Power and control define a good swing. Unfortunately, you don’t often see these things together in a single swing. Judging by the weekend players who take golf lessons from me, you find one and not the other. Usually, weekend payers who belt the ball a mile don’t know where it’s going. While weekend players who hit precise drives, don’t exactly crush the ball.

So how do you combine power and control in a single swing in a way that will cuts scores and shave strokes off you golf handicap? Extension.

If you’ve played golf long enough, you’ve heard the old saying “Extension means power.” Well, it’s true. To generate power, you must get your arms fully extended. But there’ only one-way to achieve the kind of extension you need to produce great power and control. You must keep your arms from crossing past your chest as you swing. If let them cross your chest too soon, you’ll short-circuit power and minimize control.

The Chicken Wing
During my years of giving golf lessons I haven’t gone a single day without seeing at least one player folding his or her left wrist and arm at impact. This fatal flaw is known as the “chicken wing.” Collapsing your left arm and wrist at impact does two things, both of which are bad: It not only prevents you from making consistently solid contact, it also causes inhibits control. So what creates the chicken wing?

The root cause for most players is a weak grip. With a weak grip the V formed between a player’s right forefinger and thumb points up the golfer’s left arm, if he’s right handed. At the same time, the left arm is turned toward the target, so that the player can’t see the knuckles on his or her left hand.

A weak grip causes the clubface to open during the backswing and remain open in the downswing. So instead of the clubface being perpendicular to the ground as you move to the top of your swing, it points skyward. This is known as the “open” position. I see this fault in golf instruction sessions given to players just starting out and to those who’ve been playing for a while. So no one is immune from it.

Power Drain
The chicken wing drains power. If a player swings down from the open position, he must square the clubface at impact to hit the ball straight and with power. The most common way for a golfer to do this is simple. She stops turning her chest. Instead, she passes her hands past her belt buckle and folds her left arm and wrist. In short, her arms outrace her chest. This flaw short-circuits power and hinders accuracy.

The most obvious way of eliminating this fault is correcting your grip. With the proper grip, the V formed by the right forefinger and thumb points up the right shoulder, not the left, an fundamental I’ve discussed in my golf tips. You should be able to see the brand name on the back of his or her golf glove and at least two knuckles on the left hand. You can easily monitor both positions when you look down to your grip in the address position.

Using the correct grip keeps the clubface square during the backswing. As a result, the club’s toe—not the face—points skyward. A good way to practice finding this position is by looking at the club as you take it back. Finding the correct position puts you into a good situation at the top of the backswing to execute a good downswing.

Using a stronger grip helps you achieve better club position on the takeaway. That in turn eliminates the need to stall your body and employ the chicken wing to square the clubface through impact. All you have to do is turn your body through the ball. Your arms will extend and the club will release automatically, the key to longer, straighter drives.

The Body Drill
A good way to ingrain the chest turn and arm extension is to practice the body drill. Take the club back to a position where your wrists are cocked and your left arm is extended, parallel to the ground. Now just turn your body all the way through the ball and try to stop half way through your follow through, with your arms fully extended and the club’s butt pointing at your belly button. Centrifugal force automatically makes the club release properly.

If you want to shave strokes off your golf handicap, you must develop a swing that exhibits power and control. You can only achieve that by fully extending your arms through impact, a position hampered by a weak grip. Check your grip the next time you’re at the practice range. If it’s weak, correct it. And work on the body drill described above. With practice, you’ll hit the ball longer, straighter, and with more control.

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.

===================================================
How To Break 80 Newsletter

September 26, 2007

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

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Using A One-Piece Takeaway
2) Conquering Uphill Chips
3) Question of the Week – Slow Down Your Swing
4) Article – Extension = Power and Control
5) Article – How Jim Stopped Pulling The Ball

Jack’s Note: The President’s Cup is this week and I’m certainly excited to watch what always turns out to be a solid match…sometimes more competitive than the Ryder Cup. We Americans really need to get back on track with the Europeans and get out of this slump but first we need to see what we can do to prevail in Montreal this week.

A couple of head’s up on two new products I have in development for you guys and gals. One is a DVD video that will focus entirely on the golf swing itself…nothing else. It’s awesome and look for it in the mid to late part of October. Second, I have a special treat for the LADIES. Yup, we have an outstanding instructional product coming out just for the girls and frankly…it’s about damn time. We hear from our women readers in growing numbers everyday and I thought it was about time to give them something tailored just for them. Stay tuned in mid October.

===================================================
1) Using A One-Piece Takeaway
===================================================
Golfers who use their hands to start their swings are asking for trouble. Using your hands to start our swing often results in picking up the clubhead too abruptly, leading to a narrowing of the swing arc and a choppy downswing. Neither of these is good. If you want to hit longer, straighter shots more consistently, use a one-piece takeaway to kick-start your swing.

Here are 5 keys to a one-piece takeaway:
1. Form a triangle in your mind
2. Take the triangle back
3. Move everything back together
4. Stay low and slow
5. Maintain shape until opposite your back leg

At address, picture your arms and hands forming an inverted isosceles triangle. To make a one-piece takeaway, focus on taking the triangle back with your chest and naval. Concentrate on bringing the club back low and slow. Sense that you’re using the bigger muscles in your shoulders and trunk. Maintain the triangle’s shape until opposite your back leg, then start hinging your wrists.

To see if you’re doing this correctly, place a second ball about a foot behind your object ball—just inside the ball-to-target line. Now take the club back. If you sweep the second ball away smoothly as you move your triangle back, you’re using a one-piece takeaway. If not, try this drill:

One-Piece Drill
Select your driver. Choke down on the club a few inches. Place the butt end of he club at a point just above your belt. Now practice making small swings. Concentrate on keeping your arms close to your sides with the club touching your navel. This drill imparts the feel of a one-piece takeaway.
The first move away from the ball is critical. It determines the shape and tempo of your swing. Focus on taking the club back low and slow using a one-piece takeaway. Work on drills to generate this feeling. The benefit: Ingraining a one-piece takeaway helps you hit longer, straighter shots more consistently.

===================================================
2) Conquering Uphill Chips
===================================================
We’ve all played on courses that have elevated greens. So we’ve all had an uphill chip to save par at one time or another. While the shot isn’t intimidating, it is tricky. If you’re not careful with this shot, you can leave yourself with a long putt instead of an easy two-footer.

Some golfers like to play this lie as a normal chip shot. But playing this lie that way—where you hinge your wrists and take a steep downward stroke—often results in a fat shot, leaving you well short of the hole. That’s because the club gets stuck in the ground on the downswing. To chip it close, try a different approach.

Below are 5 keys to the shot:
1. Take a less lofted club
2. Avoid hinging your wrists
3. Stay low to the ground
4. Sweep the ball of the grass
5. Follow the angle of the slope

To avoid hitting a fat shot, take a less lofted club and sweep the ball off the grass. That eliminates the chances of hitting into the ground. The upslope helps drive the ball in the air while the longer club provides more distance. Keep the club low to the ground on the backswing and follow the angle of the upslope on the through swing. You want to make sure the club head goes from low to high on the shot.

The sweeping motion results in a cleaner hit than a normal chip shot because it picks the ball of the grass. When the ball lands on the green, it won’t check up as with a normal chip shot. That’s because the sweeping motion doesn’t put backspin on the ball.
Try this shot next time you have an uphill chip on the back or side of the green. Well executed, it will leave you closer to the hole with a short putt for par and save you a stroke or two.

===================================================
3) Question of the Week – Slow Down Your Swing
===================================================
Q. Hi, Jack, I’m a senior that plays to an 18 handicap. I recently purchased a new driver and make great contact and hit it far and straight on the practice tee. However, on the course, I’m pulling the ball to the left. Contact with the ball is still solid. The new driver has a stiff shaft, where the old driver has a regular shaft. I get much better distance (+25 to 30 yards) with the new driver, but I can’t solve the pull problem. Can you help?

Richard Johnson
Buffalo, NY

A. Thanks, Richard. The problem may be more mental than physical. Having hit the ball longer and straighter on the practice tee, you may be swinging the club harder (and faster) when on the course in an effort to generate distance. Swinging harder can cause you to pull the ball. Slow down your swing when on the course. If that causes you to lose distance, here are some other things to try:
* Switch shafts. Try a driver with a regular or a senior shaft. Shaft flex impacts, either directly or indirectly, accuracy, trajectory, and distance. A regular or senior shaft provides more whip and, hence, more distance and is easier to swing, if its graphite.

* Work on your body. As a senior, you want to increase your flexibility. Hook a broom handle behind your back and hold it in place with your arms. Rotate to the right and hold for a count of seven. Then rotate to the left and count seven. Work on this drill for five minutes a day. It will lengthen your swing and increase your distance.

* Change your stance. Try using a slightly closed stance. Stand with your feet fairly close together, then pull your right foot and hip back (right-handers) until your body is in a closed position. This will help you turn your right side out of the way on the backswing.

Now with the ball back a little in your stance, take a swing. Don’t be afraid to raise your left heel or allow your left arm to bend a little to complete your backswing. The relaxed position at the top lets you move through the ball freely and use your hands and arms to snap the clubhead through, adding distance.

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/newsletter09262007.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Extension = Power and Control
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/maximize.html

5) Article – How Jim Stopped Pulling The Ball
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/pulls.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.

If I asked students who take my golf lessons how critical good rhythm is to a good swing, most would agree that it’s important, but not the most important factor. Many weekend golfers would probably agree with this assessment. But a new device developed by a professor at Yale reveals that good rhythm is more important to chopping strokes off your golf handicap than many think.

Bob Grober, a professor of applied physics at Yale University—and a one-handicapper— recently invented a device for translating the rhythm of a swing into sound. Here’s how it works: A small wireless transmitter inserted into the butt end of a club detects the club’s movement. The signal produced is transmitted to an iPod-sized unit attached to the player’s waist. The auditory signal is relayed to a set of lightweight headphones and the sound manifests itself as a pleasing organ-like tone when the player swings.

If your clubhead is decelerating through impact, your transition from backswing to downswing is too abrupt, or your mechanics are way out of sync, Grober’s device tells you through sound. The faster the club travels, the louder the volume and the pitch. The idea is to make the loudest sound at impact, not before. Grober’s device also registers how fast the club is moving on the downswing, and gives you a start-to-finish speed profile. It’s a handy tool for serious golfers.

Swing Profiles
Using this device, Grober was able to isolate three distinct speed profiles among golfers.
Golfers with high golf handicaps (20+) are cursed with lousy rhythm. They’re like dancers who have two left feet, always tripping over themselves. Golfers with golf handicaps from 20 to 5—intermediate golfers— tend to complete their swings too quickly. The loudest sound comes just before impact.

Then there are golfers with golf handicaps below 5. Let’s call them tour players. They also tend to rush their swings but to a much lesser degree than intermediate golfers. Like the intermediate golfers, these players create the loudest sounds just before impact, but they do it much less often than with the intermediate golfers. More often than not, their loudest sound comes right at impact, which explains why they hit the ball so well.

The Left Wrist
Two places exist in your swing where you must have a flat left wrist, if you’re right-handed. (For left-handers, it’s a flat right wrist.) One place is at impact. The other is at the top of your backswing. You generally don’t have one without the other. Weekend players tend to cup their left wrists at the top of the backswing. Lifting your hands too steeply above the swing plane causes an open clubface and a cupped left wrist.

Instead, the left wrist should be in line with your left forearm t the top of the swing, putting the clubshaft in the right position to come into the ball at impact. One way I teach players to do that in my golf lessons is to imagine the logo on your glove, as well as the clubface, point toward the sky as you reach the top of your backswing. Another technique is to feel as if the clubface stays slightly “hooded” in the backswing. By hooded, I mean pointing toward the ground. Either trick assures a flat left wrist at the top of your backswing.

Rotate the Clubface
You need to rotate the clubface into the ball to square it at impact. Most players don’t rotate the clubface enough on the downswing or they rotate it much too late. The clubface needs to start rotating just before impact and finish just after impact. Take a few practice swings without a ball and stop just after the impact point to see if your hands are in the right position. Your glove hand should be below your non-glove hand just after impact. If it’s not, you need to rotate the clubface more.

Here’s a technique from Jack Nicklaus I’ve written about in my golf tips and used in my golf lessons. It helps you rotate your clubface properly and shape your shots. Jack used to turn the toe of the clubface past the heel at impact to draw the ball from left to right. He felt that having the toe beat the heel to the ball encourages the clubface to close through impact. It’s a great technique for correcting a slice.

Although the problems are different, slicing and hooking have a common cause. If your clubface is off at impact, one of the two swing flaws will result. If your serious about improving your game and lowering your golf handicap, you must eliminate these swing flaws as much as possible. Make sure you have the right grip, maintain a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing, and rotate the clubface sufficiently and you’ll hit the ball long and straight every time.

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.

Sinking more putts, as I’ve said in my golf tips, is the key to quickly lowering your golf handicap. You use your putter more than any other club in the bag. Think about it. Two-putting each hole during a round means you used your putter 36 times. That’s anywhere from 30 percent to 40 percent of most scores. Yet the average golfer spends far less time practicing his or her putting than working on his driving or chipping.

If that’s you, then you need to make the most of your time on the practice green. Develop a routine practicing your putting that makes use of every minute you’re on the green. Try sinking every putt you take, unless you’re practicing your lag putting. And include drills in your practice routine designed to improve your putting fundamentals. Below are three great putting drills I’ve used in my golf lessons over the years designed to hone your putting skills.

Steady Head Drill
Among the most common mistakes I see in my golf lessons is a player moving his or her head while putting. We all know we should keep our heads still during a putt. And many of us do. But some players still have a hard time doing it. They look up to see where the ball is going once they’ve hit the putt. That’s only natural. Moving your head hampers accuracy. To put well, you have to keep your head down and steady throughout the stroke. The Steady Head drill teaches you that.

Assume your normal putting stance, with your eyes fixed directly over the ball. Have your partner hold your head while you hit the putt, releasing it only after you’ve made contact with the ball. Keep looking at the spot where the ball was after you’ve made contact and count to three. Then look up to see where the ball went. Some teachers recommend staring at the spot where the ball was until you hear the ball fall in the cup. That works, too.

Eyes Closed Drill
Golf teachers often talk about “feel” in their golf instruction sessions. All great putters have great feel when it comes to putting. It’s among the most important attributes you can develop when it involves the flat stick Your goal, once you’ve determined your line and assessed your speed requirements, is to remember the feel of a good putting stroke when you hit the ball. Feel can only be developed through practice. This drill helps you develop more feel.

You’ll need a partner for this drill. After you’ve taken your putting stance and fixed your eyes directly over the ball, have your partner putt his hand between your eyes and the ball, blocking you vision. Now putt the ball. If you don’t have a partner, close your eyes just before hitting the ball.

This drill encourages you to really feel the movement of your arms. You may fined that the slower they move, the more consistent your putting. Plus. it’s a great exercise for learning distance control. Hit 10 putts with someone holding their hand in front of your face or with your eyes closed. See how many you can sink. Then try another spot on the green.

Ball Between The Knees Drill
Another common putting error I see in my golf lessons is a lack of stability. To putt well consistently, you must have great stability. Unfortunately, weekend golfers tend to move their lower bodies when they putt. That’s a fatal mistake, but one that an be corrected with the help of a big rubber ball.

Take your normal putting stance on the practice green. Then wedge a rubber ball between your legs. Now squeeze the ball slightly with your thighs. Keeping the ball tight between your legs creates a solid foundation for your putting. Now hit some putts. Hitting putts this way helps develop a real feel for stability, essential to achieving a consistent putting stroke.

Work on these three drills from a variety of spots on the practice drill. They encourage better putting by ingraining three key putting fundamentals. If you keep practicing them, you’ll eventually sink more putts per round, lowering your scores and golf handicap. You take more shots per round with your putter than any other club in your back. Mka them all good ones.

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.