There are a number of ways to eke out a few extra yards off the tee. You could buy a new driver, lower your driver’s loft, change your ball, get fit so your shaft matches your swing speed or hit the gym and beef up on your golf-specific muscles. While all are valid ways to make you hit it farther, I have a quick, simple solution that takes no time to master: Turn out your right foot.
That’s it.
Since many golfers suffer from poor flexibility, they end up with a shorter-than-optimal backswing length. Golf is a sport that demands limber muscles. By simply turning your foot out, you can turn more in the backswing and create a wider arc. And wider arcs equal more power.
Once you’ve done that, just make a normal backswing and you’ll notice that you’ve increased your arc (notice how much wider it is in the two photos). From there, at the top of your swing, it’s vital that you shift your weight correctly in the downswing. Opening up your foot will help you do that. In fact, it produces a much better turn through the ball and makes shifting your weight to your left side that much easier.
Follow this one easy step, and I guarantee that you’ll notice a distance gain.
Wayne Allen, CPGA, is the head professional at Blomidon Golf Club in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. Visit him at wayneallengolfacademy.com.
Here’s a drill that will help you hit a big sweeping hook. First aim the clubface down the target line. From there, make sure your upper body is parallel to the target line. Now turn your lower body 45_¡ closed. The reason you do this is to stop your left side from turning through the shot. That will force you to release the golf club.
Another key factor to consider is ball position. Place it just in front of your left toe, so it’s actually in the center of your body, opposite your shirt buttons. The result from such an extreme setup? A big, sweeping hook that’ll teach you how to release the clubhead! Now, take that feeling and apply it to less extreme shots.
2. SLIGHT DRAW/SLIGHT FADE
In the left and right photos, I’m demonstrating how to hit a slight fade and draw. (In the middle, I’m demonstrating how to hit a straight shot.) Basically, the same rules apply whether you want to hit a draw or a fade–all you have to do is the opposite to produce the desired result. First notice how my clubface is aiming straight down the line at the target and how my body lines (feet, waist, shoulders) are aiming either slightly to the left or right. From there, I swing along my body lines. I keep my clubface where it is but swing as if I’m hitting the ball to the left or right. This starts the ball out to the left or right and then, because the clubface is aiming straight, brings the ball back on that line. Nothing fancy here, just a sound setup that produces a curving ballflight.
Parallel Stance = Straight Drives
Fade It! (open Stance)
Draw It! (Closed Stance)
3.COMPLETE YOUR BACKSWING
Notice, in the three black-and-white photos, how inefficient my backswing is? In each example, I haven’t rotated my body completely. In the color photo, however, my shoulders are 90_¡ to my target line, and I’m creating major torque. And the greater my torque, the better chance I’ll have of hitting the ball far. Practice as I’m doing here and then retain that feeling when you swing a club. The better you can turn in the backswing, the more separation you can get between your hips and shoulders in the downswing, creating the torque you need for greater speed. Make a full, complete backswing while resisting with your lower body, then unwind first with your lower body and let the club whip through impact.
4.BALL POSITION CAN HELP DETERMINE SHOT SHAPE
Note the differences in my ball position and how high I’ve teed it. In the photo at left, I’ve teed it up slightly forward of center and slightly higher than in the photo at right. This is the kind of placement you want if you’re going to hit a draw. When it’s back in my stance, it’ll help me release the club earlier and create more of a right-to-left ballflight and close the clubface, putting draw spin on the ball. With the ball teed a little bit farther ahead in my stance and lower, I’ll have to hold off my release which will keep the face open so I hit a little cut. Try this on the range and notice how it impacts your shot shape.
5.DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME
The distance you stand away from the ball determines how upright or flat your swing is. The closer you stand, the more upright your swing will be; the farther away you are, the flatter it’ll be. These differences in swing plane change your swing’s shape and the way your clubface rotates (or doesn’t) through the shot.
Check out, in the photos, how that distance impacts my swing plane. Note also, in the “closer” photo, how I’ve choked down on the club, too, because I don’t need the extra grip when I stand closer. You won’t hit the ball as far when you choke down and stand close, so factor that difference into your shots. Standing closer also will help lower the ball’s trajectory because the shaft will be farther ahead at impact. The opposite applies when standing farther from the ball.
Jeff Yurkiewicz, PGA, is the head golf instructor at the Grayhawk Learning Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. Visit grayhawkgolf.com.
In his rookie year on Tour, Keegan Bradley has established himself as a player who has the potential to have a great career. His victory at the HP Byron Nelson Championship was a great win, but even bigger was his victory at the PGA Championship. He played fantastic all week and showed enormous heart and composure over the final three holes and subsequent playoff to nab his first major. He’s almost a guaranteed shoe-in for Rookie of the Year.
To win twice in a year–especially a major at the Atlanta Athletic Club–he has to be a good driver of the ball. And Keegan’s Total Driving rank confirms that. He ranks in the top 15 of the statistic that measures a player’s driving distance and accuracy. Although a hot putter can make up for a lot in this game, it’s certainly easier to play good golf when you’re playing your second shot close to the green and in the fairway. Let’s take a look at a couple photos of his driver swing and see how he does it.
1. FIRST OFF, notice how Keegan does a great job of keeping his lower body quiet in his backswing. He’s maintaining his knee flex, and there’s no hint of any leg slide or tilt, because his legs act as the base to allow his upper body to pivot. This is a great thing for all of us to do: Keep the lower body quiet as you make your backswing.
2. SEE KEEGAN’S belt buckle? It’s pretty much facing straight ahead. He has very little hip turn in his backswing. Also notice the stripes on the back of his shirt. He has made a huge shoulder turn without turning his hips. He’s really winding up his upper body on the backswing. You can also see how he keeps his chin up so his left shoulder has room to pivot. His head and upper body have shifted a little to the right or behind the ball. All this makes for a powerful backswing pivot.
3. FINALLY, although Kee-gan has made a huge turn and looks very powerful at the top of his swing, he has retained control of the golf club. Some powerful players (John Daly comes to mind) let the clubshaft get a little out of control at the top, but not Keegan. His clubshaft is slightly past parallel at the top, and the clubface is in a square position. It’s much easier to hit it straight with a controlled clubshaft and face than with a clubshaft that’s way past parallel or is closed or open. Well done!
1. LET’S LOOK again at Keegan’s belt buckle. In this photo, you can see how he has turned his hips on his downswing and finishes with his belt buckle pointing down the fairway. Keegan has done a great job using his lower body in the swing. Based on his finish position, there’s no sign of excessive lower-body slide or tilt.
2. ALTHOUGH Keegan’s upper body looked like it was over his right side on the backswing, he does a great job of making a powerful upper-body pivot on the downswing into his finish. Notice how his upper body is now directly over his lower body. He’s neither hung back, nor is his upper body leaning or lurching out in front of his lower body. This indicates that his body is working very well throughout the swing.
3. FINALLY, IT LOOKS as if Keegan has great balance and control as he works his way into the finish position. His body looks relaxed here, which tells me that the sequence of his swing is very good. The club and his body are working together efficiently. I also like the position of the club in this photo. He has allowed the club to fully release around his body into a controlled position at finish.
Follow Keegan’s powerful pivot and great club control, and you’ll improve your total driving.
Steve Dahlby is the Director of Instruction at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz. He also can be found at The Golf Club Scottsdale and Phoenix Country Club in the winter. He’s the current coach of Sean O’Hair and has worked with a number of touring professionals. Steve can be reached at sdahlby@fhgc.com.
Sometimes, even the best players in the world need to refresh their fundamentals. In fact, for some, the fundamentals are the only things they work on come time to keep their swings in check. In the following pages, I want to share with you 10 of my favorite tips and drills to help you not only keep your fundamentals in check, but shoot lower scores right away.
1. THROW THE CONES
One of the common swing mistakes I see from my students is an overactive upper body combined with a stalled lower body. This tends to happen because many golfers feel as though they need to hit at the ball, instead of swing through it. This type of motion creates all sorts of bad shots because the body is usually out of sync and out of position at impact.
The fix for golfers who struggle with “hitting at” the ball is to try the cone-toss drill. Now, it’s not as though the road cone serves a distinct purpose, other than being a nice weight and a lot of fun to throw. You could use playground balls, basketballs, or medicine balls to achieve the same thing. To do the drill, situate a target about 10-15 yards away (in my case it’s a Hula-Hoop) and then toss your cones in an underhand fashion and try to land them at your target.
This drill helps you get the feeling of both swinging and throwing through to a target–a feeling you should mimic in the golf swing. The goal with every toss is to finish with the hips and shoulders in line–a good indicator that the hips and shoulders have worked together to swing the object through to a target. After a few tries with your cones, hit five golf balls right away to transfer this motion directly into your golf swing.
2. MAKE YOUR PRACTICE SWING YOUR REAL SWING
I’ve seen this one many times! Many amateurs set up near their golf ball, make a great, smooth practice swing with no ball, then set up to the ball without fully adjusting their body to the golf ball. This means they’re usually standing a little farther away than they naturally should be, making it darn near impossible to make the same swing as your practice swing.
The key is to let go of the fear that comes from standing too close to the golf ball. What I like to do is, on the practice tee, make a practice swing aside a golf ball, and do so until you make a nice small divot. Then, without moving your feet, roll a golf ball over and put it just behind the divot. This will help you feel the exact position your ball should be, and don’t be surprised if, at first, it feels a little close–it’s not. Do this and get a feel for what it’s like to get the golf ball in the way of your practice swing, and you’ll start hitting more solid golf shots.
Related Video
Throw The Cones
3.5-BALL DRILLS: TEMPO TIMER
Here’s a little secret the pros know, that you probably don’t. The tempo for your swing, whether it’s a short-iron shot from the fairway or a tee shot with a driver, should always stay the same. The common problem I see is that with longer irons and with woods, many golfers feel as though they need to swing harder from the top of the backswing, which as you’d guess, causes all kinds of dismal shots.
A great drill for working on improving your tempo, with your irons in particular, is to do the short-to-long drill. Line up five balls in a row. Begin with a smooth chip swing and increase the length of each swing until the final ball, which will be your full swing. Keep doing this until your tempo feels exactly the same for each ball or until the full swing seems to take longer than the short swing. It will take some practice, and a lot of patience, but this drill will work wonders for improving your tempo. And to take it a step further, try counting “1, 2, 3” as you swing at various lengths, timing yourself so each swing starts at 1 and ends on 3.
4.5-BALL DRILLS: BACK! HITT! STOP!
When a typical golfer tries to hit the ball farther, he generally tries harder, swings quicker from the top, and completely loses his “sense” of where the club is. The result is a mis-hit shot, which never travels very far.
A great fix for this problem is the “Back! Hit! Stop!” drill.
Start with making five practice swings, verbally saying “Back!” at the top of your swing, “Hit!” at impact and “Stop!” at the end of the finish. Do this until your vocalizations are right on time with the key points. Then, do the same exercise with five balls lined up. Keep practicing until you can get your voice to do the “Back! Hit! Stop!” at the key moments of the swing. As you hit balls, the key is to pay special attention to when your voice comes out. If it’s earlier than it should be, this means you aren’t focusing on the club, you’re anticipating something else and/or trying to muscle or force your shots. This is what’s killing your power! Once you can be with the club all the way through, then your swing will be in sync and you’ll get much more out of your shots. It’s amazing what a little vocalization can do.
5.SPEED UP YOUR FOLLOWTHROUGH
Again, when golfers go for more distance, they try to swing harder at the very beginning of the forwardswing. This leads to overacceleration of the club too early, and maximum clubhead speed isn’t attained at the right spot, which is through impact. Even if you manage to square the face to the ball, and get your body in the right position, if your max speed is before the ball and not after, you’re not getting the maximum power out of your swing.
If you watch the best swings in the world, the followthrough, especially with a longer club, takes much less time than the downswing. Learn how to wait on the club until it’s about halfway down on the downswing before really trying to let it loose. You should get the feeling that the clubhead is travelling the fastest AFTER the impact point. You can also practice with a driver, holding the clubhead end. Then, swing the shaft until you start hearing the whoosh of the shaft later in the downswing.
6.HULA-HOOP DRILL
Many golfers make chipping and pitching much more difficult because they worry too much about what the ball might do as it rolls to the hole. This becomes a distraction that clutters the mind and results in poor contact and a general lack of distance control.
Instead, the most important thing to focus on is the landing area on a chip and/or pitch since that’s really the only thing you have total control over. Select a chipping location, visualize the shot and where you would need to land the ball, then go place your hoop where the landing area is. Then give yourself 10 balls to accomplish the following tasks: Get one ball to land in the hoop and get one ball to come to rest within three (advanced) to 10 (beginner) feet of the hole, depending on your skill level. The goal would be to finish the task in as few balls as possible, while learning how your chips and pitches roll or check up. Some golfers put a little more backspin on their shots, and some hit it lower and play for more roll. The key in using the hoop is to not only get in the habit of not aiming directly at the hole, but also see how your shots react once they do hit the ground. Do this, and your distance and direction will improve tremendously with your chips and pitch shots.
7.CHIPPING CLUB TOSS
Too much tension in hands and arms leads to flipping at the ball instead of creating a solid chipping stroke. When this happens, you see a lot of flubbed, fat and thin chips.
A great way to loosen the tension in the hands is to try the club-toss drill. Grab a couple wedges and make room to toss each wedge a few yards ahead of you. As you make a chipping motion, allow the club to come loose through impact. Do this about 10 to 15 times. Then, add a ball to the motion. If your club gets tossed dramatically to the left, then you’re using too much tension and trying to hit at the ball or scoop it. If the club starts to go fairly straight, then you’re starting to feel what it’s like to have Tour professional hands and control around the greens.
8.EYES ON THE TARGET
If you struggle with hitting chips the right distance, it’s probably because your eyes and your golf swing don’t see and feel the same thing. Also, you’re likely hitting at the ball again, instead of letting your body and club swing through the ball and toward the target.
To alleviate this problem, practice chipping with your eyes on the target instead of the ball. Before trying with the ball, do about 10 to 15 practice strokes with your eyes on your target and allow the club to naturally brush the grass. See if you notice that your legs and torso begin to shift weight and rotate with the motion of the club. Then set up to a ball and practice without your eyes on the ball–keep them on the target. In a short time, you’ll get a better feeling and visual for not only making the right swing length, but also hitting through the ball, not at it.
9.PUTTING GUESSING GAME
Ask any great putter, and he’ll tell you that speed is the most critical variable when it comes to putting. Your speed can change the way the ball breaks, so if you don’t have the right speed, your directional control will suffer, too. So, here’s what I like to do to help improve my students’ speed control.
In this exercise, simply find a fairly flat and straight putt on the putting green. Start at about 10 feet from the hole and put a towel or glove in the cup. Putt with your eyes closed and, before you open your eyes to see where the ball went, see how accurately you can guess where the ball ended up relative to the hole–or even if you made it! As you practice this and get more accurate at your guesses, you’ll be developing the essential skills for great distance control–a better sense of the target and feel for your stroke. Once you head out onto the course, use this exercise during your round to make more putts!
10. BACK! HITT! STOP! PUTTING DRILL
It’s not uncommon to want to look up and see what happens to the ball after you stroke a putt. Even the best players in the world sometimes do this. Only thing is, when you think too much about where the ball goes after you stroke it, you’ll probably come out of position and make an awkward, off-line stroke.
If this sounds like you, do the “Back! Hit! Stop!” drill in putting. Challenge yourself to get your voice right on the points of the transition, impact and all the way to when the putter stops. If you can keep your focus until the putter stops moving, then the ball will already be in the hole. And even if it doesn’t go in, it won’t be because you distracted yourself.
Dan Martin, PGA, is the head instructor at Rustic Canyon Golf Course in Moorpark, California. For more information, visit rusticcanyongolfcourse.com.
One of the most common power leaks for the average player is the early release of the hands through the downswing. Maybe it’s just human nature to want to overpower the golf ball with the arms and hands, but the reality is that doing that actually weakens your ability to hit the ball farther.
What I like to do is rehearse a simple yet effective drill. Take a few practice swings, and just as the club reaches parallel to the ground on the downswing, hit the brakes. Stop your swing and take a look at where the club is positioned relative to your body. If your arms are extended, and the club is away from you, you’ve most likely released the hinge in your wrists too soon. This leads to what some call “casting the club,” much as you’d cast a fishing line into the water. And when you do this, you run the risk of not only weak shots, but errant ones, to boot.
If you’re holding your hinge correctly at this point in the swing, you should see ample wrist cock, the toe of the club toward the sky and the hips already rotated open. Now, here’s a little secret that some better players instinctively know. It’s nearly impossible to hold the hinge in your wrists for too long. Due to the centrifugal force that you generate as you swing the club around your body, the wrists will eventually unhinge automatically through the downswing. In other words, there’s no need to force the unhinging of your wrists!
The key is to let the wrists unhinge naturally and try to hold your hinge for as long as you can during your downswing. Players such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy have tremendous wrist hinge on their downswing, only to then release as soon as the hands are above the ball through the shot. This results in extraordinary whip and power through the shot.
Practice this drill, and I’ll bet you’ll see your distance and consistency improve. And don’t force the unhinging of your wrists! Bobby Hinds, PGA, teaches at Woodley Lakes GC in Van Nuys, Calif. For more information, visit bobbyhinds.com.
As you can see here, I’ve got a 40-yard bunker shot, which is arguably one of the game’s hardest tests. I’ll show you two ways to play it, depending on the kind of sand that you find in the bunker.
The first is when the sand is pretty firm. Take your most lofted wedge (in this case, I’ve chosen my 60_¡ lob wedge) and pick it clean, taking sand only after you hit the ball. To help pick it clean, I’ve moved the ball about an inch back in my stance and am placing a little more weight on my left side. This helps create a downward blow and ensures that the club bottoms out a little bit earlier than usual so I’m sure to catch the ball first. I stand tall at address and remain so through the shot.
When the sand is soft and fluffy, I use a 9-iron and play it like a standard greenside bunker shot. Place the ball a little ahead of your normal position and make a swing that catches some sand before the ball. A nice normal-length swing should do the trick.
Like all shots that you aren’t faced with very often, it’s vital to practice both of these options as much as possible. After you master them, you won’t feel as anxious when your ball lands in the kitty litter.
2. HYBRID CHIP
The hybrid chip is a shot that should be played when you’re far enough off the green that you need to hit a shot with a little extra “oomph.” If you’re pretty close to the green, I suggest a standard chip shot with either a 7- or 8-iron.
Notice how, in these photos, I’m not only about 15 feet off the green, but also below the hole? This is the perfect scenario in which to use a hybrid club, as I need to bump the shot up the hill and over quite a bit of sticky kikuyu grass.
To hit this shot, I alter my setup so I stand closer to the ball. (Notice the difference between a normal hybrid shot and the “putting stance” in the photos at far right.) Notice also how I choke down on the club? This creates a steeper swing that’s easier to control, much like a putter. I narrow my stance and play the ball slightly back toward my right foot so I make a descending blow into it. This will help pop it up onto the green.
Caution: Using a hybrid to chip can yield some pretty “hot” shots. Practice this frequently so you know exactly how hard the ball moves.
Related Video
Look, Then Chip
3.THE TEXAS WEDGE
During this year’s Open Championship, Darren Clarke played many shots with a “Texas wedge.” What’s that? Well, it’s a fancy way of saying a putter hit from off the green. But there isn’t anything fancy to hitting this shot. All you have to do is make a few minor adjustments from your regular putting setup.
The first and most important ingredient is to stand taller at address (and throughout the shot). This allows you to make a fuller swing, which you’ll need to help the ball scoot through the longer grass. (Notice how much longer my Texas wedge stroke is in the photos than my regular putting stroke.) The biggest key to pulling off this shot successfully is to know how much harder you have to hit it. There isn’t a specific formula for this, but rather a guesstimate of how much the fairway will slow down your ball. (I don’t suggest hitting this shot from the rough.) As a general rule, I add an extra three feet for every foot of fairway my ball has to cover. So, if I’m 10 feet off the green, I imagine that I have a 30-foot putt. Of course, slope will impact exactly how much harder you have to hit it.
A double overlap grill will deaden your grip action.
4.THE FLOP SHOT
To hit a flop shot, simply place about 60% of your weight on your forward foot and use a special double overlap grip (see description at right) to deaden any wrist hinge or extra hand action from your swing. This will help eliminate any extra hand action or “hit” to the shot, so the club can slide underneath the ball and you can utilize its full loft. Definitely try this a few times on the practice green before you put it in play, but by simply adjusting your grip style, you’ll execute the shot without much effort at all.
The double overlap grip: Your dominant hand’s pinkie and ring fingers should overlap your weaker hand’s index and middle fingers. Don’t interlock your fingers; just overlap them so about half of your dominant hand covers your weaker one.
5.FROM HEAVY GREENSIDE ROUGH
When you find your ball in thick greenside rough, you want to approach the shot as you would a greenside bunker shot.
All too often, I see players attempting to hit it like a typical greenside chip: weight toward the target, forward shaft lean and ball back in his or her stance. While this might work for perfect lies, it leads to stubbed chips where the club knifes into the ground and gets stuck, like in the picture at left. Instead, open your clubface and keep your hands even with the ball. This will help return your club to the ball so you use its loft and bounce to cut through the grass, but it doesn’t stick in the turf. Don’t be afraid to take a swipe at it, too. Just as with a bunker shot, you’ll need a little extra muscle, especially if the grass is thick.
A baseball grip helps generate hook spin.
6.ROLLING PITCH SHOT
To hit a low chip shot, try changing your standard interlocking or overlapping grip to a 10-finger “baseball” grip. But before you do that, make sure you set up correctly for a slightly downward blow.
Place a little more weight on your forward foot and place the ball back in your stance a bit. This should produce a forward shaft lean and de-loft the club, which will help keep the ball low. With a 10-finger grip, it’ll be easier to roll your dominant hand over your weaker hand and impart hook spin on the ball. All this contributes to make a shot with a low trajectory and lots of roll. Make sure you try this only when you’ve got plenty of green between you and the flag. Depending on how high you want the ball to go, you can choose anything between a 6-iron and a sand wedge.
7.VISUALIZE YOUR SHOT
When you play a standard chip shot–or any shot for that matter–it’s vital that you picture how your shot is going to travel toward your target.
Take the shot I have here as an example. It’s a pretty simple chip shot that I’m hitting with my 8-iron. I do all the things I’m supposed to do–play the ball back in my stance, lean the shaft toward my target and rock my shoulders and arms back and forth to create a pendulum-type motion. But in order to get the ball close, I have to picture exactly how it’s going to roll out
toward the hole. With a shot like this, I factor in slope, of course, but as a general rule, I want the ball to fly about one quarter of the way to the hole and roll the rest of the way. I don’t really concern myself with the shot’s trajectory, however. Mostly, I just envision the ball rolling, as if it was a putt that started off airborne and then quickly hit the ground. The more you think of these shots as putts, the more likely you’ll knock it stiff, time after time.
Use A Putting Grip To Make Your Chip Shots
8.THE PUTT CHIP
Here’s a chip shot that works a little bit like a putt. There are two ways to play it, depending on the shot.
Method 1: Use a putting grip on a downhill chip to help soften the blow. This takes out the urge to “hit” the shot. As a result it deadens the shot and limits roll.
Method 2: Using your putting grip on a standard chip (demonstrated at right) allows you to stand closer with a more upright shaft angle. This will help straighten out your stroke, and improve contact. In general, a putting grip puts you in more of a “make” mentality.
Zach Allen, PGA, teaches at DeBell Golf Course in Burbank, Calif. Allen has won 20 worldwide titles. Visit zachallengolf.com.
1 A proper putting grip is one where you grip the club in the palm of your hand, not in the fingers. This helps keep the wrists quiet through the stroke. So how do you do this? First place your left hand on the handle all by itself with your index finger going down the grip–just as you see in the picture.
2 After your left hand is on, fold your left index finger back around the grip and place your right hand on. As you do this, make sure the lifeline of your right hand fits into your left thumb. Also make sure your palms face each other.
3 Notice when I put my index finger down the grip, how it’s now in the palm of my hand, or rather the middle of the hand. Also notice how the clubshaft and my left forearm form one straight line. This will help keep the clubhead on a good path in the stroke.
4 When I place my right hand on from this angle, I want to make sure my forearms are parallel to each other. One should not be higher than the other. For example, if you placed a club across them, the club would be parallel to the target line. This will help keep the clubhead on a good path and help the clubface stay square at address.
Nick Kumpis, PGA, teaches in Orange County, Calif. For more information, visit nickkumpisgolf.com.
if you really want to hit longer and straighter drives, you have to remember a couple key variables. First, the driver is designed to be hit on a slight upswing. Second, where you position the ball relative to your stance affects how well you can hit the ball on the upswing. Most golfers, when they rest the club down, rest the club at the lowest point of their swing. This is especially true with a driver! This often results in a hit with a leading edge of the crown making contact with the golf ball (resulting in a pop-up). Or, if you do make contact with the face, it’s at too shallow an angle, and the ball doesn’t fly very high off the ground. A great way to ensure you hit the club on the upswing is to position the golf ball a few inches in front (toward the target) of where you’d normally address the ball. By doing this, you’ll help make sure the lowest part of your swing arc is behind the golf ball, giving you room to ascend the clubhead and hit the ball on the way up. Leave a gap between the clubhead and the ball, and I’ll bet you not only see higher and longer tee shots, but straighter ones, as well.
Mark Greenslit, PGA, is director of golf at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in California. For more information, visit ojairesort.com.
Great Heights
Today’s drivers have maxed out in terms of volume. The USGA has capped total cc’s for a club at 460cc, and most of the new drivers you can buy hover around the 460cc size limit. With such size behind the golf ball, how do you really know how high you should tee the golf ball? And where on the face should you make contact?
Arguably, the average player should always try to hit the sweet spot, no matter what the pros do. (Some pros hit above the sweet spot for a dead hit with a higher launch angle, but with less ball speed and spin.) Finding the optimal tee heights is actually a personal task. Conventional wisdom may tell you that the bigger the clubhead, the taller you tee the ball. Well, that may be true for some. A better starting place for finding your ideal tee height is to first evaluate what type of tee shots you tend to hit. Fades? Draws? If you fade the ball, a lower tee height will help you. If you draw it, a higher tee height will make it easier to hit shots from right to left.
Conversely, if you struggle with slicing, consider a higher tee height to promote a swing that’s more from inside the target line on the downswing. And if you tend to hook, a lower tee height will help. The key? Make sure you adjust your ball position accordingly. For a draw, play the ball higher, more away from you and farther forward in your stance. For fades, tee it lower, put it closer to you and play it farther back in your stance. For you straight shooters, follow Mark’s tip right here and watch that ball fly straighter and longer than before! –Staff Report
The putt-chip is a shot that I encourage all of my students to learn at our golf school. It’s easy, it’s reliable, and even the pros use it to get up and down in a hurry. By keeping the ball low, you eliminate the need to worry about how much carry you need or how much the ball will spin. Instead, you can focus on distance and direction, two keys to hitting better shots. This shot uses the same setup as most short-game shots, starting with a good golf posture and 60 percent of your weight on your left foot.
The difference from a putt is that you need to use a short iron, perhaps a 7- or 8-iron, and you’ll use your normal putting grip instead of your full swing grip. This automatically takes some of the wrist action out of the shot. With the ball positioned at about the middle of your stance, choke down on the club so that your iron feels about the same length as that of a putter. From this position, you might even see the heel of the club off the ground. This is a good thing because it helps prevent the leading edge from digging into the ground. Now you’re ready to use your normal putting stroke by dominating the motion with your shoulders rocking up and down and letting your arms, not your wrists, control the clubhead. You should see the ball come off with little trajectory, hit the green and start rolling like a putt. Now with some practice, allow the length of your swing to dictate how far the ball travels. In no time, you’ll be saving more pars with this simple, easy-to-learn shot!
Jon Paupore teaches at the Jim McLean Golf School at Red Ledges in Heber City, Utah. For information, visit redledges.com.
Most of the time, when we hear of a player collapsing under the pressure of tournament golf, the breakdown happens somewhere late in the event. Maybe it’s a final-round stumble (see Rory McIlroy’s final round at this year’s Masters), an errant shot that leads to a big score, or sometimes a lapse in concentration that leads to a careless mistake a la David Toms, who, at this year’s Players Championship, missed a short easy putt to stay in the playoff. (He hadn’t missed one that short all week, and played brilliantly up until that point.)
These late-round blunders may have cost some players a few victories, but what about players who struggle early on? Early, as in, before they tee off? You probably don’t hear much about that, since most television broadcasts catch players as they make the turn and play the back nine. It may surprise you, but even better players sometimes struggle to feel comfortable before they tee off. Some players actually lose the tournament (or at least fall down the leaderboard) because they’re not mentally fit to play that day.
Point being, the first tee is an anxious place for just about everybody. No matter how well you hit balls in your warm-up, you never really know what kind of day you’re going to have until you finally tee off and head down that first fairway. Unfortunately this nervous reaction causes tension and quick swings early in the round. Being at your best on the first tee requires some mental muscle and a way to let out the nervous energy. First, before you tee off, focus on your goal for the entire round, not just the first tee shot. Don’t be nervous! Instead, I teach my students to be excited before they play and realize that the first tee shot is one of many for the day. It’s at this moment where you want to trust your ability and trust your normal shot pattern. Once you do that, shift your focus to the process of the shot instead of the potential consequences of where that first tee shot may go. The process includes verbalizing and visualizing the exact shot you want to achieve. For instance, you might say, “I’m hitting a driver toward the right center of the fairway with a 10-yard draw.” This focuses your mind on a single, positive intention, instead of the distraction of what could go wrong. In other words, don’t get ready to tee off and think, “I hope this goes straight, not into the trees or out of bounds.” That kind of negative thinking will lead to poor shots! The key is to stay positive. Think positive and you’re more likely to see positive results more often.
Once you have your mind set on a positive outcome, it’s time to get your body relaxed and ready with a physical drill. I like to warm up with this clap drill to remind me of the proper impact position, and it works wonders to let go of that nervous energy. To start, address the ball as I’m doing here, without a club and with the hands pressed together. From here, keep your gloved hand still and start rotating your body back and let your ungloved hand swing back with your body. Once you reach the top of your swing, your gloved and ungloved hands should be in line with each other, pointing at or just behind the golf ball. From here, swing down and through, and be sure to keep your left hand in the same position. At impact, clap your hands! This drill not only helps you stretch and release tension, but actually helps you from a technical standpoint, too, by training your body to remain stable at impact and rotate more effectively. When doing this, I feel relaxed and I’m accelerating my right hand to squarely clap my gloved hand. When done correctly, I feel the stretch of the backswing and freedom of letting my right arm swing freely on the downswing. I take this feeling to the first tee to keep me relaxed and committed to the first tee shot, as well as the first few holes during my round.
Give this drill a try the next time you’re feeling tense or anxious before your first tee shot. It will help distract you from thinking negatively and relieve some of that unwanted nervous energy. Then come time to tee off, stay positive! Even if you do happen to hit less than a perfect first tee shot, don’t fret. The game is played over 18 holes, and there’s plenty of time to recover. Have fun, stay positive, trust your swing and, most of all, enjoy your round!
Rick Sessinghaus, Psy.D., PGA, is known as “Golf’s Mental Coach” and is the author of Golf: The Ultimate Mind Game. He’s director of instruction at Chevy Chase CC in Glendale, Calif. His website is ricksessinghaus.com.
