By Jack Moorehouse

You have to love technology. It not only makes our lives easier, it also enables us to see and do things we might not see and do otherwise. Take the Internet. If you haven’t been to the official U.S. Open Web site (www.usopen.com), go there. The site provides numerous high tech features, like an iPhone app, to help you truly enjoy the 2010 U.S. Open at California’s Pebble Beach golf course. The Web site also provides some unique articles that will not only peak your interest, but also help you chop strokes off your golf handicap.

Perhaps the most interesting high-tech feature on the Web site—for serious golfers, that is—is the course preview page. It gives you a great overview of the course from a variety of angles. It’s so good you almost feel like you’re walking the course. The Web site lets you not only watch a Fly-Over video of Pebble Beach, but also do a video walkthrough of the course. The walkthrough is like you were really there. In addition, the page offers tee, fairway, and green views of the course. The preview page comes as close as you can to being at the course without actually being there. The page is a golf instruction session all on its own.

Among The Prettiest Courses
The Web page’s overview of Pebble Beach is so detailed that people who’ve never had a golf lesson or read a golf tip in their life will enjoy it. Pebble Beach is among America’s prettiest public courses. Opened in 1919, it hugs the rugged California coastline. The course offers wide-open vistas, cliff-side fairways, and slopping greens. Pebble Beach claims Jack Neville and Douglas Grant as its designers. Home for the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Championship, the course often serves as a site for PGA events. This is the fifth time it’s hosted the U.S. Open. It also hosted the event in 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2000.

Another interesting feature of the Web site is a two-part article on how the U.S.G.A gets a course ready for an open championship. The article examines all the decisions and changes that need to be made by the grounds keepers to get the course in shape for the U.S. Open. In this case officials from the United States Golf Association walked the course addressing the changes that needed to be made.

For example, one changes involved the rough: Would it be a graduated? Officials decided to make it graduated. Another decision involved the bunkers. Previously, Pebble Beach had light rough running into around the fringes of its bunkers. Officials had all the fringes cut. Now, a wayward shot is more likely to run into the bunker than be stopped by the fringe, penalizing the golfer. This year Pebble Beach has a course rating of 76.6 and a slope of 149 for the Open. Course length is over 7,000 yards. Players will hit from the black tees.

Experts Choices To Win
Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood are among the more popular choices to win the Open.

Westwood is fresh off his win at the St. Jude’s Classic. It was his first win in the United States since 1998 and he seems to play well on West Coast courses. He also plays well in the U.S. Open. He’s played in three Opens and finished near the top in all three. He came in seventh in 1998 at Olympic, fifth in 2000 at Pebble Beach, and third in 2007 at Torrey Pines. He had a good chance to win in 2000, but left some shots out there and made some bad decisions. Westwood is playing well, Woods, on the other hand, is not playing well. His layoff seems to have affected him more than some experts thought. Then he had some problems with his neck a few weeks ago, so it’s anybody’s guess how well he will play this year around. Still, Wood is 113th in driving accuracy and 164th in driving length.

His putting accuracy this year is 1.708, which would be first on Tour if he were eligible for the ranking. Experts who pick woods say he needs to leave his driver and the bag and use his 2-iron off the tee. They thing the course sets up well for him, if he features his “stinger” out of the tee box.

It’s anybody’s guess which player will win this year’s tournament. But if you really want the full U.S. Open experience, stop by the championship’s Web site and make use of the technological features there, especially the course views. You’ll not only get a up close and personal view of the course, you may also get glean a few golf tips based on how the course is set up to help you chop a stroke or two off 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.

Golf studies are intriguing. But some are more intriguing than others. Take those done on power. They show you can gain 25 yards off the tee without going to a gym or buying a new driver. All you have to do is improve your swing’s sequencing and efficiency. How do you do that? Strengthen your core. That’s right. Beef up your core and you could quickly become the top dog in your foursome when it comes to driver. With luck, you could also cut strokes from your golf handicap. Increasing clubhead speed is the key to hitting bombs. More precisely, you add 2 yards to your drive for every mile per hour you increase your clubhead speed, as I’ve said in my golf tips newsletter. Increase clubhead speed by 10 miles per hour and you add about 20 yards to your drives. Pro golfers average clubhead speeds of about 130 miles per hour. Long drive champs average clubhead speeds of about145 miles per hour. And weekend golfers average speeds of about 100 miles per hour. That’s a big difference.

Seven Groups Power Your Swing
Seven muscle groups power your swing—(1) glutes, (2) groin, (3) abs, lats, and obliques, (4) quadriceps, (5) pectorals, (6) hamstrings, and (7) rotator cuffs. But many other muscles also help. For example, while the left adductor (groin) pulls the body forward, the right latissimus dorsi (lat) balances the body so it doesn’t topple over as you shift your weight. If you’ve taken golf lessons or read a lot of golf tips, you know how vital a balanced sequential weight shift is.

Nevertheless, while your legs, shoulders, back, and chest help generate power, it’s your core—abdomen, pelvis, and thighs—that’s the true producer of power. In fact, if you watch the pros closely, you’ll see just how critical the core is to drilling a golf ball a long way. In other words, to belt drives 250 yards or more, you must fire your hips through the hitting area quickly and efficiently. To do that, strengthen your core muscle group:

Two simple exercises and two easy-to-do stretches can help you strengthen your core. They make a difference because they improve the flexibility, coordination, and strength of your hips, abdomen, and pelvis. Do the exercises faithfully and you’ll be hitting bombs without having gone to any golf instructions sessions or trekking over to your health club.

Here are the exercises and stretches:

Hip Rotation Stretch
Stand next to a wall, with your shoulders perpendicular to it.  Step forward with the right leg, knee bent. Keeping most of your weight on your right leg, place your hands on the wall and turn your shoulders to the right, sliding your hands back as far as you can.

Hip Flexor
Kneel on your right knee in a lunge position until you can feel a stretch in your left hip. Holding a club in front of you, slowly turn the upper body to the left while keeping the lower body stable and the club at chest level.

Single Leg Rotation
Stand on one leg, knees slightly bent.  Holding the club in front of you, mimic the spine angle you would have when you address the ball. Now slowly turn as if you were making a backswing then a through swing, before returning to the address position.

Step-down Hip Rotation
Stand on a platform so one leg hangs off the edge. Holding a club in front of you, turn your upper body toward the platform as the hanging foot taps the floor. Then return to the start position. Be sure to work the opposite side equally.

Perform these stretches and exercises in sets of three (10-15 reps), then alternate sides. Perform each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Do them as many times a week as you’d like and before long you’ll be the top dog in your foursome.

We all want to generate power off the tee—whether you have a golf handicap in the low single digits or one in the high teens. Longer drives mean shorter approach shots. Shorter approach shots mean more GIRs. More GIRs mean more par and birdie putts. Sinking more of those can help cut your golf handicap dramatically.

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.

Tools To Help Your Game!

How To Break 80
Books:
Digital eBook
Physical Book

How To Break 80
Audio:
Audio Program

How To Break 80
DVD’s:
Putting
Short Game
Short Game Drills
Driver
Draw
Bunker
Full Swing
Full Swing Drills
Full Swing Lessons
Max Distance
Precision Putting
Swing Plane
Trouble Shots
Perfect Impact
Pitching
Seniors

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Out Every Time From Long Bunkers
2) Get Down For A Ball Below Your Feet
3) Question of the Week – Achieving Consistency off the Tee
4) Article – Strengthen Core To Reduce Golf Handicap
5) Article – The 2010 U.S. Open

Jack’s Note: Wow, what a U.S. Open last weekend!  We got so caught up in the excitement we forgot to send out the newlsetter to you guys last week. Sorry folks!

Congratulations to Dennis Lavery for correctly picking the winner of the 2010 U.S. Open (Graeme McDowell).

We will be contacting you Dennis Lavery so you can receive your complimentary DVD’s.  Way to go!

Also, if you’re still struggling with hitting the ball consistently, it could be your swing plane. Go here to watch a video on how to find your perfect swing plane.

Trouble viewing links? Your browser may be the issue. We recommend using the Firefox browser. Click Here To Download. Some email clients also distort links: try to copy and paste web urls directly in your browser, or turn on images for emails.
1) Out Every Time From Long Bunkers

No one likes having a 40-yard bunker shot. But they happen. The keys to getting out of long bunkers are widening your stance for stability, keeping your lower body still, and picking the ball clean from the sand. That sounds easy. But some players struggle with this approach. They tend to dig into the dirt at impact, which can derail the shot. Below is another way to hit this shot.

Here are five keys to hitting this long bunker shot:

* Set up as if you were putting
* Move closer to the ball
* Use a reverse over-lap grip
* Keep more weight on your front foot
* Make a U-shaped swing

The key to making this shot, as we’ve said above, is preventing the club from digging into the sand at impact. If it does, you’ll dissipate the force behind the ball and the ball will probably stay in the bunker. Instead, try this:

Using a sand wedge, set up like you were about to putt. Move closer to the ball and employ a reverse overlap grip. Now make a U-shaped swing controlled by your body turn, not a V-shaped arm-swing.

Keeping your weight on your front foot, make what feels like a long aggressive putt by rocking your shoulders and turning your stomach area. The club should enter the sand just behind the ball and skim through it, not dig into it, giving you the distance you need to hit the green.

This shot is somewhat similar to a putt/chip with an 8-iron from the edge of the green. Mastering this long bunker shot may take a little practice, but once you’ve got it down, you’ll get the ball out every time, saving strokes.
2) Saves Strokes By Hitting Effective Pitches

Want to cut strokes from your scores? Hit pinpoint pitches. Hitting accurate pitches is the key —the kind that hit the green and stop dead right on target. A common mistake when trying to hit pitches is taking the club back low, with straight stiff wrists. This type of swing leads to scooping. Scooping leads to mis-hits. The stiffness in your hands and arms also hurts your sense of feel, hampering accuracy.

Below are five tips on hitting pinpoint pitches:

1. Set up with a slightly open stance
2. Open your clubface.
3. Shift your weight forward.
4. Hinge your wrists in the backswing.
5. Swing hard to generate speed.

Hitting accurate pitches isn’t hard. The secret is creating height and backspin to stop the ball when it hits.

Start by setting up with a slightly open stance and an open clubface. Shift your weight forward and keep it there. A big shift while swing makes it harder to bring the club back to a consistent impact point.

To generate height, hinge your wrists in the backswing and swing hard. The harder you swing, the higher the ball goes—without adding distance to the shot. With height and backspin, the ball stops dead when it hits. Practice this shot on the range until you’ve ingrained it.

Also, spend time on the range moving your hands up and down on the grip in one-inch increments. By gripping down an inch, you can subtract five to eight yards from the shot without changing your swing. Note how the changes affect your yardage. You’ll have to get closer to the ball. But you won’t be changing your swing.

Hitting more effective pitches saves strokes big time. It turns three shots into two and sets the stage for more par putts. Sink a couple of those per round and you’ll quickly lower your scores.
3) Question of the Week – Achieving Consistency off the Tee

Q. Hello, Jack:

I have 4, 5, and 6 hybrids. Seems like I hit them fine on the practice range, but when playing, I have a tendency to hit them off the toe? Any suggestions would help. At times, I am afraid to pull one of these clubs out of the bag.

Thanks,
Russ Breeden

A. Thanks for the question, Russ. Toe hits occur when the arms lose extension through impact.  This often results from a player trying to lift the ball off the ground, pulling the swing path too far inside. To cure the problem, focus on swinging down on the ball and making center-face contact. Also, try swinging the club around your body more.

Here’s a drill that can help:

Stick two tees in the ground, parallel to each other, but about a clubhead length apart. One tee should be closer to you and one farther away. Set up to the tee that’s closer to you, but swing at the one that’s farther away. Try picking the tee out of the ground on your swing. Practice this drill until you can pick the tee out of the ground instinctively

This drill flattens your downswing path, forcing you to extend your arms through impact. The drill also gets you to swing the club around your body more.

The tee drill is a simple but effective. It will eliminate toe hits and save you strokes—and probably some embarrassment in the process.

Also, when you’re on the course or the range, visualize two balls and try hitting the outside one.

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

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article – Strengthen Core To Reduce Golf Handicap
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/strengthen-core-to-reduce-golf-handicap.php

5) Article – The 2010 U.S. Open
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/2010-us-open.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

By Jack Moorehouse

Pro golfers are known for many things. Some are known for driving. Others are known for putting. And then there are those known for chipping. Phil Mickelson, for example, is known for his wedge play. Regardless of what they’re claim to fame is, professional players are top-notch in all phases of the game. They’ve achieved a level of consistency well beyond that of the average player. For weekend golfers, achieving consistency like that is the key to lower golf handicaps.

Good iron play, for example, cures a multitude of golfing woes. Hitting an iron is about controlling three things: trajectory, spin, and distance. Control these factors with consistency when hitting irons and you’ll find yourself playing from the fairway more and in a better position to hit approach shots. You’ll also stay out of trouble. Below are seven golf tips that will help you not only increase consistency with your irons, but also chop strokes off your golf handicap.

Keep Your Shoulders Level
When addressing the ball with a driver, your shoulders are slightly tilted. But when addressing a ball with your irons, your shoulders should be level. Level shoulders position you to hit crisp iron shots, like they teach in golf lessons. To achieve this position stand with a club in front of you and push downward with both palms on the butt end. This centers you.

Pre-Set Your Wrist Hinge
You need a compact swing to hit solid irons. In fact, the more compact your swing the easier it is to hit solid irons. To eliminate wasted motion, pre-set your wrist hinge then simply turn to the top. Feel this sensation when starting from your normal address position. Before long, you’ll find yourself hitting crisp irons like they show in golf instruction sessions and videos.

Maintain Your Spine Angle
Maintaining a consistent spine angle is critical to good iron play. Your spine angle enables you to hit down on the ball. Weekend golfers often rise up when hitting an iron in an effort to lift the ball in the air. Lifting leads to poor contact, producing thin and fat shots. To correct this tendency, swing to a finish position and hold it for a second. Then bring the club back down, as if someone hit the re-wind button. You should be back in your address position. If you are, you’ve maintained your spine angle.

Rehearse Your Impact
To achieve the correct pinching action, like that described in my golf tips newsletter, rehearse an exaggerated impact position at address. You want to feel the clubhead meeting the ball and then descending into the turf. To encourage this, lean the shaft forward with your hands well ahead of the clubhead. Make your normal swing. Try re-creating this feeling when striking the ball. Work on this often and before long you’ll be hitting solid irons.

Bow Your Left Wrist
Professionals hit their irons solidly because they deloft the clubface to a degree when hitting the ball. Maintaining your wrist hinge keys this move and produces a penetrating ball flight. Keep your left wrist bowed through impact for a solid hit. To ingrain this move, pretend you’re holding a club and practice bowing your left wrists so your knuckles point downward.

Focus On The Basics
Weekend golfers sometimes try to do too much. They try to make shots their not capable of making. Attempting a miracle shot often throws your swing off. Instead, focus on the basics: Hit the ball hard and straight, without getting too fancy about shotmaking. Concentrate on three things: focus on your target, swing freely, and try to hit the ball solidly. This approach simplifies the shot and helps you hit crisper irons.

Consistency is the key to lower golf handicaps. The seven golf tips described above will help you achieve consistency with your irons. Hitting crisp irons puts you in good position for your next shot, keeps you out of trouble, and helps generate better approach shots more often than not. That in turn will help you chop strokes off your golf handicap and take your game to the next level.

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.