Tag: golf

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Hit More Greens

Uneven Lies – Uphill Lie

By Shooting 90

Hitting a ball from an uphill lie will result in a shot that is higher, shorter, and tends to go to the left. There are a few adjustments needed in your setup to hit a ball from an uphill lie.

You need to align your body with the slope. Align your shoulders so they are parallel with the slope. This will put the majority of your weight on your back foot. Aligning your shoulders parallel to the slope will allow you to use your normal swing for an uphill lie.

Swinging up the slope will add loft to your shot, forcing your ball to go higher in the air and thus a shorter distance. Take more club to make up for the increased loft. If you normally hit a 8 iron, take a 7 iron instead, or maybe even a 6 iron depending on the severity of the slope.

Since most of your weight will stay on your back foot, you won’t be able to rotate your body through the shot as well. This will cause you to pull the ball slightly so aim a bit to the right.

Watch the video below to see Hank Haney show you how it’s done.

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Hit More Greens

Uneven Lies – Ball Above Your Feet

By Shooting 90

In our first post on the challenges that uneven lies present on the course, we discussed the proper setup and technique for hitting a ball below your feet. This post tackles its counterpart, an uneven lie with the ball above your feet.

With the ball above your feet, your hands are closer to the ball. You’ll need to choke down on the club a bit, as if you swing with your hands in your normal position on the club, you’ll most likely hit the ground before the ball. Choking down on the club will cause you to hit the ball a shorter distance. You may need to take one club more than you usually do for the distance you are at.

The slope of the lie with the ball above your feet will try to make you lose your balance backwards. It’s important to keep your weight in the balls of your feet to help maintain your balance.

The ball flight, to some degree, will follow the slope of the lie. So for right handed golfers, your shot will want to go left depending on the severity of the slope.

Check out the video below from PGA professional Derek Hooper as he explains how to hit a shot with the ball above your feet.

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Hit More Greens

Uneven Lies – Ball Below Your Feet

By Shooting 90

You make be working hard on how to fix a slice and in turn hitting more fairways. Your second shot, the approach shot into the green, is a more difficult shot. Besides the fact that your ball isn’t on a tee, there’s a chance you are not on level ground.

Uneven lies are a big reason it is difficult for high handicap golfers to take their progress on the practice range to the course. Even the flattest of courses will present at least a few uneven lies per round. On other courses, you’ll have more uneven lies than even ones! High handicap and beginner golfers many times do not make the small changes in setup and swing necessary to hit a good shot from an uneven lie.

The first uneven lie we are going to cover is the ball below your feet. There are a few key things to remember when setting up for a shot with the ball below your feet.

First, you’re farther away from the ball. You’ll need to bend more at the hips and flex more at the knees to compensate for this and get closer to the ball.

Second, both the slope and bending more at the hips will want to put more of your weight on your toes and give you the feeling that you are going to fall down the slope. Keep your weight back on your heels to stay balanced.

Being bent more at the hips and knees will limit how much your lower body can move, so the shot will be more arms and shoulder movement. It’s important to maintain your spine angle and not come up during the shot. This is why many golfers end up topping the ball from this lie.

Lastly, the ball flight will tend to follow the slope of the lie. So your ball will go to the right (for righties) a certain amount based on the amount of slope.

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Golf Games

The Golf Club for Xbox One

By Shooting 90

Everyone in winter climates should be finding ways to practice their real golf game indoors throughout the winter. Besides working on your game, there are not many things to keep up your interest in golf. There are fewer tournaments to watch on TV and those that are on are missing many top players. Golf video games are a great way to keep your interest in golf during the long winters.

Since EA Sports discontinued the Tiger Woods golf franchise, many have pondered the future of the golf genre for video game consoles. Powerstar Golf and The Golf Club have filled the void very well.

Powerstar Golf would be a great choice if you’re looking for something to replace Tiger Woods. Game play is much the same with swing power meters and career modes offering upgraded equipment and abilities to better your scoring. The physics engine in PowerStar Golf offers realistic ball flights and rolls.

The Golf Club offers a slightly different golf experience than any other golf game on the Xbox One. Those who are willing to break away from the traditional Tiger Woods way of doing things and give The Golf Club a fair chance, will find it to be the best golf game currently available for console systems.

There are no swing meters. Swinging is totally done by feel using the game pad stick. After the swing, a brief display shows how you did. This takes a little getting used to but offers amazing game play once you are used to it.

There is no career mode in The Golf Club. It instead uses a handicap system much like real golf. You are given a handicap rating after you golf five rounds. You can then play rounds, tournaments, or whole tours. Your handicap is applied to your gross score and the leaderboard is based on your net score after your handicap is applied. This is a great way to even out the playing field and allow people of different abilities to play together. Your ability is not based on how long you play the game as in other career modes but rather your actual ability.

When playing a round, you have the option between playing alone, with local multiplayer guests, or with ghosts of Internet players.

Here’s where the only glaring weakness of The Golf Club shows up. There is no way for multiple local Xbox accounts to log into the game and play against each other in the same round. It would be great for up to 4 local players to play together under their own accounts. Instead, each additional local player is merely a guest of the Xbox account logged in.

Playing against Internet ghosts is a very enjoyable way to play. Ghosts are recently recorded rounds of other real players. You don’t wait for these players to shoot, rather you see their shots and ball trails as you play. Their scores after each shot are updated and you can see how you stack up to them as the round progresses.

The Golf Club also comes with the Greg Norman Course Designer. You can design your own course and then publish it allowing others to play it. Don’t go overboard on the trees or water settings as you’ll get trees and water in strange places. The course designer literally makes the number of unique courses you can play unlimited. The ability to play all of the courses designed by others keeps the game fresh.

Besides the missing local multiplayer support, the only other criticism of The Golf Club would be the graphics. While the graphics are acceptable, I was expecting better on the Xbox One. Hopefully the next version takes full advantage of the platform.

Check out The Golf Club for some indoor golf fun!

Categories
Golf Equipment

3 Up 2S14 Golf Ball

By Shooting 90

The 3 Up 2S14 golf ball is one of the best golf balls for beginners. It is a two-piece ball with a low compression of 55. It is in the same class as the Wilson Staff Duo and Callaway Supersoft golf balls, which have compressions of 40 and 38, respectively. Super low compression balls are made for players with slower to moderate swing speeds.

The deep-soft core technology of the 3 Up 2S14 provides great feel on and around the green while still providing long distance off the tee. The ionomer cover is very durable while producing less spin off the driver than the softer covers of 3-piece tour balls.

3 Up Golf was founded by Rob Zimmerman and his wife Danielle. In addition to the 2S14 golf all, 3 Up also sells the 3-piece 3F12 golf ball along with apparel and headwear.

The best part of 3 Up Golf is their commitment to giving back to charity. From every dozen golf balls that 3 Up Golf sells, they donate $3 to golf and cancer related charities. You’re donating 25 cents to charity every time you lose a 3 Up Golf ball!

If you’re looking for a great performing golf ball and a way to help out charities, check out 3 Up Golf today!

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Golf Tips

Golf Nine Holes Instead of Eighteen

By Shooting 90

Most things in golf are based on eighteen holes. Most golf courses have eighteen holes, professional golf rounds are eighteen holes, and an official handicap is established based on eighteen hole rounds.

Golfing eighteen holes presents many challenges.

Finding the time is probably the biggest challenge for many of us. A round of eighteen holes typically takes four or even five hours to play. Slow play is a real problem in golf. Many new golfers lack proper etiquette and simply take to long to play. Searching too long for lost balls and not playing “ready” golf are two of the biggest problems. It only takes one slow group on the course to really slow down play. Committing four plus hours with our busy lives is at many times difficult.

It is much easier to find the two to two and a half hours for nine holes. This is especially true if you work during the day and want to squeeze in a round after work. Courses are less crowded on weekdays than they are on the weekends and summer evenings are a great time for golf.

Endurance to golf eighteen holes effectively is another challenge for many golfers. Many beginner golfers will get physically and mentally tired before the end of eighteen holes. This leads to miss hits and frustration. Walking, stretching, and core strengthening will all help you build up the stamina for 18 holes. Until you get there, it’s many times just easier to golf nine holes.

You may want to establish a handicap. Unless you’re planning to play in official tournaments, and if you’re a beginner you’re probably not, there’s no need for an official USGA or R&A handicap. Most courses will help you establish a local course handicap and this can easily be done by using nine hole rounds.

You can even establish a compliant course handicap by yourself by using one of several apps. Here at Shooting 90 we recommend using TheGrint to create your handicap and track your stats.

Even if you still want an official handicap, you can still combine nine hole rounds to establish one.

Golfing is a game that is meant to be fun and there’s nothing wrong with golfing nine hole rounds when you can’t do eighteen.

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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.

Categories
Golf Tips

Fall is a Great Time for Golf!

By Shooting 90

It’s fall here in the northern hemisphere, and depending on exactly where you are, this may mean nothing to your golf or it may mean you have a week left of your golf season. Some of you live in places which allow you to golf year round. Some of us, myself included, live in a place where we have a significant winter. I thoroughly enjoy four distinct seasons, so while it does not bother me, the approaching winter means no more local outdoor golf for me.

So while fall means your local course may soon be closing, it shouldn’t mean you should not golf as much as possible up until then. In fact, with the exception of dealing with aerated greens and possibly making a new local rule to handle lost balls in leaves on the ground, fall golf has many things going for it.

  • Fall golf is inexpensive. Let’s face it. Golf is an expensive sport. Two local municipal courses I golf on, St. Germain Golf Club and Northwood Golf Club, cost $45 for 18 holes in the summer. Granted, even though these are town-owned, they are 4.5 star courses. Still, I don’t know about you, but $45 to golf is a significant cost for me. Today I teed off at 3 o’clock in the afternoon at St. Germain Golf Club, took advantage of their twilight all you can golf rate for $14, and squeezed in 18 holes in the 3 and a half hours of daylight I had. Every course has deals like this. They’re still open and want golfers.
  • On many days, it is more comfortable to golf in the fall than in the summer. For me, many days in the summer are just plain too hot for golf. I’d rather put on a layer of clothes and golf in the fall than to sweat it out in the summer heat. The weather for my round today was 52 F, sunny, and very little wind. The temperature was not too cold for my hands to get cold and I was very comfortable with a sweatshirt and light jacket.
  • There are little to no bugs in the fall! The mosquitos and biting flies of spring and summer are gone or nearly gone in fall.
  • The chance for severe weather in the fall is very minimal. If fact, in general, there is much less rain in the fall. There were several times this summer that my round was shortened due to severe weather. Watching the radar and not going out if there is a chance of storms is just not realistic. Too many times you don’t go golfing and no severe weather turns up. So you end up taking your chances and being forced off the course by severe weather. Never golf with lightning in the area. Golf is never as important as your safety.
  • The fall colors are spectacular. If you are lucky enough to have a local course with woods, the course is an excellent place to see the changing colors. Being out in nature is one of the great perks of golf and the outdoors are many times most beautiful in the fall.

While many of us are sad that another golf season is coming to an end, don’t stop golfing just yet. Take advantage of all the things that fall golf has going for it and golf up until your course closes.

Categories
Golf Practice

FixYourGame.com Online Lesson Review

By Shooting 90

There’s no doubt that having a golf coach is the fast track to improving your game but very few of us have the time and money required to make that a reality. While there is a lot you can do on your own to improve your game, we’re sometimes blind to many things with our game and this is no where more noticeable than with our swing.

While analyzing your own swing will lead to improvement, it doesn’t compare with a golf teaching professional taking a look. This is especially true if you are new to the game. Have a teaching professional get you started in the right direction. Even if you’ve been playing for years, we sometimes slip back into poor fundamentals that we are blind to see. Have a teacher get your swing back on track.

For years instructors have used video to help them improve their students’ swings. Now smartphones have made it easy to record video of your own swing. The ability to easily upload these videos to the Internet has also opened the door for a relatively new form of golf instruction – online golf instruction.

The idea is simple. Shoot video of your own swing, upload it to a website, and have a golf professional review it and offer ways for you to improve. It’s been something I’ve been contemplating for some time, so when Brant from FixYourGame.com offered to review my swing, I jumped at the chance.

Getting started at FixYourGame.com is very easy. I took two videos of my swing, one from behind down the target line and facing me perpendicular to the target line, filled out the online form and uploaded the videos. Within a few days my online lesson was ready!

Your lesson consists of two parts. The first is a written review with observations and suggestions on areas of your swing to work on. Brant also included links to YouTube videos featuring himself demonstrating proper technique.

The second part of your lesson is a video analysis of your swing. Areas of improvement from the written review are further analyzed with your swing compared along side swings by pro golfers. My swing was compared frame by frame with Rory McIlroy’s and Luke Donald’s.

I felt the combination of the written review, video analysis, and YouTube videos coming together to reinforce the three areas of improvement for my swing did a great job of emphasizing what steps I need to take to improve.

Check out FixYourGame.com today for online instruction for your game!

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Golf Fitness

Two Areas of Fitness to Improve Your Golf

By Shooting 90

Many of us do not get enough exercise in our lives. The most handy excuse we give is that we simply do not have enough time in our busy lives. In reality, we probably lack the required discipline and desire to lead as healthy of lifestyles as we should. It may be unrealistic to think we will implement a full blown golf fitness program. Most amateur golfers simply do not have this level of commitment to their golf games.

There are two areas of personal fitness that golfers can focus on with little time commitment that will have the most positive impact on their game, flexibility and endurance. Lifting weights is not one of them. Big muscles do not directly translate into hitting the ball farther and certainly aren’t required for a consistent swing. Hitting your shots farther is achieved by increasing your clubhead speed. Otherwise beanpole sixteen year olds could not hit 300 yard drives.

Flexibility is key in getting the proper rotation and turn in your golf swing. Many high handicap and beginner golfers do not have enough rotation in their swing. They compensate their lack of rotation by either swaying and swinging too much with their arms. Both of these actions can lead to an over the top, outside to in swing which often results in a slice. Full rotation in your golf wing is beneficial in creating a consistent, inside to out swing.

Increasing your flexibility will make it easier to increase your rotation in your swing. While stretching everyday is ideal, increased flexibility can be realized by stretching as little as twenty minutes three times a week. Pilates and yoga are two of the most popular methods to stretch today. The benefit of Pilates or yoga is that in addition to increasing your flexibility, both also strengthen your core muscles (without lifting weights!). A strengthened core promotes better balance which helps with consistency in your swing.

Endurance is an area of fitness that most amateur golfers overlook. It is especially overlooked by those who ride a cart. Why do I need to worry about endurance when I don’t even walk my round? You’d be surprised how many golfers tire by the end of their round because they’re simply not in shape. Walking more throughout your day is a great way to build your endurance and improve your overall fitness. The easiest way to increase the number of steps you take a week is to begin walking your golf round. Walk using a pull cart instead of riding a powered cart. There are also many other areas of your life you can increase your walking. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Do you have a dog? Take him for regular walks. He’ll love you for it and you’ll be creating a healthier you.

Take at least a total of an hour a week to stretch your body. Find ways to include more walking in your daily life. Your golf game will thank you for it.