All posts by recgolfer

short game

Learn the Short Game From TV

Leave a comment

Yogi Berra said you can observe a lot just by watching. It’s a funny comment, but there’s a heavy element of truth in it. You can learn a lot about the short game by watching the pros on TV, provided you know what to look for.

First, look at their setup. With the right setup, the shot is halfway hit. Where do they place the ball–up, center, back? Is the clubface open to any degree? Are they leaning toward the target a bit? Is the stance square or open? Where are the feet pointing? How much knee bend is there? Are their hands even with the ball or ahead of it?

Watch the backswing. Does the club stay low, or is it allowed to swing up? Do the wrists break or not? How much longer or shorter is the backswing than you might expect, given the distance between the ball and the hole?

Impact happens too fast see carefully, but the follow-through is telling. How much of a follow-through is there? Does the club stay low? Is there any wrist break?

Finally, watch the flight of the ball–distance in the air, distance on the ground, how quickly the ball stops. This tells you what the other things you noticed were trying to accomplish.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com

mental game

Keep the Golf Simple

Leave a comment

Let me tell you what golf really is all about.

You hit the ball, you go find it, you hit it again. You keep doing that until it falls into the hole. Then you take your ball out of the hole, write down your score, and start the whole thing over.

Keep it no more complicated than that and golf will be lots of fun.

supporting your golf

Spring Tune-up

Leave a comment

Now that you’ve played a few rounds to scratch your golfing itch, take a break and get yourself and your equipment ready for the season.

Replace your spikes. The ones on your shoes now are worn down to nubs. Better yet, maybe you need a new pair of golf shoes. Are the the ones you have now really that comfortable anymore?

Get new grips on your clubs. When the grips get smooth, you start holding on tighter, introducing tension and causing all sorts of swing problems.

Get some lessons. That swing that worked so great last fall is a little rusty. Get a putting and chipping lesson, too. You’ll get a few adjustments that will make a world of difference.

Buy a wide-brimmed hat that actually does, instead of pretending to, keep the sun off your face and neck.

Get that new driver. Just kidding. Learn to get the driver you have in the fairway and use the $399 to pay for golf lessons.

Purchase and read Better Recreational Golf, (www.bettergolfbook.com) by yours truly. Applying the information in this book will help you shoot lower scores.

equipment

Buying the Right Golf Ball

Leave a comment

You might be confused about golf balls. I’ll clear it up for you. Golf balls are not created equal. There’s a right ball for you, regardless of your skill. The right ball will make the game easier and save you a stroke or two.

The first decision is price. A mid-range ball in the $25-30 per dozen price range will suit most recreational golfers. Look here first. Most premium balls are designed for players with much higher swing speeds than you have. The advantages it offers will not be available to you. Remember that no one cares what ball you play. They only pay attention to what score you shoot with it.

If performance around the greens is important, you want a Tour ball. A pro shop should let you take a sleeve of several brands to the practice green and try a few shots. When you find the one that gives you results that make your eyes light up, there’s your ball.

If distance is important, get a fitting in front of a launch monitor. The pro will give you several different brands to try so that you get optimal launch characteristics given your swing and the clubs you use, especially your driver.

Finally, don’t be influenced by brand preference. The ball that’s right for you might be made by a different manufacturer than you’re used to.

Of course you can play with any ball, but to get the most out of your game, get the right one.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

golf lessons

It’s Time For You to Get a Golf Lesson

Leave a comment

Winter is over. Maybe you hit some balls in the last few months, maybe you took a few swings in the house. Unless you kept playing as often as you did last summer, I can pretty much promise that you won’t go right back to that same swing. That your putting will be a little bit off (and all it takes is a little bit for you to miss the ones you used to make). Short game? The part of the game based on feel and finesse? Gone.

So hitting the range is a good idea, and I’m sure you’re doing that. But think hard about having a few lessons to get you on the right track from the start. Why?

Because over a few months of little or no activity you’ve lost what the good swing you had feels like. You might think you’re swinging the same way, but odds are you’re not. You can’t figure out why, but the pro will spot it in a second.

Even if you are hitting the ball well, a lesson will remind of why. It will give you the means of correcting yourself when your swing goes south during the round.

Then there’s the part where you might learn something you didn’t know before, that will help you play better.

Get a lesson. Get several. One for your swing, one for chipping, one for putting. Lessons are the best investment you can make in your golf game.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com

playing the game, practice

Five Pieces of Advice to Golfers

Leave a comment

I’m just sayin’ . . .

1. Don’t swing a club that has less loft than your handicap.

2. If you can drive and you can putt, you can play good golf. (Actually, Byron Nelson said that.)

3. Practice these things in this priority: short irons, short putts, greenside chips, driver.

4. On difficult holes play for easy bogies rather than hard pars.

5. It’s more important to have fun with your friends than to shoot a low score.

For all you literalists, numbers 1-4 have wiggle room. Number 5 does not. Also, numbers 2 and 3 do not contradict each other.

Play well and have fun.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com

putting

Work With the Green – Don’t Be Afraid of It

Leave a comment

Being a good green reader means entering into a partnership with the green. Instead of seeing the green as an adversary, an obstacle course that you have to navigate to get the ball into a tiny hole, look at the green as a helper that’s showing you exactly where and how firmly the ball should be sent off. Thinking outside yourself like this makes putting much less stressful. It will let you see clearly how to hit this putt.

So think not how am I going to sink this putt, but how are we going to sink this putt. You do your part, the green does its part. Your part is to start the putt with the right speed on the right line so the green can carry the ball to the hole. Give the green what it needs to work with so it can do its job.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com

playing the game

Ride a Hot Hand on the Golf Course

Leave a comment

You practice lots of shots with different clubs so you’ll know just which shot to hit with what club for each situation you’ll find. Most of the time, that’s the smart way to play. Unless there’s no option, the pros won’t play a shot they haven’t practiced many times before.

On the other hand, sometimes you hit a shot that turns out uncommonly well. It felt easy, and it feels like you can do it again and again. So go ahead.

Did you just hit a pured 6-iron? Believe in this club and hit it again as soon as you can. Did it work out again? Now hit that club as often as you can the rest of the round. Give yourself opportunities by laying back on shorter par 4s and on the par 5s.

Did you just fly a chip to a few feet from the hole with a lofted wedge? Keep hitting it that shot with that club, even if you would normally do something else.

Performance is all about confidence. If you find something on the course that gives you confidence, ride it for all it’s worth. It could be a shot, or a club. It could be a thought. Just take every advantage of what helps you perform your best.

The next time you play, try that thing again, but if it doesn’t work, let it go and start looking for the next one.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com

mental game

Visualization In the Short Game

Leave a comment

A few summers ago I hit my tee shot short of the green on a par-3 hole. This green sits on a shelf that slopes sharply downward in front. The ball was five feet below the level of the green and about 30 feet from the pin.

I looked the situation over and through no conscious decision-making process, absorbed it, and thought, “Sand wedge, two feet.” My mind and body shared the knowledge of what to do and performed as one. As I hit the shot, a feeling of calmness and confidence was strong from address through follow-through. It was that simple.

Visualization is allowing what you see between yourself and your target to create an impression in your mind that spreads through your body. The impression carries the exact feeling of what shot to hit, and how to hit it, that will get the ball where you want it to go. The process takes only a few seconds once you get used to it.

When you plan a shot by drawing on your experience in a logical way, you’ll be off the mark. Every short shot is different, and generalizing from the past will prevent you from seeing what is there now. There might be bumps and rolls in the ground to account for, meaning you would have to fly the ball to the hole instead of running it there. You might usually hit this particular shot with your sand wedge, but now a 9-iron would be a better choice. And so on.

After acquiring a basic grasp of how to hit different short shots, it all comes down to feel, because each short shot situation has unique demands. If you spend a few moments just looking at what lies in front of you, without pre-judging how you’re going to deal with it, the right solution will present itself to your mind and body, every time.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com