In this issue we'll discuss...

1) Misalignment Can Ruin Your Swing
2) Sink More Putts With This Grip
3) Question of the Week - More On The Sidehill Drill
4) Article - Games Golfers Play
5) Article - This Swing Change Can Cut Golf Handicap

Jack's Note: Hi all! Happy New Year and here’s to a great 2009. I’m personally excited because our man Tiger will be back very soon and am anxious to see how he performs after his long layoff. Winter is a golfer’s learning time so if you’re snowbound or can’t get to the course, at least keep your mind and body fresh on the fundamentals. Will 09 be your year to get that handicap to an all time low? Or get in the best shape of your life? Whatever your goal may be (or if you have no goals at all), make sure you’re having fun while doing it.

1) Misalignment Can Ruin Your Swing
Many weekend golfers commit a basic alignment error. They aim their bodies directly at the target instead of to the side of the target. This throws clubface alignment off. When you aim your body at the target, the clubface rests to the right (or left, if your left-handed) of your target. The only way to compensate is to address the ball with a closed clubface or swing the club across your body. Neither is good.

The five steps below teach you how to align yourself to a target:

1. Place a ball on the ground or on a tee
2. Lay a club behind the ball, with the grip end facing the target
3. Take your normal stance, with a club in your hands
4. Place a club along your feet but parallel to the first club
5. Remove the club from behind the ball

When you remove the club, you have a perfect reference point. Your body should be pointing about 15 feet left of your target. If you're left-handed, your body should be pointing 15 feet right of target.

Hit a few shots this way. When comfortable, try hitting some shots without laying the clubs down. Pick out another target and re-do the drill. Keep doing it until it becomes natural. With practice and repetition, you'll align yourself properly every time.

Misalignment can play havoc with your shotmaking ability. Remember what Jack Nicklaus says: "If you don't set up correctly, you'll hit a poor shot even if you make the greatest swing in the world." That's how important he considers proper alignment. For more accuracy, incorporate a reliable alignment technique in your set-up routine.

2) Sink More Putts With This Grip
Chris DiMarco's putting grip is unusual, to say the least. Nicknamed "the claw," it's a key reason DiMarco is among the Tour's best putters. In 2005 the right-hander led the Tour in Putting Average, with an average of less than 1.7 putts per greens in regulation. Impressive!

DiMarco's grip is easy to copy. Hold the putter with your left-hand as you normally do. Next, curl your right thumb and index finger around the putter's handle. Now, rest your other fingers on the putter shaft. The grip adds an excessive amount of cup to your left wrist, so bear that in mind. Left-handers do the opposite.

Below are four keys to DiMarco's putting grip:

* Keep your left-wrist cupped
* Swing the putter with your arms
* Maintain the bend in your right-elbow
* Adhere to the key putting fundamentals

The putting stroke is also easy to copy. Swing the putter with your arms not your body. Keep the left-wrist cupped during the stroke, which guides the putter along the intended line. And maintain a bent right-arm. Extending it during the stroke adds a surge of power to the putt, just what you don't want. Otherwise, adhere to traditional putting fundamentals.

Once you're set, line up the left-hand to the target and push the putter away with the left-arm. Then, drag the putter through impact, with the right-hand applying almost no force.

DiMarco's grip provides two key advantages. It fuses the left hand and the putter, so they move as a single unit for better direction control. It also creates a longer, smoother stroke for better distance control.

The grip is ideal within 10 feet. It lets you keep the putterhead low to the ground after impact—a sure sign the ball has been stroked rather than hit, the key to sinking more putts.

3) Question of the Week - More On The Sidehill Drill
Q. Hi Jack, I read your latest Break 80 newsletter with great anticipation, as it specifically addressed the greatest challenge of the weekend golfer: the slice. I will ask a couple of questions that truly exhibit my lack of understanding regarding swing plane basics: 1. Were his feet above the ball or lower than the ball, i.e. How was he situated on the sidehill to run this drill? 2. What was the angle (slope) of the hill? 3. What clubs are best to use to re-formulate a swing plane in this type of drill? More details regarding this drill, please!

Thanks,
Gordon Hornbaker
Dallas

A. Thanks for the question. The golfer stands facing the hill. His feet are on flat ground and the hill slopes up and away from him. When he drops the ball on the ground, his feet will be below it. A slope of 15 to 20 percent for the hill is fine. It's probably best to use a 7-iron.

Here's another drill to eliminate a slice:

Set up to a teed ball with a 7-iron, setting the clubface square to the target. Now turn your body 45 degrees to the right away from the target, dropping your right foot back but continuing to aim your clubface at your initial target. (If you're left-handed, you'll turn your body to the left and you'll drop your left foot back.) You will feel super-closed and the clubface will look very closed. That's okay. Hit some balls from this position. You'll produce a hook.

This drill works because it forces you to hit from inside the line of play. Players who slice hit the ball from outside the line of play. You'll also be hitting against a firm front leg, together with rotating arms and hands. That's just what you want to do.

After hitting balls using this unorthodox stance, hit some from a normal stance. Try to remember the swing path you used with the other stance.
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/newsletter01072009.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Games Golfers Play
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/games-golfers-play.html

5) Article - This Swing Change Can Cut Golf Handicap
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/this-swing-change-can-cut-golf-handicap.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 Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 6:52 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.