In this issue we’ll discuss…

Three Techniques To Sink More Putts
Positive Stats Build Confidence
Question of the Week – Different Bunkers, Different Shots
Article – Gain More Yardage With Oversized Drivers
Article – Wedge Secrets

Three Techniques To Sink More Putts
Golf tips on driving say to visualize the ball’s flight path before hitting. “Seeing” the flight path in your mind helps achieve it. Visualization works with putting, too. Talk to great putters and they’ll probably say that “seeing” the ball go in before they putt helps them sink more putts. Or, they’ll say they use some other visualization technique when putting.

Below are three techniques to help you sink more putts:

* Visualize the hole
* Putt to a picture
* See the ball path

Visualization banishes technical thoughts. By trusting in your stroke and concentrating on a target, you’re more likely to achieve the desired result. When putting, keep the hole in mind. Even though you’re looking down at the ball, paint a mental picture of the hole. By “seeing” the hole, you’ll make a more confident and smoother stroke through the ball.

Visualization also helps on big breaking putts. With big breakers, hitting to the apex of the curve is critical. To do so, develop a mental picture of the apex and then putt the ball between the picture’s borders. You’ll be surprised how accurate you are with these putts.

In addition, visualizing the path of a putt helps achieve the proper speed and break to putts. Some golfers favor approach over “spot putting”—aiming at a target, such as a small blade of grass, and trying to roll the ball over that point. Depending on how hard you hit the putt that spot may or may not be helpful. Instead, visualize a railroad track leading to the hole and putt along it.

Here’s a final tip: Use a CD to see if your eyes are directly over the ball when putting. Center the ball on the CD, then stand over it in your putting stance. If your eyes are directly over the ball, you’ll see them on the CD’s surface.

Positive Stats Build Confidence

Players who track things like fairways hit, greens hit in regulation, putts per round, and up-and-down conversions should be careful. While keeping stats can reveal a lot about your game, be wary of what you track. Keeping the wrong stats can focus you on the negative about your game—things missed instead of things made. This can chip away at your confidence. Instead, keep positive stats that build confidence and trust.

Here are four examples of positive stats:

1. Up and downs
2. Sand saves
3. Times sticking to a routine
4. Five best shots

Golfers often use statistics to judge their play. That isn’t always best. Instead, use statistics to observe, not judge, your game. For example, if you track fairways hit, you might observe: “I’m hitting more fairways since I started picking a target instead of just blasting away.” This approach not only teaches you something about your game, it also boosts confidence and trust.

But if you use the wrong statistics to judge your game you may develop a negative mind-set. Let’s say you’re tracking how often you three-putted. If you’re three-putting a lot, you know you need to practice. But that mind-set can undermine your confidence and trust when playing, if you’re not careful. In other words, if you think you’re a poor putter, you’ll be a poor putter.

Positive statistics have a better impact. They build confidence and trust. For example, if you count the number of up and downs you make, you’ll start thinking your good at up and downs. Then when you have one, you’ll feel good about making the shot.

Keeping stats can reveal a lot about your game. But be wary of what you track. Keep stats that boost confidence and trust. You’ll be surprised at how building confidence and trust can lower your golf handicap.

Question of the Week – Different Bunkers, Different Shots

Q. Hi Jack, I have the toughest time getting out of bunkers. I put my weight on my forward foot, and I open the clubface and follow all the way through. But I’m not sure if I should come down steeply and then follow thru or sweep it through. No matter what I try it usually takes my two or three shots to get out.

Please help.
Barbara Botich

A. Thanks for the question, Barbara. You didn’t give us much information on the bunker you were in or the kind of lie you had. Was it a greenside bunker or a bunker that’s farther away? Does the bunker have a high or low lip? Was the ball buried in soft sand or was it lying on top of hard-packed sand? Without that information, it’s hard to give you specifics on the swing. In shorts, different bunker require different bunker swings.

In general, if you’re in soft sand and you have a low lip, you’d open your stance and aim the clubface toward the target line. You’d keep your wrists passive as you take the club away and the clubface open throughout the swing. On the downswing you’d sweep the club along your bodyline, hitting about an inch behind the ball.

On the other hand, if you’re in soft sand with a high lip, you need a steeper angle of attack to pop the ball over the lip. While your set-up is the same, your swing differs. To create a steeper angle of attack, hinge your wrists in the backswing as soon as possible and swing your arms up instead of low and around.

In addition, as your body turns, sense that the club is “cocked” to the sky. Now, hit down and through about an inch behind the ball with extra force. The path of the clubhead should run parallel to the alignment of your shoulders, hips, and feet. The combination of left alignment and open clubface sends the ball straight while the angle of attack drives the ball up and over the lip, landing it softly on the green.
To practice the high bunker shot, try the head cover drill. Place a head cover a few inches behind a ball in a steep greenside bunker. Take the club back without hitting the head cover, hinging your wrists during the takeaway as soon as possible. If you hit the head cover, you know you didn’t hinge your wrists fast enough.

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/newsletter08052009.php

Here are some of my recent articles:

Gain More Yardage With Oversized Drivers
Wedge Secrets

Until next time,

Go Low!

Jack

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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.

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