To Ensure Consistency and Success - Play with a Straight Back!

I believe that to mature as a golfer, you need to have an
understanding of why certain individual fundamentals on the course
are working for you, and why others aren't. In short, you have to
understand the working components of your swing. Secondly, you
need to understand what corrections or adjustments could be made in
order to attain success.

The set-up that we teach is very specific and important. Playing
with a straight spine and back angle is an important fundamental
that we teach, and something that is literally the glue of our
swing theory. Whether you are 5 yards form the green or teeing
off, playing with a straight spine and back will ensure that you
swing on a consistent plane every time you set over the golf ball.
The following are reasons why a straight back is essential for you
to see success out on the course:

- Gives you a fixed position to start from - every time

- Allows for the club to travel on a consistent plane

- This is essential in golf. If you are hunched over (golfers that
are hunched over at the ball usually are not aware) your swing
plane is consistently changing due the level that your body is over
the ball. This leads to many inconsistent shots (Especially from
around the green).

- Minimizes hitting behind the ball or hitting the ball thin
This is a big problem for most golfers. If you haven't played for
weeks and you find yourself not making solid contact, the 1st
fundamental that should go through your mind is: "Is my back
straight at set-up and throughout the shot"?

In my mind this is one of the most important truths that we teach
about the golf swing. If you look at the tour pros they always
have a straight spine angle and back at set-up and throughout their
swing. Whether you are on the tee, fairway, around the green, or
even on the green - having a straight spine and back angle is
extremely important. Having a straight back and spine angle is
especially important from around the green when pitching and
chipping!

For some golfers, straightening your spine angle is going to feel
very strange, because you've never played that way. But trust me,
maintaining a straight spine throughout the swing will do wonders
for your consistency. It also leads to better impact with the
ball. Next time you watch the tour players on TV, make sure to
check out how straight their back is at setup.

The main point that I want to communicate is that there are many
factors in golf that you can't control. For example: course
conditions, weather, and course difficulty. However, one aspect of
your golf swing that can be constant and unchanging is your spine
angle at set-up. So play golf this way and you will begin to
develop consistency and confidence.

Yours in Golf,
JJ

David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today.

Relaxed swing that works

 Why it's called a golf swing.

If you've been playing Golf for a while you'll know how important
relaxation is during the swing.  It is not just one of the five swing principles,
it is without question the most important swing principal.  It's probably also
safe to say it's the least understood of the five principles.  I'm going to give
you an exercise so your understanding will be crystal clear.

For your body to be able to make a good, effective swing you must be relaxed
physically and mentally.  And that's a broad statement that will absolutely
mean something different to everyone.  It's a true statement but meaningless.  
What I want you to learn in this lesson is specifics on what to relax and how to relax.

First, what to relax.  Should your whole body be relaxed?  Yes.  Does that mean
your whole body should be like Jell-O?  No.  When the swimmers are on the block
during a meet and ready to dive in the water, what physical things are they doing?  
They are shaking their arms and legs to relax all their muscles.  Have you ever
seen them do this?

In an effective golf swing the legs do all the work.  We want them relaxed and
ready to do all the work.  But it's the shoulders that want to help make the club
go fast and accurate.  That's the muscle group that wrecks the swing for 99% of
golfers.  That's what this lesson will address.

First let me say you can do this!  I get lots of questions that ask, “How in the
heck can I make a golf swing with relaxed shoulders?  How does a backswing
start with relaxed shoulders?”

I'm going to let the cat out of the bag, right now!  This simple exercise will answer
all those questions and give you the sense of relaxation that you want during your
entire golf swing.  When you finish reading about this exercise I want you to stand
up and do it.  I want you to completely understand shoulder relaxation and prove
to yourself that you can make a golf swing with shoulder relaxation.

The exercise: stand tall with your feet spread shoulder width.  Flex your knees
slightly, and then bend forward enough to allow your arms to hang freely.  Your
arms should be hanging completely free.  Your arms are trying to come out of your
shoulders, because your shoulder muscles are so relaxed.  Now, use your body to
cause your arms to be swung or flung.  That's a backswing.  Don't let your arms to
any of the work!  Start with a small swing and build up to a full swing.

You may be tempted to help move your arms with your shoulders.  Don't do it!  Your
body and legs must be in control and they make your arms swing freely.  Now you
understand why it's called a golf Swing.  The legs make the arms swing.  The legs
are absolutely in control.  It's OK to let your arms be out of your control.  Actually,
it's a necessity.

When you can successfully do this exercise in your living room, you next want to do
it with a golf club (no ball) in your backyard.  With a 7-iron in hand, make the same
small swing with total shoulder relaxation.  Make just a small careless swing until
you're comfortable with it.  Only then make a little bit bigger swing until you get to
a full swing with your shoulders completely relaxed.

It's a great exercise .  When you physically and
mentally understand this relaxation principal through this exercise, you will hit shots
that you only dreamed of hitting.

How To Break 80

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1) The Correct Takeaway

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Poor takeaways cause bad shots. In fact, they cause nearly as many bad shots as poor set-ups do, probably more. But practice and a special drill eliminate this major swing fault for good.

Many weekend players take the club away with their arms only, while their lower body lags. This "disconnect" throws the rest of the swing off, forcing you to compensate in other segments of the swing. If you can't, your shot goes awry.

The key to a good takeaway is taking the club back with your hands, arms, and body unified, starting the swing off properly. For most golfers the tendency is to start the backswing with the arms so it is helpful to imagine the backswing being "kickstarted" by the shoulders rather than the arms to get them rotating properly. The drill below ingrains the correct takeaway in your swing. You may have read or heard of this drill by other names, but I call it the:

Belly Button Drill
Select a club from your bag. Put the butt end of the club against your belly button and extend your arms down the shaft. Grip the shaft as you normally would grip the handle of the club. Now make your back swing, retaining the right angle formed by the shaft and your body intact. This keeps the club, your arms, and your body moving together.

Once you get to about one-third of the way through your swing, the club naturally separates from your torso, at which point you should point the butt end of the club at the ball. At the top of the backswing, the club should start pointing at an imaginary line running parallel to the target line. It should still be pointing at the line at the top of the swing

This drill creates the feel of a one-piece takeaway. Once you've ingrained that feeling, you'll hit fewer bad shots, even if you only play once a week.

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2) Hitting Long Iron Shots That Stick and Won't Roll

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Ever hit an approach shot with a long iron only to have it hit the green and skip past the hole? Being able to hold a green with your long iron approach shots, or any other shot for that matter, is a must, if you want to break 80, 90, or even 100.

A key to holding a green with a long iron approach shot is backspin. It works best as a "stopper" when the green is somewhat soft and contains some moisture. When a green is hard, dry, and slick, however, the ball often skips forward a long way on landing, even when spinning heavily, so check out the green before hitting your approach shot.

Here are 5 other keys to hitting shots that hold the green:

Play the ball a little farther forward

Position the hands even with the ball

Open the clubface slightly

Swing under with the body

Release the hands freely through impact

Holding the green starts at address. Position the ball a little farther forward in relation to your feet, and place your hands even with, or slightly behind, the ball. Open the clubface slightly to take advantage of the club's loft. All of this puts your head a little farther back than normally, which is where you want it to be.

Swing the club pretty much as normal, although maybe a little more upright, if you really want to deaden the ball on landing with a touch of fade spin. Swing under, not around, your body, releasing the clubhead freely with your hands but without the right hand climbing over the left until well beyond impact. When I say swing "under" I mean that your swing plane is going to be a tad more upright than flat or "around."

Next time you're at the practice range, pick out a shot and then try hitting it with a few shots. After hitting six shots, try doing the same thing with another club. Keep working on this until you have it down pat.

This technique works well with long irons and short irons, which are somewhat easier to hit when it comes to approach shots that hold the green. Regardless of the club, holding the green with your approach shots is critical if you really want to slash your golf handicap.

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3) Correcting "Pulled" Shots
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Pulling the ball is a common swing fault. It comes from swinging the club on an out-to-in swing path. If it's closed (or square), you'll pull. If it's open, you'll slice. To eliminate pulling, first swing the club on an in-to-out swing path and second, change the position of the clubface through impact.

Here are some suggestions on how to make these changes.

Strengthen your grip

Close your body alignment

Close the clubface slightly

Straighten your right arm early

Encourage your right arm to cross over at impact

You can eliminate pulling by trying one, all, or a combination of the 5 tips. It's often a case of trial and error but the cure is here somewhere. Good Luck.

Hit Them Straight,
JJ

Master Your Wedge

You are close to the green.

Five yards from the fringe, even.

Grab a club and chip away.

Not so fast skippy :-)

Before you hit your shot you need to

look at three things before you choose your club.

1: What is between you and the green?

2: What is between you and the pin?

3: How far is it to your target landing area?

Let's look at each of these factors.

If you have played a bit of golf on a few

different courses, you now know that the area

around the green is not always a nice

flat safe place to chip from.

In fact, many greens are 'protected' so you are

forced to hit a good shot from the right

approach in order to tame it.

Alas, many of us don't have the control to

choose exactly how we get close to the green.

We are just happy we are close :-)

You will also find that greens have sand,

trees, walls, hills, slopes, and water

surrounding them.

(makes you want to have a little chat with

the golf course designer, eh?)

So make a mental note of what terrain is

between you and the green.

Hold that thought.

Now look at the green.

They ain't all round. They ain't all flat.

They move the pin all over the place.

Where is the pin relative to you.

Is it right close to your edge or is

it waaaaay at the other end?

Is there a slope up or down? Or two tiers?

Is there even a straight line between you

and the green or is the pin around a corner?

Here is where you have to make your

first decision. Lob or roll?

As an example. You are 5 feet from the fringe,

the pin is 30 feet away at the other end

of a flat green. You can safely hit

a long iron over the 5 feet and let the ball

roll the distance to the pin.

Getting the distance right is your goal here.

Or. You are 5 feet away from the fringe and

the pin is 4 feet away from that.

A long iron won't work here since you'll roll

well past the pin.

You need to hit the ball up in the air and plan

for no roll. This is the time you need to be comfortable

with a 60 degree lob wedge.

Every approach shot you make from around the

green think about these factors.

What if you are 5 feet away from the fringe

and the pin is 10 feet away on a green

that slopes away from you.

Getting the ball rolling on that surface

will sent it well past the hole so a long iron

chip won't be a good choice.

Once you have this decision made, the next step

is to pick your target landing zone.

Look at it. Make a mental note of it.

And plan to hit your shot into it.

If it is 3 feet or 30 yards away.

You must see the spot.

Imagine you are putting from that spot.

What will the ball do? Break left or right?

Pick up speed? Stop cold.

Now you are set to hit your shot.

You'll have better luck if you think

these thoughts before you even hit the shot.

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Hit em straight!
JJ

Woods opens world against Micheel

LONDON, England -- Tiger Woods will face fellow-American Shaun Micheel in the first round of the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth on Thursday.

World number one Woods is bidding to extend his spectacular winning streak to six successive tournaments.

New Zealand's Michael Campbell begins the defense of his title against Simon Khan

The first round pairings have also thrown together European Ryder Cup team-mates Colin Montgomerie and David Howell.

New world number two Jim Furyk starts against Ryder rival Robert Karlsson.

Woods lost in the final to his close friend Mark O'Meara in his only previous appearance at Wentworth in 1998.

If the world number one beats 2003 U.S. PGA champion Micheel, he will meet Briton Luke Donald or Tim Clark of South Africa in the quarterfinals.

South African Ernie Els starts his quest for a record seventh World Match Play trophy by taking on big-hitting Argentine Angel Cabrera.

The elite 16-man field will be chasing the richest first prize in golf, one million pounds ($1.87 million).

Draw for 36-hole matches (prefix number denotes seedings; tee off times local (GMT + 1):

1-Michael Campbell (New Zealand) v 16-Simon Khan (Britain)

Tee off times 0736 & 1206

8-David Howell (Britain) v 9-Colin Montgomerie (Britain)

0748 & 1218

5-Retief Goosen (South Africa) v 12-Paul Casey (Britain)

0800 & 1230

4-Adam Scott (Australia) v 13-Mike Weir (Canada)

0812 & 1242

3-Jim Furyk (U.S.) v 14-Robert Karlsson (Sweden)

0824 & 1254

6-Ernie Els (South Africa) v 11-Angel Cabrera (Argentina)

0836 & 1306

7-Luke Donald (Britain) v 10-Tim Clark (South Africa)

0848 & 1318

2-Tiger Woods (U.S.) v 15-Shaun Micheel (U.S.)

0900 & 1330

"Consistency Off the Tee"

It seems like everyone thinks they are in a unique situation with
their golf game, and in a way, we all ARE in a unique situation.
We all have relatively different swings, but there are also some
solid fundamentals that will remain true forever in the game of
golf.

Isn't it also true that everyone swings somewhat the same? The
swing planes are all similar. Everyone's follow through is similar
- not exactly the same. And everyone has to bring the club back
before they take their downswing. These are all very obvious
similarities between golf swings across the world.

Here's an example of a tip that will apply to every golfer in the
world. To get more coil
- point your toes slightly out at address. That is a solid truth
that will never change. That tip will work for every golfer, every
time, and it should especially be used for the driver.

Fact: Hitting your driver well makes you play better golf. Period.
You get better lies, you get better looks at the green, the ball
goes further (more roll, less left and right movement), you have
more confidence, you just score better when you hit your driver
well.

It really works!

Hit 'em straight

JJ Louw
P.O. Box 13223,
N1 City
Cape Town
Western Cape
7463
South Africa

"How Playing Short will Save You Strokes ".

This week, again, we'll be focusing on your approach shots. What you should get out of this lesson is that short is usually better regarding approach shots, and I'm going to explain a few reasons why I believe this to be true.

Let's set the scene. We'll use the same example throughout. Let's say that you usually hit your 8 iron around 150 yards, and you are 160 out. Now, most golfers would probably grab their 7 iron here, and think to themselves, "I'll just take a little off this, and I'll be right on the pin".

Problem: Most recreational golfers don't have the ability to add and take off power from their swings.

You should focus first, and foremost, on mastering one swing, including the tempo, speed, and power that it takes to perfect that one swing. Once you start trying to swing a little easier or a little harder, problems start to sneak into your round. You are trying to play for the pin and instead, you end up in the bunker on the right side of the green, and now you've just turned a par hole into a double bogey.

The difference in distance between your 7 and 8 iron should be about 10-15 yards. The Point? Hit your 8 iron every time in the above situation. Don't mess with your swing. Go with what you trust. Hit the 8 iron 150 yards, and let the ball roll onto the green. At that point, anything can happen. You may end up 2 inches, 2 feet, or 20 feet from the pin, but at least you're putting.

Benefit 1: If you mishit the ball a little further than usual, you're still in good shape because you played a little short in the first place. If you hit the ball a little short, you're still okay, because chances are, you're sitting in the middle of the fairway, maybe on the fringe.

Benefit 2: If you go to the right or the left, since you played the shorter club, you're not going to be as far right or left as you would have been with the 7 iron. This could mean that you are still on the green, or it could mean that you are on either side of the fairway. But chances are that you are still in decent shape.

Summary: When you're trying to decide between two clubs, take a second to look at the hazards around the green. If there's a bunker or some water guarding the front of the green, then sure, it may be a good idea to take the larger club. But other than this exception, you are almost always better off, taking less club. You'll stay out of trouble, and that is the key to lowering your overall score.

Tip #3 - "Approach Shots: What it takes to master them".

Basically, your approach shot is your shot onto the green. One of the things I like to say is this, "You know your game is improving when you start fixing more ball marks on the green". To fix a ball mark on the green most likely means that you hit it on your approach, which is a good thing.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind, and then we'll get to the heart of this article.

• Aim for the middle of the green, not the flag. Pin placements and greens are getting tougher to stick all the time. Don't be a "sucker" and go for a pin that you'll most likely miss, which will leave you in a bunker or some other position to add strokes to your round.
• Focus on alignment, not distance. That leads us into the main part of the article.

As you know, it's not an easy task to master the approach shot, but there are some ways in which you can drastically improve the accuracy of the shot. Alignment is the key to improving your approach shots. Most golfers don't practice their alignment too much on the practice range, but they should.

Think about this for a minute. Generally, when you are off the green it is due to alignment, not distance. Chances are, you have your 160 yard club, 150, 140, 130, etc...

And if you hit a poor shot, the ball may go a little further or a little shorter. But even if that happens, most greens are deep enough that you should be on the putting surface if you have selected the club that would leave you in the center of the green.

But...alignment is another story. If you pull the ball, more times than most you really pull the ball, correct?

When your alignment is off, it's off by much more than 5-10 yards!

And if you push the ball, you generally are pushing it for the entire round, correct? Bunkers, water, and uneven lies are the obstacles you face.

How are you supposed to compete? The answer is simple. Practice your alignment.

Take your home course for example. I would be willing to bet there's somewhere in the ball park of a 160-yard par 3 on the course. Now picture that hole. What happens if you're 5-10 yards deep or shallow? You're probably still okay, right?

But what happens if you go right or left? That shot, more than likely, has trouble written all over it.

Summary:

Go to the range, and practice your alignment. Always hit to a target. The Simple Golf Swing makes staying down the middle easy.

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David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today.

Tip #2 - How to Maximize your Distance by Hitting Triples instead of Home Runs

It's a great overall theory to build your entire swing around. Keep this in the back of your head at all times while you are on the course, and remind yourself of it before every shot. The result will be increased distance and straighter shots because you'll be releasing your hands through the ball better.

Background Info :

Many recreational golfers struggle with slices, blocks, and inconsistency because they don't know how to release their hands through the ball correctly. By "releasing your hands through the ball", I am describing the act of maximizing your club head speed at the moment of impact, and eliminating the "outside-in" movement that creates a slice.

How You Will Benefit:

1. You'll learn an easy way of "getting your hands through the ball"
2. You'll be increasing the speed of the club head through the impact zone
3. You will ensure that the club head is square at impact (which will drastically reduce any slice that you have)

What To Do:

Step 1: Create the "X"

This means that on the follow through, you need to focus on making your forearms cross. This will ensure that your hands have released through the ball correctly. Here's an illustration of what I am talking about.

Notice the "X" that is created after impact and where the shaft of the club is pointed. Practice getting in this position. Practice creating that "X" after impact.

It will be easy to understand the alterative by paying attention to where the club is pointed, which I will explain in the next step.

Step 2: Finish at Third Base

Focus on pointing the club down the third base line on your follow through. In relation to where my feet are pointed in the picture at left, the club is pointed down the third base line. This is what we want.

Many golfers finish their swing with the club straight up in the air, or even pointed down the first base line in relation to their feet. Try that once, and you will feel the extreme "outside-in" movement that produces a slice. This is nothing more than a habit that can be easily broken. The Simple Golf Swing goes over this step in much more detail.

Summary:

So when you are on the tee next time, focus on just 2 things. Make the "X" and "finish at third". That's it. Swinging easy should already be grooved into your swing from the last tip I sent. Focus on these 2 tips, and you should be on your way to consistently staying out of trouble with your driver, which is the first step to scoring better.

Fact: Over 90% of golfers will never be able to compete with you if you can do 3 relatively simple things.

1. Stay out of trouble with your driver (notice, I didn't say smash the ball 300 yards down the center of the fairway).
2. Hit 70% of the greens you face from 150 yards in (in other words, learn to control your 8 iron and down).
3. Chip the ball within 20 ft of the pin, almost every time (regardless of what you may think, this is not that tough).

That's it. So that's what I'm going to focus on over the next few weeks.

What are these tips?

These tips are meant to be a guide to help you lower your scores on the course through means that most people don't practice. The goal here is for you to round out your game, and for you to take advantage of the fact that I mention above.

How will these tips lower my Score?

Pretty simple really. The tips were designed to be released only once a week, so you could focus on that particular tip for 7 days, incorporate it into your game, and move on to the next.

That's the way you get better at anything, right? Implement 1 step or change at a time. Reading an entire book on golf won't do anything for your game if you don't implement any of it. So the key will really be implementing just one step to your game per week.

Keep in mind that in golf the low score wins. That should be your objective, to score low. It's easy to get over focused on the process called the swing and lose sight of the objective to get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible.

Good Golfing

J.J. Louw

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David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today.

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Tip #1 - Staying out of Trouble with your Driver

So what is it that's really causing problems with your driver? Is it a slice, a hook, or just flat-out inconsistency? Well the good news is that, regardless of what problem you are fighting, there are a few things to incorporate into your game that really will help you. If you're the golfer that's saying right now, "I've battled a slice for 25 years", then this is not going to be the undisputed end of your problem. But you CAN reduce the slice or hook, which will help you score better. So here the first tip is.

1. Swing Easy. Nothing can be better for your game than learning how to swing the club easier and more fluid. If you go to the range and concentrate ONLY on swinging easy, it will revolutionize your ability to position yourself for a good approach shot when you get onto the course. You will make more consistent impact with the ball, and it will reduce the amount of side-spin you naturally place on the ball because the club head won't be traveling as fast or with as much force. Again, I know you've heard it before, but I ask you to concentrate on this for 1 week. And if you can't physically practice it, visualize it at the office (visualization works great).
2. Switch to a low spin ball. Lower spin off of the tee means that the ball is going to go more straight regardless of how whether your ball moves right or left. I recommend the Titleist DT SoLo, the Precept Laddie, or the Maxfli Noodle. You can find these balls anywhere from $13 to $20 per dozen, and they will play a large role in reducing the side spin that you naturally place on the ball.

I realize that this all sounds over-simplified, but it's not. If you are having problems controlling your driver, switch to a low-spin ball, and start swinging easy. When you are on the range, ALL you should be thinking about is swinging the club easy. Incorporate this into your game this week, then next week we'll discuss how to get some more distance with your driver.

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David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today.

“Driving the Golf Ball with Confidence, Accuracy, and Consistency”

Today we are going to concentrate on what I consider the MOST important aspect to the game of golf, DRIVING THE GOLF BALL IN PLAY. This aspect of the game is the number one confidence builder in our sport. As you probably know and have experienced, your score adds up quickly if hit your tee shots out of play.

Buckle up - Because if you read this special report every time before you play a round of golf this summer, your friends will think they are playing with Fred Funk come September. Fred Funk has led the P.G.A. Tour in driving accuracies for the past four years. He averages hitting 76% of the fairways every time he plays 18 holes of golf. If you are going to change the way you drive the golf ball you will need to implement the following four fundamentals.

1. THE PICTURE: Approach every tee shot with a clear picture in your mind of what you want the golf ball to look like in flight
2. PROPER DRIVER: Choose the proper driver for your swing.
3. CORRECT TEE HEIGHT: For your golf swing.
4. CORRECT SWING PLANE: Swing the driver on the correct swing plane for your swing.

THE PICTURE: If you can see it, you can have it. Before you take your driver, or any club for that matter, out of your golf bag, you better start seeing what you want the golf ball to look like during its journey down the fairway. You must have a mental picture of how you want the ball to fly through the air and where you want it to wind up. When you have a driver in your hands, you have to pick out an exact area you want the ball to land on. IF YOU DON’T SEE THE PICTURE, YOU ARE HEADED FOR TROUBLE.

Important Tip: During the course of a round of golf, you can find yourself driving the ball well, but all of the sudden you are faced with a difficult driving hole. Eg; You came to great par four, 435 yards long, water down the right side of the fairway from the tee to the green, out of bounds markers down the entire left side of the fairway from the tee to the green. After you teed your golf ball up do you think, “What do I do here with O.B. left and water right?” “If you see the water and the O.B. markers, you go home and sell your clubs!”

So think about this. Don’t worry about the challenges, just think about what you want the ball to do.

PROPER EQUIPMENT: Now that you can see the picture, let’s see if you brought the correct brush to paint with. If you are still trying to buy 20 more yards every time you walk into a golf shop. It is time to stop-NOW! If you own a driver that is metal, has a graphite shaft, and the grip is new then you own what it takes to send the golf ball straight down the fairway.

Let’s back up a foot or two. The loft on the golf club will play a major role in how accurate you are. If you are struggling with your driver you might consider buying a driver with at least 10-12 degrees of loft. The less loft a driver has the more you are apt to slice and hook the ball. If you are driving the ball well you can buy a driver with less loft.

An important side note: If you are driving the golf ball short, low and to the right the shaft might be too stiff. If you are driving the golf ball too high and to the left the shaft might be too weak.

Another item to consider if you have small hands, have the club repair shop regrip all of your grips with either a junior grip or a small grip. If your hands are large, have the shop regrip you clubs with oversize grips.

Bottom Line – worry about getting the ball in the fairway first, and then focus on distance generation. Chances are, you own the equipment right now, that will give you the fairway shots you’re looking for. Remember – It’s the swing, not the equipment. The equipment helps once you have a good swing, but you’ll never FIX your swing with an equipment upgrade.

CORRECT TEE HEIGHT: The tee height does not seem like such a big deal, but it plays a huge roll in whether or not you drive the golf ball consistently down the fairway. Something so simple can often be the biggest challenge.

The two major mistakes are teeing the golf ball too low or teeing the golf ball too high. You may have heard that golf is a game of opposites. This is a perfect example. Let me explain why. If you are constantly swinging your driver too vertical into the ground in the downswing, you probably tee the golf ball to low. Most golfers with a vertical driver swing fear swinging underneath the golf ball so they tee the ball low in hopes of catching it square. For those of you with this challenge, the next time you are on the golf course, tee the golf ball up a little higher and sit back a little bit more on your heels and keep your weight there in the downswing. After your shot has landed, look down to see if your tee is still in the ground. If you are always conscience of leaving the tee in the ground, you will not pop your tee shots up anymore.

If you are topping your tee shots to the right you might have the ball teed too high because you are trying to hit the ball on the upswing. The next time you go out to play, tee the ball down a little. After the golf ball has landed, make sure your weight is on your left foot and meaning you have transferred your weight correctly.

CORRECT SWING PLANE: With this final tip I feel confident you will be on your way to driving the golf ball straighter and with more consistency. The golf club in your bag that swings the most vertical, (up and down) is your sand wedge. The golf club that swings the most horizontal (around you-baseball swing) is your driver. The mistake I have seen most amateur golfers make is that they swing their driver like their sand wedge and they swing their sand wedge like their driver.

A couple of things to remember when you are addressing the driver:

1. Chin up
2. Turn your right shoulder in the back swing level
3. Swing the golf club around you/not up and down
4. Leave the tee in the ground after you hit the ball

When you are ready to begin your backswing, keep your swing thoughts to a minimum. Just think about swinging more horizontal.

At the beginning of this special report I promised you would drive the ball more with more confidence, accuracy and more consistent if you read this article every time before you tee it up this summer. This stuff seems simple, but give it a try . You’ll get some really good results.

This is only a starting point that will provide a great basis for more consistent driving. Stay tuned…you’ll love the results you get this season.