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How To Break 80 Newsletter

May 31, 2006

“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
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In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Learning the Lob Shot
2) Conquering Buried Lies

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1) Learning the Lob Shot 
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The lob—a high, soft landing shot—is a stroke saver. Hit with a lob wedge, this shot’s ideal for hitting over a bunker to a pin cut close to the edge of the green. Unfortunately, recreational golfers often try lifting the ball in the air with the club, instead of trusting their swing and the club’s loft, the most of any club in the bag, to do the job.

The key to the lob, which can also be hit with a sand wedge, is technique. The lob’s a bit of a challenge to hit, but here are 6 steps to help you pull it off like a champ:

• Check for the right lie
• Open your lower and upper body
• Aim the clubface to the right
• Position the ball forward in you stance
• Take a lengthy, slow swing
• Finish high with the clubface

Hit the lob only when you have the right lie. That’s paramount. You need a cushion of grass beneath the ball to slip the clubface’s edge underneath, contacting the grass and ball simultaneously. If you have a tight lie, hit a pitch shot instead. Executed properly, the pitch shot is safer than a lob shot but often leaves you with a longer putt.

Address the ball with an open lower and upper body. On most wedge shots, the lower body is opened but the upper body remains closed. Here both are open. At the same time, aim the clubface to the target’s right and position the ball forward in your stance to help generate loft. Also, keep your weight fairly well distributed.

Aiming to make contact with the turf a fraction behind the ball, take a fairly lengthy, slow swing, keeping the hands quiet, and make a high finish with the clubface. Many recreational players are reluctant to swing through the ball to a high finish, but the shot requires it.

The lob shot’s a useful but challenging shot. Mastering it requires hard work and practice. But it comes in handy when you need to clear an obstacle and the hole’s cut close to the green’s edge.

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2) Conquering Buried Lies
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Playing from a buried lie is a challenge if you let the lie intimidate you. Usually, a buried or “plugged” lie results from hitting a high lofting shot that drops heavily into soft sand. Regardless of what caused it, you can extricate yourself using the right technique.

With this shot, you must make changes to a normal bunker shot to get out of the sand. Keep these 5 changes in mind when playing from a buried or plugged lie:

• Square the stance and clubface
• Keep your backswing steep
• Keep your weight centered
• Hit down hard on the ball
• Keep your wrists solid through impact

For starters, you must make changes to your stance. Assume a square stance and keep the clubface square to the target line. Also, keep your weight centered over the ball, which should be positioned farther back in the stance than opposite the left heel. This set up provides the leverage you’ll need to hit the ball out of the sand.

To present the right angle of attack, pick the club up steeply in the takeaway and hinge the wrists earlier than normal. If you stop here, you’ll find yourself pointing the club directly skyward as you complete the backswing and move into the slot.

Once you’re in the slot, keep your weight centered over the ball, which helps maintain the angle of attack the shot requires. Since you need force to extricate yourself from the lie, you must hit down hard on the ball. At impact, you’ll meet resistance from the sand, so grip the club firmly to maintain rock solid wrists. And don’t worry about your follow-through.

The ball comes out of this type of lie low and with little backspin. Expect it to run when it lands. Using so much force reduces control over the shot, but if you swing weakly you won’t get out of the bunker.

Next time you’re in a buried like try these 5 changes and you’ll get up and down more often.

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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

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, send a blank email to
break80ezine@aweber.com
===================================================
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.

Reading slopes correctly is vital to putting well. All putts start out straight, but the green’s contour curves the ball. If you’re going to improve your putting and lower your golf handicap, then you must learn how to read a green’s slope.

Reading a green’s slope comes with experience, like a lot of things in golf. The more you play, the better you’ll become at it, as I stress in my golf lessons. Nevertheless, there are some proven techniques I’ve used that will make learning how to deal with sloping greens faster.

Technique #1: Get used to the differences between fast and slow greens
The green’s slope determines the degree of break on a putt. How much the putt breaks depends on two factors: the ball’s speed and the green’s speed (In other words, whether the green is fast or slow). In the summer, the ball tends to break more because the grass is shorter than in the winter, making the green faster. In the winter, the ball tends to break less because the grass is longer than in the summer, making the green slower. Take note of how fast or slow the greens are the next time you play. Get used to the difference between them.

Technique#2: Assess the green’s slope as you approach it
Studying a green as you approach it from the fairway yields a wealth of information, which can prove vital to sinking the shot. In general, a green tends to slope more one way than another does. Take an overview of the green as you approach it to determine its slope. Note which way it slopes. Also, check to see if the grass is cut with the putt, in which case the grass will appear lighter, or against the putt, in which case the grass will appear darker.

Technique #3: Practice putting long-range
Learning to make long-range putts is difficult enough without adding slopes or borrows. Adding slopes between the ball and the hole takes long range putting to another level of difficulty. The best way to learn how to putt in this situation is to practice it. Try this drill to improve your long-range putting. Stand on one side of the green and putt the ball all the way over to the other side. Try to get the ball as close to the green’s fringe as possible, without going off the green Make a game of it with your friends.

Technique #4: Play every putt as if it were straight
One way to deal with slopes is to play every putt as if it were straight. This approach seems contradictory, but Greg Norman relies on it when dealing with a sloping green. Norman, one of the tour’s top money winners, uses this method when confronted with a sloping green. And he’s not the tour that does. When dealing with a sharply sloping green, identify the putt’s breaking point—the exact spot wide of the hole indicating the amount of break the ball will take. Then putt the ball straight to it.

Technique #5: Deaden the impact on downhill putts
Most golfers would rather putt a ball uphill than downhill, especially on a fast green. But if you play a lot of golf, you’ll face a downhill putt on a fast green sooner or later. One way to do this is to hit the ball off the putter’s toe or off the putter’s heel, close to the hosel. Either way deadens the ball enough so you can take a somewhat normal putting stroke without hitting the ball well past the hole. Which approach you adopt is a matter of personal choice.

These five strategies on dealing with sloping greens will help you learn to read the slopes on greens faster. But no golf instruction, whether golf lesson or golf tip, can teach you how to putt well. Only practice can do that. Remember improving your putting is the fastest way to lower your scores and 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 was able to figure out the secrets of shooting in the 70’s on a consistent basis without quitting your day job. Jack has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter

May 24, 2006

“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
===================================================

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Conquering Uphill Lies
2) Hitting the Pitch-and-Run Shot

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1) Conquering Uphill Lies 
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Golf courses are all different. Some are flat. Others are hilly. On hilly courses you’ll encounter plenty of uphill lies, so you need to know how to handle them. Consider these three factors when hitting from an uphill lie:

• your setup
• the slope
• the shot’s trajectory

Thanks to these factors, playing from an uphill lie is tricky but not difficult. Below are five keys to hitting from an uphill lie:

• Select the right club
• Tailor your stance
• Keep the same weight
• Swing with the slope
• Finish in balance

Club selection is a key consideration. The angle of the slope changes the effective loft of a club, changing the shot’s trajectory. In severe cases, a 7-iron becomes a 9-iron. Experience will tell you just how much of a change to expect.

Another consideration is stance. Tailor your stance to the slope. Your spine needs to be perpendicular to the slope, meaning your shoulders will tilt back and your right knee will support most of your weight (for right-handers). Weight distribution at address ultimately determines the shot’s success.

A third consideration is your backswing. Keep your weight pretty much where it was at address in the backswing. The less drift, the cleaner the shot. And concentrate on making a wide takeaway and keeping your wrists quiet in the backswing’s early stages.

Finally, go with the slope. Since your weight’s farther back and your lower body less active than usual, you’ll have a tendency of pulling the ball left, caused by your hands getting over active at impact. Top avoid this, keep the clubface looking at the ball as long as possible by swinging with the slope. Finish in balance, with the right leg supporting some of your weight.

The best drill for hitting from an uphill lie is to drop a ball on an upslope, and hit. Work on the shot until it becomes second nature.

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2) Hitting the Pitch-and-Run Shot
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Hitting an accurate pitch-and-run shot is a lifesaver. It shaves at least one, and maybe two or more, strokes off your score. But hitting this shot isn’t easy. You’re using a lofted club—a 9-iron or a wedge—and trying to get the ball to run when it lands. The harder you hit it, the more backspin you impart, causing the ball to stop when it lands.

The key to the pitch-and-run is hitting the ball with overspin, releasing it on contact with the ground. Here are 6 keys to doing it successfully:

• Play the ball farther back
• Stand almost square to the target
• Approach at a shallow angle
• Encourage right arm to turn over
• Keep grip pressure light
• Rotate/release your right arm

Play the ball farther back in your stance than normally. Standing almost square to the target, lean your weight forward, place your hands ahead of the ball, and swing the club at a shallow angle. Try to pick the ball cleanly from the grass at impact.

As your body turns through the shot, encourage your right arm to turn over your left, releasing the clubhead. Your stance allows you to work the club more inside the target line than normal. Feel the clubhead’s toe closing as you strike the ball. Keep the backswing and the follow-through reasonably short.

Also, maintain light pressure on your grip throughout the shot. This helps release the clubhead. Remember, try to pick the ball cleanly from the grass. Any attempt to hit at the ball only deepens your approach, imparting backspin on the ball.

To learn how the shot feels, try tossing a ball underarm. Try making the ball run as much as possible, almost as if you were bowling. To do that, your right arm must rotate and release, just as you do with the pitch-and-run shot.

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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

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, send a blank email to
break80ezine@aweber.com
===================================================
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.

Whatever your golf handicap is, you’ve probably experienced days when everything on the course seemed to fall into place. You’re golfing with a fun-loving foursome. You’re playing a great course on a great day. And you’re driving, chipping, and putting well. In fact, you’re doing everything well. It all seems so easy.

And, then, for no apparent reason, you lose it. You can’t do anything right. Your drives miss the fairways. Your approach shots fall way short. And your chip shots run by the hole and off the green. Good shots are far and few between. And when you finally hit a good shot, you shank the next, turning pars into double and triple bogeys. Everything feels confused, as if you’ve never hit a ball before.

One reason why we sometimes “lose it” is timing. In golf instruction timing means synchronizing your turning body and your swinging arms, resulting in a smooth release of the clubhead through impact and beyond. Timing helps generate control, accuracy, and distance. More importantly, it helps generate swing consistency, regardless of your golf handicap.

How do you know when your timing is right? When your timing is on, your swing is fluid and effortless. It feels like your hitting the ball on the sweet spot every time. And the ball is taking off. When your timing is off, your swing feels out of whack. You struggle to hit the ball, never mind generating distance or driving it straight. Your swing feels confused. In fact, everything feels confused.

Your confusion often begins with a loss of timing. In golf, loss of timing occurs when the upper parts of your arms separate from your rotating chest halfway through your back wing and follow-through. If you could see yourself in slow-motion, you’d see your left arm separate and lift from your chest in the backswing and your right arm separate and lift from your chest in the follow-through.

Recapturing your timing is essential to regaining that “everything is easy” feeling. It’s why we take golf lessons and read golf tips. The sensation you want to feel is that of the pressure being maintained between your upper arms and chest. The left arm should stretch diagonally across your chest on the backswing and the right arm in a similar position in the follow-through. This is called linkage. When it’s broken, timing strays and confusion reigns.

Another reason why we sometimes “lost it” is tempo. Tempo is the time it takes you to complete your full swing, from start to finish. When you’re playing well, you feel like your hitting the ball long, solid, and accurately. You find your tempo is pretty much the same on every full shot. But when your game is off, your tempo is off as well.

Generally, a player’s tempo reflects his personality. If you’re a fast moving, quick talking type of person, your swing will be fast and quick. If you’re a laid back, easy-going type of person, your swing will be unhurried, easy by nature.

When combined, timing and tempo help determine swing consistency. But neither is easy to develop. By working on both, you’ll develop the kind of swing even players with low golf handicaps will envy.

Here’s an exercise I use in my golf lessons to develop a player’s appreciation for his/her swing tempo:

Address a ball. Raise the clubhead off the ground slightly. Move it forward to a position a foot or so into the follow-through, and start swinging from there. Guide the clubhead back over the ball, complete your backswing, and swing through the ball all in one motion. Repeat this exercise a number of times. Eventually, you will start developing an appreciation of your swing tempo.

Here’s an exercise to develop your swing’s linkage:

This exercise is designed to train no more than a three quarter length swing.

1. Place a ball on the ground.
2. Take a 9-iron and assume a normal address position.
3. Next, place a head cover underneath each armpit,
4. Take three-quarter length swings with the 9-iron.
5. Repeat the exercise

You want to focus on making the swing without losing the head cover; this forces you, in turn, to concentrate on rotating your arms and swinging your body together. Synchronizing your arms and body maintains that all-important linkage between these key parts. Repeat the exercise until you feel comfortable.

Naturally, if you take a full-length swing, the head covers will fall out. So take only three-quarter length swings. Once you feel comfortable doing this, dispense with the head covers, but remember the feeling. Try to maintain it as you hit balls without the covers. Soon, you’ll feel your timing returning.

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.