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How To Break 80 Newsletter

October 25th, 2010

"The Web's Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter"
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In this issue we'll discuss...

1) Change Your Grip To Hit Crisp Chips

2) Enhance The Bounce

3) Drill of the Week: Focus On Speed With Long Putts

4) Article - Getting Fit For a Putter

5) Article - Playing Golf Hogan's Way

Jacks Note: Did you see the message I sent yesterday? It was about getting free access to the Ultimate Lower Scores System program with absolutely no purchase necessary! (Unlike last summers promotion!). Some people had issues accessing the link to the page, so for those that missed it, go here.

This week we're doing something a little different, from now on the newsletter will be more blog based, so be sure and bookmark the blog!

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.

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1) Change Your Grip To Hit Crisp Chips
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Chipping is all about distance control. So if your chipping leaves something to be desired, try changing grips. Most players use a standard neutral grip to hit chips. But if you're ending up with long putts to the hole or you're not making solid contact on short chips around the green, you're not helping yourself. The closer you chip to the hole, the easier the putt.

Below are five keys to this shot:

* Turn both hands slightly right
* Keep your wrists firm

* Keep the back of left hand moving

* Hit slightly down on the ball

* Keep the clubface moving

There's nothing wrong with using the standard neutral grip if it's producing results. The standard neutral grip is hit with both thumbs on top of the shaft. But if it's not working, you may want to do something about it.

Using a stronger grip can save you strokes.

To create a stronger grip, turn both hands slightly to the right and hold onto the club firmly with your left hand. If you're left-handed, turn your grip slightly left and hold onto the club firmly with your right hand.

When you swing, keep your wrists firm, your hands ahead of the clubface, and the back of your left hand facing the target through impact and moving down the target line. Left-handers will want to keep the back of their right hand facing the target through impact and moving down the target line.

Hit slightly down on the ball without allowing your hands to roll over.

To prevent this, keep the clubhead moving down the target line.

If you're not happy with your chipping, you may want to change grips. Using a stronger grip to hit chips can provide more control over the clubhead, which is what you need to get the ball closer to the hole. When you use a stronger grip, the ball jumps off the clubhead and runs down your intended line.

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2) Enhance The Bounce

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Many golfers don't open the clubface enough on bunker shots. They think that opening the clubface causes the shot to go right. (If they're left-handed, they think it will go left.) It's a common mistake that can cost you strokes when playing from soft sand. It's also a mistake you can avoid by making a few adjustments and using a simple visualization technique. Together, they'll help you execute this shot and get out in one.

Below are six keys to this shot:

* Open the clubface first
* Dig in your feet slightly

* Choke down on the club

* Open your stance

* Aim right of stance

* Swing down and under

With bunker shots from soft sand, you need to use more bounce. Otherwise, you'll dig into the sand. The more you open the clubface, the more bounce you get and the less chance of digging in.

Opening the clubface also gives you more of a margin for error.

Poor bunker players like to grip the club first, and then turn their hands to open the clubface.

When you do that, the clubface tends to close during the swing. Instead, open the clubface, and then grip the club. To get yourself to open the clubface enough, visualize the flange of the club under the face.

Next, dig in your feet slightly for a solid foundation.

Choke down on the club a little to improve club control and make up for digging in. Open your stance by pointing your feet, hips, and shoulders left of the target line. But aim the clubface right of your stance, placing it in line with the target. Swing down and through along your foot line

Bunker shots from soft sand are tricky.

Just remember that the softer the sand the more you need to open the clubface. In hard-packed sand, open the face only a little, but lean your weight to the left.

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3) Drill of the Week: Focus On Speed With Long Putts

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Speed, not break, is the key to lag putting. You want to get the ball within three feet of the hole. (Your putter is about three feet long. Use it to measure a three-foot circle around the hole.)

This drill—used by a lot of players on tour—forces you to focus on the speed of your putts.

Take five balls to the practice green. Stick tees in the ground at 30, 40, and 50 feet from the hole.

Now try to putt five balls in a row from each tee to within three feet of the hole. Start at 40 feet, and then move to 30, and then to 50. Staggering your shots like this prevents you from just grooving a slightly longer stroke as you go.

Don't move to the next station until you get five straight putts within the circle.

This is a great little drill. It puts you under the gun. When you get to the fourth putt, you'll feel the heat to get the fifth within the circle.

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

Click here to view this newsletter on the web

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Getting Fit For a Putter
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/22/getting-fit-for-a-putter/

5) Article -Playing Golf Hogan's Way
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/22/playing-golf-hogans-way/

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

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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.

Many wouldn’t think twice about getting fit for a new set of clubs if they thought it would help their golf handicaps.  But few—except maybe those players on the Tour, would ever think about getting fit for a putter. Choosing a putter is often an emotional decision while club fitting with its cold calculations is more of rational effort. But thanks to a few innovative companies, getting fit for a putter could become as common for average golfers as taking golf lessons from your local pro.

Why get fitted for a putter? When using a putter that’s not fitted to them, players must make adjustments.  As a result, they compromise their set-up to adapt to the putter.  Once players compromise in their set-up, they’re forced into making compensations during their putting stroke, ultimately resulting in inconsistent and often poor putting, which affects your scores and your golf handicaps.

Below are the names of several companies at the forefront of fitted putters.

KB Golf is among the companies leading the charge when it comes to fitted putters. Founded by Kevin Burns, KB Golf produces putters using stainless steel. They’re designed and milled using computerized state-of-the-art machine centers. Burns realized some years ago that thanks to technology putters could be tailored to a person’s unique characteristics. Golfers can even choose engravings like various alignment aids—a dot, a line, or multiple lines.

KB Golf’s key innovation is an interactive, computerized kiosk golfers use to choose a customized putter. The kiosk features a telescoping grip and a virtual putterhead in 3-D. Consumers select the clubhead and hosel configurations using the monitor. The virtual clubhead on the floor screen instantly reflects the choices made.

Next, consumers grip the floating butt end to address the virtual ball, locking in their ideal lie angle, shaft angle, and head weight.  The kiosk transmits the data via the Internet to KB Golf’s shop, which produces the club to the exact specifications in about an hour—the time it takes to have a golf lesson.

Coutour golf is another company at the vanguard of fitted putters. The company’s name comes from the word “couture.” It stands for custom clothing made to fit perfectly to each individual person.  Todd Sones founded the company. A one-time consultant for Research/Development for Tommy Armour Golf Company, he patented the Tri-Fit Method of fitting putters in 2003.

With Tri-Fit, a player gets into an ideal setup position with the help of a certified fitter.  Then the Tri-Fit device—made from an extendable arm with a grip, a couple of hinges, and a mirror—measures the distance from the hands to the ground and the distance from the point to the ball. Using the Pythagorean theorem, the fitter adds the squares of these numbers to come up with the correct club length, using the hypotenuse of the triangle. You can actually watch the fitting process take place by going to the company’s web site.

Other companies producing custom fitted putters are Ping, which uses a color-coded system to determine lie angle and shaft lengths, and Titleist, which uses a weighting system to better match head weight and shaft length.

Taylormade features housings for circular weights in the heel and toe in its Rossa Spider putters, as does Odyssey in its White Hot Tour line. Ontic produces an adjustable hosel, which moves from flat to upright. This innovation can make fitting a putter last not just the length of a single golf lesson but a lifetime.

Great putting is about fundamentals. These can be learned in golf instruction sessions and from golf tips in books and magazines. Mastering the fundamentals can help lower your golf handicap significantly. But it also helps to have a putter custom fitted to your exact specifications. The idea of going out and buying a putter off the shelf that will magically improve your putting is becoming a thing of the past. The future in putting belongs to those companies that produce fitted putters.

Ben Hogan is among the greatest golfers ever. "The Hawk", as he was called, is known for his fierce determination and an iron will to win. He won 63 tournaments as a professional—despite serving in World War II and experiencing a near fatal automobile accident. He also completed golf’s grand slam in 1953—winning the Masters, U. S. Open, British Open, and PGA championship tournaments. Among the best ball-strikers ever, he is said to have had a “secret” to swinging a golf club with astonishing consistency.

Hogan left a different golf legacy besides his record. His book, Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, is among the game’s best instruction books. In it, Hogan offers golf tips on the game’s basics—golf tips that will help you lower your golf handicap. The book also provides one of the most memorable illustrations in golf instruction. The pane of glass image used by Hogan simplifies the complex motion of swinging a golf club. Many teaching pros still use the image in golf instruction sessions.

Below are five golf lessons from Hogan’s book. These short lessons use the plane of glass image to help make their points.

Down The Middle
The best ballstrikers have the club on plane going back, so they don’t have to make adjustments before impact. It’s called maintaining your swing plane. To check your swing plane, imagine two planes of glass: one fitted around your mid-section and the other around your shoulders. The space between those two panes of glass creates a slot. To make solid contact, avoid breaking either of the panes of glass on the way to the golf ball.

Hit It Low
Hogan liked to bring the ball in low to back pins. To do that, imagine a pane of glass wrapped around your body just below your shoulders. To keep it low, swing the club back and through while staying under the plane of glass. As you swing, you should have the feeling that you’re swinging around your body, not up and down. This shallow angel of attack produces a low, penetrating ball flight that’s good for reaching pins positioned toward the back of the green.

Hit It High
For pins placed at the green’s front, Hogan liked to hit it high. To do that, use the same pane of glass image we used above. The top of the backswing and finish needs to stay above the plane of glass as you move from the swing’s top and forward. This creates a steeper angle of attack. It enables you to hit down sharply on the ball and send it higher in the air.

Fix A Slice
It’s hard sometimes for golfers to feel what it’s like to swing a golf club around one’s body. We see players struggle with this in our golf instruction sessions. To get this feel, imagine you have a pane of glass wrapped around your stomach. Place your arms and the clubshaft above the pane of glass. Now swing your club around your body. Try to feel the palm of your right hand facing up as you complete the backswing and down as you finish the through swing.

Catch It Flush
If you’re hitting the ball flat or thin or just not striking it solidly, you may be changing your posture during your swing. In other words, you may not be maintaining the distance between your body and the ball established at address. To rectify this, imagine that there’s a pane of glass touching your backside as you address the ball. When you take the club back, try to stay in contact with the pane of glass with your right glute. (left glute for left-handers) When you swing through, maintain contact with your left glute. Try not to slide up or down or push the glass away.

These simple golf lessons using the pane of glass imagery won’t turn you into a Ben Hogan over night. You still must work hard ingrain your swing. But following the tips will help you achieve more consistency. That in turn should help you chip away at your golf handicap. Use Hogan’s pane of glass imagery to help you hit them long and straight.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter

October 15th, 2010

"The Web's Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter"
===================================================

In this issue we'll discuss...

1) The Ultimate Touch Shot
2) Don't Strangle The Club
3) Question of the Week: Lead Hip Moves First In Downswing
4) Article - Mastering The Art Of Chipping
5) Article - Getting Your Spine In Line

Jacks Note: Did you see the message I sent yesterday? It was about getting free access to the Ultimate Lower Scores System program with absolutely no purchase necessary! (Unlike last summers promotion!). Some people had issues accessing the link to the page, so for those that missed it, go here.

This week we're doing something a little different, from now on the newsletter will be more blog based, so be sure and bookmark the blog!

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) The Ultimate Touch Shot
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Today's greens are faster than ever. Thanks to advancements in cutting and measuring equipment, grounds keepers can closely manicure greens, making them faster. Because of this, approach shots often run through them. That can leave a delicate chip shot to the pin. Hitting this shot too hard runs it past the hole and leaves you with a tough putt coming back. Chunking it leaves you with basically the same shot. But simple adjustments will help you get it close every time.

Below are five keys to this shot:

* Take your most lofted club
* Choke down on it a few inches
* Stand closer to the ball
* Use a simple brush stroke
* Hold the clubface square through impact

Delicate shots like this can cost you strokes, if you're not careful. So don't take them lightly. Instead, concentrate on them like you'd do for any other shot. Here's how to execute the shot:

Take your most lofted wedge (whether a lob, sand, or gap wedge) and choke down on it a few inches. Choking down on a club increases sensitivity and feel.

Stand a little closer to the ball to compensate for choking down on the club. Standing closer positions the clubhead on its toe and reduces the chance of chunking it because the grass grabbed the club's heel.

Pick a landing spot on the green and swing away. Use a simple brush stroke back and through. Your stroke should be like what you'd use for a putt, but hold the face open as you come through the shot. This maintains the club's loft.

This shot takes a little work to master. But it will save a lot of strokes over your playing career and boost the number of pars you make.

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2) Don't Strangle The Club
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Don't strangle the club. That's advice all golf instructors would agree on. When you hold a club too tightly your whole body tightens. That prevents you from making a fluid, rhythmic swing. It also slows down your swing, which can cost you in distance and accuracy. You want to hold a club with just the right amount of pressure and no more. That's your ideal grip pressure.

Below is a five-step test to find your ideal grip pressure:

* Hold the club vertically with two hands
* Let it slide through your fingers
* Firm the grip pressure up slightly
* Hold the club vertically again
* Lower the club until it's horizontal

When you grip a club, you want most of the pressure in the last three fingers of your left hand (right hand, if you're left-handed), especially the little finger. Your index finger has the least amount of pressure.

To find your ideal grip, hold the club vertically in front of you. Let it slide down through your fingers. This grip pressure is too light. Now grip the club again but firm up your grip just enough so that the club doesn't slide through your fingers.

Using this grip pressure, raise the club again vertically. Then lower it to horizontal. When you lower it, you increase grip pressure slightly. That's the pressure you should use when you address the ball. Try to maintain this pressure throughout your swing.

Use this test to determine your ideal grip pressure. Hit some practice balls using this pressure until you get used to it. Holding the club with your ideal grip pressure will increase your distance and your accuracy.

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3) Question of the Week: Lead Hip Moves First In Downswing
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Q.

Hi,

What is the first body part that moves in the downswing? Love your e-mails.

Thank you for your response.
Robert Della Serra

A.

Thanks for the question, Robert. The first part of the body to move in the downswing is your lead hip. It opens up slightly. Then, the rest of the body follows. This is a key to a good downswing.

When making a downswing, try to avoid sliding forward with your hips. This causes mishits. To see if you slide forward, stick an old shaft in the ground along side of your lead hip. Now, hit some balls. If your lead hip touches the shaft, you moved forward.

Another key to achieving a fluid downswing is to keep your front shoulder from spinning open too quickly. The hips and shoulders must stay in sync and your feet must stay planted. Otherwise, you'll mishit the shot. A fluid downswing also features a rigid spine angle, flexed knees, and a steady head.

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

Click here to view this newsletter on the web

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Mastering The Art Of Chipping
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/15/mastering-the-art-of-chipping/

5) Article - Getting Your Spine In Line
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/15/getting-your-spine-in-line/

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.