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How To Break 80 Newsletter

February 27, 2008

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

1) Hitting The Beach
2) From Slice To Draw In One Drill
3) Question of the Week - Pitching vs. Chipping
4) Article - A Golf Lesson on Plumb-bobbing
5) Article - Why We Love/Hate Certain Golf Courses

Jack’s Note: Hi all. Well, it’s starting to warm up a bit and hopefully we’ll all be out on the course soon. In fact, I’ve been really busy with one aspect of my game…the short game. Specifically, pitching…you know, 40 yards and in. It’s a weakness of mine, I admit, and I don’t need to play a round of golf to get it better. I’ll share more details with you guys next week on how it’s turning out and some tips and a game plan for helping your pitching as well.

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1) Hitting The Beach
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Many players who have trouble getting out of bunkers think there’s magic to it. There’s none. The standard bunker shot doesn’t require a fancy swing. In fact, the basic shot isn’t hard at all. To execute it, you need the right club and the right mind-set. Here are 6 keys to hitting the standard bunker shot:
* Adopt an open stance
* Set your hands in front of the ball
* Swing down on the shot
* Hit behind the ball
* Play the shot firmly
* Make a full follow-through

Modern wedges are built to skid through the sand. Take advantage of this design. Use either a pitching wedge or a sand wedge for a standard bunker shot. If you’re worried about clearing a lip, try a gap or lob wedge.
Set up with an open stance and the ball slightly forward. Place your hands in front of the ball. Hit down about an inch or two behind it. And use a full follow-through. In addition, keep your hands quiet during the shot. Excessive hand action scuttles a bunker shot. Play it firmly.

Sand in the Circle Drill
Many players flub bunker shots because they strike the sand too early. Thus, they either hit it fat or on the upswing instead of the downswing. Try this exercise to improve your bunker play:

Find a practice bunker and build a learning station. Draw a line in the sand extending from an inch inside your front heel straight out past the ball about a yard. Then place the ball in a small circle just in front of the line. Your goal is to make a divot in front of the line just under your front shoulder. Focus not on hitting the ball, but on removing the sand from the circle. Visualize it. If the ball is anywhere inside the foot-length divot, the shot will turn out fine.

Practice this shot until you ingrain it. After that, getting out of a bunker will be a piece of cake.

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2) Changing Swing Paths
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I played 18 holes the other day with a friend named Rory a right-hander who’s trying to make it on the mini-tours. Accurate and long, he hits a nice draw off the tee that runs when it hits. It’s a pretty shot to watch.

But it wasn’t always that way. In the beginning, Rory had a bad slice. Everything he hit went high and right. The reason for his slice was his swing path. It was too steep. By changing swing paths, Rory eliminated his slice for good. Now the only time he slices is on a bad shot.

My friend’s problem in the beginning was simple and common. His shoulders weren’t rotating properly on the backswing, which influenced his swing path. Instead of turning horizontally, his left shoulder would dip down, leading to a steep downswing and an open clubface at impact—the hallmarks of a classic slice.

To correct his slice, Rory learned to change swing paths. In other words, he learned to turn his left shoulder more horizontally than vertically, swinging the club more around his body than up and down. A more rounded swing promotes an inside-out swing path and helps the clubface close through impact.

Sidehill Drill
How did Rory learn to change swing paths? He used a simple drill. He found a small sidehill at his practice range and started hitting balls off the lower portion of the hill. Though this drill is normally used with beginners to teach them the correct swing path, Rory used it to cure a slice and switch from hitting a fade to hitting a draw.

After working on this drill every chance he got, Rory’s eliminated the slice. His shoulder turn became more level and his hands released naturally through impact. Making the proper shoulder turn also shallowed out his swing path and allowed the clubface to close sooner than before. Bye, bye slice.

If you’re looking to cure a slice or you just want to learn to hit a draw, use the sidehill drill. It will pay off by producing a draw that runs.

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3) Question of the Week - Pitching vs. Chipping
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Q. Hi, Jack, I have always understood the definition of chipping versus pitching is that on chips you have little airtime and lots of roll, while on pitches you have lots of airtime and little roll. How do you define the difference and how is your set up different for each shot? To me, I hear lots of folks (experts) calling a pitch a chip and vice-versa using the above definitions.

Thanks for you reply.
Don Bolin

A. Thanks for the question, Don. I hear the same thing. A pitch shot is played with a highly lofted club, like a pitching wedge. It’s designed to go a short distance with a high trajectory, played into the green from less than 100 yards. Many pitch shots are played from about 40 to 60 yards out. Pitch shots are ideal when you’re close to the green, but there’s an obstacle between you and the hole, like a bunker.

With a pitch shot, you need to make subtle changes to your address. Move the ball back towards the middle of your stance, which ensures a descending blow, and adopt a slightly open address position, which allows your front side to clear through impact. On short pitch shots, choke down on the club for better control. The pitch shot requires more of a full swing than the chip shot.

A chip shot, on the other hand, is played from a much closer lie than a pitch shot, like just off the green’s fringe. With a chip shot, the ball is in the air for a short time. The idea is to get the ball onto the green’s surface as quickly as possible and let it roll toward the cup. Thus, most of a chip shot is roll, unlike a pitch shot where most of the time the ball is in the air.

A chip shot requires an abbreviated swing. Play the ball back in your stance, with your hands and weight forward. This stance promotes a descending angle and the crisp strike needed to ensure a good shot. Your stance is slightly more open than on a pitch shot and your feet are closer together. You can choke down on the club as well.

Both shots require practice to learn. Both are easy to hit. And both help cut strokes off your handicap. Master both if you can.

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/newsletter02272008.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - A Golf Lesson on Plumb-bobbing
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/a-golf-lesson-on-plumb-bobbing.html

5) Article - Why We Love/Hate Certain Golf Courses
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/why-we-love-hate-certain-golf-courses.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.

Teachers field all sorts of questions during a golf lesson. Not all of them are about the golf swing. In fact, many are not. During a recent lesson a student asked about golf gloves. A serious golfer, she wanted to know if she had to wear one and why. It was a good question. It struck a chord with me. Since golf teachers don’t always cover gloves in golf instruction sessions or written golf tips, I thought 1′d cover them in a longer article.

Golfers don’t have to wear gloves. There’s nothing in golf’s rules that say they must. In fact, many players with low golf handicaps, including some PGA professionals, play without one. But for those of you who don’t have a low golf handicap or are not a professional player, I recommend wearing one. It can make a difference in your game, especially if you have a high golf handicap. A glove offers key advantages that can improve play.

Got Glove
A glove enables you to grasp a club firmly without adding pressure. Without a glove, you must squeeze the club tighter. This adds tension to your hands and inhibits flexibility in your top-hand wrist joint. Golf gloves are made with a heal pad. When a pad is placed between two surfaces, you don’t have to tighten your grip as much, lessening pressure on the grip. Less grip pressure, in turn, enhances wrist join flexibility and increases club control.

In addition, gloves have features that can improve play. Made from micro-fiber, cabretta, and synthetic leather, they provide sufficient give to allow for a full range of finger flexion, which increase club control. Gloves also keep your hands warm, prevent blisters, and improve dampness control. In short, gloves improve feel and control. In golf, anything that improves feel and control is a big plus.

Buying The Right Glove
The most important considerations when buying a glove is comfort and fit. The glove must be comfortable and fit well. Find one that fits snugly across your palm and fingers, and that has a Velcro strap that fastens easily. If the Velcro strap doesn’t go all they way across the back of your hand, try another glove. If the glove is too loose, try another one as well. Loose material causes blisters. Also, make sure the glove’s fingers aren’t too long or too short.

You also want to buy a glove with the right features. Some gloves come with a strap for holding tees or slit for a wedding ring. Others come with a ball marker. And then there are those gloves that have features specifically for players who have problems with their hands. Recently, the USGA approved the wearing of a special glove for people with arthritis. Manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby Co., which also produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat, the Bionic Golf (www.bionicglove.com) glove features the design of an orthopedic hand surgeon. The glove improves hand strength and reduces pain for people with arthritis.

Additional Considerations When Buying
In addition to finding a glove with the right features, make sure you’re buying one for the correct hand. A right-handed golfer needs a left-handed glove, the left hand being the top hand. A left-handed golfer needs a right-handed glove. Also choose a glove with the most comfortable materials. Gloves come in leather, nylon, knitted material, or other synthetic material. It’s a matter of personal preference which material feels the best.

Finally, try on different sizes before making a purchase. Ask the attendant if you can see how the glove feels while gripping a club. If it doesn’t feel right, try another glove. If the attendant refuses to let you try on different sizes or test the glove while gripping a club, try another store. Testing the glove is the best way to determine if the glove is right for you. Occasionally, I like to check a player’s glove during a golf lessons to see how well it fits, but not many teachers do, so you need to be on top of this yourself.

An ill-fitting golf glove can drive you crazy. It can be the kind of distraction that can be infuriating during a round of golf. More importantly, an ill-fitting glove can cause slippage and loss of control, costing you strokes. That, in turn, can hurt your confidence. And in golf, you need all the confidence you can muster, if you want to make a serious dent in your 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.

Most players who take golf lessons from me don’t have an official golf handicap. That comes as no surprise to me since most recreational golfers don’t have a golf handicap anyways. Of the more than 26 million golfers in the United States (adults who played at least one round of golf during a season), less than 20 percent have a handicap, according to statistics provided by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2003. And that’s just the U.S.

Reasons exist for not having a golf handicap vary. Some players feel they’re not good enough to have one. Others feel that having one is pretentious. Then there are those who feel that going through the effort to get one is just too much trouble or are intimidated by the paperwork involved. Despite how these golfers feel, the benefits of having a handicap far outweigh the reasons not to have one.

A Golf Handicap Defined
A golf handicap measures a player’s potential ability to achieve a certain score compared to an expert-amateur’s ability to do the same. Defined by a number, a handicap allows golfer’s to compete on an equal basis, which is great when playing in tournaments or other golf venues.

The key, of course, is that a handicap creates a level playing field, so players of unequal ability can play at the same course on equal footing, making the match fairer and the game more enjoyable. Nothing in golf, however, says you must have one to play. Golfers who don’t have one violate no rule of the game.

But one of the biggest reasons for having a handicap�and the reason I encourage players who attend my golf instruction sessions to get a handicap�is that it can help improve your game. By posting your scores�whether by using an online tool or submitting them to someone in person�you’ll have a highly effective tool for tracking your improvement and spotting playing trends. You’ll also have a goal to shoot for as you work on your game.

For example, let’s say you decide to improve your short game. If over the course of a year or so and after dozens of practice sessions, you see your handicap dropping you know you are on the right practice track. If you don’t see it dropping, either you’re not putting in enough practice, practicing correctly, or working on the right thing. You can then make changes to and see how that works.

How To Get A Handicap
Most players who join a private country club are automatically put on the handicap roster. But players who are not members of a country club must initiate the effort. The most likely�but not the only�way of doing that is through a sanctioned golf organization, like the USGA.

The USGA, for instance, calculates a handicap using a fairly complex formula that’s applied to the 10 best of a golfer’s last 20 rounds. Getting a USGA handicap requires membership in a club. But it can be a friendly golf group at your local public course or your own ad-hoc assemblage of 10 golfers, which would form a “club without real estate.”

There are other ways of obtaining a golf handicap, depending on where you live. Golf Record (http://www.golfrecord.com), a Web site designed to keep track of your scores, provides the tools for you to generate a golf handicap, as does Elite Golf Solutions (http://www.elitegolfsolutions.co.uk), another golf only Web site. Both require registration to join. Meanwhile About.com’s Golf section does a fine job of explaining how the handicap is calculated http://golf.about.com/cs/handicapping/a/howcalculated.htm.

What’s important is not how you calculate a golf handicap or how you obtain it, but that you get one. It not only helps you improve your game by providing a goal to shoot for, but also provides direction for planning practice programs and basis for boosting your confidence every time you lower it. In addition, a golf handicap will provide some credibility to your playing ability and make it easer to compete in competitions and tournaments.

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

February 20, 2008

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

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Avoiding Flubbed Pitch Shots
2) Straightening Pulled Iron Shots
3) Question of the Week - How To Hit Solid Irons- Help!
4) Article - Key Reasons To Get A Golf Handicap
5) Article - All You Need Is Glove

Jack’s Note: You guys tell me, is the game and industry of golf booming or not in America? Tiger’s at his arguable best right now, ratings are at record highs for TV viewing but what about the economy? Read more here if interested. It’s a real eye-opener article.

Need golf help? Read below.

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1) Avoiding Flubbed Pitch Shots
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Two things cause a flubbed pitch shot: 1) a ball positioned too far forward, or 2) a decelerating downswing. If the ball is too far forward, you’ll hit it fat, producing a weak shot. If the club decelerates during the downswing, you’ll approach the ball on too steep an angle, botching the shot.

Here are six keys to avoiding a flubbed pitch shot:

* Play the ball toward the center
* Move the front foot back slightly
* Place your weight on the forward foot
* Turn shoulders and arms away together
* Complete your forward swing
* Shift your weight through the impact zone

Hitting a good pitch shot starts at address. You need to make some adjustments to your normal stance and ball position to make solid contact. Shorten the distance between your feet, adopt a slightly open stance, and move the front foot back slightly. Also, keep your hands ahead of the ball and place your weight on the forward foot.

On the backswing, turn the arms and shoulders away at the same time. Don’t let your arms get out ahead of your body. Atop the backswing begin turning the body toward the target while the arms drop downward. If you’re using a sand wedge, the club of choice for a standard pitch shot, make sure you make ball first contact.

More importantly, make sure the backswing and the forward swing mirror each other in length. In other words, the length of the backswing determines the length of the forward swing. However, the downswing should be faster than the backswing. And don’t forget to shift your weight forward through the impact zone, even if it’s a short pitch.

Don’t let a flubbed pitch shot cost you strokes. Keep our six keys in mind next time you have a pitch shot and you’ll make solid contact every time.
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2) Straightening Pulled Iron Shots
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We’ve all pulled an iron shot now and again. Usually, a pulled iron spells disaster, no matter how you cut it. If the pull is severe enough, you may land out of bounds. If it’s not too severe, you may land in the rough or in a fairway bunker. Either way, it’ll probably cost you strokes and boost your score.

Keep these six keys in mind to eliminate pulled iron shots:

* Assume a stance parallel to the target line
* Distribute your weight evenly
* Position the ball toward the middle
* Allow your arms to lead in the backswing
* Let your body lead in the downswing
* Keep the right elbow tucked

A pulled shots usually results from a poor set-up. Typically, the shoulders face way left, the ball is too far forward in your stance, and the weight resides too much on your front foot. To prevent a pull, adjust your stance. Align yourself parallel to the target line, position the ball more toward the middle at address, and distribute your weight evenly on both feet. The result is an out-to-in swing path and a deep divot.

As you swing, allow the arms to lead the backswing inside the target line. But let the body lead in the downswing and focus on keeping the right elbow (left for southpaws) tucked in through impact. From here, allow the club to release and square through impact as you turn toward the target.

Keep the six tips in mind when on the fairway and you’ll eliminate pulled irons shots. The key is remembering to swing from inside the target line to outside the target line. You may want to trace this inside-out swing path in slow motion before hitting the ball. The concentrate on following this swing path during your shot and you’ll eliminate the pulled iron shot for good.

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3) Question of the Week - How To Hit Solid Irons
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Q. Jack:

Do you have any advice on hitting the ball first and then the grass for iron shots? I am good with irons in general, but when it comes to hitting the required distance with a particular iron I have problems. I have noticed that I tend to hit an inch or two behind the ball and, in turn, take a divot much before I make contact with the ball, losing on distance.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Hanif Paracha, Karachi, PK

A. Thanks for the question, Hanif. Three things immediately come to mind. All three are easy to fix. First, check ball position. Sometimes the ball creeps up and back in your stance without you realizing it. Play your short irons in the center, middle irons an inch forward of that, and longer irons another inch forward.

Second, check your set-up. Set-up errors like weak left-hand grip, poor posture, and bad aim start a chain reaction of compensations that prevent solid contact. Study your set-up in a mirror between rounds. Make sure it is solid. If not, make changes. Practice setting up correctly in front of a mirror until it’s ingrained.

Third, check weight shift. Good iron contact comes from a descending strike. To hit down, your weight must be moving toward the target. A lot of golfers hang back on their right side when hitting irons. Hit some irons with your feet together. You won’t be able to hit off your right side without losing your balance.

While these aren’t the only errors that contribute to poor iron play, they are among the most common with weekend golfers.
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/newsletter02202008.html
Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Key Reasons To Get A Golf Handicap
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/key-reasons-to-get-a-golf-handicap.html
5) Article - All You Need Is Glove
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/all-you-need-is-glove.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.