Tag: tip

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Golf Tips

Scrambles are Good for your Golf Game

By Shooting 90

I’ve been golfing of and on since I was 12 and have been golfing regularly for the last five years. One thing I have never done until yesterday is golf in a scramble. They have always sounded like a lot of fun but I just have never had the chance to participate. That all changed about a month ago when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to golf in a charity scramble that was taking place yesterday.

For those of you that may not know, a scramble is a best ball format which consists of every player in the foursome hitting their tee shot, and then everyone using the best shot out of the four for their second shot, and so on and so on. The ideal team is usually a mix of good players and high handicappers. In fact, some scrambles require a certain mix of handicaps. Birdies are the goal in a best ball format. Pars are OK but bogies are killers. The winning team’s score from yesterday’s event was 12 under par. My team’s score was a respectable 4 under par.

So why are scrambles good for the high handicapper’s game?

  • They’re fun! Sometimes even high handicappers take golf too seriously. All of us as amateurs want to improve but we have to remember the golf is just a game for us. Scrambles are many times held for charity, so the ultimate goal is to raise a lot of money and have a good time in the process. The format of a scramble makes it very easy to have fun.

  • Bad shots are immediately forgotten. There’s no penalty for hitting a terrible shot. Simply go pick up your ball (if you can find it) and hit your next shot from where the best shot of your group landed. Your always hitting your next shot from a good position unless all your teammates also hit poor shots which is rare. This means you are not dwelling on bad shots and your thoughts stay positive.

  • You can (and should) be aggressive. They are three teammates who can bail you out if you hit a bad shot. There is much less need to be cautious in your shot selection. On most shots, you can simply “go for it”. While you do not want to go for it on every shot in your regular game, learning to be aggressive at the right times is important.

  • You get to watch a good player golf. I was the second best player on our team. The best player was absolute money from tee to green. Every tee and approach shot was almost perfect. Where we differed was in our consistency. I matched him on several shots but also hit some really bad shots. Golfing with better players gives you the confidence that you can be a good player if you put in the work.

  • You will contribute to your team’s success. You might think your team will end up using all the shots from your best player. While you will be relying on your best player for many of you team’s shots, believe it or not everyone contributes. It really all comes down to putting in a best ball format. We used birdie putts from every one of our team members. Everyone on my team also had at least one drive or approach shot that we used.

My plan is to golf in two or three scrambles a year from now on. Like I said, they are usually held to support a charity, have no pressure, and are setup to encourage everyone to have a great time. I suggest you golf in a scramble if you have not yet had the chance.

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Golf Tips

Warmup at the Practice Range Before Your Round

By Shooting 90

Do you show up to the golf course five minutes before your tee time? I used to do this all the time, but is can cause a few issues!

First off, I’m usually pretty amped up to golf when I get to the course, which sometimes translates into my swing, resulting in a duck hook off the first tee. Not exactly the way you want to start a round.

Secondly, you just never know what swing you are going to bring to the course. Your ball’s flight path may normally be a nice little draw, but I highly doubt you have that shot every time you golf. Even the pros don’t have their A shot every time out. Your swing today may produce a bigger draw than usual or even a slight fade.

How do you help fix this two issues?

A great way to lower your anxiety, settle into golf mode, and see what kind shot you have today is to show up thirty minutes before your tee time and hit a small bucket of balls at the practice range.

The key point of the preceding sentence is a small bucket. This is a warmup session and not a practice session. A small bucket, 30 to 50 balls, is the perfect amount of swings to get comfortable without tiring yourself out. This is also the right number of swings to determine what kind of ball flight path your swing will produce that day. During warm up is not the time to change your swing to match your desired ball flight path. You are instead finding the swing you will be playing with today.

Hitting a small bucket of balls also gives you the opportunity to fix your swing in an emergency. Remember, you are not using the warmup session to change slight differences in your swing that result in a slightly different ball flight path. That work is for a longer practice session with a large bucket of balls. I’m talking about when you show up to the course with a terrible swing. Many times this is caused by you performing a piece of your swing majorly wrong. By slowing down and resetting your swing, you can many times get it corrected in the course of hitting a small bucket of balls. Trying to reset your swing on the course is much more difficult.

So why show up thirty minutes early when you can hit a small bucket of balls in 15-20 minutes? You’ll want to use the extra 5-10 minutes on the practice green to determine the speed of the greens. Putting some balls on the practice green, while not a perfect indicator of green speed on the course, will help you gauge the speed of the greens before you get to the first green.

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you of the benefits of hitting some warmup shots before your next round. It will go a long way in getting you off to the good start needed to score well for your round.

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Golf Tips

2013 Travelers Championship

By Shooting 90

I spent a nice northwoods Sunday afternoon indoors catching up on some computer work. The bright side is that it gave me a chance to watch the final round of the Travelers Championship. It was an exciting back nine with Ken Duke, Graham DeLaet, and Chris Stroud all having a shot at their first PGA Tour victory. Ultimately it was Ken Duke sticking his approach shot to within three feet of the pin on the second playoff hole to setup his victory over Chris Stroud.

It was great to see the journeyman Ken Duke get his first win, but the tournament was Bubba Watson’s to lose as he got to the 178 yard par 3 16th hole. At the time, he held a one shot lead over Ken Duke. Bubba proceeded to hit a 9 iron short of the green with his ball bouncing off the hill fronting the green and into the water. A tense exchange with his caddie Ted Scott regarding club selection soon followed for the listening pleasure of the TV audience. He then hit his third shot over the green from the drop zone which prompted more words with his caddie. A poor chip and a two putt leads to a triple bogey essentially ending his hopes of winning the tournament.

There are a few things we can learn from Bubba’s meltdown on the 16th hole.

  • One bad shot does not cause a blow-up hole. Blow-up holes are caused by multiple bad shots compounded on top of each other. Bubba could have rebounded with a nice third shot from the drop zone or even a nice fourth shot from behind the green. Either would have avoided a triple bogey.

 

  • Concentrate on the current shot. This is easier said than done but previous shots are in the past and should remain there. If Bubba could have stuck his third shot from the drop zone close to the pin, everyone would be talking about his great recovery on 16 that led him to victory.

 

  • Remain calm. This is something many amateur golfers struggle with. Our natural tendency is to become frustrated. I believe Bubba would admit that it would have been best to talk it out with his caddie after the round.

 

We can look at Ken Duke on the 18th hole for an example on how to respond after a bad shot. He came to the 18th with a one shot lead but hit a terrible drive way right into the rough. You could tell his nerves really got the best of him. He did a great job of composing himself and instead of going for the green, took the shot he had, and hit a nice approach just off the left side of the green. From there, he was able to get up and down for par.

Blow-up holes are round killers for high handicap golfers and occasionally even for pros. Remaining calm and playing one shot at a time are the keys to recovering from a bad shot and avoiding blow-up holes.

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Hit More Fairways

How to Fix a Slice – The Grip

By Shooting 90

Please note as we discuss the grip on the club, the following discussion will be aimed at a right handed golfer. Reverse for left handed golfers.

The biggest obstacle in the way of high handicap golfers improving their game is the inability to stop slicing the ball. A slice, a ball fight path that bends to the far right for right-handers and to the far left for left-handers, inhibits you from consistently hitting your target while shaving valuable distance from your shots. Although a slice can occur with any club, it is usually more pronounced with a driver due to the distance you hit it, the larger club face, lower loft, and the longer path the club head has to travel. Many amateurs try to compensate for their slice by aiming farther left when the best course of action is to eliminate the slice all together.

A number of factors can cause you to slice the ball, including your grip being too weak, the club face being too open at impact, and an “outside to in” swing. The first thing to check, and what we will be discussing in this post, is your grip.

First, let’s discuss the different ways in which your hands can interact in gripping the club. The three main golf grips, beginning with the most popular, are the overlapping, interlocking, and baseball grips. Tom Ringer explains the differences of each in the video below. I personally use and recommend the interlocking grip as I like how it keeps my arms and hands in unison.

Most high handicap golfers have too weak of a grip on the club. When we talk about weak or strong grip, we are not talking about the pressure used to grip the club, but rather the position of your hands, specifically your left hand. Most golfers who slice the ball hold the club in the palm of their hands when you should rather hold the club in your fingers with light pressure. To grip the club with a strong grip, begin by placing the heel pad of your left hand, the meaty part of your hand below your pinky, on top of the shaft, and wrap your fingers around the shaft as shown in the photo below. Your thumb will then rest along the right side of the shaft, not down the shaft as many golfers do. Your right hand then covers your left thumb with your left thumb resting in the crease in the palm of your right rand. Your right thumb then rests on the left side of the shaft, not straight down the shaft. For another explanation of this concept, please see LPGA instructor Kristin Sunderhaft’s great post “Improving your grip will improve your game”.

One final thought on your grip. Watch a PGA Tour event on TV and see when the pros grip the club. They grip the club while holding the club in the air, not after addressing the ball with the club on the ground. The benefit of gripping the club while holding it in the air is that it promotes gripping the club in your fingers and not your palms. Check out the video below as Matt Hilton explains.

We’ve covered three important concepts regarding the grip – the types of grips allowing interaction of your hands, how to have a strong grip, and when to grip the club. The grip is one of the easier parts of your game to correct. You can also practice your grip almost anywhere. If you’re looking for how to fix a slice, start by improving your grip.

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Golf Short Game

How to Hit Out of a Greenside Bunker

By Shooting 90

Hitting their ball into a bunker is the biggest fear of most amateurs. This is not the case for professional golfers. In fact, pros sometimes purposely hit their ball into a greenside bunker, preferring the lie in the bunker over the lie they would get in the rough. Have you wondered why bunkers are so feared by amateurs but not by pros? There are a few reasons, the first being that they are professionals and have insane skills. The biggest reason, however, is that they have practiced hitting out of golf bunkers a countless number of times.

When is the last time you saw someone at your local practice facility hitting balls out of the sand? The answer is probably never. When is the last time you practiced hitting out of the sand? Golf bunkers are so fearful because, although you may know the proper technique for hitting out of the sand, you rarely if ever practice hitting out of the sand. Incorporate time into your weekly practice sessions to work on hitting out of a greenside bunker. Not only will you save strokes on the course by better getting out of the sand, you will be less intimidated on your approach shots knowing it’s not the end of the world if you end up in the greenside bunker.

The technique for hitting out of a greenside bunker is a little different from your normal swing. Check out this great video from Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Gale Peterson as she explains the basics.

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Golf Tips

Why Do I Love Golf?

By Shooting 90

This is a guest post by Scott McCormick.  I believe it does a great job of highlighting why we remain dedicated to this crazy game! Scott McCormick is a freelance writer for Golf Now Dallas. For more of McCormick’s golf commentary, see his recent post analyzing the swing of Masters winner Adam Scott.

Are you ever on the golf course and things aren’t going well, and you ask yourself … what am I even doing out here with this stick in my hand and a little white ball in the weeds?

Why do I even bother playing this dumb game?

What am I trying to accomplish with this round?

What the hell is the point?

I feel like that sometimes, but it usually goes away pretty quickly (as soon as I make a good swing, everything wrong with the world seems to be erased).  Other times, I do wonder why I devote so much of my life to a silly game, but I’ve gotten pretty good at rationalizing my devotion and philosophizing about the inherent values the game has imprinted on my psyche.

Here are some of the things I’ve come up with to explain my love and dedication to the sport of golf:

Dignity and Pride

I look back to when I first started playing golf as a child and I couldn’t even hit the ball most of the time.  I knew nothing about the game.  Even after several years of playing, I was still horrible.  Pathetic.  My swing mechanics were atrocious.  I had absolutely no shot-making skills whatsoever.  I could barely drive the ball 150 yards, and when I did they were usually shanks or slices.

But year upon year, hour after hour, I got better.  I remember my first birdie and those irreplaceable feelings of hitting a really good shot.  I remember the first time I broke 100, and later 90.  Aside from the joy of getting married and having children, I can’t think of any feelings that have come close to matching the best feelings I have felt on the golf course.  I have felt more proud of a golf swing than I have about most of my professional work, which hasn’t been insignificant.  There’s just something about golf that makes me feel good, so good that it makes up for the times when golf makes me feel like shit.

Prestige

Golf is rich and tradition and has historically been associated with the upper crust of society.  Now I have always been decidedly middle class, maybe even lower-middle class, but I get a kick out of the sensation I get when I’m on the golf course that makes me feel that I am at the top of the social ladder.  It’s not that I have a desire to get all hoity-toity or holier-than-thou, it’s just that golf gives me a sense of self-esteem, that I am connected to something bigger and deeper than myself.

Mental acuity

I’ve noticed that my love of golf has caused me to develop a focus and a mental fortitude that has carried over into other areas of my life.  At the risk of sounding tacky, I wholeheartedly believe that the game has improved my all around mental stamina, cerebral wellbeing, and my entire outlook on life has been enhanced by this silly little game.

It’s always a bit silly when people try to make their little games or sports as a metaphor for this, that or the other thing, but I don’t care.  Call me silly.  The ups and downs that every golfer faces are not unlike the ups and downs that everyone faces in life.  By learning to persevere through the down times on the course, I am able to do that in other areas of my life.

Fun and Enjoyment

Everyone needs diversions.  While some people prefer television or movies as their distraction, I snub my nose at those people and haughtily assert that my hobbies and interests are inherently better than others.  I recognize the irrationality of that stance, but at the end of the day we all do that a little bit.

The bottom line is, for me, golf is really damn fun.  I enjoy it.  Even when I’m cursing the game and wishing I had never picked up a club, I’m having a good time.  Really.  I may not realize it at the time while I’m hooting and hollering about a missed putt, but I love it all the same.

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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 Tips

5 Reasons to Join a Golf League

By Shooting 90

Have you been considering joining a golf league? Have you been hesitant because you are a beginner or high handicap golfer? Actually playing in a golf league is a great way to improve your game. Here’s five reasons why you should join a golf league!

1. A golf league is fun!

Sometimes we need to remember that golf is a game and is to be enjoyed. You’ll meet and get to know many other golfers through the duration of the league. You’ll get to play other two-person teams out on the course and socialize with the entire league at the 19th hole afterward. A golf league is a great way to network for both friendships and business connections.

2. You are able to compete on an even playing field.

Golf allows you to establish a handicap which is applied against whatever course you are playing on. Your opponent also has a handicap. Depending on the difference in handicaps, you will either receive or give strokes for the round. What holes you give or receive the strokes on depends on the handicap rating of each hole. Generally the more difficult holes are the ones with the lowest handicap rating and the ones where you will give or receive strokes. Handicaps allow golfers of all skill levels to compete against one another.

3. Friendly competition drives you to improve your game.

It’s human nature that none of us like to lose. The desire to golf well in league will produce more focused practice sessions. I’m not saying you necessarily need to be the best golfer in your league but you will feel the desire to improve your play in your league. Many golf leagues recognize the most improved player for the season so you may be rewarded for your efforts!

4. You have a weekly scheduled time to golf.

We all live busy lives. Sometimes finding time to golf is challenging. By committing to play in a league, you are insuring you will golf at least once a week. Additional practice time on the range is very important, but just as important is golfing on a consistent basis. Your swing is just part of your golf game. Only on the course will you get the valuable experience in course management needed to improve your game.

5. Learn from golfing with better players.

As a beginner or high handicap golfer, partner with someone who is slightly better than you are, maybe someone who is close to or already shooting 90. Golfing with better golfers will help you improve your game by watching how they manage their way around the course. The key is to find someone to golf with who is better than you but not so much better that you are intimidated playing with them.

I hope I’ve convinced you of the benefits of joining a golf league. It’s a great way to both further your enjoyment of the game and improve your skills.

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Hit More Greens

Hit More Greens in Regulation by Playing it Safe

By Shooting 90

It’s fun to watch pro golfers on television attack the pins and setup easy birdies. It would appear they are attacking the pin on every hole. Next time you watch professional golf, pay close attention to your favorite golfer as they complete their round. You will see that they are very selective in which flags they go for and those they do not. On some holes even the pros will avoid danger and hit their approach shot to the safe side of the green, two putt for their par and move on to the next hole.

High handicap golfers need to be even more selective in which pins they choose to go for. High handicappers simply do not have the required consistent accuracy to go for every pin. There’s nothing wrong with going for only some of the flags during a round. In fact, high handicap golfers need to be hitting greens in regulation to setup pars rather than firing at pins to setup birdies.

The ultimate goal of the high handicap golfer is to reach the level of playing bogey golf. Making birdies, while an awesome feeling, has very little to do with reaching this goal. Hitting greens in regulation to make pars is extremely important to offset any double bogies or worse. There is too much risk in aiming at protected pins. Many times pins will be placed on the side of a green protected by water, rough, or sand. Hit your approach shot in the water and you’re risking a blow-up hole – a round killer. Hit your approach shot in the sand or rough and you’re scrambling to make par, most likely looking at a bogey. It’s much more important to hit the safe part of the green in regulation than to shoot for protected pins.

The safest part of most greens is the middle on the side away from trouble. If’s there’s trouble on the right, shoot for the left side of the middle of the green. From here, the goal is to lag putt to avoid three putting the green. Effective lag putting is essential to improving your golf game. Taking protected pins out of play and aiming for the safe area of the green will leave some longer first putts. This is OK as it is much better than missing the green. It does however require that you become an effective lag putter.

One piece of equipment I believe every high handicap golfer should have is a golf GPS system. Knowing the distance to the front and back of every green is critical to hitting more greens. Thinking of the yardage remaining to the hole as a range instead of a single yardage makes you consider every possible club and helps you choose the correct one. Invest in a golf GPS system today if you do not have one.

Hopefully you do not think I’m taking the fun out of the game by suggesting to not go for protected pins. The truth is there will be plenty of holes where the hole is cut in a very favorable area of the green. Be aggressive and take dead aim for these flags. On the holes with protected pins, remove the risk and lower your score by hitting the safe area of the green.

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Golf Tips

How to Avoid Slow Play in Golf

By Shooting 90

Slow play has become a large problem for the game of golf. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for an 18 hole round of golf to take over five hours. I’m not a speed golfer but I can play a round in three hours with no traffic on the course. The golf industry would love for golfers to be able to complete rounds in four hours. Slow play is not directly related to being a high handicap golfer. It’s not the number of strokes that one takes but instead all of the activity in between. Look at the professional golf tours. These golfers have their livelihoods on the line with every shot so they have a reason to take their time. Still, pace of play on the professional tours is agonizingly slow. So while you can glean some tips from watching pros on TV, don’t mimic their slow play.

So what causes slow play and what can golfers do to speed up the pace?

A big reason for slow play is not having a consistent, timely pre-shot routine for all of your shots, including full swings, pitches, chips and putts. Having a timely routine involves selecting the right club. This requires judging the distance, wind, lie of the ball and elevation change to the hole. Once you have the right club, take one practice swing,line up to a target and take your shot. One practice swing is plenty. The time for practice swings is on the driving range.

Putting is arguably the most important part of your golf game. More strokes are taken with your putter than any other club. This makes reading putts very important to your success. However, many golfers take way too long to complete their pre-putt routines. I believe reading putts requires getting a side view to judge elevation and a view from below the hole. I view from above the hole is also beneficial but only when time allows. But like the full swing pre-shot routine, many times some of the reads can be completed before your turn while others are reading their putts. While walking up to the green, get a look at the general slope of the green. Then, if others are playing before you, get a read or two on your putt while they are reading theirs. Be sure to be out of the way and quiet as they line up over their ball and putt.

Ironically, another source of slow play is the riding cart. Many times golfers in the same cart will ride over to one of the player’s ball on one side of the fairway and the other person will wait there the whole duration of the pre-shot routine and shot. They will then drive over to the other player’s ball and do the same. This is too time consuming and the wrong way to play cart golf. For times when two players in a cart are on opposite sides of the fairway, the driver should drive the passenger to their ball. The passenger should quickly determine their club to use. If they are in between clubs, the passenger should take both and the driver should go to their ball. This way both players can prepare and take their shots without a lot of unnecessary waiting.

Searching for lost golf balls is also a source of slow play. By rule you are allowed five minutes to search for a lost ball. During casual play, the only time you should take five minutes is when your ball is lost in an area where you have a next shot if you find it. For example, many times your ball can get lost in the rough. If you hit your ball in the thick woods, by all means take a minute to look for it (after all they’re expensive), but then take a drop since you wouldn’t have a realistic next shot even if you found it. One more thing about searching for lost balls. Other members in the group should hit their next shots before helping the player search for their lost ball. Do not have your entire foursome looking for a lost ball before they have taken their next shots.

Keep an eye on your pace of play next time you are on the course. If the course is busy and the hole in front of you is completely open, you’re probably playing too slow. Make sure you are using the ideas we discussed and speed up your play.