In this issue we’ll discuss…

1. Short-sided In Tall Thick Grass
2. The Sand Chip
3. Question of the Week – Stop Hitting It Fat
4. Article – Three Principles To Get Your Swing In Sync
5. Article – Two Simple Exercises To Boost Power

1)Short-sided In Tall Thick Grass

Shots from deep rough are hard. So are downhill putts. But is there a harder shot than being on the back lip of a bunker in tall, thick grass? This shot is about as hard as it gets. You have to deal with not only the thick grass, but also an awkward stance—since you need both feet in the bunker to hit the ball. If you miss, you could plop it in the bunker, costing you a stroke or two. It’s not your everyday shot.

Below are five keys to hitting this shot:

1. Widen your stance
2. Set your weight on front side
3. Grip down on the club
4. Hold the club tighter
5. Take the club head up quickly
6. Play an explosion shot

The keys to hitting this shot are stabilizing the lower body and keeping the clubface from closing through impact. Another key is not trying to hit a miracle shot. You’re goal is to get on the green in one. So stay within yourself.

Select a club with a leading edge, like a pitching wedge, to cut through the grass. Then, widen your stance and set most of your weight on your front side, which restricts lower body movement.

Since the ball is well above your feet, choke down on the club and grip it a little harder than normal. These adjustments keep the club from twisting in your hands as it cuts through the tall grass and from flipping over when it hits the ground.

When you swing, take the clubhead up quickly and play an explosion shot, just as you would a greenside bunker shot. Also, accelerate the clubhead through the ball. Keep the face pointing skyward after impact.

You won’t face this shot many times in a season. But it’s good to know how to hit it anyway.
2) The Sand Chip

If you have two golfers of equal ability playing on the same course on the same day, chances are the player with the better short game racks up the lower score. One short-game area weekend golfers need to work on is bunker play. It takes practice to master this area of the game. Meantime, there’s an alternative to the normal bunker shot that gets you out in one: the sand chip.

Below are six keys to hitting the sand chip:

• Raise the club on its toe
• Play the ball off the back foot
• Move the shaft forward
• Place your weight on the front foot
• Keep the wrists firm on the stroke
• Make ball first contact

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The key to hitting the sand chip is making ball first contact. Start by taking a normal stance and then raising the club on its toe. Raising the club makes the shaft more upright and lessens the chance of catching the sand during the shot. If you catch the sand, the shot will probably stay in the bunker.

Also, play the ball off your back foot and move your hands forward so the shaft points to your front shoulder, which helps produce a low running shot that tracks like a putt.

Make the stroke with as little wrist break as possible and with your weight on your front foot. These adjustments allow the club’s butt end and its clubface to move together back and then through the ball.

When swinging, guard against dropping down into the ball in an effort to lift the ball out of the bunker. This miscue—the most common made with the sand chip—destroys ball first contact.

The ball comes out of the bunker low and with lots of roll. So make sure you have a low bunker lip and plenty of green to work with.
3) Question of the Week – Stop Hitting It Fat

Q. Hello Jack, I find myself in a great position on the fairway. Then, I think I’ll take a nice easy iron, whether it’s a 7-iron, 8-iron, 9-iron, or PW, depending on the distance. Instead, I take a divot behind the ball and it flops 10-20 yards up the fairway. Can you offer any help and an explanation as to what I am doing wrong? I play left handed.

Thanks,
Alan Cardiff
South Wales

A. Thanks for the question, Alan. Your miscue is called hitting it fat. The reasons for hitting it fat apply no matter which way you hit.

One reason why you’re hitting it fat could be that you’re trying to take an easy swing. When we do that we sometimes throw off our rhythm and timing. Take a normal swing instead. Other reasons for hitting it fat are an excessively V-shaped swing, a tight lie, a rushed backswing, or a desire to scoop the ball.

To avoid hitting it fat, remember that:

* Ball position determines impact point. You want to strike the ball with a descending blow with your irons, so you should hit the ball just before the lowest point of the arc.

* Loft determines trajectory. There’s no need to scoop the ball or try to get under it. If you strike the ball properly, loft sends the ball skyward.

Also, when you hit, visualize a U-shaped swing, with a pronounced “flat spot” through impact. Use that visual as a guide. Then, focus on hitting the ball at the right impact point and taking a complete backswing.

Here’s a drill that help eliminate fat shots:

With an iron, take your normal stance and ground the club. Make a slight mark there. When you swing, try to create a shallow divot just past where you ground the club. Concentrate on executing a complete backswing and follow-through.

This drill helps improve rhythm and ballstriking. It also ensures that you hit the ball at the right impact point in your swing, curing you of an excessively V-shaped swing.

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/newsletter11182009.php

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Three Principles To Get Your Swing In Sync
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/three-principles-to-get-your-swing-in-sync.php

5) Article – Two Simple Exercises To Boost Power
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/two-simple-exercises-to-boost-power.php

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, a player in a Champions Tour event used seven different putting grips in three days. He ended the tournament putting with a 3-iron. This player also practices putting with a 3-iron, regardless of the grip he uses to putt with. His rationale: You have to concentrate on striking the ball with the clubhead’s leading edge. If you hinge your wrists, the ball hops instead of rolls. That extra bit of concentration smoothes out your stroke and improves your putting.

This player’s thinking is different. But it’s worth considering because it could dramatically impact your putting and your golf handicap. For example, practicing with a 3-iron improves your putting because it provides great feedback. If you’re a “wristy” putter or you have the yips, practicing with a 3-iron (or even a 4-iron) tells you instantly you’re doing something wrong. As strange as this suggestion seems, it may be just as helpful as attending golf lessons or reading golf tips on putting, and maybe a lot less expensive.

Alternative Putting Grips
Putting is probably the most individualized of all golf activities. Golfers have different pre-shot routines, different clubs, and different ways of reading a green. They also have different grips. In fact, there are several different putting grips out there. The most popular is the reverse overlapping grip. It’s been around for decades. Most instructors teach this grip in golf lessons, and many sports magazine provide golf tips on putting this grip. It’s an effective grip that works well for many golfers.

The most popular alternative is the cross-handed grip. With this grip you simply reverse your hands. Instead of gripping the putter with the right hand (left hand for lefties) below the left (right for lefties), you grip the club with the left hand below the right. This encourages a more pendulum action back and through. More importantly, it locks the left wrist through the stroke, preventing miscues and problems like the yips.

Another popular alternative grip is the paintbrush or claw grip, where the putter’s shaft is wedged between the thumb and forefinger, like you’d hold a paintbrush. Like the cross-handed grip, this grip prevents you from breaking your wrists. It’s also used a lot with belly putters and long putters. Then there’s the left-hand low grip that Vijay Singh uses and the underbelly grip that players use with long putters. These grips have all been effective for golfers to some degree or other.

Keeping The Subconscious Out
Most players settle on one grip and use that until they get dissatisfied with the results. Then, they make a change. But there’s a theory out there that suggests changing your grip now and then helps to stay ahead of the length/tension curve. What’s that? If you use the same grip all the time and start missing putts, your brain tries to help. Once that starts, bad things happen. Your subconscious creeps in and your putting goes south. By changing your grip every so often, you keep your subconscious out of the stroke and avoid running into the length/tension factor.

See The Line, Stroke The Putt
Regardless of your grip, there’s one thing that won’t change when it comes to putting. The rocking motion of your shoulders propels a good putting stroke—not your hands. The hands stay still as the front shoulder rocks down in the backswing and up in the follow through.

Other golf tips on good putting include: keep the wrists firm when you putt and strike the ball on the upswing. In addition, make sure your follow-through is at least long as your backswing. Follow these suggestions and you’ll whittle strokes off your golf handicap no matter how you grip the putter.

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.

The perimeter around the green is the single most important area in golf. Players who have solid games from there always score better than those who don’t. Unfortunately, many golfers with high golf handicaps don’t practice their perimeter skills. Chipping a few balls before playing isn’t practicing. Neither is taking golf lessons or reading golf tips. If you want to improve your perimeter game, you must take practice seriously.

Weekend golfers don’t usually practice much because it’s work. It’s also boring. Using drills when practicing changes these feeling. It’s also a good way to improve. Not only do drills sharpen your skills efficiently. They’re also are fun to do—especially if you do them with a friend. Using drills also gets you to practice longer. More practice helps you groove the proper swing and tempo.

Let’ look at drills for three common greenside scenarios. Practicing them will help you turn three strokes into two next time you play:

The Basic Chip
The basic chip is easy to execute. It’s ideal when you have a lot of green to work with. It’s also a frequent perimeter scenario, one that teachers often cover in golf instruction sessions. Your setup for this shot is key. Play the ball in the middle of your feet, your shoulders square, hands in front of the ball, and feet slightly open. Place about 60 percent of your weight on your front foot, which encourages a downward blow. Use a light grip pressure and a wedge you like. Some use a 56-degree wedge.

Drill: Place two balls about a driver’s length apart. Place your bag (or another obstacle) behind the back ball. Now drop a ball in the middle of these balls and take your chipping stance. Give yourself a good lie. Later, you can vary your lie. Now, chip the ball. If you swing back to the ball/bag and forward to the front ball, you should fly the ball about seven yards. To hit it less than seven yards, separate the two balls with a shorter club. Practice this drill until you can get it close on command.

The Choke Down
No two courses are alike. You don’t need golf lessons to realize that. Golf courses vary in the conditions of the fairways and tee boxes, and the speed of the greens. They also vary in the texture of their bunkers. The choke down shot is perfect for firm or wet bunkers. Play the ball forward from a normal bunker stance, with about 70 percent of your weight on your front foot. The key here is not releasing the club through impact. So keep your wrists firm so the club head doesn’t release.

Drill: A good way to ingrain this “no-release” feeling is to grip the club well down on the shaft. First, find a practice bunker and setup as you would for a normal bunker shot. Now, go almost down to the hosel. Leave about six inches between your hands and the hosel. Now take a swing. Make sure the club’s shaft doesn’t hit your body. This drill helps groove the feeling of keeping your wrists firm through impact.

A Tight Lie
Tight lies around the perimeter are killers. Since they come up frequently around the perimeter, perfecting this shot helps cut your golf handicap significantly. The key is to keep your swing on plane. Set up with a square stance and square shoulders. Play the ball in the center of your stance. And grip the club normally. Again, shift 70 percent of your weight on your front foot to help produce a downward blow.

Drill: Place two stand bags on the target line—one in front of you and one in back of you. Both bags are angled so the clubs are pointing toward you. When in position, they both rest at a about 45-degree angle, perfect for creating the ideal angle of attack for a good swing plane. On the backswing, you want the clubshaft parallel to the back bag. On the follow through, you want the shaft parrallel to the front bag. This is called being on plane.

The trick to improving your golf handicap is conquering the green’s perimeter. Good players almost always have solid perimeter games. Good perimeter game turns three shots into two time and time again, as I’ve written in my golf tips. Use the three drills above to make practice fun and interesting. They’ll sharpen your short game skills and help you master key perimeter shots.

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. Hit Driver Off The Deck
2. Beating Bermuda Grass
3. Question of the Week – Use This Drill To Finish Off The Swing
4. Article – Conquer The Perimeter For A Better Golf Handicap
5. Article – Find A Putting Grip That Works… And Then Change It

Hit Driver Off The Deck

When you’re in the fairway and need something that provides plenty of distance, one option is hitting driver off the deck. It flies low and goes a long way. Driver off the deck is ideal on long par 4s with a ton of yardage left or when going for the green in two on par 5s. It’s not your every day type of shot, of course. But it eats up yardage–if you can pull it off.

Below are five keys to hitting driver of the deck:

1. Use a slightly open stance
2. Position the ball forward
3. Keep your feet and body still
4. Focus on rotating your torso
5. Make a full shoulder turn

The secret to hitting driver off the deck is re-creating your setup position at impact. Make sure you keep your hands in front of your body and strive for full extension of your arms at impact and a balanced finish.

To start, adopt a slightly open stance and a ball position allowing you to pick it cleanly from the turf. Usually, this spot is just forward of a normally teed ball.

During takeaway, keep your feet and legs as quiet as possible. This provides a solid foundation to support the swing’s power. Also, focus on rotating your torso and making a full shoulder turn for power.

From the top, turn your back toward the target, use the ground to push off on, and transfer your weight to the inside of your front foot. Now, power your hands and clubhead into the impact zone.

Next time you find yourself with a ton of yardage to the green on a par 4 or par 5 and you need something low, consider hitting driver off the deck. It’s seldom used, but it works, if executed well.

Beating Bermuda Grass

The type of grass you play on important isn’t important. It’s critical. Just ask those golfers who play a lot on Bermuda grass–a major turf species installed in sports fields, lawns, parks, golf courses, and general utility turfs in Australia, Africa, India, and South America. It’s also popular in the Southern region of the United States, including Florida and Georgia. If you’re not accustomed to playing on Bermuda grass, you’ll be surprised at how it impacts your game.

Here are five tips on how to play on Bermuda grass

• Use a normal stance
• Play the ball back
• Hit down and through
• Follow through to a finish
• Never try to scoop the ball

Bermuda grass grows aggressively in the sun’s direction. This characteristic creates a crook in its growing pattern that causes your ball to “sit up,” which in turn tempts you to try to scoop the ball from the grass. Never try to scoop the ball. Instead, use a normal stance, play the ball back a couple of inches, and hit down and through to a normal finish.

Bermuda grass also affects putting. Get a good read of the green’s grain. Know in which direction it’s running. And give the cup’s sides a good look. One half will look brown and ragged. The other half will look green and clean. The brown side is the side opposite the grain. Your putt will generally drift towards that side.

The type of grass you play is critical. If it’s not what you typically play on, find out what type it is and how it plays. Then adjust to compensate for the turf’s characteristics. It’ll save you a lot of strokes.

Question of the Week – Use This Drill To Finish Off The Swing

Q.I’m left-handed and having a hard time completing my backswing and getting a full shoulder turn. What’s a good drill to follow to get me to get my r/shoulder under my chin and then complete my downswing?

Many Thanks,
Edward

A. Thanks for the question, Edward. One reason golfers have problems like yours is that their strong sides dominate the swing. In your case, that’s your left side. The Let Go Drill helps equalize your sides and trains you to finish your swing off correctly. It’s a simple drill, but if practiced enough, works wonders.

Here’s the drill:

Swing slowly back to the top using a 7-iron. Make sure your make a full shoulder turn on the swing. As you swing through, let go of the club with your left-hand (right hand for right-handers). The club will fly through the impact zone and continue to a full finish. You can’t stop it. Repeat the drill until you feel you’ve trained your right arm (left arm) to keep moving and are finishing full on every shot.

Next, hit balls. Tee up every ball. Now swing. You should feel how doing the drill brings equality to your sides. When you hit shots, the right hand (left hand) leads the club into impact . You’ll be amazed just how far you can launch the ball down the fairway with just your left arm finishing the shot.

It may feel awkward at first practicing this drill, but you’ll get used to it. When it’s time to hit balls, focus on regaining the feel of equality you achieved in your practice sessions.

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

Here are some of my recent articles:

Article – Conquer The Perimeter For A Better Golf Handicap

Article – Find A Putting Grip That Works… And Then Change It

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.