Will Curry

The pros never fear a sand trap and you need the same confidence as they do.  You just need a technique that will guarantee that you can get out of a deep sand trap.  Too many golfers panic and sway back in their stance as they prepare for a killer swing to get out of any bunker.  Too often they top the ball or hit deep into the sand and then prepare for their next shot out of the same trap.  Sound like you?

There really are 3 types of sand traps. 

1/ Fairway Traps with a long flat bottom and a low lip can be played with any iron, hybrid or fairway wood as long as you have extra loft on your club to clear the lip of the trap.  CAUTION: Dig your feet down for stability and then choke down on your club about the same depth.  With your shortened length on your club you have to plan on hitting a shorter distance. 

2/ Shallow Lipped Traps next to the green can be played with any lofted club (like a 9 iron).  Just use a putting grip and stroke to exit the green and with enough power to roll out to the hole.  Make sure that you determine the break on the green before you swing as you should be attempting to sink your chip shot.  To minimize hitting sand with your ball, move forward to the ball in your stance and plan to hit the ball with the toe of your more upright club.

3/ High Lipped Traps:  Setup with the ball centered in your 10-to-20-degree open stance and wider than normal stance.  Short Game professional, Parker McLachlin said that your club face should be “dramatically open” so that the leading edge of your sand wedge will enter the sand and bounce as it lifts your ball on a carpet of sand.  Your wider stance will lower your club handle and allow you to make a more aggressive swing.  

Practice by laying a tee in the sand pointing up your target line directly after your ball.  Swing with enough force to fly the ball, sand and tee to the green.  Just increase your back swing distance and speed to increase the distance that you want to release your ball in the air.

You can also practice your sand shots using your GOLFSTR+ on your leading elbow as a reminder to eliminate any bend which will shorten your swing diameter in your backswing and your downswing.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com  

I know that this is a little early for northern golfers to practice and improve your swing skills but we all should track improvements that work for your driver, irons and putter. As a good starting point for the season, which is just around the corner, this is a good time to start your success list. It should evolve as you discover new successes during the warmer months.

If you could incorporate all of the swing tips that improved your game, you would be a low handicap golfer by now. Unfortunately, most of us never record the setup and swing positions for each type of club that created amazing hits. Our bodies all have limitations based on our physical mishaps as our bodies developed. Whatever you do, learn from the pros and make adjustments for your physical limitations.

My following list of personal success tips my not suit your physical limitations, but you may want to use them as a starting point for your personal plan:

1. Get Moving: Before every round warm up with about 10 minutes of Dynamic Stretches. Move your feet and waggling before you make a drive, iron shot or putt throughout your round. I use a 2 foot takeaway waggle for my driver as it forces me to start my swing by moving my hips and shoulders before my arms ever move in the socket of my shoulders.
2. Set Elbows: I rotate both elbows clockwise (for right handers). My leading elbow points directly up my target line and locks my straight leading arm. My trailing elbow rotates for ease of bending, as my arms lift, in the backswing and my wrist cocks to create lag.
3. Tilt Shoulders for Drives: I do this to launch my drives upward.
4. Foot Pressure: I start with even pressure for my driver and putter. I use extra pressure on my leading foot for my irons and wedges to keep my weight forward.
5. Slower Backswing and Powerful Downswing: My best swings occur when I give myself time to create a full backswing and cocked wrists for lag. My mental count is “one and finish” where finish is the release from the top to a balanced finish.
6. Putting: I use my putter as a plumb-bob to determine minor breaks near the hole, take a practice swing for speed selection and stare directly down at the ball through impact as I swing my putter directly up my chosen target line (without moving my head).

Track your success and practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve every round. Adjust your written plan for improvements. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

I have finally come to grips with the fact that we should be swinging our driver harder for more distance. I have always tried to swing at 80% in order to control direction, but 220-yard drives are not going to cut it if you want to hit more greens in regulation. You need to get close to give yourself a better chance to hit the green with shorter irons which should be swung at no more than 80% for better direction and distance control.

Recent blogs helped me understand the importance of “Supercharging” my driver shots. One of the staff at the SI GOLF blog, Ryan Barath, said you don’t need to try to direct your drive, just pick your spot and trust your shot shape. Swing as hard and fast as you can to a balanced finish.

Danny Maude released a driver lesson that he had with James Tait (a World Long Driver Champion). He suggested: When you are chasing a faster swing, hit “hard”, expect longer shots with less direction control. With practice you will develop freedom in your swing and control to power the ball up your target line.

1/ Setup with your tee higher and your club shaft in line with your straight leading arm (not leaning forward).

2/ Loosen up by shifting your weight and waggling with your arms and wrist. Shift your weight to your trailing foot during your backswing (but don’t sway back). You need momentum in your backswing as you would when winding up to push off with your trailing leg to throw a medicine ball.

3/ Practice your faster swing so that you feel uncomfortable. Work on distance first at the range and later work on accuracy.

4/ James likes to warmup with a long towel and a knot at the end so that it forces his hands to rotate back and high so that the knot falls over his trailing shoulder. To allow for more rotation he lifts his heel. His high hands allow him to load up on his leading foot (with a slight pause) for more power when he unloads his trailing foot in his downswing.

Danny Maude was driving 270 yards when he started his training session and ended up hitting one 325 yards. Use Dynamic Stretch Exercises before you start every round of golf to improve your rotation.

I know that my flexibility and rotation improve during every round of golf as my driving distance increases during the second nine. Make sure you loosen up before you practice with GOLFSTR+ to get more driver distance. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Too many chip shots are hit thin or fat because you are not able to control your wrist lag and release on these short chip shots (up to 30 yards).  Wouldn’t it be great if you could guarantee a perfect chip shot every time you try one on the course?  Even GOLFPASS is demonstrating a single handed version of what I am about to share with you. 

Chip shots often fail because you are trying to release your wrist lag at the exact bottom of your swing but your wrists, knees and spine may be bent or open at the point of impact.  A normal swing is often completed with some up and down motion in your shoulders and knees which also change the distance to your ball.  Timing is critical for this type of swing and that’s why you muff so many chips shots.

There is only 1 way to guarantee a perfect chip shot.  You need to setup and swing with a straight leading arm & wrist and don’t move your shoulders up or down.  You are only creating power with the rotation of your shoulders and pendulum swing like a putt.  You can adjust the distance of your shot by extending your backswing and choosing any of your irons depending on the height and distance of your shot.

1/ Setup with your feet about 10 inches apart and your leading foot flared open 45 degrees. 

2/ Slide your leading hand down on your grip so that your arm is stretched out and directly in line with your club (with no forward lean).  The soul of your chosen club may rest on the toe or the flat base (your preference)

3/ Tilt your shoulders so that you can grip your club with your trailing hand separated slightly below your leading hand.  All of the power in this swing is controlled by your trailing arm and shoulder rotation.

4/ As long as you keep your head and shoulders at exactly the same distance to your ball, throughout your swing, you will always create the perfect impact for your chip.

NOTE: This is NOT a flop shot as you are NOT activating your wrist to generate speed.

Practice this shot in your yard or at the range before you take it to the course.   I guarantee that you can hit 20 balls without muffing a shot.  Your only job is to choose the right club for lift and the right swing speed to reach your target.  I shared this tip with a senior woman on a practice chipping green yesterday (who had been miss-hitting all of her chips), she was ecstatic about her instant success. You may want to practice with your GOLFSTR+  to keep your leading arm straight for these chip shots but this would be an over kill as it’s really easy to keep your leading arm straight when your are completing a limited swing.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

When you rehearse the proper take-away you will FEEL your hips and shoulders initiate the rotation for your swing. Recently I have seen videos and articles about Tiger Woods teaching his son Charlie to make a proper takeaway. David Leadbetter has also developed a device to attach to your club to see the right angle for your club takeaway. These are just 2 recent examples highlighting the importance of your takeaway.

When you rush your backswing you may never notice the flaw in your swing. Starting your swing with your arms is a major problem for most mid-handicap golfers. You will never develop enough rotation to generate more power unless you compound your rotation by using hips, shoulders, arms and wrists.

Professional golfers make the golf swing look so easy. If you can’t duplicate their swings you may want to try these suggestions:

1/ Slow Down Your Backswing: You can’t setup a proper downswing unless you take the time to make a reasonable rotation with a straight leading arm.

2/ FEEL Your Takeaway: By practicing a rehearsal takeaway, you will feel your hips and shoulders rotating at the start of your swing and incorporate that feeling in your backswing.

3/ Put More Pressure on Your LEADING FOOT: To avoid falling back in your swing and topping your ball, you should setup with more pressure on your leading foot. Professional golfers and low handicap golfers automatically transfer their weight to their leading foot before impact with the ball. Why not setup that way. It works for me.

Use more time to setup for success and to feel the takeaway rotation that you need to improve your power and consistency for every swing that you make. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to correct every swing in your game. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Every putt that you make can be sunk with every putter on the planet. Ideally you need to determine the best putter for your swing to execute the length of putt that you are about to make after you sort out the green speed and contour. That’s easier said than done but this blog will give you a road map to help you sort out the best putting solution for YOUR GAME.

This blog does not train you to read greens or the speed of every green. Reading greens is a skill that you need to learn with practice and the speed of greens is based on the cut of the grass on any given day. Test the practice putting green at the course that you are about to play to get a feel for the cut of the greens which should be consistent with the greens throughout the course.

This blog is providing types of putting swings that may suit your body for short and longer putts (requiring a longer swing). Your options are: (1) swing with your wrists, (2) rotating your hips with your core, (3) rocking your shoulders or (4) any combination of the first 3.

After you choose your target line to accommodate the contour of the green, you only have to putt your ball on that STRAIGHT line without any side spin. You can only do this if your swing is directly up your target line. Because you are swinging around the fixed location of your feet, you need to minimize rotation around the axis of your spine. The easiest way to create a consistent straight pendulum type of swing (up your target line) is to take a stance with your eyes over the ball and to swing your arms by only ROCKING YOUR SHOULDERS (#3) (as they are closest to your head and eye-lineup). That will minimize the natural arc in your swing around the axis of your spine.

Unfortunately, longer putts may require a longer swing so your core and hip rotation may need to be added for the power needed to reach the hole. Never putt with your wrists for any putts as the smaller muscles in your hands will only add inconsistencies to your stroke.

Always setup for your putt with your ball slightly ahead of the center of your stance so that your upward stroke creates a roll instead of a bounce. The most important focus in your swing is to impact the ball exactly on the center of the face of your putter and to allow the putter to swing directly up your target line for a few inches after impact. If your putter is not balanced, make adjustments to the point of impact on the face.

You can make every putt as long as you choose the right line. Swing directly up that line with enough speed to pass the hole where the reduction in speed will add the most break and damage from foot traffic is the worst. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to lock your leading wrist. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golfer opinions researched by GOLF blog: “The cups need to be set .25 inches deeper to prevent bounce outs.” Do you agree?

Golf is a straightforward game, but you can save a lot more strokes if you make more smart shots. Of course, you would like to make every shot count but if you are a mid-handicap player you should apply odds on the shots that you may or may not make. That’s right, take the risk out of risky shots and make more shots count.

Every approach shot may result in 3 types of problems or any combination of DISTANCE, DIRECTION and DISTRUCTION. Of course, you try to select the prefect club for distance which may land long or short of the green. It is also easy to push or pull your shot wide of the green depending on the lie of your ball or the wind that will affect your ball flight. And you never know when that dreaded mishit will decide to happen. Only you are somewhat aware of your personal odds of success on each of your shots.

You can definitely improve your success if you consider these proven approaches:
1/ Distance Control: Select a club that you know will reach your target without hitting the perfect shot at 90 to 100% of you strength. Learn to swing at 80% to control your distance and direction.

2/ Hit to Your BINGO Distance: A single digit handicap golfer told me his success. He was not the longest driver so he always planned to layup to 100 yards on par-5 holes or on par 4 holes where he made a poor drive. He had perfected his 100 yard shots with a specific wedge so that he could land his shot within 10 feet of the hole. He also sank a lot of those short putts. We should all perfect our BINGO shot. Practice with your favorite club and distance. You will gain confidence and make more great shots when you layup to your preferred BINGO DISTANCE.

According to the 2023 results recorded by Arccos Golf Sensors, a 20-handicap golfer only hits 20% of their greens in regulation and they average 36 feet from the cup. That gives them a lot of room for an easy improvement in their scores with more practice using their BINGO club.

3/ Finish in Balance: If you are losing your balance at the end of your swing, you are the cause of your own missed shots. If you know that you are losing your balance, start choosing more club (with less loft) so that you don’t need to swing so quickly.

Practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve your swing for every club in your bag. It really is the Swiss Army Knife of golf. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf opinions researched by GOLF blog: #6. “Paying the same cart fee as a single or twosome.” Do you agree?

That’s a pretty bold statement when Greens In Regulation and Putting can destroy par for every hole you play. But when you think about it, you will realize that your perfect drive gives you the right frame of mind and the perfect position to hit more Greens In Regulation and closer to the pin for more 1 putt greens. Charlie Woods is the perfect inspiration for all of us.

Tiger and Charlie Woods placed 5th in the PNC 2023 Championship. They didn’t beat the Langers but their successes should be a great inspiration for all golfers. 14-year-old Charlie is driving as far as most pros. His 320-yard drive (may have been wind assisted) and driving the green on a dogleg par-4 are both very impressive. His successes gave the Woods team a chance to win and it also showed us that every golfer can develop the skill to hit perfect long drives.

A recent Performance Golf blog described how a golfer weighing less than 120 pounds can outdrive his competition. Size and muscle mass help but there are 3 key factors for driving success:

1/ Swing Speed: Exercise and training are all up to you. Obviously, Charlie has a support team including his father who inspire him to spend time on the right exercises and the right swing skills to execute the right release through the ball. If you can swing the grip end of your club through the Impact Zone with a whooshing sound, you can build up strength to do the same with all of your clubs. Head speed at the point of impact is critical to create distance.

2/ Generate Speed in the Impact Zone: We all need to use our wrist release and whipping action through the Impact Zone to generate more club head speed for our drives. Your release is critical but if you can’t square the face of your club and impact with a swing up your target line you will always add unwanted side spin, undercut spin and top spin that will hurt the success of your shots. That’s why you need factor #3.

3/ The Right Swing Thought: The recent Performance Golf blog reminded us about the single most important swing thought that Jack Nicklaus and many other successful golfers use. Of course, they line up their shot and choose a point directly on the target line just in front of their ball. But they also focus on a straight arm release directly after impact on their target line. The pros all setup to ensure that their driver path is on the upward swing during impact and a downward swing with their irons during impact. In all cases they are swinging THROUGH THE BALL to finish in a balanced position and to watch the wonderful flight of their ball.

If you don’t hit a long accurate drive you will not get close enough to the green for your confident approach shots. That’s why your drive counts for 50% of your success on every hole. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve your shots with ever club in your bag. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf opinions researched by GOLF blog: #5. “Public courses should raise their prices by $1 each round and use that money to hire competent Marshalls and cart attendants.” Do you agree?

We all have choices in life. As we age, we tend to slow down and take it easy before we die. Or you can put more effort into exercise to enjoy your aging years. Golf is an exercise, but your body needs a lot of upkeep to generate more success in your game. Get with the program. It’s up to you.

A 2009 study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine determined that DYNAMIC STRETCHING exercise is significantly more important for your golf game than static stretching or no stretching at all. Dynamic stretching produced significantly greater club head speeds, greater ball speeds, straighter swing path and more centered clubface impact.

If you want to see immediate improvements in your game, start using a series of dynamic golf stretches before you play each round. Try starting with the following stretches (which I found on YouTube: Bing Videos) . For each exercise grip one of your clubs near each end.

1-Squat while lifting your hands over your head and then return to the standing position.

2-Hold your club across the back of your shoulders and alternately, rotate to either side and return to center.

3-Hold your club in front of your waist. Now lift it over your head and down to the back of your shoulder blades. Then return it to your waist

4-Start with the club stretched over your head. Keeping your hips steady, shift it to your left side then back to your starting position over your head. Then to your right side.

5-Now with your legs apart for stability and still holding your club near both ends, rotate your spine as you do for a backswing and then swing both arms down and bending your knees to swing down and squat to the opposite side. Repeat about 3 to 5 times and then make the same swinging motion in the opposite direction.

Dynamic Stretching will also help you when you practice all of your swings with GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf opinions researched by GOLF blog: “Public courses should raise their prices by $1 each round and use that money to hire competent Marshalls and cart attendants.” Do you agree?

All golfers read golf magazines and blogs to find easier ways to improve our game. We have all heard about miracle copper infused gloves and socks as well as CBD gummies to calm your mind. But how about a few tips that add MEAT to your game. These tips improve your swing for more consistent swing control. The kinds that help you avoid those mishits that creep into every game.

These tips are not mind games. They add control to prevent your wrists from bending & messing up your short game in chipping and putting.

Chipping Tip:
I have never noticed this, but even Victor Haviland occasionally uses this technique for his short approach chips to control the distance from his hands to his ball. When you add wrist hinge to your swing for more undercut you may never get the bend out of your wrists at the right time. Too much bend at the point of impact will shorten your distance to the ball and can cause THIN hits.

An easy way to avoid thin hits and to create a consistent bounce with your wedges is to use a shortened backswing while gripping with both hands SEPARATED. Yes, try chipping your short chips without OVERLAPPING YOUR HANDS on the grip. This will force you to lock your arms and push your club head through your ball. It’s like a putting stroke where your wrists stay locked though-out your limited backswing and follow-through.

Setup your practice swing with the leading edge of your wedge perpendicular to your target line and your hands slightly separated. Feel the control of your swing then move forward to your ball and make the same swing. For perfection every time!

Putting Grip Tip
The Japanese are using their skills in origami (paper folding) to lock their hands to their putters. More golfers (like the Japanese) are overlapping BOTH HANDS exactly at the same depth on the putter grip. That position helps them keep their shoulders square to their target line and avoid the stronger trailing hand (which is normally lower on the grip) from overpowering your putter around your body. You want a square release UP your target line at impact.

-Wrap the last 3 fingers on your leading hand around the grip.
-Then wrap the center 2 fingers of your trailing hand next on the grip
-Now place your thumbs together pointing down the top surface of the grip
-Wrap your remaining fingers comfortably over both hands to lock the grip.

Eliminating wrist motion for short chips and putting will knock a few more strokes off every round. GOLFSTR+ trains you to lock your wrists while putting. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com