2022 February

Have you ever wondered why you play a wonderful round of golf on one day and your next round is a disaster? Or how you birdie one hole and then double bogie the next? We all know that our mental outlook must share some of this blame, but have you considered the fact that slight changes in your grip, stance and ball position may be causing your problems.

Your best opportunity to hit with a longer shafted club for longer driving distance is from the tee box. The surface is perfectly flat so there are fewer variables to worry about. You want to hit your longest shot so your driver is the best solution as long as your driver is behaving properly on that day. Of course it’s not your driver’s fault if its misbehaving.

We all hit drives off a tee where the ball lifts off at the right angle and flies to an amazing distance directly up our target line while we pose in the perfect position wondering how we ever made such a perfect shot. For those perfect shots your grip and stance and ball position must have been in perfect harmony with your physical swing sequence which most likely is not exactly the way you see a professional golfer swing on TV. As a matter of fact every golfer (including the professionals) have their own characteristic swing to suit their physical strength and flexibility. Don’t be afraid to sort out the grip, stance and ball position for your body and mind.

Determine the Your Ideal Personal Setup for Each Type of Club
Sort out your best swing setup at the practice range and make note of them for each type of club. Changing either your grip, stance and ball position will also have an impact on each of the other parameters. Be ready to experiment to sort out the best combination for each type of club but don’t go too far from the norm.

Grip: The basic grip for your driver, woods, hybrids and irons is to grip with both hands so that the V between your thumb and first finger point up to your tailing shoulder. Test the impact of a stronger or weaker grip by shifting the V back or forward when gripping each type of club.
Stance: Normally you should stand with a balanced pressure on both feet with a rearward shoulder tilt for your driver and level shoulders for an iron. You may find that you are swinging your irons like a driver and often hit the ground before the ball. Test your iron swing by placing more pressure on your leading foot because that is the position you want at the point of impact. You should also test the effect of closing or opening your stance by moving your tailing foot off your target line.
Ball Position: For your driver you should be lining up your ball off the heel of you leading foot and moving the ball further back to the center of your stance as you increase the loft of the club. You should also narrow the gap between your feet when you use your wedges. You are not looking for power with your wedges, but you do want to impact the ball before the ground

Don’t make drastic changes from the norm as they will only hurt your swing in the long run. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ and adjust to accommodate your strength and flexibility for 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Why Golf is Better than Sex #8: It’s much easier to find the sweet spot.

You really need to take your BRAIN with you from the Practice Range to the First Tee. It’s easy to hone your swing for each type of club at the practice range. The lie is flat and your mind is calm and relaxed. Whether you know it or not, your anxiety and adrenaline are building at the 1st Tee (and every other tee). You need to manage your mental state and get on with your game.

In a recent blog, Hank Haney summarized his 1st Tee experience with Tiger Woods. As his trainer for a number of years, Hank was amazed to see Tiger’s absolute perfection at the range and then he would lose it on the First Tee. I was surprised to learn this but I do recall seeing Tiger in the rough off the first tee in many key tournaments. Fortunately for Tiger, he is a great scrambler and could get his game back on track.

Tiger has been one of the best golfers for years, so if he finds it difficult to make a perfect first tee drive, it means we all need a great solution to control our minds on the first hole. You need a consistent process to focus your mind on your swing and NOT on your success or failure.

Strategy to for Success on the First Tee
Humans can only think one thought at a time. So to eliminate external thoughts, you should SAY A PHRASE IN MY MIND using the rhythm of your back and forward swing. “FLATaaand Finish” are the KEY WORDS that I now use as swing reminders:

“FLAT” is my reminder to keep a straight leading arm and a flat wrist,
“aaand” gives me time to complete my hip and shoulder rotation while I cock my wrist for lag,
“Finish” The B in Balance starts my downswing to a balanced finish

Steps to Eliminate 1st Tee Jitters
1/ Line up and visualize your shot. Make a full speed practice swing with a backswing which is at least twice as long as your downswing and use your KEY WORDS to control your rhythm and finish your swing.
2/ As you step forward to your ball, take a full inhale and exhale as you take a final look up your target line.
3/ Loosen your body with a limited shoulder and hip takeaway as you say your KEY WORDS.
4/ Repeat your KEY WORDS as you coil your body and power your swing to a balanced finish.

Eliminate 1st tee jitters by focusing on your straight leading arm swing and a balanced finish. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for swing perfection. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Why Golf is Better than Sex #9: You can stop in the middle and have a cheeseburger and a couple of beers.

It’s easy to put a chalk line down on a flat green and then putt along that line. But how do you take that smooth putting swing to the course and sink more putts? Unfortunately YOU CAN’T. That’s why I am so excited to report the I found a revolutionary way to sink more putts inside 6 feet. To be a good putter you need to have an eye for the break on the green so that you can choose your line and swing up that line. Choosing the line is up to you. This blog is only going to help you “unfreeze your body” to swing up that line.

Brad Faxton is well recognized for his amazing putting stats. He agrees with finding the right line and focusing on the perfect impact on the center of your putter face as you swing directly up your target line. His primary trick for success is to avoid freezing up during your putt routine.

I know that my putting takeaway swing is shaky. I can see my putter jumping as I swing it back and even by rocking my shoulders. My freeze-up must be occurring after I take my last look at my target line and pause to relax my shoulders and mind. I must be locking up my body and you may be doing the same thing.

Here is Brad’s 10 Second Swing Prep Solution
Choose your target line to account for the break and speed of your putt; make a few practice swings with the swing force needed to pass the hole and then step forward to make your putt. Brad’s technique is to keep his BODY IN MOTION. I couldn’t believe that this was a good idea as it really is the opposite to every thought that I know about calming my mind and body. He moves these 4 areas during the final 10 SECONDS before he makes his putt.
1/ Feet in Motion: Wiggle your toes and shifting your weight.
2/ Move Your Putter: Lift it and adjust it before you press your grip forward for the putt.
3/ Shift Your Grip: User your hands to add movement to your putter.
4/ Look up 2 times to visualize your line and distance.

I can see that many pros have adopted this technique but when I tried all of these actions, I lost my focus on my perfect swing up my target line. Fidgeting for 10 seconds was not ideal for me. My personal solution is to abbreviate Brad’s recommendations to avoid freezing up my body. After I line-up my putt and make 2 practice swings to pass the hole, I move up to the ball, take a final look at my target line while I make minor adjustments with my arms, hands and feet for the perfect setup and then (without pausing) I make my putt.

When you line-up and make your practice swings you are ready to putt. This is not baseball. You don’t need to wait for the pitch. Don’t take time to freeze-up. Make your putt. Practice keeping a flat leading wrist and a square impact up your target line by training with your GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Why Golf Is Better Than Sex: #10: A below par performance is considered darn good.

It’s fun to see the pros who are leading tournaments on TV, consistently hitting every shot close to their target. If they can do it, why can’t YOU make consistent shots when YOU golf with minimal pressure? On the other hand, if you are an average golfer, you may hit 60% to 90% of your shots with reasonable success. So why are you missing 10% to 40% of your shots?

Why Do We Miss-Hit SOME Shots?
During every round of golf, we try to duplicate our perfect swing for every club. Unfortunately, each swing must be CREATED for the club that we select; the slope of the ground that we are standing on; the weather conditions and for the target that we have selected. Those variables are all eliminated when you practice your skills on the DRIVING RANGE.

There is even less pressure to execute a shot with any club on the DRIVING RANGE. If you are miss-hitting shots on the driving range, you will definitely make more miss-hits during a round of golf where the conditions are constantly changing. What do we all need to do to perfect our swing on the driving range so that we can take those skills to the course?

1/ Identify the Weakness in Your Swing: I was watching a friend slice balls on the driving range and immediately noticed that his leading wrist was drastically cupped in his backswing. He was not aware of this fault and had a real difficulty in changing to a flat leading wrist. After many practice swings with a flat wrist on a shallow plane, he hit a perfect, straight shot on his first swing at the ball. Take lessons from a pro to identify the right way to make a golf swing with every club.
2/ Practice for Perfection: Don’t try to swing at 100% of your physical capability. Practice at 80% to control the direction and distance with every club. Make 5 (or more) perfect shots with 1 club and then change to another club. Build confidence in your swing and take it to the course.
3/ Understand Why You are Miss-Hitting: When you miss-hit shots on the range after hitting a series of perfect shots, sort out the reason. In most cases you will realize that you just tried to add more speed into your swing. A faster backswing will tend to minimize the time for your completed shoulder & waist rotation, your wrist lag and starting your weight shift to your leading foot at the top of your backswing. ALL 3 will reduce the power and distance in your shot.
4/ SOLUTION: Golf is a Mental Game: If your mind is focused on the perfect swing for a result that you have achieved in the past then why can’t you repeat the same hit every time???? Your problem is that your mind is drifting. The great golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods place their mind in a focused trance. Jack visualized his shot and only feels 100% of that memory during his swing.

Learn the correct swing for your physical strength and flexibility to hit perfect shots with each type of club. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to control your arms and wrists for 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com.

Golf Truism #94: The best wood in most amateurs’ bags is the pencil.