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Hitting more greens in regulation is the most important task in golf. Unfortunately recreational golfers can not expect to come anywhere close to what the pros achieve. We just don’t have the skill and finesse required to control every approach shot to the green. That’s why we need to perfect our chip and pitch shots.

For approach shots that are 130 to 200 yards we know that our percentage is reasonable but it is very common to be long, short or wide of the green. So the most important shot for recreational golfers is the pitch or chip shot to give yourself a chance for a 1 putt green. So why is it that we hit FAT CHIPS so often?

I recently saw a video on Golf-info-Guide by Thomas Golf that woke me up to our problem with chipping and pitching. You can make a perfect practice swing and skim your club across the grass.
–Unfortunately as you move forward to address the ball your thoughts flash back to the last time you hit a fat chip. -Your body and arms tighten up.
-You can’t keep my hips moving and end up chunking your club into the ground short of the ball.  It’s a yip that you need to overcome.

Solution:
1/ Narrow your stance because you need control NOT power.

2/ Grip down on your club for more control and shorter hits.

3/ Keep your eye on the ball.

4/ Lead your swing with the rotation of your leading hip to transfer your weight forward.

5/ If you still have problems, start with an open stance and more weight on your leading foot as you swing your club directly up your target line.

Practice with GOLFSTR+ to limit your wrist lag as you rotated through your ball.  NOTE: Practice with 1 GOLFSTR+ on the wrist that gives you the most difficulty.

Because a chip or pitch is not a power shot we tend to forget to use our full swing. I don’t mean that you need a full backswing but you do need to complete all of the mechanics of the swing. FORWARD HIP ROTATION starts your downswing and allows you to bottom out your club as you impact your ball. Make sure that you make a practice-swing by leading with your hip rotation (don’t lock-up) and then step confidently forward and complete the same motion as you chip or pitch your ball.

Limit the lag in your wrist during your backswing.  Velcro your GOLFSTR+ on your trailing arm to fit the limited lag of your wrist.  You leading wrist should be flat.  If you have problems holding it flat, just strap your GOLFSTR+ on your leading arm exactly the way to practice putting to prevent any wrist break.

You CAN overcome your FAT CHIPPING YIPS. Tiger Woods went through this same problem as he recovered from his marriage and physical problems. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to control the lag in your trailing wrist to make sure that you stay down on the swing path. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS: LAW #13: If it isn’t broke, try changing your grip.

I just tried a recommended exercise from the Golf at a Glance MorningRead blog and confirmed that my limited backswing is real. If your spine won’t let you rotate with a full straight arm backswing then stop trying. Yes, don’t be stupid. If you have this problem then you need to swing properly within your limitations.

Check out this spine rotation exercise as you kneel and place one hand on the back of your head. Then rotate your elbow and spine as you would for a backswing. It’s tougher than you think when you are over 50 but it will help you understand your swing limitation.

If you can’t access this video Just Click here.

Try holding a golf club with your arms as you address the ball and then turn and lift your club so that it is parallel to the ground and pointing away from your target line. You completed this move by turning your wrists and cocking them slightly to point the toe of your club directly up and away from the ground. Your backswing uses that exact wrist rotation in addition to a 45 degree hip rotation and a 45 degree spine rotation as you lift your arms.

For most golfers over 50 that’s easier said than done. I’m missing some of that hip and spine rotation so I can never create a full back swing with a proper STRAIGHT LEADING ARM. The most important part of your swing is to keep your leading arm straight so I NEVER reach a full backswing where my club is parallel to the ground at the top of the swing. Many aging and recreational golfers have the same problem but don’t despair.

Brooke Henderson has an over-back-swing like John Daly. It works for them but it’s not ideal for most golfers.

The loss of flexibility and rotation of YOUR AGING SPINE is limiting YOUR full backswing.
-Forget about that over-swing that we see for John Daly and Brooke Henderson.
-Forget about that perfect 90 degree backswing by Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott.
-Recreational golfers over the age of 50 should accept their limited backswing.
-The first part of every downswing is to pull down with your straight leading arm and your wrists cocked. You are just starting this move a little lower in the downswing than full swing golfers.
-A straight leading arm at the point of impact is critical for consistent hits.

Accept your spine limitation and limited backswing. Keeping your leading arm straight as you reach the limit of your backswing & wrist lag. Then slightly loop (or shallow) your club down to swing from the inside (the slot) and up your target line. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for your straight arm swing. Just let your club do the work as you release your wrist lag at the bottom of your swing. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com.

PS: GOLF LAW #12 Since bad shots come in groups of three, your fourth consecutive bad shot is really the beginning of the next group of three.

CORRECTION NOTE: Rule #6 in this blog has been corrected as your WHS handicap for each hole is par + 2 + your handicap for that hole.

The golf governing bodies (R&A and USGA) have decided to set a World Wide Handicap standard to encourage more people to golf using a common Handicap system in any course throughout the world. This format can be used for recreational competition in any non-professional golf event to allow novice and experienced players to compete against each other so that their net score will equal a fair comparison of the scores (after applying the WHS).

I have quickly read over the volumes of information and decided to boil it down into this brief blog for your immediate understanding. There is no need to get upset about the change to a new system as it really is a modified version of the existing North American Handicap system.

There is no room for sandbaggers in the WHS. Only honest golfers should apply. [Drawing provided by: www.The-Golf-Experience.com/Sandbagger

1/ All of the basic rules of golf apply so you still can’t use a “foot wedge” to kick a ball away from a tree or improve your lie by pushing sand away from your ball to simplify your shot. [Someday the rules will allow you to move your ball out of a divot but they haven’t gone that far.]

2/ All competitive and recreational rounds must be entered on-line to update your WHS.
3/ You can establish your WHS using your first 54 holes played using 18 or 9 holes rounds.
4/ The system now uses your best 8 rounds (instead of 10) out of your last 20 rounds played.
5/ A weather factor is reported by each course on a daily basis to impact the calculation based on wind, rain and temperature which may elevate your score on that day. Any score submitted will not impact your handicap until that course has submitted their weather factor.
6/ Scores need to be reported for each of the 9 or 18 holes played.  The WHS will automatically limit the total score to NET double bogey (par for each hole + 2 + your handicap for that hole based on the difficulty rating as applied starting with the most difficult hole to the least difficult hole).  [If your WHS handicap is 10 and you are playing a par 3 which is rated as the 5th hardest hole, your maximum allowable score submission for that hole is 3+2+1=6. If your score on that hole is 7, WHS will automatically correct your entry for that hole to 6 – – if you made a hole by hole entry for WHS.]
7/ The maximum handicap for a male or female is limited to 54.

The maximum hole score for each player will be limited to a Net Double Bogey. This adjustment is more consistent from hole to hole than the Equitable Stroke Control procedure. Net Double Bogey is already used in many other parts of the world and the calculation is simple: Par + 2 + any handicap strokes you receive.

I’m not convinced that this new system will have a major impact on the growth of this sport as it will only be as good as the integrity of those participating.

-All golfers who want to participate must pay an annual fee to fund the WHS. Club members will pay through their fees as they pay for GHIN or CGA today.

-It will take some time for new golfers to justify the value of paying fees and to update their golf record to keep an active World Handicap.

Of course we want to grow this game so that courses throughout the world will flourish. The new World Handicap System is a reasonable start especially for the benefit of golfers who love to travel and complete. The best way to lower your handicap is to practice with your GOLFSTR+ to improve every shot in your game. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Sandbaggers Beware: According to www.The-Golf-Experience.com/Sandbagger the odds of shooting your handicap are 1 in every 5 rounds played. The odds of shooting your handicap on 2 rounds in a row are 25 to 1. Now we know who’s winning all of the trophies.

We all want more distance with our driver.  A few weeks ago I talked about the only 3 ways to increase distance: club head speed, impact on the center of the club face and launch angle.  THEY ONLY COUNT IF YOU LAND YOUR BALL IN THE FAIRWAY.  If your drives are not landing in the fairway more than 50% of the time, you may be better off giving your driver a “Time-out”.  

Today we are focusing on the best way to increase club head speed for more USEFUL distance.  Wrist lag and release through impact and a square face from an inside-to-out swing path will both improve your distance especially when you land in the fairway.

Distance only Counts when YOU Hit the Fairway

You know the instant you miss your shot with your driver. Give your DRIVER a time out and enjoy playing from the fairway.

Slow Down: If you don’t control your swing direction to hit your target (in the fairway) you will never benefit from longer drives.  So forget about hitting the longest drive in your life every time you swing.  Drop your swing speed back to 90% or 80% and hit more fairways for more beneficial distance.

Why do you think that the pros are only hitting the fairways about 70% of the time?  The driver has a longer shaft, the head of the club is heavier and the face of the club has many different “gear effect” dynamics to compensate for mishits off the center line of the club face.  DRIVERS ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THAN ANY OTHER CLUB.

If you hit your drives long and into the trees or into the deep rough, it really makes no difference how far your ball flies because you have to “pay the penalty” and hit your next shot back into play to give yourself a chance to hit the green with your approach shot.  A recent winner on the LPGA averaged drives of 250 yards with 90% of her shots hitting the fairway. That’s a great example for all of us.

Cut back on your power and take control of your driver.  Practice with GOLFSTR+ for a controlled straight arm swing.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS:  GOLF LAW #11   All vows taken on a golf course shall be valid only until sunset.

When I read GOLF LAW #7, I realized that something was terribly wrong: “All 3-woods are demon-possessed.  Your Mother-in-Law does not come close.”  Fortunately only half of this law applied to me as I had a wonderful Mother-in-Law. The 3-wood was my problem.

I realize that this Golf Law was written in jest, but I also now realize why I don’t carry a 3-wood in my bag.  The same situation must be happening to a pretty high percentage of golfers who are mishitting a lot of shots with their 3-wood.  As it turns out, we may be missing a high percentage of our fairway woods and hybrids because we are trying to just “nip the ball off the ground” with very little room for error.  I saw this tip on a Revolution Golf Blog in Me & My Golf Series called TOTAL GAME.

Because the loft on our woods and hybrids are limited, we tend to hang back in our swing to create more lift the way we do with our driver.  That just makes you top the ball or hit it thin.  For more consistent hits with these clubs you should swing them down through impact, similar to the way you use your irons.  Hit the ball first and then take a thin divot.

Impact your ball with you weight forward when using woods and hybrids. The same way you impact with your irons.

Recommended Setup and Swing

-Setup with a narrower stance than you do with your driver.
-Line up your ball back from your leading heel to bottom-out after your ball.
–Don’t tilt your body (the way you setup to hit with your driver) to hit up on the ball.
–Keep 55% of your pressure on your leading foot to get your weight shift forward.
–Swing down through impact with your ball before you take a light divot.
–Let your leading ear pass the line-up with your ball as you impact the ball and finish your swing balanced on your leading foot.

Practice with your woods and hybrids using your GOLFSTR+ to keep you leading arm straight and down through impact before you take any divot.  Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS:  GOLF LAW #10
Golf should be given up at least twice per month.

Do you wonder why some days are easy to score low and most days are a struggle?  You will be amazed to see how Fairways and Greens In Regulation affect your score. Put your game in Training Mode.

You will only improve your scores if you play well on all 18 holes. That’s why you need to focus on each hole as if it is a new game. Keep track of your progress using dots on your score card. At the end of each round you can see why you got birdie, par, bogie or double on each hole. A mishit, sand trap, tree or shot in the rough will obviously add 1 or 2 strokes to each hole. You need a plan to get out of your rut but first you need to record and measure where you are making your mistakes.

In the square where you mark your score, track your performance in the 4 corners:
-Upper Left: mark a dot if your drive stays in the fairway or on the green for par 3’s.
-Upper Right: mark a dot for Green Hit in Regulation.
-Lower Right: mark the number of putts.
-Lower Left: use a code to enter any mistakes on that hole: M for Mishit, T for Tree, S for Sand, W for Water and R for Rough. (CHW for Club House Window etc.)

Don’t take it out on your golf clubs. Only YOU can fix your game. Over swinging is the normal cause of your mishits. Calm down and enjoy those layups where your want them to land.

At the end of your round it’s easy to see where your extra shots are coming from. Next you have to do something about those problem holes:

A. In most cases you may find out that your mishits are happening with your driver or you are over-hitting from the rough. [Take Corrective Action: Bench your Driver and use your woods, learn to draw into the fairway or relax your tempo.]

B. Hitting into trees or missing a green is your mistake because you are hitting out of a poor approach position. Target your shots at a distance you can comfortably hit with the right club. Hitting over a green into the water is a stupid mistake.

C. What’s causing your mishits? Are you standing too far from the ball or are you bending your leading arm and shortening the distance to reach the ball. Fix it by practicing with GOLFSTR+ as a reminder to keep your leading arm straight.

D. Ok, you get the idea? Sort out where your big misses are coming from and get to work on taking those out of your game or just test out your game on the forward tees. Distance may be your biggest problem.

Of course you should be practicing with GOLFSTR+ for your 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS:   GOLF LAW #9 -The last three holes of a round will automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.

Do you feel like it’s as easy to lower your handicap as it is to reduce your hat size?   That’s one of the golf truisms that we all keep in the back of our mind. You have played with others who are older and weaker than you are and they have much lower handicaps. They have mastered the ability to play within themselves (within their capabilities) to keep every shot in play. They eliminating poor shots. That has to be your inspiration to improve your game and lower your scores.

Distance is important but keeping your ball in play gives you a better chance to cut your scores. Why not commit to a plan that could drop your scores on every hole? I learned this little trick when I realized that I was wasting strokes when I try too hard. That’s right!  When you swing too hard and try for a miracle shot, you lose strokes on every hole. Back-off on you power and watch your handicap drop. Set you plan to hit more consistent shots and stick with it.

Control your tempo to finish every swing in balance. Let your club do the work !

1/ Plan for reachable targets to avoid mishits and shots off the toe of your club.  Either take some power out of your swing or change to a club that you know you can consistently control. The easy solution is to keep your driver in your bag when you start your round. Build confidence in your hits with better rhythm using your 3 or 5 wood. Take control of your swing with clubs that you know you can hit consistently.

2/ Keep your shots in the fairway. You have to avoid the mishits so don’t try to kill every shot. Learn to use a good tempo and let your club do the work.  Stay Calm and Relaxed.  You can’t play this game any other way.

3/ Avoid sand traps and water hazards. When you get tense, your swing will tighten into your body and you will hit more slices and shots off the toe of your club. Plan for safe relaxed hits.

4/ Learn to layup and hit the green on your next shot. Why waste 2 more shots in the sand trap when you can hit a perfect layout to the open side of the green and then chip to the hole for 1 or 2 putts.

5/ Spend a lot more time practicing your pitching and chipping than you spend trying to master your driver.  The pros only hit fairways 70% of the time with their drivers. Why should you expect to do better? Balance your practice time where you can pick up the most strokes chipping and putting.

Golf is a wonderful game when you keep your ball in play. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for 6 critical swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS: GOLF LAW #8:
Golf balls from the same “sleeve” tend to follow one another, particularly out of bounds or into the water.

All of the motions in your golf swing are completed to move your club through the ball in the right direction with accelerating power during the moment of impact. If impact is so important, why do we bother with all of the strange things that we do before and after impact? Most of the moves that your bodies make during your swing seem to be USELESS MOVES. Fortunately the right initiation and finishing moves create the perfect result.

1/ Starting your downswing with your hip turn to square (to the ball) during your transition: You need to rotate your hips to face your target so that your leading wrist has room to whip your club through the ball with a SQUARE FACE. [If your hip does not lead your swing, you will always fade or flair or slice your shot away from your body.]

Tiger completes every one of the 5 Userless Moves in his swing to perfection. You should too.

2/ Keeping your eye on the ball through impact: Lifting your head early will lift your leading shoulder and tend to make you hit a thin or topped ball. [Keeping your eye over and FOCUSED on your ball will help your brain manage the distance to the ball and AVOID shots off the toe of your club.]

3/ Keeping your left arm straight at the point of impact: That allows you to control the distance from your shoulder to the ball. [A bent leading arm in your backswing is OK if you can make the right corrections to impact with a straight arm but it’s much easier to keep your leading arm straight throughout your swing.]

4/ Following through after the point of impact: It’s critical for power and direction. Try hitting a ball when you are swinging into the trunk of a tree and have to stop short of destroy your club and your wrist. It absolutely destroys your shot so don’t try it. [The direction of your shot is destroyed if you don’t continue your follow-through directly up your target line.]

5/ Finishing your swing pointing your trailing toe to the ground: That finish for any shot from pitching to driving helps you to complete your shoulder rotation and to square your club face to your ball. [Your down swing starts with your hip; then your shoulder; then your arms and finally your lagging wrist release to a balanced finish on your leading foot with your trailing toe pointing at the ground. If you are not in balance at the finish your swing is out of control and you should take some lessons.]

Start you swing down with your hip turn, keep you leading arm straight & eye on the ball through impact and finish with a full follow-through and trailing toe pointing to the ground. These USELESS MOVES make all the difference. Practice with GOLFSTR+ for all 6 of your swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS: GOLF LAW #6
A golfer hitting into your group will always be bigger than anyone in your group. Likewise, a group you accidentally hit into will consist of a football player, a professional wrestler, a convicted murderer and an IRS agent — or some similar combination.  {Don’t do it!}

Every golfer would like to hit longer drives directly down the center of the fairway. New equipment may help but if you are not increasing your Smash Factor, you are not getting the most out of your existing clubs. The maximum PGA Smash Factor is 1.5. That means that a golf club can only be designed to give you 50% more ball speed off the face of your driver than your club head impact speed.

Golf Digest reported Gene Parente’s (Golf Laboratories) test results using his swing robot which is nicknamed Iron Byron. “The average male amateur’s swing speed is 93.4 miles per hour, according to research by TrackMan, for an average distance of 214 yards. Using TrackMan’s “optimal” distance, the average golfer’s potential is 255 yards at that same swing speed. How? By hitting the ball more solidly, or what’s known as upping your “smash factor.” In able to do this, you might want to have the best sunglasses for golf players for a more accurate smash especially under the scorching sun.You can also click here now to get perfect sunglass as it can protect your eyes from extreme sun rays.

The balls that you use and the gloves, copper bracelets, socks, shoes and lead lined underwear that you are wearing may make you feel better or more confident but the driver design is limited to give you a maximum of 50% more ball speed. There are only 3 ways to increase the distance with your driver.

Iron Byron gives us the perfect test result for the perfect swing up the target line.

1/ Increasing your swing speed will give you up to 2.5 yards of driving distance for every mile per hours of swing speed. Your lagging wrist release gives you that extra speed.

2/ Impact directly at the perfect launch angle. If you impact is down on your ball and generating a clockwise rotation at 3500 rpm, your ball will be trying to climb and taking energy out of your potential distance. If you hit your ball on an upward launch angle creating a 2500 rpm of clockwise spin, you will optimize the cutting action through the air. Topping the ball makes it drive for the ground.

3/ Impact on the center of the face of your club to generate the optimized trampoline effect will power your ball to the maximum distance. Off center hits will direct your ball away from your target and steal distance from your drive. [Spray Dr Sholl’s Foot Powder on the face of your club to check your point of impact. Above the centerline seems to perform better than below. That may not be too important as I have saw Tiger hit his driver “off the deck” with amazing low shot which was further that he can hit with his 3 wood. [I don’t have all of the answers as I am just reporting what I see and hear from the announcers.]

Achieving the perfect Smash Factor is your goal. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to improve every swing in your game with 6 swing fixes. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com.

PS: GOLF LAW #5
The higher a golfer’s handicap, the more qualified he deems himself as an instructor.

If you are one of those golfers who swings from OVER the top creating a boomerang slice, get UNDER IT. You can make 2 simple changes to get rid of that slice by getting under your ball. A wide take away and a flat leading wrist will make all the difference. Great golfers don’t have to kill the ball, they just release their wrists and their ball flies up the center of the fairway. You can do it too but you will have to focus on 2 SIMPLE points during each shot.

I recently saw a promotion video, “Reverse Slice Sequence” by Eric Cogorno which highlights the common theme by most PGA trainers. Don’t CUP your leading  wrist (with your hand bent up) in your backswing as your brain will naturally try to close the club face by swinging over the top and slicing across the face of the ball.

It’s not easy to change old habits but many pros have discovered the best solution to break the bad habits causing your slice. Make a wide takeaway keeping your leading wrist flat, loop down at the top to swing from the inside and up your target line. Yes, get under the ball not over it.

Step 1: BACKSWING WITH A HIGH PLANE ANGLE – During your take-away (rotating your shoulders and hips), swing your club straight back along your target line and point the blade of your club directly up at the sky while keeping your leading wrist flat. Continue your straight leading arm backswing and cocking your trailing elbow to point the grip end of your club down along your extended target line.

This is an exaggerated view of looping your club to swing down from the inside with a flat leading wrist and up your target line.

Step 2: DOWNSWING ON A FLATTER (lower) PLANE-  Keeping your leading wrist flat and cocked to create a 90 degree lag angle with your club to your leading arm.  Loop your club down on a lower plane to swing from the inside and up your target line.   Your flat wrist at the top and down through impact on a lower plane angle is the key to the elimination of your slice.

Increased distance will come from the proper release sequence in your downswing. Start with your hips, then your shoulders and finally releasing your wrist lag as you whip your hands through impact (from the inside and up your target line).

Your flat wrist is the critical factor during your back swing and downswing. One of the 6 swing fixes provided with GOLFSTR+ is to LOCK YOUR LEADING WRIST FLAT during your backswing.

This fix is only designed to let you feel your flat wrist during your backswing. Ideally, you should do this many times in slow motion (the way Ben Hogan perfected his swing). You can feel your wrist flat against the flat plastic plate. Then remove GOLFSTR+ and make your full swing with a flat wrist from the inside and up your target line. Your slice will be gone forever. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

PS:  GOLF LAW #4:  Golf balls never bounce off of trees back into play. If one does, the tree is breaking a law of the universe and should be cut down.