Tips

Putting

This is the part of the game that makes or ruins good rounds of golf. The truth is that you can be a great striker of the golf ball and play some good golf, but you can never be a great golfer unless you are a great putter. There should no fear in your putting, just let it go and do not try to steer it.

Putting Tips:

Frankly it doesn't matter how you grip the putter as long as it's comfortable to you and you do it exactly the same way every single time. However there are some basics that I would like you to consider and they are:

It is best if you have both thumbs on the square or flat part of the putter grip.
Keep the grip pressure as light as possible, a tight grip will not allow a fluid stroke of the ball.
I like the idea that your arms hang down in one straight line from your shoulders, I am not a big proponent of the chicken wing, arms bent, style of putting as it brings in more working parts to the swing that can go wrong.

Your Stance:

There are many and varied ways of addressing your putting stance and over time you will probably change yours to one that is uniquely yours, however to start I would like you to follow the following:

Your feet, hips and shoulders should be parallel to the intended target line
To find the correct position from which to play the ball, try the following exercise: Take your normal putting position and get a friend to hold a golf ball next to your eye and let it drop to the ground, make sure to note exactly where it hits the ground. That's where your ball should be placed since that is directly under your eyes.
Once you have confirmed where your ball should be placed, you will be able to determine that distance by using the blade of your putter. Simply place the blade at the end of your toe, pointing towards the ball and it might be one putter blade length, two or maybe one and a half, but you now have the knowledge so that you can ensure your ball is always in the correct position every time.
There are two schools of thought about the path that the putter should travel backwards and forwards along. One way is keeping the putter blade square in both directions of the swing of the club. The other way is that the putter will slightly open on the way back and close on the way through the shot. I will not make a recommendation on this as I think it's best for you to feel how it works for you. I suggest that you try both methods and get to feel which way you feel most comfortable with. One way that you can tell which method suits you best is by standing in your putting stance, but with your forehead against the wall and then swing your putter along the wall too. If you are an "in to out putter" you will see that the putter will be slightly away from the wall at the end of the back and forward strokes. If you are a "blade square" putter, the putter will stay against the wall going backwards and forwards.

The Swing:

Putting is all about swinging the putter through the ball (not hitting the putt) and making your best effort to make it "stress free." Remember, it's only a putt. If you miss it, so what? It's not the end of the world. It's just a putt.

The best putters in the world have "soft hands‚" meaning that they place their hands on the putter, they don't grip it.
Swing the putter like a pendulum backwards and forwards the exact same distance, but making sure that there is a slight acceleration as you smoothly stroke the ball on your intended line. Use your shoulders as the center of the pendulum and swing the putter using your shoulder and chest, do not use your hands.
Here's something that I have used personally for years in helping me to keep my putts on the correct line. When you are addressing the ball, try to imagine a red or white line going on the intended target line from behind your ball, then going under the ball and continuing through on the intended target line. Then when you are ready to putt, bring the club back with the center of the putter dissecting the target line and staying that way on the forward motion until you complete the putt, and then hold your finish until the ball goes in the hole.

Reading Putts:

Reading putts is one of the big differentiators in whether you can become a great golfer or not. Hey, if it were easy, everyone would be able to do it! The truth is that most amateur golfers tend to under-read the break on a putt. Next time you go out to play, add a half more break than you think and see what results you have with you putting stats.

Short Game

Chipping and Pitching

I will make you a promise: if you work hard on this area of your game, it will bring your handicap down quicker than any other. These are the stroke savers that will enable you to get "up and down" better than any other way I know.

So let's start with the difference between a pitch and a chip shot:

A pitch is a shot that has about 2/3 air time and 1/3 roll on the ground.
A chip is a shot that has about 1/3 air time and 2/3 roll on the ground.

A pitch is the shot you would use around the greens when you might have to go over a mound, some uneven ground, or maybe over a bunker and then require the ball to stop reasonably quickly. The truth is that this is not the easiest of shots to play and it does take a great deal of practice to get right. Each shot is different and has different issues, problems, and opportunities. For instance, if the ball is in the rough and has settled down so that it's difficult to "get the club on the ball‚" it greatly enhances the degree of difficulty of pulling off the shot. But if you have a reasonable lie, and if you follow the following technique it will dramatically improve your chances of success and hit a great pitch.

There are some fundamentals that if you get them right will greatly enhance the probability of your making a great pitch, and they are:

Make sure that you get as much of the face of the golf club on the ball as possible. To do this you should play the ball slightly further back in your stance towards your right heel (for right-handers). The further back in your stance that you play the ball, the less air time you will get and more roll. That's why it's so important to practice this shot and really understand what happens to your shots when you change the ball position.
It's also really important to make sure you understand where to emphasize your weight during the pitch shot. You must put more weight on your front, or leading, foot as this will encourage a downward swing path and enable you to get more club face on the ball, thus increasing the chances of getting solid contact.
Also, to increase the odds of hitting the ball solidly, you should move the grip end of the club towards the target. Because you have moved the ball back in your stance and put most of your weight on your left foot (for right-handers) make sure to move the handle of the club slightly in front of your belt buckle. Effectively your hands will now be ahead of the club face, and they should stay that way throughout the shot. Don't let the club head get in front of your hands!
When you swing for a pitch, you should ideally use a similar tempo to your putting stroke, ensuring that you increase momentum as your club approaches the ball. Practice the feeling of picking the club a little more vertically than you would normally. This will increase the angle of attack to the ball and create a "U" shape shot which will help get the ball in the air quickly and impart some spin to get it to stop where you want it to.
Finally, try to make sure that the club face does not turn over as it would in a full shot. When you practice, make sure that you work on keeping the palm of your right hand (for right-handers) facing the target line throughout the shot and watch the club hit the ball!

To chip the ball well also takes a lot of practice and in reality the shots are very similar, but with some subtle differences:

The ball should be positioned slightly back of center and the grip end of the club should be on the crease of your left pant leg. You must open your stance a little, in other words (for right-handers) bring your left foot back away from the intended target line and slightly point your toe towards the target. This will open your hips to a place that is similar to the finish position of a regular golf shot.
Your weight should be very firmly on your front foot.
When you swing the club back you should take it back as you would in a putting stroke and then increase momentum as the club goes through the hitting area keeping your hands ahead of the club face with your arms and hands in a locked solid position so that your upper body will rotate through the shot.

150 Yards

When you have managed to get your game into reasonable shape and you have managed to get a handicap or consistently score reasonably well, you will be looking for ways to start shaving strokes off your game. I can tell you from many years of experience that this is where you can make up some serious ground and increase your lead on the competition.

From 150 yards, you have to think your way to the hole before you try to make a shot. You have to really study the circumstance and the surroundings. Your mindset should be that you have a good chance to get in the hole in two strokes. For those of you who are starting out, this is also a great opportunity for you to lower your score. The things that you should take into consideration are:

Look at the lie you have. Is the ball in the fairway, the first cut, or in the rough? Each of these lies will play a part in the shot that you will be required to play. For instance, in the fairway you will be able to impart spin on the ball and this means that it should react on the green the way that you want. If your ball is in the first cut of rough, the ball will react in a similar fashion to the fairway, but probably with a little less spin and that means that the chance are that the ball will roll on the green slightly differently. If your ball is in the rough, this dramatically increases the chances of the ball getting stuck in the grass. You may even get what is known as a flyer, when the ball comes out of the grass fast and doesn't stop until it's ready to. The rough makes for a difficult situation so you have to evaluate the risk/reward ratio before you make the shot.
The next thing to do is look at your position as it relates to the landscape. Are you on a flat surface, a downhill, uphill or side lie? Once again, all of these positions will require a different set up to make the best shot.
How is the approach to the green? Is it a flat run in to the green with no bunkers or is it down hill to a small green that slopes away from you? Is the green heavily bunkered?
Where is the biggest danger? If you make a mistake, would it be better to hit the ball longer rather than shorter? Should you miss on the right rather than the left? Where should you try to get the ball on the green to increase the chances of a successful outcome?
Which way is the wind blowing? This factor alone can make a huge difference on the type of shot you should play and which club you should use.
Once you have decided on the club and type of shot that you are going to play, mentally commit to the shot and just let it go. Trust your swing!

Long Game

There is a saying in golf: "Drive for show and putt for dough" and there is a lot of truth in that. However, given a choice between a three wood or an eight iron for my second shot, I know which club has a better chance of getting me close to the hole. So this is all about swinging the club, getting the best possible contact with the ball to get maximum "hang time" and control that will result in a great shot. Today's golf is all about distance. Yes, the game has changed, giving birth to yet another golf saying: "The woods are full of long ball hitters." Somewhere between these two sayings is the truth.

The priority is to make solid contact between the club and the ball to get maximum distance and control.

If you are one of my students, you know that I am borderline fanatical about getting the fundamentals of your golf swing correct and that means your grip, alignment, stance and posture all have to be correct and work together.

Grip

There are three types of grips and we will decide together which one works best for you. But first things first, remember that the grip on the club is the only thing that connects you to the club, and any movement that your hands make will positively or negatively affect the face position.

The choices of grips for right-handed golfers are:

The baseball grip where the hands are separated.
The overlapping grip where the pinkie of the right hands rests between the index finger and the second finger of the left hand.
The interlocking grip where the pinkie of the right hand goes between the index finger and the second finger of the left hand and the index finger of the left hand goes between the pinkie and the third finger of the right hand.

Grip Position on the Club

There are three positions of grip on the club that will cause different results, and about a thousand variations in between, we will decide what grip position works best for you in our lessons.

First, establish what your natural stance is by standing erect and letting your hands hang down by your side. You will see that your hands actually face inwards, not pointing forward as you would imagine. Let the left hand be your guide, slide the club into your left hand while retaining the same left hand position.
Next, place your right hand on the club so that the palms would be together using the grip that we have determined works best for you.

Alignment

This is all about getting your body, your shoulders, your hips, your feet and most importantly, your club pointing in the right direction. The best way to do this is by imagining a train track running in front of your feet and another track where the club sits on the ground going towards the intended target line. The club itself has to be aimed correctly to give you the best chance of success and you can do that by using the grooves on the club face. They must be exactly 90 degrees towards your intended target line.

Stance

This is all about the position of the ball between your feet. Starting out I would encourage you to position the ball equidistant between your feet, with the club handle directly positioned on your zipper. As you get more proficient you will start experimenting with differing ball positions to get varying results. For instance, if you start moving the ball further back in your stance the result will be a slight lower trajectory shot. And of course the opposite is true if you move the ball further forward.

Posture

Your posture is incredibly important to your golf swing. It is the central focus and the core around which the swing revolves. There are several steps that you should take to get the very best posture for your size, shape, and build. Here are some that help create a great golf swing:

Start from the ground up and your feet should be equally spaced on either side of the ball, shoulder width apart.
Bend your knees very slightly and imagine you are about to sit down in a chair while keeping your back in a vertical position.
These two movements should make you bend from your hips, not your waist, this is very important. To ensure that you are bending in the right position I suggest that you place a club across your hips and slightly push backwards, sticking your butt out.

If you do these three steps, the result should be a natural looking athletic position where your arms are hanging down directly from your shoulders; your back should be straight line from your butt to the back of your head.

I know this all sounds a bit difficult, but in your lessons we will work at making sure that you get the fundamentals right.

The Take Away

To be frank, there are differing opinions as to the best way to initiate the take away of the club. I prefer to work one-on-one with students to determine which method works best for them. But I can tell you that all good swings start the clubface in a squared up position and end up that way at the point of contact. There are many ways of getting it backward and forwards, but the most important is making sure that it returns to the same position it started in. Some schools of thought will tell you that the take away starts with the hands, others will tell you it starts with your shoulders and a different group will tell you that is starts with a slight forward press of the hands or even a slight kick in with the right knee (for right-handers). Again, this will be determined when we work together in your lesson. What I do know is that the first 18 inches of the take away will determine the rest of the swing. That's why the late, great, Canadian golfer, Moe Norman (who was probably one of the greatest ball strikers the golf world has ever witnessed) started his swing about 18 inches back from the ball. His rationale was that if he was in a good position at that point, the rest should be pretty good too.

The Back Swing

There are different ways of completing the back swing and no particular way is correct, although there are some basics that have to work no matter what. For instance some players "bring the club inside" while others take the club back on the target line for as long as possible. My personal preference is to get the big muscles of the shoulders and back to get the club moving backwards, and keep the hands out of the shot.

Top of the Swing

This is where you should be making sure that your club is facing towards the intended target and your left wrist is flat. But most important of all is that you have a pause at the top of your swing. It might not be noticeable to other people, but there very definitely should be a slight pause. And it's from this paused position at the top that you are able to start a down swing that gets the ball airborne and on target.

Down Swing

The best players let the club drop down for the first foot of the downswing from the paused position at the top and gradually increase the club head speed throughout the swing which ends up somewhere between your shoulder and your ear.

Impact Position

At impact your club should be in the square to the target position, the same as it was when you started your backswing. But there is a big change in the position of your hands. Your hands should slightly in front of the ball so that you can impart a more of a descending blow to the ball.

Follow Through

After impact with the ball, your club is traveling through the hitting zone and the most important thing to do is to keep it going down the target line as long as you can. Just let the club release automatically and the force of the swing will make your body rotate through the shot and get to the correct finished position.

Your Head

Probably the biggest misconception that I hear in golf is when players say "keep your head still." The truth is that you cannot keep your head still, and even more, you should move it as you play your shot. One of the greatest golfers of all time, Annika Sorenstam, absolutely moved her head towards target as she hit the ball, so that kind of throws that concept out of the window. Your head will move laterally behind the ball as you load up on your backswing, you can't help it and it should happen if you want to hit a good shot. If you head moves vertically, that's a real problem. Usually if your head is moving upwards it's because of one of two things:

You have changed your spine angle.
You have straightened out your legs from an athletic position.

Finished Position

Your finished position should be with your belt buckle and your right knee pointing towards the target and the sole of your right foot facing directly away from the target. A really good practice drill is to actually get into the finished position and hold it for 30 seconds, balanced and feeling comfortable. Then when you are swinging your club you will know mentally where you have to end up, you will be able to feel the finished position.

Mental Game

They say that the toughest 6 inches in golf is between your ears, and there is a great deal of truth in that. By nature we worry too much about what might happen before it happens and that's why we cannot wait to see the shot we've made before we finish our swing. When this happens it causes all sorts of issues, from the spine changing position to the plane of the swing changing and the arms not being able to release properly.

The golf swing takes about 1.2 seconds so to be honest; there is not a great deal of time to think too many swing thoughts. That's why it's so important to spend your time on the practice range honing your skills, so that when you get to the course all you have to do is swing the club and enjoy the ride.

When your game gets better it usually means that you worry less about what you are doing right and wrong more than you did before you knew what the heck you were doing. The trick is to make sure that you have a somewhat of a "don't care attitude‚" and just let the club go if you want to get the best results. In other word, just trust the swing we've been working on at the range.

Time to Play

All of the practicing on the range has been done and now you're ready to take it to the course.

When you get to the course try to give yourself enough time so that you can hit some balls on the range and stroke some putts on the green to get a feel for the pace of the grass. One of the best ways to warm up is by spending 5 minutes stretching yourself so that you can minimize the chances of pulling a muscle and then take a couple of clubs and grip them as if they were one and swing them backwards and forwards like a heavy weighted club.

Practice your putting by putting from about 15 feet directly to the edge of the green. This will quickly give you a good feel for the pace of the grass that day. Then stroke some putts from 2 feet, 3 feet 4 feet to give you confidence before you go to the course.

Now you are on the first tee, and usually we are all a little nervous, but this is where your practice and training comes in. You have hit this shot many times before. Set up as you know you should, breathe in and out, try to relax your shoulders, then start your back swing and think about getting into the finished posed position. Oh, and enjoy the ride!