2022 April

Every golfer has the strength to putt and sink putts. The best putters read the break and match the right swing weight directly up their target line to sink every putt. Easier said than done. Even Cameron Smith can’t sink every putt but he does give himself an excellent chance by setting up correctly and swinging with the right swing to start his ball rolling OVER and DIRECTLY UP HIS TARGET LINE. So why do YIPS creep into YOUR putting stroke?

I recently read the benefits of the EyeLine Putting Alignment Mirror. Unfortunately, it can’t tell you the 3 most critical features to make putts: (1) How to read the break: (2) The amount of swing required to reach the hole and (3) How to avoid the YIPS. You need to start by practicing on a variety of greens with different roll speeds to build confidence. Great putters learn to feel the right swing speed to manage the break and power the putt with a confident swing into the hole. To do this you need to swing with your shoulders AND avoid the YIPS.

A Putting Mirror is an aid to help you setup:
1/ Square up your feet and your shoulders with your target line.
2/ Your eyes should lineup directly over the target line or slightly inside of that line.
3/ Your head should not sway with your putter backswing or follow-through.

What You Can’t Learn from a Putting Mirror:
A/ Learn to swing by rocking your shoulders TO AVOID THE YIPS (using the LARGE MUSCLES IN YOUR SHOULDERS and not the small muscles in your wrists).
B/ Your putter must swing directly back (like a pendulum) and directly up your target line BY ONLY ROCKING YOUR SHOULDERS.
C/ Make a long enough putting practice swing WITH YOUR SHOULDERS to feel the power required to reach and pass the hole by 12 to 18 inches (to avoid a deflection from green imperfections as your putt slows down near the hole).

Avoid the YIPS and shaking hands by locking your leading wrist flat and lining-up your leading forearm with the shaft of your putter. Only use your shoulders to swing your putter like a pendulum up your target line. GOLFSTR+ helps you practice by locking your leading wrist to eliminate the YIPS. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Thought for the Day: Golf balls are like eggs – they’re white, they’re sold by the dozen, and a week later you have to buy more.

Aging Golfers tend to slow down their swing and that can lead to more missed shots. (1) A slower wrist release for your heavier driver tends to create more shots that fade or slice. (2) Your irons are lighter, but your hip release gets out of sync with your swing and that results in more topped balls or miss-hits. If you are experiencing these two problems, I have some wonderful news for you.

Realizing what my aging body was slowing down, with a driver swing speed at about 80 mph, I decided to experiment by setting up for my driver and my irons to compensate for my slower swing. Yes, I decided to “Cheat” my swing so that I am now saving about 10 strokes per round. My golfing buddies are amazed at my game. Last week while playing in the Men’s Golf Association, I won the top prize money at $211 by winning my flight in Best of 2 Ball, a Closest to the Hole on a Par 3 and 2 Skins.

Of course, I am calling my new swing setup “Cheating” but I am really setting up with a slight modification to compensate for my AGING LAZY BODY. It’s not really cheating but I wanted to get your attention with this blog.

“Cheating” Setup for your Driver
I am definitely losing power in my arms and wrists, so I tend to hit more fades or when I try to swing faster I get more slices than distance. I know that I am getting more distance when I shallow my down swing at the top (with my flat wrist) but that is only making my fade or slice even worse. My solution is to setup with an open stance, with my leading foot back a few inches from my target line. [My swing from the inside to out is like throwing an underhand softball pitch with the wrist releasing close to my hip.]

Surprisingly, after my first 6 to 9 holes when my body is really loosened up, I minimize my open stance for my drive to avoid pulling my drives. Our bodies tend to loosen up as we play so it is up to you to sort out how much of an open stance your need for your drives as your game progresses.

“Cheating” Setup for your Irons
During your transition at the top of your swing, your body should be shifting more weight to your leading foot, to ensure that you bottom out the arc of your swing directly after your club impacts the ball. Trainers and pros to this to compress their ball with more power. As I age, I tended to lose this weight shift forward at the top of my swing. I now “Cheat” my setup by adding a slight bend to my leading knee so that I am pressing forward right from the start of my backswing. I understand that I lose power by using this “Cheat”, but it gives me better control of the direction of my shots with very little lose in distance.

SPOILER ALERT: Performance Golf offers the “Power Joint Secret” to get 30 yards further: JUST KEEP YOU LEADING WRIST FLAT IN THE BACKSWING. That’s just one of the 6 Swing Fixes that you get with GOLFSTR+.

Using these two “Cheats” I’m getting more GIR’s and makeable birdie putts. Of course, I also focus on my straight leading arm and flat wrist backswing by practicing with GOLFSTR+ . Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

David Letterman: Why Golf is Better than Sex #1: “When your equipment gets old you can replace it!”

Are you one of those golfers who occasionally yips your chips? You know those short chips near the green when you want to reach the putting surface and roll out to the hole. How often do you blade your chips across the green or bouncing your club into the ground before you brush your ball with a weak result? Imagine the strokes you could save if you could make every chip count.

I am one of those golfers who tends to miss-hit my chips when the pressure is on to lift my ball out of deep rough with a very short run-out to the hole. Of course, I also stub those easy chips from a tight lie about 20 yards from the green. I have tried a few special chipping clubs that promise success but the weight of these heavier clubs have a different feel than my set of clubs, so my swing cadence is inconsistent and my results were poor.

Opportunity!
I found the perfect solution where I can use my existing clubs as well as the different lofts of each of my clubs. Danny Maude teaches the proper swing for chipping (the way Scottie Scheffler or any other pro chips), but he also provides this much simpler chipping method with a putting stroke. What could be easier to use for recreational golfers?

Learn to Make a Putting-Chip: By gripping down on any of your irons and standing with your eyes almost directly over your ball you can chip your ball from any lie to clear 1 to 20 feet of rough and settle on the putting surface.

1/ For shorter chips with shorter run-outs, use your highest lofted wedge and for longer chips with longer run-outs you can select a lower lofted club like a 6 iron or an 8 iron.
2/ Setup with a normal putting stance with your feet close together but your hands will be placed on the lower end of your grip or below your grip so that your shaft is almost pointing vertically from your hands down to the ball.
3/ The toe of your club will be pointing on an angle down to your ball [Sorry about the image above as the grass is hiding the toe pointing down] as you will be swinging as you would with a putter (with a flat leading wrist) to lift your ball with the TOE of your club. Use a limited backswing to chip your ball and let it run-out 1 to 35 feet across the green.
4/ You will have to experiment with different amounts of backswing and follow-through with each of your lofted clubs to sort out what works best for the air time and roll-out that you want to execute.

The fun part is that you are no longer miss-hitting chips because you are able to rock your shoulders to impact your ball at the bottom of the arc of your swing with the shortened shaft of any iron in your bag. Practice your flat leading wrist swing while wearing your GOLFSTR+ exactly as you practice a putting stroke. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

David Letterman: “Why Golf is Better than Sex (#2): You don’t have to cuddle with your partner when you’re finished.” (This is not my idea)

We all play this wonderful game to improve our golfing skills so that someday we may even break par. I’m sure that every golfer would like to achieve the same goal as we are all searching for that special combination that will help us get there. Last week I played a great round of golf and shot 1 over par on my back nine. My only thought was: “How did I do that and can I bottle that special feeling for all of my future games.”

My first 9 holes were mediocre at best with only 2 pars and no 7’s. So I started wondering why my game clicked into near perfection on the back 9?

-My drives were consistently going up the center of the fairway and always over 200 yards (and into 25 MPH winds).
-Approach shots were on target as my impact was with weight on my front foot and I finished in balance. (Only 1 approach shot went over a green.)
-I missed only 3 Greens In Regulation (GIR) where I chipped up to the hole for a 1 putt or hit out of a sand trap for a 1 putt SANDY. I could do no wrong.
-I missed one nervous putt for a 3-putt hole where I was not committed to the break.
Overall, my putting was excellent where I sank most of my putts under 6 feet

I could do no wrong. So why was I creating so much success? Could it be:
-I was playing with 2 single handicap golfers who inspired my game?
-I ignored the fact that I was playing on a par streak and ignored my score?
-I focused on the right club selection and the full swing that I needed to execute my shot?
-I made a clean practice swing and duplicated that swing for each shot?

I was calm and relaxed so the only thing that I can attribute my success to was my CONFIDENCE to execute each shots and my SKILL to select the right club and the right target line. In my case my SKILL must be more luck when I am hitting on a windy day and landing on a reasonable lie. My next round was 2 strokes higher, but I know that I am on the right track.

I built up my CONFIDENCE by marking my scorecard with a “1” on the upper left corner for each hole when I landed my drive in the fairway and a “1” in the upper right for each GIR (or S/sand or W/water or T/tree or P/pitch). Based on a quick glance on my score card, I could easily see where my success was coming from. The more GIR’s I made, the more confident I became.

Most golfers have the ability to par every hole, but we need to use our personal focus on every swing and CONFIDENCE to make every shot count. Even when we miss a green or miss a putt, we can still recover on the next shot. I learned to correct my swing for 6 swing flaws with GOLFSTR+. Now I believe in my personal performance to keep lowering my handicap. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

David Letterman: “Why Golf is Better than Sex #3: If you live in Florida , you can do it almost every day.”