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How To Break 80 Newsletter

June 27, 2007

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

1) Sink More Putts by Squaring Up the Putter
2) Find the “Slot” To Hit For Power
3) Question of the Week – Pitching It Close from the Fairway
4) Article – Unleashing the Power in Your Hands
5) Article – Five Most Common Putting Mistakes

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1) Sink More Putts by Squaring Up the Putter
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You can sink more putts by squaring up the putter. Many golfers hold the putter the same way they hold their other clubs, with either an overlapping or an interlocking grip. The standard overlapping and interlocking grips allow the putter to rotate too much in your hands when striking the ball. Club rotation can really hurt your putting, especially when it comes to those dead straight putts.

To improve your putting, you need to hold the club so it stays square to the arc of your stroke, which is called squaring up the putter. One way to square up a putter is to use the “reverse-overlap” grip—a favorite among tour professionals. The grip keeps the putter’s face square to the arc of your stroke and the face going down the target line.

Here’s a four-step routine to achieve the perfect reverse overlap grip:

* Hold the club perpendicular to the ground. This makes it easier to remember the right way of gripping the club. If you ground the club, you may forget to grip the club correctly or invent your own grip. Either way spells trouble.

* Place your left hand (for right-handers) on the putter handle, with your fingers around the grip and your thumb pointing directly down the putter’s shaft. Keep your left index finger off the shaft.

* Put the fleshy part of your right hand on the flat part of your grip and wrap the fingers around the shaft. Make sure your thumb points straight down the shaft. At this point, all your fingers should be wrapped around the putter except your left index finger.

* Now slide your right hand down the shaft until your left thumbnail is covered by the fleshy part of your hand. Both thumbs should point straight down the shaft and your left index finger should overlap the fingers of your right hand.

The reverse-overlap grip offers one of the best approaches to squaring the putter to the arc of the stroke. That’s why so many pros use it. If you aren’t using this grip now, try it on the practice green first, then take it to the course. You’ll find it works well especially on those dead-straight putts.

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2) Find the “Slot” To Hit For Power
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Teaching pros call it the “slot.” And they tell you if you want to hit for power, you need to find it on your swing. What is the slot and where is it on your swing? It’s the spot where the shaft angle runs parallel to the plane of your swing, which is established by the golfer at setup.

Finding the slot is the key to generating power for one simple but critical reason. It allows you to completely extend your arms through impact. The more you’re able to extend your arms through impact, the more power you can generate. Finding the slot leads to vastly improved ballstriking and increased power.

Here are five keys to finding the slot position in your swing. These keys are for right-handers. Left-handers just need to reverse hands:

1. Perpendicular left arm
2. Right elbow bent back
3. Shaft parallel to right forearm
4. Club behind your butt
5. Shoulder slightly closed

How do you know when you’re in the slot position? You’re in the slot when your hands are at hip height, and the left arm is perpendicular to the ground, with the left hand flat or slightly bowed and the base of the knuckles of the left hand pointing straight down. The right hand should be bent back with the right elbow in front of the hip.

The club’s shaft is parallel with the right forearm while club is behind your butt, with the clubface perpendicular to the ground. The shoulders should be slightly closed with the hips not quite parallel to the target line.

The easiest way to find this slot is to take a few minutes working with a mirror at home. Stand in front of the mirror and practice posing in the right position until the feeling of being in the slot becomes familiar. Work on it until it becomes ingrained. Then take it to the course.

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3) Question of the Week – Pitching It Close from the Fairway
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Q. Hi, Jack. Enjoy this site tremendously!

I’m hitting the ball better than ever. But I’m stuck in the 84-89 range. Seems like every time that I need to pitch from 5-40 yards off the green, I end up leaving myself an 8-20ft putt. I’ve worked on my short game (chips are fine), but I feel that if I can get the ball closer when pitching within 5-40yards, that I’ll probably have a better chance to break 80.

Any tips/recommendations? I’m not opposed to practicing a lot.

Thanks,
Joel Saunders

A. Thanks for the question.

Learning to pitch accurately is a two-stage process. The first stage involves building better technique. The second involves learning how to judge distances. Below are 5 keys to building better technique:

1. Open your stance
2. Aim the clubface at target
3. Make a shorter backswing
4. Clear the left side
5. Release the clubhead

To pitch it close, you must strike the ball with a crisp, descending blow. Position the ball at your stance’s midpoint, and make sure that the club’s shaft and your left arm (for right-handers) are in a straight line, ensuring ball-then-turf contact. Open your stance a little at address, but aim the clubface directly at the target, just as if your feet were parallel. Opening your stance curbs the movement of the lower body, which in turn shortens your back swing.

Also, grip down on the club. Gripping down on the club shortens your backswing, while providing increased club control. The closer you hands are to the ball, the better control you have. With the open stance and the left side clear, your hands have room to strike the ball squarely. Release the clubhead freely through impact and then move smoothly into your follow-through.

The only way to improve distance control is by practicing. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Below are two approaches to help improve accuracy.

(1) The Body-controlled Approach
Assume your normal pitching address position. Place a towel across your chest and under your armpits. Choke down on the grip for more control and make short compact swings, keeping the towel under your armpits as you swing. At the same time, vary the speed of your body turn. If you have a 20-yard shot, think in terms of turning your body at one speed. If you have a 30-yard shot, think in terms of turning your body at a slightly faster speed. The longer the pitch, the faster you turn your body. Vary the length of your shots so you’ll get practice at different lengths.

(2) The “Pitching Zone” Approach
A pitching zone is a safe area where you’re can pitch from comfortably and confidently. Work hard in practice on developing a pitching zone. Once you’ve done it, try pitching from that area as often as possible. The goal is to land your shots in the zone when approaching the green, so you’ll have an easier shot. Jose Marie Olazabal used this approach during a recent tournament. Having driven into trouble, he asked his caddie: “What club will give me 92 yards to the flag for my next shot.” Olazabal was aiming for a spot on the fairway where he was confident he could get up and down from to save par. Establishing a “pitching zone” gives you a strength to play to when you need it.

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/newsletter06272007.html
Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Unleashing the Power in Your Hands
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/hands.html

5) Article – Five Most Common Putting Mistakes
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/puttmistakes.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.

Most professional golfers stay in shape. Tiger Woods works at it. Phil Mickelson works at it. Even the young guns on the tour work at it. There’s a good reason why. In every activity, links exist between physical weaknesses and mechanical flaws. Strengthening specific muscles not only prevents injury, it improves performance. It stands to reason, then, if you strengthen the right areas of your body, you’ll play better and lower your golf handicap.

So what area of the body should you work on to increase power? Believe it or not, it’s your hips. Of all the muscles responsible for generating power, none separates players with exceptional power from those with average power than the hips. That’s what scientists are gleaning from results generated by studies conducted on the golf swing. If you want longer drives, your path is simple: take golf lessons to perfect your swing and work hard to strengthen your hips.

This idea would seem to square with what we know from experience, whether we’re talking about golf or another sport. Take baseball, for example. Ask most hitting coaches on professional teams and they’ll tell you that a player’s power comes from his hips. Even Ted Williams, arguably the greatest hitter of all time, said the same thing. Players get power from their hips. So it makes sense that golfers looking to generate more power should focus their hips.

Interest in Fitness Increasing
Interest on the tour in physical conditioning has increased over the last decade. Previously, golfers spent far more time working on their swings than their bodies. About the only PGA golfer known for re-shaping his body during his playing days was Jack Nicklaus. But that’s all changed. PGA pros now spend time both in the gym working on their bodies and on the practice tee taking golf lessons from their swing coaches.

Even the great swing coaches, like David Ledbetter, are getting hip to fitness. Ledbetter offers his own fitness program for getting in golfing shape. Par Without Pain is an eight-week fitness program based on an analysis of a player’s swing. The program is available at the David Ledbetter Golf Academy near Orlando and at Dick’s Sporting Goods Store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

With this program, the player’s swing is biomechanically measured and a golf-specific musculoskeletal assessment done. Then a customized exercise program is prescribed. Two months later the player returns to be re-tested and might be given a follow-up exercise regimen. To date, the program has shown some significant increases by participants in terms of driving distance. One key goal of the program is increasing hip strength.

Scientific Studies Backup Theory
Scientific studies done by major universities would seem to back up the relationship of hips to power. One study that sifted through data from more than 700 golfers, including 35 PGA pros, yielded some interesting results. As expected, strength and flexibility of the shoulders and torso were important. But when it came to power, the hip abductors proved the key discriminators between those with average power and those with more power.

Hip abductors are the muscles that engage when you move your legs apart. According to the study, stress equal to two or three times the golfer’s body weight is placed on the hips immediately before impact. On average the study found that those who had more power were 30 percent stronger in the hips.

Unfortunately, the balance and trunk stability provided by the hips is often overlooked in golf. Golfers with weak hips are predisposed to commit swing errors that hinder their game and make them prone to injury. Even players with perfect swings can be susceptible from heavy amounts of practice. But the tide is shifting. Players are focusing on more on their hips as sources of power.

Gaining Hip Strength
Taking Ledbetter’s program would be nice. But you don’t have to invest a lot to increase hip strength. If you belong to a health club, it probably has machines designed to strengthen your hip abductors and your hip adductors—those muscles that engage when you close your hips. Two to three sets of these each time you visit your club will help. Combine these exercises with exercises designed to strengthen other areas of your lower body and you’ll build a solid foundation for your swing.

If you don’t belong to a help club or you don’t have the time to visit one, you can still do some simple exercises designed to strengthen and stretch your hip muscles. For example, try sitting on a chair and slowly turning completely from one side to the other while keeping your lower body straight. Another is standing on one foot and slowly moving your elevated foot from side to side in front of you. Do sets of 10 for best results.

Strengthening your hips helps generate more power, improve your swing, and knock down that golf handicap. But why stop there? If you really want to improve your golf game, try getting in better shape with a complete work out program. It will also help extend your life. So why not do it? You’ll not only enjoy your time on the course more, you’ll also enjoy your life more.

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

June 20, 2007

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

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Losing Your Grip
2) The Ultimate Power Move
3) Question of the Week – Getting Out of a Wet Bunker
4) Article – Getting Hip to Power
5) Article – Golf’s Radical New Swing: Stack and Tilt

Jack’s Note: What a US Open, huh? Tiger couldn’t swing it and Cabrera played flawlessly. Congratulations to Wally T. for selecting Angel Cabrera on Friday. Wally was the only person to select him and will receive a product of his choice from my staff. Also, wonder why players like Aaron Baddeley are playing so well lately? It’s the latest rage in swing instruction called “Stack and Tilt” and he’s a model student. I’ve put together an article for you to review it and I’m sure it’ll open your eyes to an alternative to the conventional swing.

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1) Losing Your Grip
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Losing your grip is a major swing flaw. Any loosening of your hands during your swing causes you to re-grip at some point, disrupting the clubface’s alignment before impact. Where you hit the ball is anybody’s guess.

Golfers usually lose their grips at the top of their swings. Players who overswing are particularly prone to this flaw, which usually takes one of two forms:

1. either the fleshy part of the right hand (for right-handers) becomes detached from the left thumb or
2. the last three fingers on the left hand (for right-handers) work loose from the butt end of the grip.

While you shouldn’t grip a club too tightly, three pressure points help you maintain control of the club:

1. Wrap the last three fingers of your left hand (for right-handers) fairly firmly around the club’s butt end.
2. Apply some slight pressure with your left thumb as you place the lifeline of your right palm upon it.
3. And apply some pressure from your right index finger as it pushes against the shaft, sealing your grip.

To test grip pressure, try this drill: Take several long blades of grass and place them between the fleshy heel of your left hand (for right-handers). Put the rest over your left thumb, extended down the shaft, to be trapped by the fleshy part of your right hand as you place it over the left.

Now hit some shots with a wedge. Keep your overall grip pressure constant, so that the grass stays in place. Having completed your swing, check to see that your hands are in the same place when you complete the swing as they were at address. As you work up to full shots, you’ll begin appreciating the value of hands-on control.

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2) The Ultimate Power Move
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Vijay Singh has a powerful swing. He sets up slightly open for his favorite shot, a gentle fade with his irons and a power fade with the driver. At the start of the swing, he rotates everything away from the target and his left knew breaks to the right. During the downswing, his hips rotate toward the ball, his knees stay flexed, and his feet remain firmly planted. At impact, his right heel is off the ground and his arms and hands are close to his body.

Nothing is forced. Everything is smooth and relaxed. Yet he is able to drive the ball with the best of them. What’s the secret to Vijay’s power? Let’s look at some of the keys to his swing:

* Slow turn to the top
* Full shoulder turn
* Quiet start down
* Active legs
* Superior extension

While these keys are important to great ballstriking, the real secret to Vijay’s power is his great rhythm. Everything is fluid and rhythmical in his swing, which starts with a slow, smooth turn to the top. A slow turn produces a longer turn and generates power. Weekend golfers speed up the turn to the top in an effort to drive the ball, which short-circuits power instead of increasing it.

When Vijay really needs a big drive, he focuses on making a full shoulder turn. The farther back he goes, the more energy he stores. And the more power is unleashed when he lets go. He doesn’t hurry his backswing and he doesn’t speed up his downswing, like a lot of weekend golfers. He takes it nice and slow.

If you’re serious about increasing your power, work on creating rhythm in your swing, making a slow turn, and completing a full shoulder turn. These three things will help you generate more power. You may not hit the ball as far as Vijay if you master these moves, but you’ll hit the ball farther than you ever have with the same effort.

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3) Question of the Week – Getting Out of a Wet Bunker
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Q. Hi, Jack:

We all know how we should play a bunker shot. We may not execute it correctly, but we know the theory. My problem is with rain-soaked, firmly packed bunkers. I try to play a normal bunker shot and take three shots to get out, or pick it off the top and end up 30 yards over the green. How do I play this shot?

Regards,
Phil Howley
Auckland, New Zealand

A. Great question.

Getting out of a wet bunker is tricky. The wetness adds a whole other dimension to the shot. Here’s one approach:

Determine the sand’s hardness by testing it with your shoes before hitting. That will tell you if the sand is hard-packed, just firm, or soft with a thin crust. If the sand is hard packed or firm, replace your sand wedge with a pitching wedge. It digs in and under the ball better than a sand wedge, which helps prevent skulling.

* If the sand is hard-packed, play the ball as you would from hard dirt. Square the blade, play the ball back in your stance, set the hands ahead of the ball, and pick the ball cleanly off the surface.

* If the sand is firm, set up a little wider than usual, make a low sweeping takeaway, and hit down briskly about an inch behind the ball.

* If the sand has a thin crust, play the shot as a typical bunker shot. Use a sand wedge, especially if the sand is deep and powdery.

Be wary of bunkers with loose sand over a hard surface—the trickiest of all bunker shots. Attack these with a heavy-flanged wedge, like the sand wedge. Your club will glide smoothly out of the sand, unless you dig a little too deeply into the hard underbelly. When that happens, the club head slows down, causing you to leave the ball in the sand.

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

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter06202007.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Getting Hip to Power
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/hippower.html

5) Article – Golf’s Radical New Swing: Stack and Tilt
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/stacktilt.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

===================================================
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.

A single decision often determines who wins or loses PGA championships. Make the wrong decision and it can cost you. It can also be a painful golf lesson. Make the right decision, however, and you can find yourself slipping on a green jacket at Augusta, not to mention collecting a whole lot of money. That’s why great professional golfers carefully weigh every option before hitting. A slight mistake can cost them a championship and a sizeable purse.

Weekend golfers seldom face on-course decisions with consequences like those of the pros. A bad decision here or there may cost them several strokes, but it won’t cost them a championship and thousands of dollars in prize money. Nevertheless, weekend golfers also need to learn to weigh on-course decisions carefully. The additional strokes generated by bad decisions hurt one’s scores and boost golf handicaps. If you’re serious about driving that handicap down, you must learn to make good on-course decisions.

One of the more common decisions weekend golfers face is whether to play boldly or lay-up on long par 5s. In golf discretion is often the better part of valor. So most amateurs are better off playing the hole conservatively, rather than aggressively. But sometimes the situation dictates otherwise. How do you know when? Examining an on-course decision made by Argentina’s Roberta de Vicenzo during the final round of the 1967 British Open proves instructional.

The Situation
The 1967 British Open took place at the Royal Liverpool, Holyoke, England. De Vicenzo arrived at the 16th hole, a long par 5, leading Jack Nicklaus by three strokes. Nicklaus was at the height of his game and was playing well. Playing in front of de Vicenzo, he had just birdied the hole, exerting pressure on the Argentinean. De Vicenzo was faced with a critical decision—play this dangerous par 5 safely or try for a birdie to maintain his lead.

The 16th hole at Royal Liverpool is no walk in the park. A practice tee dominates the hole. One corner of the tee, which runs along most of the length of the 16th hole, protrudes onto the fairway. A low wall marks the practice tee and out-of-bounds. Two bunkers on the left also threaten the drive, with three others guarding the green. Only a long drive down the right will put the green in range.

Playing the Hole
The safe way to play the hole is to play right of the fairway bunker, and lay-up on the second shot far left of the practice tee, leaving a pitch shot to the green. Two deep bunkers to the right of the green threaten any attempt to play the second shot across the practice tee, which in any case involves considerable carry. Given this situation, the decision to play aggressively must be made on the tee.

De Vicenzo was an excellent ballstriker and a prodigious driver of the ball, so reaching the green in two was well within his capabilities. He was also a shrewd strategist. He decided to attack, knowing full well that he would have to flirt with the out-of-bounds to give himself any chance of making a birdie.

The Argentinean started badly. He pushed the ball a little too close to the wall that marked the out-of-bounds and the practice tee. But his 3-wood into the green was perfectly struck. It flew over the wall carrying all the trouble and settled onto the heart of the green. Two putts gave him the birdie, snuffing out any chance Nicklaus had of overtaking him. It was de Vicenzo’s only major victory.

What We Can Learn
De Vicenzo’s strategy was a classic example of playing the bold shot in a tight situation. He knew the shot was risky and that if he misplayed his drive it would cost him strokes and, perhaps, the championship. But he knew the shot was well within his capabilities, so opted to play boldly, protecting his lead and providing us with a highly instructive golf lesson.

The danger for amateur players is playing boldly when chances of success are marginal or when the shot is well beyond their capabilities. Being aggressive when you need to pull off a miracle shot you’ve never made before is not smart golf. Make enough bad decisions and your scores and golf handicap will balloon. In golf discretion is often the better part of valor.

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.