Tag: tips

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Hit More Fairways

Have You Abandoned Your Driver?

By Shooting 90

The driver has to be the most interesting club in a high handicap golfer’s bag. Possibly only the putter can bring as much joy and sorrow to one’s game. It’s a big thrill to smash a long drive down the middle of the fairway. On the other hand, there is no worse feeling in golf than slicing your drive fifty yards out of bounds. Continually struggling to put your tee shots in play with your driver leads to total frustration. Your tee shot sets the tone for the whole hole. It’s nearly impossible to improve your golf game when you’re not finding the fairway and scrambling to post a decent score hole after hole.

Many high handicap golfers do not know how to fix a slice. They consistently hit a slice with their driver. Instead of fixing their slice on the practice range, they attempt to play around their slice but it keeps getting in the way. Missed fairways and lost distance begin to suck the enjoyment from the game.

This leads some golfers to quit using their driver all together. They hit fairway metals, hybrids, or even irons off the tee to increase the number of fairways they hit in regulation. This keeps them in the hole longer and gives them a chance to score better than if they used their driver. Actually, it’s probably the best choice if you are really struggling with your driver. Leave it in the bag for your round or don’t even bring it to the course. Keeping the ball in front of you, in play, will bring you more enjoyment from the game and much less frustration.

So if you’re not connecting with your driver, it may be best not to use it on the course but you should not abandon your driver all together. You should be working hard to learn how to hit your driver on the practice range. There are ten to twelve holes a round where you driver is the correct club to hit off the tee. As a high handicap golfer, you most likely can use all the distance you can get off the tee. Hitting your driver in the fairway puts you in the best position for your approach shot. Shorter approach shots from the fairway will allow you to hit more greens in regulation, which is the secret to scoring lower in golf.

Learn how to hit your driver. If you need to know how to fix a slice, see our 3 part How to Fix a Slice series – The Grip, Rotate Your Body, and Create an In to Out Swing.

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Golf Equipment

The Real Best Golf Balls for Beginners

By Shooting 90

In the past posts Best Golf Balls for Beginners and Choosing the Right Golf Ball, we’ve talked about matching your golf game to the correct ball. By playing a two-piece golf ball, you’ll save money as the cost is only around one dollar per ball. You also gain distance and reduce ball spin off the tee which will help minimize your slice or hook.

However, the golf ball you play does relatively little by itself to improve your game. By comparison, the irons you play have a much greater impact on your game. For example, high handicap and beginner golfers should be play super game-improvement irons. Super game-improvement irons will give a golfer much more forgiveness than a golf ball ever could.

A golf ball does very little to mask major swing flaws. High handicap and beginner golfers should choose a two-piece ball brand and play it consistently, taking advantage of its cost, distance, and reduced spin.

So what are the real best golf balls for beginners? Of course the answer is the practice ball. The quickest way to improving your game is through practice, not equipment. Regular time at the practice range is vital for becoming a better golfer. It is important to not use your practice time to just whack ball after ball. Your time is too important and limited to waste practicing in a non-optimal way.

Too many golfers head to the practice range and hit ball after ball with their driver. While it is very necessary to learn how to hit your driver, you should split your practice time between full swing, short game, and putting. Spend one third of your practice time in each area. Addressing each area of your game in practice is required to improve your overall game.

Do long winters prohibit you from visiting your local course’s practice range for months at a time? Visit a local indoor golf facility and spend regular time on one of their simulators. The instant feedback you receive on club head speed, ball spin, ball flight path and more puts you on the fast path to improving your swing.

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Hit More Fairways

How to Fix a Slice – Create an In to Out Swing

By Shooting 90

In our previous posts on how to fix a slice, we discussed the grip, and how to rotate your body. In this third installment, we will be creating an in to out swing, which is one of the most important steps in eliminating your slice.

Properly rotating your body helps you not to sway. Swaying backwards and then forwards to hit the ball can cause your swing path to be too outside to in. A swing that is too outside to in is the main reason you are slicing the ball.

What does it  mean to have an in to out swing? Whether you have an in to out swing or an out to in swing refers to the relationship between your club head and the ball as it approaches impact. Inside is between your body and the ball while outside is the area on the other side of the ball. In a baseball analogy, for right handers, an in to out swing will feel like you’re hitting the ball to right field. This coupled with a slightly closed club face relative to the club path will produce a slight draw for a ball flight path.

Golfers with a slice do exactly the opposite. They swing outside to in, impact the ball with an open club face relative to the club path, and end up with a slice for a ball path.

I encourage you to watch Joseph Mayo’s YouTube video, “Trackman Maestro on Ball Flight”. Joseph Mayo, @TrackmanMaestro on Twitter, is a leading authority on ball flight. Mr. Mayo goes in depth on what causes your shot’s initial direction and its curvature.

So why do we want to hit a slight draw instead of a slight fade? There are a few reasons for a beginner or high handicap golfer to hit a draw instead of a fade.

First, by producing a draw, we are fixing your slice. If we aimed at producing a slight fade, we are attempting to minimize your slice, which is more difficult to accomplish.

Second, a draw will generally have greater distance than a fade. Most amateurs can use all the distance they can get.

What can be done to promote an in to out swing?

The first and biggest one is aligning your shoulders, hips, and knees to the right of your target (for right handers) to create a rightward swing direction. Watch another video below from Joseph Mayo as he describes 5 keys in creating an in to out swing.

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Golf Tips

The Difficult Task of Creating Stability On The Links

By Shooting 90

This is a guest post by Scott McCormick. Scott writes for Golf Now Charlotte about the best courses to play in North Carolina.

Golf is a sport that poses a unique challenge to those that play. Golf requires not only physical adequacy, but mental consistency and restraint during times of frustration. There’s a reason that golf is becoming a world game. People can play well into their late years, and it’s also a sport that is nearly impossible to master. It’s an endless challenge, and people love that. However, it’s incredibly demanding. Even professionals hit wayward shots at least every other round, and golf’s general difficultly leads to overall intrigue around the sport.

One place that people struggle within their golf game involves consistency, both mental and physical. A golfer’s actual technique needs to be steady as he or she progresses through a round. Similarly, the player’s mindset needs to be level headed. Any legitimate lack in either area is detrimental to success on the links, and most everyone that has played the sport understands this.

Below are straight forward tips for creating stability on the course. If you’re a golfer that feels the ups and downs, to the point of frustration and errant shots, you need to take initiative and attack the problem head on. From there, you’ll drop strokes and become better friends with your score card.

Mental Stability

While most sports have a mental component to them, golf is even more so and many golfers at all levels struggle keeping a level mindset. For one, a bad shot shouldn’t affect the next. If you’re aiming to have a low handicap and a scorecard that’s easy on the eyes, you need to have mental stability each time you line up for a shot.

It’s difficult to maintain composure and confidence within golf. For one, a bad stroke can easily snowball and lead to another one. However, this doesn’t have to happen and many players could greatly benefit simply by thinking twice about it.

Some quick tips to maintain mental stability, and thus improve your game:

  1. Understand that one poor shot doesn’t need to affect your mindset. Just because you sliced your drive on the opening tee box, it doesn’t mean that you’re behind the eight ball for the rest of the day. As a golfer, you can really benefit from looking at each shot individually. The game is already difficult, and overanalyzing each errant shot isn’t going to do any good.
  2. Be confident in your game. Regardless of the level you play at, keep your focus on what you know you can do. If you’ve done it before, you can do it again.
  3. Take your time and don’t feel rushed. This doesn’t mean delaying the group behind you on each and every shot, but it does mean that you will not succeed in golf if you constantly feel pressure to quickly hit your shot. Hitting a tiny white ball accurately is already hard enough, and becomes extremely challenging if you’re in a hurry. Give yourself a break and take your time. Play at a pace that allows you to maintain proper technique and appropriate mindset.

Part of finding consistency on the golf course is reeling in emotion. Looking at each shot individually, staying confident in your skillset and taking adequate time on every stroke can improve your game in serious ways.

Physical Regularity

Yes, golf is largely mental, but that doesn’t mean that physical shortcomings can’t tarnish a score card. Technique and style, and particularly consistent performance in these areas, are huge components of success on the links. Unique to other sports, golf requires a level of exactness not seen in another game. The distance, trajectory and accuracy of a golf shot will only be on point if the golfer is firing on all fundamental cylinders.

While each golfer is different, there are near-universal ways to improve the way you approach and execute each shot. It can be hard to maintain technique and fundamentals through a long round, but the more you do so, the better off you’ll be.

Some quick tips to ensure proper technique:

  1. Don’t underestimate fitness when it comes to golf. Sometimes viewed as a sedentary sport, this couldn’t be further from the truth. For one, a lack in fitness can be very detrimental to a golfer’s performance, particularly at the end of rounds. For example, if a golfer’s legs get tired, their stance loosens and their swing is affected. Similarly, when the hands or lower back feel the burn, golfers tend to pull up on swing impact or change grip mid-round.
  2. Keep your head down. A golfer will have a hard time finding success if they consistently lift their head through their stroke. For one, it’s impossible to focus on the golf ball if your head is pulling up through impact. Secondly, the motion of lifting your head affects your arms, core and stance. These components cannot be adjusted mid-stroke if an accurate shot is desired. It starts and ends with keeping your head down, and you can’t be reminded of this enough.
  3. Develop a fundamental swing. Whether you have to take lessons from your local professional or not, your swing needs to have right components to help you reach success. A golfer’s potential is determined by his or her mental and physical stability. Your swing needs to be part of your golf routine, with each stroke mirroring the next and the previous. The more regular you feel within your technique, the better you can gauge club selection and shot power.

You simply can’t afford to have ups and downs in your physical technique. The same (and hopefully fundamental) steps and procedure should be executed each time you line up for a shot. From there, you’ll find more regularity as your push forward.

Golf, like most other sports, is based on mental and physical capacity. However, the focus needs to be more detailed in this game. The slightest miscue can lead to an errant shot. While each golfer is different, these ideas should help take your game to a new level.

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Hit More Fairways

How to Fix a Slice – Rotate Your Body

By Shooting 90

This is the second installment of our How to Fix a Slice series and a prelude to the third installment, “Create an In to Out Swing”. Hopefully you have had a chance to read our first installment titled “The Grip”. If you have not had the chance please do so now.

Once you have a strong grip, the next most important step in fixing your slice is to create an in to out swing. Before we can do that, however, we need to make sure we are properly rotating our body throughout the golf swing.

Many amateurs swing way too much with their arms, making a swing similar to a baseball swing. The problem with this is there is a big difference between golf and baseball swings. In fact, they don’t get along very well. Swinging too much with your arms also tends to make you sway back and then forward instead of rotating your body to shift your weight.

In a golf swing, your arms’ main responsibility is not to generate power but rather to connect your body to the club and keep your club face in the right position and on the right path. Your power is created through rotating your body to properly shift your weight through the shot.

To understand proper body rotation in a golf swing, check out “Proper Rotation of Your Upper and Lower Body” on PGA.com.

If you’re having problems swaying instead of rotating, check out the video below from The Golf Fix’s Michael Breed for a great tip.

Proper rotation is an important building block of a consistent in to out golf swing. In our next installment, we will dig deeper into creating an in to out golf swing, arguably the biggest piece in how to fix a slice.

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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.