Stop Reverse C Finish

Sunday, December 29, 2013

When I started playing golf, lots of golfers had a reverse c finish because Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and other great players had reverse c finish. But nowadays, with the new technology in golf clubs, you don't really need to finish in a reverse c position. This type of finish may hurt back also. SO at the finish, try to move more than 90% of your weight to the front and make sure to raise your back foot so that your right foot will expose all parts of the shoe sole.

 

This will prevent you from finishing in a reverse c position. At this position, your right shoulder should be little lower than left. If you fade the ball, your right shoulder should be little lower than that. If you draw it, it should be little higher than normal.

 

Raise Your Right Heel

On the downswing, your right heel starts to rise as you swing down. If you try to keep it on the ground through impact, it might force you to block the shot to the right. At the finish, your right foot should be on its toe showing tthe shoe sole. This is a sign of complete weight transfer.

 

Follow through is just the result of what happened

Your follow through is a result of what has happened before. So I really don't ask golfer to check solutions in finish unless I think it's necessary for some reason. Some teachers might tell you how you should position your arms, legs, clubs and so on. But I don't recommend you to do that.

 

Like I said, follow through is just the result of what happened during the swing. So even if you fix your positions at the finish, you won't solve the real problem. The follow through positions will only tell you that you might have problems in either address, backswing or downswing. On the golf course, I don't care wether you have a pretty finish or not as long as you are hitting it well.

 

When I started golf, I read books that explained golf swing positions. I tried to copy those positions. As a result, I lost lots of distance which used to be my strength. By trying to copy positions, I lost all my power during the golf swing. Often times, positions are just the outcome. Your root problem or cause is somewhere else. It took more than 5 years for me to figure out. I don't want you to waste your time like me.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/reverse-c.htm

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How to Fold Your Left Arm during the Follow Through

Lots of teachers will tell you to fold your left arm after impact. It's important to fold your left arm to increase clubhead speed. If you can't fold your left arm, that means you are leaving the clubface open during the impact. The root cause for this problem might be in your grip, ball position or posture. If you can't fix it even if you change your grip or ball position, you might be using your lower body too much during the swing.

 

If you feel like you have too much foot work, that might be the cause. Too much foot work will restrict the free movement of your arms. It also decreases the clubhead speed and makes it harder to turn the face over through impact.

 

Here is a simple drill to fix that problem. Grab a 7 iron. Take a wider stance than usual. The stance width for this drill should be more than a shoulder width. The wider stance will restrict your lower body movement during the swing. Now, take lots of practice swings in this stance. This drill will teach you to swing your arms. It will also give you the feeling of folding the left arm after impact.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/fold-left-arm.htm

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How to Fix the Golf Swing Plane

There are lots of theories for swing plane. One plane, two plane, flat, upright and so on. I sued to have very glat swing plane on the half way of the backswing. At that time, I was struggling with a slice. So I had to swing more upright going back. I tried to do that for more than 1 year but never was able to do so. The more I tried to fix my swing plane, the more distance I lost with all clubs in my bag. So I finally quit trying yo fix my swing plane. But today, I think I have the correct swing plane that's described by most teachers.

 

The first thing I did was to change my ggrip. I had a neutral grip because I copied tour players grip. But I was slicing it. So the neutral grip was too weak for me. I changed it to a stronger grip with 3 knuckles of my left hand showing when I looke down at address. I rotated my right hand to match my left hand as well. I used to my position ball too far forward. So I moved it back in my stance.

 

Then I tried to face the palm of my right hand toward the ground at impact. All these changes made me to draw the ball instead of a weak slice. At that time, I still had errors in my swing plane, but I didn't try to fix the position itself. Instead, I check my alignment. I was aligning too far right. So I tried to keep my shoulders, waist knees and feet all parallel to the target line.

 

By the time I noticed, my swing plane was naturally fixed. This is a proof that the swing plane is just the outcome of your address positions such as grip, ball position, posture and alignment. Try not to fix your swing plane itself. But try to find what's causing you to have wrong swing plane. Every effect has its cause.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/how-to-fix-swing-plane.htm

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Fixing the Handsy Golf Swing

 Some golfers have less rotation of their body and swing too much with their arms. When you do that, you'll have less weight shift. You won't hit it very far from there. The reason why you forget to turn your body and shift weight may be different from person to person. Some golfers have too much tension in their grip. Some golfers get too quick at the start of their takeaway. To prevent you to use too much hands during the backswing, you can try what Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman were doing.

 

Hover the Club

At address, Jack and Greg were not resting their clubhead on the ground. They were holding it just above the ground. Greg Norman said there are two reasons why he was using this technique. First, it kept his grip pressure constant. If you rest your clubhead on the ground, you tend to regrip the club. But holding it above the ground will prevent you from doing it. Second, this technique was letting him to promote very smooth takeaway. By hovering the club,it will let you rotate your body in connection with your arms.

 

So if you feel like you have handsy golf swing, try this technique. It should help you rotate your body. At address, you should think about "Turning your body" instead of swinging your arms. If you correctly rotate your body on the backswing, you will have a plentry of room to swing your arms on the downswing.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/index.htm

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Practice Swing and Real Swing

Do you take a practice swing before hitting a shot? Why do you take practice swings? Are there any benefits for it?

 

Tiger Woods was Wasting Practice Swings

Tiger Woods said he was wasting  his practice swings even after he turned pro. He said he didn't realize the importance of it and thought that his practice swings were mostly wasted motion. There are 2 benefits for taking a practice swing. First, it makes you relax before the real shot. Second, it's a good rehearsal for the real swing. I think Tiger wasn't treating it as a rehearsal.

 

Tiger said that lots of players make practice swings that don't fit the intended shot. He wanted to point out that if you try to hit a draw, your practice swing has to be the one that lets you hit a draw. If you treat your practice swing as a rehearsal, you can focus on the shot and not worrying about the swing. I can tell what kind of problems they have if I see their practice swings. So treat your practice swings like a real swing. If you don't think anything during the practice swing, you are rehearsing your weakness or just wasting your time.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/practice-swing-real-swing.htm

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How to Hit it 300 Yards like Adam Scott

Adam Scott is often compared to Tiger Woods. Their golf swings are alike. Like Tiger, Adam has a very flexible body and big turn on the backswing. Adam has a little stronger grip than Tiger. Adam also positions his ball little more forward. At one time, he was averaging 299 yards off the tee. Let's see how he hits it 300 yards.

Adam's Secret for Distance

To hit it further, Adams said that he widens his stance which allows him to go at the ball little harder without losing control. He also said that wider stance will tilt his spine more at address, which helps him stay behind the ball at impact. If your spine tilts more to the right at address, it will position your head further away from the ball at address. This will make it much easier to stay behind the ball at impact for more power.

 

Do You Care How Your Golf Swing Looks like?

Most of golfers probably care how their golf swings look like. Have you ever checked your swing in a mirror? But Adam really doesn't care how it looks but worries about how it works instead. I know lots of golfers who tried to copy their idol's swing. But that didn't help them improve. It's not a bad thing to copy tour players' golf swing. But I want you to make sure it suits your body type. When you do copy someone's swing, make sure you have the same grip, ball position, posture and alignment. Without them, you will just waste your time.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/adam-scott.htm

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Golf Swing Plane Drill

Take a look at your grip, ball position, posture and alignment first before trying to change swing plane.

 

Here is a good swing plane drill.

1. Grab 7 iron and grip it as usual
2. Take your right hand off and grip down the shaft
3. Take practice swings

When you grip down with your right hand, grip down more than 10 inches with your right hand. Keep your left hand at its original position. By separating your hands like this and swinging it, it will teach you how your swing plane should look like.

 

Because  your right hand is much lower than your left, it makes it easier to swing with your right hand on a correct plane. Whether you are using too much or not using enough of your right hand, this drill will help you use your right hand correctly during the swing.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/golf-swing-plane-drill.htm

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Which Club Should a Beginner Use for Practice

If you are a beginner or high handicapper, which club should you use for a practice? To learn the basics of golf swing, I think you should use 6 or 7 iron for a practice.

 

4 Reasons to Use 6 or 7 Iron for Practice

 

1. You can use the same swing with other clubs

Basically, you should have one swing for all clubs. But with your wedge and short irons, you will hit it more with descending blow. With your fairway woods and utilities, you should sweep the ball. With middle irons, you still want to hit it with a slight descending blow but the swing is not different than the one you make with your driver.

 

2. Build your game around your 7 iron

If you have a confidence in certain club, you can build your game around it. Middle irons are used often on the course especially for beginners and high handicappers. On a par 5, your second shot should be with your middle irons and not with your fairways woods.

 

3. You will improve faster with 7 iron

You need to have fun if you want to improve. Instead of using longer clubs (including driver), try to hit ball with clubs  that are easy to hit. You need to take one step at a time. It's critical improvement.

 

4. Short irons won't tell you the ball flight

Short irons will put lots of back spin on the ball and less side spin. So it's easy to hit it straight. Some golfers hit it really straight with their short irons but slice a lot with longer clubs. They start to think what they are doing different with longer clubs.

 

In fact, their swing is basically the same. But longer clubs have less loft and puts lots of side spin. That's why you slice more with longer clubs. Short iron hides the real problem. So I don't recommend beginners or high handicappers to use short irons for practice. Of course, it's important to practice with all clubs you have. But when learning the basics golf, you may want to stick with your 6 or 7 iron.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/beginner.htm

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Why Golf Swing Sequence Pictures won't Help You

I know lots of average golfers who always check golf swing sequence pictures or videos of pros but don't improve much. I think it's a good idea to copy tour player's golf swing. But there is a rule to follow when copying golf swing. I probably have read more magazines and books about golf than anybody else in college. I was checking tour players' golf swing sequence closely. I spent a lot of time studying their swing. I tried to copy good players' swings but didn't go well at all. The reason is because you have to copy their grip first before copying swing positions. I failed to do so. I never cared for their grip because it's hard to copy someone's grip by looking at the picture. But for instance, if you like to swing like Tiger Woods, you need to have the same grip.

 

Before Copying Golf Swing

So make sure you copy grip first. Generally, most teachers will tell you to copy the swing of a player who has similar body structure. If you are tall, try to copy the taller player's swing. But I think that the ideal golf swing differs from person to person. I told you to copy the grip first. But even if you do that, it might not suit you.

 

David Duval is known to have a very strong grip. His father was also a professional golfer and David's only coach. He didn't try to fix David's very strong grip. David Duval came on tour with that grip and started to win. His very strong grip was a neutral grip for him. So copying is a good thing, but you need to find what suits you at the end.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/golf-swing-sequence-picture.htm

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Difference in Weight Shift between Pros and Amateurs

As you know, correct weight transfer is necessary to hit the ball far. If you are lacking distance, you may have incorrect weight shift during the swing. When you look at pros and amateurs, there is a big difference in weight shift. The study done by the researchers from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center shows a big differenve between pros and amateurs.

 

1. At the top of the backswing

Pros: 90% of the weight is on their right foot

Amateurs: Only 50% of weight is on the right foot

 

2. At the start of the downswing

Pros: 110% of weight is on left foot

Amateurs: 65% of weight is on left foot

 

3. At impact

Pros: 25% of weight is on both feet

Amateurs: 50% of weight is on both feet

 

At the top of the backswing, pros have 90% of the weight on their back foot. But the amateurs only have 50% of their weight on the back foot. So this means that the amateurs have lots of potential for more distance because they are not taking advantage of their weight shift. At impact, you will notice that the pros only have 25% of weight on both feet. Where did the rest of their weight go? Pros were using 75% of their weight to add power to the ball. That's a secret to more distance. Pros can hit it much further than amateurs because they have correct weight transfer. To check your weight transfer, try to lift your left foot completely off the ground at the top of your swing. If you can't do this easily, you are not shifting your weigh to your right foot.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/weight-shift-pros-amateurs.htm

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The Secret of the Correct Golf Swing

Hitting it high

For instance, if  you want to get the ball airborne, lots of golfers try to swing up or scoop the ball  to help the ball in the air. But if you do this, you are going to top the ball. To hit it high in the air, you have to take advantage of the loft and hit down on it to add backspin.

 

Slicing

If you slice the ball, the shot will go right of the target. So most average golfers try to swing left to avoid right side. However, this move will cause golfers to swing from outside in. They will cut across the ball and add slice spin on the ball. So the more you try to avoid right side, the further right you are going to hit the ball. That's really ironic.

 

More Distance

If golfers want more distance, what do they do? On a long par 5's, you want more distance off the tee and get tense. When you get tense, you will intuitively grip the club tightly. But this will make your muscles in your arms, hands and the rest of your body to get tense as well. When your muscles get tense, it won't move as fast as loose muscle. So you end up swinging even slower.

 

Do the opposite

Sometimes you have to do the opposite of your instinct in golf. If you want to hit it higher, you need to hit down on it. If you want to fix your slice, you need to swing inside out. If you need more distance, you have to relax your muscles. All these things may not feel right at the start but will help you get over your problems.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/correct-golf-swing.htm

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How to Fix Coming Over the Top with the Drill

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Coming over the top or hitting from the top is a common mistake for a beginner or high handicapper. When you come over the top, you will cut across the ball and pull it or slice the ball. You won't hit it very far with this type of swing at all. I see this move among low handicappers as well. If you don't hit your longer club such as utilities, fairy woods and driver well, you might be coming over the top. If you come over the top, you might be forced to hit a slice, pull, fat shot, shank and so on.

 

The Drill to Fix it

Here is a drill to fix you problem. But before trying this drill, change your grip to a stronger grip. Rotate both of your hands toward right until you see 3 knuckles of your left hand at address.

 

Have someone help you for this drill.

1. Ask your friend to hold the old shaft or club horizontally about 15 inches off the ground.
2. Try to swing a club so that the clubhead goes under the shaft that your friend is holding.

As you swing through, try to watch the clubhead going under the old shaft that your friend is holding. This will help you not slide toward left on the downswing and keep your head back through impact. You don't have to hit the ball with this drill. Just take 20 practice swings. Do 5 sets. If you wear a watch on your left hand, make sure that your watch will face toward the ground through impact. This will help you hit the ball long and straight.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/how-to-fix-hitting-over-the-top.htm

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How to Choose Proper Shaft Flex

The shaft flex can influence your ball flight.

 

How will it Influence Your Shots

 

Flex is not stiff enough for you:

If the shaft flex is too soft for you, the shots will go too high. You will also hook it or block it to the right with this type of shaft.

 

Flex is too stiff

Golfers tend to slice the ball with the flex that is too stiff for them. It makes it harder to increase clubhead speed, so they might try to overswing to compensate.

 

Generally, if you have faster clubhead speed, you should use stiff shaft rather than regular shaft. But it really depends on your swing type. Jack Nicklaus had a fast clubhead speed but didn't like extra stiff shaft. He said he never was able to play well with extra stiff shaft. When he won the US open, he was using that is between stiff and regular flex. He said if the shaft is too stiff, you couldn't feel the clubhead and would start to swing only with his arms and hands. Of course, the technology is a lot different nowadays, but we can learn a lot from it. If you pick a regular shaft, you might feel like you admitted having slower swing speed than other golfers.

 

But by choosing the correct shaft flex, you might gain more cluhead speed. I don't prefer the shaft that's too stiff for me either. Like Jack Nicklaus said, the flex that's too stiff will not let me feel the weight of my clubhead. So I try to avoid having shaft that's too stiff for me.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/how-to-choose-shaft-flex.htm

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Control Distance by Controlling Arm Speed

It may sound hard to control arm speed and control distance that you hit with each iron. Tiger Woods sometimes practices hitting different clubs to the same distance. First, he picks 150-yard marker as his target. For him, it's a hard 9-iron. So he hits balls with his 9-iron to the target. Next, he uses 8-iron and hits it to the same target (150-yard marker). He works up to his 2-iron hitting balls to the same target. He said this drill is good for controlling distance by controlling arm speed.

 

With this drill, you should take the club to the top with each club and hit balls. You just habe to slow down your swing speed. You don't have to use 150-yard marker. You can use 120-yard or 100-yard marker as your target for this drill. I sometimes practice hitting the driver to 100-yard marker. This is also a very good drill. You are going to swing real slow to hit your driver. By swinging real slow, you will feel your clubhead and clubface during the swing. This drill will help you when you are not hitting it on the sweet spot.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/same-distance-different-club.htm

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Inside-out and Outside-in Golf Swing

You may already know that if your golf swing is outside-in, you will hit a weak slice to the right. If you have outside-in swing, it means you are cutting across the ball. This will put slice spin on the ball. On the other hand, if your clubhead approaches the ball from the inside the target line,  your swing is either inside-in or insdie-out. Ideally, you want to swing inside-in for straighter shots.

 

How the Clubhead Path affects the Distance

Taylor Made once tested golfers to see how their clubheads approach the ball at impact. They found out that most of golfers' clubheads were coming into impact about 11 degrees out to in. This means most amateurs are cutting across the ball. If your swing was perfectly inside to in, that's neutral or 0 degree. On the other hand, most of tour players' swing path was neutral to 3 degrees inside coming into impact. This means tour pros are swinging from inside-in or a bit inside-out. Golf laboratories Inc. used the robot to see how the swing path affected distance and other aspects. They programmed the robot to swing from inside-in (0 degree), inside-out (9 degrees in to out) and outside-in (9 degrees out to in).

 

Here are the results.

• Ball Speed. Not much difference in ball speed.
• Launch angle. The more you swing from the inside, the higher the launch angle.
• Backspin. Outside-in path had the largest number of backspin per degree of launch angle.
• Distance. Inside-out swing path produced more distance than other types of swing path such as inside-in or outside-in. But there were not so much difference between inside-out path and inside-in path. In terms of distance, the shot with inside-out swing went 40 yards farther than the shot with outside-in swing. So by swinging from outside, you could easily lose 40 yards on your drives.

To hit it far with your driver, you want to increase the launch angle and limit the number of backspin. However, the robot was programmed to swing 9 degrees from inside to out. So you don't want to swing extremely from inside. If  you do, you will hit lots of push shots.

 

Hitting lots of Pust Shots?

You might read golf tips on the magazine about hitting it from the inside and try them on the course. And you end up hitting lots of push shots and push-slice. You may wonder why this happens. If you are hitting and try to swing from inside-out, you will end up hitting push slice for sure. The ball flight is not only determined by the swing path or the path of the clubhead through impact. The clubface angle also affects the ball flight.

 

To hit a draw, you want to close your clubface in relation with the clubhead path. For example, if your swing path is inside-out the clubface is looking right of the target at impact, you will hit a push shot.

 

In this case, you want to have your clubface looking at the target to hit the shot that starts right of the target and come back to the target. So if you try to fix your swing path, you need to pay attention to the things such as grip, posture, alignment and ball position that affect the clubface angle at impact as well.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/inside-out-outside-in.htm

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What to think during the Golf Swing

Some golfers think about keeping their head down. Others think about shifting their weight on the backswing. I get this kind of question from the readers of this site once in a while. Ideally, I would like to just hit the ball without thinking during my golf swing. When you are in the zone, this may become easy. However, it's really hard to swing your golf club without thinking. Most golfers have some king of swing thoughts to think about during the swing. But you certainly don't want to think too much during the swing. If you have more than 2 swing thoughts you should narrow it down to 1.

 

I have 3 patterns. But I don't use more than 2 images or swing thoughts. Here the images or swing thoughts I use.

 

1. Image of hitting it in the middle of the clubface

When I swing, I usually try to re-create the image of the best shot I hit in my mind. When I'm successful of forming that image, I usually hit a good shot. Especially on the downswing, I try to focus on that image. You can also focus on the feeling of solid impact or sound of solid contact with the ball as you swing down.

 

2. Clubface Angle

 On the downswing, I try to focus on the clubface angle. Especially at impact, I try hard to direct my attention to the clubface angle.

 

3. Clubhead path

When I'm hitting specail type of shots like a draw or fade, I focus on the clubhead path. I may align my feet right of target and swing along my feet line to hit a draw. In this case, I focus on the clubhead path and avoid my  tendency to swing to the target (from outside in this case).

 

One of the things I try to avoid thinking about during my swing is the swing mechanics. For instance, I don't think about keeping my right knee flex during my swing. I may work on keeping my right knee flex in practice. But I don't think about it while hitting the actual shot on the course.

 

I don't recommend having a swing thought that has nothing to do with the clubface (or clubface angle) at impact. I have  tested this for many years, but thinking about swing mechanics during the swing produced more bad shots than good shots. Even if it worked, it won't last a long time. But if you must think about swing mechanics, try to keep it down to 1.

 

I don't think too much during my golf swing, but I do pay lots of attention to my grip, ball positions, alignment and posture. And I do that during my routine before the shot. If you have to think about something when hitting shots, pay more attention to the things you can check before pulling the trigger. It will give you much better results.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/what-to-swing-during-golf-swing.htm

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How to Transfer Your Weight for More Solid Contact

When you compare amateurs and pros how they transfer their weight, you will realize that there is a big difference. Here is the date which came from the research done by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

 

Position                                                 Pros                                    Amateurs

Top of the swing (Back foot)                  90%                                        50%

Start of the Downswing (Front foot)      110%                                       65%

Impact (Both feet)                                  25%                                        50%

 

But amateurs only put 50% of their weight on their back foot. At the start of the backswing, pros shift most of their weight to the front foot. However, amateurs only shift 65% of their weight to their front foot. You caneasily guess which one will hit the ball further.

 

2 Drills to Learn the Weight Transfer

Generally speaking, with irons, most players can shift their weight to their back foot because the club is shorter. With a driver or fairway woods, because the club is much longer, lots of players fail to transfer their weight during the backswing.

 

2 Drills to Learn the Weight Transfer

Generally speaking, with irons, most players can shift their weight to their back foot because the club is shorter. With a driver or fairway woods, because the club is much longer, lots of players fail to transfer their weight during the backswing. Here are the 2 drills to fix your problems.

 

1. Irons

Take your 7-iron and set up to the ball. Next, I want you to raise your right heel off the ground at address. Hit balls with your right heel up through impact. This drill will teach you how you should transfer your weight to your front foot.

 

2. Driver

With your driver, set up the ball with your left heel off the ground. Now, swing back to the top. At the start of your downswing, put your left heel back on the ground and shift your weight at the same time. When hitting the ball, focus on the back of the ball. This will help you hit it more solid. With both drills, you should swing at 60% and focus on your weight trasfer instead of your clubhead speed. Some players will probably hit the ball much further with this drill than their full swing.

 

Reference:  http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/transfer-weight.htm

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Should You Keep Watching the Ball during the Golf Swing?

I often hear these golf swing advice "Keep your eyes on the ball."

 

This is the correct advice, but how should you watch the ball at address, during the backswing and downswing and impact?

 

Watching the Clubhead Go Back is a Terrible Habit

Some golfers watch the clubhead go back at the start of their backswing. But this is one of the worst habits you can have. They probably picked up this habit while checking  their golf swing positions. But if you do this, you will tend of bad things to the right during the backswing. This could cause all kinds of bad things to happen during your golf swing. It can cause reverse-pivot, swaying toward the target during the downswing, loss of distance, slice and much more.

 

If you have this bad habit, you should stop doing th at. Keep your  eyes on the ball during your backswing through impact. But I don't want you to keep your head still. Your head should rotate to the right as you turn back during the backswing. Because your head and your spine are connected, your head should naturally rotate to the right. But when I ask players to keep their eyes on the ball, they try to keep their head still in an effort to keep watching the golf ball.

 

Allow your head to rotate to the riht. You will feel like you are moving away from the ball because of that. But this is fine as long as you are not swaying to the right. If you find it hard to keep watching the ball during the backswing, try to see the ball with your left eye at the top of your swing. This will help you rotate your head to the right.

 

Which Part of the Ball do you see at Address?

Probably, most players see the top of the ball at address. But let's pretend that the ball is much bigger. If the ball was 5 feet in diameter, would you still try to see the top of it? You would try to see the right side of the ball where your clubface will contact with it. The golf ball is much smaller than that, but you should do the same thing and try to watch the right side of the ball where your clubface will contact with it at impact.

 

How about Impact?

Do you watch the ball at impact? Because the impact occurs in the blink of an eye, you can't actually see the ball at the  moment of impact. But some pros try to see the ball on their mind. They try to see the ball compressed against the clubface and then leave the clubface. I try to re-create the feeling of impact when the clubface perfectly catches the ball and the sound of impact in my mind especially during the downswing through impact.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/watch-the-ball.htm

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The Difference between Chipping and Pitching

Friday, December 27, 2013

1. Distance

Chipping: A Chip shot is usually used near the green. Anywhere from a yard to 30 yards off the green.

Pitching: A pitch shot is usually used from more than 30 yard or so from the green.

 

2. Weight Shift

Chipping: No weight shift is needed in general. You put your weight on your front foot at address and keep it there throughout the swing.

Pitching: Depending on the shot, you need to shift your weight to your right side.

 

3. Clubs used for the shot

Chipping: You can use just about any club you like. Sand wedge, 9 iron, 6 iron, utility clubs or fairway woods.

Pitching: Basically, you use lofted clubs to hit the shot.

 

4. Getting over something

Chipping: You won't use this shot to get over water or bunker.

Pitching: You use pitching shot to get over water or any other hazard.

 

5. Type of swing

Chipping: You use short type of swing. The shaft won't reach parallel with the ground when hitting this shot unless you are hitting special type of chipping shots.

Pitching: You use bigger swing than chipping shots. Depending on the shot, you might grip down and swing up to the top like any other shots you hit with irons.

 

Tips to Control Trajectory with your Pitching

Davis Love Jr. was well known as a father of Davis Love III. But Love Jr. was also a great player who played well in majors. Davis Love Kt. told Jim Flick who is also a famous teacher that one of the secrets to great pitching is to control trajectory of the shots. To control trajectory, he was altering grip pressure. To hit it low, he was gripping the club little tighter. To hit it high and soft, he was gripping the club softly. By gripping little tighter than normal, you can prevent your hands to release early. This will decrease your loft of your club and left you hit it low. If you want to pitch it high and soft, grip the club softer than normal to let your hands release through impact. This should help you ass loft as the club slides through the ball. When chipping, use clubs with less loft such as 8 iron to chip it low. To hit it higher, simply use more lofted clubs. Position your ball off the right toe to chip it low. To hit it hiherm you should play the ball in the center of your stance.

 

Reference:http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/difference-between-chipping-pitching.htm

 

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How to Hit a Chip Shot: 8 Ways to Set Up and 6 Ways to Hit it

8 Ways to Set Up

 

1. Take a narrow stance

When chipping, you don't tansfer your weight. A narrow stance will help you keep your weight on your front during the whole swing.

 

2. Keep 80% (most) of your weight on your front foot

By keeping your weight on your front foot during the swing, you can avoid too much lower body movement that can cause fat and top shots.

 

3. Set your hands slightly ahead of the ball

This will let you hit it on the descending blow.

 

4. Set your ball in the center or slightly back of center

Position your ball in the center or slightly back of center to promote downward blow.

 

5. Lean a little toward the target

Tiger Woods set up like this. Leaning toward the target will help you hit the ball on the downward blow. He uses the putting grip instead of using interlocking grip for a chip shot. Using the putter grip (reverse overlapping grip) will help you limit too much hand action during that swing that will lead to fat or top shots.

 

6. Use light grip pressure

Try to hold the grip softly and avoid tension in your hands and arms. If you grip it tightly, you'll use too much hands during the siwng. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the tightest, Tiger Woods uses 4. Try to keep the grip pressure constant during the siwng.

 

7. Open the stance line a bit

Lots of pros use open stance for chipping because the open stance will let them see the line better and help them swing through the shot. You don't have to use open stance if that makes things complicated for you. But you can definitely give it a try.

 

8.Grip down on the Club

Grip your club down close to the shaft. By gripping down on the club, you will be able to control your clubhead much easier. This will help you avoid fat shot and topped shots as well.

 

6 Important Keys to Hit Shot

 

1. Not much weight shift

For chipping, you don't need a lot of weight shift. For constant, you might want to keep your weight on your left foot and keep it there throughout the swing.

 

2. Control shots with your shoulders not your hands

You don't want to use too much hands and arms in this shot. Try to swing the club to initiate the stroke with your shoulders just like your putter.

 

3. Hit  down on the back of the ball

Tiger's key to chipping is to hit down on the back of the ball. Lots of golfers try to scoop the ball but hit fat and top shots instead. To get the ball but hit fat and top shots instead. To get the ball in the air, you need to trust the loft of the club and hit down on it. Try to focus on the back of the ball for constance contact with the ball. Try not to look up. You might want to feel like you are pressing the ball against the turf.

 

4. Accelerate through impact

Too much players decelerate with chipping. You want to accelerate your clubhead through impact for better contact. If you hit lots of fat shots, make sure you keeo your hands ahead of the ball at address and at impact. And don't forget to accelerate your clubhead.

 

5. Keep the angle of your right hand

Try not to change the angle of your right hand that you have at address throughout the swing. If you use too much wrist action, you tend to hit it fat or top it. Make sure your hands are slightly ahead of the ball at address.

 

6. Keep you hands ahead of or even with the clubhead

Try to keep your hands ahead of or even with the clubhead all the way through. If the clubhead passes your hads, that means you used your hands too much. This will lead to fat and topped shots.

 

The Drill for Consistent Chipping

Grab a towel and put it under your ampits. Hit shots with your towel under your armpits and try not to let it fall. This drill will help you use your shoulders and avoid too much hand action during the swing.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/how-to-hit-chip-shot.htm

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Use Different Clubs for Chipping

When chipping, lots of players just grab their sand wedge and hit it. But if you use different clubs depending on the situation, it will make chipping so much easier. I usually use sand wedge, pitching wedge, 9 iron, 8 iron, 6 iron and 4 iron. Some golfers are surprised to see me use 4 iron for chipping.

 

Why do I change clubs?

It is much easier to control distance if you roll the ball to the hole. It's much harder to hit it up in the air and control distance. To prove it, try to roll the ball with your hand toward the hole. And then throw the ball up in the air and try to stop it near the hole. You will find it much easier to roll the ball. So you want the ball to start rolling on the green as soon as possible. In other words, use the club that let you do just that. If you are just off the green and don't have any rough between the ball and the green, use less lofted club and get the ball running as soon as possible.  

 

But if  you have some rough between the ball and the green, you might want to use the lofted club to get over the rough and start rolling once it hits the green.

 

Avoid using too much Back Spin

Tiger Woods said he tries to limit back spin on chipping. He certainly has lots of skills to hit variety of chipping shots. But even for him, it's hard to control spin. It's much easier to roll the ball to the hole instead of trying to stop it with back spin.

 

The Choice between Chipping and Putting

Tiger Woods once said that if you have short grass and no obstacles between the ball and the green, you should putt instead of chip. Some famous teacher said "bad putt is better than good chip."

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/use-different-club-chipping.htm

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Chipping from Thick Rough

Chipping is harder out of the rough. One of the keys to hitting this shot is to make sure you accelerate your clubhead through the grass. I think most players who decelerate their clubhead are not so sure how hard they should hit the ball. That makes them to decelerate. So take 2 or 3 practice swing before chipping and listen to the sound that the practice swing makes as it goes through the rough. Once you think you get the feeling, try to recreate that sound when you hit the shots.

 

From Deep Grass, Use Ernie's Technique

If your ball ended up in deep grass near the green, you might want to hit it like a bunker shot depending on the shot. Ernie Els said he opens the clubface, grips down on couple of inches and hits behind the ball like a bunker shot from deep rough. Unless the ball is touching the ground, this will be a good technique to use. You might need to practice before using it on the course, but when you are in a really deep rough and not sure you can make good contact with the ball, go ahead and hit it like a bunker shot. Michelle Wie also said she uses this technique. This will help you get out of the deep rough.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/chipping-from-rough.htm

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How to Hit a Low, Running Chip Shot

When you have plenty of green to work with, you should use low, running chip shot to roll the ball to the hole. There are many ways to hit this type of shots. Here is the technique that Michelle Wie uses. Whit this low-runner, she tries to keep her hands out of the shot. She uses putting grip and position the ball off the back foot. When you set up to hit this shot, make sure you keep your hands slightly ahead than normal. This will deloft the club and let you hit it low. The easier way to hit it low is to use less lofted club like 8 iron and hit it like a normal chipping shot. Either technique is fine as long as it suits your game.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/low-running-chip.htm

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How to Fix Fat and Top shot When Chipping

Hitting it fat or topping it when chipping is a common problem for average players. To fix this problem, I recommend you to set up differently than normal. With this technique, we are going to hit the ball with the toe side of your clubface. When you strike the ball toward the toe of the clubface, the ball will come off nice and soft. It also prevents topping it or hitting it fat.

 

Here is how you set up to hit the shot.

1. Use pitching wedge or 9 iron
2. Use putter grip and grip down on the shaft
3. Stand closer to the ball so that the heel of the club is little off the ground
4. Position your ball in the center of stance
5. Use putting stroke
6. Hit ball toward the toe of the clubface

By using putter grip, you can avoid too much and action. Using putter grip will let you stand little close to the ball and make the shaft more vertical so that the heel of the club will be off the ground. This will help you prevent fat shots or top shots. When you practice this shot, you will find it easier to make a clean contact with the ball. You can only use this technique when there are no obstacles between the ball and the green.

 

Try Fred Couples's Drill

There is a drill that was used by Fred Couples. Whit this drill, you hit your chip shots with your right hand only. Fred Couples said this drill will teach you rhythm and temppo that are necessary for good chipping. The club should feel heavy if you hold it with one hand. So it's a good drill to learn the body movement through the swing. When you practice this drill, focus on starting the swing with your shoulders. If you feel like you have too much technical tips and information about chipping, forget about them and practice the shots with your right hand only. It will keep things simple.

 

Keep Your Chest Moving

When players start to fear chip shots around the greens, they tend to use more arms and hands in order to avoid top shots and fat shots. But this will only make things worth. If you check tour players, most of them use their body when chipping. They turn their body back anf through during the chip shots. To avoid using too much arms and hands, try to focus on your chest and keep it moving throughoout the swing. On the backswing, try to turn your chest to the right. On the downswing, turn your chest to the left. Instead of trying to left the club with your hands and arms, try to turn back and through and use less hands. You will hit  more crisp chip shots this way.

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/how-to-fix-fat-top-shot.htm

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Shanking Chip Shots and How to Cure it

Shanks are caused by hitting the ball on the hosel of the club. Some golfers think they are hitting it off the toe because the ball will go straight to the right but that's really rare case. A lot of times, fixing your set up will cure the shanks with chip shots.

 

The Cause

Golfers who shank the ball are often times slicers. So they may shank the iron shot as well as chipping. If you think your chip shots, your hands are further away your body than they were at address. So what causes your hands and arms to move further away? There are lots of reasons but one of them is the position of your shoulders. If your shoulders are aligned left of the target, you tend to swing from outside in. But if you chip like that, you will hit it left or pull the chip shots. So you start to guide the ball toward the target by swinging the club toward the pin or target. When you do that, your hands get away from your body. You are going to hit shanks. If you try to avoid hitting it on the hosel, you might hit it fat or top it.

 

How to Cure it

So to fix your shanks, you need to first align your shoulders correctly. Your shoulder alignment often determines the swing path. If it's aligned left, you will swing outside in. If it's aligned right, you tend to swing from inside out. So lots of teachers will tell you to check your shoulder alignment. It's hard to check shoulder alignment every time on the course. Golfers with a weak grip are usually aligning their their shoulders to the left. Golfers with stronger grip tend to align their shoulders right. So fixing your grip is the easy way to fix shoulder alignment.

 

How to Hold Your Grip

When you hold your grip for chipping, make sure to lower your right shoulder first and grip it. If you grip the club with your both shoulders level with the ground, you can easily the club too weak. Just like regular shots, check the knuckles of your left hand at address. Make sure you can see 3 knuckles on your left hand.

 

Stance

Lots of pros have open stance when chipping. But if you shank, try to take square stance. Your feet should be parallel to your target line.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/shanking-chip-shot.htm

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How to Stop Topping your Chip Shots

There are basically two causes for topping chip shots. One is your address. Second cause is trying to scoop the ball in the air. Even the good players do this once in a while. But if you try to lift the ball in the air, you'll end up topping the shots. Because the ball is on the ground, you can hit up on the ball like a driver. To get the ball airborne, you need to trust the loft of your club and hit it with slight descending blow.

 

Cure it with Descending Blow

If you can hit it with a descending blow, you can fix topping the ball.

 

To do this, do the following:

1. Your hands should be ahead of the ball at address
2. Place the ball in the middle or slightly back of center of your stance
3. Put most of your weight on your foot and keep it there during the swing
4. Focus on the back of the ball
5. Accelerate through impact

All these will help you hit crisp chip shots. Try to keep the angle of your right wrist during the swing. If your right wrist breaks down, you will top it or hit it fat.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/how-to-stop-topping.htm

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7 Ways to Get Backspin on Your Chip Shots

To hit chip shots with lots of backspin, you need to set up like below.

1. Use softer ball. This is necessary to get lots of backspin
2. Use more lofted club. More loft means more spin. For chip shots, you might want to use your sand wedge.
3. Position your ball off your right fott
4. Put more weight on your left foot
5. Positions your hands ahead of the ball so that the shaft is leaning slightly toward the target
6. Accelerate through impact
7. Hit it on the descending blow

One of the most famous teachers in the history of golf, Harvey Penick said you need to position your hands forward so that the bounce of your sand wedge will not touch the ground. At impact, your hands should be ahead of your clubhead or the ball. You don't need to turn the face over for this shot. Make sure your hands win the race. For crisp shot with backspin,  you must accelerate your clubhead through impact.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/7-ways-to-add-backspin.htm

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How to Cure Fat Chip Shots

Hitting fat chip shots will not only cause you 1 stroke but also damages your confidence. Next time you are in the same kind of situation, you start to think you might hit it fat again. When you start doubting like that, you tend to decelerate through impact causing you to hit it fat. So golfers who hit fat chip shots will repeat the same mistake over and over.

 

How to stop it

The secret to good chip shots are in your set up. If you set up correctly, you reduce your chances of hitting it fat. If you look at good short game players, they hit their chip shots before the clubhead reaches the lowest point of its arc. In other words, they are hitting it with a slight descending blow. If you hit it on the descending blow, you can hit it well with any types of lies. If the ball is teed up, you can hit it on the lowest point of your swing. But if the ball is sitting down even a little bit, the grass will come between the ball and the clubface. That's why you need to hit it on a descending blow to hit the crisp chip shots constantly.

 

To hit it on a descending blow with your chip shots, you need to make sure that the shaft is leaning toward the target at address. Your hands should be ahead of the ball, also. Put more weight on your front foot and keep it there throughout the swing. Rick Smith who is a famous teacher said that you should put 70% of your weight on your front foot during the swing. This should help you stop hitting fat chip shots.

 

Ball Position

Also, you need to check your ball position. Playing the ball forward of center on regular chip shot will cause fat shots. Try to play the ball in the center or slightly back of center of stance for chipping.

 

Simple Drills

To fix fat shots, you have to make sure you accelerate through the shot. The tendency is to decelerate. Here are simple drills to fix that problem. Set up to hit a chip shot. Next, look at the hole and keep your eyes on the hole throughout the swing. You don't have to look at the ball with this drill. This is a good drill for controlling distance as well. So when you take practice swings, you might want to keep looking at the hole while you take practice swings. Another drill that's helpful is to hit chip shot from a bunker.

 

Put the ball in the sand and press down just a little bit. To hit it clean from this lie, you need to hit it on descending blow. The clubhead won't slide through the sand so that you will know instantly if you hit behind the ball. When you practice from a good lie, the clubhead will slide through the grass even if you hit it behind the ball. So you won't know if you are hitting it clean or not from a good lie.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/cure-fat-chip-shot.htm

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