Golf is replete with myths. Covering everything from driving to course management, these myths are passed down from father to son, some in the form of golf tips on swing mechanics, others in the form of wise advice on how to do things. Unfortunately, many of these myths are just plain wrong.

Below are three popular myths I like to debunk in my golf lessons and golf tips. One or two of them may have an element of truth in them. The other may have no truth in it at all. Regardless, all of them embody ideas that can elevate scores and boost golf handicaps.

1. Aim at the Target
We’ve all heard this statement before. Maybe even said it. The statement isn’t so much mythic as it is confusing. The question is, aim what at the target? Your clubface? Your shoulders? Your body? The statement doesn’t really say.

The problem with this myth is that it can cause people to misalign themselves in one of two ways, hurting his or her golf handicap.

• aiming the feet, hips, knees, and shoulders directly at the target, leaving the clubface following a line well right of the target; or,

• aiming to compensate for ballflight errors, like when you aim left to compensate for the ballflight error of a slice (for right handers).

When aimed correctly, the leading edge of the clubface sits at a right angle to the target line while your body aligns parallel-left of the target line. This set up establishes perfect parallel alignment. This position doesn’t come naturally. So you need to work on it on the range to recognize when you’re aiming correctly on the course.

Here’s a drill I use in my golf instruction sessions. First, pick a target and lay one club down on the ground a few feet in front of the ball, but on the target line. Then, take a second club and lay it down parallel to the first but along your toe line to indicate body alignment. Make adjustments as necessary. Finally, hit a few balls and see what happens. After awhile you’ll have trained your body and eyes to accept this new alignment.

2. As the swing gets longer, it gets faster
If you’re like most golfers, you swing the driver faster than the 7-iron or 8-iron. Most of us invariably ramp up our swing speed with longer clubs because we envision hitting the ball harder and driving it farther. It’s a natural tendency, one I often see when giving golf lessons.

Unfortunately, when you ramp up your swing speed, you destroy your natural swing tempo—the total amount of time it takes to create your swing from beginning to end. That’s not good. When you start varying your swing’s tempo from club to club, you destroy the timing required to hit consistent golf shots. It’s one reason why you feel that you can hit your irons well one-day but not your woods, and vice versa.

All of us have our own swing tempo. Some of us have a fast tempo, like Nick Price. Some of us have a slower tempo, like Fred Couples. Either way is fine, as long as you keep the same tempo for each club in the bag. It’s not something you control. If it takes two seconds to hit the pitching wedge, it should take you two seconds to hit the driver. Practice consistent tempo with all your clubs and you’ll hit consistent shots.

3. Play the ball back with shorter clubs
Most of us vary ball position as we change clubs. The shorter the club, the farther back we position the ball. But incorrect ball positioning can create major problems. With the ball positioned too far forward, our shoulders tend to align too far left of forward. Since your club swings where our shoulders point, we slice. With the ball positioned too far back, our shoulders tend to close, encouraging a push or a hook.

While you should position the ball more forward for the driver than the pitching wedge, you should never place the ball farther back than center for any normal shot with a level lie, regardless of the club you’re using.

Remember, for normal shots on level lies, there are just three basic ball positions;

• Short iron: one inch left of center
• Mid-irons: two inches left of center
• Long irons & woods: three inches left of center.

In addition, always relate the position of the ball to your upper body, not your toes. Using your toes can create the illusion that the ball is positioned correctly when in fact it isn’t. For example, if you use your toes to position the ball with your foot flared out but then close up your foot, the ball seems to move forward in your stance, when it actually hasn’t.

These are just three of the more popular golf myths that exist, many of which I address in my golf lessons and golf tips. There are lots more. Unfortunately, many of them are just plain wrong.

So be wary of them. And don’t be afraid to challenge them. Even if you’re wrong, the worse thing that can happen is that you can learn something valuable about the game of golf.

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

June 7, 2006

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

1) How to Hit a Fade
2) Understanding Bunker Technique

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1) How to Hit a Fade 
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Knowing how to hit a fade comes in handy. Just ask Nick Price. Blocked out on the right side of the 15th hole at Wentworth during the 1989 Volvo PGA, price hit a cut-fade shot onto the green, from where he holed out for a birdie. A lot of Pro’s favor the fade because it provides for a softer landing with more control than hook and this comes in very handy when trying to hit fairways and greens.

Here are 5 key factors when hitting a fade:

• Check the lie
• Preset the clubhead correctly
• Cut across the line at the top
• Clear your left hip
• Swing through left of target

The ideal lie for a fade is closely mown grass or even bare ground, making it possible to create as much spin on the ball as required.

Your set-up determines the impact position for the most part. To move the ball left to right requires an out-to-in swing path combined with an open clubface at impact, so aim the clubface directly at the target and align the feet, hips, and shoulders left of target.

In the takeaway swing the clubhead along a path parallel to the line of your feet. The out-to-in takeaway produces a position at the top of the backswing where the club shaft points left of target—as it should. The body will still be fully coiled.

Uncoil the body just as you do with you normally do. The clubhead approaches the ball from outside the target line while the left hip starts to clear as the clubhead drops down on the correct plane.

As the clubface cuts across the target line, hold the clubface open as long as possible. The swing path should be out to in, with the ball starting out left of target before its spin brings it back on line. Swing through to where the belt buckle points left of target. That’s all there is to it.

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2) Understanding Bunker Technique
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Understanding how the sand wedge works is vital to becoming a good bunker player. Invented by Gene Sarazen in the 1930s, the sand wedge is the only club designed specifically to hit out of soft sand.

Sarazen filed away the leading edge of his pitching wedge, which he felt encouraged the clubhead to dig too deeply into the sand. Experimenting with this new design, he discovered that when the club entered the dirt, it created a splash affect, forcing the ball up and out.

Sarazen’s design change affects the way you hit a bunker shot. Below are 6 tips to keep in mind when hitting from a bunker:

• Open the clubface
• Form the grip
• Choke down on the club
• Open the stance
• Aim right of stance
• Dig a solid foundation

How and where your grip the sand wedge is critical to hitting a good bunker shot. Poorer bunker players grip the club and then turn their hands to open the clubface. As a result, the clubface tends to close during the swing, taking the players two or three shots to get out.

Instead, open the clubface and then grip the club. This approach ensures that the clubface stays open throughout the swing. Also, choke down on the club, improving control and compensating for having your feet below the level of the ball. Some players weaken their grip slightly. And don’t let the club touch the sand.

In addition, open your stance by pointing your feet, hips, and shoulders left of the target line, all while aiming the clubface right of your stance, placing it in line with the target. These two opposing principals work together to throw the ball out of the bunker.

Finally, dig your feet into the sand, establishing a solid foundation and preventing slippage in mid-swing. Doing this also tells you how the club will react when it enters the sand.

Thanks to the open stance, the swing follows an out to in path. When combined with the open clubface, it produces a straight shot, with a soft, high trajectory—exactly what you want when hitting from a bunker.
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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
Here are some of my recent articles:
Principles of Accurate Chipping
Dealing With Water: Know the Rules

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
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About the Author
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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.

Here’s a question I sometimes ask when giving a golf lesson. What do pro golfers Jose Maria Olazabal, Tiger Woods, and Sergio Garcia all have in common? Answer: They don’t hit into trouble often, but when they do, their short games save them, and accurate chipping is one of the most potent weapons in their short game. In fact, most players with low golf handicaps chip accurately.

The chip shot is one of the easiest shots to learn in golf. It’s also one of the most crucial. In medal play, accurate chipping can save you one or two strokes on a hole, sometimes more. In match play, it can be the difference between winning or losing a hole or a match. And in player rankings, it’s often what separates players with high golf handicaps from those with low ones.

Confidence, experience, and imagination all contribute to accurate chipping. But so does good technique. Below are 6 keys to accurate chipping:

1. Decide on a landing spot
2. Use a one-piece takeaway
3. Maintain weight on front side
4. Keep hands ahead of clubhead
5. Hold the clubhead
6. Accelerate the club through the ball

Professional golfers play a wide variety of shots around the green. One player may use a sand wedge to chip with from a certain spot, while another hits a 9 iron from the same spot. Regardless of what club they use, they all pick out a landing spot before hitting the ball, which they play the ball off their left heels.

Picking a landing spot is imperative, as I’ve mentioned in my golf tips. So is using a one-piece takeaway. In fact, it’s as important in chipping as it is in driving. Since the shot is hit mostly with your arms and hands, it requires little or no weight transfer, so place your weight on your front side and keep it there. Also, keep your head still when hitting the ball.

The backswing is important as well. The length determines the length of the shot— the longer the backswing, the longer the shot. Be mindful of your backswing when chipping. Also, take the club back smoothly and slowly, allowing your wrists to hinge naturally.

When committing to the downswing, make sure your hands stay ahead of the clubhead to ensure crisp ball-before-turf contact. The objective is to slide the blade of the clubhead under the ball, taking only a sliver of turf in the process.

Also, don’t allow your right hand to cross over your left through impact. Known as “holding the clubhead,” the technique keeps the clubface open, creating a high shot that lands softly on the ground.

In my golf tips I tell players to finish in balance and with their hands slightly higher than the height of their backswing. Doing so indicates that the golfer has accelerated the clubhead through the ball. The motion is similar to throwing a ball underhanded, which I sometimes have players do in my golf lessons to get a feel for the shot.

Change the Club Drill
The change-the-club drill is an excellent exercise for practicing your chipping. It simulates hitting from the fringe of the green or fairway when your landing spot is about 3 feet away, but the ball needs to roll about 15 feet or more. The idea is to hit various clubs with the same motion to learn reaction and distance. It’s a golf lesson in itself.

Choose a green that’s a challenge. Maybe it has some valleys in it or maybe a significant side slope. Then pick a spot about five feet off the green and drop a ball. Set one club about two and a half feet behind the ball and another club about two and a half feet in front of the ball to give you an idea of distance. With the identical motion hit chip shots with each of four clubs—the sand wedge, 9 iron, 7 iron, and 5 iron.

After hitting the ball you’ll notice that the ball runs father as the clubs get lower and lower. Pick the club that will land the ball about two to three feet on the green and run the rest of the way to the hole. Remember to factor in slope and/or the speed of the green when selecting a club.

Using different clubs will give you a better feel for which club runs the ball farther and which lands softly and stops, making club selection somewhat easier next time you play.

Keep practicing this drill until can get within a foot of the pin every time. By then, you should start seeing the benefits of accurate pitching not only in better scores but also in a lower golf handicap. And that will keep you practicing for better results.

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.

Water hazards probably account for more penalty strokes than anything else in golf. But water hazards—as dealt with under Rule 26—often lead to controversy when interpreting the rule. So I’m careful to review the topic in my golf lessons and discuss it in my golf tips.

The controversy stems from interpreting where the ball last crossed the water’s edge. Since the decision affects where you take a drop, it makes sense to have a good understanding of the rule, especially if a match is on the line or your working on a personal best.

The Rules
Golf’s rules define a water hazard as “any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface draining ditch, or other open water course (whether or not containing water), and anything of a similar nature.” Courses mark water hazards with yellow stakes and lines. But the rules don’t stop there, as I mention in my golf tips and during my golf lessons; they also discuss a lateral water hazard.

The rules define a “later water hazard” as part of a water hazard “so situated that it is not possible, or is deemed by the committee to be impracticable, to drop a ball behind the water hazard in accordance with Rule 26-1b.” In other words, it’s a water hazard that doesn’t lie between the tee and the green. The course marks these off by red stakes or lines.

The Remedies
If you hit into water you do one of four things:

1. You can play the ball as near as possible to the spot from which the original ball was played.

2. You can drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the ball entered the water’s edge, directly behind the hole and the spot where the ball is dropped. There’s no limit to how far back the ball may be dropped, as long as the point of crossing lies between the drop and the hole.

3. You can play the ball as it lies in the water hazard.

4. If a ball goes into a lateral water hazard, you can drop a ball away from the hazard but within two club lengths of the point from which the ball last crossed the water. However, the ball can’t come to rest any closer to the hole than the point at which the original ball crossed the hazard.

The Controversy
A major source of controversy is establishing where the ball last crossed the hazard, not where the ball entered the water, which could be relevant in situations in which where a ball lands on the ground, then rolls back into the water.

The easiest way to deal with this type of problem is to determine the point where the ball was last on, or over, dry land, before it crossed the hazard. Next, determine if the point is between the red or yellow stakes. If it is, you can decide on the best course of action from that spot.

The additional dropping option for a lateral water hazard, however, means that the ball can sometimes be dropped on either side of the hazard, as long as it is within two club lengths of where the ball crossed the edge of the hazard and no closer to the hole. That can make a difference when you finally determine where to drop the ball. Unfortunately, no golf instruction can help you make that decision.

Hitting out of the water is rarely an option—and it’s not a choice I recommend in my golf lessons and golf tips—but it has been known to happen. Payne Stewart chose to play the ball from a water hazard during the final hole of his 1989 Ryder Cup Match with Jose Maria Olazabal. The attempt failed and he lost the hole and the match. Think carefully before choosing this option.

Grounding the Club
If a player chooses to hit from the water hazard, he or she can’t ground the club at any stage of address. Grounding the club may be unintentional, but it’s still a breach of the rules and subjects the player to a penalty—two-strokes in medal play and the loss of the hole in match play. The rule resembles that covering the grounding of a club in a bunker.

Knowing the rules governing water hazards won’t necessarily lower your golf handicap. But it will give you an idea your remedies next time you hit into the water. Since you can be penalized for violating the rules, think carefully before deciding. If you’re in a tournament and you’re confused about what to do, don’t hesitate to talk with officials.

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.