“Band-aids” are a necessary part of the game—especially if you want to keep your golf handicap low. Band-aids are quick on-course fixes that correct swing flaws. They’re not permanent solutions. Designed to work only one day, band-aids help you salvage a bad day on the course. They also help tide you over until you can take some golf lessons to correct your problems. Once the round is over, you can consult your teaching pro or review your library of golf tips to see what you should change.

When weekend golfers have a bad day, the cause is often found either in their set-up, their take away, or at the top of their swing. For example, weekend golfers often flex their knees too much when setting up to hit the ball. This can play havoc with your swing. Fixing set up flaws on-course can turn what could become a bad day into a not so bad day. The key is finding the flaw first, as I say in my golf instructions sessions. Once you’ve done that, you can then make the proper adjustments.

Below are the key checkpoints to review on bad days:

Shoulders And Hips
To increase the chance of a solid, on-line shot, you must set up with feet, knees, and shoulder parallel to the target line. It’s easy to allow the shoulders to rotate open at address when you’re having a bad day. Take one of your long irons from your bag and line up the shaft at a target, with the butt end positioned where you would normally place a ball. Align your body parallel to the club. If this position doesn’t feel right, then you may need to work on aim and alignment.

Posture
Posture errors are not only uncomfortable, they are disastrous to your swing. Check your posture to make sure you’re in a balanced and athletic position. Set up to the ball with your feet together and you legs straight. Tilt from your hips allowing your arms to hang naturally from your side, and set the club behind the ball. Next, set your feet apart (about 6 inches) and flex your knees slightly. You should feel balanced. Repeat the drill and make a few swings. Do the same but hit some balls. If you make solid contact this way, this is your drill for the day.

The Takeaway
On bad days there’s a good chance your backswing’s is a little too far inside, forcing an over-the-top, outside-in swing. That’s not good. To regain the sense of what a good take away feels like, set up with the butt of a long iron in your stomach and choke down on the shaft. While maintaining your spine tilt, turn your hips and swing the club back until it reaches about eight o’clock. From there hinge the wrists, so that the club points down the target line. Do this a few times, then hit some balls. If your ball striking improves, do a few of these stomach drills before each shot.

Top Of The Swing
If your swing feels out of control at the top, you may be reverse pivoting or losing control at the top. Neither flaw is good. The fix: Grab two irons and make some swings holding the club together. During these swings make sure your front shoulder turns behind the ball and over your back thigh. If this is hard to do, you may be sliding your hips instead of turning them. Next, assume your set up, take one of the clubs and place it across your chest, and make some mock backswing. If this feels odd, then your pivot was your problem. Continue making mock swings with your eye toward turning your left shoulder behind the ball.

No one wants to have a bad day on the course. But it happens. The key to overcoming bad days—and maintaining a low golf handicap—is determining what needs adjusting and then applying quick on-course fixes. Weekend golfers, as I’ve learned in my golf lessons, tend to form flaws in their postures and backswing a lot. These are the most logical places to start when finding and fixing flaws. If you still can’t get back on track after doing this, then play simple high percentage shots. Afterwards, seek out your teaching pro as soon as possible. He or she will help you correct your swing flaws with some quick golf tips.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Pitch It Close Every Time
2) Punch It Out From The Trees
3) Question of the Week – Lag Putting Is Your Best Option On Long Putts
4) Article – Four Quick Fixes To Salvage A Bad Round
5) Article – Five Golf Tips That Help You Set Up For Power

1) Pitch It Close Every Time

Forget about those booming drives. If you can’t pitch it close, you’ll never go low. Ask any pro. But some weekend golfers hit short pitches because they don’t know how to control the distance of their shots. So from 30 yards, they’re vulnerable. If your pitch shots fall short or fly too long, you maybe using the same swing for every pitch or you consider the pitch swing the same as a small full swing. Neither method works.

Below is an alternative to these methods:

1. Set the club early in the backswing
2. Then turn all the way through
3. Hold your finish at backswing height
4. Open the face for high pitches
5. Close the face for lower pitches

The set and hold method encourages consistent contact and consistent distance control—exactly what you need to pitch it close. Follow these steps:

Take the club back as you normally do, but hinge your wrists early in the process. For a 30-yard pitch, that’s about hip high. Once you’ve done that, commit to accelerating through the ball. Not accelerating through the ball is a common pitching mistake. Keep the angle between the clubshaft and your front forearm. Then, use your body to do the rest.

For a high pitch shot, play the ball forward in your stance and open the clubface the appropriate distance. Aim a few feet to the left of your target (right for left-handers).For a lower pitch shot, play the ball toward your back foot and close the clubface down a few degrees. Aim a few feet to the right of your target.

The set and hold technique gives you a consistent, predictable shot. You don’t need to release or use a lot of arms. Practice the shot from about 30 yards out and before you know it, you’ll be pitching it close almost every time.

2) Punch It Out From The Trees

Here’s the situation: You’ve just shanked one deep into the trees. There’s a gap on a line with the green, with just enough room to squeeze through without too much risk. But you’ll need to hit a shot that flies low to avoid the overhanging branches, doesn’t spin so it won’t rise, and releases once it hits the fairway.

Here are five keys to hitting this shot:

1. Select a club you have confidence in
2. Play the ball just back of center
3. Take a short flat backswing
4. Make sure your left wrist faces the ground
5. Finish with the club pointing left of target

Keep one thing in mind when sizing up this shot. The farther the gap is from you, the wider it must be. Otherwise, you won’t make it through. Every yard the ball moves it will go offline.

Select a club you have confidence in. Some players use a long iron. Others, use a hybrid. Use whichever club you can control the best, since you’ll need to stay beneath the overhang. Playing the ball just back of center in your stance will help keep the ball low.

To reduce spin, make a short flat backswing. Keep the shaft below your right shoulder (left for left-handers) when you go back. And try to swing the club a little behind you. To make it run once it hits the fairway, make an aggressive release. The back of your left wrist should face the ground, with the club pointing left of your target (right for right-handers).

Actually, you can use this shot whenever you need to keep the ball low and you want to run it to your target. It’s also an option when you slice everything you hit. It will keep the ball straight and low.

3) Question of the Week – Lag Putting Is Your Best Option On Long Putts

Q. Hi Jack. My question is on controlling long putts. I always seem to leave it way too short and go far too long on these putts, sometimes right over the hole. My normal putt is pretty compact and works out ok for most putts within 10 feet. But I was recently putting for eagle on a par 5, and ended up barely making par. I’m constantly 3-putting or more when I’m over 10 feet. It’s truly frustrating.

Thanks for you input!
Eddie Rosario
Dominican Republic

A. Thanks for the question, Eddie. With a 20- to 40-foot putt, lag putting is your best option. It reduces the chances of three-putting and eliminates the pressure of trying to sink the putt.

Start by stepping off the distance to the hole to get a good idea of how long the putt really is. Then, follow your normal putting routine. When taking your practice strokes, face the target. It gives you a feel for the type of stroke you’ll need for the putt. Standing taller in your stance encourages a long, smooth stroke.

Also, visualize a three-foot ring around the hole. Aim for the ring and take a nice easy stroke. Make sure your follow-through equals your takeaway. Your goal is to get the ball within the three-foot circle, which is easier than trying to sink the putt. This leaves you with a highly makeable putt, if you’re successful.

Speed and distance control are also keys to long putting. Your stroke’s tempo is usually the culprit when speed is off. That’s because the stroke’s pace controls the ball’s speed. Practicing with a metronome helps evens out your stroke in terms of beat and length, which in turn improves pace.

To improve distance control, practice fringe putting. Start at the fringe on one side of the green. Try putting the ball as close to the opposite fringe as possible with out touching it. Also, try putting with your eyes closed. Blind putting forces you to visualize the stroke needed to sink the putt. It also helps speed and distance control. Finally, putt with confidence. It’s the single biggest factor in putting.

If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from.
If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros and creating a more reliable and consistent swing, check out: http://www.HowToBreak80.com

Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Four Quick Fixes To Salvage A Bad Round
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/four-quick-fixes-to-salvage-a-bad-round.php

5) Article – Five Golf Tips That Help You Set Up For Power
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/five-golf-tips-that-help-you-set-up-for-power.php

Until next time,

Go Low!

Jack

P.S. Feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, go to http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter.htm
About the Author

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros!”. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.

By Jack Moorehouse

Ever wonder what’s the toughest shot in golf? Candidates abound. There’s the restricted swing, the controlled fade, and the feet inside/ball outside fairway bunker shot, as well as the ball in the rough on an upslope, the double breaking putt, and the traditional flop shot. Truth is, every one has his or her own set of tough shots. You may have covered them in golf lessons or read about them in golf tips, but you still can’t hit them. They intimidate you and add strokes to your golf handicap. Below are my candidates for the five toughest shots in golf. See if you agree.

Some players consider driver off the deck the toughest shot in golf. Many golfers never use this shot. The just read about it in golf tips. But in the right situation, it can help. The problem is your driver has the least amount of loft, so it’s hard getting the ball in the air. If you hit up on the ball, you’ll probably mis-hit. The only way to get the ball in the air is to cut the shot. Play the ball off your front heel and aim 15 yards left of your target (right for left-handers). Then swing across the ball, instead of down on it. Feel like you’re pulling your right hand toward you’re left hip on the way down.

The Plugged Bunker Lie
Other players consider the plugged bunker lie the toughest shot in golf. It’s certainly a candidate. Since you’re ball is buried in the sand, you can’t hit the typical sand blast you learned in golf lessons. There’s too much sand. Instead, come down hard into the impact zone. You should feel like you’re jamming the heel of the club into the bunker with the toe pointed at the sky. If you keep your hands low to the ground through impact, you’ll create an explosion big enough to unplug the ball and escape the bunker.

Then there’s the severe downslope from the rough. The hill’s slope moves the bottom of your swing arc back, making it easy to catch the ball fat or thin. The rough compounds any errors you make. Set your body level with the lie by tilting your torso to the left (right for left-handers) until your front shoulder sits lower than your back shoulder. Now swing. Don’t hang back to fight the pull of gravity. Doing that moves your swing arc back even farther and makes missing the ball a real possibility. This shot isn’t always addressed in golf instruction sessions, but it’s so tough maybe it should be.

One of Two Bunker Shots
For my money, the toughest shot in golf comes down to one of two shots. The bunker blast from a downhill lie is one. You have to hit the ball high to get it out of the bunker, which is difficult because the slope negates the club’s loft. The secret to hitting this shot is to take a wider stance than normal for balance and then align your shoulders with the slope. Now open your clubface and make your normal bunker swing. Don’t try to swing too hard or get under the ball too much. The ball will come out lower and with extra roll.

My other candidate for the toughest shot in golf is the feet outside, ball inside bunker shot. This is one tough shot, not only for weekend golfers but also for pro players. Almost anything can happen. Spread your feet wider than shoulder width and position the ball just inside your front foot. Also, bend your knees and rear end down more, so you can get down to the ball. Hinge your wrists quickly when you swing and keep your body quiet for balance. The steeper the slope the more the ball will go right (left for left-handers).

What matters here isn’t which shot is the toughest, but how you handle a tough shot. Don’t let it intimidate you. When it does, you tense up and forget the keys to hitting the shot correctly. Next time you face a tough shot, relax. Run through the keys you learned in golf lessons or read about in golf tips, and then swing away. And remember, you don’t always have to put the ball a foot from the cup. Be realistic with your expectations. You’ll conquer more tough shots that way and knock strokes off your golf handicap in the process.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instructi

By Jack Moorehouse

Most of us bring our A games to the course about 10 percent of the time. The rest of the time we bring our B, C, or D games. Sometimes, we even bring our F games. This variation in games is based on inconsistency. We’re inconsistent because most of us learn our swings through trial and error, not by taking private golf lessons or attending group golf instruction sessions. As a result, our swings are a hodgepodge of adjustments that make consistency elusive and kill our golf handicaps.

But what if you could design the perfect golf swing—one that encourages consistency. What would it look like? Of course, it would have to be flexible, so it could be adjusted to your body type and to your other attributes, like flexibility and height. But the swing would still contain certain key elements that would promote consistency. Not long ago I read an article by a noted golf instructor who addressed this issue. Her are the elements of his perfect swing.

Fade Over Draw
The ideal shot shape is the fade. We’re not talking slice. A fade curves just at the end of its flight, falling softly to the right only a few feet. A slice has a much more violent curve to it. It starts curving much earlier because it has so much sidespin. The advantage here, according to the instructor, is that a fade is easier to hit under pressure. You can hold onto your release a little longer and still get a decent shot. That compensates for our natural tendency to hold onto the club a little longer under pressure.

Low To High
The average golfer plays the swing from high to low. In other words, before the golfer’s hands drop down into the slot of the swing, his shoulder and chest spin out toward the ball. This early upper body rotation forces a steep, cut-across path. Other golfers do the opposite. They go from low to high, keeping their backs to the rotation while the hands drop toward the back foot. It’s not until the hands drop to waist high that the majority of rotation takes place. It’s this “late” turn that carries the hands into a good position.

Passive Over Active
Timing, as I tell students in my golf lessons, is a poor foundation on which to build your swing. But that’s what happens when your hands are active instead of passive in the swing. Active hands try to open or close the clubface. Passive hands don’t try to manipulate the club at all. With a passive release, the hands are responders, not initiators. It’s the lower body that sets up the release of the angles of power, removing the need for conscious timing. Thus, there’s no need to time the release because the move is timed for you by the correct use of your lower body—a much easier process under pressure.

Right Before Left
There are three “miss patterns” in golf: (1) You know exactly where the ball is going; (2) you know where the ball isn’t going (Jack Nicklaus used this pattern); and (3) you’re unsure where the ball is going (majority of golfers). The first two you can count on. The third has a variable miss pattern—both right and left. So you don’t know where the ball is going. Right misses (left for left-handed golfers) are soft. They hang in the air. When you’re not playing well, you can go all day missing to the right.

Thin Before Fat
You can miss a ball either fat or thin. With a thin shot, the club contacts the ball at its equator. This is a better miss pattern because the ball goes almost as far as a normal shot, while the side spin provides a sliver of control when it lands. Fat shots, where the club hits the ground, are to be avoided at all costs. They not only cause major distance loss, but they also mess with your confidence. The pro’s thinking makes sense. Personally, I still favor the draw over the fade, if the draw is your natural shot. If the fade is your natural shot, then go with that. You’re more likely to revert to your natural shot under pressure anyway. But overall the approach is conducive to creating consistency in your swing. Once you have a consistent swing, you’re sure to knock strokes off your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.