In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Sink More Putts With This Grip
2) Boost Your Energy With Smart Nutrition
3) Question of the Week – Hit Long and Straight Below Your Feet
4) Article – A Short Guide To Buying Golf Shoes
5) Article – Beating Bad Weather

1) Sink More Putts With This Grip
Experts say you should hold a putter more in your fingers to increase you feel. That’s good advice. But you have to be careful. Gripping the putter too much in your fingers can spell trouble. It gives your wrists too much freedom to move when putting, causing you to miss. To sink more putts, some players have switched to a triple overlapping putting grip. This grip, which places the putter handle more in your palms than your fingers, increases control and consistency.

Below are 6 benefits of using a triple overlapping grip:

* Maintains the stability of your wrists
* Alleviates tension in your hands and arms
* Increases control and consistency
* Improves grip pressure
* Helps maintain the putterface on line
* Keeps hands working together

Gripping the putter more in your palms provides several advantages—all of which enable you to strike the ball on the sweet spot more consistently. For one thing, it takes your wrists out of play. They won’t hinge and unhinge during the stroke. The triple overlapping grip also keeps the putterface on line through impact. And it prevents tension in your fingers from affecting your hands ad arms.

Applying the triple overlapping grip is easy. After placing your hands on the putter’s handle, slide the lower hand up until the pinkie, forefinger, and middle finger rest atop your lead hand.

The triple overlapping grip quiets the movement of the dominant hand during the putting stroke, provides better grip pressure, and keeps the hands working together, which is critical to good putting. The grip also positions your thumbs on top of the grip for better feel.

If your putting is suffering, check your grip. You may be holding the putter too much in your fingers, allowing your wrists to move during your stroke. Switching to a triple overlapping grip overcomes this problem and provides increased control and consistency—the two keys to sinking more putts.

2) Boost Your Energy With Smart Nutrition
Maintaining your energy while playing is critical. A sharp drop in energy makes you feel tired, listless, and confused. That can cost strokes and can turn a good round into a bad. Eating the right snacks during a round helps. In addition to being good for you, they boost your energy level and increase your concentration. But you need to carry the right snacks with you.

Below are 6 good snacks for golfers:

1. Peanuts (or seeds)
2. Beef jerky
3. String cheese
4. Small apple
5. Home popped popcorn
6. Low carb bars

The key to maintaining your energy level while golfing is controlling blood sugar. That means avoiding foods made with refined carbohydrates (things made with white flour and/or sugars). Eating foods load with carbs causes your blood sugar to rise sharply, so you feel alert and energetic

But after awhile, your body adjusts and your blood sugar drops. So does your energy. Suddenly, you don’t feel as alert or as energetic as you did before. Instead, you feel tired, irritable, and confused. The carbohydrates are backfiring, causing your blood sugar to tank.

Eating the right snacks, however, levels off your blood sugar and boosts energy. Good snacks contain no refined flour, sugar, or trans fats. Trans fats are found in food made with hydrogenated oil, processed foods, and shortening, which is used in all most all baked goods. Snacks like peanuts or sunflower seeds, beef jerky, or string cheese provide a quick boost of energy during a round. Low carb bars do, too. But avoid them if they’re made with hydrogenated oil.

Planning ahead also helps maintain blood sugar. Eat a balanced portion of protein and fat before playing. Add some carbohydrates in the form of whole foods—whole grains, vegetables, or fruit—and you’re good to go. This combination stabilizes your blood sugar and energy levels as well. When combined with snacks, the combination is the right way to go.

3) Question of the Week – Hit Long and Straight Below Your Feet
Q. Hi Jack, The 7th hole at my home course—a long par 5—is driving me crazy! I usually hit a good drive. But since the hole slants left to right, my second shot is always a long iron or fairway wood with the ball well below my feet. I usually top the shot or slice it badly, so my score is a big number! Please help! How do I hit it long and straight from below my feet?

Thanks
Ag Dasan

A. Thanks for the question, Ag. The key playing a ball below your feet is hitting down on the ball without toppling over or hitting the ball off the clubhead’s toe. Unfortunately, some players forget that thanks to the fairway’s slant, the ball moves in the slope’s direction when hit and their swings become more upright than normal. This causes them to slice the ball off the clubhead’s toe.

To compensate, aim left of the target, if you’re right-handed, and right of the target, if you’re left-handed. In addition:

1. Take a slightly wider stance
2. Settle your weight back on your heels
3. Hold the club near the top
4. Flex your knees slightly more than normal
5. Make sure you stay behind the ball

These adjustments prevent you from toppling over and help you hit the ball on the sweet spot, not the toe. If you aim correctly, you’ll hit your target on the nose.

Execute the adjustments described above and you’ll tame the fairway’s slope and your vertical swing. More importantly, you’ll be in good shape to make par on the hole.
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/newsletter12172008.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – A Short Guide To Buying Golf Shoes
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/a-short-guide-to-buying-golf-shoes.html

5) Article – Beating Bad Weather
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/beating-bad-weather.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, go to http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter.htm

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.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Golf Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.