Latest Golf Tips Blog

Here's a great grip tip.

2006-09-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

I hope you already know how important it is to have a sound, properly formed grip when holding the club. If your not sure what constitutes a good grip then visit this golf grip tip web page.

However, knowing what makes a good golf grip and playing with one are two different things. Even good players can over time let their hands change position on the club, and over time could be playing with a lot stronger or weaker grip than they intended.

Here is an excellent tip that you really should take the time to do. It is extremely simple but will help you keep a check on your grip while on the course:

Wearing your glove, take the perfect grip with your left hand - you should be able to see two knuckles. Now take a black marker pen and mark a small dot on the edge of the second knuckle. Place it in such a spot that if you should accidentally weaken your grip while on the course then the black dot would disappear from view.

Now take a coloured marker and place a small dot on the third knuckle in such a place that should you accidentally strengthen your grip the coloured spot would come into view.

Is this a silly, or worthwhile tip?

Well, lets see - on the course you will have visual feed back that your hands are in the correct position, plus an instant visual warning if your grip has strengthened or weakened. Not bad, I say!

Tiger Woods - the master of smart play...

2006-08-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

Tiger Woods proved in The Open Championship at Hoylake that he is a master tactician when it comes to getting round a tight golf course. Here are some tips to smart play.

If you had to play 18 holes on an open field, golf would be a very boring game. The golf course architects’ objective is to offer players a challenge and to meet that challenge you must decide the type of shot you want to play on each hole and where you want the ball to finish. The first thing you must do is to be realistic regarding what you hope to achieve with every shot, both in terms of distance and accuracy. Then select the targets you hope to reach accordingly. You should regard these targets almost like the squares on chess board and plan your rout to the hole by playing from square to square rather than simply trying to hit the ball as far and as hard as possible on every shot.

Every golfer is guilty of occasionally playing without thinking and paying a heavy price for that brief lapse. This often happens on a long and difficult par four hole where your natural instinct to reach for the driver, even when you know that even from your best drive you still can’t reach the green in two. The smart play on potentially dangerous holes is to increase your margin for error, so be prepared to sacrifice distance for accuracy and hit a 3-wood from the tee. Keep up the smart play by not attempting to reach the green in two with the next shot, but instead look to leave yourself the easiest third shot. It may not be exciting golf, but it will inevitably prove less damaging to your score card.

Many weekend golfers lack consistency when it comes to the distance they hit their iron shots. Many tend to err on the short side and fail to reach the green. If you find you fall into that category, then try a different approach. Focus on the distance to the back of the green, rather than the flagstick. If you hit the perfect shot your ball will just about reach the back of the green. However, a slightly less than perfect strike will still leave your ball pin high. Even a relatively poor shot will find the front edge of the putting surface rather than the trouble.

2006-06-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic climax to the US Open with Geoff Ogilvy triumphing more as the "last man standing" as Montgomerie and Mickleson threw away victory.

Here we look at 2 aspects of golf that affected Phil Mickleson in his final round - namely shaping shots from the tee (he consistently struggled to fade the ball when he needed to) and plugged lies in the sand, which he was unlucky to get twice in the closing holes (and played as well as anyone could).

If you find it difficult to shape your tee shots, try this simple drill. At address, imagine there is a three-inch nail sticking out the back of the ball. When you want to hit a right-to-left draw shot, imagine the nail is going into the back of the ball on a line travelling from slightly inside the ball-to-target line. If you want to fade your tee shot, imagine the nail is protruding from the back of the ball, on a line that runs from a fraction outside the ball-to-target line. Then to hit a straight shot, picture the nail running parallel to the ball-to-target line.

Playing from a plugged lie isn’t as tough a shot as you might think, provided the bunker lip isn’t too high and the pin is not too close. The key is being able to get the club down into the sand. Instead of using a sand iron, try playing a 9-iron. This club has enough loft to send the ball up and over the lip of the bunker, as well a sharp leading edge to enable you to get the clubface down through the sand under the ball and force it out of that plugged lie. Position the ball in the middle of your stance, keep you weight mainly on you left side, break your wrists quickly in your backswing, and drive the clubhead down into the sand behind the ball.

Tee Shot Essentials

2006-05-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

It’s one thing to have a smooth unhurried swing on the practice ground, but another to take that same swing onto the golf course. Part of the problem stems from the fact that on the practice tee there is always another ball to hit if you duff a shot. On the first tee in a competition you only get one chance to get it right. There can be a tendency to think too much about swing mechanics, but to improve your chances of making a good swing it is important to banish these mechanical thoughts and concentrate on the hole. Pick a target you feel you can reach without hitting too hard, then think about reproducing that smooth rhythm that worked so well in practice.

When searching for accuracy from the tee the safe option is to choose a 3-wood instead of a driver. But, whatever club you select, you must always aim to hit a target which is comfortably within reach of that club. Be it driver, 3-wood or long iron, you should never attempt to ‘steer’ the ball down the fairway. When this happens, the golfer invariable fails to square the clubface at impact and the decision to opt for accuracy backfires. To gain the maximum benefit from playing safe, you must still make a swing which, as well as being balanced and smooth, is also committed to a free and accelerating release of the clubhead through impact.

Get Up and Down Like Ollie! - Bunker Tip

2006-04-10T03:50:00.000-07:00

What a great last round by Phil Mickleson to win the Masters. One other performance that caught the eye was that of previous two-time winner Jose Maria Olazabal with the best round of the tournament 66. During that round he played an absolutely fantastic greenside bunker shot on hole 17 to save his par.

A common reason why many amateur golfers drop shots in greenside bunkers is because they lack the confidence that is needed to drive the clubhead down through the sand and under the golf ball. Instead they try to ‘help’ the ball up and out of the sand, and either thin the shot, or their swing is so restricted that it lacks the power required to get the ball out. If you lack confidence with greenside sand shots try this easy mental drill.

As you address the golf ball imagine it is an egg in its shell sitting in the sand, and your objective is to get the egg out of the bunker without breaking the shell. Now the only way that this would be posible would be to make sure that the club passes through the sand under the egg. Try this mental image the next time you are on the practice ground and your short bunker play will soon improve.

Simple Golf Chipping Tips

2006-04-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

The quickest way to knock shots off your scores is to improve your chipping. Here’s one tip which might help. Concentrate on where you want the ball to land rather than focusing your attention on the hole. Remember, you can’t control the ball after it lands on the green. Making sure it lands in the right place will help ensure you give yourself the best chance of getting up and down more often in two shots.

When faced with a lengthy chip to a green where the pin is cut close on the front edge, the key is to play the type of shot that offers the greatest margin for error. The high lob shot used to such great effect by Phil Mickelson (above) certainly looks spectacular but can easily be duffed, while the low chip and run with a 7-iron is much easier to play. From a fairly square set-up, with the ball positioned towards your left heel, take up a strong, three knuckle showing, left hand grip. This helps encourage a flatter swing plane that in turn allows you to produce the low, sweeping type of strike required to get the ball running low towards the green. The swing is hands and arms only, with the hands allowed to roll over through impact.

Take a look at our golf chipping tips at the Free Golf Swing Tips website

Aligning The Putter

2006-03-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

A lot of weekend golfers miss putts because they’ve failed to aim the face of the putter squarely towards the intended target and not because they’ve read the line incorrectly or badly pushed or pulled the ball.

Aligning a three-foot putt is the same as setting up to hit a 200 yard plus drive – if the face isn’t pointing in the right direction, the ball won’t end up where you want it to finish. When you line up a full shot, the set-up routine is to first place the clubhead behind the ball using only your right hand.

The next step is to align the clubface square to your intended target, then complete your grip and finally take up your stance. Adopt this same routine when you putt and you’ll be surprised at how often you start the ball running on line, as opposed to wide of the hole.

A simple way to check if you are striking the ball with a square putter face is to try this drill using three golf balls.

One should be in the centre of the clubface, with the other two positioned on either side and just a fraction ahead. The key to this drill is to concentrate on striking the two outside balls and forget the one in the centre of the putter face.

Make a good stroke with the putter face square at impact and all three balls should run in a straight line. However, if the putter face isn’t square at impact, the ball in the centre will collide with the two outer balls.

10 Ultra-Quick Tips To Get You Thinking

2006-03-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes one new swing thought or one small piece of advice can just help your golf game "click" into top gear. Here are 10 thoughts that could maybe just get you thinking, and hopefully help you with an aspect of your game:

1. Take a pitching wedge or lob wedge rather than a sand wedge when playing out of wet, compact sand. The thinner sole on these wedges will cut through the sand a lot better.

2. When you reach the top of your backswing, you should feel like a coiled spring, with all your power stored in your back leg. Steve Flesch demonstrates this perfectly.

3. When practising your chipping stop your left wrist bending by attaching a comb or pencil to it with an elastic band.

4. Picking up a club to practice your grip for five minutes each day could well be as productive as hitting a hundred balls on the range. Quality practice is better than hitting lots of balls with no worthwhile objective.

5. If you have problems achieving the correct weight shift during the swing, practice by lifting your left foot off the ground in the backswing and the right foot off the ground as you followthrough.

6. In high pressure situations, always clear your mind and concentrate solely on the six-inch movement of the left shoulder. Concentrate on the position at address to just under your chin at the top of the swing.

7. A good way of checking your wrists are hinging correctly in the backswing is to see where the shaft is pointing when your left arm is parallel to the ground. It should be pointing straight up.

8. One of the best ways of checking than you are achieving the right weight shift in you swing is by copying Gary Player’s ‘walk on’ technique during the follow-through.

9. When playing out of a divot, play the ball back in your stance and hit down on the ball.

10. To release the club properly, make sure you can feel the insides of your forearms making contact with each other.

Quick Golf Tips - Tee shots into the wind

2006-03-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

When playing a tee shot into the wind many weekend golfers believe they should tee the ball low in order to keep it under the breeze. This usually produces the exact opposite effect. When the ball is teed low, especially when playing with the driver, the lack of loft on the clubface can make you want to ‘help’ get the ball airborne by chopping down on it. This action generates backspin and, with the wind helping increase the effect of backspin, the ball simply balloons up into the air.

When playing into the wind tee up the ball at normal height, swing smoothly and concentrate on sweeping the ball off the tee peg. That way you will be able to get the full face of the club into the back of the ball and drive it forward with a penetrating trajectory through the wind.

In wet weather or when playing under pressure it is vital to keep the ball in play from the tee. Even on a long hole, it’s smarter not to reach for the driver. That’s because the additional loft on the three wood will create less sidespin and reduce the chances of you hitting a slice or a hook. As a result the odds on you playing your next shot from the fairway rather than the rough will be improved.

Even when it comes to distance, if the fairways are damp, you won’t benefit that much from hitting your driver because the ball won’t run much when it lands. If you do elect to play a three wood, don’t fall into the trap of trying to hit it as far as you can get with your driver. Keep a good rhythm and tempo.

Quick Golf Tips - Take more club

2006-03-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

One of the most common faults among weekend golfers is trying to hit the ball too hard. And while a positive acceleration in the downswing is essential, trying to knock the cover off the ball usually leads to a loss of balance, which in turn leads to a poor shot.

If you tend to hit flat out on every shot, next time you think you can reach the green with a flat out seven iron, resist the temptation and instead hit a smooth five iron. Playing the longer club will allow you to swing much more within yourself and help you remain more balanced. And the more balanced your swing, the better your chances of producing a good shot.

Previous Posts from old blog

2006-03-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

4 Aug 2005 - Stop Topping The Golf Ball - Stop Topping The Golf Ball - Topping the golf ball is one of the most frustrating shots the average player can hit. Read this guest contribution by Paul Wilson - Director of Instruction - Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate - Overland Park, Kansas City.
Click here to go to this new full page tip

2 Aug 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - Do You Know What The Rough Will Do? - An experienced professional will know immediately what effect the grass in the rough will have on his ball, do you?f
If you play a shot from the rough you need to know what effect different lies of the golf ball will have on your shot. Firstly, you may have a good lie in the rough where the grass beneath the ball is lying towards the green. This type of lie means little clubhead resistance. However, it can often produce a shot called a ‘flyer’ that will send the ball out on a penetrating low trajectory, with the result that it runs a lot further when it lands.

When the grass is lying towards you, then expect the ball to come out high and stop much more quickly allowing you to pitch the ball right up to the pin.

Lastly, if the ball is sitting right on top of the grass, you must take care not to swing right underneath it and duff the shot, or worse still bury it deeper into the rough. To prevent this don't swing too steeply but concentrate on a smooth flat swing to sweep the ball cleanly off the top of any long grass.

1 Aug 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - How To Get Those Long Putts Rolling - Seeing the golf ball rolling across the green on line for the hole only to see it pull up an inch or less short is one of golf’s most frustrating experiences.

To avoid this happening one thing to do is to groove a putting stroke that generates the best possible roll on your putts. To achieve this the putter head has to be moving slightly upwards as it strikes the ball, imparting over spin and reducing skid on impact..
To help ingrain an ‘over spin’ putting stroke, try this putting drill. Before making your stroke, place your scorecard pencil directly behind the ball, at right angles to the line of the putt.
Then, to make sure you avoid hitting the pencil as you make your stroke, you must concentrate on striking the ball with the putter moving slightly upwards through the putting stroke.

31 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - A Positive Short Game Is The Key - How often is it that when an amateur golfer is faced with playing a short pitch or lob shot over a sand trap to a pin placement that is tight to the hazard, the golfer hits the ball into the hazard?
Why do you see this so regularly in amateur golf? The answer is normally always because the player doesn’t play the shot with a positive enough attitude. To solve this problem you must use your imagination to keep your mind from straying to negative thoughts.
One way to to this, is as you set up, picture the ball flying over the hazard and landing on top of the flag at the top of the pin. This will focus your mind on the target and not the sand trap, helping you to make a more positive swing. The more positive your swing, the better your chances of playing a good shot. Try this next time you find yourself in this type of nervy situation.

30 July 2005 - Fix The Golf Shanks New Full Page Tip Alert - Fix The Golf Shanks - The golf shanks can cause the most embarrassing shot for both beginner and experienced player alike. The shank shot is a result of...
Click here to go to this new full page tip

29 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog -The ABC of Sand Play - When your ball is in a sand trap the shot you play should always be determined by the lie. When the ball is plugged you will struggle to retain much control over the ball. You'll be unable to generate any spin, which means the ball will run a long way from the point where it lands. From a semi-plugged lie, while the ball is slightly easier to get up and out of the sand, the amount of control and spin will again be restricted. However, from a clean lie, you can generate maximum spin and control, enabling the ball to stop quickly. From all three lies, your key swing thoughts should be:

A- Open stance and take the club back outside the target line on a steep path.
B- Keep the swing smooth and your head still.
C- Make your follow-through as long as your backswing.

To become a master bunker player it’s essential that you develop a smooth and repetitive action. As long as you have a reasonable, flat lie and the ball is sitting cleanly on top of the sand, the only thing you need change to hit the ball higher or lower is the angle of the clubface. The normal rule of thumb is that the more you open the clubface, the higher the ball will fly. The more square you set the clubface, the lower the trajectory will be. Lengthening or shortening your swing will determine how far the ball flies.

28 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - How to keep that important tee-shot in play - At the times during a round of golf when you are faced with a difficult tee shot and your main concern is to just get the ball into play here are a couple of helpful tips.

Firstly when it comes to golf club selection the general rule is that the longer the shaft of the club the more difficult it is to control. This is the reason why amateur golfers are usually less accurate with their driver than they are with their wedges. However, when you find yourself in a situation where you feel that you must hit your driver, but the tee shot is tighter than you would like it to be, grip a few inches further down the club grip. This will give you a little extra control of the club without you having to lose too much in terms of distance.

Secondly, thinking positively means focusing your mind on the task you wish to successfully complete and not on ways of avoiding the problems you might encounter should you fail. For example, when you are faced with a tee shot on a long straight hole, which has out of bounds all down one side, don’t make the mistake of thinking about how not to hit your tee shot towards the trouble. If you allow your thoughts to focus on how to play the shot you DON'T want, it’s more than likely that this will be the result! So, keep your mind firmly fixed on the positive, not the negative.

27 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - A golf putting tip if you ever pull your putts left - A common putting problem is when during the putting stroke the left wrist breaks down, or hinges through the ball-striking zone. This normally happens when a golfers stronger right hand takes over through the putting stroke, and can cause a number of faults, including the dreaded putting ‘yips’.
One tip which can help prevent the left wrist breaking at the important moment concerns your grip. As you settle into your putting stance, make a conscious effort to squeeze the grip a little more firmly with the last three fingers of your left hand. Retaining this same pressure throughout your stroke will help the hands to work more as a single unit, producing a smoother and more accurate stroke. Try this tip next time you're practicing your putting - you'll be pleased with the result.

26 July 2005 - Golf Swing Plane - New Full Page Tip AlertHow To Achieve The Correct Golf Swing Plane - Here is Top Golf Teacher Paul Wilson's tip on how to make sure your golf swing plane is correct...
Click here to go to this new full page tip

24 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - An excellent drill to improve your chipping - Often when playing a chip shot high handicappers make the mistake of trying to help the ball into the air by using a 'scooping' action with their hands. This of course usually leads to a thinned shot that races through the green. This simple indoor drill will encourage you to use the natural loft on the wedge to do the job it was designed for.

Place a small coin onto a carpet with a fairly short pile, then try to swing the leading edge of your wedge under the coin. It takes a little practice, but provided you don’t try to scoop the coin into the air with your right hand, you’ll soon be able to chip the coin into the air.
Practice this drill and you’ll find it much easier to slide the leading edge of your wedge under a golf ball when it matters out on the course.

22 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - How do you get the ball out of deep rough? - When playing the ball when it is in deep rough many golfers believe the faster they swing the club, the more likely they are to get the ball out of trouble. In fact, clubhead speed is an important factor but from really heavy rough, speed alone will not get the job done.

Rather than relying solely on your hands to generate speed you must bring the larger, more powerful muscles in your body into play. You should make almost the same swing as you would from the fairway. You need to swing just a little steeper to help get the clubhead down through the rough behind the ball to minimize the amount of grass trapped between club and ball.

But you still generate the extra power you need to get the ball back in play by using those big muscles in your legs, shoulders and arms - strength is important here, and it's no coincidence that Tiger Woods who is one of the fittest golfers in the world is also one of the best at generating distance from the rough.

21 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - A Common Mistake With Fairway Woods And How To Correct It - With the long shaft of a 3 or 5 wood and not a great deal of loft visible on the face, there can be a tendency to try to ‘help’ the ball into the air with fairway woods. This is an action that all too often produces the opposite result – a topped shot.

A topped shot usually happens when the golfer is attempting to hit the ball too hard and leaving too much weight on the right side in the downswing. This results in the leading edge of the clubface striking the top rather than the bottom half of the ball. To hit fairway woods correctly you must get your concentrate on two things.

Firstly, you must get the weight moving smoothly on to your left side at the start of the downswing. Secondly, make sure your hands lead the clubface into the hitting area. Don't go "scooping" the ball upwards - just get the weight onto the left to finish, let the hands lead and trust the loft on the clubface to get the ball into the air.

20 July 2005 - Golf Tips Blog - Draw or fade your tee shots with this simple golf tip - When you are teeing it up and feel that you need to shape your tee shot either left or right due to the shape of the hole, there is an easy way to help create the ball flight you require. If it is a draw shot that you need to play then tee the ball up high - subconsciously this will encourage you to swing the club on a shallower plane than usual. This results in you striking the ball when the clubhead is traveling on a slightly upward and also in-to-out-path, both of which are ingredients needed for drawing the ball.

If you feel like you need to hit a fade, tee the ball low to encourage you to swing the club on a slightly steeper swing plane, which also helps promote the out-to-in path required to move the ball to the right in the air. This small change of tee height can be the subtle difference in the shape of your golf shot.