Swing Solutions

Distance and control are so important for your drives. If you can’t keep your drives in the fairway then you should just slow down your swing and choke down on your club for more control. Unfortunately this game is about distance and we all need to improve our drives to hit them long and land them in the fairway.

Moe Norman was an amazingly consistent professional who had a short, flat, single plane swing. He used the power of his arms to “muscle” the speed of his swings. Most golfers, especially the professional golfers are not fans of the single plane swing as it can result in more shots that are pushed or sliced. The harder you swing the more you swing over the top creating more slices.

Looks like Johnny Miller making a wide, straight arm backswing (RED LINE) & an inside, up the slot downswing (GOLD LINE).

Brooke Henderson is a 5’ 4”, 20 years old Canadian who plays on the LPGA Tour . Her average drives are 280 yards. She chokes down on a 48 inch shafted driver. [a normal men’s driver is 43 inches] Asked about her swing thought: “I swing as hard as I can”. You can only do this if you have confidence with your swing.

Brooke uses a long, wide takeaway with a downswing from inside to outside (up the slot).  This is the preferred swing for most golfers to avoid slicing the ball. Image your target line running from behind your ball. As you take your club back, make sure that you are pointing at that line. That will give you a wide takeaway with a high transition at the top. Then allow your club to slightly loop at the top so that it returns to impact from the inside.

Tips for Consistent Long Drives:
1/ A 2 plane swing will give you more wrist lag and club head speed for more distance. Your slice will disappear and you can swing with a more powerful wrist release to snap through your ball with less effort.
2/ Drives are meant to be hit as your driver head is swinging up through the ball so you should be teeing your ball up so that half of the ball is above the head of your club during your setup.
3/ To avoid swaying back during your backswing, keep pressure on the instep of your trailing leg.
4/ Keep your leading ear behind the ball at setup and at impact.

Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to keep your leading arm straight with a wide takeaway. Hit’em long and land’em in the fairway. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Every golfer is looking for a special trigger that will guarantee success every time we swing a golf club. We are always searching for that magic formula that leads to the perfect draw or fad. I have asked many golfers and PGA Professionals what triggers they use to generate effortless shots. Each golfer seems to have their own personal success move. You should have at least one position or move that you know will create successful results every time you swing a club.

I’m hoping that this list will give you the best trigger for your swings:

What’s your trigger: Slow takeaway, ear behind the ball, pressure shift or driving to a balanced finish.

Lag for Power: Slow down your backswing to create lag with your straight leading arm.

Swing up the Slot: Make a wide takeaway on a high plane with a slight loop at the top as you flatten your downswing up the slot from the inside to outside.

Stable Spine: Coil your spine without swaying back during your backswing.

Light Grip: Hold your club lightly so that it fells heavy during the transition. That creates the lag that you need to unload on your ball as you whip your club through your ball.

Lazy Wrists: Another way to feel the same emotion: Don’t get tight at the top during the transition. Let your hands get lazy. Let you club feel heavy so that it can create more lag as your hands start to drop during your down swing.

Foot Pressure: During your transition, feel the pressure shift from the inside of your trailing foot to full pressure on your leading foot through impact.

Leading Ear: Start your drive with your leading ear behind your ball and keep it behind your ball through impact

Finish Your Swing: Release up your target line with a balanced finish.

Load up your Swing:  from the ground on your trailing instep to your hips shoulders, arms and wrist lag.

Leading Eye on the Ball: Jack Nicklaus turned his head during his backswing to keep his leading eye fixed on his ball and through impact.

Try these triggers or figure out what works for you and then use it religiously to generate a consistent swing. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to learn to control your moves. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

The last 4 seconds before you start your backswing can make or break every shot in your game. Panicking and recalling your top 100 swing thoughts or thinking negative thoughts about your last shot will limit your chances for success. You need a consistent plan to clear your mind by setting up for the shot that you want. Then you need a 4 Second Rule to relax your body and grip for a consistent swing tempo.

Your 4 Second Rule will never work unless you take the time to create a plan for your shot to eliminate any doubts about your shot. With a good swing plan in my mind, you can focus on your 4 Second Rule to create the perfect swing.

Create a Positive Mental Attitude in Your Swing Preparation.
• Know the Distance You Want to Hit: Choose the club that you 90% certain that you will reach your target both for flight distance and rollout.
• Choose your Swing Direction: The prevailing wind and your chosen draw or fade are all critical decisions. If you don’t know how to prepare for these swings then take some lessons.
• Keep the Same Swing Tempo: You only need 1 consistent swing tempo for your driver, for your woods & irons and for your putter. Learn to avoid rushing a short takeaway.
• Take a Full Practice Swing: For a draw and more distance take a swing path where you point you club back along your target line, cock your wrists for lag at the top as you loop and swing up the slot from the inside as your body rotates through to a posed finish.

Create your 4 Second Rule
1/ Think “Calm” as you relax & drop your shoulders and loosen you grip to a 4 out of 10.

2/ Waggle your club as you engage your wrists and arms. [It may just be lifting your club off the ground (like Matt Kucher) or even a take-away rehearsal with an upper body rotation (like Rickie Fowler or Michelle Wei).

3/ You have already prepared and rehearsed your swing. Most of your power comes from your calm, relaxed swing so your 4 Second Rule should only focus on relaxing your body for an accelerating swing to a balanced finish. If you repeat words in your mind, it will stop you from thinking any bad thoughts. I use the words “Sweep in Finish” (“Sweep in” for a smooooth take-away and “Finish” as I accelerate to a balanced finish.)

Learn to relax during YOUR 4 Second Rule as you practice with GOLFSTR+ . Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Your swing and mental control during any round of golf can be set off by slow play by your playing partners and golfers on the course in front of you.  In the GOLFSTR Swing Tips we try to share the best ways to improve your golf swing.  Being calm is an important starting point. Having a focused and organized mind will improve your mental state of mind and set an example for your playing partners.

Keeping a Course Marshall informed about slow play in front of you is about the only thing you can do to keep others moving.  Hitting into the foursome in front of you is not a good idea. It can only aggravate them as well as your playing partners. Consider the following suggestions to help you keep up with the next foursome & to keep your relaxed mind focused on your game.

At the First Tee:
a. Choose the Right Tees for your Game: Choose the tee that matches your ability to reach the green in 2 good shots on every par 4 hole.
b. Play Ready Golf: Agree at the start of your round that anyone who is ready should just take their shot while others may be searching for a ball.  If you are in a money game or if someone birdied the last hole you should give them the honors and accolades that they deserve.

Preparing for your Tee-off:
a. Prepare:  Get out of your golf cart and select your club while others are reaching the tee.
b. If you need your range finder to determine the right distance, choose 2 or 3 clubs from your bag before you walk over to the tee. Your score card will give you the distance and an alternate club will help if you guess wrong about the wind condition for your tee shot.

Be an example to others in your foursome. Get ready to hit and watch where each ball is hit.

When waiting for your golf cart partner to take their shot:
a. Start planning your next shot as you approach your ball.
b. If your shot is near your cart, select 1 or 2 clubs and walk over to your ball while your partner is hitting. Golf is only a form of exercise if you take opportunities to walk.
c. After your shot, if your partner is waiting for you in the cart, just hop in with your clubs in hand. You can put them away and select your next clubs at the next stop.
d. Pay attention to the location for every shot in your foursome. They need your help and you need theirs to speed up the search for balls in the rough. Starting in 2019 you only have 3 minutes to search but this is a good rule to start using today..

Avoid Losing Your Clubs: When you are walking with an extra club, always leave it in the direction where you will be walking after your shot or after putting out. Bad shots tend to make you forget about extra clubs. It really is helpful to stumble over them.

WARNING: Never step out of a moving golf cart, even at low speeds. It’s one of the worst causes of ankles injuries in golf. You can only blame yourself for this dumb injury.

CAUTION: When walking or riding stay behind the person hitting their next shot. It can annoy a golfer hitting a shot and you can never trust the direction of a golf ball. Believe me, I know.  I took a duck hook an inch from my spine this summer. I was lucky to survive with only a bruise.

Avoid delays on the course so you have a little more time calming your mind when you prepare to swing. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to learn your straight arm and flat wrist shots to hit more fairways and speed up your game. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Golf is a game of perfection but no 2 golfers use the same swing for every club in their bag. It’s fascinating to watch the PGA Professionals hit a ball. We instantly recognize if it’s Fred Couples, Jim Furyk or Ernie Els. Yes, I chose the extremes but Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth also have distinctive swings. What I’m trying to point out is that the swings may look different but their great shots all have the same impact to create amazing results.

Michael Breed from the Golf Channel had it right when he launched a new swing training program last year. His primary concept was about the only thing that matters in golf:  You can make any interesting swing that your body may produce but your impact should be:

1/ on the center line of your club face.

2/ swinging from inside-to-out across your ball for a draw or outside-to-in for a fade.

3/ with your club face square to your target line or slightly closed for a draw or slightly open for a fade.

4/ at maximum club-head speed for maximum distance.

Bubba Watson figured this out without any coaching. He first determined what gave him the most distance (wrist lag and release) and then he applied the right grip (stronger or weaker) at setup to allow his club-face to close or open when it returned to his point of impact. For his drives he adds a launch angle and for his woods, hybrids and irons he powers down into his ball (grazing the turf after his impact).

Bubba swings with a high arc on his backswing and from the inside on the way down to match his original shaft line at impact. Once the ball leaves the face of your club, you have no further control. Your backswing and your finishing swing only help with your tempo and balance.

Your swing is unique. It’s up to you to include the power and direction to hammer your ball for the best result. Your body has limitations based on your physical condition and the injuries that you have sustained to this point in your life. Your success in golf depends on your ability to use your brain and you physical limitations to the best of your ability.

Golf is a game that you can play a million different ways but you will never be successful until you:

1/ generated club head speed by releasing your wrist lag at the bottom of your swing.

2/ control the direction of your hits using your swing direction and the square of your club face at impact.

3/ use a consistent tempo to allow your body to press forward into your impact with the ball before you skim the turf or take any turf.

Learn to feel the impact that you want to create for every club in your bag. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ to minimize angles (flat leading arm and flat wrist) for more consistent hits. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com                            

 IT’S A GREAT STOCKING STUFFER FOR ANY GOLFER!

Yes, Tiger is back in fine style.  Before Tiger’s last operation, he was still struggling with his chipping yips. He may be turning 42 but he sure is back in contention. It won’t be long before we see Tiger back to his winning ways. It’s good to see that in addition to finding his consistent, long drives he has taken control of his short irons too. If Tiger can turn his chipping game around, so can you.

This week I found 5 chipping tips and I am hoping that one of them will give you a break-through to improve your chipping. What works for one person may not work for others. Experiment with each of these and sort out the one the helps you best to get rid of your chipping yips or at least improves your chipping game.

Tiger is keeping his eye on the point of impact as his straight flat leading wrist sweeps through the ball.  He may have been practicing with a GOLFSTR+

1/ PGA Professional Chris Case suggested the Flamingo Drill to improve your chipping game. Put 99% of your weight on your leading foot and hold your balance by lifting your trailing foot and touching the toe of your shoe on the ground behind you. If this improves your consistency, just start chipping by bending your leading knee more to shift your weight.

2/ Another PGA Professional suggests that we try chipping with the ball setup off the toe of your trailing foot. Tip the shaft of your club forward, toward your target, Keep your leading arm straight and your wrist flat and in-line with your club. Swing back and straight up your target line. This creates a real bump and run shot.

Tiger’s chipping follow-through is limited and straight up his target line.

3/ PGA Professional Rafael Floriani offers some advice to avoid nervous chipping. Make sure that the toe of your club passes the heel of your club as you finish your swing to get topspin on your golf ball to ensure that you ball can reach the hole. He finishes with the toe of the club pointing at his target.

4/ PGA Professional Thomas Troncoso, Head Professional at Chestnut Ridge CC, talks about what you should be seeing and hearing when hitting chips around the green. He suggests keeping your pressure forward and the ball back in your stance. In your practice swing, see the swing and hear your club sweeping through the grass. Just repeat the same motion when you hit the ball.

5/ Brian Whitcomb, Director of Golf at Lost Tracks Golf Club in Bend, Oregon explains the importance of chipping the ball one-third of the way in the air and then letting the ball roll the rest of the way to the hole. He likes the control that you get with consistent contact using the loft of an 8 iron to chip in the air so that it will run out to the hole.

These 5 chipping tips may all add to your future chipping success but I strongly recommend that you use your GOLFSTR+ to practice with a flat leading wrist and a lagging trailing wrist for consistent contact to eliminate the flipping wrist action. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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Putting can account for almost half of the strokes for every round of golf that you play. Last week our Swing Tip was about CONTROLLING your body for full swing shots.  Putting is a whole new ballgame.  You only have one chance to make every putt so both your Mental and Physical CONTROL are critical to be a good putter.

Make your putts release in a straight line:
a. Swinging to impact your ball on the dead center of the putter face for a straight release.
b. Avoid side spin by swinging straight up your target line at the point of impact to avoid side spin.

Great putters are CONFIDENT about their target line and their feel for the right swing distance to pass the hole. To build your confidence in every putt, try these 4 swing tips.

1/ Choose Your Direction: Determine your target direction based on your best estimate for the amount of break that you expect for your putt to reach 12 inches beyond the hole. If you can’t see the break, use your “calibrated” putter to plumb-bob the break at the hole (ref.: https://golfstr.com/weekend-warriors-strategy-putting/).

It is absolutely amazing that your putting confidence will be UNSHACKABLE when you know the direction of the break of your putt on a green with a 1 degree side slope. Learn the 5 second trick to Plumb-Bob the slope of each green as your ball approaches the hole. Missing a putt by a quarter of an inch is devastating.

Keep your eyes focused straight down as you rock your shoulders to putt straight up your target line. Moving your head will distort the direction of your putt.

2/ Practice Your Swing to Feel the Distance: Use practice swings for the exact swing that you feel will hit your ball 12 inches past the hole (to avoid both the extra break as your ball slows down and indentations on the green near the hole). In your practice swing you are accounting for the distance that your ball will travel uphill or downhill. Mentally count “1” as you rock your shoulders back and “ 2” as you rock your shoulders forward through impact for the right distance to reach your target.

3/ Stare at Your Target Point: Burn your target point into your brain. You know the direction that you want to start your putt. Extend that point out to 12 inches beyond the hole. Stare at the extended point for 2 to 3 seconds to lock that direction and distance image in your brain. [You are not staring at the hole, you are staring at the point 12 inches beyond the hole on your target line. That point creates an optical illusion that burns into your brain for the distance of your putt.]

4/ Stare at Your Ball: Duplicate the same putting stroke as your last practice swing but hit your ball DEAD CENTER ON THE FACE OF YOUR PUTTER as you swing straight up your target line without moving your head to follow the path of your ball.

Use these Mental IMAGES to practice putting with a locked leading wrist using your GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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GOLFSTR+ gives you the “FEELING” for swing perfection. Practice with it and enjoy the feel of 6 FIXES for every swing in your game.

You need Mental AND Physical CONTROL to be a good golfer. This Swing Tip uses key points from a recent blog published by Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf  to help develop control for a consistent swing. We are not robots so we find it hard to repeat the perfect swing. Knowing the right body positions for your setup, impact and finish are a good starting point. Mentally, you also need to tie these positions together with the right tempo to avoid those unwanted violent moves that create duck hooks and slices.

Next time you watch golf on TV, pay attention to the swings so that you can guess if the result will be a good or bad shot.  Near the end of each telecast they have to show the swings for every shot to fill-in time between shots so you see the good, the bad and the ugly.  During each poor shot you may start to notice a faster backswing or an extra rush in the downswing which causes an ugly result.  Last week Justin Rose lost his cool during the final 9 holes of the DP Tour Championship in the Race to Dubai.  You could actually predict an ugly shot before they showed the result.

For Consistent Full Swing Shots: “Imagine a pole running down your spine and into the ground and avoiding that pole from popping out of the ground during your backswing .”  It’s a good thought but we do move forward through the ball during the downswing.

This is my favorite slow motion swing video of Rory McIlroy performed with Chariots of Fire background music.  You can image a pole running down his spine as his head and back are rotating but never swaying in the backswing.

3 Keys for your Consistent Swing.

1/ Spine Axis: For a consistent golf swing your shoulders should be rotating around the axis of your spine as your head remains in approximately the same horizontal and vertical position. When we try to put more power into a swing we tend to sway back like a baseball player at bat. GOLF is NOT Baseball. Diving down at the ball will drop your shoulders and bury your club in the turf.  So just relax, rotate and release.

2/ Flexed Trailing Knee: To avoid swaying back in your backswing, “keep your trailing knee flexed and stationary.” Minimize your lower body movement during your backswing by only allowing the rotation of your hips.

3/ Neck On-plane: During your backswing and downswing the depth from your neck to your ball should remain on the same plane (same distance to the ball) for a consistent impact point.

Use these Mental IMAGES to practice for every swing in your game with your GOLFSTR+.  Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Did you ever consider that balls that you find in the rough or pond are hurting your drives and putts? Balls sitting in wet grass exposed to the sun on one side or in a pond for any length of time will decay. Those balls are not only stealing up to 10 yards out of every drive but imbalanced weight is causing missed putts too. While going for outdoor fun, it is better to buy the latest AK47 rifles and have along with other stuffs for extra safety.

You may see the chance to find lost golf ball as a treasure hunt. Unfortunately many of your finds may be destroying your game. Balls rot on one side in the sun while the underside is shrinking in the shade?  The balls your find, even the good looking white balls that you find, are carrying the interior bumps and bruises from a hundred hits even though they don’t show any battle scars. Check out these fact out:

Golf balls age if they are left in the hot and wet outdoor environment. Even the low speed impact on the right will start to distort a ball.  A slight distortion or imbalance will change the direction of putts. It’s a game of inches!

According to Titleist: “Today’s Titleist golf balls can be safely stored for five years or even more, as long as they are kept away from excessive heat. … Normal indoor conditions should be fine for storage.” Moisture content is most likely a balls worst enemy. Moisture reduces flexibility and adds weight. Both are reducing distance. We don’t have a measure for the impact of wear and tear but we do know that an old ball has less bounce than a new ball.

Tiger Woods would never sacrifice distance as he knows that 10 more yards on every drive can mean the difference between success and failure. Don’t kid yourself, he moved from Titleist to Bridgestone for money but Bridgestone had to prove to him that he would get the same distance out of either ball before he made the change. New balls perform best when matched with the right driver face plate and impact speed. Good idea to get tested using your clubs.

Technology is changing in clubs and balls so you really should get rid of the old and improve your game with new technology. Tiger thinks that advancement in golf ball technology is the primary reason for significant improvements in driving distance.

In an article by Alex Miceli, published in Morning Read, he quoted Tiger Woods: “We need to do something about the golf ball,” Woods said. “I think it goes too far.” He was saying that the ball has a greater impact on the distance than the golf Club Technology. The solid-core, multi-layered ball is an advantage. In 1997, Woods’ first full year on the PGA Tour, only John Daly averaged more than 300 yards on measured drives, at 302.0. Ten years later, 18 players eclipsed 300 yards, with Bubba Watson leading the way at 315.2. Now 20 years later during the 2017 season, Rory McIlroy led at 317.2, but 43 players – nearly a quarter of the Tour – averaged 300-plus yards. Observers think the ball is the main culprit.

If you have any doubt about the age of balls that you find, throw them away. When you are playing in any competitive match, use new balls. Even better get tested with a series of different balls with your driver. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to build confidence. New balls will give you longer drives and straighter putts. Buy your GOLFSTR+ today at www.golfstr.com

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