While playing golf, surely you have heard someone remark how smooth another player’s swing is. Or perhaps you have felt that your own swing was too quick, resulting in less-than-perfect shots. Many golfers experience frustration because they can’t hit all their clubs consistently — particularly long irons and woods. As the club gets longer, the [...]

A stroke is a stroke. So if you save strokes on the putting green, you’re going to lower your score. You might want to set your goal for 30 putts per 18-hole game. Having only 30 putts is bound to reduce the overall number of strokes per round. Now, let’s see how we can best [...]

It’s no secret that you can’t strike the ball solidly on every shot. But just because you’re a little off with your swing doesn’t mean you can’t score well. You have to get up and down, especially from positions 30 feet or closer around the green. I would like to teach you three shots that [...]

You have an arsenal of chipping weapons in your bag. Learn the characteristics of each possible club that you might be using. Take your PW, 9-iron, 8-iron and 7-iron to the practice green and repeat the same long chip again and again. Memorize the carry and roll characteristics of each tool. Try to hit each [...]

You’ve heard it before: Practice does not make perfect; it makes permanent. Mindlessly practicing your same old swing will not improve it; it will just further instill it into your being. Find one thing that needs improvement in your swing and practice it relentlessly. Do not move on to the next step until you have [...]

Mickey Wright once said, “Putting is a psychology, not a system.” In her book, Play Golf the Wright Way, Mickey said, “To be mechanically perfect isn’t enough–most fine putters are fine putters subconsciously. If you have the feel of what you’re trying to do, then the good points of the putting stroke will take place.” [...]

Ball flight results from the interaction between clubface and ball during the impact interval of the swing, which is three quarters of an inch from start to finish. Logic suggests that we should spend a whole lot of our attention and training getting that right and it’s a bit of a mystery to me why [...]

A very common problem with many putting strokes is ‘deceleration’. This is generally characterized by a long takeaway and a short follow-through. With many golfers this can become quite exaggerated, thus leading to a fruitless stroke that pretty much just ‘baps’ the ball. These golfers try to control the length of the ball’s roll with [...]

One of the common traits of good golfers is their ability to hit any type of shot – high, low, fade, draw – and handle any type of uneven or imperfect lie. Watch a good player work on shot making, and you will see that the swing looks essentially the same. The subtle adjustments that [...]

You have a tee time at 9:00 a.m. You made the tee time a month in advance at your very favorite course. You’ve been looking forward to a game with good friends. Your clubs are clean and you’re ready to play. But now it’s 7:30 a.m. and a few raindrops have fallen. The sky is [...]

Is business and networking happening on the golf course? An actual deal or agreement may not be made on the course, but relationships are made that can lead to a new deal or job opportunity. With some creative thinking, even someone that does not play golf can use the sport as an effective sales tool [...]

Since the life of many double bogeys (and worse) begins with an errant tee shot on a narrow hole, I’d like to examine a couple effective points that can keep the ball in the short grass a lot more often, thus eliminating the need for trouble shots. First order of business in hitting a straight [...]

There is a shot in golf that is so terrifying, so devastating and so completely void of any redeeming quality that most golfers cringe at the slightest hint of its name. Well, the technical term for this mishap that calls to mind images of demons, lost grace and nausea is–a “Shank.” A shank occurs when [...]

Have you ever noticed that on some days the golf ball travels farther than on other days. It might be because you’re striking it more solidly, but it might also be due to the weather. Golf is played in many different types of weather. The type of weather affects how far the ball travels and [...]

It is important not only that you take lessons, but that you understand how to take them and how to get the most from them. You must understand both your responsibilities to the teacher and the teacher’s responsibilities to you. The student’s responsibilities to the teacher include having an open mind. Moreover, understand yourself going [...]

Aiming seems to be one of the most difficult aspects of creating golf shots, yet it is one of the most vital contributions to good performance. Have you noticed how many tour players are using their caddies to assist them in the aiming process? And have you noticed that to do this the caddie stands [...]

The only slice I like is a slice of pizza with thick crust and pepperoni. A slice on the golf course is a recipe for disaster. It makes golf a lot more difficult than it has to be. In order for a ball to slice, the club face has to be open or in the [...]

How do you find the right grip pressure? The goal is a grip that is just tight enough to support the weight of the club throughout the swing. The truth is your grip pressure changes throughout the swing because the effective weight of the golf club changes as it gathers speed. The most important thing, [...]

Solid fundamentals are so important to good golf, and it’s the elements of the set-up that largely determine the success or failure of a shot. Good players pay careful attention to pre-shot basics such as proper aim, grip, posture, ball position and stance. One often overlooked fundamental is grip pressure. To add consistency to your [...]

Learning any motor skill requires practice. I tell all my students that your golf game will only be as good as your practice habits — both mental and physical. Quality practice can be time consuming and complicated, but there are ways to make your time at the practice range efficient and productive. First you must [...]

No matter what your handicap, your takeaway — the first 20 inches your club head travels — should be perfect. You might not have a perfect, Tiger Woods-like full swing (not many do), but since your club is moving so slowly during your takeaway, you don’t have to be big or strong or a scratch [...]

New golfers will at first feel confident about their swings while hitting off a tee. Then they will learn to hit shots when the ball is sitting on the grass. The next step is to have a plan for hitting shots from the uneven lies. There are four basic kinds of hilly lies. The adjustments [...]

No part of the golf swing is more misunderstood than the waggle, the series of movements immediately prior to the takeaway. The waggle helps prepare the body for the motion to follow and is a good transition from thinking about the shot to executing the shot. By incorporating a waggle into your pre-shot routine, you [...]

Are you a golfer who doesn’t consistently hit the ball with the power and distance you feel you are physically capable of producing? Perhaps you aren’t creating the correct angles with the club, hands and arms at the top of your backswing. An incorrect position at the top can be a major power leak. It [...]

Most golfers who are serious about improving their golf games have developed a pre-shot routine. A pre-shot routine helps you relax and prepares your mind and body to play a shot. However, many of those same golfers do not give much thought to what they do after the shot. They should. It is relatively easy [...]

Whether Mother Nature provides hillsides and sharp slopes or not, golf course architects usually design courses to include lots of uneven lies. To master rolling terrain, you must make adjustments to accommodate the uneven lies you are likely to encounter. The slope of the land will definitely affect your impact position. You prepare for this [...]

I bet most golf players know how to beat balls, but don’t know how to get the most out of their practice. Focused, quality practice will help any player play better. Wouldn’t anybody want to get more from practice in less time? How can you practice be more effective without spending more time? The answer [...]

“A good many short putts are missed through nothing less than rank carelessness,” wrote Bobby Jones back in the 1920s. “The thing looks so simple that it is hard to view it seriously.” What was true in the Roaring ’20s, when golf was played in ties and knickers and with hickory-shafted clubs, remains true today. [...]

To hit a bunker shot, use an out-to-in swing with an open clubface. For anyone who plays tennis, it is very similar to a cut shot. To achieve this cutting action, your body and clubface are open in the set-up. First, open your clubface before taking hold of the club. As you hold the club [...]