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This is a complement to my previous post, this drill is fantastic to get your body used to hit down on the ball. Try it !

Golf is a game of opposites, you need to hit down on the ball for it to go up, the loft of the club lifts it, not you trying to scoop the ball. The ball needs to be hit first, the ball is compressed between the club face and the ground. That is why the right divot is in front of the ball not behind it. You achieve this not by trying to hit the ball, but by swinging with the whole body, not the arms. Your lower body initiates the down swing and your club lags behind and strikes the ball down. Here is a video that shows the mechanics of how this works and provides 3 drills to help your body get used to the movement.

When I lose my swing and start struggling I go back to the fundamentals. Usually I lose consistency when my arms become too active and do a baseball swing. In that situation I put two swing thoughts in my mind: make your right knee touch your left knee and toss the club long. It has helped me recover my swing. This video is a good reminder of how the gold swing works and why you need to get back to the basics when you see your swing go astray.

A friend of mine shared with me this video, which has helped me to shave some strokes of my game. Chipping with a 9 iron vs. a wedge and pitching with a highly lofted wedge have made a difference. The swing is similar, not to much hand, arm or upper body movement but gyrating your legs and keeping the left wrist still. The short game, including putting is the major contributor to a high or a low handicap. I now practice chipping, pitching and putting more than driver or mid iron shots. I hope that the technique depicted in the video help you too

You have a great driver shot and a decent second shot and are close to the green. This is what most amateur golfers would do in a good day. Ideally you would reach the green with two strokes but this is not a consistent event. So now you have to rely on your short game 60 yards and lower distances to par the hole. According to Phil Michelson, one of the best short game players in the PGA the objective is to use good chipping to get to a 3 foot circle around the hole. The chances to sink your ball are 97 -100% from this distance. One more foot would decrease this probability to less than 90%. 5 foot reduces it to 75% and 6 foot to 55%. So if you can consistently get into the 3 foot circle you will have a very good chance to par the hole. In this video, Phil shows you

a) how to put properly using 4 degree loft at impact and continue the movement of your hands down the line

b) how to chip consistently by using the “hinge and hold” method which consist in hinging the club early in the back swing and accelerating the hands, keeping them moving towards the target. The club never travels faster than the hands because you want to control distance

Take a look at the video and practice what you learn. I guarantee you that your game will improve substantially.

Spring is finally here and with it Golf Season, yeahhh !  During winter I met a few people that were excited about the game and wanted to start playing this year. This blog is for them. It has some insights on how to make the experience pleasant and productive. The first advice is: don’t buy expensive equipment until you make sure you really like the game and that you will play the next season. The interesting thing about golf is that either you love it or you despise it, so nothing in between. This year you will find out what your feelings are towards the game. So go to a tag sale or borrow some used clubs from a friend and go to the driving range. Second advice is, as soon as you can, get some lessons so you can practice the right moves. You don’t have to do it right away but it is best if you see a professional after a couple of times in the range. Take a look at this video, go to the range, hit a few balls, go back home, see the video again, go back to the range, book a couple of lessons. Learning golf is a process, it takes at least two years to get a decent swing. It is also a continuous learning activity. That’s why if you like it, you practice, you research, you go out with friends and you get better, and then the game becomes more enjoyable. Golf has resemblance with life as you will read in my next blog. Have a great season.

Consistency is the most important attribute of a golf swing. If you can replicate a good golf swing, you will reduce the number of bad shots in a round and hence improve your score and have more fun. The way to achieve a consistent golf swing is to strive for a consistent tempo. Reduce much arm action, keep your arms connected to your body, loosen your wrist and uncoil your lower body first. If your swing looks too fast it is because you are over swinging your arms. The swing for any club should look very similar smooth and effortless. One of my favorite swings is Fred Couple’s. It looks so relaxed and easy. Take a look at this video that talks about it.

Most amateur golfers suffer from slice. The effect is most pronounced with the driver. The driver is not an easy club to hit because it is long and it has very little loft (usually 10 degrees). We tee up the ball when we use the driver to be able to hit it in the upswing hence giving it enough loft to achieve a long parabolic flight. As we know from physics, the longest range is achieved with a 45 degree launch. Now the problem amateur golfers have is that they don’t take these factors into consideration and try to hit the driver they hit a long iron or a wood. The position of the ball is way forward in stance, at your right foot heel level and your center of gravity behind the ball. You cannot shift the center of gravity to where the ball is. Moving your torso too much will keep you off balance. An easy swing with good tempo and a full finish is what you should visualize. Take a look at this video from a Mexican dude that shows you how it is done.