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.