The Chip Shot with a Hook Spin

Monday, December 9, 2013

Payne Stewart used to hit the chip shots with a hook spin on the ball. It might be difficult shot to hit the beginner. But if you are advanced players, you might want to give it a try.

 

Here is how you can hit this shot.

1. Position your ball little back of the center

2. Take a narrow stance

3. Put most of your weight on your left side throughout the swing

4. Point the target to the target but aim your body right of target

5. Swing the clubhead along your feet.

 

Why did Payne Stewart put a hook spin on the ball?

The chip shot will roll much smoother than regular chip shot or bump and run shot once it hits the green.

 

With regular chip shots, the ball will have some backspin on the ball. The backspin sometimes makes distance control more difficult.

 

That's why putter is much easier to get the ball closer to the hole when the situation allows you.

 

By if there is a grass between the ball and the green, you are going to have to hit it over it with a chip shot.

 

By putting hook spin on the ball, you can reduce the backspin, and you might find it easier to control distance with this type of shot.

 

Once you get used it, it's not a hard shot at all.

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Breathing: How to Breathe during the Golf Swing

You may wonder how you should breathe during the golf swing. Should you breathe before you start your takeaway or breathe out?

 

I usually don't pay too much attention to my breathing at least during the golf swing. But before I start my swing, I try to keep a deep breath.

 

 There is a trick to taking a deep breath, I will explain about that at the end of this page.

 

Generally speaking, golfers usually breath out at address, breathe in during the backswing and breathe out again in downswing.

 

Some tour pros say they try to breathe out very slowly during the downswing and the follow through.

 

I don't think you need to conciously control your breathing during your golf swing. But if you feel like you get too tense during the swing, you might want to experiment with your breathing.

 

Like I said at the beginning of this page, I don't focus on my breathing during the swing. But I try to take a deep breath before I pull the trigger.

 

When you take a deep breath, you should try to breathe out or breathe in.

 

Marathon runners do the same thing. They first breathe out in order to take more oxygen. So you should do the same.

 

Relax and Turn more on Backswing

There is another way to change your breathing and improve your backswing.

 

Masaru Miyazato who is the teacher and father of Ai Miyazato (She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for multiple times) suggested the following.

 

He said that if you breathe in and start your swing, your chest will expand like a balloon and get in the way of smooth turning of your upper body.

 

I don't think this will work for every player, but it might be worth experimenting.

 

Try Tom Watson's Way

Tom Watson is one of the most famous golfers of all time.

He once talked about the breathing technique that can help you relieve tension.

 

His breathing technique came from the clay shooting. He said that the shooters' breathing tehnique can help golfers as well.

 

Here is how you can do it.

1. Take a deep breath

2. Let it out

3. Take another deep breath

4. Let half of it out and hold

5. Start your golf swing

 

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How to Hit Straight Shot on Demand

Hitting the straight shot is one of the most difficult shots to hit in golf. In fact, most pros normally don't hit the dead straight shots. They have either a tiny draw or a tiny fade even if the shot looks straight.

So I don't recommend you try to hit the dead straight shots on every shot you hit.

But there are times when you have to put the ball in the fairway like on the holes that have very tight fairways. When you have to hit the ball, what do you have to do?

Let me show you the interesting data. The researchers measured the shots hit by the LPGA pro. She hit the shot with her 7-iron.

With a full shot, she hit it 150 yards. Next, she hit it with her 7-iron, but this time, she limited her follow through.

The researchers measured the shot. The result was the same. She was hitting it 150 yards with the limited follow through.

So what did it change?

The answer is her ball flight. She was hitting it lower than her full swing.

By limiting the follow through, you will be able to keep the ball lower and hit it straighter than your normal shots.

You can use this technique when hitting your driver as well. You don't have to change anything. Just limit your follow through, and you will be able to hit the straighter shots.

Because you don't have to change your backswing, you won't lose any distance. The ball will fly lower and rolls more once it hits the ground.

Next time you must hit the fairway, try this technique.

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4 Keys that Rory McIlory Cares About

Rory McIlory won the U.S. Open at the age of 22 with a record score of 16-under-par on his way to an eight-shot victory.

 

He is only 5-feet-10, but he is known as a long hitter with the average driving distance over 300 yards.

 

Here are 4 keys that Rory McIlory works on how he trains, a swing thought he uses under pressure, how he works on his swing and more.

 

1. Training

He has always been long for his size since he started to play golf. But he also works in the gym.

In the gym, he mostly works on core stability and flexibility. These training helped him hit the ball even further.

 

2. What He Learned on Tour

On tour, he quickly found that nearly all the players swing the club with no fear. Rory McIlory said that he is a grip-it-and-rip-it guy and thinks about nothing other that the target.

Some amateurs try to think about technique during the swing, but I don't recommend doing that because you tend to hesitate during the swing.

If you must think about somethingg, keep it down to 1 swing thought because we are not good at thinking about 2 things at the same thing.

 

3. Under Pressure

Under pressure, he uses one simple swing thought. He picks a spot a foot in front of the ball and tries to hit the ball over it.

This simple swing thought takes his mind off the outcome of the shot and keep him in the present.

 

4. 3 Keys to His Golf Swing

His coach and he have 3 check points. They are:

- Posture

- Alignment

- Ball Position

He also works on his golf swing, but never does that without checking those 3 keys first.

His coach said that under windy conditions, he sometimes lets his ball creep back in his stance a bit. He also has a tendency to narrow his stance when hitting his short irons. I think it's important to understand your tendencies and check them from time to time.

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How to Hit the Stinger Shot

A stinger shot is the shot that flies low to the ground and runs a lot once it hits the ground.

The advantage of a stinger is that it can bore into the wind, it runs a lot once it hits the ground and it can also give you more control without sacrificing the distance.

If you can master the technique, it will become your strong weapon on the course.

 

How Tiger Woods Hits it

Tiger Woods is known to use a stinger a lot. He hits this shot with his 3 wood.

Here is how he does it with a 3 wood.

1. Set up in a slightly narrower stance than normal.

2. Use your normal ball position.

For Tiger, he sets his ball just inside his left heel for his 3 wood and his driver.

3. Swing thought

His swing thought is to keep his hands leading the club well pass impact. He does this by softening his elbows.

He also takes a little divot. This is a sign that his hands led the club at impact.

Also, try to point your club to the ground as long as possible.

He usually hits a draw with this shot. A draw will help you hit the ball low to the ground. Tiger sometimes hits a fade with a stinger, but that's really difficult shot to hit. So I won't show you how to hit on this page.

 

The Easy Way to Hit it

Tiger's technique is for advanced players and is easier to push the shot for most players.

So here is the easy way to hit a stinger.

 

1. Align your feet and shoulders to the right of the target

We are going to hit a draw with this shot. So I want you to pick an aim line little right for your target and set yourself up parallel to the aim line.

 

2. Aim your clubface to the target

This is important. Set your body parallel to the aim line (right of the target), but set your clubface to the target.

Make sure to close your clubface at address and then re-grip your club. Don't grip it and then close the face. If you do this, the clubface will open at impact.

So close the clubface and then re-grip the club,

 

3. Ball position

Set your ball one or two ball-length right to your normal position.

 

4. Backswing

Stop when your grip reaches the height of your right ear.

 

5. Downswing through follow through

The important key to the downswing is not to rush the swing.

Because you set your ball right of your normal position, your hands will naturally lead your clubhead.

I don't want you to take a big follow through. Try to keep your club low the ground after impact. Also, try to limit your follow through.

You don't need a lot of clubhead speed to hit this shot. In fact, you want to slow it down a bit because it will reduce the amount of the backspin and give you more roll.

One master this shot, it will become your great weapon. I can hit this shot almost as fas as my driver if the fairways are hard.

So try it. You might need some practice, but I'm sure you will love to see the ball roll like crazy on the fairway.

 

 

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2 Ways to Hit the Ball Low

I often hit the ball low because of two reasons.

1. You can control the shots better with low shots.

2. Even if the shots curved to the right or left, it doesn't curve as much as the normal shots.

With your long irons or hybrid clubs, you might want to hit it higher to stop the ball on the green. But with your middle irons or short irons, you can take an advantage of low shots to control the ball.

 

2 Methods of Hitting This Shot

There are 2 methods of hitting the ball low. The easy way to hit it is to take more clubs and hit it easy.

For example, instead of using 8-iron, take your 6-iron and hit it using your half swing. By reducing your swing speed with a half swing, you can also reduce the amount of the backspin and keep the trajectory low.

And of course, the less loft will keep the ball low as well.

You can use this shot in the situation such as:

- Against the wind

- Hitting to the pin that is cut on the back of the green

- Hitting to the narrow green

 

I use this often because with this method, I don't have to change my swing, address positions, grip or ball position.

Some players grip down on the grip to keep the ball lower, but if you do this, it could affect the lie angle of your iron. So I usually don't grip down on the club unless I'm hitting special type of shots that requires me to grip the club short.

However, if you don't wan to hook the ball, gripping down on the club may be effective technique for you.

 

Advance Way to Hit it Low

Here is the technique that is also used by pros. It's more advanced technique, it's worth trying.

Here is how:

1. Position the ball 1 ball-length to the right

2. With the short irons, put a bit more weight on your front foot.

3. Try to point the back of your left hand toward the target through impact.

 

To hit the ball low, you need to position the ball a bit more to the right than normal. But if you put the ball more to the right, it can make it easier to turn the clubface over through impact.

This causes hooks.

So the key is to prevent your clubface from turning over too much. There are many ways to do that.

One of the ways to do this is to try to point the back of your left hand or the logo of your glove toward the target at impact through impact.

If the back of your left hand faces toward the ground impact, you will hit hooks. So make sure that the back of your left hand faces toward the target.

Another way is to limit your follow through. Try to stop the follow through when your hands reach waist height.

You may not be able to stop here, but that's ok. In that case, stop when your hands reach your shoulder height.

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Visualization Technique in Golf

In golf like other sports, lots of top players use visualization technique to hit shots.

Jack Nicklaus used this technique before every shot. He said, "going to the movie." He was seeing the shot in his mind before he actually hit it.

Tiger Woods uses this technique as well.

 

The Interesting Data

Before we talk about how you can use the visualization teechnique and how you do it, I want to show you the interesting data.

This research was done in USA. The researchers divided the subjects who never played basketball in 3 groups. The 1st group was asked to practice free throws for an hour per day for 2 weeks.

The 2nd group did nothing. The 3rd group was asked to use visualization technique everyday. They were shooting free throws in their mind.

The results were interesting.

The 1st group improved 41% after 2 weeks. The 2nd group didn't improve. But the 3rd group improved 40%!

Even through the 3rd group didn't actually shot free throws during the 2 weeks. They improved as much as the 1st group.

That's just shows you how powerful the visualizaion technique is.

Now, let's see how you can apply it to your golf game.

 

See the Shots You Want Before You Hit Them

Every time you step up to the ball, try to see the shot you want to hit in your mind, then hit it.

Tiger Woos pictures the shot he wants to hit during his pre-shot routine. He sees its trajectory, where the ball will land and stop.

You might think this technique is for low-handicap players, but I think whatever your handicap is, you will benefit from it.

When you try to visualize the shot, try not to visualize unrealistic shots because your mind knows that's unreal and you won't get the good results.

You can also use this technique on putting.

 

Visualize: Hit the Putt

Visualization is also important in putting. When you feel like you can't make putts, you are zisualizing the wrong image in your mind.

Instead of thinking about missing putts, try to visualize the ball going into the cup before you actually hit your putt.

Here is an interesting visualization training that you can do at home or at work.

 

For instance, before touching the mouse, I want to visualize the following:

1. How does it feel when you touch it?

2. Is it warm or cold?

3. Is it hard or soft?

 

After forming the mental picture, touch your mouse.

You can do this with other things as well. The key is to visualize first before actually touching it.

If you do ths regularly, you'll be good at visualizing when you really need to make putts.

 

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