2017 May

We all read golf tips from the pros in golf magazines and watch for them on TV or the internet. You never know when you will find that perfect swing trick that will turn YOUR game around. Every golfer has different mental blocks and body strengths (and weaknesses). All you have to find is the mental and physical tricks that work for YOU. Recreational golfers are NOT in the same shape as pros and we don’t practice anywhere as often. That’s why tips from the pros point-of-view may not be working for you!

This week I just wanted to share a number of tips and tricks from Recreational Golfers who are having the greatest impact on my game. By the way, GOLFSTR+ is a good way to get your mind zoned-in when you are practicing for all 6 of its Swing Fixes.

Feel your heavy club in your back swing to help you hold your lag and then “throw” your club through impact and up the line.

Last week I told you that confidence breeds success. Unfortunately success goes to our heads. We get cocky and think that our last great drive will be even better if we just put a little more oomph into the next drive. WRONG!  I don’t know if its adrenaline or just a mental stupidity but consistent grip, stance and tempo seem to be the most important “tricks” that work for pros and recreational golfers.

Approach every shot using consistent tempo. Start your setup for every shot with the SAME constant demeanor. Get your heart rate down. Get in your comfort zone with your mind totally focused on YOUR shot. If you find yourself thinking about a squawking bird or an irritating person behind your swing path, just step out of your shot, remove the irritation and refocus your mind on your target, relaxation & and a smooth, accelerating swing.

Commitment: Focus on hitting shots to a specific spot. Hit it and builds confidence for my next shot.
1/ Light grip and relaxed shoulders for more power and distance.
2/ Swing with a straight arm take-away, flat wrist at the top and trailing elbow grazing your ribs on the way down to control your draw.
3/ By feeling a “heavy club” your transition allows you to hold your lag and then throw (or whip) your club head from the inside through impact for power and distance.
4/ On the fairway, use 1 more club and swing with more directional control with LESS force.
5/ Plan for less break in your putts when you put with a little more speed if you pass the hole by a foot. [Hint: the worst break happens as you ball slows down.]

If you expect a poor result, it will happen. Recognize the weakness in your game and then practice with GOLFSTR+ to eliminate the FEAR. Build confidence in your game. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Have you noticed that your hot streaks come and go? When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, YOU’RE NOT. The pros need 4 days of hot streaks to win a tournament. One bad hole seems to be the start of more bad holes so we all must have mental lapses. Recreational golfers have shorter hot streaks and longer cold streaks. Why is this happening?

Golf is a game of perfection. One bad hit can put you in the rough followed by a topped ball and then a brilliant blast over the green into a sand trap can leave you devastated. The wonderful thing about our handicap system is that we can just take a MAXIMUM score on a hole and move on to the next hole. Unfortunately tournaments put a lot more pressure on you as your total score counts.

“Better than Most”.  These words just about sums up Tiger’s streak. Shattered confidence ruined his streak.

For great golfers, the hot streaks seem to just keep-on-comin’. Why do they end?
–Tiger Woods’ 142 streak of making the cut ended on a FRIDAY the 13th. Was it his unlucky day or were marriage problems on his mind.
–Luke Donald was the first player to win more money than any other golfer on both the PGA and European Tours in the same year. He hasn’t won a tournament since.  Where did his confidence go?
–Vijay Singh at 42 in 2005 was the youngest player elected to the Golf Hall of Fame. That was the end of his winning streak.

Recreational players have streaks of success during a single round of golf. Have you noticed that you par a number of holes in sequence or that one nine will be much better than the other nine. Your mental commitment is your turning point. CONFIDENCE and FOCUS must be the key factors in our success.

Tricks to create CONFIDENCE and FOCUS
Minor changes in your setup can destroy your distance and direction control. Determine your swing cues before every round.  Correct YOUR IDEAL grip, stance and relaxed body during your practice and lock them into your memory bank. The pros do it and you should too.

-Putting: Practice your swing for distance, then move up to the ball and focus for 2 or 3 seconds to lock your brain into your target. Refocus on your ball for 2 seconds and swing with your shoulders.
-Driver: Relax your shoulders and grip. Take a controlled backswing to create lag at the top. Feel like your club is HEAVY so that it accelerates as you “throw” it from the inside whooshing through the ball.
-Irons and Hybrids: If you can’t shift your weight to your leading foot during your transition then start your swing with 60% of your weight on your leading foot.

Learn your swing cues when you practice with GOLFSTR+. Straight leading arm, flat leading wrist and 90 degree lag in your transition are great swing queues. Buy one today: www.golfstr.com

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Last week we give you the formula for consistent hits by slowing down your backswing to control your transition and accelerating at 80% in your downswing. So why are your hits still going left or right of your target? The proper grip is important but are you paying attention to the slope of the ground from your feet to your ball?

You should be excited about your wonderful consistent hits on FLAT practice tees before you play a round of golf. Unfortunately, not only are golf course tees often sloped or crowned but you rarely stand on flat ground on the fairways or in the rough.

Fairways are rarely level. Using your foot wedge is not legal so you really need to adjust for the height difference from your feet to your ball

Golf Course ratings are measure by the SLOPE of the course. A high degree of the slope rating comes from the uneven terrain where you are addressing your ball. A 5 degree slope from your feet to your ball can throw your golf ball off course by 10 to 20 degrees. When your ball is 2 inches above or below the level of your feet, on a 100 yard hit your ball will end up at least 5 yards left or right from your target. A ball above your feet will tend to hook and that can double or triple your miss by 15 yards to the left (for right handed golfers). A ball below your feet will tend to slice and that can double or triple your miss to the right

Solutions:

1/ Always look for the flattest surface on the tee within 2 club lengths behind the line between the tee blocks.
2/ Raised Tees tend to slope down to the sides causing a crown along the center. If you don’t believe me, stand near the back of the tee when your partners tee off. Decide if the ground is sloping left or right when they tee-up. If a person has a proper swing, they will invariably hit left of their toe line if the ground is sloping left and they will hit to the right if their toe line if pointing right.
3/ The fairway, rough and sand traps will give you another challenge. Not only is the surface from your feet to the ball often sloped left or right but you may also be faced with an uphill or downhill shot on your forward target line. Expect to lose distance. Choose a longer club for uphill shots and more loft for a downhill shot. Setup with your shoulder line parallel to the ground and use a wider stance for balance. Gravity will keep you off balance so just do your best to step out of your stance as you follow-through to avoid falling.
4/ If your ball is slightly above the level of your feet you can choke up on your grip to compensate for the 1 or 2 inch difference in height. Remember to club up for the lost distance when you choke up on the club.

When hitting from any sloped ground, imagine the direction that your club face will launch your ball. Choose the right club and setup in the right direction to compensate or just hit into a level area for your next shot.

5/ If your ball is significantly higher than your feet, you need to judge whether the toe of your club will impact the hill and twist your club in your hand. The blade (leading edge) should be parallel to the ground when you impact the ball. If you are changing to a flatter swing plane to hit a ball above your feet, then you (right handers) need to aim to the right of your target as your ball will be pulled to the left.
6/ If your ball is significantly below the level of your feet, you can only bend your knees or waist to compensate for the extra depth. Plan to swing at a slower speed and lose distance as you try to maintain your balance during the swing. Expect the ball to slice away from your body. BEWARE that an early impact with your hosel on the ground can pull a right hander’s club face and ball to the left. Ideally, you need to aim for a flat landing site to avoid further damage.

Who said golf was easy?  Ian Poulter’s second shot out of the rough on the 18th hole at the Players Championship  reminded me that a bad lie is also a recipe for disaster. When in doubt, head for some level ground and enjoy your next shot. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to control all of your shots. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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The primary difference between a recreational player and the professional golfers is the consistency of their hits. The difference in weight and length of each of your clubs as well as the slope of the ground from your feet to your ball are the problems that every golfer needs to overcome. The pros practice for hours each day to perfect their swing for both of these concerns. Recreational players need a trick solution to compensate for their lack of practice. [Swing Tip Next Week: Compensating for Sloped Ground.]

Swing Speed Crisis
Everyone wants to hit their drives as long as the pros. Unfortunately we not only fall short of 300 yard drives but the faster we swing the worse the result. Our faster swings create inconsistent results. Hank Haney tells us to swing faster to generate more club head speed to add 2.5 yards for every additional Mile/Hour in club head speed. He is telling the truth but he wants you to buy his magic swing speed device to help you learn to generate more club head speed. Unfortunately his personal focus is on earning commissions for sales on the product that he’s endorsing.  It’s not helping your consistency.

Ernie Els has this wonderful slow, smooth takeaway and transition which is totally opposite to the bing bang swings of Nick Price or Brent Snedeker.   As a recreational player, you will improve your game much faster with a slower backswing.

The Truth About Swing Speed for Recreational Golfers: The harder you try to rip your club through the ball the more inconsistently you will hit the ball.

A. Solution for your Driver:   Your driver is your longest club and it allows you to generate the most club head speed. It really is the club that you want to hit the furthest to land in a good position to reach the green on a par 4 or get close to the green on a par 5. Unfortunately the faster you swing your driver the easier it is to be INCONSISTENT. Mike Bender confirmed that controlled acceleration in your downswing is important for distance but you should consider a slower back swing to control your transition and allow time for your shoulders (instead of casting your arms) to start your downswing.

Yes, you heard me say a slower backswing. Rushing can kill your timing at the transition from your backswing to downswing. Many LPGA pros and some of the PGA pros create wonderful results with a slow backswing (or even a slight pause at the top). Recreational golfers should benefit from a slower backwing. Give yourself time to transfer your weight to your leading foot during your transition.

Ideally we all want to impact with the ball on the midpoint of the golf club face as our club is moving up our target line. A slight, in to out swing path, creating a draw, is preferred but avoiding a hit on the toe or heal of the club face is critical. A slower backswing and transition will improve your consistency.

B. Solution for your Woods, Hybrids and Irons: Swing all of these clubs at 80% for a more consistent impact point on your club face. [HINT: If you can’t hold your finish in balance then you are probably swinging too hard.]  Slowing down your backswing will give you more control of your club, your transition and acceleration at 80% in your downswing but it will give you less distance. Compensate by clubbing up to add distance and enjoy hitting more greens in regulation.

Mike Bender reminds us that most recreational golfers hit short of the green on their approach shot. Forget the idea of swinging with all of your strength to reach the green. Get that trash talk out of your head. Enjoy the compliments when you swing slower with consistent hits and land on the green using a longer club.

Reach more greens in regulation by playing from the right forward tees for your game. Swinging with a slower backswing and transition to improve your consistency. Practice with GOLFSTR+ for every swing in your game. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

[Swing Tip Next Week: Compensating for Sloped Ground to control direction of your hit.]

Millions of words have been written about the right way to lower your score.  Sure you can read about it and practice until you are blue in the face but hundreds of thoughts in your head will only mess up the moment of truth.  I’m talking about the second or 2 that it takes to hit each golf shot.  If you don’t crystallize your swing for each shot into a single FEELING, you will never create consistent results.

Of course you need to take time to prepare for every shot.  Driving, fairway shots, pitches, chips and putts all require a different set of preparation thoughts.  From that point forward you need to use the feeling that you want for each shot.  Tempo is part of the feeling as you need to create a calm and relaxed straight arm backswing.  You don’t have time to look at your club position in the backswing.  You may want to use a rehearsal backswing like Ricky Fowler or Lydia Ko.  They create a rhythm with their rehearsal and then with that feeling they let it go.

Each club needs a different “feeling” so I like to say my feeling as a reminder of the motion of that

You can feel the power as this golfer launches his drive.

particular club.

LAUNCH is the feeling (word) that I use for my driver.  You are actually impacting the ball on your upswing (after the bottom of your swing arc) to launch the ball for distance.  I can feel my club face open in my backswing.  I can feel my wrist lag, then release from inside and up the line as I LAUNCH my ball as it disappears in the distance.  Don’t think it, just feel LAUNCH.

POWER is the feeling (word) that I use for my fairway woods and hybrids.  These clubs need to impact the ball at the bottom of your arc as you POWER through the ball and up your target line.  I can feel my club face open and wrist lag in my backswing.   I can feel the delay as my weight shifts to my leading foot at the top of my swing and the club POWERS through the ball with a woooosh from the inside and up the line to a balance finish.  Don’t think it, just feel POWER.

CONTROL is the feeling (word) that I use for my irons and wedges to ensure that I control the direction of the face of my club at impact.  These clubs are lighter so you need to avoid the ease of swinging too fast.  I can feel my club face open, weight shift, whipping release with a squared up face through the ball as I bottom out in the turf after the ball and up the target line.  Don’t think it, just feel directional CONTROL.

PUTTING is a totally different feeling because you have more time to make your swing.  You need to focus on locking your legs, hips and wrists while you only swinging with your shoulder rotation.

1. First you have time to line up your exact target line by picking a spot.
2. Then you have time to make the perfect practice swing to rehearse the FEELING that you need to pass the hole by 12 to 18 inches (to avoid a dramatic break or indentation on your path to the hole).

Focus on your shoulder rotation to control the swing weight up your target line.   To imprint the FEELING OF YOUR PUTT CADENCE on your mind: say the word “ONE” for your backswing and “TWO” for your forward swing for an  IDENTICAL practice swing to your putt.

And here is the training aid that will help you with every swing in your game.  Please watch this video and add a LIKE and a comment to help us get more attention for GOLFSTR+.

Get your FEELING and use these mental words before you swing and then again as you swing for LAUNCH, POWER and CONTROL.  Change gears for PUTTING to feel distance with your practice swing. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to train for F E E L I N G.  Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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