New Strategies for First-Time Golfers

New Strategies for First-Time Golfers

Article by Graeme McGillivray

Approaching the First Tee youve got your trusty old driver in hand and youre staring down the long fairway envisioning the perfect shot a straight line down the center with a generous roll. Trusty driver or no, you will likely hit your first shot anywhere but where you were hoping it would lie. What was it you could have improved?

Great-Golfing-Tips.com is a website with new strategies for first-time golfers as well as the duffers among us who have played the game for years. There are plenty of gizmos and gadgets with differing philosophies of how to improve your game, but by following a consistent system of tips, guides, tools and strategies, as posted on the Great-Golfing-Tips.com website, you can learn a whole new approach to the game.

Within the first few pages, you can start to develop a solid list of repeatable putting drills, look at ways to fix a hook and even set goals to break 80 a reachable strategy even to those who struggle to break 100. Start by building up a system of pre-round warm up drills around the putting green and the driving range. Find a new way to approach the green that can save you strokes off of every game. There are even great tips for Left-Handed golfers that are creative and accessible, despite often being difficult to find.

With over 20 articles provided on essentials of golf linked directly from the front page, this site is sure to find its way into any golfers favorite stops online. Spend just 20 minutes on Great-Golfing-Tips.com and you might be the one to beat off the tee on your next afternoon at the course.

If youve found value from the many articles on Great-Golfing-Tips.com, you can subscribe to their bi-weekly email program and find ways to continuously improve your game, from new strategies to your approach shots, to new ways to approach the Tee Box at the start of your next outing.

Once again, you approach the First Tee with your trusty old driver. Youve put the driver through its paces at the Driving Range and you feel confident as you watch your drive roll steadily down the center of the fairway. Now, you can stride down the fairway for your second shot with the confidence from the new drills that you picked up on Great-Golfing-Tips.com.

About the Author

Graeme McGillivray, author of this article is also interested in Golf and recommends you to please check out great golfing tips if you liked reading this information.

The Best Solution to Drawing a Golf Ball – 4 Easy Steps

The Best Solution to Drawing a Golf Ball – 4 Easy Steps

Article by Sean O’Kelly

Most of us who don’t hit the golf ball for great distance hope to improve our long game by drawing, or imparting a little hook, on our long shots. For any beginner as well as some intermediate players this might initially appear extremely hard, however with a little knowledge of what we are attempting to accomplish plus a little practice, anyone can be hitting this shot consistently.

There are two key benefits to draw the golf ball:

• Distance. Hitting a ball which has a hook spin will cause the ball to roll a greater distance than will a fade spin.

• Accuracy. If we are able to consistently strike the ball with a controlled draw, we could aim to the right of our target and allow the golf ball to shape toward our target area.

So to understand how to draw a golf ball, we have to first consider the grip. The main elements, then, to get a hook grip are as follows:

1. Place the grip of the club along the base of the fingers. This permits you to produce increased power as a result of greater wrist hinge, while doing so enhancing your control, or feel, for the club.

2. Do not grasp the club too hard. As the great Sam Snead once said, “If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they’d starve to death”.

3. When gripping the golf club using a normal grip, the “V” between your thumb and forefinger points at the right shoulder for right-handed golfers, and the left shoulder for left-handed golfers.

4. To draw a golf ball, make use of a strong grip, which can be achieved merely by moving your hands on the club so the “V” is to the right of your right shoulder (and of course to the left of your left shoulder for lefties). This will automatically shut the face of the club as it approaches the ball, imparting a counter-clockwise, or hook spin.

These simple methods to draw the golf ball are only general, as each golfer will have to experiment how strong his grip must be for the ideal effect. For example, those with naturally strong hands might find a stronger grip unnecessary to bring the club into proper position.

The final component that must accompany the hook grip to properly draw the golf ball is correct swing path. In the event the club on impact doesn’t go through the ball, that is, if it cuts across the ball on an outside to inside path, the closed face of the club will result in a “pull” shot. This for a right-handed golfer will cause the ball to go far to the left. The path of the golf club head needs to be on a slightly inside to outside plain. The desired result will be achieved when the grip and the swing path of the club work together.

About the Author

My name is Sean O’Kelly, for more tips and information on how to improve your long game, click HERE, and for an interesting perspective on how to play golf for free, click HERE for a 50 page guide.

Hitting Fat – Try these tips

A golf swing problem that is as common as a slice is hitting the golf ball fat, and it can be just as frustrating. As with all golf swing procedure, once you know what you are doing wrong, you can begin working on correcting it.

When trying to correct this problem, get a golfing buddy if possible to watch your swing, and ask him or her to be on the lookout for the items discussed below.

Do You Drop Your Shoulder when Hitting the Golf Ball Fat:

The most common problem with hitting the ball fat is dropping your shoulder. This is the one that is farthest away from the target or back shoulder: right shoulder for right-handed golfers, left shoulder for left-handed golfers.

When your rear shoulder drops, the club hits the ground before it should, resulting in a nasty shot. More often than not, hitting the ball fat happens when a player tries to swing excessively hard, causing the downswing to start with a lot of hip motion.

As an example, try this effortless exercise. Take a club and assume your standard address. Bring the club up to the very top of your back swing and stop. With the golf club is at the top, shift your hip toward the target area, horizontally, and notice what happens to your back shoulder. It’s as expected dips down too!

If your friend is around, do this exercise over again, bit by bit, and ask him or her to observe your hips and shoulder and see if your shoulder dips. If so, you’ve possible found the cause of the trouble.

To right this issue, you have to learn how to use your lower body appropriately during the swing. Your hips need to twist, but don’t allow them to move. A straight forward way to make this happen is to concentrate on starting the downswing with your arms, and your hips will naturally follow.

Practice and Watch Your Shoulder on Your Back Swing:

Another good practice is to focus on keeping your forward shoulder down. During practice shots, your body will get the message. Always take into account to keep your forward arm straight as you go into your back swing. When you get to the top, think “down” for your forward shoulder, and then move into your downswing. Your hips will uncoil, but do not allow them to move laterally.

The ideas presented here are easy enough to apply, but they require some time spent practicing and experimenting. The practice range is the best place to do this, also if you do not have a buddy available, you might be able to find someone to observe your swing.

As you work on this fix, remember to go through all of your clubs, not just the driver. Striking the ball fat can occur with any club, and you need to practice with each one to truly master a solid, crisp ball strike. Many players favor to start with the short irons and work their way up when learning a new skill set.

Fatigue and Sore Muscles Can Cause Hitting the Golf Ball Fat:

I am sure that you have been on the back nine and playing well when you go to hit that 180 yard approach shot to the green and thud you take out a big divot behind the golf ball. This could be from fatigue. I have found that a great way to prevent this is with a good muscle pain relief gel like AMR-7. AMR-7 is a specially formulated menthol based gel that is cool to touch and immediately provides a relaxing and soothing relief form sore muscles. For me it also prevents muscle spasms on the back nine.