Golf Tip of The Day

[Golf Widow]

Roll Your Putts

If your putts have been off-line lately, save your pennies and it may help you become a more consistent putter. If you are not interested in purchasing any of the putting training aids on the market today, or simply can not afford them, a simple and cost-effective method may help solve your putting woes.

Break open your piggy bank and roll fifty pennies in a coin roll wrapper. Place the wrapper on a flat spot on the green about three feet from the hole and stroke the coins into the hole.

You can learn a lot by the way the coins roll. If you miss to the left, the putter was closed at impact. If you miss to the right, the putter was open at impact. And if you sink the putt, congratulations, the putter face was square at impact, which is one of the key ingredients to consistent putting.

PebbleBeach.com

[Golf Widow]

How to escape the rough
If you shoot about 100, your best bet is to pitch out and set up your next shot. To get better out of the rough, try this drill: Drop a ball in long grass, then place a second ball a foot behind it and practice hitting out without touching the second ball. Play the ball back in your stance, lean on your front foot, and hit down hard.



-- Dave Maga
Golf Digest Schools Instructor

[GIR]

I like these tips!  Thanks!

[Golf Widow]

Breaking 80: shotmaking
To hit a draw, many golfers think you need to make contact on the inside-back portion of the ball. Really, the opposite is true. The inside-back quadrant is the right spot for a fade. To hit a draw, the leading edge has to be pointing down and to the left of the target when the clubface contacts the ball (right). For a fade, it has to point up and to the right (left).



-- Josh Zander
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

[Golf Widow]

Groove your tempo
To find your ideal tempo, tee a ball and set up to it with your 5-iron. Raise the clubhead over the ball and (1) swing it a few feet toward the target. Without stopping, reverse direction (2) and go back over the ball and into your normal swing, hitting the shot. You’ll be amazed how smooth your swing feels through impact.



-- Butch Harmon
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

[3-Putt]

Breaking 80: shotmaking
To hit a draw, many golfers think you need to make contact on the inside-back portion of the ball. Really, the opposite is true. The inside-back quadrant is the right spot for a fade. To hit a draw, the leading edge has to be pointing down and to the left of the target when the clubface contacts the ball (right). For a fade, it has to point up and to the right (left).



-- Josh Zander
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

Nice little tips!  This one is good!^^

[Golf Widow]

Bunker Tips

In the sand, take a full swing and expect to feel resistance from the sand grabbing the club. For good lies with the ball sitting up, open the clubface. For bad lies with the ball sitting down, square the clubface. For ugly lies with the ball buried, close the clubface.

PebbleBeach.com
 
   

[Golf Widow]

Dial A Grip

Correct placement of the hands on the club (grip) is essential. Place the club in the fingers of the left hand (for right-handed golfers), and rest your thumb on the right side, with the handle being twelve o’clock, this would be the one o’clock position.

Place your right hand on the club with your palm facing the target (this acts as a second clubface). Your right thumb should be in the eleven o’clock position and should grasp the club lightly. Looking down at your left hand you should see two knuckles for a correct grip, one knuckle to fade the ball, and three knuckles to draw the ball. The placement of the knuckles on the club will help determine the shape of your shots.


Pebblebeach.com

[Golf Widow]

Hinge wrists, turn through
For crisp contact on a mini-pitch, make a full wrist hinge on the backswing, and then turn your chest toward the target on the downswing. The wrist hinge sets up a downward strike, and chest rotation promotes acceleration. If you use just your arms and not your chest to power the shot, you’ll lose clubhead speed and will probably flub it.



-- David Leadbetter
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

[Golf Widow]

Start with individual parts
To understand your swing, you need to know where the club should go. Start with individual parts, and then put those parts together. Hit the positions in slow motion first, then incorporate them into your full-speed swing. Tiger does this with his practice swing. He’s trying to feel the distinct parts in slow motion and then blend them into his real swing.



-- Hank Haney
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

[Golf Widow]

Turn on your chips
Release to the target to hit short shots solid


Watch it: Extend your arms and turn your head to see where the ball lands.


Believe it or not, it's actually possible to be a little too focused when you hit a chip.

A lot of players get so fixated on the ball and on making clean contact that they don't let the arms extend and the body rotate through impact.

If your arms collapse and your body stops turning, the bottom of your swing is going to be behind the ball. That's how fat and bladed chip shots happen. Feel that extension and body rotation through the shot, and turn your head and eyes to where you want the ball to land. That will help move the bottom of your swing forward, where it needs to be.

The club you choose for a chip depends on what kind of shot you have to hit. I like the idea of maximum ground time and minimum air time. For a close shot from just off the putting surface, use a pitching wedge. For a 30-yard shot with lots of green to work with, try a 7- or 8-iron.


-Hank Haney

[Golf Widow]

Cut your chip shots
For soft chips, open the face of a wedge, take it back outside the target line and up, then slice across—hard. The ball will pop into the air, go a shorter distance and land softly. This is my all-time favorite lesson, and it works for me as well today as when I learned it at 11 years old.



-- Tom Watson
Golf Digest Playing Editor

[Golf Widow]

Visualize great shots
Step 1: Place your right foot in its set-up position and align the clubface at your target.
Step 2: As you move your left foot into position, let your arms hang freely and think about feeling the clubhead through your hands as you give it a waggle.
Step 3: Notice the ground through your feet as you react to the target. Now, while keeping in light motion, start your swing. A good routine makes golf a reactionary sport.



-- Jim Flick
Golf Digest Playing Editor

[Golf Widow]

Be careful leaning forward
For chipping, you’ve probably been told to lean toward the target to ensure ball-first contact. True, but angling the shaft too much makes the swing too steep and causes you to dig (right). Instead, set up with your weight slightly forward (left). You’ll allow the club’s bounce to slide along the ground and increase your chances of solid contact.



-- Josh Zander
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

[Golf Widow]

Fade the hybrid from rough
A cut shot with a hybrid is often your best bet from the rough. To hit a cut, set the clubface slightly open, play the ball just forward of center and align your body and feet for an out-to-in swing path. As you take the club back, break your wrists early, then simply swing along your open stance line to create the left-to-right ball flight.



-- Butch Harmon
Golf Digest Teaching Professional