Golfing News & Blog Articles

We are all impressed with Scottie Scheffler’s confidence and consistency. Both traits are something that we all need to strive for in our games. Scottie is averaging 75% of Greens Hit in Regulation (GIR). That’s 10% better than the tour average. He also shanks the occasional shot, but his mental recovery is instantaneous. You may never achieve his success, but you should add this challenge to your game.

Mind Control
We are all human and we all make mistakes in life and in our rounds of golf. When you make a bad swing, you know it instantly and may drop your club in your follow-through. That’s an indication that your reaction is out of control. You know it and you also know that you are allowing your mind to possibly destroy your next shot and your round of golf. Focus on letting your reaction be the start of your NEW and Improved mental reaction.

A shank or a mishit should be your wakeup call. Calm down and shake it off for your next shot. Scottie Scheffler just lets it go and so does Tiger. It’s a decision that they make. A mistake is in the past and there is nothing that you can do to change it. Take a deep breath and move on with a relaxed attitude to slow down and take a full backswing for an improved swing and to finish the hole with a reasonable score.

Improve Your GIR’s
You may never achieve what Scottie does with his Greens In Regulation but you will improve your game if you commit to marking your score card and counting your GIR’s in every round. Your focus on improving your GIR’s will improve your game.

Your Alternate Plan
A secondary plan should focus on your 1-putt greens. You may never approach the skill of hitting 75% of your GIR’s but you can improve your chipping to get them within 4 feet of the hole. Too many missed chips should be a wakeup call to change your chipping technique. Why not change your full swing chip to a putting stroke with a lofted club (putt-chipping)? A putting stroke is so much easier than a full chipping swing.

As we age, “DING Dong Hits” start to take over your game. We all wonder where these crazy mishits are coming from. They could be caused by physical injuries and reduced strength. So, its important to sort out what is causing your missed shots and make some minor changes in your swing to get your game back on track.

The most critical areas to consider are your backswing, impact and finishing pose. You can exercise more to improve our strength, but mishits are your greatest concern as they are the primary reason for your higher scores. Focus on these areas:

Setup
Using a lighter grip to relax your muscles and allow your floppy wrists to add lag at the top of your swing for more whipping action and power at impact.

Backswing
Rotate your wrist to open your club face to keep your leading wrist flat and to shallow your downswing. [Use a mental count (such as Cocaaa-Cola or Wateer-Loo or 1-aand -2) to allow for more time in your backswing to add wrist lag.]

Study Your Divot and Club Face Impact Point
Your practice swing should be touching the grass just after the point where your ball is resting (you may want to try moving your ball back a few inches in your setup). Your divot should be a square cut but more important you need to determine if you are hitting on the center of your club face. An inside hit may be hitting your housel and directing your ball as if it is hit off the toe of your club. Spray your club face with foot powder to determine your point of impact and make appropriate adjustments.

You should be able to save more strokes when you have a higher lofted iron or putter in your hands. So why is it that you can’t hit it close for a 1-putt every time you are near the green? Of course, you need to read the green before every approach stroke, but you need to use the right club and practice to make more 1-putt greens.

We have all heard that it is better to putt when you are near the green but in most cases, this is hogwash.

Why not make a putting-chip?
1/ On any given round of golf you have hit many putts, and you know the speed of the green. Your mind is tuned in to that speed for your putter. Unfortunately, you can’t get that feel out of your head. I have seen too many rounds of professional golf on TV where a pro makes a SHORT putt from off the green.
2/ You can’t trust the fringe or the ruff grass just off the green as the bent grass will push your putt off course every time. You need an easy way to lift your ball over the ruff so that it can roll out to the hole.

Solution
Putt with an Iron or Hybrid: That’s right, just make a putting stroke with any of your lofted clubs to lift your ball over the ruff and let it rollout on the green up to the hole. This may seem revolutionary but what could be easier with clubs that are already in your bag.
1/ You don’t need to make this adjustment with a heavier new club that take a lot more time to learn the feel. You are already familiar with the feel of your clubs for a full swing.
2/ The only thing you need to learn is how much backswing is needed for the hit that you want to make. We are not talking about a full backswing. A putting stroke is easier to make than any chip shot.
3/ It’s so much easier to let the weight of your club control your swing for a putting-chip that will only travel up to 30 yards.
4/ The simplicity of this shot is all in the ease of swinging your club head directly under your eyes like a putter. Grip down on your chosen club so that the shaft is almost vertical and your club head is only touching the ground at the TOE to minimize turf contact (NOT THE FULL LEADING EDGE ). Just hold the face of your club so that the flat is perpendicular to the direction that you are hitting.

Of course you can practice with your GOLFSTR+ to keep your leading wrist flat for your putting-chip stroke. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

The concept used in the movie, Money Ball, should be applied to your golf game. In that movie, Brad Pitt used a new set of statistics for baseball by counting a walk as equivalent to a single. Getting a runner on base is the only way to score runs. It’s the same in golf. Getting your ball in play or on the green is the best way to minimize bogeys or to get pars or birdies.

DECADE GOLF is a course-management system, founded by Scott Fawcett, which uses a statistical approach to course management to lower your scores. He offered Tiger Woods’ personal rules to for scoring.

Par-5s are prime scoring holes: Most golfers will have an opportunity to hit a short scoring club into the greens so it’s important to take advantage of par-5s. His goal was to avoiding bogey. Don’t feel like you need to make birdie on these holes, just focus on eliminating bogeys instead.Avoid Double Bogeys: Making a double bogey can kill your game. If you find yourself in the trees, punch out and play for bogey. Don’t try the hero shot and bring a huge number into play. Eliminate doubles and you’ll see your scores come down in a hurry.Avoid 3-putts: Three-putting add up quickly on the scorecard. To become a great golfer, you need to become a good lag putter. If you can dial in your touch from distance, you’ll have a much easier time keeping three-putts off the card.Make Your Scoring Clubs Count: Your higher lofted clubs are your scoring clubs. When you have these clubs in your hands, you simply cannot make bogey. Play smart, hit for the fat part of the green and take your 2-putts. When you start to do this consistently, you can go for the pin and eliminate bogeys and possibly make a few birdies.Eliminate Double Chips: As a recreational player, you should use a chipping technique to eliminate double chips. When you’re around the green, your first priority should be to leave yourself with a putt on the next stroke. You may want to try gripping down on your scoring clubs and chip with a putting stroke to guarantee that you next shot will be a putt.

Always get the emotion and any anger out of your next shot and make a smart shot. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve every shot with a straight leading arm and a flat wrist. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

It really sounds like an impossible task to swing in an arc to hit a ball straight at a target. Of course, that’s what you are trying to do with every golf swing. It’s the real reason why we have so many problems trying to hit our ball at a target.

The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, used VISUALIZATION to hit his targets. He was making an imprint of his visualized shot on his brain. That memory controlled his swing direction and club face direction to create amazing shots. I suspect that it takes years of practice to achieve his skill level.

Understand the Science of Your Golf Swing
Your driver is your longest club, so the longer swing radius generates the most club head speed and distance but swing direction and face direction can generate the worst results. You need to understand what causes both of these “direction problems”.

Problems for Direction Control:
1/ Your left and right arm extend from the left and right sides of your shoulders. Your shoulders should initiate the start of your downswing and your leading shoulder ends up further from your ball at the point of impact than your trailing shoulder.
2/ At setup, your leading wrist is slightly bowed but at the point of impact you want you leading wrist to be flat (for drives) or slightly cupped (for irons).

Cause of Direction Control:
Hank Haney reminds us that we need to minimize angles to control the swing direction and club face direction. Unfortunately, your shoulders and wrists need to adjust during your swing to bring your club face to square at the point of impact.

Wouldn’t you like to know why you are topping shots and hitting worm burners? It really is frustrating when you know that you need to clear a pond in preparation for a perfect third shot to the green. That’s when we rush our swing and dump our ball into the pond. Thankfully, Danny Maude described the cause and fix in a recent blog.

YOUR MISTAKE: To make a mishit and top your ball, you must be swinging up and through the top side of your ball. The only way to do this is by shifting your weight to your trailing foot in your backswing and rush your downswing before you shift your weight back to your leading foot. Most recreational players make this mistake.

HOW THE PROS DO IT: Pros don’t rush their down swing so that they can easily shift their weight forward during their transition at the top and make a perfect swing down to their ball. Recreational players should eliminate swaying back during their back swing to keep the bottom of your swing arc at your point of impact and inline with your ball.

Know that your club will (a) bottom out at the bottom of your swing arc and (b) – for right handers- spray your shots right when you connect early in the radius of your swing and spray left when you connect late.

Solution
(a) Bottom Arc Correction: For iron shots (off the ground) setup so that your nose is directly over your ball and DON’T SWAY BACK in your backswing. For your driver (off a tee) setup so that your nose and club head are on a line 4 inches behind your ball and allow your club to swing up to launch your ball.
(b) Swing Radius Correction: To control the direction of your shot, the further you place your ball back in your stance, the more you need to open your stance (by moving your leading foot back an inch or two). Since your ball is forward in your stance for drives, you should close your stance (by moving your trailing foot away from your target line).

If you don’t hear that whoosh of your club as it impacts your ball, you are loosing 25% of your club head’s release speed. Of course, that also means that you are losing power and distance. Most golfers, including myself, are afraid to whip their club through the impact zone as they may lose direction control. When you follow the simple steps in this blog you will be amazed at how simple it is to gain control and power for every club in your bag.

1/ Straight Leading Arm: Ideally you need to keep your leading arm straight during your backswing and your downswing to maintain the consistent distance from your nose to your ball throughout your swing. That’s why I developed GOLFSTR+, a training aid to remind you to keep your leading arm straight throughout your swing to impact.

2/ Light Grip: Your upper hand needs to do 90% of the work during your swing. That’s why you need to keep your upper hand grip pressure at about 5 out of 10. Your lower hand can destroy your direction control and your power with a tight grip. It should be gripping with a pressure of about 2 out of 10 just to help you guide your club and your shoulders through your swing.

3/ Point Your Leading Elbow: It is critical to rotate your leading elbow during your setup to point up your target line. That rotation also helps you lock your straight leading arm.

4/ High Backswing to Shallow Downswing: Your takeaway should be directly back for the first 12 inches as you rotated your shoulders & hips as you lift your arms to a high backswing. Flatten or slightly bow your leading wrist during your transition in order to shallow your club during your downswing (to avoid an over-the-top swing causing a slice).

Wouldn’t you like to hit more fairways with your driver? We all practice hitting straight shots with our driver as that is what we hope to do on the golf course. Unfortunately a lot of our practice shots go left or right or even hooked or sliced. Even the pros have problems hitting fairways from the tee box.

If you are ever going to be successful in hitting more fairways you will have to learn the setup and swing that creates your draw or your fade. Practice those shots so that you can plan to hit them on the course. When you build confidence in those shots, you can setup for a left or right fairway shot to allow your ball to move back to your target point near the middle of the fairway.

Bubba Watson was able to create tremendous distance with his excessive draw and fade shots but his game has gone downhill because he was missing too many fairways and greens in regulation.

In an SI Golf blog, Dethier asks Mickelson what the difference is between hitting a straight ball compared to a draw or a fade. Mickelson said “It’s a feel thing. If I’m hitting a draw, I’ll let [my arm] release over. If I’m hitting a fade, I’ll get a little wider and try to hit the outside part of the ball; which slows down the release of the club. When hitting a straight shot, I’m just feeling the club go back to square.”

Translation: Phil may be able to feel his draw or fade but you need to setup to swing to impact the inside back quarter of the ball for a draw and the outside back quarter of the ball for a fade. Setting up with a slightly closed face will add to your draw and setting up with a slightly open face will add to your fade.

There has been a recent spat of blogs about improving our golf swing with extreme freedom in almost every part of your body. I noticed that a professional golf trainer, Erika Larkin, was exaggerating statements to get your attention so that you will recall the critical importance of her instruction. I have to admit that we can learn from her instruction, so I used this no brainer to get your attention.

“No legs”: In this example she referenced a WW1 veteran who had lost a leg and became an exceptionally good golfer. KEY POINT: The arc of his swing always hit the lowest point directly off his single left foot (which was his leading foot as a right-handed golfers). So, your ball should be setup just behind that point for best impact. Make sure that the weight of your body finishes balanced on your leading leg. [NOTE: Your drives are teed up so the impact point for your ball needs to be about 4 inches beyond the bottom of the arc of your swing.]

“No Hands”: She suggested that you take your hands out of your swing as over control from a tight grip may be destroying the direction of your swing. A poor grip can open or close your club face during your swing.

“Lazy Arms”: This is my interpretation of her next point. Let the forward rotation of your body control the swing of your arms to generate more power. By letting your forward rotation pull your lazy arms down, you will create wrist lag at the top and extreme power when your arms and hands catch up to your body rotation at the bottom of your swing. I guarantee that this will give your more power, but you may have to play with your ball position to manage your direction control.

No Brain: I had to add this one after reading about a golfer who had a few too many to drink and started to play with the perfection of a pro golfer. As it turned out, the golfer forgot about the pressure to win and started stripping shots to the green and sinking putts. When a golfer in his 4some pointed out his new-found success, he instantly lost his game again. I don’t think that golfing in a drunken state will fix your game. Golf is not a no-brainer.

Your driver is the only club that you need to depend on for maximum distance. Hitting closer to the green on your drives will give you a better chance for more one putt greens. You should be taking advantage with your teed up ball forward in your stance to launch it for more distance. A new high-tech driver may help but you should improve your impact and power before you spend more cash on another driver.

Impact on the Center of Your Driver Face:
Jack Nicklaus said that playing your shot is 50% mental and 40% setup. The easiest way to increase your driver distance is to impact your ball at the center of your driver face. You need to determine your best stance by trial and error for the unique characteristics of your swing to launch your teed up ball.

At the practice range, apply some foot spray powder on your club face to determine your point of impact. Your stretched arms at the point of impact are different for every golfer. Adjust your club head position behind your teed up ball as well as the distance from your body to determine your ideal setup to launch your drive upward at least 60 feet in the air. Make sure that your impact point is about 4 inches beyond the lowest point in the arc of your DRIVER swing.

Strengthen Your Shoulders, Arms and Wrists for More Power
1/ Over the past 5 years Rory McIlroy has increased his average driver distance by 10% to 330 yards. Daily exercise is the key for his success. He believes that throwing a medicine ball sideways with outstretched arms (up his target line) was the most effective exercise that he uses. Of course, he has a trainer who catches the ball and returns it for his next throw.

2/ Phil Michelson recently created a video of his warmup exercises using elastic stretch bands to activate and strengthen his swing. He ties them to his golf cart or a door handle and uses a series of dynamic stretching exercises with about 10 stretches on both sides of his body for at least 5 different motions to strengthen his shoulders, torso, arms and wrists. When you buy the bands in 3 different strengths, they offer a series of exercises. This is a major change from his younger days when he picked up a few clubs and swung them a few times to loosen up.

Are you confusing your driver swing with your iron swing? As I watched Nick Taylor come from behind to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open, I noticed that his head seemed to stay in the exact same position from setup to impact. He never rushed his setup, and his body was just rotating (not swaying). Of course, the TV cameras were focused on his drives and hitting a drive is totally different than hitting an iron shot. That may be the solution for YOUR game too.

Don’t be confused between a teed up driver swing and all other club swings which are off the deck.

There are so many products, promotions and blogs about the swing with a driver and the swing with fairway woods, hybrids and irons. Unfortunately our brains seem to love the driver swing and tend to mess-up the swing for all other clubs. You can’t afford to make this mistake. The setups and swings are quite different.

One similarity is that you should be setting up your leading arm by rotating your elbow to face directly up your target line. Yes, you can actually grip your club with your leading arm and rotate your elbow. You will see all pro golfers do this automatically. It’s second nature for them but we rarely see anyone highlight this very important component for every setup. By the way, your trailing elbow should be pointing down away from your trailing side so that it can easily be bent during your backswing.

Driver Swing: The driver is designed with very little loft because you have the opportunity to swing up on your teed up ball for driver shots. Always setup with your teed up ball off your leading heel. Tilt your trailing shoulder down and point your shaft up your leading arm and shoulder. You may want to also setup with your club resting on the ground about 4 inches back from your ball as that is the low point in the arc of your swing. Impact the ball in the center of your club face.

The pros never fear a sand trap and you need the same confidence as they do.  You just need a technique that will guarantee that you can get out of a deep sand trap.  Too many golfers panic and sway back in their stance as they prepare for a killer swing to get out of any bunker.  Too often they top the ball or hit deep into the sand and then prepare for their next shot out of the same trap.  Sound like you?

There really are 3 types of sand traps. 

1/ Fairway Traps with a long flat bottom and a low lip can be played with any iron, hybrid or fairway wood as long as you have extra loft on your club to clear the lip of the trap.  CAUTION: Dig your feet down for stability and then choke down on your club about the same depth.  With your shortened length on your club you have to plan on hitting a shorter distance. 

2/ Shallow Lipped Traps next to the green can be played with any lofted club (like a 9 iron).  Just use a putting grip and stroke to exit the green and with enough power to roll out to the hole.  Make sure that you determine the break on the green before you swing as you should be attempting to sink your chip shot.  To minimize hitting sand with your ball, move forward to the ball in your stance and plan to hit the ball with the toe of your more upright club.

3/ High Lipped Traps:  Setup with the ball centered in your 10-to-20-degree open stance and wider than normal stance.  Short Game professional, Parker McLachlin said that your club face should be “dramatically open” so that the leading edge of your sand wedge will enter the sand and bounce as it lifts your ball on a carpet of sand.  Your wider stance will lower your club handle and allow you to make a more aggressive swing.  

I know that this is a little early for northern golfers to practice and improve your swing skills but we all should track improvements that work for your driver, irons and putter. As a good starting point for the season, which is just around the corner, this is a good time to start your success list. It should evolve as you discover new successes during the warmer months.

If you could incorporate all of the swing tips that improved your game, you would be a low handicap golfer by now. Unfortunately, most of us never record the setup and swing positions for each type of club that created amazing hits. Our bodies all have limitations based on our physical mishaps as our bodies developed. Whatever you do, learn from the pros and make adjustments for your physical limitations.

My following list of personal success tips my not suit your physical limitations, but you may want to use them as a starting point for your personal plan:

Get Moving: Before every round warm up with about 10 minutes of Dynamic Stretches. Move your feet and waggling before you make a drive, iron shot or putt throughout your round. I use a 2 foot takeaway waggle for my driver as it forces me to start my swing by moving my hips and shoulders before my arms ever move in the socket of my shoulders.Set Elbows: I rotate both elbows clockwise (for right handers). My leading elbow points directly up my target line and locks my straight leading arm. My trailing elbow rotates for ease of bending, as my arms lift, in the backswing and my wrist cocks to create lag.Tilt Shoulders for Drives: I do this to launch my drives upward.Foot Pressure: I start with even pressure for my driver and putter. I use extra pressure on my leading foot for my irons and wedges to keep my weight forward.Slower Backswing and Powerful Downswing: My best swings occur when I give myself time to create a full backswing and cocked wrists for lag. My mental count is “one and finish” where finish is the release from the top to a balanced finish.Putting: I use my putter as a plumb-bob to determine minor breaks near the hole, take a practice swing for speed selection and stare directly down at the ball through impact as I swing my putter directly up my chosen target line (without moving my head).

Track your success and practice with GOLFSTR+ to improve every round. Adjust your written plan for improvements. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

I have finally come to grips with the fact that we should be swinging our driver harder for more distance. I have always tried to swing at 80% in order to control direction, but 220-yard drives are not going to cut it if you want to hit more greens in regulation. You need to get close to give yourself a better chance to hit the green with shorter irons which should be swung at no more than 80% for better direction and distance control.

Recent blogs helped me understand the importance of “Supercharging” my driver shots. One of the staff at the SI GOLF blog, Ryan Barath, said you don’t need to try to direct your drive, just pick your spot and trust your shot shape. Swing as hard and fast as you can to a balanced finish.

Danny Maude released a driver lesson that he had with James Tait (a World Long Driver Champion). He suggested: When you are chasing a faster swing, hit “hard”, expect longer shots with less direction control. With practice you will develop freedom in your swing and control to power the ball up your target line.

1/ Setup with your tee higher and your club shaft in line with your straight leading arm (not leaning forward).

2/ Loosen up by shifting your weight and waggling with your arms and wrist. Shift your weight to your trailing foot during your backswing (but don’t sway back). You need momentum in your backswing as you would when winding up to push off with your trailing leg to throw a medicine ball.

Too many chip shots are hit thin or fat because you are not able to control your wrist lag and release on these short chip shots (up to 30 yards).  Wouldn’t it be great if you could guarantee a perfect chip shot every time you try one on the course?  Even GOLFPASS is demonstrating a single handed version of what I am about to share with you. 

Chip shots often fail because you are trying to release your wrist lag at the exact bottom of your swing but your wrists, knees and spine may be bent or open at the point of impact.  A normal swing is often completed with some up and down motion in your shoulders and knees which also change the distance to your ball.  Timing is critical for this type of swing and that’s why you muff so many chips shots.

There is only 1 way to guarantee a perfect chip shot.  You need to setup and swing with a straight leading arm & wrist and don’t move your shoulders up or down.  You are only creating power with the rotation of your shoulders and pendulum swing like a putt.  You can adjust the distance of your shot by extending your backswing and choosing any of your irons depending on the height and distance of your shot.

1/ Setup with your feet about 10 inches apart and your leading foot flared open 45 degrees. 

2/ Slide your leading hand down on your grip so that your arm is stretched out and directly in line with your club (with no forward lean).  The soul of your chosen club may rest on the toe or the flat base (your preference)

When you rehearse the proper take-away you will FEEL your hips and shoulders initiate the rotation for your swing. Recently I have seen videos and articles about Tiger Woods teaching his son Charlie to make a proper takeaway. David Leadbetter has also developed a device to attach to your club to see the right angle for your club takeaway. These are just 2 recent examples highlighting the importance of your takeaway.

When you rush your backswing you may never notice the flaw in your swing. Starting your swing with your arms is a major problem for most mid-handicap golfers. You will never develop enough rotation to generate more power unless you compound your rotation by using hips, shoulders, arms and wrists.

Professional golfers make the golf swing look so easy. If you can’t duplicate their swings you may want to try these suggestions:

1/ Slow Down Your Backswing: You can’t setup a proper downswing unless you take the time to make a reasonable rotation with a straight leading arm.

2/ FEEL Your Takeaway: By practicing a rehearsal takeaway, you will feel your hips and shoulders rotating at the start of your swing and incorporate that feeling in your backswing.

Every putt that you make can be sunk with every putter on the planet. Ideally you need to determine the best putter for your swing to execute the length of putt that you are about to make after you sort out the green speed and contour. That’s easier said than done but this blog will give you a road map to help you sort out the best putting solution for YOUR GAME.

This blog does not train you to read greens or the speed of every green. Reading greens is a skill that you need to learn with practice and the speed of greens is based on the cut of the grass on any given day. Test the practice putting green at the course that you are about to play to get a feel for the cut of the greens which should be consistent with the greens throughout the course.

This blog is providing types of putting swings that may suit your body for short and longer putts (requiring a longer swing). Your options are: (1) swing with your wrists, (2) rotating your hips with your core, (3) rocking your shoulders or (4) any combination of the first 3.

After you choose your target line to accommodate the contour of the green, you only have to putt your ball on that STRAIGHT line without any side spin. You can only do this if your swing is directly up your target line. Because you are swinging around the fixed location of your feet, you need to minimize rotation around the axis of your spine. The easiest way to create a consistent straight pendulum type of swing (up your target line) is to take a stance with your eyes over the ball and to swing your arms by only ROCKING YOUR SHOULDERS (#3) (as they are closest to your head and eye-lineup). That will minimize the natural arc in your swing around the axis of your spine.

Unfortunately, longer putts may require a longer swing so your core and hip rotation may need to be added for the power needed to reach the hole. Never putt with your wrists for any putts as the smaller muscles in your hands will only add inconsistencies to your stroke.

Golf is a straightforward game, but you can save a lot more strokes if you make more smart shots. Of course, you would like to make every shot count but if you are a mid-handicap player you should apply odds on the shots that you may or may not make. That’s right, take the risk out of risky shots and make more shots count.

Every approach shot may result in 3 types of problems or any combination of DISTANCE, DIRECTION and DISTRUCTION. Of course, you try to select the prefect club for distance which may land long or short of the green. It is also easy to push or pull your shot wide of the green depending on the lie of your ball or the wind that will affect your ball flight. And you never know when that dreaded mishit will decide to happen. Only you are somewhat aware of your personal odds of success on each of your shots.

You can definitely improve your success if you consider these proven approaches:
1/ Distance Control: Select a club that you know will reach your target without hitting the perfect shot at 90 to 100% of you strength. Learn to swing at 80% to control your distance and direction.

2/ Hit to Your BINGO Distance: A single digit handicap golfer told me his success. He was not the longest driver so he always planned to layup to 100 yards on par-5 holes or on par 4 holes where he made a poor drive. He had perfected his 100 yard shots with a specific wedge so that he could land his shot within 10 feet of the hole. He also sank a lot of those short putts. We should all perfect our BINGO shot. Practice with your favorite club and distance. You will gain confidence and make more great shots when you layup to your preferred BINGO DISTANCE.

According to the 2023 results recorded by Arccos Golf Sensors, a 20-handicap golfer only hits 20% of their greens in regulation and they average 36 feet from the cup. That gives them a lot of room for an easy improvement in their scores with more practice using their BINGO club.

That’s a pretty bold statement when Greens In Regulation and Putting can destroy par for every hole you play. But when you think about it, you will realize that your perfect drive gives you the right frame of mind and the perfect position to hit more Greens In Regulation and closer to the pin for more 1 putt greens. Charlie Woods is the perfect inspiration for all of us.

Tiger and Charlie Woods placed 5th in the PNC 2023 Championship. They didn’t beat the Langers but their successes should be a great inspiration for all golfers. 14-year-old Charlie is driving as far as most pros. His 320-yard drive (may have been wind assisted) and driving the green on a dogleg par-4 are both very impressive. His successes gave the Woods team a chance to win and it also showed us that every golfer can develop the skill to hit perfect long drives.

A recent Performance Golf blog described how a golfer weighing less than 120 pounds can outdrive his competition. Size and muscle mass help but there are 3 key factors for driving success:

1/ Swing Speed: Exercise and training are all up to you. Obviously, Charlie has a support team including his father who inspire him to spend time on the right exercises and the right swing skills to execute the right release through the ball. If you can swing the grip end of your club through the Impact Zone with a whooshing sound, you can build up strength to do the same with all of your clubs. Head speed at the point of impact is critical to create distance.

2/ Generate Speed in the Impact Zone: We all need to use our wrist release and whipping action through the Impact Zone to generate more club head speed for our drives. Your release is critical but if you can’t square the face of your club and impact with a swing up your target line you will always add unwanted side spin, undercut spin and top spin that will hurt the success of your shots. That’s why you need factor #3.

We all have choices in life. As we age, we tend to slow down and take it easy before we die. Or you can put more effort into exercise to enjoy your aging years. Golf is an exercise, but your body needs a lot of upkeep to generate more success in your game. Get with the program. It’s up to you.

A 2009 study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine determined that DYNAMIC STRETCHING exercise is significantly more important for your golf game than static stretching or no stretching at all. Dynamic stretching produced significantly greater club head speeds, greater ball speeds, straighter swing path and more centered clubface impact.

If you want to see immediate improvements in your game, start using a series of dynamic golf stretches before you play each round. Try starting with the following stretches (which I found on YouTube: Bing Videos) . For each exercise grip one of your clubs near each end.

1-Squat while lifting your hands over your head and then return to the standing position.

2-Hold your club across the back of your shoulders and alternately, rotate to either side and return to center.