Tips to Make Golf Enjoyable to All - Guide to Politeness on the Golf Course

Out on the course the other day, we were playing behind a really rude, lousily, foursome and it was truly awful. I am sure they knew better, but just did not care. That said, I thought I would quickly go through a few steps of golf etiquette and what you need to know in order to avoid being labeled as selfish out on the golf course.

Golf is a game of honor. It is easy to cheat at golf, so every player is on his honor. Those who don't play honorably are usually unpopular and will find it hard to get opponents as word soon gets round the club. Golf has its own code of etiquette that everyone should follow and obey. Here are just a few that I try to practice.

When it is your turn to play, be ready. When walking to your ball, make your decision about the club to use, whether you will hit straight or with draw or fade, the line you will take and so on. That way, when you arrive at the ball, you are ready to hit. You don't have to hurry, just be ready and make your play.

The norm is that first shot on any hole goes to the player with the lowest score on the previous hole. If that hole was tied, then the tee goes to the player with the lowest score on the previous hole. If everyone is clear about this, there will be no wasting time deciding who takes the next shot at the next tee. Play it different if you want. Just make sure everyone in your group knows and agrees.

Make sure those in front of you have cleared out of range before you hit. Make sure everyone in your foursome is behind you when you hit. Common courtesy as well as sensible health and safety.

Pay attention to the group behind you. If you are holding them up, let them play through. Some of us play faster than others. Groups that are unaware of others create annoyance and eventually anger at their selfishness.

Take care of the course. Repair your divots. Repair any ball marks. Replace any loose grass or turf in the center of the hole or anywhere there is loose grass. It is the responsibility of every golfer to look after the course.

Remember to rake the sand smooth after you have used the bunkers. Leaving them in a mess for the next group is bad form and selfish.

Park your cart away from the greens, tees, and bunkers. Park on the left side of the green, nearest the next tee.

One thing I see a lot is the people in front of me, are crowding around the hole filling in their score cards, after they have finished the hole. After you have finished a hole, move out the way to mark your score card. Mark your card on the way to the next tee. How hard is that?

These are a few things that will make the game better for all of us.

Want to break through to the next level of golf? Then visit Think and Reach Par for more great golf gifts,golf swing advice, golf grip and stance tips or if you play left handed golf go to Golf for Leftys golf tips to improve your stance, grip and left handed golf swing.

Staying Motivated ...

Crash! The clubs hit the floor in the corner of the changing rooms. Thump! The sound that the golfer made, dropping heavily onto the bench after another bad round. "I am gonna sell those darn clubs and get a new hobby!". The ensuing silence was punctuated only by the others, changing as quietly as they could. They recognised the signs of false discouragement but knew better than to speak at that time. After all, this latest defeat was aginst a gal who could beat the club pro 50% of the time so losing by just 8 strokes was really a good achievement. Trouble was, the golfer had been playing better players regularly for a couple of months now and had not won much.

False discouragement (which is discouragement not based on facts) can place you in a position of defeat. Repeated defeats are not good for your ego. You must have some successes to keep from getting discouraged.

30 minutes later in the 19th, the golfers buddies plucked up the courage to talk. From that conversation came these practical golf tips that any golfer can use to avoid false discouragement ...

Tip 1
Do not play with golfers (on a regular basis) who are better than you are unless the handicaps are such that you win at least half of the time.

Tip 2
Do not limit yourself to players who always outdrive you in the hope that you will learn from them. You won't. Get a golf training DVD and practice as much as you can in the backyard or on the driving range.

Tip 3
Do not increase your betting when you will have to come from behind to win. You will just get more upset about losing more money on the golf course!

Tip 4
Do not bet against poorer golfers if they demand handicaps which will almost certainly ensure their winning.

Tip 5
Do not attempt golf shots you do not have in your bag. Unless you practice a tricky golf shot, it is almost certainly going to fail under the stress of playing it cold in a comp.

Tip 6
Do not lie about your golf score or true handicap. It is better psychologically to win in a lower flight than to lose in a higher one. Play at the right level for your skills.

Tip 7
Do not concede any putts to yourself or your opponent that can be missed. You may think you are playing badly, when in reality you are playing your regular game.

Tip 8
Do not pull against your golf opponent.

Tip 9
Do not play with people who increase your anxiety. Avoid being stressed if you fluff a shot that you normally make. It is OK not to be perfect!

And here is a bonus golf tip - keep a golf journal so that you can see how well you are really playing, especially important when playing out of your league.

So when you are feeling discouraged, think of the good shots that you usually play. Get things in perspective, if you played Tiger or the Great White Shark, would you expect to win? Hey, golf is supposed to be a game of funkeep it that way and you can enjoy it for the rest of your life.

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The DVD that Will Save Golfers Hundreds of Dollars.

The sheer frustration of continually slicing, hooking, hitting fat or thin drives many golfers to the edge of desperation. They pay hundreds of dollars to arrange a lesson with their local golf pro to cure the faults in their play. Money that could be spent on other things, including on a day out to keep your other half happy when they complain about the time you spend on the golf course!

This sound like you? If so, then you could benefit from the Body Golf Faults and Cures DVD. I took live lessons with my local pro and at the end of each session felt good. A fault had been cured. I went away to practice and the fault was exactly the same at the weekend, out on the course. Why? Because I was relying on the instructor to recognise the fault and correct it. I did not have that skill, and my instructor did not develop that in me.

Then someone gave me the heads-up on Coach Mark Anthony Montaquila and his teaching methods. And the Body Golf Faults and Cures DVD. This DVD is revolutionary because it's designed to teach you not only how fix your problems but also identify (diagnose) them in the first place. Just like a real live lesson!

So how is it better than a live lesson? It empowers you with the skills the pros use - they analyse the flight of every shot and alter their golf stance, grip or swing accordingly. So the fault never becomes ingrained in their play. OK, you probably won't ever develop your skills to that level, but if you have that ability to analyse every shot, you will be one step ahead of the others.

How else is it better? A live lesson is only an hour or a couple of hours, once a week. The DVD can be used whenever you want, as many times as you want. So it is like having a personal instructor, available 24/7/365. But the best of it is that it costs a fraction of the cost of even a single lesson.

But what faults does this DVD teach you to identify and cure? The four most frustrating faults of them all of course. The hook, the slice, hitting fat and hitting thin.

For instance, did you know that there are four specific things that you can do wrong with your swing that will cause a slice? But you know what? Using the Body Golf Faults and Cures DVD you can learn how to properly adjust these things for yourself in a few minutes ...once you identify them, that is...and be on the road to hitting the ball straight-and-true for a lifetime. And as I said earlier, you don't need to wait until the next lesson to verify what you are doing is right - just run the DVD again.

There are four specific things that you can do wrong with your golf swing that will cause a slice? But you know what? Using the Body Golf Faults and Cures DVD you can learn how to properly adjust these things for yourself in a few minutes ...once you identify them, that is...and be on the road to hitting the ball straight-and-true for a lifetime. And you don't need to wait until the next lesson to verify what you are doing is right - just run the DVD again.


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Rationalizing Failure leads to Failure

A big obstacle to improvement in golf is the habit of rationalizing. When a person rationalizes, it means, to put it simply, that they place the blame for their defeats upon outside persons or circumstances. This protects their (possibly fragile) ego by taking the sting out of failure. It turns painful depression into less painful anger. It tears others down and, by tearing down of others, seems to raise them in importance, much like the last survivor of a battle royal who looks like a giant of the ring if everyone else is on the floor. It is bad psychology to rationalize.

First it is a most unpleasant personality trait. The least desirable companion on any golf course is the constant griper. It is a mark of selfishness to impose on others the necessity for listening to this bilge.

Second, the tendency to excuse one's game hinders remedial learning. No improvement is possible unless the individual takes full responsibility for all his golfing errors and proceeds to correct them. Analyze the reasons why the game went badly and work to eliminate them the next time you are out on the golf course. You might want to get this DVD to help you improve your golf grip, stance and swing.

Third, even if rationalization removes the sting from poor shots, it retards learning. Learning is faster if we attach a painful reaction to a poor shot. When you rationalize, it makes failure easier to take and thereby makes it harder to learn. Rationalizing or the making of excuses does not inspire remedial practice. You do not realize that remedial practice is necessary because you do not accept personal responsibility for the error.

Fourth, it is not wise to rationalize even when there is a good basis for it. If you do, it will intensify feelings of hopelessness, and prevent you from attaining a satisfactory level of performance. Your subconscious mind will resign itself to failure and that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Even gross physical handicaps should not be used as excuses. Many have made names for themselves under the greatest of physical handicaps such as the one-armed guy who hit two holes in one on the same round. Don't feel sorry for yourself, think positive.

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A Positive Mindset

Most golfers will admit that golf is 90% mental, yet most spend all their time and efforts on the mechanical aspect of the game. The golfing industry hasn't helped the trend by breaking down the golf swing and analyzing each of its components. The average handicap for club players is still the same as it was 20 years ago. Even with all the new technology in equipment and video analysis.

Everyone seems to be teaching or learning the perfect swing, but little do people realize that almost no one has a perfect swing, not even the pros. Each of us has a certain way of swinging the club, even if we are taught the correct way in the beginning. Negative feelings have a lot to do with our swing. If you have a good swing, and negative thoughts, you still will not play good golf.

Most players are distracted and not totally concentrating on their shot at one time or another. Each time this happens, you can lose a stroke or two. If this happens only 4-5 times a round, it could add a lot of strokes to your score.

The main principles behind good golf are simple. You must be able to focus on the task at hand and stay in the present, then pick a small target and empty all unwanted thoughts from your mind.

Want to take your game to the next level? ‘Own the Zone’ will teach you the pro’s secrets. Eliminate your golf swing flaws, learn the secrets to golfing accuracy and ball control!! GUARANTEED.

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Sink those putts ...

One of the worst things a golfer can do is think too much about putting. It’s better to take one quick look at the line from behind the ball and another from beyond the hole and then hit the putt based on your first conclusion.

Too many golfers examine putts from all directions, plumb-bob with their putters-that’s the strange exercise that involves dangling the club vertically in front of your face and closing one eye-when they know neither what they’re doing it. Then they stand over the putt, staring at the line until they start seeing all manner of bumps and swales and breaks, and before they know it they’re all but frozen stiff and incapable of putting a good roll on the ball.

Trust your instincts, instead-and the first impression usually is based on instinct. Addressing your ball and hitting it swiftly won’t necessarily make you hole more putts, but you’ll eliminate any opportunity for double to creep in and you’ll also get into a good rhythm.

When faced with an uphill putt, don’t be afraid to hit it more firmly than you might think necessary. For one thing, gravity is on your side. Another plus is that the far side of the hole is higher than the near side, so in effect the back of the hole becomes a backstop. Assuming you’ve chosen the correct line-uphill putts tend not to break much at all-you can then make a run at it safe in the knowledge that when your ball passes over the hole it will fall slightly and hit the “wall” behind the hole-the back of the cup.

So, relax before putting, let your golfing instinct guide the ball into the cup!

Try this video for more tips on using the putter

Want to break through to the next level of golf? Then visit Think and Reach Par for more great free golf swing improvement tips and training DVDs to buy, or Golf for Leftys golf tips to improve your stance, grip and left handed golf swing.

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Simple Steps that are Virtually Guaranteed to Improve Your Putting Skills

How can it be that on one day you putt beautifully, and the next you're all but helpless on the greens?

Putting in golf is one of the most inconsistent skills in all of sports. Good putters usually putt well, but even the smooth strokers go into short or prolonged slumps.

Pros are fairly equal from tee to green, with a few notable exceptions like Tiger. It's the guy or gal who putts well throughout a tournament that brings home the bacon.

Unlike the basics - golf set up, grip, and swing - putting is a world unto itself. There's no right way or wrong way; it's what works for you that counts.

Your putting grip is important, but what feels good and works for you might be a handicap for a fellow player. Check with some good putters and see how they place their hands on the club. It doesn't hurt to experiment with new methods occasionally. The putter - as a club - is vital to your success or lack thereof. And it doesn't have to cost $100; some of the prices for golf clubs have become ridiculous.

Foremost, you need a putter that looks good to you; that seems silly, but if you don't gain confidence from your putter's appearance, you won't putt well with it. Clubheads on putters come in so many diverse shapes and sizes that just selecting one that seems right for you can be a chore in itself.

The weight is important, but only insofar as it feels right to you; almost everyone has a different weight preference for their putter. Don't hesitate to buy an inexpensive or used putter if you find one you think might fit your style. If you like everything but the grip, you can get that changed in a golf shop. And it's not expensive.

If you have and old and trusted putter that has served you well and you're slumping, try placing a new and different-sized grip on it. All of these seemingly insignificant changes can give your confidence a needed boost.

Don't neglect your putting when you do your golf practice. But avoid becoming obsessive about it. If you practice putting over a long period of time, your back will begin to ache and your concentration will wander to greener pastures.

The majority of golfers ignore two important shots while practicing their putting: They don't work on putting from the fringe. And that's a shot that most golfers use frequently on the golf course.

Make sure you devote part of your putting practice to stroking approach putts from the fringe, both close to the actual putting surface and - depending on the texture of the fringe - as much as eight to ten feet off the green. A second troublesome putt that should be practiced from time to time is the dilemma that's presented when your ball comes to rest on the putting surface against the first cut of the fringe. That can be a daunting shot if you haven't practiced it. The key is hitting the top half of the ball while stroking the putter smoothly over the top of the fringe. If you try and chop down on this putt, it can have disastrous results. However, having said that, sometimes chopping down on the putt is the only way you can hit the shot if the fringe is fairly high. You have to experiment to find the method that works best for you.

Short and focused putting practice is better than long, tiring sessions that become boring. You can work on just about every type of putt in a 15-20 minute practice period.

Another key to good putting is to keep a journal of thoughts that work well for you when you're going well. And, conversely, record what is wrong when you're in a slump. It might be something that will recur - both good and bad - and if you have a journal to refer back to, you might head off potential problems at the pass.

Want to break through to the next level of golf? Then visit Think and Reach Par for more great free golf swing improvement tips and training DVDs to buy, or Golf for Leftys golf tips to improve your stance, grip and left handed golf swing.

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Golf Ball BS exposed - The Secrets That Manufacturers Don't Want You to Know

You have probably seen and heard advertisements from several different manufacturers claiming that their ball is the best. Hey, they can't all be the best...or can they? Since there are rules that limit a ball's initial velocity, it stands to reason that all the major golf ball makers are already pushing those limits. If they wanted to, they could probably make a ball that goes much further, but it would be illegal. Some pros are under contract to play the ball brand of their various sponsors, but they probably would do just as well playing a different brand, so it is not likely that these balls can be all that different.

That means if the average golfer wants more distance, any of the major brands will be OK. Some balls claim to have "high spin". Sounds cool, but if that is true, you can expect to increase your slice or hook, which negates the value of being able to stop the ball on the green more easily. Trying to spin the ball on "public" greens may be futile, because those greens are usually not as soft as the greens on plush private courses, so the extra spin might not be of any benefit to the average golfer anyway. If you really really like spin, use a ball with a cut or scrape on it (just kidding). If you like more distance, line up the seam of the ball vertically along the target line (not kidding, this supposedly also promotes a better roll for putting).

Some people claim they can feel a difference in the "softness" of the ball when they hit it. Don't be fooled by this. Any ball will feel softer if you hit it on the sweet spot of the club, and the same ball will feel hard if you fail to strike the ball on the sweet spot. Some people say they can tell by the sound; gimme a break, does it go "doink" or "squish"? If you think any of these balls are soft, allow me to bounce one of them off your head, and then you can tell me how soft it feels. They used to say hard swingers were supposed to use harder higher compression balls, yet the lower compression Lady Precept has changed this way of thinking, and now all the major brands are making balls with specs similar to the Lady Precept.

So the bottom line is this: Unless you are a low handicap golfer, it probably makes little difference which ball is better for you. The marketing hype is just playing on your mind. For the average golfer, brand guchi-fufu will probably get no better scores than Brand A or B or X. However, the mind is a very powerful thing, so if you feel more confident by playing an expensive ball, then go for it, a positive attitude will probably help you.

So without further ado, here is my "meticulous scientific" and most fiscally responsible method of choosing a golf ball. Use whatever the ball retriever can dredge up from the nearest ponds, and put the money saved to better use, like maybe for some extra beers at the 19th hole, or better yet, use it for some of the golf swing instruction DVDs mentioned in our web site!

Immediately Improve your Golf - Simple, Easy to Follow Ideas

All of us use hypnosis in our everyday lives all of the time. If you are overweight and overeat, you can become satisfied with smaller portions of food, If you smoke, you can
become an ex-smoker. If you’re phobic, your fears can disappear completely.

In an open state of mind, you can make strong, positive suggestions to change your life dramatically. Hypnosis can help you improve your golf game. It can help you lower your
score and feel proud of your accomplishment and your game.

Your inner mind is lazy: It needs repetition for change to occur. The more detailed your picture, the more accurate your outcome. If you expect a positive outcome, you will receive
it.

Once you create self-hypnosis on command and through suggestion, you need to product strong mental images of what you want to accomplish, you can lower your golf score.

You can achieve that score you always dream about. No more being embarrassed of your score in front of your friends.

And along those very lines, we have an article within this article, written by Jennifer Scott, author of Own The Zone. Jennifer is a Certified Hypnotherapist, and has helped many
golfers improve their score.

DON’T ‘BE THE BALL’ - BE THE TARGET By Jennifer Scott, Clinical Hypnotherapist

In the movie, ‘Caddyshack,’ before they swung, golfers repeated the mantra, ‘Be The Ball.’ This is OK for a funny movie or if you’re a beginning golfer who’s likely to miss the ball if
you don’t pay supreme attention to it. But for anyone else it’s ridiculous.

Because you’re better than that. You don’t want to just hit the ball. You want the ball to go someplace. Like...a Target. It would be much better for you to ‘Be The Target.’ To focus
intensely on the Target. To picture your ball going to it. To have it so burned into your mind that you can still see it in your mind’s eye when you’re addressing the ball. Watch the pre-shot routine of any good golf professional. What do you think they’re doing when they stand in back of the ball, in line with the target? They’re picturing the ball flying to the Target.

This is what my Golf Clients do through Self Hypnosis. They’re able to picture something happening and then let it happen. My Golf Clients ‘see’ the ball going to the Target while
they’re looking at the ball they’re about to hit. The connection with the Target is never lost. Want to improve your scoring?

Before every shot, make the Target your image.

Get the picture?

Golf Gifts

TIRED OF FRIENDS LAUGHING AT YOU?? ‘Own the Zone’ will teach you the pro’s secrets. Eliminate your golf swing flaws, learn the secrets to golfing accuracy and ball control!! GUARANTEED.

Easy to Follow Golf Secrets to Improve Your Swing and Approach Game

I have been looking back through our Newsletter archive to find some really useful tips and advice to help you to improve your golf grip, stance and swing, that might be otherwise be missed by visitors to our site. I came across this, especially useful for new golfers to help to improve driver distance off the tee and also your putting.

Two questions from one of our golf newsletter subscribers … I have started golf at the age of 61 years. Seeing people hit the ball long distances, I have been trying get the same distance. I get a maximum of around 220 yards with driver. But that too not very consistently. After practicing for several months, I was told that it is because of my age that I don’t get the desired distance. Do you think this is true? and if not what should I do get a longer distance. Should I slowly increase the speed of the drive in its down swing (I have tried to bring the club down with a greater force. This way I lose control of the stroke and my whole game get badly affected. In fact changing into my normal swing become difficult then. I have therefore stopped trying to get long distances.) Do you have any suggestion?

My second question - I have been suffering for a long time in perfecting my putting. I have changed the way I putt several times. I discovered that I don’t get the direction nor the feel of the distance. This was even after reading quite a few books on putting. Now I seem to get a much better putt but I have not been able to perfect it. However, I still find it difficult to putt as close as 5 ft away.

This is how I putt. I take my direction from behind the ball. Take a stance. Move back so that my elbow rests on my stomach. By resting my elbow on my stomach I find that I have greater control on the putter, i.e. the putter moves in a straight line (Earlier when I was not resting my elbow on the stomach I used to find that the putter shakes while striking the ball. Thus making it difficult to keep the direction, and at the same time there was no feel of the direction) With the current technique, I have a better feel of the direction as well as distance. However, I still don’t feel confident about putts as short as 5 ft from the whole. Is there any way I can improve my putting.

Here is the reply from our resident pro, Joe DeLorenzo …

About your first question, a forceful swing has less of a chance to hit the ball on the “sweet spot” on your clubface. An easy swing that hits the sweet spot will send the ball farther than a hard swing that misses the sweet spot. A hard swing may cause improper weight shifting, which may reduce your clubhead speed. Proper weight shift from the top of the backswing starts going from the back foot to the front foot before the downswing begins, setting up the power of a whip without extra effort. Clubhead speed at impact is the sum of arm swing and wrist snap. A hard swing usually starts the wrist action too soon when the downswing begins, so there is no more acceleration added from the wrist by the time the clubhead gets to the ball, resulting an “all arms” swing and slower clubhead speed. For maximum distance, you must save the wrist action until just before impact. This is best demonstrated with a ping pong ball and paddle. How far can you hit the ping pong ball with an all-arms swing compared to using your wrist? Watch the slow motion replays of the pros on TV, and you will see the wrist snap is held back until the last possible instant. That is why most of the pros may look like they are swinging very easy, but they still generate a lot of clubhead speed with that last-second wrist snap, followed by a long high follow-thru.

About your second question, most people have a putting stroke that is not steady enough. To prove this, go to any square-tiled floor and see if you can keep your stroke steady along (or slightly inside) one of the lines in the floor. You will likely see the club jittering above and below the line during the stroke. Some people will spend a lot of money on a new putter, thinking that this might solve their problem, but before you waste your money, you must first do something about the steadiness of your stroke.

Here is how I found instant improvement. Recently I was in a Wal-Mart store which had square-tiled flooring, and while my wife was taking her time shopping, I went over to the golf aisle and tried various types of putters along the floor tile line, all of which showed a little jitter in my stroke. Then I noticed for the first time that there were some belly-putters on the rack. I never had tried these things because they were too expensive, but I put it to the tiled-floor test, and I noticed that by pressing the longer shaft against my belly, the stroke really did improve, very steady, no more jitters. It still seemed a bit expensive, so I made my own belly-putter by cutting a hole at the top of my putter’s grip and inserting a piece of broken shaft, making the overall length 43 inches. My next round showed immediate improvement in my putting, so I am sold on this belly-putter idea. I believe the shaft being pressed onto your belly will prevent and eliminate the unwanted wrist actions that make the stroke unsteady. You might want to try one yourself. You might also want to add the Thinkandreachpar.com golf training DVD to your list of golf gifts …

Good Golfing.

An Astonishing Golf Story and some easy to follow tips to Instantly Improve Your Swing

On Jan 28, 1995, a 70 year old golfer named Cy Young nailed two holes in one at the Lakeview Golf Course in Delray Beach, Florida. An extraordinary feat for anyone, of course, but especially amazing when you consider this fact:

Cy Young has only one arm. On the first hole of the course, he hit a 3 iron 96 yards and straight into the cup. He danced a little jig and continued playing the course.

On hole 13, he scored another ace, this time with a 3 wood that soared 107 yards. As Sir Walter Simpson wrote in The Art of Golf, There is no shape nor size of body, no awkwardness nor ungainliness, which puts good golf beyond reach. There are good golfers with spectacles, with one eye, with one leg, even with one arm. In golf, while there is life there is hope. Amen

The Laws of Low

Hitting a low shot is not just a matter of hooding the club face. Youll also want to play the ball back in your golf stance and choke down on the club. When you play the ball back in your stance, it is important to remember that you should not just move your feet to the left. This forces you to come into the ball at a much steeper angle and you could well hit the shot fat. Its better to take your normal stance and then widen it slightly by moving the left foot only to the left. You will want a slightly more descending blow; so when you move your left foot, also shift your weight to your left side and move your hands forward.

As for choking down on the grip, the idea is not necessarily to give you more control over the club. Gripping farther down the shaft effectively shortens the area in which the shaft can flex, so the shaft becomes a little stiffer. That will make your ball fly lower too.

But choking down will lose you some distance, so take one more club than you usually would for that distance.

Watch Your Heel

A good way to control the swing and to coil the body to store energy during the backswing is to keep the left heel anchored firmly to the ground during the entire golf swing. All too often golfers raise the left heel during the backswing and then emphatically bring it down to the ground during the downswing. Its a show of force with negative consequences: The body releases the power it has stored during the backswing and sways to the left or lunges during the downswing. Keep your left heel on the ground to provide a foundation for the firm left side that is fundamental to every solid golf swing.

The Toughest Shot in Golf

Ask any pro the toughest shot in golf and hell say the sixty-yard sand shot. Even the top players have trouble deciding whether this calls for an explosion shot or a normal wedge shot. Fortunately, we average players dont have to make that decision. The sixty yard explosion just isnt in our bags. So well make do with the normal wedge shot.

Stand squarely, with the ball in the idle of your stance. As with the long bunker shot, you should make contact with the ball first, so remain as steady as possible for as long as possible. As this requires you to swing with only your hands and arms, youll want to take a club or two more than usual (but bear in mind that playing the ball farther back than normal will deloft the club face slightly).

For anything up to seventy-five yards, the average player should use a pitching wedge hit with three-quarters swing.

How to Improve your Approach Shots

Pitching.

This is one very subtle technique that I found by accident. With pitching, you usually want the ball to end up as close to the hole as possible, if not in it of course. As a hobby, I like to video record golf tournaments on TV to study the swings of the pros. What I usually do is playback the swings in slow motion and frame-by-frame mode to catch the finer points of their body movement. A couple of years ago, I picked up on something while watching my favorite golfer, Tiger Woods. When he made approach shots with shorter irons with the intent of making the ball stop, he didn’t let the club head turn over through impact. He kept his right hand under the club through the divot. Be advised here, you still have to swing your upper body through the center. The trick is, to not release the club by rolling your wrists over as if swinging a driver or longer club.

Driver swing…
With the longer clubs, Tiger would whip the club head through the point-of-impact and finish his swing with a toe drag. With this technique, the ball rolls after landing and goes the farthest and straightest. This is generally the technique used with a driver, three-wood, etc. If you freeze-frame right after impact with this technique, you’ll see that he’s in a handshake position pointing his right hand directly at the target with his thumb high and his shoulders turned through the point-of-impact while facing the center of his chest directly at the target.

Wedge swing…
Getting back to the short pitch or wedge shot, I like to do this type of shot when I need as little roll as possible after the ball lands. I’ll especially do this out of the sand or next to the green when I can’t chip it and I need the ball to check up quick without rolling. You should set up with the ball slightly back of center of your stance. When you swing, all you have to do is have your right hand underhand toss the ball at the hole. Note here the thumb position. It’ll be out as if you’re hitchhiking, and your palm will be facing up.

50 yards and under…
To hit it even shorter, swing the same way with your hands, and cut your toe drag down by swinging a bit on the flat-footed side. Again, by studying the Tour Pro’s swings, I noticed that with short iron and pitch shots, I wouldn’t see a toe drag as with a driver or long iron. The right foot may come off the ground a little but it will not come all the way up on the toe. This is a very subtle aspect of the short game that took me years to come across.

The motion of this type of shot is simply an underhanded toss. Your right hand will not roll over to let the club head turn through the point-of-impact. This can be done with the shorter clubs to an extent. However, unless you’re looking for a slice, don’t do it with a long club. The reason is simple. If you sweep the clubface of a longer club through the point-of-impact without letting it roll over, it’ll remain open at impact and you’ll be guaranteed a nice banana-ball. This is where some people get confused. Here’s why…

Crossed rules…
With a shorter club, this type of underhanded swing will not produce as much sidespin as backspin. With more backspin than sidespin, any type of curve during flight will be minimized. This is why you see a lot of intermediate level golfers able to effectively control shorter irons, but slice the ball terribly with longer clubs. Its simply because they’re crossing up these very subtle swing rules. This is also one of the reasons why I used to slice.

My problem was…I would squeeze the club at impact in anticipation of feeling a “solid” hit. Here’s what would happen. When I squeezed the club, it would actually slow down and sort of freeze through the point-of-impact. With the club moving without turning over, it would scrape the ball and put a mean left-to-right sidespin on it. This of course resulted in a banana-ball that would only go about 100 yards and then take a hard right turn, driving me absolutely batty with anger and frustration. Once I learned how to release the club and let it turn over naturally, my golf slice immediately disappeared.

Let impact surprise you…
Let's back up for a second and talk about squeezing the club… this was because I was anticipating impact. A lot of people do this. Maybe you do too. The next time you’re at the range, swing through and let impact surprise you. If you anticipate impact, you’ll slow the clubhead down and will most likely slice the ball or miss it outright.

In closing, remember this:

1. To hit the ball short, swing underhanded with a minimal or no toe drag.

2. To hit it long and straight, roll your hands over and whip the club head through the point-of-impact. Let impact surprise you by throwing the clubhead through the center and at the target while finishing with a toe drag.

Pretty interesting stuff, huh? Try it and see for yourself.

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Tips to Help you Improve Distance and Accuracy on the Golf Course

We all want to get more distance and accuracy off the tee and to be able to putt accurately and consistently, with this advice, I hope you will be able to do all of those things.

One of the most famous of all golf tips is supposedly from Sam Sneed. It says, hold your club as though it were a young bird. You don't want to hurt it, but you don't want it to get away either.
This best sums up the notion that very little grip pressure is to control the club. Another way of emphasizing this idea is found in a similar tip: Hold the club so that it is pointing straight up in the air. Lighten your grip until it reaches the point that the club starts to fall straight down through your hands then tighten up a slight

amount. You want only enough pressure to keep the club from slipping through. A tight grip will cause the muscles in your arms to tense up. This will reduce your clubhead feel and reduce your swing speed.

The only fingers that should feel any pressure against the grip itself for the right-handed player are the pinky, ring and middle fingers of the left hand and vice versa if you are a left handed golfer. They alone are capable of exerting enough force to control a club throughout the swing.
When asked how he got so much distances off the tee as a senior, Jay Sigel responded, "The way I grip the club so lightly is the main reason."

Try it...it works!!

It doesnt make any difference if you have an unorthodox grip or stance when you putt, but two things are vital: Your eye must be directly over the ball, and you must stroke the ball to make it rotate end-over-end.

You have undoubtedly noticed that manufacturers are now making putters more upright. This is to help the golfer keep his eye directly over the ball. Every great putter I have seen does this. In effect, their eyes act in the capacity of eyes for the ball. The ball can only see the line when your eyes are directly over it. If they are not, your eyes will see one line while the ball sees another, and I dont think I need to go into the results of that.

When your eyes are over the ball, you have a much better chance of stroking it accurately and imparting end-over-end rotation. End-over-end rotation means that the ball is contacted so squarely that it rolls over itself, on the same vertical axis, there being no side-spin as there inevitably will be when the ball is cut or pulled or mis-putted in some other manner. If a putt stroked with end-over-end rotation hits a corner of the cup, it will not spin off and will usually drop.

I hope you find this advice helpful and that it will improve your putting ability, accuracy and distance. My Golf training DVDs make great golf gifts.

Managing Stress on the Golf Course to Improve Your Game

Golf involves stress and at times, this stress can be detrimental to your game. It may influence your behavior in negative ways and get you into a negative thinking process, which only deters your skills. Remember that a certain amount of stress is needed to facilitate your performance but too much stress can manifest itself in negative ways. Players need to learn how to objectively assess their levels of vulnerability to stress and how to set up appropriate strategies to compensate them.



It is important to remember that the grandest quality of the true achiever is persistence. This often means fighting off discouragement and difficult times and in playing through slumps in performance.



There are several strategies that may be helpful in assisting you to maintain a standard of confidence and a winning attitude. They are balance, positive thinking, respect, vision, goal setting, commitment to continued improvement, and character.



OK, so how do you make it happen? Instead of getting mad when you play a bad shot, stay calm, remember everyone makes mistakes, if we did not, there would be no professional golf – we would all be playing to the standards of Phil Mickleson, Tiger Woods et.al. Don’t beat yourself up about it, even if you have a really bad round. You know you are better than that, the next time you will play better. A more difficult technique is visualisation, many top sportspeople can and do visualise themselves performing well.



When goal setting, set realistic targets, beware of pointless and low targets, but be aware of your ability when setting high targets. If you don’t achieve them, think why? Maybe they were not realistic. Maybe there are too many other things in your life right now. Avoid using them to generate negative thoughts, you didn’t reach a target – it is not the end of the world!



Yoga for golfers can help you to improve your concentration and also helps with anger control. This will help you to keep things in perspective out on the golf course. A yoga for golfers DVD would make an ideal golf gift for yourself, or for the golfer in your life. Having the instruction on DVD means that you can go over the techniques as many times as you want. It will pay for itself financially and out on the golf course very quickly and you can practice the exercises whenever you feel like it. It is like having a portable golf yoga guru!



So, with your improved mental attitude, you should find that you can enjoy your golf better even when having a bad round. But please remember, a little stress can add that winning edge to your game, just try to get the balance right!

How You can Improve Your Golf with Two Simple Practice Drills

The average golfer will hit many bad shots in a round but that does not need to be the case. Get a head start on your buddies with these two easy but effective drills that could reduce your errors by over half. For many more golf tips and easy practice drills see our training DVDs.

Commitment Builder

This simple drill works on making sure you totally commit yourself through the ball. A major fault of many amateur golfers is their inclination to come off the shot. This simply means not committing yourself all the way through the impact zone. Contact, after this fault has occurred is rarely solid. This basic drill is an effective way of improving your impact position and encouraging you to extend through the ball. The way to correct this is just place a tee about 6 inches in front of your ball (using a driver) and imagine you are trying to hit another ball off that tee.

Taking The Club Back Smoothly

Seventy five percent of the average player’s bad shots are caused by getting out of position on the backswing. He or she gets out of position mainly for two reasons. Grabbing the club at the start of the backswing and starting back abruptly. When you take the club away from the ball abruptly, you destroy your normal tempo. This of course invariably leads to getting into improper position on the backswing. Experience has taught me that whenever I hit a bad shot, it’s due to the fact that I put myself into a bad position on the backswing.

Thus the importance of starting the clubhead back smoothly from the ball can’t be overemphasized. For the average golfer, this smooth takeaway is largely a matter of concentration. Before starting your backswing, you must think just what you want your hands to do with the club. This same discipline applies to grabbing the club at the start; you have to concentrate on not doing it. The average player is often too impatient. He is thinking of hitting the ball before he even gets the club back. A smooth takeaway, I might add, is just as important in putting as in driving. You’ll find you’ll yip far fewer putts.

So, by following these two simple and easy drills, you could significantly reduce the number of bad shots you play on the golf course and lower your score. If you know a golfer, our golf training DVDs make great golf birthday gifts or if you are the organiser of your club competition, why not give a set as a tournament gift or prize?

Dealing With Distractions on the Golf Course

Golf is difficult enough without having to deal with mental and physical distractions that could easily destroy a good round. A lot of players will take the shot despite the distraction because they do not want to be branded as a slow player.

Probably the main cause of irritation and loss of concentration among golfers is players who continue to talk while you’re trying to make your shot.

Quite often, these people will make excuses for their inconsiderate behaviour, a common one seems to be that they’re just out for a good time and if anyone is bothered by their talking then they are taking the game too seriously and should not play social golf. They overlook the fact that the majority of golfers like to play their best always.

It is a real big problem to make these non-stop talkers understand that you’re irritated without starting an all-out war. Professional players will step away and look directly at the talker to let them work out for themselves that they are being a nuisance. This usually works for the amateur or social golfer too, but some people are insensitive to everything but themselves or maybe have never figured the etiquette of the course. Learning how to control your temper and maintain concentration when one of your playing companions is rude enough to distract you is important; it’s a lot easier said than done.

When you run into a compulsive talker that won’t take the hint, you have a real problem. The next step is to back away from the shot and say, “Fore please.” That hopefully should do it. Of course by then you’re annoyed and motor mouth is too - the atmosphere and golf is ruined. That is not easy, just make sure that you don't play with them again, they will soon find that they cannot find any partners and you will enjoy your golf again.

Two other common distractions come from a distance - cars going by and honking or players yelling from other fairways. Just back of from the shot - no harm done.

Some players have a habit of standing in your line - behind the pin - on a chip shot or putt. Usually it is just thoughtlesness and is easily solved by asking them to move to one side. Alternatively, go ahead with the shot. Either way your concentration on the shot is probably destroyed so take extra time to focus and compose your concentration, Yoga for Golf or our Body Golf instruction DVDs make great golf gifts that can help with your concentration.

Occasionally during a round you won’t feel right over a shot for any number of reasons. Most of us go right ahead and hit it anyway, back off and compose yourself. Every now and then you might not feel right about how or where you’ve teed up your ball to start a hole. If you’re not comfortable with the placement, take the time to move and tee it up again. Don’t hit it because you’re afraid of being portrayed as a slow player. That only becomes a real issue if you do it with most of your shots - for most players, these are infrequent instances involving an uncomfortable feeling when you’re not set up correctly on the tee.

So, to sum up, mostly the distractions are not deliberate and are infrequent so do not be afraid to back off from the shot and start it again, you will only be branded as a slow player if you do it most of the time.

Three Variations of Golf Shots

While there is only one type of swing in golf, there are three variations of golf shots: Right curving, high-flying shots that inevitably turn into slices; Low-flying shots that curve to the left causing a hook; and the perfect straight shot, which is neither too high nor too low, and always manages to stay right in the middle of the fairway.

You may think a straight shot is all you’ll ever need to master the game. But, the ability to perform a hook or slice at will gives you an edge over other players when you all stand there facing a fairway with a sharp dog-leg to the right.

What’s the secret to intentionally shooting a slice or hook? It’s all dependent upon how you set the club before you begin the backswing. If the club is set in an open position, then the ball will veer off to the right. Closing the clubface will reverse the effect, and cause the ball to turn left in flight. Keeping the clubface square will result in a straight shot, down the middle of the fairway.

In order to master these techniques, you must first have a thorough understanding of each type of shot and its effects on the ball itself. A slice almost acts like a boomerang – flying high to the left and making a sharp turn to the right.

Slices can be helpful when you have a fairway that curves to the right. However, people who slice each and every shot are faced with the dilemma of limiting the distance they can achieve because the ball turns to the point of almost coming back to the one who hit it.

A more severe form of slicing is known as “shanking,” in which the ball is hit on the heel of the club and shoots off wildly to the right. Learn how to properly perform a slice so that it can be used to your advantage. First, play the ball slightly ahead of the left foot. Place the club so that the toe is slightly turned in and the shaft is not tilted forward, but rather, perpendicular.

Learning a hook is just as easy. For this type of shot, the club is positioned back towards the right foot – just as you’d do for a bad lie. The clubface, however, is kept square to the ball, with the shaft tilting forward. Your right foot is drawn back to the right of the intended line of the shot.

Sometimes, the lie of the ball will affect the body’s pivot, and result in a hook or a slice. If the ball lands on ground that is higher than the player, it results in a hook. Likewise, a low ball position results in a slice. To offset these tenancies, the player can adjust the aim of their stance and play with an open or closed clubface.

How do you use the eight steps if you’re a left-handed player? Simple. You just reverse both of the four step sections for positioning and swing. It’s the same as if a right-handed player finds himself up against a tree or other fairway obstacle that prevents him from taking a full right-handed swing.



Visit Think and Reach Par for more great free golfing advice, or maybe treat yourself or the golfer in your life to a golf gift like the Body Golf series.