Tag: Golf Handicaps

The Four Key Factors In Your Swing

The Four Key Factors In Your Swing

Article by Jack Moorehouse

When I mention the word basics in my golf lessons, players start thinking about things like grip, posture, ball position, alignment, and so on. That’s only natural. Golf pros talk so much about these subjects in golf instruction sessions that players assume they’re the focus when the discussion comes round to the basics of a golf shot.

But there are four other basics–plane, centering, radius, and face–that key good ball striking. Players must master the four factors to cut their golf handicaps down to size. These factors, which are sometimes neglected in golf lessons and golf tips, determine consistency. If you’re off with these even slightly, you’ll slice, hook, or mis-hit the shot, regardless of your grip, posture, ball position, or alignment.

Plane:

Plane is the angle your club takes at address. Your swing should have a circular look to it when viewed from a face on perspective. The swing won’t be a pure circle, but it will have a recognizable circular shape. Looking from down the target line, the circle should be tilted the same angle as the clubshaft as it sits at address. This area encompasses the most direct and powerful route back to the golf ball.

The club must remain in this defined plane as it approaches the golf ball on the downswing. While your swing plane may change from waist high in your downswing to waist high in your finish, your club must go through the original plane at address to hit straight shots solidly. So while you may see some odd looking swings by Tour players, you’ll also see that they always return the club to the same plane of address at the bottom of their swings.

Face:

Face is the second important factor. To gain control over the clubface at the moment of impact, your hands must be at the same position when you make contact with the ball as at address or may be a bit forward. Returning your hands to the same position guarantees that your clubface is pointing in the same direction as when you set up to hit the ball.

There are three ways you can hold the club at address–with your hands on the left side of the grip (weak), the middle of the grip (neutral), or the right hand side of the grip (strong) for right-handers. The best grip is the one you can produce naturally shot, after shot, after shot. If you look closely at the pros, you’ll see players with different grips, yet they still hit consistently straight shots. Why? Because the way you grip the club matters less than the how your hands are at address. If you have a strong grip at address, you better not have a weak grip when making impact; otherwise, you’ll end up with either an opened or a closed clubface at impact.

Radius

Radius is the distance from your left shoulder (for right handers) to the end of the clubshaft. In other words, it is the distance from the center of your golf swing to the outer-edge. Your lead arm must be in line with or trailing your arm at impact, known as “maintaining radius.” Bobby Jones, the great amateur, called this “good timing.”

Maintaining radius enables you to strike the ball solidly. Many recreational players that I give golf lessons to try to force the shaft of the club past the lead arm prior to impact. This effort causes the clubface to travel up not down, resulting in a fat or thin shot. A loss of radius causes a hook, slice, loss of distance, and wide assortment of other poor shots.

Centering:

Centering refers to the spine and head at address. While you may have some lateral movement of your head and spine in your swing, consistent hitters keep these areas, or their centers, steady. A steady center involves two things. From a down-the-line-look, the amount that you bend forward from your hips at address is constant throughout your swing. From a face-on perspective, your center (spine and head) remains as constant as possible as well. Your swing, as I’ve explained in my golf tips, revolves around your center.

While the basics like grip, posture, ball position, and alignment are important, they only prepare you to take your swing. They increase your chances of hitting a golf ball when the more important basics are in order, producing accurate, solid shots. To lower your golf handicap, you must the other “basics” of the swing–plane, fact, radius, and center.

About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.

Turning Your Slice Into A Draw Now

Turning Your Slice Into A Draw Now

Article by Jack Moorehouse









If you’ve ever tried to correct a slice, you know how hard it is to do it. You’ve probably taken golf lessons. Read golf tips. And consulted trusted friends with low golf handicaps. You’ve tried everything you can think of but nothing’s worked. You still hit a slice. Frustration sets in after awhile and you back off. But you haven’t given up. You’d still want to correct your slice.

The problem here isn’t the sources you’ve consulted. It’s the messages they carry. All too often these sources tell you why you slice, but not how to correct it. While knowing why you slice is nice, it doesn’t help correct it. Nor does it help you cut strokes from your golf handicap. What you need is golf tips on how to correct a slice. Below are six key golf tips on turning your slice into a draw.

Starts At Address

Turning your slice into a draw starts at address. Golfers fighting a slice tend to lean away from the ball. It’s a natural reaction. But it makes your slice worse. At address, your weight should be balanced in every direction. It also should be evenly distributed over both feet and proportionally on the balls and heels of your feet. This position prepares you to make a good golf swing.

Tilt Away From The Target

Also, tilt your shoulders away from the target at address as well. This lowers your back shoulder, which is key. Golfers struggling with a slice tend to invert their shoulders at address. This causes them to swipe down on the ball with a forward shoulder that’s lower than the rear one. Instead, tilt your shoulders away from the target. It helps you hit the ball straighter, higher and farther.

Check your Alignment

Aiming your shoulders left of the target (right, if you’re a lefty) encourages a swing that cuts across the ball from outside to inside. Aiming your shoulders right of the target forces your upper body to over-rotate or even come too much inside during the swing. A good way to align yourself is to aim the clubface at the target, draw an imaginary line from the target to the clubface, and position your shoulders parallel to the line.

Flatten The Wrists

It’s critical that your left wrist (right for southpaws) remain flat at the top of the backswing, which avoids rotating the clubface too far open. With a flat left wrist, the clubface remains square or closed at the top of the swing. In this position, the back of your gloved hand is flat with your forearm and both hands above the back shoulder at the top. This position prevents the ball from veering off right (or left) at impact. Move Inside Out

To draw the ball, your swing must move inside out. Thus, you must swing below your shoulders. If your hands get above your shoulders or out in front of them, you’ll come over the top and hit either a double-crossed hook or a big slice. Which you hit depends on whether the clubface is closed or open. Also, you can move your head forward on the downswing. But not so far forward that your head gets out in front of the ball. Keep your head behind the ball.

Rotate Your Arms

If you’re a slicer, you probably don’t rotate your hands properly on the downswing. The way to square a clubface at impact is to continually close it through the downswing. If you stop closing the clubface and start sliding, the face will open and you’ll slice more. As you make the backswing, concentrate on rolling your clubface open. Then, as begin your downswing, roll your hands over and straight out in front of you as they cross your sternum.

Extend Your Arms

Extending your arms after impact closes the clubface and prevents a slice-inducing swing at impact. Extending the arms also encourages the rest of the body to continue turning-a necessary ingredient to hitting a draw. After impact, the ungloved hand should be on top of the gloved hand. Remind yourself to extend your arms during your swing.

Turning a slice into a draw isn’t easy. It won’t come in a day. It takes practice and hard work to do it. But if you follow the golf tips explained above, you can turn your slice into a draw. That in turn will increase your distance and accuracy off the tee and help you trim that golf handicap down to size.



About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. Free weekly newsletter available with the latest golf tips, lessons and instructions.










Tame Your Slice In Three Easy Steps

Tame Your Slice In Three Easy Steps

Article by Jack Moorehouse







Copyright (c) 2011 Jack Moorehouse

Hooking and slicing can get you into trouble—especially off the tee. Even players with low golf handicaps find it hard to go low if they’re constantly getting themselves into trouble. In addition to costing you strokes, slicing or hooking can ruin your position for your next shot. That makes it harder to greens hit in regulation (GIR). Fewer GIRs mean fewer birdies and pars, and higher scores. While we see more slicers than hookers in our golf lessons, one thing is certain: Eliminate a hook or a slice takes a little time and some work. Trying the golf tips given below will make the transition easier.

Taming Your SliceGolfers slice when the clubhead is open at impact. An open clubhead causes the clubface to cut across the ball at impact, putting sidespin on it. Sidespin causes the ball to curve in the direction the clubface is pointing.

To correct a slice:

Strengthen Your GripTo adopt a stronger grip, turn your left hand (right hand for left-handers) so you can see three knuckles at address. This promotes a closed clubface at impact.

Close Your StanceAn open stance causes the clubface to cut across the ball. Remedying this is simple. Turn your body a little to the right to set up an in-to-out swing path. By turning your body to the right, you close your stance

Rotate Your Right ArmsWith your body closed to the target line, your right arm will rotate over your left as you swing past your chest. This also promotes a closed clubface at the moment of impact.

Anti-slice Drill:Using a 7-iron, grip the club extra lightly. Set it down with the toe of the clubhead perpendicular to the ground. From there, swing the club halfway back and halfway through. As you swing through, let the toe of the clubhead hit the ground first. Feel the head take over as your forearms rotate through impact.

Taming Your HookA closed clubface at impact, on the other hand, triggers a hook. A closed clubface causes the clubhead to come too far inside. The key to curing a hook is to make contact with a slightly more open clubface.

Weaken Your GripTo tame a hook, you’ll want to “weaken” your grip. To do that, turn your left hand left (right if you’re a left hander) so you can see two knuckles at address.

Open Your StanceJust as you needed to close your stance to beat a slice, so to do you need to open your stance to produce a fade. So turn your body to the left slightly (left-handers turn right). That sets up a slightly out-to-in swing path.

Hold Off Arm RotationWith your body open to the target line, your chest turns open faster on the downswing. This enables you to hold off arm rotation for a bit. It also keeps the face open for a shot that starts left and curves right slightly.

Anti-Hooking DrillUse a 7-iron, set up with your back foot turned out about forty-five degrees and the ball positioned forward. Now make relatively easy swings, using your shoulders and upper body to do all the work. As you increase speed and improve ball flight, use longer clubs for the drill.

Hooking and slicing can get you into serious trouble—especially off the tee. That can ruin a hole and add strokes to your golf handicap. Taming your hook or slice using the golf tips described above will help you hit more fairways. That will put you into position to hit more GIRs. Do that and you’ll card more birdies and pars, and lower your golf handicap a couple of strokes.



About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction. http://www.howtobreak80.com

Mastering The Three Wood

Mastering The Three Wood

Why – because players who hit a lot of greens in regulation tend to have lower golf handicaps. Those who don’t tend to have higher golf handicaps. The 3-wood is a great club for aggressive players. It’s also a great club for senior players who may have lost some flexibility and power over the years, but can still play well.

The 3-wood is the second longest club in your bag, so it can be hard to hit for some. Hitting a crisp 3-wood from a tight lie is especially challenging, as I tell students attending my golf instruction sessions, no matter how good you are.

You can use the 3-wood in man situations. Since it’s shorter than the driver, it’s easier to control, so you can use it off the tee on tight fairways. Using the 3-wood ton the tee may cost you some distance, but it increases your chances of hitting the fairway.

In fact, some players who can’t hit a driver hit a 3-wood off the tee instead. Players also use the 3-wood to chip with when on the fringe, in a fairway bunker if the bunker’s lip is low, and on long par-3s when there’s a head wind. But the 3-wood is used mostly off the deck on par 5s, when you need a good second shot. Another common use of the 3-wood is on long par 4s, where you need a long second shot to reach the green. Hitting a good 3-wood there can put you on the green in two, something neither a long iron nor a hybrid can do.

If you can master the 3-wood off the deck, you can save a lot of strokes. Sweep The Ball From The Fairway Unlike irons, which require a downward blow, the 3-wood (and other fairway woods) need a sweeping motion that strikes the ball as the clubhead moves parallel to the ground.

Below are five keys to hitting the 3-wood:

1. Keep your weight balanced

2. Position the ball opposite your front heel

3. Keep you head and body behind the ball

4. Pull the club through with your lead hand

5. Extend your arms on the follow-through

To hit the 3-wood off the deck, you must take a wide stance similar to that used for a driver. Position the ball opposite your front heel or in some cases, slightly back from this position, and your weight balanced comfortably on the balls of your feet.

Start your swing on a low path that almost skims the grass to replicate the shallow path you want to take on your downswing. Keep your back shoulder level and pull your right hand (left for left-handers) through with your other hand. Above all, stay behind the ball after impact. Brush through the ball and extend your arms toward the target on the follow-through – something a lot of players I find in my golf lessons must work on.

Not Designed For High Shots

The 3-wood is designed to hit a line drive type of shot. But you don’t need to feel that you have to help it get the ball in the air. The 3-woord has more than enough loft to drive the ball forward for distance. If you need to hit something with more loft, use the 5-wood. It provides less distance but more height than the 3-wood.

In the right circumstances, the 5-wood can be just as effective as the 3-wood. The 3-wood is a great club in the right hands. It’s not as versatile as a hybrid, but it’s more versatile than the driver. Don’t be afraid to hit it. Used wisely, it can set you up for short shots into the green on par 5s or serve as the club of choice off the tee. If you’re serious about improving your game, master the 3-wood. It will shave strokes from your scores and your golf handicap.

Golf Swing Tips