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The most common problem for golfers is the slice, and how to stop slicing the golf ball. As a PGA Golf Instructor, I face this question every week. To solve this problem you must first understand why you slice the golf ball, before you can stop slicing. The slice is caused by a club path that is too much out to in, or over the top, and a club face that is open. These two components create side spin on the golf ball, making it curve to the right, for the right-handed golfer.

So why do golfers perform these two components at the same time? The answer lies in our subconscious. Our subconscious is very active in golf and it is always trying to solve problems. However, it never gets to the cause of the problem; it always adds another flaw to compensate for the original problem. So it becomes the story of the chicken or the egg. Which came first, the over the top swing path, or the open club face? It could be either one, and the subconscious added the second component to try and solve the problem. But this is a slippery slope that will always cause you headaches and frustration in your game.

To stop slicing the ball you must address both problems. You must swing the club on the correct path and learn to square the club face. If you fix one without the other, you will hit either pulls or pushes. I feel that you must solve the swing plane problem first and then learn to square the club face second. Taking this approach will allow you to focus on one task at a time. Please be aware that while you are fixing your swing plane you will hit shots to the right. Do not panic. Understand that this is part of the process and you will begin hitting the ball on line soon enough.

To fix your swing plane, and make the fix permanent, you should practice with something that forces you to swing from in to out. You can use a shaft, a cardboard box, a 2 x 4, or your head covers. Set them in relation to the ball so if you come over the top, you will hit your practice aid. This is referred to as a practice station. Once you become comfortable swinging on plane, or from the inside, then you can focus on learning to square your club face. If you hit your practice balls at 50% speed, your subconscious should start to square the club face automatically.

My experience teaching students to practice and learn in this fashion has been very rewarding for me and the student. The students who commit to the process and stick with it all see great results. The students who take shortcuts or do things differently are still struggling with a slice. If you slice give this method a try, I know it will work for you.

One golf swing mistake that many golfers make, and that goes virtually undetected, is the rolling of their wrists on the takeaway.

Most golfers are so preoccupied with the more visible mechanics of shoulder and hip turns, swing planes, and keeping their head steady, that it’s easy to see why such a minor movement, like the rolling of their wrists, could go unnoticed. But unfortunately it does.

What causes the problem is usually one of a few things. It may be that the golfer has swayed laterally on their backswing and has over exaggerated their turning. Or perhaps it is caused when the golfer pulls the club too far inside at the start of the takeaway. And often it occurs when the golfer, obsessed with making a full shoulder turn, has done so by swing the golf club on a more horizontally rounded, rather than vertical, swing path.

So how can you spot this almost invisible malady? You can monitor to see if you are in fact a wrist roller, by stopping your takeaway when your golf club is about parallel with the ground. In the ideal position, the toe of your golf club should be pointing directly to the sky and if you drew a line from the butt of the club, across your toe line below, it would parallel the imaginary target line that the golf ball is aimed down.

But if you are guilty of rolling your wrists, you will see quite a different position that both the toe and the butt of the golf club are in. For the right handed golfer, the butt of the club will be pointing well to the right of the intended target line and across the golf ball, not directly over the toe line. The toe of the golf club will be aimed behind the golfer, with the club face noticeably fanned open.

There are so many things that can go wrong in these positions, not the least of which is that the club is now way off of the correct golf swing plane. The golfer eventually feels as if the club gets stuck behind her/him at the culmination of the backswing.

Depending on how rolled the wrist become, on the ensuing downswing the golfer has to drastically change directions and contort their golf swing to get the golf club anywhere near making contact with the golf ball. It is not pretty to observe, with casting moves, karate chops and premature opening up of the lead shoulder, the most common sightings.

How can you conquer this unwanted woe?

The answer isn’t that complex actually. Practice starting your takeaway by moving the club back in one piece with the shoulders and arms, ( forming a “V” shape), and concentrate on keeping the back of the left hand facing down the target line for the first eighteen inches or so of your backswing. Now all you have to do is swing up over your shoulder in a circular path, and along the swing plane that you had established at address.

If this doesn’t remedy the situation for you, and you are still having difficulty getting the feel for not rolling your wrists and keeping your club on plane, then get yourself a quality golf swing trainer to practice on. (There are several reviewed on our website).The additional benefit to using a swing plane training aid, besides grooving an on plane swing and feeling when the swing path starts to swing up, is that you can easily perfect a consistent tempo as well. They are well worth the cost.

Rolling your wrist in the takeaway is a guaranteed killer to a solid golf swing. I hope after reading this article, it will no longer go undetected and soon be permanently corrected.

What is the scoring shot in golf? Many recreational golfers would say driving, or putting. The pros advise us that we should become good chippers. But for the pros themselves, the shot that makes the difference is the iron into the green. They win more tournaments by putting for birdies than by chipping for pars. Here are three ways to make your irons your scoring shot, too.

1. Make good contact. That means ball first, ground second. The divot mark should start in front of the ball, not underneath it, and definitely not behind it. Here’s one way to train yourself to do that. Put a tee in the ground, lined up with the leading edge of the ball, but far enough away so you can hit the ball without hitting the tee.

When you hit the ball with, say, a 7-iron, the start of the divot mark should be in front of the tee. If the divot mark starts behind the tee, that is a sign of swing errors, to numerous to mention here, that contribute to hitting the ball off line. Get this part right, and your shots will straighten out. [Note: you can only do this drill on a grassy area, not on mats.]

2. Build your iron swing around your wedge swing. The wedge swing is compact and precise. It’s the swing with which your tempo and rhythm are the best, and where you’re thinking only about hitting the ball straight, not far.

Hit three balls with your pitching wedge, using a full swing. Then hit one ball with an iron, copying the unforced feeling of your wedge swing. This will teach you to associate an easy, smooth swing with your irons, and that is how you hit them straighter.

3. Work on your setup. Yes, turn setting up into a drill, starting with the placement of your hands. Grip down so about an inch of the butt end of the shaft sticks out. This will give you more control of the clubhead.

Put the ball in the center of your stance, in this fashion. Stand with your heels together, the ball centered between your feet. Move your left foot to the left, and your right foot to the right by an equal amount, so that your feet are now as far apart as they should be for the shot, and the ball has remained in the center.

Aim yourself at the target. Many golfers hit beautiful shots, but miss to the right because that is exactly where they were aimed. Put a golf club on the ground, pointed at a marker in the distance. Put another club on the ground about two feet away and parallel to the first one.

Take your stance with the club in your hands resting on the shaft of the first club, and your heels resting against the shaft of the second club. Turn your head to look at the marker. Study where it is in your field of vision. On the course, where you cannot use alignment clubs, this picture is what you will rely on to know that you are properly aligned.

Now, practice these three aspects of your setup over an over. Place your hands right, place the ball right, aim yourself right. Then step away and start again. The more times you repeat this drill, the farther you go to making these three things automatic.

Good contact, easy swing, good setup. These are three steps that will have you hitting more greens and putting for more birdies.

It’s hard to believe in this day and age that anyone would still be inclined to purchase golf tee times directly from the course. The internet has changed the way we play golf. There are many opportunities online to purchase discount tee times from the best golf courses in States like Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana and no reason to contact golf courses directly and pay full price for your round of golf.

If you play golf as much as I do then you likely already know that booking a round of golf Weekend after Weekend can be very expensive. Paying $100 for a round of golf instead of $50 is not the end of the world if you are an occasional golfer, but if you play every Weekend this can add up. Over the years you are literally throwing money away by purchasing your golf tee times directly from the golf course.

Reputable Companies work with golf courses to create a network, some courses choose to participate in this network to book more golf rounds and other courses that do not need to book more golf rounds choose not to participate in this network. The point is that if these companies set up a very good network of participating golf courses with discount golf tee times then you can save up to 50% off the direct golf course price when you purchase.

Golf tee times are traded like stock and bought at 30 to 40 percent less than the direct golf course price and then the company can turn around and sell it to you at 50 to 60 percent less so that you save a lot of money over time. It’s that simple and frankly I cannot imagine why any golfer would not want to purchase their round of golf in this fashion. The price of gasoline is at an all time high, groceries are more expensive than ever so this is one way you can save a lot of money over time and play more golf.

The concerns that golfers have is obvious because there are so many websites claiming to offer these deep discount tee times so how can you know which are reputable. Google and Bing provide excellent editorial judgment since fly by night Companies are unlikely to be top ranked in the organic listings. Golf media publications are another excellent source for Companies that offer a valuable network of golf courses to book discount rounds of golf.

Golf looks so easy but is so difficult to master. Why is golf so difficult?

In this article I will try to answer this question knowing that I will probably fail because what makes it difficult for one person is different to the next player.

Here are some of the things I think that make this game so difficult but so intriguing:

It looks so easy. Watch the good players and note the effortless swing that produces a perfect shot that goes for miles and exactly where intended. Looks easy but it isn’t.

It is not an action game. Sports are usually played at speed and execution is based on reaction and instinct. In golf you have a lot of time between shots, time to work out a plan of action. Time to choose which of up to fourteen clubs you want to use and what sort of shot you want to play. Time to think and that means time to create doubt.

Each shot counts and cannot be replayed. Sounds crazy but a bad shot counts the same as a good shot – one stroke. In other sports you can miss but still recover. Think of tennis, cricket, football, rugby etc.

The rules are very strict and the onus is on the player to rule on himself. This brings an element of integrity into golf that is not seen in other sports where it is up to the referee to decide on the outcome. When you ‘cheat’ you play the rest of the round with this knowledge eating away at you.

The golf swing is a most complex action performed with strange shaped clubs that are all different in length, loft, size, weight, shafts and a number of other design features depending on the make.

Golf balls differ tremendously and are designed to do different things. Some are hard, some are soft and all behave differently.

No two golf courses are the same and no two golf shots will ever be the same either. Tennis courts and cricket pitches, football fields and basketball courts all have regulated dimensions – this is not true in golf. Every hole is different – every hole in the world!

The game is played very much in silence. This makes the mental aspect of the game so tough. There is no crowd encouraging you to perform – it’s just you and your thoughts.

Game time is limited and therefore the desire to perform at your best every time you get the opportunity creates pressure. Because golf takes so long it is not a game that most people can get out and play three or four times a week. Come Saturday it is something to look forward to and hope to play your best. There’s that pressure again.

I could go on and describe the golf swing and how difficult it is to perfect, and then I could explain the possible more difficult short game or even putting – these are all games within a game and make golf what it is. I think you get the picture.

Why is golf so difficult? In my opinion there are hundreds of answers to this question and every player will give you a different answer! For me that is what make the game so great (and so difficult) and once hooked it is usually for life. The good news is the benefits far outweigh the frustrations!

Why is golf so difficult? If only I knew.

There are many factors affecting distance in the golf course. In this article I will resume all possible in one.

The single most important factor in increasing your distance is your mind.

You may have the best swing in the world, the best driver, the best ball and the best conditions by your side and still not making that extra yards you have been looking to reach. Some times you make it, yes!, but for any reason, you can’t repeat the action over and over, it looks as if it was just a spark of luck… or was not? The truth is that your game at any stage is a mental one. So, what are the conditions your mind must have to improve your game?

1) Clean Your Mind of All the Clutter:

You came to play, so don’t bring up that “extra” stuff you left at home or at work: “Today is my monthly payment due”, “I promised my wife I would take her to…”, “I’m going to call Fred”, “I’m dumping my girl”, ” What I am going to do with that employee”, “After I finish the game, I’m going to the golf store to check some clubs”. “I’m the worst person in the world, my wife caught me cheating with dozens of women, and now the media is all over me (sorry Tiger)”. All those thoughts come to your mind without your permission, because you have your door open to them. It is not your fault, it is simply the way our minds work, and we have the power over our minds. It will probably take us some time to master it, but we are capable of doing it, because we have done it before. So, when you are in front of the ball, preparing to hit it, there is nothing else in the world, but you, the club and that ball. Forget about the dealing you are closing in the afternoon, forget about your worries. Close the door to your thoughts and be one with the golf ball, being your golf club an extension of your body.

2) Stop Negative Thinking:

You cleaned up your mind of all “external” influence, now you have to stop the “internal” influence. Those blood sucker thoughts that drain your energy, energy that should be focused on your game instead.

Once and for all, take over your thoughts, hold the wheel of your mind and drive your it where “YOU” want it to go, and not where your thoughts want you to go.

Negative thinking is a learned skill. You weren’t born negative, you just learned negative behaviors.

There you are in front of the ball and dozens of advisors begin to talk to you: “You can’t have that”, “Who do you think you are? Tiger?”, “Everyone is watching you”, “There are people waiting”, “John maybe thinking I’m not good enough”, “I’m still learning, what if I miss the ball?”, “Everyone play better than me, they will laugh at me”, and the list goes on and on and on.

3) Don’t Let Guilt Tell You What to Do:

Guilt is all over the world of a golfer, but it shouldn’t be that way.

You feel guilty for not giving time to your loved ones, for spending money in your favorite sport, for being caught while cheating on your wife (Again, no Offense, Tiger). Add your own guilt to the list. This could be one of the worst golf destroyers in the world, because you are punishing yourself for being such a “bad person”. So, you have to distinguish a justified guilt from an unjustified guilt. If you are using your game to avoid your family at all cost, then you have the right to feel guilty, but if you really have a balance between your game and your family, then there’s no reason to feel guilty at all, by all means, enjoy your game to the fullest.

The truth is that you have to play your best golf. It doesn’t matter if you took your fist lesson today, or you’ve been playing for years. What is your best golf?, the one where no interference from outside or inside yourself, can affect your performance.

Putting it in practice: The next time you play or practice try the following:

First, do it while letting your thoughts intrude in your game. Your thoughts don’t have to be negative to affect your game. Try it a few times

Then, do it, while giving all your concentration to the game, don’t try it too hard, just play your best. If an intruder thought come to you, welcome it and then, let it go.

In the end, your mind will be more focused in finding ways to improve your game, than criticizing your performance. With time, you will notice that your game will have improved.

Enjoy your game.

Golf for Beginners

If you are new to the game, you’ve probably discovered that tips for golf beginners can actually be pretty difficult to understand. It seems as though those who are offering the advice have forgotten what it’s like to really be a beginner and still insist on using advanced lingo which can be both frustrating and overwhelming for a new golfer.

Balance

While keeping your balance may sound simple enough, in golf it can be a challenging topic. This is because when you downswing, you need to get used to shifting your weight. Most people have an instinct to pull in their arms to restore their equilibrium because they feel like they’re falling over. The quicker you learn to overcome your fear of being off balance, the sooner you will be able to connect with the ball rather than looking like you’re striking out in a baseball game.

Connecting with the Ball

Those professionals sure make it look effortless to connect with the ball, right? Well, if you’re struggling in this department, rest assured it will get easier! A huge part of connecting with the ball is keeping your eyes on the ball and your head still. As soon as you look away or move your head, you compromise everything about your swing. Looking up too soon is one of the most common faults in the game of golf.

How’s Your Posture?

Becoming more aware of your posture, even when you’re not on the course can go a long way to improve your game. Take the time throughout the day to correct the way you are standing and become familiar with how you should look and feel when you’re lining up to hit the ball.

Your pelvis should be tilted slightly upward which will naturally drop your chest just a bit. Evaluate how your weight is distributed and make sure that your knees are never locked. The more familiar and comfortable you become with this posture, the more natural it will come to you when you approach the ball.

Lining Up

Correctly lining up to the ball and target will get easier with practice. A common mistake made with new golfers is that they want to line their body up with the target. While this may seem like the logical thing to do, it’s not right. Your body should be just to the left of your target to allow your ball to be properly lined up.

Now, although your body is to the left of the target, it needs to be square to the ball. This may seem confusing but you will become more comfortable with it over time. One of the most important things to remember is to keep your shoulders square. If your front shoulder is pointing in any direction other than your target then that will be the way the ball will travel.

Golf is certainly not the easiest game to play but it definitely is one of the most rewarding. The little things may all seem overwhelming when you put them altogether but with practice, everything will become like second nature. You won’t have to evaluate every single movement anymore which will allow you to focus on more difficult aspects of the game.

As any golf aficionado will tell you, natural talent will only take you so far in the game. At some point, equipment starts to play a large part in how well you do. This is why the R11 Driver, made by Taylor, is a wise investment for those who are passionate about golf. But what about the R11 makes it stand out from other drivers?

One of the many things that separate this driver from the majority of others on the market is its rapid adaptability due to various technologies that the driver has been implemented with. With this new driver, you can very simply adjust the loft with Flight Control Technology, adjust the face angle with the new adjustable sole plate and adjust the CG location with movable Weight Technology. Finally, you can have a driver that is as smart as you are and truly be in control of your golf destiny.

But that’s not all it has to offer. It also promotes up to 100 yards of side-to-side trajectory change and 1000 RPM backspin change, which is significantly better than most drivers currently on the market. In addition, it has a new aerodynamic shape that promotes faster club head speed for more distance. It is currently 6 yards longer than the R9 Supertri, which is itself considered a premium driver. It also has a white non-glare crown and black clubface for easy alignment, which makes a huge difference out on the course. And as if all that wasn’t enough, there is a TP model also available as well.

With all those added benefits, it’s easy to see why this Taylor driver is clearly the superior choice. Whether it’s a gift for a loved one or a treat that you earned from an extra bonus at work, this is a gift that truly keeps on giving. It would be foolish to not invest in a driver that is clearly head and shoulders above the rest and give your golf game that extra bit of competitive edge that makes the difference between going home happy and owing a friend a few extra dollars because you lost a bet. To put it more simply, why lose at something when you don’t have to lose at all?

So when the time comes to purchase a new golf driver, remember to go with the Taylor R11. It’s not just a golf driver; it’s a long term investment.

Did you ever imagine that your iPhone could actually replace your golf caddie? Well, I certainly never did. But I had read a few write ups about it, so I thought I would give it a try. Let me tell you that I downloaded a new golf GPS app onto my phone. When I opened up this app it zoomed in right on my location! I was at my house at the time. All of the sudden, as quick as I could blink, my house and surrounding property popped up right on my iPhone. This gadget knows exactly where I am!

I was very impressed, needless to say. The GPS feature on this app is amazing. This iPhone app claimed to “know every golf course worldwide” and I can see why! The pictures and features on the screen are clear as a bell. I started investigating to find that this app even knows the wind and weather at my very location! There is an option to insert your distances (or launch data). After this information is obtained this little gadget knows what club I need to use, how far it will go, how hard I need to swing and where to aim my golf shot!

Another neat feature of this app is that it I can say to myself, “I know it’s 184 yards to the pin…BUT what club should I hit??” This app actually tells me what club to hit! It is also much more than a club selector. It is an interactive range finder with accurate distances to any spot with the “Get Distance” action on the tool bar. It is by far the easiest aerial map I have used and the best part is you can take it off GPS so it tracks quickly and it doesn’t drain my battery. Nothing worse than being out on the green and the phone is dead for the ride home.

I have paid my caddie big bucks for this information in the past. This is the most intelligent golf caddie I have ever used! Now I call it my iPhone caddie, though that is not the name of the product. To be honest, I have searched and have not found another GPS golf app like this one. This app factors in how a golf ball is launched plus the actual weather conditions at the time. Most apps will let me (the user) define club distances but this is usually only entered in as a basic distance and it does not factor in the weather. My very cool iPhone pocket caddie even factors in the weather conditions at the very moment, at the very spot, on the very golf course where I am standing. Knowing my club distances better has solved a big problem for me in my golf game because before I never knew how far I was hitting my clubs. Now I am able to know this data with the help of my iPhone!

Focusing on hitting the golf ball straight is often something that can be overlooked by many golfers. Most golfers I instruct are concerned with how far they are going to hit the golf ball. Distance is definite a factor in how good of a golfer a player is, but it certainly is not the only factor. In fact, the direction of your golf shots is more important than your distance. If you can keep the ball in the fairway with your tee shots and hit more greens in regulation, your scores are going to positively reflect that. On the other hand, if you are bombing your driving, but can’t hit the right fairway, it will be difficult to recover consistently and keep your golf scores low.

There are a few helpful tips you can incorporate into your golf swing to hit the golf ball straighter. Sometimes golfers get too technical or too concerned about their golf swing path or where their club is in certain positions of the golf swing. The problem with this is getting too technical can lead to trying to steer or guide the club too much which will reduce the naturally swinging motion needed to produce better golf shots. Lifting, guiding, or steering the golf club can happen when the golfer gets too concerned with their technique and loses the rhythm necessary for good golf shots. If you are just going to put the club into the right positions, you are not going to hit good golf shots. The club needs to be swung properly and this will help you hit better and straighter golf shots.

One tip that is easy to do is to feel like you swing your golf club towards your target just after impact. Swinging the club towards the target will naturally keep your club on the proper swing path. Swinging your club towards the target will also allow your club to release correctly. On your backswing, you want to swing your club straight back and then over your right shoulder. On the downswing, everything comes through together and then you will swing your club towards your target and then over your left shoulder. It’s easy to keep your club on plane by focusing on swinging over your left shoulder and then back over your right shoulder. It’s helpful to have certain guides or checkpoints on how to keep your club on the correct path so you can hit straighter golf shots.

The next tip for hitting straight golf shots is to get your golf swing sequence in the proper order. You should start by swinging the club back first. Then the shoulders will start to turn. Lastly, the hips will follow and turn as you swing everything to the top of the golf swing. It’s important to have proper order or sequence because the shoulders turn twice as far as the hips on the backswing. Getting good sequence in your golf backswing will promote good sequence in your downswing as well. Good sequence allows everything to come through together at impact which will help you hit the ball straighter with less effort.