The summer season is here and there’s a good chance that you might be visiting the beach soon. Maybe you won’t be able to get a round of golf in when you’re there but don’t forget your sand wedge!
A fun and useful game that you can play alone or with friends at the beach is a bit of a variation on the basketball game H.O.R.S.E.
Pick various targets on the beach (tip: avoid picking people as targets!) and use your sand wedge to hit the target with your golf ball. Alternate turns between the players and the player that hits the target in the fewest strokes gets a point. You can play to as many points as you want but 5 points is usually a good number to use.
This game will give you another fun beach activity while improving your skill for chipping out of the sand.
Are you used to having a couple “blow up” holes whenever you go out for a round of golf? You know the holes - you’re coming off of a birdie or par and on the next hole you end up with a quadruple bogey that ruins your score. Oftentimes these holes are caused by too much tension in your body. Use our tips when you need to relax and hopefully avoid these awful holes to lower your score.
Being relaxed reduces tension in your muscles. If you’re tense, this will lead to tight muscles and inconsistent swings.
Clear your mind. Picture yourself relaxing on the beach or wherever it is that you feel the most relaxed. Just don’t think about your upcoming golf shot!
Focus on being more relaxed in your grip, stance, and swing.
Introduce the ‘wiggle’ to your pre-shot routine. The wiggle will help you release some tension from your entire body and lead to a more relaxed swing.
Practice a relaxed swing before you address the ball. To develop a relaxed swing, take continuous swings back and forth without stopping. This will loosen you up and remove any tension before you take your swing.
These tips will help reduce the tension in your body that can lead to all kinds of problems like fat shots, topped shots, loss of tempo, loss of balance, forced swings, or too much arm movement.
Putting is one of the great equalizers in golf. A player who consistently drives the ball 250 yards but is awful on the greens may see similar scores as a great putter who can only drive ball 150 yards.
If you are used to three putting and you learn how to get off of the green in one or two putts on most holes, your score will see a drastic improvement. Follow our tips to help shave some strokes off of your score next time you hit the golf course.
Make sure you accelerate through your putt rather than decelerating on the forward swing. Your front swing is the most important part of the swing for controlling distance and decelerating throws off your putt’s distance.
Keep your head down and focused on the ball during your follow through. Lifting your head too early can cause you to pull or push your putt to the left or right.
Follow through your stroke so that you almost feel like you are “pushing” the ball into the hole.
When reading the green, try looking from the back of the hole towards your ball. This view will help you see more of the contours of the green.
Don’t rush your putts when you get on the green. Focus and take a few practice swings before making your putt.
If you have any other tips that work for you, please let us know in the comments!
Chipping can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the game of golf. On a par 4, you can hit a great drive and be a chip and a decent putt away from a birdie.
For the average golfer though, you are more likely to chip the ball over the green, leave it short, or blow it right past the hole. Your potential birdie just turned into a triple bogey and now you’re frustrated and upset with your missed opportunity.
We’ve all been in that situation before but the following tips will help you improve your short game around the greens and shave strokes off of your score.
Avoid moving your wrists when chipping. It seems natural to move your wrists but keep them locked when you’re chipping.
Use the length of your back swing to control the distance of the chip, not the speed of your forward swing.
Always follow through fully with your swing. Many players stop their swing when they get to the ball because they fear a full forward swing will send the ball over the green. This is a mistake - a short back swing with a full follow through will leave you with a short chip that gets in the air and rolls when it hits the green.
Line up the ball with the heel of your back foot. If you’re right handed, the ball should be in line with your right foot when you line up for your chip.
Try to keep slightly more of your weight on your front foot than your back foot. If you’re a right handed golfer, more weight should be on your left foot when chipping.
Use these tips to help shave strokes of your score next time you’re golfing.
Many people like to go to the driving range and blast away with their drivers. This is great if you’re going to the range to work on your drive specifically but there are other techniques that you can use to make the most out of your driving range time. Use the tips below next time you’re at the driving range to help improve your score.
When you get to the driving range start off hitting your short wedges then work up from your 9 iron through your lowest iron. This will help you find your swing and loosen you up. Studies show that wedges and irons are the clubs that help you score better scores so you definitely shouldn’t neglect them at the range.
Once you’ve warmed up with your irons and you are comfortable with your swing, take a few swings with the driver. Analyze how you hit the first couple balls. If you notice that you’re slicing or hooking the ball, use this time to practice techniques that will help you fix these problems. (Earlier, we posted videos that will give you advice on fixing your slice or your hook).
Don’t just mindlessly hit all of the balls in your bucket. Pretend you’re actually on the golf course and pick specific targets for each of your shots. This will help you determine the range and accuracy of each of your clubs so the next time you are on the course you will have a better idea of what you are capable of with each of your clubs.
Hopefully you’ll find these tips useful and make the most of your next visit to the driving range. If you have any of your own tips, please let us know in the comments below.
What you do at the gym can be just as important to your golf game as what you do at the driving range. The repetitive nature of the game can put stress on your muscles - especially your hips and back. This workout will help to keep you injury free and add some distance to your drive!
Cardiovascular
Start with a 10 minute warm up of jogging, walking, or bike riding
Legs
Leg Extension - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Leg Press - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Chest
Bench Press - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Cable Flys - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Back
Seated Row - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Lateral Pull Down - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Shoulders
Seated Press - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Dumbbell Front Raises - 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Core
Crunches - 2 sets of 15 repetitions
Lower Back Extension - 2 sets of 15 repetitions
Torso Rotation - 2 sets of 15 repetitions
Tips and Warnings
As with any fitness or work out plan, consult with your doctor before starting this workout or beginning any exercise program.
Don’t do this workout before you play a round because you will fatigue your muscles.
After you do the warm up, stretch your muscles - especially your back, chest, and shoulders.
Often when you’re playing a dog leg right hole you’d like your drive to start off fairly straight but end up right - this is when you’d like to hit a fade shot off the tee. To hit a fade, you need to follow a few simple steps at alignment that will help create the swing path that will put the proper spin on the ball to make it travel to the right. The following steps are for right handed golfers, if you’re a lefty, just reverse the directions.
Address the ball on the tee with your standard alignment and grip
After you’ve setup as usual, you’ll want to aim your feet to the left of your target. You’ll want to adjust the aim of your feet about 10 to 15 degrees more than your traditional alignment. You can adjust this angle when you practice to get a feel for how different alignments affect the trajectory of the ball’s flight path.
Now, aim your club face directly at your target (open the club face) and maintain your regular grip.
Take your normal swing and your ball should fade.
Avoid the temptation of modifying your swing too much to ‘force’ a fade - let your alignment and the club do the work.
Make sure you practice this at the driving range before you attempt this on the course. When you are learning, an attempted fade can very easily turn into a severe slice and you can end up in unplayable territory.
As with anything in golf, don’t get frustrated if you don’t master this shot immediately - Practice makes perfect!
Sometimes you’ll come across a dog leg left hole and you would like your drive to start off fairly straight but end up left (for right handers) - this is a perfect situation for hitting a draw off of the tee. To hit a draw, you just need to follow a few simple steps at alignment that will help create an in-to-out swing path that will put the proper spin on the ball to make it travel to the left.
Address the ball on the tee with your standard alignment and grip
After you’ve setup as usual, you’ll want to aim your feet to the right of your target. You’ll want to adjust the aim of your feet about 10 to 15 degrees more than your traditional alignment. You can adjust this angle when you practice to get a feel for how different alignments affect the trajectory of the ball’s flight path.
Now, aim your club face directly at your target (close the club face) and maintain your regular grip.
Take your normal swing and your ball should draw.
Avoid the temptation of modifying your swing to ‘force’ a draw.
Make sure you practice this at the driving range before you attempt this on the course. When you are learning, an attempted draw can very easily turn into a severe hook and you can end up in unplayable territory.
As with anything in golf, don’t get frustrated if you don’t master this shot immediately - Practice makes perfect!
With all of the new drivers that have been released recently, we consumers are constantly told how great a club’s Moment of Inertia (or MOI) factor is compared to other drivers. Well, what exactly is MOI and what does it do for my golf game? Is this just marketing speak or is this a real term that you need to be aware of as a golfer?
In the golf sense, Moment of Inertia refers to how a clubhead resists to twisting from center when contact is made with the ball. For instance, if you have a less than perfect swing and you strike the ball off the toe of the club, a clubhead with a higher Moment of Inertia factor will not twist as much because of the mishit. This gives your ball a much better chance of flying further and straighter than if your clubhead had a lower MOI factor. Moment of Inertia is increased by club manufacturers by manipulating the size, shape, and weight of the clubhead.
If you are a higher handicap golfer, a higher MOI club will greatly improve your golf game - especially your position off the tee. These clubs are more forgiving and will increase the likelihood that your mishits are playable. However, if you are a low handicap golfer, you may want to steer clear of higher MOI clubs because they reduce your ability to really shape the ball’s flight path off of the tee. If you’re interested in one of these high MOI clubs, the Nike SQ Sumo Squared 5900 and Cleveland Hibore XLS drivers are two of the more popular newer models that you might want to consider.
Having a long and straight drive is one of the best ways to have consistently lower scores. However, many golfers have trouble controlling where the drive goes and how far the ball flies. Who wouldn’t want to be able to drive the ball farther and straighter? Have a look at this video with instructor Rickard Strongert giving you the tips you need to straighten out your drive.
The summer season is here and there’s a good chance that you might be visiting the beach soon. Maybe you won’t be able to get a round of golf in when you’re there but don’t forget your sand wedge!
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