Quick Tips

Build A Wedge System

Controlling your wedge distances is more difficult than you think. The key is to benchmark your yardages with a three-swing system. Since we can no longer make a full swing, we must create a simple method of defining swing length as it relates to ball carry distance. First, I make a quarter-length swing, where my hands finish about waist high. Second, the half-swing, where I gauge my left arm position as being level to the ground. Finally, my three-quarter-length swing, where my hands reach shoulder high.

Common among all three swings is that the wrists hinge fully and the followthrough mirrors the backswing in terms of length.

Rhythm
The critical element to building a simple repeatable system is linking the swings together with a soft, even rhythm. Think of creating a pendulum swing, where your rhythm moves in a soft yet upbeat fashion, much like a swinging pendulum on a grandfather clock. Make some rehearsal swings saying the rhythm out loud (One, two). It’s this type of rhythm that will create a soft, controllable contact and build distance control.

Perfect Practice
Hit a few shots with each swing (1__ã4, 1__ã2, 3__ã4). Once you get the balls to carry a predictable distance, locate a mark for your three basic wedge yardages. For example, the distance progressions with my sand wedge are 30, 50 and 70 yards. Focus on each target and make the appropriate-length swing. Work on gauging your swing length and rhythm needed to hit each target.

Advanced Technique
When getting started, focus on developing a solid feel for your distances with your sand wedge. Once you feel confident, try to benchmark your yardages with a pitching wedge and lob wedge. In the end, you’ll have a total of nine solid distances inside of 100 yards.

Incorporating these simple techniques into your game is sure to improve your wedge game.

PGA professional Jeff Ritter is the director of instruction at the ASU Karsten Academy and also teaches at Nike Junior Golf Camps nationwide.

Don’t Get Wristy

A wrist- or hand-dominated motion can be useful in certain situations around the green, where less-than-perfect lies mandate a conscious manipulation of the clubhead. However, being wristy or handsy on the tee, where the objective is to generate maximum power and distance, is a definite no-no. With the big stick, you should strive to keep your hands and wrists as quiet—or passive—as possible.

That’s especially true during the backswing. The club should be taken away in a one-piece motion with a full shoulder turn and with the big muscles in the legs and torso controlling the swing. Only when the golf club reaches the waist level should the wrists begin to hinge. That’s the only point when the swing gets “wristy.”

For many golfers, there’s a temptation to control the club with the hands. That’s the “hitting instinct” taking over—the preconditioned idea that we somehow have to supply all the power with our arms and hands. Bag that instinct and let the golf club do the work. That’s what it’s designed to do.

The hands and wrists should remain passive through the beginning of the downswing, which is triggered by a weight shift and turn toward the left side. Only after the arms have started their downward route—a move more or less dictated by gravity—should you attempt to create acceleration with the arms and hands.

At that point—defined as “pre-impact”—the sensation with the hands and arms should be that of cracking a whip or hitting a smash with a tennis racquet or ping-pong paddle. The key is to think “faster,” not “stronger.” The best way to achieve this is to have relaxed wrists throughout the swing and not try to force anything. More relaxed arms and wrists always equals more power. Until the moment of truth, keep your smaller muscles out of the picture and allow the bigger muscles to take charge.

Two-time National Long Drive champion Art Sellinger is chief executive of Long Drivers of America (LDA), which produces the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, Pinnacle Exceptional Distance Challenge and LDA Tour.

Three Slice FIxes

There’s only one thing that can cause a slice, and that’s a clubface that’s either open (or opening) at the point of contact. That being said, here are three tips to help you square up the clubface and rid your game of that slice forever!

Get A Stronger Grip. The clubface tends to return to the ball open when the hands are placed on the club in a weak position–that is, turned too far to the left. A correct grip has the hands rotated more to the right. To strengthen your grip, rotate your left hand so that your thumb is positioned to the right of center (two to three knuckles should be visible). The right hand also should be rotated to the right, matching the angle of the left hand. To experiment, turn your hands to the right until the ball begins to hook, then back off a little for optimal positioning.

Ease Up! Excessive pressure in your hands and arms inhibits the natural rotation of the clubface through the hitting area. Soften the pressure in your hands, wrists, arms and shoulders to encourage a more natural, effortless face rotation. If you imagined a scale running from zero to 10, where 10 was the tightest you could possibly squeeze the club and zero was the club slipping out of your hands, then the ideal pressure for most shots would be a 3.

Flatten Your Plane. Most slicers approach the ball on too vertical a plane, another error that facilitates an open clubface at the point of contact. A flatter swing shape will promote a natural squaring of the clubface and create the preferred right-to-left ballflight. To sense the feeling of swinging on a flatter plane, make some practice swings with the clubhead moving back and through at knee-high level. Swinging the club in this elevated position will help you feel the more rounded swing shape needed to allow the toe of your clubhead to rotate past the heel. After a few of these baseball swings, try one off the ground with the same feel. Your ensuing ballflight should be much straighter and, perhaps, curve slightly to the left.

PGA professional Jeff Ritter is the Director of Instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz.

Fine-Tune Your Stroke

The ability to control putterhead speed translates into the ability to control the speed of the ball and, ultimately, your ability to make more than your fair share of putts. If your control has become shaky, here’s a two-part drill to help you get the ball rolling at the speed you desire.

Drop a coin on the practice green, then place a ball about 10 feet from the coin. Now, survey the terrain from the ball to the coin. Make note if it’s an uphill, downhill or level putt. You should also note the break–is it straight or a left-to-right- or a right-to-left-breaking putt? Now, from behind or next to the ball, create a dynamic, mind’s-eye picture of the speed necessary to get the ball to stop no further than one putterhead-length past the coin (about four and a half inches).

Your task is to roll three putts from the same distance and stop all three within the space of the putterhead behind the coin. You can place a coin one putterhead-length behind the first coin to help you visually judge the exact distance.

Before the first putt, adopt a plan that will ensure the accuracy of the golf ball’s roll. For example, if the putt is uphill, you may want to adjust your focal point beyond the coin to adjust for the terrain. Some of my students like to ingrain a picture of the putt’s last four feet of roll. Others simply focus on feel. Each of these methods, whether it’s spot aiming, roll visualizing or feel focusing, uses the eyes to send signals to the brain to apply the necessary energy for the putt.

Your job is to find which type of focus best allows you to control speed. Use only one ball for the drill, and if successful, retrieve the ball and putt from the same spot. Ideally, you want three straight putts to end up as desired. If not, start over and keep working to find the best way (focus) to accomplish this task.

The next step is to add a foot to the length of the first putt. After each successful attempt, add another foot.

In the same manner you work to fine-tune your wedge game and full swing, so, too, should you fine-tune your putting stroke. If time permits, perform the above drill daily, always noting your progress and frequency. Soon, you’ll find yourself draining those 15-footers.

Dr. Craig Farnsworth has worked with over 100 PGA, LPGA and Champions Tour players. He was a featured presenter at the 2000 PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit and frequently instructs on The Golf Channel. He operates the See & Score Golf School in La Quinta, Calif., and conducts clinics around the country. For more information, visit www.puttdoctor.com.

The Crusher

According to golf stat man L.J. Riccio, Ph.D., the most important factor for low scores is greens in regulation. Statistically, every extra green you hit in regulation is equal to two strokes off your average score. The problem is that, over the long haul, you’re not going to be in position to hit a green in regulation unless you’ve driven it long enough for a short-iron approach. That’s why this Going Low is dedicated to showing you how to stand back and let the big dog eat” – in other words, to crush it off the tee.

Shaft Length
All other things being equal, the longer the shaft, the further you’ll hit the ball. However, there’s a trade-off because it’s harder to make square contact using a longer shaft (you’ll actually lose distance if contact isn’t made on the sweet spot). In order to discover which length shaft provides you with the perfect balance of extra distance and control, you’ll have to experiment, preferably with three different shafts (increasing in length at 1__ã2-inch intervals). Hit 10 shots with each length on two separate occasions, each time noting where on the face contact is made (use impact tape or chalk to determine the location of each hit). As soon as your percentage of off-center hits reaches 30 percent, you’ve reached your threshold length.

The Swing
Long drives start at address. Many golfers feel most powerful when they reach for the ball, but this causes too much weight to be placed on the toes. As soon as the swing starts, your weight will rock back to your heels, forcing your body to straighten up.

To establish proper balance at address, it’s important to stick your fanny up and out behind you. As your swing reaches maximum speed, your posterior acts as an anchor, which allows your arms to swing at full force and on a constant arc. As you settle into your address position, imagine that you’re about to sit on a high barstool, and make sure that your rump is well behind your heels.

The Transition
The quality checkpoint in every long drive is the transition at the start of downswing. Short hitters hurry here and spend the rest of the downswing trying to make the clubhead go faster. Long hitters, on the other hand, lay off the accelerator, then let speed happen by virtue of good swing mechanics. The correct image here is one of a skate line with a skater in the middle (the pacesetter) and four skaters on each side holding hands. As the pacesetter increases the speed of rotation, the speed of the skaters on the end is multiplied until they’re whirling the fastest of all without any extra effort. This is exactly what happens to your clubhead as the pacesetter (your hips) increases its rotational speed for a big drive. If you keep your shoulders, arms and hands in sync so that no one part hogs the spotlight, the power of your hips will translate into greater clubhead speed.

Two Major Keys
There are a couple of things you need to accomplish prior to impact. The first is to keep your swing center–a point under the throat about halfway down your sternum–behind the ball during the entire downswing. It’s called staying behind the ball and it’s essential for powerful drives.

The second involves hitting the wall. Look at any long hitter and you’ll see that they have a straight front leg through impact. The front wall formed by the left leg and hip sets up a powerful collision between the clubhead and the golf ball. If you’re guilty of losing your front-side brace, practice straightening your front leg through impact, or at least stemming its tendency to slide forward during the downswing.

For A Few More Yards…
– Take a deep breath as you start your swing, then expel it just before impact. Martial arts experts use this technique to generate power.

– Relax your grip pressure. Studies show that pros have a much lighter grip than amateurs, especially in the trail hand.

– Use a long tee (or tape two regular tees together) to ensure properly striking the ball on the upswing.

– Here’s a trick used by Tiger. Take your normal-width driver stance and sole the clubhead behind the ball. Then, without moving the clubhead, widen your stance by moving your rear foot six inches away from the target. This positions you well behind the ball for the big blaster.

– Deflare your front foot until it points at the target line. This helps promote a draw, which usually spells more distance.

PGA professional, author and Senior Instruction Editor Dr. T.J. Tomasi is the Director of Instruction at Lyman Orchards GC in Middlefield, Conn.

Swing Extremes: Pitching Setup

Throughout my 15 years of teaching, I’ve learned no two golfers swing the club alike. I’ve also learned that, despite the individual thumbprint every player puts on his or her swing, good swings share several common traits at key points of the motion. Unfortunately, these traits differ from the commonalities found in the swings of lesser-skilled golfers. In fact, high-handicapped golfers tend to do the exact opposite of what a fundamentally solid swing requires. Of course, you don’t need to swing exactly like a Tour player to improve your ballstriking. However, building a few of the common traits found in higher-level swings into your own will pay huge dividends, especially those that pertain to pitching and chipping.

The biggest misconception high-handicappers have when hitting pitches around the green is that they feel the need to scoop or lift the golf ball into the air. It’s true the ball must elevate to clear a bunker, high grass, etc., but you can’t get it airborne via the scoop method. I cringe when I hear a golfer say they want to get under the ball when they pitch. This is the opposite of what you want to do. Good players understand that the clubhead must come into the ball on a descending path, so that the ball rolls up the clubface, creating backspin. Hitting down is what gets the ball up.

Setup For Pitching
Hitting crisp pitch shots begins with a good setup. Good players know that to hit down, they need to set up on top of the ball. Since high-handicappers want to help the ball up into the air, they do the opposite and set up behind the ball.

When a good player prepares to hit a pitch shot, he or she positions the ball in the middle or back of the stance. These players narrow their stance and lean toward the front leg. This position places the head on top of the ball and the hands in front of the ball at address. It also promotes a downward angle of attack, facilitating a ball-first, turf-second type of contact.

High-handicappers tend to do the opposite when they pitch or chip. The tendency with a high-handicapper is to try to lift the ball in the air. As such, most amateurs feel the need to lean back on the back foot and scoop the ball at impact. This setup promotes a sweeping motion, which is what you want for the driver, but not for short shots. As a result, high-handicapped players tend to hit fat and thin pitches.

Correction
Narrow your feet and play the ball back in the stance. If you want to hit a high pitch that lands soft, place the ball in the middle of the stance. If you want to hit a low running pitch, play the ball opposite your right heel. Lean your weight toward your front leg and press your hands forward. Your head should be on top of the ball.

To assure the proper setup, assume your normal stance, then remove your left hand from the handle and place it behind your left knee. This will force you to lean toward your front leg and will help you get your head on top of the ball at address. You should feel 70 percent of your weight on the front leg. Return your left hand to the grip, keeping these positions intact. Now you’re set up to hit down on the ball and produce an excellent, crisp pitch.

Class-A LPGA teaching professional Karen Palacios-Jansen is the Director of Instruction for Swing Blade Golf Enterprises (www.swingbladegolf.com).

Swing Extremes: Driver Setup

Throughout my 15 years of teaching, I’ve learned no two swings are alike. I’ve also learned that, despite the individual thumbprint every player puts on his or her swing, good swings share several common traits at key points. Unfortunately, these traits differ from the commonalities found in the swings of lesser-skilled golfers. In fact, high-handicapped golfers tend to do the exact opposite of what a fundamentally solid swing requires. Of course, you don’t need to swing exactly like a Tour player to improve your ballstriking. However, building a few of the common traits found in higher-level swings into your own will pay huge dividends.

Over the next several issues of Golf Tips_¨, I’ll demonstrate the differences between Tour swings and amateur swings at address (with the driver and with shorter clubs); during the backswing, as they relate to swing plane and footwork; at the impact position (focusing on wrist position, shoulder position and head movement); and finally, the release. In this issue, I’ll explain the differences between good players and high-handicappers in the address position with the driver and provide a few easy drills to get you to do the opposite of what you’re likely doing and add a touch of the Tour to your long game.

Driver Setup
When a good player sets up to hit the driver, he or she invariably does so with a nice, wide stance and with the ball positioned opposite the left heel. The wider stance helps position the head behind the ball–exactly where it should be. The hands are neither forward-pressed nor angled behind the clubhead. Rather, they lie directly above the crown of the driver. Weight distribution favors the back leg (approximately 60%), and the spine is tilted so that the right shoulder sits lower than the left, about the same distance as the right hand rests below the left on the grip.

All of these setup elements promote the desired sweeping motion (unlike your irons, which demand more of a downward strike on the golf ball). Remember, the ball is teed, so the angle of approach should be shallow or ascending in order to direct an appropriate strike and launch the ball high. You’ll notice that relatively few pros ground the driver at address; most hover the clubhead above the ground to relieve tension and promote a wide takeaway, both of which facilitate a sweeping or ascending path through impact.

High-handicappers, however, tend to do the exact opposite when addressing a golf ball with the driver. High-handicapped golfers adopt an address position we teachers call on top of the ball. Here are the cold, hard facts:

_Ê The head is in front of the ball

_Ê The majority of weight is positioned over the front leg

_Ê The hands are forward-pressed in front of the golf ball

_Ê The shoulders are level

Addressing the ball in this manner promotes two things, and both of them are bad. A forward weight displacement and hands ahead of the golf ball invariably force the shoulders to open relative to the target line, setting in motion an out-to-in swing path and the probability of a slice. Level shoulders, rather than the right sitting below the left, make it extremely difficult to approach the ball on an upward arc. In fact, from this position, you’re likely to approach the ball on a downward angle (if you suffer from pop-ups, here’s your culprit).

How can it be that, in most cases, recreational players do the exact opposite of the pros in so many facets of the address position? The reason: poor alignment. Most high-handicappers tend to aim their bodies directly at the target instead of the correct way, which is parallel to, but left of, the target line. In essence, when you align your body to the target, you’re aiming too far to the right, which you’ll eventually sense as you settle into address, and correct by twisting your shoulders back to the left, or open. Open shoulders dictate a slice. A by-product of this compensation is a leveling of the shoulders and a shifting of weight to the forward leg. This places you on top of the ball instead of behind the ball.

Correction
Remember, you want to promote a sweeping motion with the driver, so you must set up behind the ball at address, not on top of the ball. The next time you spend time practicing your driver swing, work on achieving the key elements of a Tour-level setup position:

_Ê The ball is positioned opposite the left heel

_Ê A wide stance (for a wide arc)

_Ê The head is behind the ball (focus on the back of the golf ball)

_Ê The left shoulder is higher than your right

_Ê Sixty percent of your weight over your back leg.

In addition, try the following drill, which is an easy way to help you set up behind the ball at address with the driver, rather than on top.

Assume your normal setup, then remove your right hand from the club and place it behind your right knee. Notice how doing this automatically lowers your right shoulder, pulls your head behind the ball and forces more of your weight to position itself over your rear leg. Keep your shoulders and body in the same position and replace your hand back on the grip. You’re now properly set up behind the ball and ready for drastically improved driving.

Class-A LPGA teaching professional Karen Palacios-Jansen is the Director of Instruction for Swing Blade Golf Enterprises (www.swingbladegolf.com).

Sweet Spot: Rich Beem

Reigning PGA champ Rich Beem is a long-hitting, aggressive player with a swing more reminiscent of the players of the ’70s and ’80s, than the current, video-taught golfers of the modern era. The first thing you’ll notice about Beem is his extremely long, upright backswing, which is a bit like Tom Watson’s in his heyday. You’ll also notice that he drives his legs excessively toward the target like Jack Nicklaus. While the overall look of the swing is powerful yet a bit sloppy, Beem knows how to make it work. And his go-for-broke style not only makes him tough to beat when he’s playing well, but also makes him a lot of fun to watch.

1 Body Tilt
Beem’s wide stance and lateral slide of the lower body pins his head down well behind the ball. In fact, his head actually moves away from the target through impact as his legs move toward the target. This tilts his body excessively to his right, exaggerating the inside swing path and the fast rotation of his forearms after impact.

2 Lateral Slide
Beem has a significant amount of lateral slide in his lower body during the downswing portion of his motion. This gives the club time to attack the ball from the inside, which is somewhat difficult to achieve with his long, upright backswing.

3 Anti-Hook
Beem’s left-hand grip is quite strong, creating two potential problems. First, the clubface must be prevented from closing through impact to reduce the possibility of a hook. Second, the club must come from the inside in order to counteract any closing of the clubface. The inside path problem is handled by his lateral slide and excessive body tilt, while he holds off the rotation of the clubface by keeping his hands well in front of the clubhead at impact. This turns a potential hook into a playable draw.

4 Wide Stance
Like most golfers who generate tremendous power, Beem’s stance is very wide. This supports his big, long backswing and helps create more tilt in his upper body through impact. Without the wide stance, Beem would be unable to stay behind the ball as long as he does. Although this may be a key for him now, it will be hard on his lower back in the future.

5 Left Foot Flare
The position of the left foot is a key to Beem’s swing. The foot is rotated at least 45 degrees open at address and moves even more open at impact. This shift occurs because his left heel comes off the ground during the backswing and replants to start the downswing. Flaring out the foot enables the left knee to slide more easily toward the target, helping create an inside attack.

PGA professional and Senior Instruction Editor Brady Riggs teaches at Woodley Lakes GC in Van Nuys, Calif.

Get Over The Tops

For many golfers, topping the ball is a serious problem. Not only are worm burners the ugliest shots to watch in golf, but they invariably put your ball into horrendous situations from which to escape.

When a student comes to me fighting the tops, the first thing I do is help him or her understand that, on all full swings with an iron, it’s crucial to execute a downward strike on the golf ball, not an upward lift or scoop. Anything but a descending blow increases the likelihood that you’ll catch the ball above its equator, a scenario that produces the top. Of course, your motion may need more help than simply to hit down on the ball. Nonetheless, the following Break The Tee drill works wonders.

Set a tee in the ground so that the top of the tee rests just above the turf. Assume your standard address position and make your swing with the primary goal being to clip the tee out of the ground. This isn’t as easy as it seems, especially for a chronic topper. The key is to really go down after it, with no lifting or flinching at impact. The proper forward shift of weight targetward on the downswing also is required to steepen the path.

After a few swings, you should be able to not only clip the tee, but to break it and send it flying from the turf along with a healthy divot. Now, place a golf ball on the tee and continue the drill. If you make the same downward swing, your top shot will be replaced by one that rises quickly with plenty of backspin. After a dozen or so solid strikes, take the tee out and continue to ingrain the feeling of breaking the tee.

PGA professional Barry Goldstein instructs at Polar Shot Golf Center in Johnson City, N.Y., and Inverrary Golf Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Yikes The Yips

Though diagnosed a hundred different ways, the yips begin with loss of conscious, directional control of the ball off the putterface. Next comes the resultant loss of confidence. And suddenly, the possibility of actually hitting a controllable putt into the hole becomes nil. Yikes!

The primary cause of the yips is controlling your hands with your eyes. Your hands are two of the most intelligent appendages on your body. One of their greatest gifts is proprioception, the ability to sense where they are in space without your having to look at them. You don’t have to monitor their work with your eyes.

Giving your hands the freedom to do their job independently, however, is only part of the yip cure. You must also understand what makes the ball go in the direction it does when you putt. Almost everyone I ask believes the stroke is responsible for the direction a ball takes during a putt. Actually, the face angle relative to the target is the deciding factor, not the path of the putter. The ball will always leave the putterface at 180 degrees from the part of the ball that made contact with the face (i.e., if you touch the ball at 3 o’clock, the ball will leave in the direction of 9 o’clock).

Since the relationship of the putterface to the ball is that of a straight line to a circle, the putterface can only touch the ball as a tangent, at one point at a time. To change the contact point, you must rotate the shaft either clockwise or counterclockwise during the stroke. If you don’t rotate the shaft during the stroke, you can’t change the contact point on the ball.

During the stroke, your hands can move the putter up and down (along the Y axis), to and from the target (along the X axis), and rotationally clockwise or counterclockwise (around the Z axis). The Z axis, which runs up the forearm from the wrist to the elbow, is the only one that influences puttershaft rotation and, therefore, the only one that influences direction. To cure the yips, a.k.a., the conscious loss of directional control, you must control the Z axis and the varying levels of forearm rotation.

A Drill That Works
Practice making a putting stroke by rotating the shaft clockwise on the backstroke and counterclockwise on the forwardstroke. Don’t watch the putter! Continue this drill for 20 repetitions. Then, make the same stroke without rotating the shaft at all. You’ll be able to feel the difference immediately. The contrast between rotation and non-rotation will help you anchor the proper non-rotational stroke.

Next, place a coin on the putting green five feet from the cup. Start with a straight putt. This coin marks the spot to putt from, like you would in a scramble tournament. Now, using five balls, hit all five balls from the same spot so they stop at the back of the cup using the non-rotational stroke. Repeat this drill 20 times. In my experience, it takes about 100 five-foot putts to ingrain this new non-rotational stroke. You’ll be amazed at how consistently the ball rolls in the direction you intended. And, best of all, you’ll rid your game of the yips for good.

A.J. Bonar is the Director of the A.J. Bonar Golf School, and the author of A.J. Reveals The Truth About Golf video series.