Swing Solutions

Sand Traps have always been a mystery to many of us because they are always changing: wet, dry, fluffy, hard. They change with the course and the weather as they dry out. Then you have lies that are uphill, downhill, sitting in a foot print, “fried egg” or buried in the overhanging edge. I was glad to see that Golf Digest recently gave us a simple set of rules to escape the 2 types of sand.
• Type A: Deep, soft, dry sand
• Type B: Shallow, firm, wet sand

Type A Sand: In soft fluffy sand it is very easy to take too much sand and leave the ball in the bunker. Bounce is your best friend here. You need to be able to make a full swing without the fear of digging deep into the sand. Here are a few tips to maximize the amount of effective bounce at impact (for righties).

• Stand with your ball forward of center
• Wiggle your feet down for stability and compensate for depth by gripping down.
• Take an open stance (toes lined-up left) and club face open (edge lined up right of target)
• Hands even or slightly behind the ball at address
• Full follow through with the club face pointing at the sky and take sand before and after the ball.

Type B Sand: Firm sand or shallow sand does not allow for the club to dig very much. Thus, it is very easy for the club to bounce right off the sand at impact and hit the middle of the ball, sending it to unknown territory.
• Line up your ball in the middle of your stance.
• Club face square to your target.
• Hands even or slightly forward of ball.
• Finish your swing with a short, low follow through.
• For green side shots you still need to take sand before and after the ball (but a lot less in firm sand).

Old Sand Tip: Swing to lift the sand, your ball and an imaginary quarter sitting beyond your ball.

Other sand tips include using a Gap Wedge or Pitching Wedge for longer shots where you take less sand or a clean hit by impacting the ball first. Using a longer club is no advantage if you hit the bunker lip on your way out. Buried in the overhang? Pound your sand wedge directly into the bottom of the ball to pop it up & out or you should take an unplayable penalty with a drop in the trap if the top edge is overhanging.

COMMON SENSE PREVAILS from the Golf Gods: Rules of Golf Update, January 1 2017

On a green if a ball is accidently moved by a practice swing, a kick, a drop of a ball marker or the pickup of a ball marker by any player, the ball is replaced and there is NO stroke penalty.

On the green if your ball is move by wind or rain or gravity, you must play the ball as it lies and there is NO stroke penalty.

On the fairway, rough or bunker (anywhere off the green or teeing surface) if a ball is moved by activity of the player, the ball is replaced and the player gets a ONE stroke penalty.

On the teeing surface if a ball is moved by mistake (during the setup or practice swing) it can be replaced WITHOUT penalty.

Practice makes perfect with GOLFSTR+ in bunkers too. Your leading wrist stays flat throughout your follow through. No SCOOPING. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

 

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We play this game for personal fulfillment and self-gratification. It feels so good to hit that perfect drive and then landing it where you planned to hit it. The correct club face impact is critical for the perfect climax that we all want. Watching the motion on Tiger’s driver in super slow motion at the point of impact (during the Hero World Challenge Tournament) helped me discover the importance of finding the “G” Spot. Passionate golfers will be pleased to hear that the “G” stands for Great Spot.

A Great drive keeps you out of the rough and long enough to simplify your next shorter shot into the green. It makes this game so easy. It gives you the confidence that your next hit into the green will be a winner. These 3 observations are so important for the right club face impact.

1/ In super slow motion I saw Tiger’s ball flatten as the driver face rotated along its horizontal axis. The impact on the top half of the club face allowed the face to actually bend backwards (about 5 degrees) to increase the launch angle (before it snapped back to its original position). I could not tell if the flexibility came from the shaft or the head of the club but it sure highlighted the need to impact your ball on the topside of the center line of your club face. That’s the “G” Spot. By the way the climax of that drive was spectacular and long.

2/ In a recent blog, Hank Haney also pointed out that recreational golfers revert to their 3 wood for more consistent hits when their driver is not working. He stated that “higher loft give you more control. But, losing the distance from your driver is a big mistake.”  Impact above the centerline of your driver club face will give you more loft (as stated in point #1).  What he did not mention was that the recreational golfer may by impacting their driver below the “G” Spot. Impact on the bottom half of the face may be dropping the face angle, adding to their top spin and killing their distance.

3/ Tiger is most likely using stiff shafted clubs. If his club face flexes up at impact, can you image what your regular flex or senior flex graphite shaft is doing? After I hit a series of good drives my mind gets revved up. I tend to rotate my hips too early, pull my driver into my body and impacting my ball on the outer part of the club face. That torque on the outer part of the club face launching my ball well to the right of my target line and normally into trouble. That’s another problem we all need to avoid.

Practice your swing with GOLFSTR+ and spray your driver club face with Dr Scholl’s Foot Power to see the point of impact on your driver face. Tiger Woods has found the G-Spot and you should too.

Christmas Discount:   For a 15% discount Use Coupon Code:   Xmas16.    Buy your GOLFSTR+ today or buy this wonderful Christmas Gift at www.golfstr.com

 

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We can all swing a golf club but are you aware that a few minor adjustments can change your game forever?  Why not shake your game up and lower your scores. That’s exactly why you may want to take a golf lesson to discover simple changes. Another option could be in these tips. Each one was published by a professional golfer to tweak their game. I’m hoping that a few of these will light up your game .

1. For longer drives, keep your head behind the ball at impact as you swing from the inside with more power through the ball.

2. Focus on the words LAUNCH for drives and POWER for fairway shots. LAUNCH your drives as you swing up and POWER your fairway swing through your ball as you graze the turf after impact.

3. Golf Digest Tips to eliminate Yips in putting and chipping: Great idea to get rid of this problem is to practice by letting go of your club with the tailing hand at impact. This forces your leading hand to accelerate through the ball to finish your body rotation and swing.

4. If you can’t hit the turf after the ball with your iron shots, try positioning your ball slightly back of the center line in your stance. This will de-loft your club, give you more distance and add power when you swing down through the ball and then the turf.

5. The #1 page searched on the GOLFSTR website is: “Swing with your chest first for distance” [Click to check it out].  Just start your downswing by rotating your chest and leading hip. Relax your swing to improve your release sequence.

6. You can’t generate maximum power if you don’t turn your shoulders in your backswing. If your shoulder turn is limited make sure that you create a 90 degree wrist cock (with your flat leading wrist), hold this lag position at the start of your downswing and release through the ball. It creates amazing straight shots.

7. Confidence is only built by what you put into your game. If you have a problem swing with a specific club then work on it at the driving range. Use your GOLFSTR+ to practice until you hone in on the right swing. Lock in the feeling of that perfect swing and then take that FEELING with you to the golf course.

8. How can a scrawny kid hit a ball over 240 yards? It’s not his strength. It’s timing! Hold your wrist lag as you start your downswing and whip your wrists through impact. Whipping the head of your club to cause a whooshing sound is definitely creating more speed and power and distance.

9. Club head speed is only part of the equation for your consistent swing success. A square club face impact by driving through the ball will minimize the top or side spin which is killing your shots.

10. Practice with your GOLSTR+  for every swing in your game. Learn to control your straight leading elbow, your flat leading wrist in putting and chipping, your limited lag in your trailing wrist for chipping and lag for power. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

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If you treat your round of golf as a game against YOURSELF, you can win every time. Your environment and your golfing partners are not your competition. Golf is an individual game where you are totally in control of the outcome. You control every shot so it’s up to you to not let others or your environment control your game.   So set your mind to control your game and to make every shot an improvement over the last one.

First you need to understand why hazards attract balls? Actually they don’t but it appears that they do. When you start worrying about a hazard, your body starts to tighten up and your muscles shorten your arms. You can aim away from the hazard but your tight and shortened arms may still top or toe the ball into the hazard. Your tight grip may also close the face of the club so that you pull the shot into the rough on the other side of the fairway. Don’t let this happen!

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR MIND TO WIN AGAINST YOURSELF: A tense body will destroy your swing. Recognizing this will allow you to free yourself from your golf demons. A lose grip and relaxed swing will win every time. Don’t rush your swing. Let your club accelerate from the transition to create your power.

I recently saw a blog by Golf Info Guide sponsored by Thomas Golf which described a plan to help you win against yourself. They broke the game down into 3 areas: Tee Shot, Approach Shots and Patience.

 

Tee Shots
-These are your longest shots so set yourself up to allow your normal draw or fad to land in the fairway.
-Avoid penalties such as Out of Bounds (white stakes), water hazards or a fairway bunker.
-Decide on the best location to approach the green and plan your shots for the best approach to avoid bunkers and heavy ruff.

Fairway Shots
-For long approach shots, hit short of green side bunkers or to the easiest approach side of the green.
-Club selection, alignment and distance are all critical. Take a practice swing to get the right swing feel.
-When hitting for the green remember: LOW SIDE WINS.  Hitting the center of the green is always a good shot but putting with speed from below the hole is always easier than putting downhill.

Patience
-One mistake or missed swing can cause the next mistake. So don’t rush your next shot.
-Get over it. You can save a lot of strokes if you just slow down and prepare for your next shot.
– Recover from a mistake. Change your club and go through a methodical lineup for your next hit.

Getting uptight will ruin your game. Decide that you are playing against your inner self. Ben Hogan said that “the most important shot in golf is your next one”. No matter whatever you did on your last shot, look at your next shot as a challenge to ensure that you avoid potential problems to cut strokes.

If you control your mind and temperament, you can save many shots in every round. Missed shots will happen, BUT DON’T WASTE THE NEXT ONE. Accept your punishment and put your next shot in a great position to improve your chances to land on the green for your next shot.

Work on improving your mind control and making a perfect swing with every club. Practice with GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing fixes and enjoy your next round of golf. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

 

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To consistently hit a golf ball there is only one Golden Rule: The distance from your shoulders to the ball at address must be identical at impact. That is why repetition of a simple consistent swing is the only way to improve your game. Unfortunately our minds and our flexibility continue to change throughout each game of golf. Adrenalin, extraneous thoughts, aching muscles, energy release from food and the ever changing turf & conditions of the golf course are fighting against your success.

To solve these problems I found a few ideas that you may want to consider:

1/ Mike Bender, a Golf Digest Top 5 Teacher and 2009 PGA Teacher of the Year, has used the secrets he learned from his “robot golfer” to transform the games of multiple PGA Tour Champions like Zach Johnson and Jonathan Byrd. He uses a swing plane board to train for a consistent single plane takeaway and the identical return to the ball. Unfortunately most of us are not designed to swing in a single plane like Iron Byron (the machine that tests golf balls) and the amazing Moe Norman.

We can’t swing or think like a “robot golfer” because the human body has so many moving parts. Power comes from our legs, hip rotation, shoulder rotation and the whipping action from our arm and wrist release. Even Mike Bender adapts the swing into 2 planes: one plane below his shoulders and another above his shoulders. The one thing that we should take away from Mike’s approach is that a simple consistent straight leading arm swing is the only way to hit the perfect shot every time.

2/ Bryson DeChambeau is a new PGA Professional using irons which are all cut to the same length. You still need to learn to use a longer shafted driver and fairway metals for more distance so this approach is not a complete solution. Adopting his concept would force you to reinvent your game and to pay for a pretty expensive specialty set of clubs.

3/ Straight Arm Swing:  We are already accounting for the distance from our shoulders to the ball in our setup using conventional clubs. After we adjust each setup for each hit with the right club selection, grip and stance, we really do need to swing with a similar motion to hit our drives, fairway shots and approach shots. Rotation of your hips, shoulders and straight leading arm, while holding you head in the same position, is the key to your consistent impact with the ball. Rory McIlroy does it so well.

Real progress comes from repetition without adding extra movement during your swing.  Of course there is a weight shift back and then a hip bump in the transition as your weight shifts forward to your leading leg in your downswing. You need to practice the correct straight leading arm motion for the takeaway, backswing (with wrist lag) and downswing (wrist release). Consistency is the key to success. Use an athletic, balanced setup with a straight leading arm. Maintaining the same knee flex and spine angle throughout the rotation of your backswing and down swing with a straight leading arm will create the consistent distance to your ball.

If you are bending your leading arm during the backswing and downswing, you will just add to the complexity of your swing. Timing the return to a straight arm at the point of impact is a problem that you don’t need.

Improve your swing by practicing with GOLFSTR+ to keep you leading arm straight and your leading wrist flat for more consistency. Buy one on line at www.golfstr.com

We all want to drive for more distance. Unfortunately golf is not our day job. As a recreational golfer you should accept the fact that you are not hitting thousands of golf balls every week like the pros.  Why try to hit a ball 325 yards like Dustin Johnson? Be realistic about the priorities for your game.  Shorter hits with fewer mishits will lower your score every day.

In this Swing Tip I’m comparing the comments of Hank Haney and Colin Montgomery.

Hank encourages us to swing faster and Colin never encourages amateurs to swing faster. We all play golf at different levels but recreational golfers have different goals than the pros. The pros play a game of distance and precision but we should strive for a game of consistency.

The pros have built their bodies to be hitting machines and their brains to be in a trance for every perfect swing. We recreational golfers rush from our busy lives, warm up on the range, putt a few balls and then rush to the first tee to share good times with our friends. Then the crisis begins. We seem to transform into strange beings (like the Incredible Hulk) when we step up to the ball. Our muscles tighten, our focus sharpens and our minds try to let loose a John Daly swing as our ball spins out of control into Never-Never-Land.

Ultimately the best solution is to let your club do the work as your hips shift then your shoulders, arms and wrists release through the ball to a balanced finish. If you can’t swing to a balanced finish, you are swinging too hard. You need to swing with a tension free rhythm as you let your club whip through impact with the ball.

I wanted to share a Golf Channel lesson by World Golf Hall of Famer, Colin Montgomerie, with his best advice for amateurs to hit better drives. He said: “Have I ever told an amateur to quicken up his swing? Never! I’ve only told an amateur to slow down. A slow swing with a driver is a good one. A fast swing is all over the place.” He continues by explaining that you just swing through the ball. You need a full follow through and a balanced finish. Avoid putting all of your energy into the down swing. It only creates inconsistency in your swing. The power comes from the whip of your wrists at the bottom of your swing.

Hank Haney is now promoting a product which helps you learn to swing faster. It actually helps you learn to whip the club with your wrist at the bottom of the swing. Your arms don’t really have to move any faster. Just relax your muscles and loosen your grip. All of the club head speed comes from your wrists releasing the weight of the club at the bottom of your swing.

Practices by letting your club do the work. Use GOLFSTR+ to remind you to keep your leading arm straight during the backswing and downswing with a reasonable pass. Let your wrist do the real work to create the whooshing noise as your club crushes the ball.  GOLFSTR+ is a great Christmas gift for any golfer.  It give them 6 training aids in 1 Gift Pack.  Buy some today: www.golfstr.com

You may have seen this offer in GOLF TIPS MAGAZINE:

Hitting a shot fat or thin is one of the worst feelings in golf. You know that you can make the shot but your body tenses up at times and you chunk the shot 5 feet or you blade it 30 feet over the green. Why is this happening when you feel so confident and you know that you can easily make the shot?

You may want to break your club in half after missing such an easy shot but choking down on a lower loft club is a much better idea. Hank Haney recently pointed out that choking down on a club will rob you of distance but he also pointed out that it will give you more accuracy and consistency.

 

If you are trying to run your shot up on a green because there are no traps in the way, a great plan is to choose a less lofted club and CHOKE DOWN ON IT. Directional accuracy and the feel for distance are so important when you want to get your shot close to the pin especially if you are under pressure and you want to avoid a chunked shot. A sweeping swing (like a putting swing) definitely gives you more control of your club for consistent impact with your ball. Keep your leading wrist flat and your leading elbow straight. Focus on distance and hitting the ball in the center of your club face.

 

Set Your Plan
1/ Use different clubs from your hybrid to your putter to learn your comfort level with each club.
2/ Sort out the clubs you like for chipping and hone in on 2 or 3 clubs where you feel you have your best control.
3/ Don’t forget to choke down on your longer clubs when you use them like a putter.
4/ You have to learn how much lift and run each of your favorite chipping clubs will give you.
5/ Practice with GOLFSTR+ to keep your leading wrist flat when hitting over short cut grass for hits up to 30 yards.
6/ For every shot you are faced with height, slope and surface changes (that will kick you ball one way or another), practice with your favorite chipping clubs to know what to expect.

GOLFSTR+ is a great Christmas Gift for any golfer. It gives them 6 Swing Fixes in 1 Training Aid.  Now being shipped in a gift pack for all purchases through the end of 2016. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Have you ever mishit a shot and instantly said to yourself that you should’a, would’a, could’a? Golf is a thinking person’s game. If you have played golf for any length of time, you will know exactly what you should have done to create the perfect shot. Wouldn’t it be better to have thought out the shot that you wanted and committed to a setup and swing thought to make it happen?

Hank Haney said that every pro has a swing thought based on his or her big miss. They know what they are trying to correct for any wind condition, pitch, draw or fade that they are trying to achieve.

You can’t play this game well without thinking through the shot, deciding on your landing position, deciding on the direction of your backswing and the execution of your down and follow through. Don’t listen to the CRAZIES who tell you to block out all thoughts and just swing. You really should take a practice swing to feel the shot that you are about to take. Then you can relax your body and mind and hit the shot that you want.

Examples of the Thought Process for Each Type of Swing

1/ Driving off the Flat of the Tee Box: You know if your natural swing creates a draw or a fade. Determine your landing area and then setup to create your normal swing with a controlled backswing and follow-through to launch your ball for distance.

2/ Fairway Shots: Know your distance, choose your club depending on the wind and then sort out your swing and grip based on the flat or the slope or side tilt of the ground where you are standing. Your setup to compensate for the resulting direction of the ball is key for your success. Even more important is the adjustment that you make with your grip (up or down on your club to compensate for ground height) and the position of the ball in your stance for a clean hit off the imperfect surface.

3/ Hitting out of the Rough: If your ball is lying down in the rough you have no choice but to accept that fact that you are going to “take your medicine”. You should choose and iron to get out of the rough and back on the fairway. Forget making it to the green with a once in a lifetime shot. Make sure that you land your ball in a location where you can make the perfect shot to land your following shot close to the pin. Hank Haney advises that you open your stance, position the ball a bit forward of center in your stance and swing with a more downward direction for a “cut shot”. Minimize the amount of grass that you hit before connecting with the ball by cutting down and through the ball. It won’t fly as far but it can get you out of trouble.
Note: Hitting a draw shot out of the rough is very difficult as it required that you place the ball back in your stance and swing from the inside to out. You are bound to hit some tall grass before the ball and spoil your shot. Don’t try for the miracle shot. Take your medicine and get out of the rough.

4/ Short Grass Putting Stroke: When you are within 30 yards of the hole, with a lie in short grass and no hazards in front of you, use any club that you feel comfortable with and putt it. Yes, use a putting stroke with a locked leading wrist to avoid fat or thin hits.  Just swing like a pendulum with a fixed distance from your shoulders to the ball. There is no need to cock your wrists in the back swing. Just learn to hit with any club to gain confidence in the distance that you will hit through the air and the distance in roll out on the green.

Practice each of these shots and learn the right technique with GOLFSTR+ for drives, chipping, putting, pitching and lag training for more power. A great Christmas Gift for any golfer, delivered now through the end of 2016 in a gift pack. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

If you are working on more distance, but your scores are going up, you may want to change your strategy to hitting more fairways and greens. I was surprised to see a great article by Peter Sanders recently in a GOLFWRX Blog that attempted to explain Jordan Spieth’s recent lack of success in winning the Tour Championship. After a very successful 2015, Jordan declared that he wanted to get more distance out of his drives in 2016. This turned out to be a problem for him and may be a much bigger problem for you.

 

This is a YouTube video of Jordon Spieth during 2015 when he rose to the Number 1 Golf Ranking in the World.  Control of his drives turned out to be a primary contributor to his success. 

In 2016 he is averaging longer drives but it is not paying off.

Jordan’s average driving distance increased in 2016 but his consistency and accuracy dropped. Sanders summarized how Jordan was 12 strokes off the lead in the FedEx Tour Championship. His drives were putting him in more problem areas so he lost strokes to the leaders in his Approach to the Green and Around the Green. His drives in 2016 were averaging 299 yards (17 yards further than in 2015) but his accuracy for fairways hit dropped from 64% to 50%.

If you are hitting your drives further but they are landing in the rough, on uneven ground or behind low hanging limbs you have to scramble to hit the green on your next shot. Hitting longer drives, especially for the recreational golfer, is not the best solution to lower your scores.

NOTE: Recently the Long Drive Championships were shown on the Golf Channel. Most of the contestants missed the fairway in about 75% of their attempts. Now you can understand why these guys are not on the pro circuit. In the game of golf long bombs in the rough will kill your game. The harder you swing the higher the odds are that you will be playing your next shot from the rough.

Strategic Golf Will Cut 10 or more strokes Off Your Game
1/ Determine the swing speed for your driver which will allow you to finish in balance and holding your finish to watch your ball flight.
2/ Focus on a driver swing to LAUNCH your ball with a consistent controlled draw or fade by hitting in the upper center of the face of your club. Think of Dustin Johnson’s power when he unloads and launches his club from the inside to outside but limit your power to land it in the fairway.
3/ Hitting short of a hazard or sand trap is a safe option if you want to cut strokes. Reduce the risk and lower your score.
4/ When you are within 30 yards of the hole in the fairway or short rough, practice pitching or chipping using your clubs like a putting swing (with your shoulders and not your wrists) to get within 1 putt of the hole.

Are you breaking 90 on every round of golf? Use these tips to play bogey golf along with some pars to shoot in the 80’s. Breaking 100 is nice, breaking 90 is fun and breaking 80 is the wonderful feeling that we all strive for.

For every swing in your game you may need help to Swing Like a Pro.  Buy a GOLFSTR+ for 6 swing solutions at www.golfstr.com

The following article was published in September 2016,

EDITOR’S PICKS, by Vic Williams  GOLF TIPS MAGAZINE:

“Bill Curry had had enough. Three decades of marginal golf had seeped into his soul and threatened his love for the game, so he got a lesson and discovered the biggest bugaboo in his swing: A bent left arm going back, which robbed him of power and caused a decided out-to-in motion. Simple, right? And common, too. But discovery and maintenance are two different things. Curry couldn’t cure that swing fault on his own so he set out to design a training aid that would remind him to keep his leading arm straight and knock strokes off his card.

Three years later he had GOLFSTR — a small, curved, clear plastic device with one end bent at a roughly 30 degree angle. By strapping it to his lower forearm with the bent end pushing against his upper bicep, he got immediate feedback when the arm broke down. The improvement was immediate and gratifying.

But that’s not the end of the story. Once Curry put GOLFSTR into production and showed it to a few teaching pros, they almost immediately came up with five more swing-straightening functions, simply by switching arms, changing positions on either arm and altering the direction of the bent end inward or outward. For instance, by moving GOLFSTR to the trailing bicep and placing the end just below the elbow, you’ll achieve a perfect 90-degree “lag” angle going back. Move it further down the same arm and the bent end will prevent too much wrist break during full shot and chip shot takeaway, while the same set-up on the leading arm (with the end bent outward instead of inward) will prevent that nasty “flip” in the chip or pitch follow-through — with the same stable-wrist effect for putting practice, too.

Our favorite is the 90-degree lag set-up (#6 in the image), but testing found us strike the ball with more accuracy and consistency through the bag. And we love the fact that it’ll fit in a trouser pocket, and that it comes with a removable and versatile rubber tip that helps solidify contact between gadget and arm or wrist. Now GOLFSTR has attracted the notice of some big-name teachers, and rightly so. It’s a winner.”

Post Script:   GOLF TIPS MAGAZINE is a great one for you to consider a subscription as it really does give you a lot of great tips.

GOLFSTR+ is a great Christmas present @ $29.99 for every golfer on your list.  With 6 swing fixes, every golfer needs one.   From now until the end of 2016 every order for 2 or more GOLFSTR Training Aids will be sent in Retail Packs.  Email sales@golfstr.com for discounts of up to 40% for orders of up to 8 of these amazing training aids.    Buy now at  www.golfstr.com