Find Your Balance Position ~ Golf Tips

Weight distribution at address is crucial to maintaining good balance and posture throughout your swing. There are many misconceptions as to how your weight should be placed in your swing. I want to clarify this now, your weight should be centered 50/50 between your feet… and also, 50/50 on each foot, between the balls of your feet and your heels. The most common result from poor balance is thinned and fat shots. So if you are one of those players who suffers from inconsistent contact, listen up!

Starting your swing with the weight too far back on the heels will lead to thinned shots… on the toes… results in fat shots. Far more problematic of these two faults is swinging with your weight on your toes, as it disrupts the rest of your swing dramatically (shown by the left image with the yellow line). It forces your spine to curve, your legs to be too straight, and your chin to be tucked. In golf lingo, this disrupts your spine, leg, shoulder and head angles. The results are fat weak shots to the right… usually coupled with an over-the-top swing.

The best way to check your positioning at address is to have a friend push you slightly from all directions. If your weight is set properly, it will be difficult for you to lose your balance. When setting up, take a page from the pros, and shuffle your feet. Focus on setting your weight properly and you should see a vast improvement in your consistency.

Don’t miss this one!

Pencil Chipping Drill ~ Golf Tips

Unlike the full swing, the wrists play a minimal role when it comes to most chip shots. Flop shot excluded, your chipping stroke should be controlled simply by the movement of your shoulders, much like a putt. This drastically simplifies the stroke and ultimately eliminates the possibility of hitting it thin or fat. The problem with the wrists is that there are extra moving parts and a higher variance when it comes to accelerating into the ball. Golf is hard enough as is, simplifying the motion is something we should all practice.

This drill will help you to eliminate a wristy follow-through more than anything, so if you have a habit of flipping your chips or if you tend to hit thin shots often, this drill is for you. I see this fault most commonly with the players who have the long backswing… short declarative stroke in attempts to control distance, followed by an abrupt follow-through. I think you know who I’m talking about…

You’ll need a pencil and a wristband, or any one of those rubber ‘livestrong’ type bracelets everyone wears to show their support for a charity or cause. Place the pencil in the wristband so the pencil covers the back of wrist from your lower forearm to the back of your hand. The yellow line in this image represents the pencil. Now, practice hitting some chips. If you flip after impact, the pencil will dig into the back of your hand. Instant feedback! If you’re really struggling with keeping your wrists out of the stroke, try sharpening the end of the pencil!

The best mental image to keep in mind when chipping is that the clubhead never passes the wrists… ever.

Give it a try!

Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by. We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from our readers on the Titliest AP2 irons. People are trying them at demo days and are falling in love with them. SirPutts talks to one such reader today…

What do you hear about the Titleist AP2?? Hit them briefly recently and was favorably impressed. Choices are AP2s w/ Project X shafts or Mizuno MP 57 with Project X shafts. Will be hitting AP2s again at demo day this Sunday.

I like the Titleist and my club has an account with them, and not Mizuno which is an issue since I am on our Board and need to support our shop. AP2s have a very good feel, slightly less so chipping. Seem forgiving for a players club, but still workable. A little expensive.

Mizuno has sweet feel in all ways, but have higher trajectory and slightly less forgiving. Also considered: Taylor Made R7TP (poor feel for chipping, heads too large), Callaway X-20 Tour (poor feel for chipping, heads too large).

Have written you in the past - keep up the posts and thanks for your advice again!!
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Beginner’s Who Hook ~ What’s the Problem?

Although statistics say 90% of golfer’s slice the ball… that leaves 10% of us that either hook or can hit it straight. Oddly enough, throughout my lessons, I see many beginner golfers who suffer from a hook. Although, yes, on occasion the fix can be as simple as ensuring the player starts with the clubface square at address, or their shafts are too whippy… but this is not always the case. I want to talk about some common causes of a the hook, that specifically affect beginners. For you better players who suffer from a hook… this post will surely help you’re games out as well.

4)Lack of Wrist Rotation

Although over-active wrists are a common cause of a hook, a lack of wrist rotation on the backswing is also a problem. On the backswing, when the club reaches parallel to the ground, the toe of the club should be pointing skyward. If the clubface is pointing towards to the ground, your wrists have not rotated enough.

Backswing faults are usually exacerbated on the downswing. So a fault in your backswing will likely lead to problems at impact. A closed clubface on the backswing, will lead to a closed clubface at impact. Hence you’re right to left ball flight.

Perform a check to ensure that the toe of your club is pointing skyward at the 9:00 position.
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Change your Focus Drill ~ Putting Tips

For players who suffer from the yips, it doesn’t seem to matter what “cure” you try, because nothing works. What you have to realize is that the yips is a mental issue. Your brain is telling your wrists to twitch before impact, because you are unsure of your setup and alignment.

What you need to do is re-boot your brain thinking process when it comes to putting. Forget all the missed short putts, and lost strokes are start the learning process over again. A great way to do this is to forget about the hole entirely. This image gives you an idea of what I mean, the hole is a small target, and you need to think BIG. Work on your basic putting setup and alignment to a range bucket or towel from 10 feet away. Your successes will improve… and so will your confidence along with it. Through this you can start trusting your putting stroke again and your yips should go away.

Once you become more confident with your fundamentals, and you have successfully re-booted your putting stroke using the larger target… slowly work your way down to the hole again.

Reader’s Email ~ Swing Path & Lesson Questions

Today we will dive into a reader, who has a specific problem with his swing path, and questions about choosing lessons.

Hello Guru,

Thank you for taking the time and energy to put together this site. I think your drills and descriptions of the swing really help me.

I am writing you today because I have a flaw that I can’t seem to figure out. I am about 30 handicapper (100 average round). I am right handed player that can’t figure out how to get rid of the slice. I believe the main cause for my slice is the start of my downswing (hitting from the top). I have read your drills to cure a slice and so far have tried them out (and others), but haven’t found success.

I was wondering if you could recommend a drill for weight shift and bringing my right arm into my side. I am trying to start my weight shift more with my legs and let the club drop into the slot, when I do I find I hit the ball solid, but left of target.

Any ideas?

Also, I am thinking of getting some lessons, but wanted to figure out how I should pick the club I take them at? Does it really matter or our most pro’s good as the next? Also, how many do you think is a good number to start at?

Thanks

Jon

Hey Jon,
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