Think Your Way To A Lower Golf Handicap
December 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Many recreational golfers rely on feel, natural talent, and repetition to hone their technique and lower their scores. Or, if they’re really old school, they may use swing thoughts developed many years ago. Not surprisingly, these players don’t see much improvement over the years in either their scores or their golf handicaps. The improvement they do see results mostly from technical advances in equipment and better course conditioning.
Modern golf instruction combines an understanding of swing mechanics with an emphasis on creating an athletic, natural motion. To create this motion, you must eliminate whatever mechanical thoughts you’ve developed over the years and replace them with simpler, more effectives ones that help your swing become more natural, athletic, and repetitive. Once accomplished, you’ll amaze yourself at how much more athletic your swing is and how quickly you lower your golf handicap.
Setup
It’s critical to have a good setup. If you start off poorly, you have little chance of executing a solid swing. To achieve a more athletic setup, your shoulders, hips, and knees must be level and your weight spread evenly between your feet. Two key thoughts for a good setup are “stay level” and “be athletic.” You could even think “bouncy” since your legs must feel that way in an athletic setup, with flexed knees and relaxed muscles.
Takeaway
The takeaway is another critical move in the swing, as I’ve mentioned in my golf tips. You need a solid, one-piece takeaway powered by your shoulders, not your arms, wrists, or hands, to initiate a fundamentally sound swing. When your arms, wrists, and hands move independently of one another, trouble ensues. Independence forces the club off plane and jeopardizes the square alignment of the clubface. Think “all together” at the takeaway and you won’t go wrong.
At The Top
If your backswing is off during your swing, you lose all the angles you create with a good setup. That means you lose any chance of creating a leveraged, dynamic attack into the ball, inhibiting your ballstriking and short-circuiting power. The thought of “squatting” (your butt toward the ground) is the key for creating the right move into the ball. A telltale sign of a strong squatted pivot away from the target is the backside being close to the ground and pointing at the target.
Transition
The transition from backswing to downswing is extremely critical, as I’ve said in my golf tips. A common misconception of recreational golfers is that the club should stay in front of the body during the swing. While this is true on the backswing, it is incorrect on the way down. A proper transition occurs when the body drags the hands and club into the swing. You want the club to be trailing the body up to and past impact. A good swing thought here is “body leading arms.”
Impact
While it’s natural to think “hit the ball” at impact, it’s not the best approach. In fact, it’s a bad approach. The desire to “hit at” the ball initiates the use of the hands during the downswing, breaking down the proper sequence of the body first, club and arms second. Instead, think “squeeze the ball on the club face.” What many recreational golfers don’t realize is that accomplished players don’t think about hitting the ball. They think about swinging through the ball at a point several inches past the ball. It’s what I encourage players to do in my golf lessons.
Finish
Golfers who swing the club at the ball invariably finish poorly. These players generally stop their swings at the point of impact. Golfers who swing the club through the ball generally have a correct finish. Your thought at the finish should be “get the back shoulder to the target.” This thought forces you to keep working past the ball and changes the ultimate destination from the point of impact to well beyond it, generating more power and a balanced finish.
Old School vs. New School
Old school teachers often used specific images to create the proper feel for a correct swing. Unfortunately, these images sometimes breakdown at key points, leading golfers astray. For example, a popular old school image for assuming the proper grip of a club was for the player to think of holding a small bird in his or her hands. What if you’ve never held a bird in your hands? How can you know what the feeling is like?
Today, golf teachers try to combine an understanding of the proper mechanics of the swing with the feeling of a natural athletic motion. Try substituting the swing thoughts we discussed above for some of those mechanical swing thoughts you may have developed over the years. Use the new swing thoughts at the range and on the course. You’ll be surprised how effective they are and how much they’ll improve your swing and golf handicap.
Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to Aspiring-Golfer
Article reprinted with kind permission from Jack Moorehouse, who has developed a unique and proven handicap slashing system. If you want to get your handicap down to a respectable level then he can help. Golf doesn’t have to be so difficult and his goal is to help you put the “fun” back in your game.
You can check it out at http://www.break80today.com
Furyk leads Target World Challenge
December 14, 2007 | 1 Comment
Tiger Woods double-bogeyed the last hole to lose the first round lead at The Target World Challenge in California and trails Jim Furyk (68) by a stroke. Woods had lead the $5.75 million tournament for 17 holes, but the costly double-bogey on the last, dropped him into a tie with Rory Sabbatini, Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson, for second place at 3-under-par 69.
“I threw away a good round of golf, realistically I should have been seven-under, I just messed it up,” Woods said.
On a lighter note, at the media conference, Tiger was asked by a leggy blonde if he believed that ” … my boyfriend is gay because he screams out your name during sex?”
Stunned silence descended but Woods, ever the supreme diplomat responded, “Hmmm, interesting question,” The woman then went on to provide him with intimate details of her sex life. As the interloper was escorted away Woods advised, “That’s something you’ll have to work out for yourselves.”
Who said Golf was ‘boring’?…….The woman in the image is not of course the leggy blonde in question, but the other one, Tiger is married to.
2007 Tours’ Best Players announced
December 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Open champion Padraig Harrington has been named as the European Tour’s 2007 Golfer of the Year . Harrington finished the year in third place in the Order of Merit behind Justin Rose and Ernie Els and defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie to win his first major at the British Open Championship. No Irishman had lifted the Claret Jug since Fred Daly in 1947 and Harrington was the first from the Republic.
Despite wining the Order of Merit, last year Harrington lost out to Ryder Cup team mate Paul Casey. This year however he has won the vote of a panel of writers and commentators ahead of US Open champion Angel Cabrera and new European number one Justin Rose.
Looking forward to the challenges of the 2008 European Tour, including the Ryder Cup, Harrington Said, “It is an award I will treasure.”
Meanwhile Tiger Woods picked up the US Tour’s corresponding award, the Byron Nelson Trophy, for the third straight season and the ninth time in the last 11 years. Woods was the leading money winner in America for the eighth time and won seven titles in 2007, including the USPGA for his 13th major title.
Woods ended the year with a 2007 stroke average of 67.79 — a stroke and a half a round better than No. 2 Ernie Els. Now that Woods is entering the prime of his golf playing career, even Even Jack Nicklaus has conceded that, providing Woods stays healthy, his record of 18 professional major championships, once considered unbreakable, will fall, probably soon.
Woods has now ended speculation by announcing that he will not take part in the European Tour’s lucrative new end-of-season tournament. The Dubai World Championship is open to the top 60 golfers on the European Order of Merit but the American says he is too busy to take part. Tiger admitted that he could not justify playing enough tournaments to ensure he retained membership of the European Tour.
Woods is back in action this week after the longest lay-off in his career, when he plays in the Target World Challenge at Thousand Oaks in California, the 16-player event he hosts each December to raise money for charities. The sixteen competitors in the field include best eleven players from the Official World Golf Rankings, along with four special invitees selected by the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Tiger has won two of the past three tournaments (2004, 2006) and this year could become the first back-to-back champion in this exciting warm-up for the 2008 season.
December 2007, Golf Calendar
December 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment
December 2007
5th - 8th Ladies European Tour: Indian Ladies Masters, TBC.
6th - 9th European Tour: Master Card Masters, Leopard Creek GC, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
6th - 9th Australasian Tour: Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship, Hyatt Regency Resort.
6th - 9th Asian Tour: Cambodian Open , Phokeethra Country Club, Siem Reap .
6th - 9th European/Sunshine Tour: Alfred Dunhill Championship, Leopard Creek, South Africa.
13th - 16th Australasian Tour: MFS Australian Open Championship, The Australian GC.
13th - 16th Ladies European Tour Dubai Ladies Masters, Emirates Golf Club (Majilis Course), Dubai, U.A.E.
13th - 16th European/Sunshine Tour: South African Airways Open, Pearl Valley Golf Estate, Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa.
13th - 16th Asian Tour: Volvo Masters of Asia , Thai Country Club, Bangkok .
21st - 23rd Wendys 3-Tour Challenge
Trevor Immelman wins Nedbank Challenge
December 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Trevor Immelman made three late bogeys and overcame a challenge from Justin Rose on Sunday to win the Nedbank Challenge by a stroke. Both men had started the day on 16 under and were level on 17 under on the 18th tee. Rose pulled his drive into trees, had to lay up short of the water but then flew the green and duffed a chip back to card a six, which cost the Englishman a £725,000 victory.
“It’s an event every South African golfer dreams of winning,” said Immelman. “After the majors, it’s the best tournament in the world for us.” Immelman had problems of his own and could make only bogey - his third in succession - but still won on 16 under with a level-par final round of 72.
The South African, a late invitation to the 12-man event, had appeared to have blown his chances after squandering the two-shot lead he held after 15 holes.
On the short 16th both pulled their tee shots but Immelman chipped and two-putted while Rose splashed out of a bunker to the edge of the green and holed from 12 feet.
Three-time champion Ernie Els shot a disappointing 72 to finish third on 11 under while England’s Luke Donald’s 73 was only good enough for a share of sixth on five under.
Meanwhile another Englishman, Richard Finch, when one step better yesterday, when he claimed his first European Tour title yesterday with victory at the New Zealand Open.
Finch, who was ahead by three shots going into the final round at the Hills Golf Club, near Queenstown, finished on 14 under par, with Australians Steven Bowditch and Paul Sheehan tied for second on 11 under
Selecting the right Putter for your game
December 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Buying a putter that’s right for you isn’t easy. You need to do your homework to find one that fits both your budget and your game, which means learning the different types of putters and clubheads available and their advantages. But doing your homework is worth it because having a good putter, as I often say in my golf lessons, shaves strokes off your golf handicap.
The key considerations when looking for a putter are price, quality, type, clubhead, and alignment system. Face insert, loft, and hosel are additional considerations. I’ve talked about these considerations in my golf tips, but here’s some additional information about them.
Price/Quality
Prices for putters range from $30 to $250 or more. Usually, the higher the price, the better the quality. While buying quality is nice, you don’t have to overspend to find the right putter. Consider putters from all price ranges before investing, but look for one that feels right to you and fits your budget. That can take time, but if you look hard enough, you just might find a good but inexpensive putter that will work as well as an expensive one.
Type
Putter types include traditional, belly, and long. Most players use a traditional putter, which allows for the best blend of feel and mechanical precision. Traditional putters demand “quiet” wrists, a big hurdle for some. They also affect golfers with bad backs. Hence, the increased use of the belly and the long putters. Nevertheless, they’re easier to master than the belly or long putters, which is why I cover them in my golf lessons.
The belly putter provides a third point of contact - the abdomen— between the putter and the player, the other two being your hands. This putter adds stability and balance to your stroke. The belly putter enables a golfer to control his wrist action and assume a near perfect position for putting, but the club’s longer shaft and generally thicker grip inhibits feel and feed back. Distance control is also a problem.
Long putters provide a stroke with a true pendulum arc, are great for players with bad backs, and completely eliminate wrist action, but they inhibit feel, feed back, and distance control even more than belly putters. Many players consider them the “last refuge” for players with highly active wrists, but you’ll often see them used by pros on the tour who are having trouble with their putting.
Clubhead
Putters come with blade, cavity back, and mallet clubheads. A blade has the clubhead’s weight distributed to the heel or bottom of the putter, leaving a thin top line to view when addressing the ball. It is harder to control than a cavity back or a mallet. A cavity back features a hollow area in the middle of the club- head’s back, creating a larger sweet spot. A mallet is bigger than traditional putter’s clubhead but its shape varies widely. Also check out the face-balanced and the heel-toe-weighted mallets, which promote a straight stroke and minimize mishits.
Alignment System
Aligning the putter to the hole is critical to sinking the putt, as I emphasize in my golf lessons. If the putter isn’t lined up properly, the ball won’t go in regardless of how well it’s hit. Try finding a putter with a visual aid to help you line up the club with the hole, one that you feel comfortable and confident with. There’s no research showing that one alignment system is better than another, so choose one that feels right to you. But make sure you buy a putter that has one.
Additional Considerations
Face inserts are available in a variety of materials including metal, rubber, ceramic, plastic, glass, and wood. They provide more feel and feedback, better define a club’s sweet spot, and increase heel-toe weighting. They are nice but not necessary, which I’ve often mentioned in my golf tips.
Believe it or not, putters come with about 4 degrees of loft, which keeps the ball from bouncing when struck. Most golfers use a putter with standard loft because their hands are vertical to the ball at impact. Loft can be added or taken away depending on where your hands are when you hit the ball.
A putter with an offset shaft or hosel appeals to many recreational golfers. The offset helps them address the ball with their forward eye over the ball and a good line of sight to the hole. More importantly, the offset helps them keep their hands ahead of the ball when putting, increasing accuracy.
Golf instruction aside, a good putter is critical to improving your golf handicap. But choosing a putter is mostly a matter of feel, so look for one that feels comfortable. If you find a putter you think fits your game, try it before purchasing it. Some retailers have small putting greens that allow you to test a putter. Others will let you take the putter home to test. By all means, do so. It’s the only way to really know.
Article reprinted with kind permission from Jack Moorehouse, who has developed a unique and proven handicap slashing system. If you want to get your handicap down to a respectable level then he can help. Golf doesn’t have to be so difficult and his goal is to help you put the “fun” back in your game.
You can check it out at http://www.break80today.com
