Golf Tips and Instruction- November 14, 2007
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How To Break 80 Newsletter
November 14, 2007
“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
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In this issue we’ll discuss…
1) Hitting The Long Bunker Shot
2) The Eyes Have It
3) Question of the Week – Preventing Yourself From Raising Up On Your Toes
4) Article – Pumping Up Your Game
5) Article – Hitting Good Approach Shots
Jack’s Note:
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1) Hitting The Long Bunker Shot
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The long bunker shot is one of the harder shots in golf. The trick is to get the ball to fly high, and then drop softly on the green. Not an easy task. Many weekend golfers fail in this situation because they try to play a professional level shot that takes a lot of practice to learn and skill to execute. But you can hit the ball high and let it drop softly on the green without doing anything fancy.
The five keys to hitting the long bunker shot are
1. Take your normal stance
2. Grip down lightly on the club
3. Cup the back of the left wrist
4. Maintain the cup on the back of the left wrist
5. Let the arms and hands fall together
To hit this shot, use a normal set-up. Position the ball just inside your front heel, with your stance slightly open and the clubface aimed at the target. Employ an inside-to-square-to inside swing path.
Once you’ve taken your stance, address the ball by gripping down on the club and applying light to moderate pressure. This allows your wrists to hinge freely and enhances your feel for the clubhead. Point the butt of the shaft at your stomach, which cups the left wrist and adds loft to the clubface.
As you start your backswing, cup the back of your left wrist. This adds loft to the clubface, and turns a 55- to 60-degree wedge into a 60- to 70-degree wedge. You’ll need a lot of spin on the ball with this shot, and the key to achieving it is creating a wide arc during your backswing by keeping your hands as far from your shoulders as possible.
On the way down, maintain the cup of the left wrist. Feel as if you’re pulling down with the left arm and lock the back of the left wrist, allowing the clubface to slide through heavy grass without it closing and guaranteeing a high, soft shot. Finally, let the hands and wrist fall together as the body weight shifts to the outside of the left foot. Keep your head behind the ball by trying to peek under it at impact.
While the shot isn’t difficult to execute, it does take practice to master it. So work on it when you get a chance. The effort is worth it because being able to hit the ball high and drop it softly on the green, instead of hitting a screaming pull, eliminates unnecessary strokes from your score.
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2) The Eyes Have It
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The alignment of your eyes has a significant impact on your putting. That’s because they affect the way your putterhead moves through the ball at impact. To be a good putter, your eyes have to be running parallel to the target line at set-up. If they’re not, you’ll probably miss to the right or left.
The way your head tilts at set-up plays a major role in the way you align your eyes to the target line. Basically, if your head tilts toward your right shoulder, your eyes will tend to aim toward the right of the target line. If your head tilts toward your left shoulder, your eyes will tend to aim toward the left of the target line.
So how do you check to see if your head and eye alignment are correct at set-up? One of he best ways is to place a club on the ground and point it directly at the hole. Take your putting stance with the center of your putter face resting on the shaft of the club on the ground.
Now, without altering your head, place your putter along your eye line and see if it’s parallel to the shaft on the ground. If it isn’t, your head and eye alignment is off. Repeat the test until the proper position becomes second nature. At that point, your pushes and pulls should dwindle.
While the greenside lob is a challenge for most weekend golfers, it doesn’t have to be your undoing, not if you follow the keys we list below.
Six keys to hitting a lob over a greenside bunker:
* Check out your lie
* Take a nearly full swing
* Drop the club into the ball
* Keep the clubface pointed to the sky
* Let your legs and body rotate
* Keep your head stable and centered
The key to making this shot is the lie. Check it out carefully before making a decision. If you have a tight lie, you won’t be able to slide your club under the ball and you’ll skull it. If have a fluffy lie, you’ll get under the ball too much and dump it into the bunker. Neither mistake is good. So get a firm sense of how much grass is behind the ball and how much air is under it before deciding what to do.
Once you’re committed, assume a slightly open stance, take a full backswing, and “drop” the club into the ball, popping it up. Keep the clubface pointed to the sky as you complete a short follow-through. And let your legs and body rotate forward, but keep your head stable and centered. If you’re in deeper rough, make a slightly faster swing to compensate for the grass.
You’ll need to work on this shot in practice to master distance control. Place a club 15 yards ahead of you and try landing shots just past it. With practice, you’ll learn to stop properly and to stop worrying about coming up short. You’ll also build confidence. Eventually, you’ll master the shot.
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3) Question of the Week – Preventing Yourself From Raising Up On Your Toes
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Q. Hi Jack, I can’t seem to keep myself from raising up on my toes when I hit off a tee. I try concentrating on staying down, but then just as I start thru the shot I raise up on my left toe and top my tee shot. I also have a pretty quick backswing which I’m sure doesn’t help my problem.
Any suggestions would be really helpful.
Jerry Salmon
Brownsburg, Indiana
A. Thanks for the question, Jerry. Many golfers suffer from the same problem. Often, it’s the result of poor posture. They bend too far over from the waist at address, causing their weight to shift forward. If you’re bent over too much, your shoulders turn too much, creating a reverse weight shift. This in turn moves the body’s weight over the left leg (right leg for left-handers) rather than the right leg on the backswing. Once the weight shifts left, disaster usually follows.
Use a full-length mirror to check your posture. Stand sideways to the mirror, then take your driver and assume your usual stance. Check your posture in the mirror to see how far forward you are. You should be bending from the hips, not the waist. If you’re not, take a few minutes every day and practice assuming the proper stance. Soon you’ll no longer find yourself hitting off your toes.
If your posture is okay, trying hitting off a sloped surface, one where the ball is slightly above your feet at address. This exercise pushes your weight back off your toes. You won’t be able to hit the ball if you bend too far forward or raise up on your toes. This exercise also grooves the proper swing path for hitting straight shots consistently.
As for the speed of your backswing, try saying the words “slow and smooth” as you take the club back. Use the phrase as a timing device. Match the speed of your backswing to the speed at which you say the words. It’s how Ernie Els slows his backswing down, as I’ve mentioned several times in my golf tips.
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/newsletter11142007.html
Here are some of my recent articles:
4) Article – Pumping Up Your Game
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/pumpup.html
5) Article – Hitting Good Approach Shots
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/approach.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.
