Here's a simple tip to control your shots more effectively around the greens. Set up with a narrow stance keeping your weight placed on your forward foot and remember to keep the shaft leaning toward the target (hands slightly ahead of the ball).
Next try choking down on the grip as this will help you gain control and increase feel. You want to be sure to keep the clubface square and feel like you are brushing the ground during the swing.
The key to consistent chipping is a smooth motion that allows the clubface to just nip the ball off the ground.
Let the loft of the clubface get the ball in the air, don't try to "help" the ball up! Feel as though you are throwing the ball underhand toward the hole.
Practice throwing golf balls underhand to the hole then using the set-up described above try the same underhand motion when you chip.
Chipping is all about getting the proper feel of the chipping motion. If you practice this tip for five minutes before every round of golf you will be sure to lower your scores.
For most shots out of the sand, use your 60-degree wedge unless the flag is across the green, then you might go to your 54-degree or pitching wedge. Start by addressing the ball with an open club face. Play the ball off your left heel and set about 60 percent of your weight on your left foot.
Next, pick a spot approximately an inch behind the ball, as this is where you want the clubhead to enter the sand. From there make an outside in swing, making sure to use a full wrist hinge on the backswing.
As you swing the club head through the impact zone let the club head release to create the proper speed through the sand. Most golfers don't swing hard enough in bunkers to let the sand propel the ball out of the trap. Feel like you are pounding the sand and accelerating the club head through the shot to improve your bunker play.
Ronald Bruce Romberg Ask professional golfers on tour what swing mechanics they work on the most and the majority of players will say ball position and alignment.
The proper ball position and alignment start when you address the golf ball. If you are lined up incorrectly, your body feels this and makes you change your swing path to correct this faulty alignment. Also, if you have the ball positioned too far forward or too far back in your stance, it leads to inconsistent and poor golf shots.
Most golf instructors agree if you start your swing with the proper alignment and ball position, you have an excellent chance of hitting good shots. So, if you are out of alignment and the ball is positioned incorrectly, it is almost impossible to consistently hit quality golf shots.
Here are a few tips that will effectively help adjust your body into the correct position at address:
First, face your target and take a step toward it with your left foot (for right-handed golfers). Now, from this position, turn your body to the right until your shoulders and chest are aligned parallel to your target. You will now be properly aligned to the target, and your feet will be the proper distance apart at the address position.
Next, hold you arms out in front of your chest shoulder width apart and clap. Where your hands come together is where they should be at address position and also where the ball should be played in your stance.
Now, using your normal grip, take your 5 iron and hold the club straight out in front of your waist. Next, bend over from the waist until the bottom of the club rests squarely on the ground. From this position, slightly bend your knees like you are about to sit on a chair.
To get a feel of what I mean, practice leaning forward from the waist so your arms hang straight down in front of you - remember to keep your back straight, don't hunch over. From this position add some knee flex. (This is where you grab your 5-iron to judge how much lean and knee flex you need when addressing the ball.) In your golf swing, as you swing back and through the ball, it's critical that you try to maintain this position (spine angle) during the golf swing.
When you hear golf announcers on TV talking about how tour players retain their spine angle through impact, they are commenting on how these players are returning the club to the same position they started with at address. This is why it is so important to start with a good set-up, proper alignment and proper ball position.
There are times when you have to play a lob shot to get the ball near your target, (playing over bunkers, water or when the pin is on a tier or on the front edge of the green). If you want to improve your game, you've got to be good at this shot.
To play a lob shot - the kind you see the pros play on TV - practice the following tips and see your game improve:
Improving your stance
Take a wider stance than normal with your feet slightly open. Next, lower your body by bending from the knees (like you're sitting down). Then, lower your hands a little from your normal grip position
Setup for lob shots
First, open the clubface so you are aiming to the right of your target, then adjust your feet, shoulders, hips until they all point in the same direction, to the left of your target.
The ball should be played forward - opposite your front foot - with the grip of your golf club pointing toward your belt buckle. This keeps the hands behind the ball, where they help keep the clubface open upon impact. .
The swing
The lob requires an outside-in swing, which is why you have to set-up with an open stance. As you start your backswing, cock your wrists early and aggressively rotate your hips and your shoulders, but keep your lower-body action to a minimum.
The key is to make sure your swing is from outside in as you hit the ball creating a motion where the toe of the clubhead never turns over the heel. In other words, do not allow the hands to rotate during the swing.
You want to feel as though your right hand is throwing the ball high in the air, at the target.
Practice these tips and see your scores improve.
Ronald Bruce Romberg It sounds like we need to get you off the tee better. We need to get some yardage out of your tee shots so that you will have shorter irons into the green. This will help contribute to you finding some lower scores.
I listen in amazement when my fellow golf professionals tell their students that the distance you hit your tee shot isn't important. They say it is more important to hit the ball in the fairway. I agree that driving isn't the most important aspect of the game as far as creating a low score. The skill of putting has a much bigger influence on your scores than driving the ball. But, hitting the ball longer than your opponent rates a close second.
A great example that stands out to me was the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Colin Montgomerie led the field in the number of times he hit the fairway. Montgomerie hit 82% of the fairways with his tee shots. Montgomerie also shot 15 over par for the tournament. In fact the top 3 players in the fairways hit category came in 32nd, 37th and 46th place in the tournament as far as score was concerned. Tiger Woods led the field in driving distance with an average drive of 299 yards. He also won the tournament by a pretty good margin. The top 3 in the driving distance category finished 1st, 2nd and 8th in the tournament as far as score.
Now I'm not saying that you should gear up for each tee shot by telling yourself that you need to "knock the crude out of the ball." But sometimes telling yourself to "swing easy and just get the ball in the fairway", doesn't help your score. A lot of the time it might actually contribute to your bad shots.
How many times have you stepped up to the tee and told yourself, "OK, swing easy"? Half the time you might hit a good shot. What happens the other half of the time? Now, how many times have you stepped up to the ball and just said "I don't care where this ball is going, I'm just going to swing at it"? Those are the times we hit our best tee shots. Why is that? It is because we have no thoughts in our head to interrupt our natural rhythm. We just get up to the ball and give ourselves a chance to hit it.
When we tell ourselves to swing easy, we are holding ourselves back. We are causing parts of our body to hesitate and then move abruptly. Our natural urge is to send that ball soaring down the golf course. We want to see it hang in the air while it is blazing through the air, down the fairway. We want to feel that feeling in our hands that we hit the perfect drive. You know that feeling. The one were you don't even feel the ball hit the club, but you still have a sense of power flowing through your body.
The key is knowing how to produce that power consistently. We want to, in the words of Julius Boros, "Swing easy, hit hard". How can you swing easy and still hit the ball hard. The key is using your hands to swing the golf club. Your hands are the most important part of your body for swinging the club correctly. They are the only part of you that is attached to the golf club. They determine how fast you will be swinging the club.
Try this as a test. Turn your driver over so that you are holding the hosel (the part of the shaft that connects to the clubhead) with just your right hand (for right handers). Now swing the club back and forth as fast as you can using just your arm, hand and wrist. It should be making a swooshing sound. Keep swinging faster and faster until your swoosh becomes louder and louder. "Now catch your breath." Keep holding the club in your hand, but try to swing using your shoulders, hips or legs. When you try this don't use your hands, just the other parts of your body. How loud was the swoosh?
If you are like most people, the swoosh was much louder and easier to achieve when using your arm, hand and wrist. The swoosh represents power. Golf is a power game. If you don't believe that, then answer this question: Why is there a Senior PGA? Why aren't the guys over 50 still playing with Tiger Woods on a regular basis? The guys on Senior Tour are awesome players, but they can't compete with someone out driving them by 50 yards.
Learn to make the swoosh with your hands. Practice it over and over until you get the sense of effortless power. Then every once in a while try using your body more than your hands to swing hard. You will probably feel unbalanced, uncoordinated and powerless.
One last point - there is some truth in the phrase "Drive for show, putt for dough", but look at these numbers from the 2000 U.S. Open - The top 3 in the putting statistics earned a total of $278,216. The top 3 in driving distance earned $1,304,266. Maybe we should change the phrase to "Drive for show, drive for dough".
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