Golfers like to play games during a match, especially those players with low golf handicaps. Some foursomes have a regular game whenever they play. Others don’t. Golf games add a little spice to a match and pressure players to perform. They provide a chance to execute an adjustment learned in a golf lesson or execute a golf tip. And they offer a chance to win money, gain a free drink, or earn bragging rights. Many golf games involve putting.

Perhaps the all time favorite game is the Nassau. The Nassau, as explained by Brent Kelly, the golf guide at About.com, is one of the most popular golf tournament formats and golf bets. It’s three tournaments or bets in one: the front nine, the back nine and the 18-hole scores all count as separate tournaments or bets. In a Nassau tournament, the player (or team) winning the front nine wins a prize, the player (or team) winning the back nine wins a prize, and the player or team with the low 18-hole total wins a prize.

Below are some other popular golf games that you and your foursome may enjoy playing next time you’re out on the course.

Three-Putt Poker
On the first tee everyone throws a nominal amount of money in a pot and gets a playing card. Each time a golfer one-putts a green, he gets another card. Each time he three-putts, he adds a dollar to the pot. At the end of nine holes, the golfer holding the best poker hand takes all the money and everyone re-antes for the second nine.

One-Hole Press
A press is a gambler’s mulligan. It’s a chance to salvage a hopeless match by starting a new wager. A one-hole press is like any other press, except that it expires at the end of the current hole rather than running to the end of the game. Terms and limitations, if any, should be negotiated at the beginning.

Saskatchewan
This is a putting game. If you’re on the green and you haven’t putted yet and your ball lies farther from the hole than the length of the flagstick, you can yell “Saskatchewan.” If you then make the putt, everyone pays you a dollar. But if you three-putt, you pay everyone else three dollars. Some players know this game by another name, but names in golf games don’t really matter that much.

Worst-Ball
This game is the opposite of best ball. If you or your partner does worse on a hole than both of your opponents, you lose a point. Worst ball can be played along side of best ball, where you get a point if you or you partner score lower than both of your opponents.

The Skins Game
One game made popular by television is Skins. It pits players in a type of match play in which each hole has a set value (usually in money or points). The player who wins the hole wins the “skin,” and whatever the skin is worth. Skins games are more dramatic than standard match play because holes are not halved. When players tie on a given hole, the value of the hole carries over and adds to the value of the following hole. The more ties, the greater the value of the skin and the bigger the eventual payoff.

Playing games with side bets adds a little extra to a golf match. Most golfers like to keep their bets to a minimum. Some players with low golf handicaps play for a little more. Nevertheless, golf games are a good way to spice up that regular golf date. They can also be golf lessons in themselves—thanks to the addition of a little pressure. There’s a wide range of golf games to choose from. But whichever game you play, try to keep it fun and friendly.

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.

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.

Recently, I played in a foursome with a golfer who is 81 years old. He’s been playing golf for more than 50 years and has no plans on stopping. He doesn’t drive the ball as well as he once did, but he still has a mean short game. He plays golf two or three times a week, walks much of the course, and still reads magazines for golf tips. Occasionally, he takes a golf lesson. His golf handicap is 9, but he wants to lower it. For him, golf remains a pastime and a fun activity.

This senior golfer plays golf several times a week because he takes good care of himself. He eats the right foods. He gets plenty of rest between rounds. And he exercises. Exercising helps him maintain strength and flexibility as he ages—two weaknesses that develop as we age. Many of his exercises support movements in the golf swing. But thanks to these exercises, he can still drive a ball 150 yards from the tee or hit a long iron well. Below are some of his favorite exercises.

Posture Problems
As we age, posture at address tends to slip. The muscles in our hips and buttocks weaken and lose their flexibility. This causes golfers to hunch over at address and rounds out the lower back. A rounded back causes us to shift our body weight from the balls of our feet to our toes. Balance and posture problems ensue. Below is an easy exercise than can eliminate rounded back.

Exercise:
While standing, place your hands on your lower back with your fingers pointing down. Arch your lower back and pull your elbows together. Look ahead and lean forward, keeping your weight balance from heel to toe. Repeat this exercise several times.

In The Slot
Lack of strength and flexibility in the middle and upper back can cause a golfer’s hips to sway away from the target at the top of the swing. This limits shoulder turn because of muscle tightness. Instead of making a full shoulder turn, the golfer dips, causing him to lose his spine angle. A loss of spine angle can generate a reverse pivot, along with all its attendant problems.

Exercise:
Kneel on the floor on all fours, with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees. Point your toes down. Arch your back up, like a cat, and tuck your chin forward toward your chest. Then arch your back toward the floor, like a dog, and pick your head up, brining your shoulder blades together.

Transition To Downswing
If you’ve read my golf tips you know how important the transition to the downswing is. But a lack of strength and flexibility can cause a golfer to start the downswing with his or her upper body instead of making a lateral hip shift toward the target. The hips feel stuck. As a result, the golfer compensates with his shoulder muscles, pulling the club down on steep angle across the body. This throws the golfer’s swing off.

Exercise

Stand two feet from a bench or stable hair. Put one foot on the bench and keep the other flat on the floor, toes pointing straight ahead. Place your hands on the thigh of your bent leg and keep your shoulders down and back (don’t lean forward). Move your hips forward so you leg is bent 90 degrees at the knee. Switch legs and repeat several times.

At Impact
As we age, we are also prone to “standing up” at impact. Tightness in the middle and upper back as well as a lack of hip strength can cause a golfer’s legs to lose their flexibility, forcing the body to rise at impact. Standing up changes your spine angle and results in making poor contact with the ball.

Exercise:
Start with your hands and knees on the floor. Push up with your arms, lifting your hips while keeping your back straight. Your feet should stay flat on the ground. This one is a tough exercise, so go slowly at first. Then, repeat several times.

If you’re like most golfers, you want to play as long as you can. The exercises described above will help you do that. Do them as often as you can. Regular exercise will enable you to play at least two to three times a week and maintain your golf handicap, as you get older. Exercising is as good for your game as taking a golf lesson or ingraining a golf tip, if not better. Start now and golf will remain both a pastime and a fun activity.

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.

Every successful golf instructor brings something different to the table. Take Bob Toski. Bob is a top instructor. He started the first golf school for Golf Digest in 1971. He conducted schools in Japan, Canada, and the United States. And he opened the first Golf Learning Center in the world with his partner Gary Battersby. Ranked 15th by his peers in Golf Digest’s list of the 50 Greatest Golf Teachers, Toski has a unique teaching philosophy and approach to the game.

Unlike other teachers, Toski emphasizes “discovery golf” to cut strokes from your golf handicap. He believes that confidence and awareness are the keys to great golf. He also believes that you must become your own coach to play your best. Toward that end, he teaches students in his golf lessons how to gain swing awareness and learn to reduce swing interference. His philosophy is best summed up in his colorful sayings, which succinctly capture his guiding principles. Below are some of those sayings and the rationale behind them.

* An ounce of touch is worth a ton of brawn.
New golfers don’t understand the concept of learning the game from the green back. They grab the driver, go to the first tee, and start wailing way. If they make contact, they hit the ball all over the place. After a while, they get frustrated. They get a lot of airmail and no zip code, another of Toski’s colorful sayings. Instead, start with learning to putt. Work on aligning the putterface with the ball and the target line. Look for golf tips that teach you how to do this.

To improve, use two shafts to check alignment and ball position. Starting with straight, four-foot putts, place one shaft on the target line directly behind the hole. Place the second one on the target line directly behind the ball. Use the shafts to line up the putt and square the putter face to the target line. This breeds confidence. Work back to eight- and 12-footers.

* Control distance and direction to achieve perfection.
Balance and rhythm are key elements of a good swing. They’re more important than getting into certain positions on the course. The key to controlling distance and direction are in the hands and feet. The hands are the holders and the feet are the controllers for timing and balance. Train your hands to work properly throughout the swing. Eliminate herky-jerky motions and let your feet support the swing’s timing.

* You need traction for action.
To hit good middle iron shots, move to the ball first. Then, move laterally through it, not the other way around. In addition, play the ball just forward of center and bend from the hips, so you’re hitting from a solid base. On the downswing shift your lower body toward the target, so your hands and arms learn to square the club at impact. In short, lead your middle iron downswing with your lower body while keeping grip pressure light but constant.

* Swing on the line of play and you’ll find your way.
Long irons are great for tight fairways on short holes. Tee the ball close to the ground, so it’s almost like hitting the ball from a perfect lie. This enables you to use the club the way it was designed and the way it’s taught in golf lessons. Be aware of your hands and arms as you control the clubface through impact. Also, swing the club back on slight inside arc. If you can’t get enough clubhead speed to get the ball airborne with a long iron, switch to hybrid.

* Feel the force, don’t force the feel
To play with the “big boys,” you need to hit for distance. How do you do that? You must create force with your clubhead. If you’re a smaller person, use the quickness of your body to offset the lack of size and strength. Below is a good drill to teach this principle:

Place two shafts along the target line—one in front of the ball, the other behind it. Place a golf ball just inside each shaft. Then hit some shots, swinging the clubhead over both balls. This drill encourages you to swing the club from inside to inside, with the club rotating and swinging naturally.

Toski’s sayings are colorful and memorable. They’re also great reminders of key golf principles taught in his golf lessons. Keep them in mind next time you’re at the range or on the course. They’ll help you cut strokes from your scores and 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.