Sometimes little things make a big difference. That’s why professional golfers really scrutinize the greens when putting. They examine the green from different angles to discover its contour. They walk to the hole and back to gauge distance. And they review the stand behind the ball to plot a putting line. They try to account for any little ting that could prevent the ball from going in.

Little things make a big difference off the tee as well. You don’t always have to make big changes in your swing to generate an extra 25 yards. Sometime all you have to do is make a slight change. The six tips below don’t dramatically affect your swing, but they do produce extra yards when it comes to driving the ball. The trick is finding the ones that work for you. Putt enough of these tips together and you’ll find your getting the extra yardage you need to slash that golf handicap down to size.

1. Turn And Burn
What’s the difference between long-hitters and short-hitters? If you talk with teaching pros who give golf lessons to players with a wide range of abilities, they’ll tell you it’s flexibility. The longer hitters are much more flexible than the short hitters. To get maximum distance on your drives, you have to be flexible. If you want to generate that extra yardage that can help slash your scores and drive your golf handicap down, make sure you stretch the entire body.

Following a stretching routine between rounds helps. Yoga works, too. Many yoga positions are stretch key golf muscles, keeping you limber. Before a round, use a driver to stretch the body. Just make sure you do it the right way. Some golfers hold it over their shoulders and simulate the golf swing, which is not the best way of doing it. Instead, hold your arms over the shaft, with the club stretched across your back. Then simulate the golf swing. You’ll feel the burn when you rotate back and forth. You can also use this exercise as part of your stretching routine.

2. Upward Bound
Many long drivers use their back leg as a pivot point around which they wrap their swings. By rotating the body around the back leg, you allow your back shoulder to come over the front and turn into the ball. This move produces an upward blow into the golf ball. But first, you need to remember to get your front shoulder above your back knee at the top of the swing. The key to using the back leg, however, is not letting your body outrace the clubhead. So swing around your back leg and let your bigger muscles drive the ball. And stay behind your swing while releasing the hands at impact.

3. Turn Don’t Slide
To drive the ball hard you must transfer your weight properly, from one side of the body to the other. To do this you have to do two things: One is keep your back shoulder below your front shoulder through impact. The other is, as I just mentioned, staying behind the ball. I’d love to have a penny for every time I’ve said that in a golf lesson. Weekend golfers seem to violate this rule more than anyone, sliding instead of turning. You can’t shift your weight beyond your back leg on the backswing or beyond the forward knee on the downswing. If you do that you’ll direct your power at the ball, not the target.

4. Tee it High
If you’ve ever watched long drive contests on television, you’ll notice that the participants all tee the ball high. Most long drivers would agree that one of the keys to hitting the ball farther is teeing the ball higher. It needs to be above the clubhead at address to encourage an upward arc. On the backswing your front shoulder should be under your chin. On the downswing, your back shoulder should take the place of the left. The shoulders help initiate the necessary rotation when it comes to driving the ball.

Here’s a drill you can use to encourage longer drives. Try moving the tee a bit more forward in your stance four to six inches. This tee position encourages you to swing down and through the ball. And since you’ll be reaching farther. You’ll find that you need to extend your arms to make really solid contact. Now move the ball back to its normal position. You’ll quickly notice how much more effective your weight shift and arm extension.

5. Fire Down The Line
You may have heard this term during a golf instruction session or read it in one of my golf tips. What does it mean? Well, it doesn?t mean sliding your body toward the target, as some golfers think. It means directing your energy down the target line to produce longer, stronger drives. To do that you must leverage your upper body against your lower body. In other words, as the lower body stops on the backswing, the upper body keeps moving to produce torque. That way on the downswing the upper body can fire into the lower body for more power. Creating torque is the secret to hitting the ball farther. The more torque you produce, the farther you’ll hit it.

6. Narrower the Better
Most instructors tell you that to hit the ball farther you need to widen your stance to at least shoulder width. In fact, one of my recent golf tips carried that suggestion. Widening your stance provides a solid base from which to drive the ball. It also affords more balance. Better balance impacts your whole swing. But there is another school of thought that suggests doing the opposite. This school says that you should situate your feet the width of your hips, not your shoulders, apart. This narrower version of the stance they say allows you to make a bigger, longer coil. The bigger the coil, the more room you have to unwind and explode into the ball.

This last tip seems to be at odds with conventional wisdom. But like so many things in golf, what works for one person doesn’t work for everyone. That’s one of the intriguing things about the game. You can always find someone who does things differently and still plays well. The trick to lowering your golf handicap is finding what works for you. Try these tips next time your on the range. Keep what works for you and disregard the rest. String enough of them together and who knows how much extra distance you’ll get.

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.

We’ve all done it at least once. Coming over the top is an all too common problem among players with high golf handicaps. In fact, it’s one of the biggest faults I encounter with players who come to me for golf lessons. For some weekend golfers, however, coming over the top is more than just an occasional mistake. It’s a chronic problem. But it doesn’t have to be.

Swinging over the top delivers the clubhead from the top of the swing to impact on a path outside the target line and at an approach too steep to produce the desired ball flight. The result: a shot pulled into the left woods, a pull hook out of bounds, a weak pop-up that travels about 30 yards, or a weak slice to the right. The first thing you need to do, as I’ve mentioned in my golf tips, is finding what causes the problem.

The Causes
It’s not hard to spot the causes of this swing fault. They usually fall into four categories:

1. Incorrect pre-swing preparation
2. Mentally induced problems
3. Body-related problems
4. Club-related problems

Most of these problems are related in one way or another. Incorrect use of the body can cause the club to get out of position. The wrong mental approach can cause your body to work the wrong way. While a poor setup can cause all these problems.

Overcoming the Problem
The ultimate goal is to return the clubhead to the ball on a path inside the backswing path, have it travel along the target line, then swing inside or left of the line during the follow through. That’s the ideal. It’s what we should aim for almost every time we take a full swing.

Two concepts will help us overcome the problem: (1) keep the base of your spine closer to the target than the top of your spine on all full shots at address and throughout the swing, and (2) swing your arms freely, both going back and coming through, so your body does not unduly influence them.

Mentally Induced Errors
Two thoughts are particularly detrimental to developing a good golf swing. One is that power and effort are required to hit the ball long distances. The other is that the swing path should be inside out, from inside the target line coming down to outside it on the follow-through. Both thoughts can cause you to come over the top.

Curing mentally induced faults is accomplished by correctly blending the swing’s vertical, rotary, and lateral aspects. Swinging the arms freely, virtually independently of the shoulders, while the legs hips and lower torso turn to allow the club to get on the correctly plane, helps eliminate the problem. The Baseball Drill, in which you swing the club like a baseball bat, encourages you to swing the club freely.

Setup Problems
The correct setup is vital to swinging from the inside. The setup pitfalls that cause you to swing over the top fall into four categories?grip, ball position, posture, and aim and bodylines. Some players who take golf lessons from me commit all four errors at once or a combination of them the simultaneously.

Check your set up for the following: Make sure your grip is not too weak, your ball position not too far left, and your right shoulder not too high, causing the top of your spine to be too close to the target. Also, check your aim in relation to your bodylines. The bodylines?eyes, shoulders, hips knees, and feet?get twisted in relation to each other and the target line. Place a long rope on the ground toward the target, directly along the target line. Use it to align all your body angles.

Shaft Line Problem
Among the major causes of coming over the top is getting the club too far behind the shaft on the downswing, which can cause the hands get separated from the body starting back. But it’s easily corrected with this drill I use in golf instruction sessions. Place a clubshaft against the ball of your right foot (left foot for left-handers) Swing back to hip high. Keep the clubhead outside the hands. Your clubhead should be directly over and parallel to the clubshaft on the ground.

Incorrect Turning
To swing your arms back freely back and up and then down again, you must turn correctly. That blends the vertical, lateral, and rotary movements of your swing. Turing problems fall into two categories: (1) under turning of the hips, and (2) swaying to the right (left for left-handers). In practice, work on preventing these errors by turning the right hip off line while swinging the club up with the arms, which get the shoulders, upper torso, and shoulders fully turned. Practicing the Shaft, the Broom Handle, and the Front-loader drills, which I’ve described before in my golf tips, improve turning.

Coming over the top is among the weekend golfer’s most common swing faults. It usually provides some grim results. For some, it’s a chronic problem. If that’s you’ you don’t have to be plagued by this fault forever. Isolate what’s causing the problem based on the information in this article. Then work on correcting it. Through practice you’ll eliminate the problem and cut strokes from your scores. The final result: a lower 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.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter

May 2, 2007

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

1) Taking the Golf Digest Challenge
2) Swinging To A Balanced Finish
3) Question of the Week- Maintaining a Straight Left Elbow
4) Article- How To Stop Coming Over The Top
5) Article- Six Must-Haves For Incredible Power

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1) Taking the Golf Digest Challenge
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The Golf Digest Challenge is a fun way to improve your game. Found on Golf Digest’s Web site (www.golfdigest.com), the challenge offers a great way of generating better scores and lowering your golf handicap. It’s easy to take, has some neat features, and provides free prizes for doing so. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a thing to take. All you have to do is enter some information.

Here are 5 of the Challenge’s key features:

* Tracks scores and stats
* Long game/short game handicaps
* Tips and drills
* Lesson library with video drills
* Free practice plan

You start by entering a goal?a score you’d like to beat. Then, every time you play a round (18 holes), you enter your stats? your score, the number of putts and chips, the number of greens hit in regulation, and so on. A mulligan allows you to throw out a poor score. You also rate the course?easy, moderate, or difficult. Optional information includes the course’s rating and slope. If you want, you can print a scorecard to keep track of the information when playing.

The site crunches these numbers and feeds them back to you. It provides a progress tracker that shows you how you’re doing versus your goal, long game and short game handicaps, and stats on your chipping and pitching. It also provides a free practice plan designed specifically for you. The lesson library contains video drills on just about every facet of the game.

And if that isn’t enough, the Challenge lets you provide feedback on tips you’ve tried for others to read. Rate a tip and you’re automatically entered to win golf equipment from Cobra. Sign up and you’re eligible for a getaway golf trip from La Quinta Resorts, the site’s main sponsor.

Interactive learning tools like the Challenge are great fun. You not only learn, but you have fun doing also. They also break up the monotony of just going out there and playing or practicing with not feedback. They give you purpose and direction while speeding up the learning process.

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2) Swinging To A Balanced Finish
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We’ve all hit our share of awkward shots. Maybe we’ve fallen off to one side or the other or we stumbled forward. But it wasn’t pretty. Usually, finishing awkwardly is the result of trying to hit the ball too hard or to swing the club too fast. Weekend golfers are prone to swinging off balance because they play and/or practice less than more serious golfers. So their tempo and rhythm tend to be off, resulting in an awkward swing.

However, finishing in balance is critical, especially with iron place. Ideally, you want to end your swing with the spine straight, and your right shoulder over the left foot, if you’re right-handed, or with the left shoulder over the right foot, if you’re left-handed. Any stumbling forward or toppling off balance is a sure sign that there was something wrong with the swing.

One key to finishing in balance is the position of your right shoulder (for right-handers). Work on driving your right shoulder past your chin and toward the target. We call this getting “good extension.” It’s a positive image to have in mind as you swing the club down through impact. Also, continue to unwind your hips and upper body through the hitting zone. Don’t stop short as some golfers do.

The “Swish” Drill
What do you do if notice you’re finishing out of balance during a round? The Swish drill is a simple exercise that many top player use to regain tempo and rhythm quickly during a match.

Take a normal stance. Hover the clubhead about two feet above the ground. And swish it back and forth through impact. Concentrate on the sound the clubhead makes as it moves through the hitting zone. Without the ball getting in the way of the free-flow of the swing, the club should make a distinct “whoosh.” By repeating this exercise, you’ll encourage a smooth acceleration of the clubhead through impact. Now hit. Try to recreate the feeling in your swing.

While you can’t influence the flight of the ball after it’s been struck, proper follow-through is still important. If you finish in balance, your swing is probably free of major faults. In addition, concentrating on certain post-impact points, like a straight spine, can encourage improvements in the swing itself, influencing both impact and accuracy.

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3) Question of the Week- Maintaining a Straight Left Elbow
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From Thomas

Maintaining a Straight Left Elbow

Q: Hi! I have read many of your articles and they’re very useful in improving my game. I have a question about my golf swing. Lately, I have been plagued with elbow break- down at impact and follow-through. I have been working on trying to keep my left elbow straight but sometime it breaks down during the backswing. I keep getting mixed messages about the left arm in the backswing. Some instructors say to keep your arm straight during the backswing (make a wider arc) for more distance. Some say you don’t have to keep it straight during the backswing. It only matters when you’re at the impact area when the arm needs to be straight. Is there any suggestion or advice you can give me?

A: Your left arm (for a right-hander) must be straight at impact to hit the ball well. A straight left arm during the backswing is another matter. If you can keep it straight through the backswing, you’ll produce more distance because your swing radius is wider. But some people because of age, a lack of flexibility, injury, or what have you must bend the left arm a little during the backswing. That?s okay, as long as the rest of the swing is sound.

Sometimes a bent left arm is the result of over swinging, caused by an out-of-position right arm (for a right-hander). In addition to intentional swinging to hard, the two main causes of over swinging are loosing

(1) control of your grip at the top of your swing, or
(2) the natural width of your backswing because of a malfunctioning right arm.

The right arm controls the width of the swing arc. If the angle of the gap at the top of the swing between the right forearm and the right biceps is less than 90 degrees, you?ve over swung, forcing the left arm to bend in the process. An ineffective coiling of the torso often accompanies the over swinging.

The key to shortening your swing is re-establishing the correct width of your backswing arc. To do this, your right elbow must form a right angle as it folds back at the top of the swing, forming an ?L? shape. In this position your left arm is comfortably straight (not tense) and your club is parallel to the ground, assuming you hinge your wrists correctly. From there it is simply a matter of bringing the club down straight through impact.

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.

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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

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter05022007.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article- How To Stop Coming Over The Top
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/stopcomingovertop.html

5) Article- Six Must-Haves For Incredible Power
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/sixpowermoves.html

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.

Textbook authors used to say that there are five keys to marketing a product or service-product, positioning, place, price, and promotion. The keys were called the five P’s of marketing. Together, they provided a basic description of a marketing plan, with each P representing an essential stage in the marketing plan. If you executed each stage well, your marketing plan produced.

Golf also has its five key P’s-posture, precision, power, position, and practice. These keys have nothing to do with marketing and everything to do with honing your swing and slashing your golf handicap. Together, they provide a “snapshot” of a textbook swing designed to produce good ballstriking, with each P representing an important element of the swing. If you execute each element well, you generate a well-struck ball.

Posture
If you want a textbook swing-one that not only looks great, but also works efficiently -start at address. The more golf lessons I give, the more I’m convinced that posture is the most neglected fundamental among weekend golfers. It seems like they just get up there and hit, with little regard for posture at address. But good posture leads to a full shoulder turn. It doesn’t have to be as classic a posture as that of Adam Scott, a young gun on the pro tour. But it needs be correct, so check it in the mirror often.

Precision
Many golfers taking my golf lessons want to know how to hit the ball farther. They seldom ask about hitting a target more precisely. Precision emphasizes great effort in achieving accuracy, and accuracy is often the name of the game in golf. The more precise you are with your swings, the lower your golf handicap. Placing a 200-yar drive exactly in the right position beats hitting a 300-yard drive in the wrong position. Dropping a wedge on the right side of the green saves strokes. Landing it on the wrong side adds strokes. Whether your hitting a ball in practice our during a round, aim for precise placement.

Power
Power has its benefits. Long, accurate drives mean less distance to the green. The emphasis here, of course, is on length with accuracy. Length for length’s sake does you no good, as I mentioned above. If you’re going for extra power on a hole, widen your stance a little. It creates a solid base from which to swing and tilts your spine a little more, which also helps you stay behind the ball better.

A problem with weekend golfers is that their swings tend to get out of sync when they try to ramp up for more power. In short, they let their lower bodies outrace their upper bodies on their downswings. They also get too aggressive with their hips, which drops the club behind them. The result is blocks or hooks. Keep your hips quiet. Adam Scott again comes to mind. He does a great job of keeping his hips quiet, so his arms can swing past his body through impact.

Positioning
Golf has a lot to do with where you are on the golf course. Your location on the course means everything. A good lie on the fairway, for example, enables you to do a lot of things that a bad lie does not, like putting backspin on the ball. Positioning in golf is the art of putting your self in the right locations from which to hit the ball. When you’re out on the course, focus on positioning rather than on the mechanics of swinging the club. It’s is the best strategy for playing well, whether you’re in a tournament or with your regular Tuesday foursome.

Practice
Practicing is vital to improving your game. It hones your skills, builds your self-confidence, reduces your scores, and slashes your golf handicap. But you need to do it right. If you’re like me you have only so much time to practice, so make the most of it. To do so, organize your sessions into a structured program, with specific objectives clearly in mind. Focuses on your fundamentals and addressing your weaknesses. An organized practice program speeds learning, maintains focus, and cuts strokes.

There you have it-the five P’s of golf. They may not produce as many sales as the five P’s of marketing, but they’ll do a better job of improving your game, lowering your golf handicap, and having more fun on the course. Just don’t beat your boss the next time you play with him.

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.