6 steps to swinging like Tiger Woods
Learning to swing still is the single hardest thing in my career. We never have the perfect golf swing. We never perfect it. It is just not possible.
Luckily enough, you do not need the perfect golf swing. Your swing does not even need to be exceptionally brilliant and amazing. You just need to be able to swing naturally and smoothly. This is what makes up the basis of every shot.
1. So, to learn the swing first off you need to relax and be natural. The good news is that if you even have the faintest idea of what a golf swing looks like you are nearly half way there. If not watch some pro golf on the television, or better yet go and see some pro golf. This will teach you as much as you need to know from them.
Once you have seen this, all you need to is tinker with it and relax.
2. Before you swing the club you need to grip the club. There are many different complicated grips, but the basic one is perfectly fine for beginners. This is the one you should start off with.
Grip the club with your left hand allowing your thumb to run down the shaft and point straight at the head. Now place your right palm over the thumb so it overlaps. Then simply curl your fingers round the rest of the club.
If it feels ok, use this for a while. If you feel you need the club to be more stable, interlock your right pinky and index finger.
3. Now you need to think about your stance. This is how you stand up to the ball when you are about to hit it. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. This should make you feel as if you have a solid platform upon which to swing on. Stand with the ball in line with the middle of your feet.
Now bend over from your waist and place the club just behind the ball. The most important thing here is to make sure your weight is evenly distributed over both feet and that you are relaxed. Now we have a solid stance and grip we are ready to start the back swing.
Remember this is a golf swing, not a golf lift. Swing the club, using you waist and shoulders. Make sure your arms are straight. Do not bend you arms and pick the club up. You should only bend you arms when you are well into your back swing. I will tell you when you when.
4. Start by twisting your shoulders in the direction of your backswing. Keep looking at the ball. then your mid torso should follow and eventually your waist. Keep looking at the ball. o
Once the club is perpendicular to the ground, you should bend your arms just a touch. At the top of your back swing, the club will be roughly perpendicular to the ground, at which point you should feel a natural transition pint at which point you should start to swing the club back towards the ground.
5. This time twist your waist back towards your starting position, followed by your mid torso and shoulders. You should still be looking at the ground.
6. On the follow through, do the exact same but as a mirror image of your back swing. The only difference should be, once the club is parallel to the ground you should twist your right foot up onto your toes.
The best advice for your follow through is to be as natural as possible with it. When you swivel your foot, that is you transferring your weight through the ball and this is what gives the ball its speed.
The most common problems are lifting the club and not looking at the ground at all times.
By lifting your head early, you sharply rise your entire body which in turn lifts the club. This causes you to top the ball, which is where the club makes contact with only the top part of the ball, which makes it skip forward.
Really the best advice I can give you is to get a few lessons from your local pro or a friend who is good at golf, and then to play a few holes. Like I have said before, it is learning through trial and error.
The internet can teach you a lot. But my opinion is that you need someone who knows what they are talking about going over every kink in your swing right there in person.
Do what you can to get this, you wont regret it.
Why cant you backspin a golf ball yet?
Landing the ball in the middle of the green right next to the flag only to have it run of the back of the green is so frustrating and can distract you from your game.
The way around this is to put back spin on the ball. Be aware though this is very challenging and should only really be attempted by players with a handicap under 20.
The basis of the shot is actually very simple, but pulling it off in rhythm and gaining the desired outcome is very difficult.
Start of with your stance. Have your feet slightly closer together than usual. Also position the ball around your back foot.
Next your grip. You may want to choke the club a little, that is to position your hands further down the grip than normal. Your grip should just be normal, but should be solid, as keeping the club steady is extremely important.
For this shot, you need to use a club with enough loft to obtain the desired result. A flop wedge, lob wedge, a high degree(60 and over) are all acceptable. Sand wedges and pitch wedges can be used but require more skill to put the spin on the ball.
Now for your swing. When swinging the club, you should keep it closer to your body than usual. One good way of thinking about this is swinging on a steeper plain. Swing back to normal height then consider your follow through.
Aim to hit the ball just before it is in contact with ground. You need to focus on getting it up in the air by getting the club underneath the ball. Then follow through by taking a long but shallow divot. It is like you are scooping up the ground. Now continue through as normal.
Some other important points are that you need to keep the grooves on your club face clean. These are essentially what provide the contact with the ball and will give it spin so clean contact is needed here.
Clean contact is needed all throughout the shot. If you make even the slightest of errors when striking the ball shot shot will not go where you want it. This shot requires a lot of delicacy and poise, which is why it is so hard and impossible for beginners.
The type of ball used will help here as well. A soft ball, often with spin written on the side of them, will be much easier to apply spin to, than a hard ball, which is design for distance. Ask your pro for help when choosing a suitable ball. As a side note, spin is easier to play on higher trajectory shots, such as approach or pitch shots, but it can be played on your longer shots.
Finally this shot does require practise. Spend some of you time on the driving range applying spin to your shots. Start with your high irons and eventually, you may be able to hit lower irons with back spin as well.
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Have you ever missed a three foot putt?Missing short five foot putts is just about the most frustrating thing in golf, yet unsurprisingly it is an incredibly common problem. Following are some tips and practise games that will help you rolls these putts in no problem.
There are two approaches to short putts
Somepeople try to drop the ball into the hole, ie putt the ball so it just makes it into the hole and no more. In doing this they need to take into account even the smallest of changes in the level or lay of the green.
The other approach is to hit the ball with some force, straight towards the hole. This takes any element of lay out of the equation, as the ball has enough velocity to cancel out any effect the ground has on its path. However, if the line is out than any more than half an inch, the ball could roll well past the hole and even off the green. You need to decide which method is for you.
The first method requires more skill in reading the greens. This is probably for more advanced player. Do not let this put you off if you are only a beginner, the only way to become better at it is through practise.
The second method requires more accuracy in your line. This also requires practise. We will talk about practise method later.
The technical side off things
As usual, visualise your shot and know which method you want to use. There is nothing worse than indecision when putting. Take your stance and focus on you target.
For short putts, I like to have my feet slightly closer together, and hold the club slighty further down the shaft. This is just really personal preference. It makes me feel like a more solid, smaller unit, and I feel I have more controll over the ball. When you are ready, swing the club back slowly untill the putter head is about in line wth your ankle. There really should not be much of a backswing. Pause at the top, then swing down and push thorugh the ball.
It is important to keep you head down, well after the ball has gone. Make a concious effort not to look where the ball has gone.
Both of these methods require immense accuracy. To improve, there is a simple game that can be used.
When practising your putting, instead of putting at the hole, take an ordinary tee, and dig it into the grass just at the back of the hole. Now instead of putting at the hole, putt at the tee. Keep doing this and your accuracy will improve. Then once you go back to putting at a normal sized hole, the hole will feel much bigger and you will have no problems slotting the ball home.
A great book on this subject that I would recommend reading is “Putting out of your mind” by Dr. Bob Rotella. He is the sports psychologist of choice among the world’s top golfers, and a established author. If you can read any of his books, it will really assist your game.
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Do you hate playing golf infront of others?All beginners face these shots. You will know them. First tee. Big crowd. Driving off in front off lots of people. Feeling extreme anxiety. We have all been there. Fortunately there are a couple easy tips, and two important points that if you follow, you will be just fine, assuming you approach with the correct attitude.
This is where your Game Mentality comes in. For more information on this go to our Game Mentality section.
There are a couple other things you can do to hit better shots in these situations. As with every procedure listed on this site, the first step is always visualizing the shot. You know you can hit good shots, so why should this time be any different.
Perhaps imagine a successful drive you have hit there before. Remember what it was like, and where it ended up.
Now this is the important point number one. BEFORE you step up to your ball, you have got to blank out any people standing nearby, any fears you might have, any feelings of embarrassment. You need to remember, these thoughts will cause you to mess up your shot, and they will cause you fear, embarrassment.
At this stage they are only thoughts, so you can still deal with them. I must emphasis how important it is to clear your mind before you stand over your ball. I know, I have been stood there staring at my ball, thinking negative thoughts. You need to focus. If you can do this, you will hit a brilliant shot.
Next take your normal stance, normal grip and everything. This is the important point number two. If you do not fell good about your shot, stance, anything, PULL AWAY. Take a step back and start from the beginning. This is your body’s natural way of telling you, something is out of place. Even take a few deep breathes in you want.
When you are ready just whip the ball away with your normal swing. When you do hit a good shot, take the opportunity to pose by holding your swing for a couple of seconds and watching your ball fly away into the distance.
There is no better confidence boost than nailing your first drive in front of the clubhouse. So to recap on the important points, clear your head before you enter your routine, and if it don’t feel right, it ain’t, so pull away.
Follow these steps, and with a bit of positive thinking, you will impress yourself and others.
For more information on game mentality, visit our Game Mentality section.
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5 steps to sinking more putts
Putting can be one of the most frustrating areas of your game. There is nothing more frustrating than reaching the green in two and then taking three putts to close. The secret of good putting is a rock solid structure, but first you have got to understand the run and lay of the greens.1. Before setting out on your round it is a good idea to get some practise putts in to see how the typical greens are running. If it has been raining the greens will be running slower than usual. This means you have to hit the ball harder than usual to get it to travel a set distance. In the summer when the grass is drier than usual, the greens will run faster.
As I have said you also need to learn how the greens lay. This does take time to learn. It takes even longer to master.
As you play more golf your judgement of speed, distance and the lay of the greens will improve. Unfortunately there is no easy way round learning the lay.
So now we have a feel for the greens, we can start our putting.
2. As usual have a quick mental run though. Visualize your shot, paying close attention to the conditions and lay of the green.
Now we are ready to go.
3. Step up to the ball with your feet if any thing closer than a normal swing stance. You will not be trasferring any weight so you will not lose balance. Remain rigid for a moment before you start your swing.
4. Ideally, your whole body would be rigid all throughout the stroke. Unlike your swing at other times, which should be taught but not rigid, this time you should not move a muscle. The only part of your body that should move is your shoulders.
The main action of putting a ball is swinging your shoulders in a pendulum like motion. Gently swing your putter back, and sweep through the ball.
During this whole time, it is crucial your head is rigid. Any movement, apart from your shoulders obviously, will cause you to send the ball off course.
Whilst swinging think of nothing else other than staying rigid and sweeping the ball away.
5. Even after the ball has gone remain lokking at the ground. Make a conscious effort to count to one before you look up.
With practise this technique will see you consitently sinking putts all day, even long ones.
Hitting long shots is no longer the reserve of the pros
All the time people ask “how do I hit the golf ball longer or further?” This is typical of humans, especially males…
The long fairway shot is a very common shot, you will play this shot on more than half the holes in a round. If you can nail down the technique for this shot you will see a tremendous difference in your scores and probably more confidence in all areas of your game, something about looking impressive. Before you read this you should ensure you have swing nailed down.
The most important thing to remember here is to swing naturally. Time after time, I see beginners, trying to murder the ball when they have to hit a longer shot.
Almost every time, this will have an adverse affect on your shot. To start with, as you should do every time, visualize your shot.
Imagine, the exact path and direction you ball will take. Then take your stance, with your feet just a bit further apart than usual. Focus on you target. The slightest inaccuracy in the direction of your ball will be magnified because of the distance of you shot.
It can be fairly difficult to line up your ball with a target two hundred yards in the distance. As you gain experience, this will become easier. In the mean time however, a good tip to get round this is to pick your target, then track the line back to your ball. Whilst doing this, you should look for another object in line with your target. You can then line you ball up with this object which is closer, making it easier to gain a higher level of accuracy.
Now you have your ball lined up, settle yourself. Then slowly swing back, and sweep the ball away into the distance. Another important point, is do not hover over the ball for too long.
Once you have taken you stance, and lined up the ball, do not waste time. It is only natural to think about the hard task you are faced with, trying to shift this ball a few hundred meters. It is difficult and you know this. So many things can go wrong and hovering over the ball only gives negative thoughts the chance to sneek in.
Do not rush just dont hang around. Once you get into this routine, the shots will become easier, you will become more consistent, hit more accurate and longer shots.
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Clearing the light rough can be made easy
Most times you will be able to just use a normal shot. As before visualize the shot. Where do you want it to end up, and how do you want it to get there. Use a normal width stance and set up behind the ball. Then it is just a normal swing. This time it is important to hold on to the club slightly firmer, incase the club gets caught in the grass.
As with the Heavy Rough Shots, do not be afraid to just chip back on to the fairway, and take an extra shot. It is better taking that, than being too optimistic, losing a ball, incurring a penalty, and altogether messing up the whole hole.
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Hitting Irons from the Tee Box
3 golf tips for getting out the heavy rough
Your stance here should be slightly further apart than usual. This will give you a more stable stance than usual. You will need more stability due to the shots you will be playing here.
Punch
A mid iron is the best club to use for this shot, something like a five to a seven is acceptable. This shot is mainly used in two situations. The first situation it is used is when you are in extreme deep rough, for example knee height grass, you would probably have to use this type of shots to “hack” the ball out onto the fairway.
The technical side of this shot is very simple. You club face should be fairly closed. Fully swing back and sharply come down on the ball in a stabbing type motion. This will kick the ball out of the rough, and hopefully onto the fairway. One common problem with this shot is, getting the ball out of the rough but having it run onto the next fairway. This leads to the typical zig zag golf game, going from one fairway to the next in a zig zag motion all the way up the fairway, it sucks believe me I have been there. The other time the punch is used is when you are in the second stage of the rough. There is usually the first layer of rough which is usually about one to two inches deep. Different shots are played from this surface. Tips for those shots can be found in our Light rough Shots section. The second rough is grass about five inches deep. The punch shot is used because the grass tends to get caught up on the club, ruin the swing and the rhythm, cause a huge decrease in power, and a bad shot. The punch shot is the most efficient way of getting any distance out of this type of grass. The shot is played in exactly the same way. Closed face, come down on the ball and no follow through swing. You will notice this shot is very low and will skid along the ground. Take this extra distance into account as the ball can skip and roll for quiet a considerable distance.
Chip
For this shot a pitch or sand wedge is used. This is mainly used when you are in the second layer of rough, but it is not appropriate to punch the ball out. For this shot, your stance should just be normal width. Open up the club face, and and settle your club behind the ball. Usually only a half swing is required here. A common problem here is people tend to mess up this chip because they are not concentrating. They think this is just a little shot, and it does not matter where it goes. I agree, in this situation, the most important thing is getting the ball out but you cannot afford to take two shots getting out when one would suffice. It is imperative that you still concentrate fully on this shot. If not you can expect to hit the ball with the edge of your club and to only knock the ball forward a foot or so. Remember, mistakes are not bad, but not dealing with them is.
The Normal Shot
If you are in the deep rough but have a good lie, it is possible to hit as you would on the fairway. One important point here is to make sure you are holding the club tight enough The longer grass can easily catch the club, and distort you swing sending the ball into deeper rough.
Posted in Golf Tips
