your target, you are more likely to come over the top with an outside to in swing path.

Here’s a great drill from Karen Palacios-Jansen to help you start your downswing by getting your weight moving towards the target.

 

By not casting the club on your downswing, you’ll help eliminate your slice, create more consistent ball striking, and gain distance through increased club head speed.

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Golf Equipment

Should You Be Fitted For Golf Clubs?

By Shooting 90

Many beginner and high handicap golfers struggle with when and if to get custom fitted for golf clubs. Should a golfer who is buying their first set of clubs and just starting out in the game get custom fitted for clubs? Many say golfers should wait until they can consistently repeat a swing. But what exactly does that mean? What level of repeatability does one have to reach? We’re all going to have the occasional mishit.

There are many measurements and observations that are part of a custom club fitting. Some measurements are static such as your height and arm height. Other measurements pertain to your swing and are more dynamic, or fluid.

It is not the best idea to buy a set of clubs off the rack with no fitting whatsoever. You will create bad swing habits that may be difficult to correct later on if you adapt your swing to clubs that do not fit you.

At the very least, get fitted for shaft length, shaft flex, and lie. Starting with clubs that physically fit you will allow you to build a correct, consistent swing over time.

As time goes by, your swing will improve and at some point you will benefit from being refitted. You will have the consistent swing that can then be analyzed for spin rate, launch angle, and ball speed. This information can be used to determine the exact right clubs for your game.

If you are looking for a new set of clubs, be sure to make a fitting part of the process. It will be highly beneficial to your game. Any club fitter, whether they are a big retailer like Golfsmith or Golf Galaxy, or a smaller pro shop at your local course, will do a free or very inexpensive fitting when you are buying a new set of clubs.

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Hit More Greens

Lay Up on a Par 5

By Shooting 90

You’ve just crushed a drive down the middle of the fairway on a par 5. The aggressive side of you wants to knock it on the green in two and make a 15 footer for eagle. Of course, making it on the green in two on a par 5 rarely happens for a beginner or high handicap golfer and more often puts you in a bad position, either in a hazard, bunker, or green side rough. You should be very selective in the times you go for the green in two on a par 5. If the green is surrounded by hazards, your best play is to lay up, which simply means to hit a shot shorter than you are capable of.

When laying up, instead of going for the green in two, you hit your second shot to a safe part of the fairway with a remaining distance that leaves you a full wedge shot. The advantage to laying up is that most of the time you will be closer to the hole in three shots by laying up instead of going for the green in two. Develop a layup distance that you can repeatedly shoot for. The distance I usually lay up to is 100 yards, but choose the distance that is best for you based on your wedge play.

By laying up, you are also taking dangerous shots out of play. You may not need driver off the tee if you are playing three shots to get on the green. You may be able to reach the green with a 3 wood, mid iron and wedge. Along with leaving the driver in the bag, you are also taking a higher risk second shot with a fairway wood out of play. Laying up and taking three lower risk shots gives you an excellent chance at hitting a green in regulation and having a putt for birdie.

There will be times when being aggressive, going for the green in two on a par 5, will be the best play. You may have hit a booming drive right down the middle of the fairway and have a clear second shot to a green with minimal hazards surrounding it. These are the times to be selectively aggressive, go for the green in two if you have the distance to make it, and try to score low. The rest of the times play it safe and lay up on par 5’s.

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Golf Short Game

Learn to Chip Around the Green

By Shooting 90

The short game probably has a bigger gap in ability between low and high handicap golfers than any area in golf. The ability to get up and down is critical in improving your game. How many times does a high handicap golfer take three or four shots from beside the green to get the ball in the hole?

The need to be able to shoot a variety of shots is one of the challenges high handicap golfers face in having a good short game. The chip, pitch, flop, and sand shots are all part of a well-rounded short game. In this post, we will be talking about the chip shot.

Around the green, many beginner and high handicap golfers exclusively use their pitching or sand wedge, attempting to fly the ball most of the way to the hole with a lofted shot. Sometimes it is best to play a chip shot. A chip shot consists of bumping the ball up in the air just enough to get it on the green and rolling. The big benefit of a chip shot is that it is much easier to control both the direction and distance when your ball is rolling opposed to flying through the air.

Chip shots can be made with a variety of clubs including your 7 iron, 8 iron, 9 iron, and wedges. Use your wedges for chipping when your ball is closer to the hole as they will provide more spin and your ball with roll less. Your less lofted clubs are for longer chip shots where you need your ball to roll a greater distance.

The stance and swing for a chip shot differs from a regular shot. The ball is played off the inside of your back foot with the handle of the club forward of the ball. Probably the most important thing to remember about a chip shot is that you strike down on the ball allowing the loft of the club to get it in the air. Many amateurs make the mistake of trying to scoop the ball into the air.

While the setup and execution is the same for all of your chip shots regardless of what club you choose, it is important to practice chipping with all of your wedges all the way down to your 6 or 7 iron. The club you choose will depend on how far away from the hole you are.

In the video below, Peter Finch, shows us how to control our distance when chipping.

Spend a serious amount of time chipping during your practice sessions. Becoming a successful chipper will most definitely lower your scores. The short game offers high handicap golfers the biggest impact on their game with more practice.

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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.

Categories
Golf Tips

The 2013 Masters

By Shooting 90

I, like many of you, enjoyed watching the 2013 Masters. It was a great win for Adam Scott. I always watch professional tournaments looking for tips I can apply to my own game. While there are things the pros do that we should not, there are just as many things we can apply to our own games.

Here are some thoughts of mine from the 2013 Masters.

Downhill putts will break more than uphill putts. How many times did the pros not play enough break on make-able downhill putts and the ball broke below the hole? I’m not talking about long putts that they were trying to lag putt. On those putts the wanted outcome is leaving the ball below the hole to have an uphill putt on their next one. Granted, the greens at Augusta were insanely fast, especially on Friday and Saturday, but to see professional golfers continually not play enough break  on putts they were trying to hole was interesting. It serves as a great reminder for high handicap and beginner golfers who generally do not play enough break to begin with. While the greens will not be as fast as a professional event, remember that downhill putts will take more break than uphill ones.

On Sunday, as a steady rain fell, the greens became consistently slower. Many pros were slow to adjust and putt after putt came up short of the hole. This brought a couple of thoughts to mind. First, I was somewhat surprised how long it took some pros to adjust. Second, it reminded me of the saying that you won’t make a putt that doesn’t reach the cup. Again, I’m not talking about the times when lag putting the ball up to the hole was the best approach. Rather I’m talking of the times where the pros were expecting to make the putt. There were several putts on Sunday that were a revolution or two from going in the hole. Who can say how that affected the outcome. Adam Scott had it figured out by the time he reached the 18th hole and the playoffs sinking the two biggest putts of his career. When you have a putt you are expecting to sink, make sure you get it to the hole.

Finally, the sportsmanship between Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera was enjoyable to watch. I’m sure the fact that they were teammates on the 2009 President’s Cup team and consider themselves friends had something to do with it. More so I believe it points to the outstanding character of these two competitors. Take a cue from Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera the next time you’re competing in your flight of your club championship or in your weekly league. Compete hard but maintain the utmost respect for your competitor, win or lose.

I plan on posting my observations on other tournaments as the season progresses. There is always something to learn from watching the best golfers in the world.

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Golf Equipment

Best Golf Balls for Beginners

By Shooting 90

A lot of people find Shooting 90 by searching the Internet for the best golf balls for beginners. There are many different golf balls on the market today. Depending on how they are constructed and the materials used, they cater to golfers of all skill levels.

Tour balls, the same balls professionals use on tour, the Titleist Pro V1 being the most popular, are made of three, four or even five layers and have a soft cover. This construction provides a high level of spin and feel around the green. Many amateurs, including beginner and high handicap golfers, emulate the pros and use tour balls thinking they will get an advantage from them. However, without the high level of necessary skill, tour balls are not helping your golf game and may actually be hurting it.

Beginner golfers should start with a basic two piece ball that costs around $1. There are many reasons a basic two piece ball is better for a beginner than a tour caliber or other advanced ball.

  • High spin of a tour ball can magnify slices with a driver.

The same high level of spin that helps around the green can increase the severity of your slices and hooks off the tee with your driver. Beginner golfers are still improving their shots and will occasionally hit drives that result in a slice or hook. A tour ball’s high amount of spin with magnify these errant shots. A two piece ball has a harder cover that produces less spin while using a driver. Less spin off the tee will help control slices and hooks.

  • Tour balls are expensive.

Let’s face facts. As a beginner golfer, you are going to lose your fair share of golf balls. Additionally, golf is already an expensive sport. Losing Titleist Pro V1 balls on a regular basis, which cost $4 a piece, unnecessarily makes the already expensive sport of golf even more costly.

  • Two piece balls are more durable.

You may be asking how a $1 golf ball can be more durable than a $4 golf ball but that is exactly the case! The cover of $1 two piece golf balls are made with a harder material than the cover of tour balls. The soft cover of a tour ball is needed for the required feel around the green. This soft material is more easily cut by mishits than the harder material of the two piece ball cover.

 $1 two piece golf balls are the best golf balls for beginners. Click the link below for our list of two piece balls that cost around $1 a piece.

Click here for the best golf balls for beginners