2023 November

Lining up your shot is critical for your success in golf. Unfortunately, too many golfers are too casual about their approach in getting the best line up for the shot and the swing that they should be taking. Deciding on the right swing for draw or fade and then setting up your line-up both contribute to your success.

Success in golf depends on hitting more fairways and greens in regulation. If it was easy to hit every shot straight with every club, then this game would be much easier. If you played golf with a pool cue instead of clubs which swing around your body, then straight shots would be easy. In golf you have no choice but to plan for the draw or fade before you line up every shot. Controlling the direction of the face of your club at impact and the direction of your swing will both determine the direction of your ball.

You will never be a great golfer until you control your draw or fade as well as choosing the right direction in order to choose the point where you want your ball to land.
1/ It’s up to you to practice creating a draw or fade for the shot that you want. Because your club is swinging around your body, your best opportunity to add distance, is to aim to the right side of your target (for right-handed golfers) and slightly close the face of your club to add draw to your ball flight.

2/ I like Jack Nicklaus’ approach to line up shots. Stand behind the ball, choose your target line and then pick a point in the grass about 2 or 3 feet in front of your ball along your target line. [In the photo above he also used his club to line up his shoulders square to his target line.]
3/ Move forward to line up your feet parallel to your target line and then take a practice swing with your chosen club for the shot that you want to make. [Some recommend taking your practice swing before you move forward to your ball but this spoils your chance to line up and feel the swing for the shot on the line that you want to take.]
4/ Move forward to you ball and take a final look up along your target line to the point where you want your ball to land. Visualize your shot and then trace back to your ball to execute your perfect swing to a balanced finish.

Practice with GOLFSTR for every shot in your game but make sure that you FEEL your swing on the line that you chose before you execute your shot. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Knowing the stats for Mid and Low Handicap golfers is critical in helping to create an Attach Plan for all golfers who want to lower their handicap. I’m glad that I found this article by a GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jon Tattersall and published by GOLF.COM blog. Arrcos offers a golf shot tracking device that records every shot for all golfers using their stroke recording system. The following summary provides the performance and analysis for mid (13 handicap index) as compared to low (5 handicap index) golfers. Knowing the difference and reason for the difference will assist you in YOUR plan.

Longer drivers have an obvious advantage as they are always hitting shorter approach shots but they also hit some errant shots which are further into no-man’s land. The key here is to slow the handle of the club and let the whipping action, of the clubhead, speed up for to deliver more power and distance.

Comparison of 5 Handicap and 13 Handicap Averages

1/ Focus on better Ball Striking: Optimize your drives by keeping more of them in the fairway to give yourself a better chance to hit the green in regulation.

2/ Your second shot makes all the difference: The approach into the greens is where the biggest gain in strokes is made. The 5 index golfer hits 17% more greens in Regulation. Focus on hitting the center of the green and distance control will follow.

3/ Makeup Strokes around the Green: Focus on a 30 yard shot and build from there. Take advantage of pitch and run instead of high floaters which are risky for high index golfers.

4/ Focus on 2 Putts for every Green: Get your first putt close and sink your second putt. Learn to sink 3-foot putts with confidence and using a speed that will pass the hole by about 1 foot to eliminate green surface flaws that you can’t see.

Set your plan for every part of your game to cut the easy strokes. Consistent hits and putts will ultimately get you handicap down to 5. Practice with GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

#4 Opinions Researched by GOLF blog: “All 4-man scrambles should be played in groups of 8 so that both teams keep each other honest.” Do you agree?

Every golfer is aging. We all need tips to take advantage of methods to improve our game. Flexibility and strength are always changing as we age so we should be using every trick in the book to keep up with our rivals. Christo Garcia recently provided a great list of tips to improve any golfer’s game.

Lift your Leading Heel: As you age, you lose flexibility, so your ability to windup in your backswing gets shorter every year. One way to increase your rotation is to lift you leading heel in your backswing to give you a little more rotation for more swing distance and longer drivers. Jack Nicklaus did it throughout his career.

Shift Your Grip Back: Take your normal stance and then rotate both of your hands back on your grip. When you try this, shallow your downswing and swing with your trailing elbow closer to your side as you power your club up the slot for more distance and a nice draw.

Swing to Swoosh Your Club: If you can’t hear your club swoosh through impact, your swing is most likely too slow. Practice by holding the head end of any club and creating a swooshing sound as your wrists release your handle through the bottom of your swing. Now flip your club and create that sound by holding your grip properly.

Start your Downswing with Your Hips: Your downswing actually starts while your hips start to shift their weight forward during the transition at the top of your backswing. Let your weight shift to your leading hip as you rotate your shoulders then your arms and finally your wrist release. Unwind and deliver more power and distance.

Find Your Balance at the Top and at the Finish: Feel your rhythm to your BALANCED TRANSITION (as you say the words “1 annnd” then finish your downswing to a BALANCED FINISH (as you say the word “finish“). Or you may want to say “1 annd 2” or “Coca-Cola”. Whatever works for you. But make sure that you swing to a BALANCED FINISH.

Swing with A Straight Leading Arm: For a faster swing you need to maximize the distance of your swing by keeping your leading arm straight in your backswing and your downswing. Practice with GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods agree that the most important component for your golf swing is “speed” (club head speed). They both agree that you need to learn swing speed first and accuracy will come later. Without speed you can’t generate more distance. Without long driver distance you will never reach anywhere near the 300 yards that you want, to get closer to the green, for easier short approach shots.

Control Is the Second Most Important Component
Jack and Tiger felt that direction control was less important than distance. All golfers can eventually learn to make setup adjustment to control their draw or fade to improve their percentage of fairways hit in regulation. Tiger was not worried about missing fairways with his longer driver distance. His skill to hit more Greens in Regulation proved that he could recover from difficult locations and still land his ball in great putting locations.

Overall Tiger’s had a worse percentage of hitting Fairways In Regulation than his Greens In Regulation. That means that his ability to recover or scramble from off the fairway was the best part of his game. This make sense when you see his backyard. He has 3, par-3 holes and can practice whenever he had spare time. Way to go Tiger!

I have never been a big fan of swinging faster but I do realize that a faster club head speed is the only way to gain distance. I’m getting back on the bandwagon, but I will definitely focus on hitting more fairways with a stronger release. Of course I still practice with GOLFSTR+ to keep my leading arm straight in the backswing. Setting up with my leading elbow pointing up my target line AND KEEPING MY LEADING ARM STRAIGHT are both real success factors for my improved game. My goal is to shoot every round in the 80’s or better. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf opinions researched by GOLF blog: 3. “The cart fee should be shared with your riding partner.” What do YOU think?

Why are you making golf so difficult for yourself?  You learned to throw a ball well before you picked up your first golf club.  If you consider the elbow bend required to windup and throw a ball, you will realize that this is the same motion that your trailing right arm makes when you throw a sidearm baseball. Yes, your hand comes over the top when you throw a baseball, but the same power is there when you throw a side-arm pitch.  Shouldn’t you be able to generate more power when you swing a driver as if you are throwing a side-arm pitch with your right arm?

Just use your normal body movement to generate more power.  If you are right-handed, you have thrown a ball with your right arm hundreds if not thousands of times.  That motion is the only motion that you need to generate more speed.  Tiger is naturally right-handed and he only thinks about throwing his RIGHT wrist to release his DRIVER through the ball as fast as he can.

I’m naturally left handed in every thing that I do except playing golf.  [Right-handed clubs were the only clubs in the attic when I was younger.  So I had no choice but to learn to swing with those old right-hand clubs.]  Now that I have learned to swing without coming over the top, I finally understand the importance of building speed and power with my trailing weaker right arm.

Using my right arm to generate power in my golf swing was a major physical change for my body and mind.  Fortunately, I have also learned to use my right arm to make single handed shots in tennis and pickleball.  If you are naturally right-handed you really should enjoy the natural feeling of generating power with your right “throwing arm” for your golf swing.

Treasure the next moment that you pick up your driver and think about generating more power and swing speed with your right arm. Use your side-arm throwing action to generate that power.  You now have a new perspective when you deliver powerful drives.  Let your trailing arm shallow in your backswing and take over the power of your swing up the slot on your target line.

Now you should realize why your straight leading arm (your left arm) is responsible for delivering a full arc during your downswing. Your right arm is just delivering the POWER for your wide swinging arc of your driver to the point of impact.  Practice with GOLFSTR+ on your weaker left arm to control your STRAIGHT ARM and LONG arcing swing for more power.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com