So you slice nearly every time you hit driver. What do you need to do to stop that?
Though what follows isn't a cure-all, it may help you during your next round. As always, you're encouraged to get expert, professional advice and lessons.
I'm willing to bet that the reason you slice is due to several issues but an outside-in swing path is probably the biggest problem. A bad set-up hurts you immediately because the angle of the club-face at impact is open - facing slightly right - or out. It's also possible your swing path is outside-in - a hacking motion that creates a slicing flight (not unlike a pool player adding English to his shot). Logic dictates that you have to make sure the club-face is square at impact. But how do you do it?
A Strong Set-Up
While addressing the ball, toe your club in slightly. Keeping your hands on the club, rotate both hands - as a unit - to the right (if you're a lefty, rotate them to the left). Not too much - just enough to get your right hand (left hand for lefties) in a more powerful placement. This makes a stronger grip. Your left arm (right arm for lefties) should be above your right arm (left arm for southpaws).
Create An Inside-Out Swing Path
Now drop your back foot back by 8-10 inches. So now instead of having both feet parallel to the ball and in line with your knees, waist and shoulders, your back foot is offset by almost a foot (no pun intended!). It's basically referred to as a "closed stance" in baseball (a righty should be set up to hit the ball over second base into right field vs a lefty who should feel as if he's hitting over shortstop and into left field).
Focus on the inside bottom of the ball - about 4:00 for righties and 8:00 for lefties. THAT's where you want the club to hit the ball.
Sweep the grass in your back swing as far as you can before the club naturally moves up - don't pick it up immediately - bring it straight back on a parallel line. Let your back elbow bend naturally into your side above your hip.Pause a second at the top and reverse your takeaway path down to the ball to strike it. Try and keep your back elbow close to your trailing hip/waist on the way down. As you hit the ball and proceed with your follow-through your lead arm will collapse and bend as your back arm straightens and turns over your front.
My guess is your ball will fly a lot straighter than your typical shot. What you've done is essentially created an inside-out path which is optimum for better ball flight. Toeing in the club has allowed the club-face to square up at impact - essential for straight shots.
As awkward as it feels to begin with, after a few shots it'll become apparent if adjustments are still needed to gain consistency in keeping your ball flying straight and true.
You may even begin to see a draw develop. While a draw is a more powerful shot than a slice, it can cause it's own problems. Just back off some of the radical moves as detailed above - move your back foot closer to parallel; rotate your hands slightly back to neutral; don't toe the club as much - and you'll see your ball flight start to straighten out.
Keep in mind this is a quick fix and at some point it will probably break down and possibly create more problems. As always, try it on the range before using it while playing.
And of course, always get LESSONS!
I'm just an average Joe golfer passing along information I've received over the years that has always helped me at some point and for some time. I still yell "FORE!" though.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Spackler_II
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6211835
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
5 Rules to Hit Better Irons
Your golf swing should never change from club to club, but the difference between hitting an iron and a driver is you need more precise distance control.
Your first rule is to slow down. Every amateur player tends to try to put all their power into a golf swing. If you could lower your swing speed and not try to crush the ball, you will find your iron shots way more consistent. Proper rhythm and tempo is key to success with your irons.
Identify the sweet spot on your irons. If you ask most amateurs they would say the sweet spot on the club is somewhere in the middle of the face. That is where they are wrong almost all clubs today have the weight so it's at the bottom, allowing the ball to jump up in the air. Clubs these days have the sweet spot very low to the bottom of the club face and closer to the heel.
Another rule is do not go out and buy the brand new technology club just because it is new or someone else told you its a great iron. Every iron works for some people and not for others. If you can find an iron set you can hit consistently with decent distance than stick with that set until you wear them right out. The one thing about golf is it is all based around consistency and anything that can help you do that is vital to your success.
Make sure you keep that angle in your wrists for as long as possible. Even at impact you should have some bend in your wrist and a forward shaft lean. If your wrists and club are straight down at impact than you have lost a great deal of power because you released the club way to early. I talked about this in one of my previous articles.
Listen to the shots you are making. You can tell a lot just from hearing the sound your shot makes. You can hear when you catch the ball fat or thin. You can hear when your club face was too far open or too far closed. If you can put together what you hear and what you see, you will be able to get a better understanding of where you club face is always. If you know where you club face is than you are on the right path to becoming an amazing golfer.
Iron shots are my favorite shots to play. They require a little bit more thinking of what shot you want to play. There are way more options then for a wedge or a driver. It keeps things more interesting!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyson_Schmitt
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6181305
Your first rule is to slow down. Every amateur player tends to try to put all their power into a golf swing. If you could lower your swing speed and not try to crush the ball, you will find your iron shots way more consistent. Proper rhythm and tempo is key to success with your irons.
Identify the sweet spot on your irons. If you ask most amateurs they would say the sweet spot on the club is somewhere in the middle of the face. That is where they are wrong almost all clubs today have the weight so it's at the bottom, allowing the ball to jump up in the air. Clubs these days have the sweet spot very low to the bottom of the club face and closer to the heel.
Another rule is do not go out and buy the brand new technology club just because it is new or someone else told you its a great iron. Every iron works for some people and not for others. If you can find an iron set you can hit consistently with decent distance than stick with that set until you wear them right out. The one thing about golf is it is all based around consistency and anything that can help you do that is vital to your success.
Make sure you keep that angle in your wrists for as long as possible. Even at impact you should have some bend in your wrist and a forward shaft lean. If your wrists and club are straight down at impact than you have lost a great deal of power because you released the club way to early. I talked about this in one of my previous articles.
Listen to the shots you are making. You can tell a lot just from hearing the sound your shot makes. You can hear when you catch the ball fat or thin. You can hear when your club face was too far open or too far closed. If you can put together what you hear and what you see, you will be able to get a better understanding of where you club face is always. If you know where you club face is than you are on the right path to becoming an amazing golfer.
Iron shots are my favorite shots to play. They require a little bit more thinking of what shot you want to play. There are way more options then for a wedge or a driver. It keeps things more interesting!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyson_Schmitt
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6181305
Monday, April 25, 2011
How to Fix Golf Slice Shots Fast
Do you hit slice shots? I have worked with many golfers at my golf school who do, and it could be argued that the golf slice is the Achilles heel of the average golfer. I don't think there is anything worse than standing over a ball knowing that your golf ball will curve off to right field with the vengeance of a swarm of angry hornets.
I bet that you sometimes wish that there was anti-slicing golf swing software that you could install that was guaranteed to straighten the worst golf slice you could hit? Well, I have not invented the golf swing software yet, but I do have a simple anti-slicing golf swing system that will straighten the most vicious slice shot you have.
In this article I will explain to you step by step procedure that you need to fix golf slice shots fast, which will lead to lot more golf confidence and lower golf scores. But first, I need to explain a couple of simple to understand concepts that will get us off on the right foot.
Concept 1 – There are no straight lines in a golf swing
I have read in golf instruction books where they suggested that you should move the golf club in a straight line towards the target for an extended period after the golf ball is struck. If you have read this, or believe this, then you need to rethink this one. If you swing the golf club towards the target after your golf ball has departed from the club face you will more than likely hit the ground behind the ball, greatly reduce the distance of your shot, and hit your shots with a big slice.
The golf club moves in an arc, and your job is to make sure that it remains so. Any attempt to straighten the golf club heads course leads to disaster. Golf clubs don't behave like crochet mallets, where the objective is to swing it back and forward in a straight line.
Concept 2 – Keep your head still as you hit your shot
Think about it, how difficult do you think it is to keep your head still when your shoulders are rotating around your spine at about thirty miles per hour and your arms are moving at about fifty miles per hour? Your head is designed to rotate on top of your spine easily and frequently so you should allow it to move in harmony with your shoulders and arms.
I know what you're probably thinking that you have been told more than once to keep your head down, and still, so you can hit a good golf shot. How's that going for you? I have seen many golfers trying to keep their head down and hit the worst golf slices or bad golf shots that you could imagine. Let your head rotate freely with your shoulders and arms and this will reduce the excessive tension in your shoulders and neck that leads to slicing swings, and a high probability of an injury to your neck, shoulders or back.
The correct right shoulder angle to fix golf slice shots
Ok, now we are going to do just three things that will reduce your slice shot curvature by at least half. The first is to make sure that in the address position your right shoulder is lower and behind your left shoulder.
What do I mean by lower and behind?
Your right shoulder has a big responsibility in the back swing and down swing by providing your arms and hands with their direction. You want your right shoulder to be tilted a lot lower than your left so your shoulders can turn on a flatter arc on the back swing. Your shoulders and feet ideally will be pointing to the right of your target in the address position. This will help you to turn a little more on the back swing and also slow down their acceleration (particularly the right shoulder) in the down swing so your arms and hands can catch up to the shoulders a little earlier.
The correct golf grip to fix golf slice shots
When you place your hands on the golf grip you need to place them more clockwise on the grip. The thumb of your left hand should be placed on the side of the handle at about 2 o'clock so that the back of your hand is facing upwards towards the sky, not towards the target. When your place your right hand on the golf grip fit your right hand over your left hand thumb and make sure that it is predominantly held in the lower joints of the fingers of the right hand.
The right hand should be aligned on the grip so that if you opened the hand completely it would be facing directly towards the target. It is not advisable to interlock your right and left hand grip, just place both hands comfortably together with the feeling that the bottom of the right hand is a long way from the top of the grip. Overlapping or interlocking the fingers of the grip reduces rotational functionality of the wrists which will make it more difficult to close the club face through the impact zone.
The Swing path and club face angle to fix golf slice shots
Finally the path of your arms and hands must travel through the ball on the correct path in the back swing and down swing. When you stand over the ball in the address position, you can imagine splitting your golf ball into quarters, the inside quarter as you look at it (between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock) is the quarter your strike with the club head on the down swing. The force of your arm swing should move your golf swing through this location towards the top left quarter.
Now, not more than twelve inches through this top left quadrant your club face will have roll closed enough that the toe of your golf club is pointing directly down your target line towards your target. Your right arm will be straight at the same time and the combination of the swing path and closed club face angle will strike the golf ball in such a way the resultant ball flight will be a lot straighter.
These three steps are the key to fixing your golf slice shots fast. By setting your right shoulder angles down and behind correctly, you will guide the path of your arms through the golf ball on the correct path and trajectory.
Placing your hands on the grip correctly will give you the rotational control you need to facilitate the closing of the toe of your club face so that it is pointing towards the target which I guarantee will cut your slice spin in half.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/how-to-fix-golf-slice-shots-fast-2653043.html
About the Author
"Lawrence Montague an expert Australian PGA golf instructor has worked with thousands of golfers from novice to tour level over the past twenty five years. Owner of one of the top golf schools in the Asia/Pacific region, Lawrence teaches golfers how to reduce their golf scores faster, develop their golf confidence, more accuracy and distance. Lawrence can teach you exactly how to spend less time practicing and more time improving through his unique online golf coaching programs. These programs will show you exactly how to take your current game and with his unique coaching knowledge, resources and support, dramatically improve your results on and off the golf course."
I bet that you sometimes wish that there was anti-slicing golf swing software that you could install that was guaranteed to straighten the worst golf slice you could hit? Well, I have not invented the golf swing software yet, but I do have a simple anti-slicing golf swing system that will straighten the most vicious slice shot you have.
In this article I will explain to you step by step procedure that you need to fix golf slice shots fast, which will lead to lot more golf confidence and lower golf scores. But first, I need to explain a couple of simple to understand concepts that will get us off on the right foot.
Concept 1 – There are no straight lines in a golf swing
I have read in golf instruction books where they suggested that you should move the golf club in a straight line towards the target for an extended period after the golf ball is struck. If you have read this, or believe this, then you need to rethink this one. If you swing the golf club towards the target after your golf ball has departed from the club face you will more than likely hit the ground behind the ball, greatly reduce the distance of your shot, and hit your shots with a big slice.
The golf club moves in an arc, and your job is to make sure that it remains so. Any attempt to straighten the golf club heads course leads to disaster. Golf clubs don't behave like crochet mallets, where the objective is to swing it back and forward in a straight line.
Concept 2 – Keep your head still as you hit your shot
Think about it, how difficult do you think it is to keep your head still when your shoulders are rotating around your spine at about thirty miles per hour and your arms are moving at about fifty miles per hour? Your head is designed to rotate on top of your spine easily and frequently so you should allow it to move in harmony with your shoulders and arms.
I know what you're probably thinking that you have been told more than once to keep your head down, and still, so you can hit a good golf shot. How's that going for you? I have seen many golfers trying to keep their head down and hit the worst golf slices or bad golf shots that you could imagine. Let your head rotate freely with your shoulders and arms and this will reduce the excessive tension in your shoulders and neck that leads to slicing swings, and a high probability of an injury to your neck, shoulders or back.
The correct right shoulder angle to fix golf slice shots
Ok, now we are going to do just three things that will reduce your slice shot curvature by at least half. The first is to make sure that in the address position your right shoulder is lower and behind your left shoulder.
What do I mean by lower and behind?
Your right shoulder has a big responsibility in the back swing and down swing by providing your arms and hands with their direction. You want your right shoulder to be tilted a lot lower than your left so your shoulders can turn on a flatter arc on the back swing. Your shoulders and feet ideally will be pointing to the right of your target in the address position. This will help you to turn a little more on the back swing and also slow down their acceleration (particularly the right shoulder) in the down swing so your arms and hands can catch up to the shoulders a little earlier.
The correct golf grip to fix golf slice shots
When you place your hands on the golf grip you need to place them more clockwise on the grip. The thumb of your left hand should be placed on the side of the handle at about 2 o'clock so that the back of your hand is facing upwards towards the sky, not towards the target. When your place your right hand on the golf grip fit your right hand over your left hand thumb and make sure that it is predominantly held in the lower joints of the fingers of the right hand.
The right hand should be aligned on the grip so that if you opened the hand completely it would be facing directly towards the target. It is not advisable to interlock your right and left hand grip, just place both hands comfortably together with the feeling that the bottom of the right hand is a long way from the top of the grip. Overlapping or interlocking the fingers of the grip reduces rotational functionality of the wrists which will make it more difficult to close the club face through the impact zone.
The Swing path and club face angle to fix golf slice shots
Finally the path of your arms and hands must travel through the ball on the correct path in the back swing and down swing. When you stand over the ball in the address position, you can imagine splitting your golf ball into quarters, the inside quarter as you look at it (between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock) is the quarter your strike with the club head on the down swing. The force of your arm swing should move your golf swing through this location towards the top left quarter.
Now, not more than twelve inches through this top left quadrant your club face will have roll closed enough that the toe of your golf club is pointing directly down your target line towards your target. Your right arm will be straight at the same time and the combination of the swing path and closed club face angle will strike the golf ball in such a way the resultant ball flight will be a lot straighter.
These three steps are the key to fixing your golf slice shots fast. By setting your right shoulder angles down and behind correctly, you will guide the path of your arms through the golf ball on the correct path and trajectory.
Placing your hands on the grip correctly will give you the rotational control you need to facilitate the closing of the toe of your club face so that it is pointing towards the target which I guarantee will cut your slice spin in half.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/how-to-fix-golf-slice-shots-fast-2653043.html
About the Author
"Lawrence Montague an expert Australian PGA golf instructor has worked with thousands of golfers from novice to tour level over the past twenty five years. Owner of one of the top golf schools in the Asia/Pacific region, Lawrence teaches golfers how to reduce their golf scores faster, develop their golf confidence, more accuracy and distance. Lawrence can teach you exactly how to spend less time practicing and more time improving through his unique online golf coaching programs. These programs will show you exactly how to take your current game and with his unique coaching knowledge, resources and support, dramatically improve your results on and off the golf course."
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