Will Curry

There are always a few (or more) holes in every round where our games can go off the rails.   Hitting our maximum handicap number on any hole is a crisis for me and should be for your too.  I hate to hit my max.   So I’m always looking for a way to create consistency on every hole. I was glad to be reminded of a great solution by Todd Kolb, PGA Professional on the USGolfTV blog. He recommended that Clarity of Mind is the best solution for Consistency.

One bad shot can often be corrected by one or two good shots to salvage a par or bogie. A lapse in clarity for each shot can destroy your next shot. Just understanding that you lost your focus to create that bad shot is a good starting point to get your mind back on track for your next good shot.

Understand What Caused your last Poor Shot
Clay Ballard at Top Speed Golf, provided the following check list to sort out where your last swing went wrong when you try to generate more power for more distance:
1/ Setup with at 10 degree body tilt to your trailing side and hold it through impact.
2/ Hip AND shoulder backswing rotation are critical for distance.
3/ Load your wrist lag as you bend your trailing elbow to finish your backswing.
4/ Start your downswing with your hips as you swing from the inside.
5/ Let your driver drop down to swing from the inside slot.

Each of these points need to be built into your swing. Focus on making them all happen in your practice swing and THEN CLEAR YOUR MIND.

Stare at your target and then VISUALIZE hitting that target line (in your minds eye) AS YOU RETURN YOUR EYES TO LOCK ON OUR BALL (until after impact).

You may want to count “1,2” during your backswing (as you cock your trailing elbow for lag) and “3” in your downswing (to block all other thoughts) as you visualize swinging to hit your target line..

Clarity of your mind during your swing to see the perfect flight of your ball is all that you need to think about. Putting needs the same confident clarity that you have chosen the right line and swing-power to pass the hole by a foot. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

PS:  Golf LAW #2:
Your best round of golf will be followed almost immediately by your worst round ever.   The probability of the latter increases with the number of people you tell about the former.

Putting is a target sport. If you can’t control the direction of your putter straight up your target line, you will never be a great putter. All racquet and club (golf, baseball, cricket) sports have one critical point in every swing. It’s the point of impact where the direction of your swing controls your success. Unfortunately the arc in the swing of your putting stroke is limiting your success.

I just watched a YouTube Strategy Video for Pickle Ball. Control of the direction of your shot directly up the LINE of your launch angle and target line are the keys for success. Putting is even easier as you only have to swing your club up the direction of your chosen target line (without worrying about a launch angle).

Rotation of your putter around your body is the killer for every putting swing.
Even Dave Stockton, the world renowned putting instructor, advises that you can setup your feet and hands in any way that your body feels comfortable as long as it helps you:
1/ Bottom-out your swing before impact to allow your putter face to swing up on the ball (forcing the ball to roll over instead of skidding across the surface).
2/ Swing directly up your chosen target line by rocking your shoulders and allowing your arms to swing freely up your target line through the point of impact.

Problem Habit for Justin Rose
For the last few years I noticed that Justin Rose made a habit of tucking the shirt sleeve on his trailing arm under his arm pit for short chips and putts. He chose to do this to force his trailing arm to lock tight to his body and force a shoulder rotation in his backswing. Unfortunately the tight trailing arm creates an arc in his putting swing. I saw him miss a critical, 4 foot, 18th hole, tournament losing putt last year where he pulled his putt to the left. A tight trailing arm to your body for short chips may  help your hips and shoulders rotate back and through the ball but FOR PUTTING it’s a BIG MISTAKE!

Grain of the Green DOES Affect Your Putts
The grain of the grass (the direction that the grass leans) does have a small effect on the break of your putt as it slows down near the hole. Look for the rough edge of grass around one side of any hole. The rough edge (where there is a fringe of grass falling into the hole) is the down-grain side. The softer you stroke your putt the more the grain will affect the break. On a 3 or 4 foot putts you should putt more to the clean cut side of the hole as your ball will want to fall to the down grain or rough side of the hole. OF COURSE THE SLOPE OF THE GREEN IS OVER 90% MORE IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THAN THE GRAIN DIRECTION.

Practice putting with a locked leading wrist using your GOLFSTR+. Rock your shoulders and free arms to swing straight up your target line. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS GOLF LAW #1:
No matter how bad your last shot was, you should have Inner Peace knowing that a worse one is yet to come. This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a summer and, eventually, a lifetime.

Too many golfers fall back when they swing their driver and then they duplicate the same problem with their irons. All driver and fairway club swings are meant to end in a balanced pose on your leading foot. Unfortunately the ball forward setup for your driver tends to make you fall back if you rush your arms through the swing. Using the same swing for your irons, is deadly. If you are falling back or out of balance for your drivers and your irons, you need to change your swing.

Because you setup to drive by lining up your ball with your leading heel, it should be easy to finish your driver swing in balance and posing on your front foot. During every swing, you are trying to make a weight shift from your trailing foot to your front foot.  If you swing with your arms without any weight shift (at the top), you will fall back at the finish of your swing.

When you are swinging any iron your swing should be made so that your weight is shifting to your leading foot and your club is swinging down at the ball to take turf after the impact with the ball. Unfortunately irons are shorter and lighter than a driver, so we tend to swing faster (with our arms), before our weight is transferred to our leading foot,

Trick to Correct Your Iron Swing
Our friends learned this trick from their club pro and passed it on to my wife when they saw her falling back on her trailing foot as she completed her swing.

Place a bottle cap or a golf tee flat on the grass about 2 or 3 inches on your target line before your ball. Your goal is to allow your body to transfer your weight forward (during your transition at the top of your swing) to ensure that you are swinging to impact the ball without hitting the cap or tee before your ball. Hitting the ball and then the turf will only happen if you transfer your weight to your leading foot and end your swing in a balanced pose on your leading foot.

If you practice with a bottle cap or tee behind your ball, you will learn to slow down your backswing to allow a little more time to transfer your weight forward during your swing. Of course you need to keep your eye on the ball through impact.

Practicing this down-stroke swing with your irons will save a lot of shots for every round by giving you a more consistent and longer hit. For your higher lofted clubs and wedges, you will also see that your ball checks-up faster on the green or even backs up with back-spin. Learn all of your iron shots using your GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Have you ever kept track of the number of times that you have to make a chip during a round of golf?    Weekend Warriors don’t hit a lot of Greens In Regulation but they lose a lot more strokes “missing” a chip or chipping outside of 5 feet and end up with a 2 or 3 putt hole.  Fortunately Chipping is the easiest stroke to fix with the right coaching.  I saw Peter Jacobsen, a PGA Pro promoting a Cleveland Wedge where he offered this simple tip.

Your 2 to 20 yard wedge shot is NOT a full body swing shot.  You actually make this shot with a limited spread of your feet (as balance is not an issue with a light swing) and with an open stance to ensure that you keep your weight forward on your leading leg as you swing directly up your target line.   There is no need for weight shift as the weight of your club is doing all the work.  You are basically swinging your arms (like a pendulum) hanging from the right side of your chest (for right handed clubs).  There is very little weight transfer in a chip.  You want to hit the ball before you skim the grass so you need to setup with the ball directly opposite the inside of your trailing heal.

Key for Successful Chipping

1/ Line up your chip and move close to your ball to make a few practice swings.

• Chipping is easy if you make a few practice swings to “feel” the amount of swing needed to hit and run up close to the pin.
• Watch where your club is impacting the grass as you want the starting point to be just after your ball position.
• You are not trying to take a divot but you do want make a shallow sweep through the grass after your ball position.
• Let the weight of your club do all of the work as your hips follow through with the swing.

2/ Keep your head still through the back swing and follow through as you swing with a low arc like a putting stroke except with a longer swing and longer follow through with your hips and arms.

3/ Your goal is to bottom out your club AFTER you impact the ball

4/ Your swing direction should be directly up your target line.

You will never be a great chipper unless you practice with each of your preferred chipping clubs to learn the distance that each amount of swing will make your ball fly and roll-out.  The higher the loft, the shorter the roll-out.  Practice with your GOLFSTR+ on your trailing arm to limit wrist lag in your backswing as you make your pendulum swing with your arms.  Buy one today at www.golfstr.com 

I was pleased to find a Golf-Info-Guide blog about the different swing required for a driver as compared to any other fairway club. The driver has a limited face angle as it is designed for you to hit up on the ball off a tee. Your fairway woods are designed for a level surface swing and irons are designed for a downward impact with the ball before taking any divot. YOU SHOULDN’T BE USING THE SAME SWING FOR EVERY CLUB.

I don’t recall seeing pros make a very clear distinction between the swings for each type of club. If you don’t treat your driver and fairway clubs as 3 different swings you will never be a low handicap golfer. This fact woke me up to the reason why so many golfers swing every club as if it is a driver. They swing and fall back on there fairway clubs.They never learned the benefit of shifting their weight forward during the swing for their fairway clubs (woods, hybrids and irons).

NUMBER ONE PROBLEM FOR POOR GOLFERS: They try to hit every shot with a driver swing and have never learned to swing through fairway club shots or down through iron shots].

Driver Swing
It’s the only swing where you setup with the ball in-line with the heel of you leading foot and keep your leading ear behind the ball throughout your swing. Yes, there is still weight transfer from your trailing foot to your leading foot during the driver swing but never so much as that your head shifts over your ball the way it does for an iron shot. Your driver must impact your ball after the bottom of your swing arc to create a launch angle and minimize under spin.

Fairway Wood and Hybrid Swing
These clubs all have wide flat souls. They are designed to sweep through the ball WITHOUT TAKING TURF after the ball. The loft of the face of the club is the only angle needed to release your ball at that angle into the air. Keeping the ball closer to your leading heel will allow for a higher launch but if you shift your weight to your leading foot before impact you may find that you are driving the ball into the ground or skimming the ground. Let you club do the work without cutting into the ground.

Iron Swing
These clubs have a narrow soul and are designed to hit down into the ball before the leading edge of the club takes a divot. Your weight shift to your leading leg is critical to ensure that you complete a proper swing and impact with the ground.

Practice with GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing solutions and lower your scores. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

What is the main reason why we fail to make perfect shots out of the sand trap? Sand condition, slope of the sand, distance of your hit and height of the trap lip are all variables that you are trying to overcome. They all affect your decision for the amount of power and loft needed during your swing. RUSHING your swing speed is the killer for every sand shot. Club acceleration to a full follow-through makes all the difference.

Because your shoulders, arms, wrists, hips and spine are all moving during every swing, if we slow down or speed up a swing, we lose our sequencing rhythm. Yes, we forget to move our hips or transfer our weight and end up hitting fat or thin shots. Consistency of the motion of our swing in the sand trap is our #1 killer. We are focused on longer or shorter shots from the sand when we SHOULD BE FOCUSING on the amount of backswing and FULL follow-through with an accelerating swing speed.

Ensuring Sand Trap Consistency
Knowing the right setup is a critical starting point but you will never be consistently successful unless your complete both a backswing and a full follow-through to finish the shot. You have to think about your complete swing. Make sure that you pound down under the sand and take at least 3 inches of sand after your ball with your follow-through. Yes, make sure that you are throwing a club full of sand with your ball. Focus on lifting an imaginary quarter sitting in the sand after your ball. “Take the quarter” and finish your follow through.

Setup:
1/ Take an open stance and open your club face so that it’s parallel with the sand (pointing up to the sky).
2/ Put pressure on your leading foot so that your nose stays over your ball in the center of your stance with your grip pointed at your bellybutton. [Do this forward pressure because most of you will never transfer your weight to your leading foot during your sand trap shots.]

3/ Take a wider stance or dig your feet down into the sand for stability and to ensure that your swing will slide under the sand beneath your ball to lift it on a carpet of sand. /

The amount of backswing and follow-through should be the same but the further you want your shot to go the longer the backswing and follow-through. Burying your club in the sand without any follow-through is the kiss of death for sand shots. Make sure that you throw some sand on the green with your follow-through. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to limit your wrist lag on your trailing wrist the same way you want to make a pitch shot. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

What is a best swing solution?  Taking a full speed swing with an 8 iron or a slower swing using a 6 iron at 60% of your swing speed?   Both can be the right answer depending on the situation but there is a problem that you have to overcome.  If most of your shots are made with your full speed swing, how do you properly GEAR DOWN to hit a three quarter speed or half speed or quarter speed swing without leaving your club face open or closed and hitting your shot well wide of your target?

You may not realize that when you slow down your swing, your hips, shoulders, arms and hands should be firing at the same consistent rate as your full swing.  When just one part of your body gets out of sync you can’t help but leave your club face open or closed.  That’s why you may notice that the pros seem to swing all of their clubs at about the same speed until they are too close to the green.  That’s also why pros use up to 4 different pitching wedges?

Solution to Maintain a Full Swing:

Pros want to swing at their “normal” full swing speed FOR CONSISTENCY.  That’s not at 100% or 90% of their swing speed.  They are not trying to kill the ball with their top swing speed. They know that it will often guaranty a poor shot.  They want to swing at their normal 85% swing speed for consistency and to control the speed of their wrist release (whooosh).

Pros know when they are hitting a distance that is between clubs.  They have to either back off on their speed risking a mishit or they adjust their club.  They want to keep their “normal” swing speed AND RHYTHM, so they choke down on clubs for less distance and swing at their normal 85% speed.

Solution to Adjust for a Partial Swing Speed:

Pros like Jason Day hit up to 600 balls a day on non-tournament days.  They need the extra practice time to consistently release their hips, shoulders, arms and hands for each speed that they need to hit each club for a variety of distances while keeping the same sequence and rhythm for each of their body parts.  YOU DON’T HAVE THE PRACTICE TIME THAT THE PROS DO so don’t expect that you can achieve a variable swing the way they can swing.

If you have to slow down your swing to hit a shorter distances, practice hitting with a slightly open stance and more pressure on your leading foot to help you reach your normal impact position.  Just focus on finishing your swing from the inside and straight up your target line.

“Ball Beating” at the driving range is crazy for the Weekend Warrior.  Practice different shots.  Learn to hit a few draws, a few fades, a few full swing and half swing shots with many of your clubs.  Seve Ballesteros learned to play every shot with 1 club when he was a young boy.  That’s a great example for all of us.  Practice with GOLFSTR+.  It’s a great training aid to learn 6 swing solutions with a controlled swing speed.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

How can you play better golf with LESS practice?  The short answer is that practice can only help. If you are a Weekend Warriors and want to lower your scores, you better find a way to build consistency into your swing WITHOUT a lot of practice. Let’s face it, if your income is not based on being a scratch golfer like Rory McIlroy, you will never find the time to hone your perfect swing for every club. So what’s the best solution to improve your game?

I received a great article from Augusta Golf about the merits of practice. Ben Hogan was famous for practice. It’s the only way to become a master of any sport. Swing technique, strength, flexibility and mental fortitude all contribute to your successful game. He was right so if you want to lower your scores with limited practice , break the 4 areas of focus into a logical plan.

Technique:  Let’s face it, if you have a lousy swing and your technique is bad, you will never be able to consistently hit a golf ball with any of your clubs. You need to take golf lessons from a professional instructor.  PGA instructors will set your game up in the right direction and can easily point out the problems with your swing. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to figure out how to improve your swing.  Just understand your flaws and work on correcting your swing.

Ben Hogan’s clubs did not have the technology that exist in any 10 year old clubs that you may be using today so don’t expect that a new set of clubs will solve all of your problems. I recently saw a blog about “air swings” where you practice your swing without hitting a ball. It’s a good start but you really need to hit a ball at the driving range to focus on your swing path at the point of impact and see the result.

Strength and Flexibility:
Don’t ignore this important step in developing your full swing and stamina. If you don’t have the strength and flexibility of a teenager you need to put some effort into getting in reasonable shape or your will never be a good golfer. Golf is a sport that demands a lot from your body so choose exercises to build your upper body and core. You can’t expect perfection from your swing if you can’t develop a consistent rhythm and swing speed.

Mental Fortitude:
Tiger Woods is the perfect example of a person who was committed and focused to win at golf until his marriage scandal happened. He lost his “Mental Fortitude”. None of us will ever approach the skill and drive that Tiger once had but we can improve our game at the same time that we build our confidence in creating a more consistent game. Positive Mental Attitude goes a long way to create consistent hits.  Rory McIlroy bounced back and it just paid off with $15 Million and most likely 10 times that in endorsement.

Reading Blogs like GOLFSTR Swing Tips will help you keep your mental focus on golf so that you can find the right formula for your game.  Consistency, more power and confidence will lower your score. Practice with GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing solutions. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

If you don’t shift your weight back in your backswing and then forward during your transition, you are robbing yourself of power and performance. If you get it right, you can generate more hip and shoulder rotation (for power) and the correct angle of impact (for performance and consistency). In other words, weight shift creates the ideal swing for your driver, woods, hybrids and irons. A recent Rotary Swing Blog reminded us why this is so critical.

BACK SWING: If you don’t allow your weight to shift slightly to your trailing leg during your backswing, it will limit your hip rotation. Don’t depend on only using your spine rotation for power or you will eventually ruin your back. By shifting your weight to your trailing leg it is much easier to rotate your hip AND spine.

As you near the transition at the top of your swing, allow your wrists to cock and create a 90 degree lag angle. You need that extra time in your backswing to allow for all 4 components to connect in SEQUENTIAL UNISON. You may want to count “1, 2” to slow down your backswing like Ernie Els:
1/ your weight shifts to your trailing leg as your straight arm starts your backswing.
2/ allowing your hips to rotate
3/ as your spine continues your coiling rotation
4/ and your wrists cock. [Without wrist lag, you will lose at least 30% of your distance.]

DOWN SWING: Your power only comes from the acceleration of your club head as you uncoil and finally release your wrist lag at the bottom of your swing through impact. You may want to count “3” as you complete your downswing in this sequence:
1/ During your transition (at the top), your arm direction changes as your weight shifts from your trailing leg to your leading leg.
2/ as your hips and then shoulders uncoil and then your arms start your downswing
3/ and your wrist lag releases at the bottom of your swing through impact with your ball.

Are You Falling Back and Topping Your Ball or Hitting it Fat?
For golfers who can’t complete their forward weight shift during the transition, you may want to
START AND END your swing with pressure on your leading leg. That will definitely help you power your irons down through your ball [FIRST] for a more consistent impact with the ball so that you avoid falling back DURING your downswing [HITTING FAT SHOTS]. Unfortunately holding pressure on your leading foot limits your ability to rotate your hip and spine in your backswing so it limits your power and distance. [But it better to make a clean hit and getting your ball in the air.]

Your swing should be completed with the cadence of an accelerating dance step using the rhythm of 1,2-3. Each of the steps melt together as you power your swing up your target line to a balanced pose. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to feel the power and consistency of your release. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

I started my journey to lower my handicap by finding new ways to avoid slicing and adding control to my draw or fade. In short my goal was to hit more fairways and greens in regulation. Of course putting (which accounts for about 42% of our hits on every round) is a critical component for every round but if you can’t hit the green in regulation on the low side of the hole you can look forward to more bogies, doubles and triples.

Avoiding neck, core, back and leg injuries should be a logical building block for any swing improvement. I try to use TV as my trigger to get on the floor and start my  strengthening and flexibility exercise plan. Yes, the TV goes on and I hit the floor. It’s simple. The internet provides ideas for more body building solutions than you can dream up. I have finally settled on: Get the gut down by strengthening the core, strengthen my arms and stretch anything that moves when I play golf. If you want to hire wrongful death lawyers in Charlotte, click here to reach their official site!

Plan for a Consistent Swing
A/ Crazy Swing Ideas are a Waste of Time:  I have tried leading wrist bent at the start of the takeaway, cocking the wrist at the start of the take-way (like Dustin Johnson) and the latest one is Square Face Golf using a strong grip with both hands. Some build in lag and some create a flat wrist at the top of your backswing but they all generate inconsistencies in your swing as you move from your irons to your driver.

B/ Michael Breed and many others highlight the importance the swing direction and face direction at the point of impact.  They all point out that every pro has a different swing but they all manage the launch and the draw or fade using impact direction and face direction.
BINGO: You need the right motion to release through impact and to reach a balanced finish.

Solution for a Consistent Swing
1. Minimize the motion in your backswing and follow-through for a consistent wrist release through the ball and up your target line.

2. Use the setup of most professional golfers to generate a consistent swing. The basic grip, stance and ball position are so critical for every club in your bag. Don’t invent or try out radial new moves as they just create inconsistencies in your swings.
3. Take your time in your backswing to allow time for your wrist lag as you shift forward during your transition. Count “1,2” in your backswing to help you slow down and then “3” in your downswing to a balanced finish.
4. Choose a comfortable swing plan to allow for your swing from the inside as you rotate your hips to power your shot up your target line.
5. Use your trailing foot to manage the direction of your hit. Move your foot back from your target line to generate a power draw. A slight close of the face of you club may be needed to add draw. [for fade: trailing foot forward and face open]

Minimize your swing thoughts for more consistent hits. Know how your trailing foot and club face will affect your ball. To block your mind count 1, 2 in your backswing and 3 as you swing from the inside and up your target line to a balanced finish. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn to keep your leading arm straight in your backswing and down to the point of impact. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com