Tag: golf tips

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9 Tips to Help Junior Golfers

From pga.com

Published on Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Golf is unique treat that can be enjoyed at any age. Teach a child to play and they’ll have a foundation in place for decades of enjoyment on the course alongside friends and family. 

PGA Professional Justin Blazer, the director of instruction at Duran Golf Club in Viera, Fla., wants his students to have fun learning and cultivates their interest by drawing inspiration from other athletic pursuits.

Here are nine tips to keep golf fun and exciting for junior golfers.

1. Find a PGA Professional, give your child room to grow. Research your area and locate an instructor who specializes in junior golf programs, is certified, or at the least has significant experience teaching kids. Then, offer support and encouragement but allow the pro to give the golf advice. Too much information from too many sources can strip the joy from the process of learning how to play golf.

2. Group instruction works best. Blazer played college basketball, so he comes from a team sport background. He reflects on growing up playing little league baseball, when he looked forward to practicing for a couple of hours because it meant a chance to hang out with his buddies. With the time available between shots, golf is the most social game. Instruction should follow this lead. Kids who learn, laugh, improve and struggle together are more likely to return for more.

3. Younger kids need variety. You’re never too young to learn, but the smallest swingers need a mixture of activities to keep clinics and lessons fresh and exciting. For Paul Johnson, head pro at the Links at Lost Plantation in Rincon, Ga., this might include an impromptu game of freeze tag in the midst of a driving range session, an obstacle course session or whacking tennis balls instead of golf balls to build confidence and break monotony. Any activity that emphasizes hand-eye coordination, balance or athletic movement benefits a golfer’s early development. Even if it doesn’t include touching a golf club or ball.

4. Don’t sweat the details. Solid fundamentals are important, but it’s fine for a beginner to have flaws in their grip or stance as long as they are hitting the ball, having fun and wanting to return to the course. Blazer believes his students’ pleasure is more important than applying undue stress in pursuit of perfection. If the time comes, he likes to turn his pupil into the teacher, have them ask questions about why such a change might be necessary. That keeps the students invested in the decision.

5. Get on course – as soon as possible. Juniors who spend too much time banging balls on the driving range can easily lose interest. Besides, the golf course is where the game really comes alive, remains fun and fresh, poses a unique set of circumstances each day. A golfer understands the reason to spend quality time practicing chipping or bunker play once they’re faced with those challenges on the golf course.

6. Let your child decide, it’s their journey. Not all junior golfers will want to play in tournaments. Some might like to compete, but only in a group setting. And others may enjoy the game just because they can be outside and spend hours sharing good shots and laughter with friends. Parents who push their child down the wrong path may drive their child away from the game. The decision to pursue a tournament title, college scholarship or professional career should always come from the golfer and no one else.

7. Slumps are part of sports. Every golfer reaches a point where scores aren’t improving because putts don’t drop or drives miss their target. Understand that all athletes have stretches where they simply don’t perform their best, sometimes for reasons that defy explanation – if they can be identified at all. Baseball hitters, field goal kickers, 3-point shooters all deal with low periods during a season, Blazer points out. Dwelling on what’s gone wrong can bring any golfer down. To maintain perspective, set reachable intermediate goals and keep the focus on the process of having fun.

8. Parents, don’t rush to spend. It’s tempting to rush out and buy expensive golf clubs and flashy clothes as soon as your son or daughter mentions they’d like to spend an afternoon on the golf course. Hold on to your debit card for a minute, however. Expose your child to the game first. Many instructors have clubs available for kids to use during lessons or clinics. If your child decides they like the game and want to continue playing, then find equipment that fits them. Proper club length and weight are imperative for young beginners. Clubs that are too long or heavy can introduce bad swing habits.

9. Enjoy this game together. Father and son, mother and daughter. Walk nine holes on a warm summer evening. Start a holiday tradition of sharing a round, and observe it whether there’s rain, sleet or wind. Watch the major championships, learn the rich history of the game and discuss your favorite players. Attend a PGA or LPGA Tour event and observe those who play the game best. Find time to play a round on a family vacation. Celebrate the good shots, forget the bad ones, laugh a lot and let each memory soak in.

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Get More Distance Out Of The Ground

NEW RESEARCH

Get More Distance Out Of The Ground

3 power moves the pros make that you don’t

WITH RON KASPRISKE
PHOTO BY STEPHEN SZURLEJ

March 2011

There are a lot of differences between the golf swing of an elite player and that of the average amateur, but what are the biggest? Let’s look at what most golfers want more than anything: power. My work with biomechanics researcher Jean-Jacques Rivet has proved that most amateurs don’t push into the ground effectively to create leverage in their swings. And leverage leads to power.

With the use of J.J.’s data, we’ve found three spots in the average golfer’s swing where a lack of leverage is most evident: the takeaway, halfway back and the transition. I’m going to share our findings with you and give you some drills to fix these power leaks. Follow our advice, and you’ll start hitting the ball better than ever.

1.THE START OF THE BACKSWING

Ground force in the takeaway: 
Pro: 125% of body weight
Amateur: 70% of body weight
Most amateurs tend to lose leverage early in the backswing by raising their bodies, which lightens the force they apply to the ground. The pros do the opposite and apply even more force, giving them a much more stable base to coil the upper body.

leadbetter

DRILL
Take a wood block or similarly weighted object such as a hardcover book and place it behind your 6-iron at address. Push the block away from the target as you start your backswing (right. You should feel pressure building in your right heel as well as the ball of your left foot from the extra effort it takes to move the block.

2. HALFWAY BACK

Ground force in the takeaway: 
Pro: 125% of body weight
Amateur: 65% of body weight

Even if they had good ground force at the start of the swing, many amateurs lose that grounded feeling at this point. As that pressure decreases, they stop coiling and begin to lift their hands and arms as a compensatory move to finish the backswing. Pros continue to coil all the way to the top because they’re still grounded.

leadbetter

DRILL
Place a club on the ground and stand on the shaft with both feet as shown (right, shoes optional). Then swing a 6-iron while standing on the shaft. As you move past the halfway point in your backswing, you should feel a steady or increasing amount of force in your right heel and the middle of your left foot. Because of this force, you should be able to complete your upper-body turn just like the pros do.

3. THE TRANSITION

Ground force in the takeaway: 
Pro: 145% of body weight
Amateur: 90% of body weight

As the club starts down, elite players increase the pressure under their feet — it looks as if they’re starting to squat — which shallows the swing plane and increases clubhead lag. It’s a huge power move. Most amateurs swing down on too steep of a plane and release the clubhead lag early, usually resulting in a weak slice. They often have more ground-force pressure halfway down than at impact. The sequence of the downswing should be from the ground up, but these players frequently do just the opposite, leading with the upper body.

leadbetter

DRILL

Set up with your feet and hips open to the target and take the club to the top. As you start to swing down (right), rotate your hips in a clockwise direction — a feeling of closing them off to your target even more. This dynamic move will force you to push into the ground with your front leg. It also will keep your shoulders from unwinding early and will drop your arms and club onto a shallow plane. Those are keys to hitting a powerful shot that curves from right to left.

BIOS
DAVID LEADBETTER, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, is based at ChampionsGate, near Orlando. JEAN-JACQUES RIVET is the sports biomechanics consultant to the European Tour.

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Fairway Bunker Shots

Tips and instruction to learn proper fairway bunker shot technique.

By Kevin Cotter, PGA

The primary difference between a fairway bunker shot and a green side bunker shot is you strike the ball first then the sand in a fairway bunker.  The angle of attack to the ball is also more shallow than that of a green side bunker, in a fairway bunker the clubhead travels somewhat level to the ground through impact.

Also, position the ball more towards the middle of your stance.

Plan on up to a 1/3 distance loss with fairway bunker shots, therefore you may have to take some extra club, but do make sure you still have enough loft to to clear the lip of the bunker.

Check out the video link below with PGA Professional Michael Breed demonstrating a key tip on how to position the right foot in the sand in an effort to stabilize the back leg during the swing minimizing lower body movement. You must emphasize movement of the upper body with fairway bunker shots and keep the lower body fairly quiet.  This helps prevent your feet from pivoting/shifting in the sand during the swing.

Fairway Bunker Shots | PGA.com

PGA Professional Michael Breed hits Hazeltine National Golf Club to give you some helpful tips on the best ways to get out of those dre…
Below, Phil Micklelson describes the shallow attack angle and how he casts the club (breaks the wrists early in the downswing) to create a more shallow angle:

 

Happy golfing!

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Spirit of Golf

spirit of golf thought of the day

April 28, 2013

Most do not understand that true power comes from releasing internal resistance rather than from pursuing, chasing, toil, and grind. We become conditioned to believe that we have to effort hard in order to achieve everything we want; in effect, we must struggle to deserve our success. In truth, we could relax and chill our way into receiving anything we want and desire, unless we don’t believe this to be true. Our belief about how easily results will unfold is ultimately what makes them appear. It is we and we alone who get to decide how much joy or misery is going to be involved along the way.

Orlando, FL – April, 2013 

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Greenside Bunker Tips

  1. Improve your greenside bunker play with some great practice tips!

    By Kevin Cotter, PGA

    By far, the most important aspect to successful greenside bunker play is striking the sand an inch or two behind the ball.  As another PGA Professional recommends as a sort of visual is to “Imagine the golf ball lying on top of a dollar bill and you’re scooping the entire bill and ball up together.”The video below from Alan Wronowski PGA Director of Golf demonstrates a great practice technique by drawing a line in the sand to practice striking a specific spot.

  2. Greenside Bunkers | PGA.com

    Allen Wronowski, PGA Director of Golf at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Md. , talks about greenside bunkers and gives some tips to …
    Pga
  3. Below “Your Best Bunker Tips” from PGA.com offers some interesting comments from Facebook fans on greenside bunker play including some great tips as well, starting out with my favorite of course “Don’t hit it in the bunker to begin with.”

    Enjoy!
  4. Your best bunker tips | News | PGA.com

    When we think of Florida, we think of many things. Among them?
    Pga
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Practicing Your Golf Swing in Slow Motion

  1. Slow down when working on your swing for amazing results!

    Practicing your golf swing in slow motion is a concept I’ve always believed in and have religiously articulated throughout my teaching career, “If you can’t do it in slow motion, how could you ever do it in fast motion.”

    Now some have argued they are not one in the same in the sense that with a full speed swing the dynamics are different when considering the impetus generated through centripetal force.  I believe this is true but only to a certain degree as they are overall missing the point that the player first needs to understand the exact positions they need to achieve within the swing and repeat those motions slowly over and over again and habituate them then slowly transgress over to full speed swing.

    Check out the Slow Mo Drill video below:

  2. Slow Motion Golf Swing | Golf Channel

    Jan 2, 2013… and in this video Brad Brewer shows you how to practice in slow motion to … In this video segment, Brad Brewer shows y…
    Golfchannel
  3. Amazing, here is a video of Ben Hogan actually practicing in slow motion as referenced above by Brad Brewer.
  4. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5vTfi0gtZ8?feature=oembed&w=400&h=225]
    Ben Hogans’ slow motion practice routine
    TSSfootage
    ·

    Sun, Feb 24 2013 15:29:35

  5. Just for the sake of analysis here is a great slow motion swing video with Professional Golf Coach Mitchell Spearman examining the swing of the 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell.
  6. Slow Motion Golf Swing Videos | Hit The Perfect Golf Ball Video

    Golfing World have amazing slow motion golf swing videos so you can see exactly how … The Path to Par Series – Perfect PracticeProfes…
    Golfingworld
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Executing the Perfect Pitch Shot

  1. This is a great tip to improve your pitching game.  The primary key to the shot is keeping the arms, shoulders and body moving somewhat in sync as described in this article by Krista Dunton PGA, by allowing the right elbow to fold against the right side during the back swing and left elbow to fold against the left side during the through swing.  Check out the article and video below for some great short game pointers.
  2. executing the perfect pitch shot | Short Game | PGA.com

    That troublesome 20-30 yard pitch shot is easier than you think.
    Pga
  3. Todd Anderson on the Pitch Shot
  4. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGA9HofE1Ek?feature=oembed&w=400&h=225]
    Golf: Pitch Shot
    SIvideo
    ·

    Sat, Feb 23 2013 15:37:26

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Hitting the Ball Farther

  1. This is a great tip by Martin Hall PGA.  I provided an excerpt below from my recently posted article referencing the one-piece-takeaway and how it also helps establish the coiling affect described in this video. Combining the two thoughts will certainly go along way in “Hitting the Ball Farther.”

    “The “one piece takeaway” sets the timing of the swing into immediate sync. The desired sequence of movement is; clubhead, hands, shoulders, hips and lower body in that order. This backswing sequencing establishes proper coiling of the upper body against the lower body, providing a power generating spring like action to be unleashed during the downswing.”

    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7488903

  2. Hitting the Ball Farther | PGA.com

    Martin Hall, PGA Director of Instruction at Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida talks … Hall demonstrates a drill …
    Pga
    ·

Of course better physical condition can also help you hit the ball farther, check out these drills from PGA.com to help build the muscles you need to hit the ball farther! 

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How to Start the Golf Swing

By Kevin Cotter, PGA

The takeaway or start of the golf swing begins with combined movement of the clubhead, hands, arms and shoulders.

This movement, commonly referred to as the “one-piece takeaway” is quickly followed by the hips as they begin to turn in response to the shoulders.  As the hips rotate the lower body (knees and feet) become active as the weight begins to transfer back onto and eventually around the right leg.

Soon after the “once piece takeaway” begins, allow your right elbow to fold somewhat against your right side, at least in the early stages of the backswing.  This allows the arms to remain connected to the body.

The “one piece takeaway” sets the timing of the swing into immediate sync.  The desired sequence of movement is; clubhead, hands, shoulders, hips and lower body in that order.   This backswing sequencing establishes proper coiling of the upper body against the lower body, providing a power generating spring like action to be unleashed during the downswing. Correct timing also helps establish a square clubface position at the top of the swing.

In addition to timing, the proper takeaway is crucial in developing power through angular momentum or also known as the “lever system.”  Proper use of the “lever system” not only unleashes tremedous power but helps establish a ball first then turf strike when playing shots directly off the turf.  Learning to strike the ball with a descending blow is vital, a downward strike to a ball sitting on the turf provides the much needed spin necessary for the ball to stick and hold in the intended target area.

Also, the path of the club is hugely influenced by the natural flow of the “one-piece takeaway.” When not contrived in any way the club moves straight back then slightly to the inside around then up. Eventually, the club returns somewhat along the same path on the way down, creating a semi-circle pattern starting from behind the ball through the ball and into the through swing.

If the club is forced quickly to the outside during the initial stages of the backswing an out to in swing path is likely to be created. Conversely, if you force the club back too quickly to the inside,  the club eventually has nowhere to go but to be forced to the outside and then back across the ball resulting in pulled or sliced shots.

So, as you can now clearly see, the “one piece takeaway” is the crucial first step in developing a powerful repeating golf swing, and provides the ability to consistently strike the ball cleanly and squarely,  leading to longer and straighter shots.

For the best golf training and instructional aids on the web please go tohttp://www.BestGolfeBooks.com your golf eBook superstore andhttp://www.EasytoLearnGolf.com blog for more great stuff to improve your game. Lower scores are just a click away!

Happy golfing!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_R._Cotter
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Spirit of Golf

spirit of golf thought of the day

March 24, 2013

There is often a mindset of, “I’ll work hard now so that I can reap the rewards and relax and enjoy later on.”  From the standpoint of Law of Attraction, it doesn’t quite work that way.  For starters, nothing can come into our “now” experience that doesn’t require lots of hard work (and usually the accompanying toil, burnout, and grind).  Then, just about the time we get ready to reap the rewards, life continues to be challenging and hard, not because it really is, but because we never learned we could have anything we wanted the easy and effortless way.

St. Lucie West, FL – March, 2013 

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Join us in the following cities for upcoming Spirit of Golf workshops and clinics. For a full listing of our upcoming events, including our webinars and player/instructor certification programs, click here.  To discuss private coaching opportunities with Tim, click here.