It’s that time of year to dust off those cobwebs and pay your local range a visit. With golf season fast approaching, it’ll be critical for your golf sanity to get back into your peak golf form as quickly as possible. One of the most commonly forgotten pieces to a good golf swing is proper weight transfer to produce a good finish. Let’s review this concept.
Evaluating your finish is one of the easiest ways to figure out whether you’ve shifted your weight. If your trail foot is still planted well after you’ve completed your swing, you will need to work on this to improve your strike.
Poor finish leaves a gap between the inner thighs and kneesA poor finish can also cause you to fall back on your trail legA proper weight transfer results in a nice balanced finish
Club Drop Drill
You can take rehearsal swings or hit balls for this drill. Take your sand wedge and place the club (face up) under your trail heel. The shaft should point away and behind you. Take your swings with your normal swing speed and practice dropping the club to the ground. If your weight doesn’t transfer to the lead side, the club will not drop.
Take your sand wedge and place the club (face up) under your trail heelClub fails to drop with poor weight transferIn this image you can see I transferred my weight correctly, so the club dropped
Cup Drill
Practice the proper finish by placing a tumbler or water bottle next to your lead foot. The goal is to finish your swing at full speed without moving or knocking it over. Practicing this will help with completing the hip turn and a stable lead leg.
Place a tumbler or water bottle next to your lead footA good weight shift keeps the tumbler in placeFall back and you knock over the tumbler as in this picture
Close The Gap
The feeling of turning your trail knee into your lead knee as you take your downswing will help with transferring weight at the proper time. At the finish, you shouldn’t be able to see a gap between your inner thighs. This will also help with a full hip turn, along with a completed weight transfer.
Poor weight shift will leave a gap between the kneesA good weight shift has the knees closer together
Tip provided by: Cathy Kim, PGA/LPGA Professional & Top 25 Instructor & Director of Golf Instruction at Baltimore Country Club
Breaking 70 Requires at Least One Statistic in the 70’s
When you examine sub-par rounds, there typically is at least one major statistical category that topped the 70% threshold. In turn creating more opportunities to reduce the total number of strokes it will take you to break 70 in 2025. Based upon last year’s stats, is there a category you can get closer to 70%?
Become more accurate off the tee? And doing so without sacrificing more than 5% of your total distance average.
Increasing your greens in regulation percentage?
Increasing your GIR Proximity to have at least 70% of your shots land within 20 feet of the target?
Learn to “flight” your approach shots to gain control over the spin of the shot. Not being able to control the spin of an approach shot can increase the distance your first putt is from the hole.
Tip provided by: John Hughes, PGA Master Professional & Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor
To break 80 consistently in 2025, it’s not enough to understand impact. You must start studying how you can flatten the face of any club, while having your hands in the correct position to create maximum leverage.
Ball position is critical to enhance your chances of improved impact. Is the ball position for irons slightly behind the low point of your swing?
Are you teeing the ball too high or too low with your driver, causing your angle of attack to not be effective?
Is the club being released properly? Or are you manipulating the release, causing the club to close or open just prior to impact?
Tip provided by: John Hughes, PGA Master Professional & Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor
Do you get confused when hitting off of hillsides? Here is a simple way to position yourself when you are playing up and down the slope. The player needs to position themselves relative to the hill to accommodate the slope’s needs by either flattening the plane or making the plane more vertical.
Here is how we establish this relationship on a slope.
Ball Above Your Feet Lie
We begin our setup for the ball above our feet by aiming the club toward the target and placing it on the slope with the correct loft relative to the hill. Then, when taking your stance, align the handle about 1 inch forward of the center of your body, which will establish the correct ball position for the club you have chosen.
Photo 1
Take your stance by placing a little more weight on the downhill part of your feet—in this case, more toward your heels. This will place you in a posture where your back is a little straighter relative to the ground. In swinging the club (Photo 1), swing along the slope by emphasizing turning the body in the backswing and turning the body in the through swing.
When playing in this situation, you will be able to select most any club because there is not a limitation on the loft of the club. Your ball will tend to draw slightly due to the flatter swing plane (Photo 2), and the loft of the club will be pointed slightly left. Align yourself accordingly to accommodate for this.
Photo 2
Downhill Lie
We begin our setup for the ball below our feet by aiming our club toward the target and placing the club on the slope with the correct loft relative to the hill. Then, when taking your stance, align the handle about 1 inch forward of the center of your body, establishing the correct ball position relative to the club you have chosen.
Take your stance, placing a little more weight on the downhill part of your feet—in this case, more toward your toes. This will place you in a posture where your back is bent over more than a neutral posture used in a level lie.
Photo 3
When swinging the club (Photo 3), swing along the slope by emphasizing the shoulders rocking and the arms swinging on a more vertical plane (Photo 4) in the backswing and in the through swing. When playing in this situation, you will be able to select most any club because there is no limitation on the loft of the club; however, shorter clubs will fit the situation better due to the more vertical plane they tend to swing on naturally. Your ball will tend to fade slightly due to the more upright plane, tending to cause the face to open to the path. Align yourself accordingly to accommodate for this.
Photo 4
When playing from any uneven lie, remember to address the ball with the following:
Aim the club with the correct loft relative to the slope.
Stand with the handle pointed 1 inch toward the target of the center of your body.
Place weight on the downhill part of your feet and set your spine perpendicular to the slope.
Swing your club along the shape of the slope.
Tip provided by: Jim Endicott – PGA Professional & Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor. PGA Education Faculty Member and PGA Specialized Professional in both Teaching and Coaching.
2025 should be the year you fall in love with your impact position. With every club. But doing so with your short and mid-irons will almost insure your break 90 more often this year.
Learning to create “forward shaft lean” is an essential part of creating a good impact position with your short and mid-irons. Dragging and releasing an alignment stick provides you with the feeling of your hands being in front of the ball and club at impact.
Placing a tee in front of the ball with the objective of hitting the tee out of the ground provides a forward shaft lean while you are placing the ball on the center of the club face.
Hitting shots from a downhill lie will always set you up in a great impact position. If you can learn to swing down the hill with a forward shaft lean, the ball will fly in the air and enhance your chances of repeating this position anywhere on the golf course.
Tip provided by: John Hughes, PGA Master Professional & Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor
Often when you make a change in your golf swing, things feel weird. It’s only natural that when you have been doing something wrong for an extended period and you then make a complete U-turn, your brain is going to resist it.
We often refer to this as “feel vs real.” What you feel as being correct typically isn’t what is really happening in your swing. Any change you make in your swing sometimes will be counterintuitive.
Recognizing key positions within the golf swing will go a long way toward taking full ownership of your golf swing and cultivating the correct feel when it comes to making changes. These key positions can be broken down into four points: setup, top of the backswing, impact and finish.
Setup is obviously the starting point and foundation of the golf swing. Any imperfections in your setup will cause other parts of the swing to break down. Always make sure that your fundamentals are in order, including grip, posture and alignment.
The true starting point of the golf swing, though, is the top of your backswing. Think of it as the starting line of your downswing, and there is a race between your hips, shoulders, arms and hands to get the club back to the golf ball.
Often, though, golfers never complete their backswings, which throws off all the timing on the downswing. Most golfers don’t know what it feels like to make a full backswing. Depending on the body’s flexibility, your top backswing position might be longer or shorter than your playing partner’s.
Don’t be concerned with how far the club goes back or gets at the top of the backswing. There are players we see on Tour who fully rotate their bodies but look like they are only making a three-quarter swing.
On the opposite side of this, John Daly has had an amazing career taking the club past parallel on his backswing, which is credited to his flexibility. Is either one better than the other? No; if you maximize your body’s rotation, you can then start creating the right feel for completing your backswing.
Not completing your backswing doesn’t allow a golfer to sequence their downswing correctly back to the golf ball. Typically, the shoulders haven’t turned 90 degrees to a point where the left shoulder (right if you are swinging lefthanded) doesn’t get underneath the chin. The lead arm will also chicken wing, and the hands never get above the shoulders. This all will cause the body to pivot incorrectly and transfer the weight on the backswing.
To create the correct feel for a complete backswing, start by standing upright with your back straight and legs locked. Hold the golf club out in front of you and fully hinge the club head up toward the sky. The shaft of the golf club should be parallel to your chest while your left arm remains straight. This will help you feel what it is like to fully set the club with your hands and wrists.
While maintaining your wrist hinge, tilt your pelvis to create enough spine tilt that mimics a 45-degree angle. Your back should stay relatively straight. If you lean from your waist, your spine angle will curve, creating more of a slouching posture. Soften the bend in your knees at the same time so that you feel like your weight is on the balls of your feet. Keep the shaft of the golf club parallel to your chest by maintaining your wrist hinge.
Rest the shaft of the club on your trailing shoulder. If you must let your left arm fold slightly to get the club there, that is OK. Rotate your shoulders as far back as possible. The goal is to get your left shoulder underneath your chin while maintaining your spine angle. A good feeling here is to make sure that your left shoulder is slightly lower to the ground than your right. If your shoulders are level, you have lost your posture and have not fully rotated.
Fully extend your hands away from the body and toward the sky while maintaining your spine angle and posture. A good indication of a complete backswing is where your shoulders have rotated twice as much as your hips, weight is on the inside of your back heel, and your hands have raised above your shoulders. Don’t be surprised if it feels like you are stretching more than you have before.
Tip provided by: Alex Fisher, PGA & Top 25 Instructor
You’re chomping at the bit to hit your new driver Santa brought you. But how do you hit it? And Keep it in the fairway? At your skill level of trying to break 100 more consistently, it’s all about your set up in 2025.
Ensure you aim the “Leading Edge” of the Club to your target.
Set Up to the club. The club hits the ball, not you.
Tee it higher than you think. At least half the ball should be above the crown of the club.
Ball position should be in line with the instep or big toe of your front foot.
Hands centered in your body, which produces a bigger shoulder tilt, with your trail much lower than your front shoulder.
Tip provided by: John Hughes, PGA Master Professional, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor.
The golf set up (PGA) is 70 percent of the golf swing. Perhaps you are among the many golfers that struggle with this concept. Here is a tip and corresponding photos to help you navigate the perfect set up, which leads to great golf fundamentals.
In order to effectively swing the club down a path to the target, it is important to perform three pre-swing principals:
POSTURE, GRIP, and ALIGNMENT
POSTURE
Feet are approximately shoulder width apart (weight on the balls of your feet), knees slightly flexed, upper body tilted from the pelvis, arms in front to swing freely to your target. Keep your chin up, and look down with your eyes.
GRIP
Palms facing each other with thumbs on opposite sides of the shaft in balance of each other. Maintain a light grip pressure for the club head to swing, yet keep control of the club in your fingers. The correct grip will allow the clubface to remain square against the golf ball.
Place a golf tee between your thumb and index finger on the lead hand. Using a proper golf grip the ball will balance on this tee, validating the correct grip position on the club.
Repeat the process of golf tee between thumb and index finger on the trail hand. Palm of your trail hand will match the club face position
ALIGNMENT
Shoulders, hips, knees, and feet are on a parallel line with the target path.
The primary goal is for you to understand and execute one swing concept. The distance from your body to the club is one open hand width away.
Place two golf clubs on the ground, parallel to one another like a “railroad track.” Shaft of the club closest to your body will be a guide to align your feet, knees, hips and shoulders. The shaft of your club further away from you represents the target line. Place the club head on that shaft to obtain proper direction
Try “PGA” set-up for optimal results!
Warren Bottke is a PGA Master professional based at PGA National Resort and Spa, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He was coach to three-time major winner Brooks Koepka from ages 11 to 18. Visit him at www.warrenbottkegolf.com
Hey, guys, it’s Aimee, your golf coach. Today, I’m going to share a tip that will change your driving forever.
Common Mistakes Off The Tee
Many amateur golfers make mistakes such as getting too quick, casting, early extending and using their arms instead of their body turn. These movements are interconnected, leading to shorter distances and slice or hook misses. Prioritizing your swing fixes is crucial. Imagine having a dozen things to work on; addressing the right one first can take care of many others.
What It Takes To Hit Great Drives
Great tempo: If your swing is rushed or inconsistent, you’ll start compensating with your arms, losing power and control. A smooth tempo helps you maintain control over the clubface at impact, enhancing both distance and accuracy.
Tempo
Creating a whip: The whip in your swing generates clubhead speed, resulting in longer drives. This comes from proper hinging, lag and release.
Whip
Maximizing power: Properly using your body means coiling and uncoiling effectively, utilizing a good weight shift.
Maximizing Power
The Key To Great Driving: Setting The Club
Short and slice misses often stem from setting the club incorrectly, leading to a lofty backswing and improper coil. This disrupts the desired whip and causes compensations like casting. Casting reduces whip and control over the clubface, resulting in distance loss and accuracy issues. It also causes you to hit behind the ball, leading to early extension and misuse of your body, draining power from your swing.
Today’s Goal: Mastering Three Essentials
Great tempo
Creating a whip
Maximizing power
To simplify these, let me “Aimeefy” it for you, making golf simple, fun and effective. Focus on one thing: setting the club at the top of your backswing.
How To Set The Club
Setting the club means finishing your wrist hinge in the backswing, like supporting a big serving tray. Many amateurs struggle with this. Properly setting the club enables you to create lag in the downswing. Once you experience the correct setting and lag, you’ll realize how much more efficient your swing can be.
Set Club
Using Training Aids
I recommend using training aids to help you feel the correct movements. These aids provide immediate feedback, ensuring quality practice and preventing the reinforcement of bad habits.
One such aid makes a click sound if you hinge correctly. Common faults include rotating the wrists too early in the takeaway, which disrupts proper body turn and sets the clubhead under the plane. Our goal is to take the club back on a straighter path without excessive wrist rotation at the beginning. You should hear the clicks between the halfway point and the top of the backswing. This indicates a proper hinge and body turn.
ClicksZero Clicks
Practicing With The Training Aid
Put the training aid on and listen for the clicks. Aim to hear the last clicks toward the end of your backswing. Start hitting balls at 50% speed, focusing on hearing the clicks and feeling the lag. As you get comfortable, gradually increase your speed to 100%. Initially, don’t worry about how you hit your shots; focus on hearing the clicks and feeling the lag. A long pause at the top of your backswing is a good sign.
With practice, you’ll set the club, create lag and compress the ball effectively. This will help you develop an amazing tempo, create a powerful whip and maximize your power, leading to longer and straighter drives.
There’s nothing worse than standing up on the tee setting up for your “normal” shot shape, then hitting the deadly double-cross! So now you are left picking up the pieces of a shot that went left to left or right to right…not fun!
Here at Punta Mita we have a hole where this can happen quite often: No. 18 at Pacifico. The hole design bends gently left to right with out of bounds left and the ocean to the right. There’s plenty of room to move the ball left to right or right to left, depending on your “normal” shot pattern, but if you double-cross it, you’re back on the tee hitting three, or dropping the ball out of the hazard and hitting three as well. Neither situation is a great option.
Now that we understand what a double-cross is (playing for a fade and hooking it or playing for a draw and slicing it), it’s now time to figure out how and why it happens!
So, let’s set up for each shot shape.
In Photo 1 I am set up for a left to right shot where I am on the right side of the tee box and aiming down the left side of the fairway.
For the right to left shot pattern I am setting up on the left side of the tee box and aiming down the right side of the fairway (Photo 2).
These two alignments will give us the best opportunity to use the entire width of the fairway so we can hit it in the short grass. Now let’s investigate what each shot shape player tends to do when they hit a double-cross.
FOR THE LEFT TO RIGHT PLAYER
The main reason you will double-cross your fade is when you fail to get off of your back foot on the way down. When you hang back as shown in (Photo 3), the body stops and the arms and hands fling by closing the clubface through impact (Photo 4). As we all know, when the face angle is left of the path, the ball will start left and hook with a centered hit.
To make sure you do not allow this to happen again, you must make sure you move through the ball, allowing your weight to move into your forward foot earlier. For this I have a simple drill.
Place another tee (the same height) about three to four inches in front of your current golf ball on the same target line (Photo 5). Your goal is to hit the ball and the top of the second tee with the clubhead on the way through. This will help you to move the weight into your lead foot earlier, thus keeping the face right of the path, and you will see the ball move left to right.
FOR THE RIGHT TO LEFT PLAYER
The main reason why you will double-cross your draw is when you lose your posture through impact, standing the club shaft upwards and opening the face. When you stand up as shown in Photo 6, the hands also raise; when this occurs the face of the club will stay right of the path (Photo 7). As we all know, when the face angle is right of the path, the ball will start right and then move further right with a centered hit.
Now that we understand what is happening, how do we make sure it won’t happen again? Find an alignment stick and place it in the ground as shown in (Photo 8) (which is just a touch in front of the ball.) If you stand up and raise your hands, you will be the first to know! By keeping the club shaft closer to its address angle you will find that the club has an easier time closing, which will help the face to be slightly left of the path during impact, causing the ball to gently move right to left.
Understanding the double cross is the first key to stopping it for good. The second step is to use the appropriate drill to stop you from either hanging back or standing up. Alleviating these issues will go a long way to helping you have more confidence that the ball will indeed move in the direction you want — and stop you from hitting the ball left to left or right to right, causing you headaches.
Tip provided by Tom Stickney II, PGA & Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor.
