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Did You See Tiger Woods This Weekend?

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are a big fan of sports that are not shown as frequently on major networks, you can probably get a lot of use out of some of the programming options offered at websites like www.directstartv.com. For example, some of these options can gain you access to channels specifically geared toward bringing you all of the golf coverage you could possibly want. This will allow you to watch even some of the smaller tournaments that may not be shown on CBS or ESPN. Additionally, you can enjoy, essentially, 24/7 analysis on the sport’s biggest events and happenings. For example, if you weren’t paying attention on Sunday the 4th, you may want to catch up on the latest news; because, it appears, Tiger Woods may be back.

Entering this past weekend’s Chevron tournament, Tiger Woods was riding a two year streak without a single tournament victory, following his extremely well-documented personal life collapse roughly two years ago. Woods has been criticized for off-the-course issues, has lost endorsements, took some time away from the sport, and battled injuries, all the while putting together a performance that was significantly below average for arguably the greatest golfer ever to walk the earth. So, there’s a reason all eyes were turned on the relatively small Chevron tournament when Woods entered the final day within striking distance of the title.

Throughout the day, Woods and Zach Johnson battled back and forth, neither ever gaining much ground on the other. It became clear after just a few holes that this championship would come down to Woods and one other man, giving Tiger an opportunity he hasn’t had very often in the last two years: to prove he still has what it takes to take Sunday. In the end, while he didn’t necessarily possess the same terrifying swagger he once seemed to have on final charges, Tiger had what it took – he birdied the last two holes, one with a great put on 17, to take the tournament, his first win since his career and personal life took their turn for the worse.

Of course, all of this begs the question that golf fans have been salivating over for two years: is Tiger back? Whether you root for him or not, and whether you care or don’t care about his personal life, there is simply no denying that the possibility of a return to prominence is extremely significant for the sport of golf. On the 17th and 18th holes at the Chevron, Tiger seemed a bit nervous and uncomfortable – even, almost, self-conscious. Yet when his final put went in to secure his victory, Tiger let loose an all-too-familiar roar that signaled at least a possibility that this win represented a turn back toward dominance. There are no guarantees – but every other professional golfer will feel a bit less comfortable Monday morning.

Filed Under: Golf News Tagged With:

Golf Shot Aiming Tip – Forget the Hole

August 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the biggest obstacles that I’ve had to overcome is shooting for the hole. What I mean is playing every shoot towards the hole. Since I don’t have a controllable fade or draw I cringe at going for spot right of the hole or left of the hole. My guess is so do you.

Playing on island courses and some of the most difficult in the world (slope and rating wise) I have learned you don’t always need to go for the hole. A lot of times the smart shot is to the right away from the bunkers 150 yards short! Most of the time I would take out my 3 wood and go for the glory. It was hard for me to justify hitting the ball short on my second shot into a par four and then trying to chip the ball close. That isn’t even laying up in most golfers books.

But it works! My scores have dropped quite a bit since I began to shot for a wide open patch rather than between two trees. Here’s some of the thoughts I go through when selecting a shot.

Play It Short on a Par Four

One of the most helpful things I’ve done to improve my scores is to not go for the hole every shot on every hole. On Par fours where my tee shot has left me a horrible angle into the hole, or in a position where if I over shoot the hole it’s going to go long, dribble down a hill and end up OB, I lay it up. Of course I have worked also on improving my short game in the process, but laying up has shaved at least three strokes off some rounds.

Too often us duffers hit a tee shot to the left and leave ourselves behind a patch of trees that we need to either draw the ball around or shoot a perfectly straight shot dropping, with backspin. Both shots I don’t have in my repertoire quite yet. Instead, why not pull out a 4 iron take a half swing and pooch the ball low under the tree and out in the middle of the fairway. Chip the ball close you could save par, two putt and you get bogey. On your way to a 90!

Why Not Roll it Up

Another shot that you should add to your bag-o-tricks is the seven or eight iron from 40 yards away. If there aren’t any bunkers in front of you why do you need so much air under the ball? Do you have the skill to drop the ball next to the hole? If I am within about 10-20 yards of the fringe with nothing in front of me I often take out my eight iron and look to get the ball just high enough to create some roll and get it on the green going towards the hole.

My guess is that most of you take out those brand new wedges you bought and skull the ball shooting it straight over the green and into the bunker on the other side. If you watch Big Break IV you noticed that a lot of them shot old English pitch shots where the ball would land 10 yards from the green but roll up in a good position. If you have no obstacles, some decent fairway in front of you, don’t work on your short game. Pull out the 8 or even 9 iron and use the much easier controllable pitch shot.

Long and Straight or Short and Open

If you are like most you pull out your driver and go for the glory of hitting the long ball dead down the center of the fairway. Unless your playing from the back tees, you don’t need to let the big dog eat every single time. Especially if there is a patch of trees hanging over the right or left edge of the fairway.

On a lot of the island courses here in Hawaii there are short par fours but the designers placed a few trees about 100 yards out from the tee box blocking your route to the hole. You could hug the trees and go over them long or take out a 5 wood and shoot short to a big open patch. Hmm. I usually go hugging trees and shooting long, or at least try. Too often I find myself in the bushes trying to punch my ball at the hole (see previous). Might I suggest the 5 wood next time. 150-170 out is a lot better than 200 out and under a bush.

The biggest take-away you should have from this is to not always go for the glory. Trust me. Look ahead to where your shot could be and then look at what some other options are. Start playing for bogey’s on every hole rather than playing for pars. You’ll begin to see the game in a hole new way and look towards scratch golfing like a reality instead of a dream.

Filed Under: Golf Swing Tips

Golf Club Takeaway Drill for Better Swing

August 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A key element to making sure you don’t dip or raise your body out of one of these planes is taking a proper back swing with only body rotation. Doing this will eliminate the need for your body to compensate and get back to a square position at impact from an out of plane rotation on your back swing. Since the swing I am using to become a scratch golfer is a one plane swing I try and just worry about body rotation and letting my arms go along for the ride. Therefore I have begun to use a quick and easy drill to work on my back swing or takeaway and keep all those planes level.

Drill
It’s a very simple drill that you can do anywhere; waiting for an elevator, the bus, grocery line, watching TV, anywhere. You first need to get into the proper golf stance, whatever yours may be. Then, as I have mentioned before, you need to begin your rotation back with just your shoulders. While you are rotating your shoulders focus all your energy on keeping your waist pointing straight ahead. If you have a belt buckle it should remain in the same position the whole time. You will begin to feel a strain in your mid to lower back. You may even begin to feel short of breath from the torque that is being built up.

Once you get back as far as you can go stop and hold it for a couple seconds. This will help stretch out those muscles giving you more torque with a greater body rotation. Keep doing this until it become ingrained in your muscles and you can easily repeat it while hitting golf balls. Once on the range your waist will turn slightly but you should do this drill without turning it at all.

You can also add the downswing practice after a while which all I do is straighten my left (forward) leg and my shoulders follow the uncoiling of my lower back and swing through the imaginary ball.

Filed Under: Golf Swing Tips Tagged With: ,

Golf Swing Rotation Tip – From Top

August 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In Paul Wilson’s book Swing Machine Golf you find out that the uncomfortable feeling you may experience when swinging properly can be a good thing.

The proper golf swing starts with the proper take-away. If you begin your swing incorrectly you spend the remainder of it trying to correct the mistakes and making a poor shot. Chances are if you’re like me you start your back swing by rotating your whole body. Hips, shoulders, and legs, all moving to get the club to the top. Within Swing Machine Golf I found out this is completely wrong. You need to resist full body rotation and just use your shoulders to rotate the club around your body. Doing this creates torque within your back that is painful at first but makes a noticeably smoother and longer shot over time.

To practice and perfect the proper takeaway there are only two key points to think about:

Coil from the top

In order to create torque in your back you must think about only using your shoulders to take the club away. Resist any temptation to rotate your hips or legs. At first this will seem really strange and will make you notice how much you previously used your hips to perform this task. By the time you make it to the halfway point your hips will begin to turn even if you try to resist. When this happens, keep resisting. When you are almost to the top of your swing your knees will turn slightly, keep resisting. The whole time you should be thinking about just using your shoulders to take the club back.

During the last half of the back swing you should feel tension building in your lower back. This is a good thing and that tension is the torque which gives power to your shot. The more tension you build the faster your body tries to uncoil and the further your shot goes. The uncoiling is done with your hips and will be talked about in a later post.

Push the club with your left hand (right if you’re a lefty)

Now that you know to resist your hip rotation you can think about taking the club back. When you first start to take the club back use only your left hand. Push the club to 45 degrees off center without turning your shoulders or hips. Continue moving the club back until it is pointing directly back away from your target on a line parallel to your pre-shot target line. During this whole process you should only be moving your arms. Your shoulders will have to rotate slightly in order to allow the club to get to this position. Remember though, you don’t want to start the rotation until your arms and shoulders bring your club to this straight back point. Just think “push the club back with my left hand.”

You can practice this by only using your left hand and bringing the club back to the 45 degree point. Do it while watching TV and it will help build your muscle memory for a proper swing.

Thinking about these two simple things while starting your swing will quickly help you improve your game. You should feel stressed at first which will be a big turnoff to this method. Don’t worry, it took me a few months to really start feeling comfortable with the resistance. Give it time.

Filed Under: Golf Swing Tips Tagged With: , ,

Don’t Swing at the Golf Ball

May 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

That title may seem a little, OK, a lot, whacky. In golf you’re supposed to hit the golf ball and get it in the hole. So why am I telling you to not swing at the golf ball?

Because it gets in the way of course. Confused still?

Think about it this way. When you take your practice swings, most of you try and be smooth and fluid and probably try to just brush the top of the grass. You don’t try and smack the little white golf ball a thousand yards down the fairway.

But when you address the golf ball, chances are, you load up and really try to hit the thing. One of the best golf tips I’ve been given lately is to just let the golf ball get in the way. Don’t even think about hitting it.

Instead, think about swinging at those tiny blades of grass that surround the golf ball and try and just brush those blades of grass. That darn ball will get in the way of your club and hopefully be on it’s way to the proper spot (wherever you think that might be.)

Too often golfers, especially new golfers, focus so intently on hitting the golf ball rather than their swing that the idea of hitting the golf ball over powers the swing and you end up tensing up, opening your grip, under-rotating, over-rotating, you name it, you’re probably doing it.

Just think to yourself, brush the grass, brush the grass.

Filed Under: Golf Swing Tips

Driving Range Tip: Wear the Right Shoes

April 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We’ve been writing about driving range tips lately and had someone comment on one of our articles reminding us that we should make sure to wear the same shoes we play the round of golf in, at the driving range. We thought this would a good enough tip to bring it to light, so that’s what we’re doing.

How often do you head to the driving range after work and only have your gym shoes in the car and a couple clubs. Or maybe you only have your penny loafers on that you wear to work. Either way, you say forget it, and head to the range in your loafers thinking it won’t matter.

While it probably doesn’t matter for someone who’s a scratch golfer and really has good body control and a slight change in footwear won’t be noticeable, for the new golfer, tuning his or her swing, you don’t really want added variables. You want to be able to focus on your swing mechanics and make sure you have a stable base to work from.

That’s why you should wear the same shoes you wear to golf course, on the driving range. You won’t have to worry about your feet slipping in your loafers or extra height of your sneakers. You’ll be able to focus on what you came to the driving range to focus on, your golf swing.

Filed Under: Driving Range Tagged With:

Loose Wrists Swing Tip for a Better Golf Swing

April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We’ve mentioned it before. One of the best tips I was given to get a more powerful, more accurate swing was to loosen my wrists and grip, and swing with just rotating my hips. But the key was the loose wrists on the swing.

This isn’t as easy as it may sound. You have to have very stable upper body control and make sure you don’t dip or raise throughout your swing. Just rotate around your trunk and keep those wrists loose.

The action will whip the club through and you’ll be extremely surprised when your clubface comes around square more often than not.

Now this doesn’t mean get wristy as some do. This is where you’ll feel like you’re loosening your wrists but in reality, you’re trying to whip your wrist through. You’re actually using your forearms to turn your wrists over which will get you pulling, duck hooking and all other things bad.

Best place to practice this is on the driving range and practice it over and over again.

Check out this video as a great guide (it’s who i learned it from.)

Filed Under: Driving Range, Golf Swing Tips

What Club Should I Bring to the Driving Range?

March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are a lot of people out there always wondering what golf club they should bring to the driving range. That is of course, if they can’t bring them all. But even then, I tend to leave most of my clubs in the car and just bring a few, or even one.

Golf is all about being able to repeat the same swing, with each club. Bring the club face to square, and follow through the same way each time. You can practice with every single club, or you can take a method that a lot of instructors are using, which is only practice with one club.

Now it may be a love for the movie Tin Cup, or it may be that this club is right in the middle. Whatever it is, the most common single club to bring to the Driving Range for practice is the 7 iron. It’s a middle of the road club and provides distance, height, and good feel in your hands to get the proper feel of a good swing.

You may want to bring out the driver, or the pitching wedge, all good clubs to practice with, and if you had time for three clubs, this is what I would choose. But if you go through a small or large bucket of balls. Take out the 7 iron and leave the rest.

What this does is to allow you to focus on your swing rather than the club you have in your hand. You’ll be thinking about swing mechanics and trying to improve your swing rather than how far you can hit your driver or how high you can get your pitching wedge, and everything in between.

This is one of the biggest lessons that most beginners don’t do. Heck almost everyone changing their swing doesn’t do. But it may just be one of the best tips you receive.

Filed Under: Driving Range

One of the Best Driving Range Tips Around

May 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

If you head to the driving range, you want to be productive. You’re there to practice and not to just swing the golf club a couple times. Well that’s what I too often see people doing. Just swinging with no purpose.

So how do you get a purpose? You show up with one. And the best tip to show up with is to know where you’re aiming. I know it seems simple but just remember back to your last time at the driving range. Were you lined up to your target? Or were you lined up to where the mat or lines or divot marks were point you?

Next time you head to the driving range follow this one tip. Move around on the driving range area and point at angles to the mat or the divots or the golfers around you (just don’t point at them, try 10 – 20 degrees off of your normal, don’t be silly, be safe.) By doing this you may find out that you’re actually hitting the ball where you want to and will help get you closer to playing scratch golf.

Filed Under: Driving Range Tagged With: , ,

Don’t Take a Full Golf Back Swing

May 3, 2010 By 1 Comment

If you watch swing vision on CBS and study what the pros do you’ll notice that one thing they don’t do is take a full back swing. They stop at the top or even half-way up to the top. And this isn’t probably why you think they do.

For one, they are resisting and building power in their midsection and hips by keeping them pointed straight ahead and not rotating out of position. They don’t turn the golf club around their body by rotating their hips. They rotate their upper body.

Doing this requires them to stop towards the top of their swing making them have more control of their downswing. You, probably having less control than a professional golfer, should take this swing tip and run with it.

It takes a lot of practice but this is something you can do in your spare time watching TV. Just take the club back half way, and keep repeating. Repeat until your tired and you’re not thinking about taking the club back. Just make sure the golf club only goes half way.

This can be a great golf practice tip if you’re looking for something to do off the course and help you get to playing scratch golf.

Filed Under: Golf Practice Tips, Golf Swing Tips Tagged With: ,
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