We all want to improve our games. But few of us really work at it, like practicing our chipping. Learning to chip well can transform your short game. That’s because good chipping turns three shots into two. Do this often enough and you’ll lower your golf handicap. But becoming a great chipper isn’t easy. While it helps to take golf lessons and read golf tips in magazines, the real key is engraining the proper mechanics though repetition. Once you’ve engrained the right mechanics, it’s only a matter of time until you master the art of chipping.

The first step in master the art of chipping is eliminating the most common chipping mistake: scooping. We see a lot of golfers in our golf instructions sessions that try to scoop the ball in the air when chipping. Scooping leads to poor contact. It’s also unnecessary. Grab any wedge and you’ll see two things immediately. First, you’ll see the club’s loft. Second, you’ll see the club’s bounce—the metal bulge beneath the clubhead’s sole. These two features help get the ball airborne without our help. You just have to keep the clubface open.

Use The Correct Setup
The second step in mastering the art of chipping is to use the correct setup. To hit a crisp chip with a descending blow, play the ball either in the middle of your stance or slightly back of the middle.  Your weight should favor your front leg and the club’s shaft should be angled just ahead of your zipper. To achieve this position, address the ball first and then lean your whole body forward. Never lean the club so far forward that the leading edge is below the bounce. The bounce helps the club slide under the ball even when the club doesn’t bottom out in the perfect spot.

Step three is to use the swing. The chip is different than a full swing. You don’t have to turn the body much on the backswing to make a good chip. A slight body turn will do. As you start the club down, use your body to maintain the proper forward shaft lean. Then, pivot on your front leg as your chest turns toward the target. Keep your arms connected to your body when chipping, which promotes consistency.

Learn To Develop Feel
The next step is to develop feel. Feel in chipping means distance control. You develop feel by keeping your hands “quiet” during the chip. Instead of using your hands, relax your grip and let your arms and body do the work. This promotes solid contact. The only independent hand movement you need to make is to bend your right wrist slightly as you start your backswing. This movement starts the club on the ideal descending angle into the ball, just like you’re taught in golf lessons.

Maintain A Stable Wrist
The last step in mastering the art of chipping is maintaining a stable right wrist. It’s a move all great chippers use. It’s also a move that golfers in golf instructions sessions often struggle with. To achieve a stable right wrist, you must first pre-set it in the ideal position. To do that, bend your right wrist back just a bit as you go into your backswing. You should be able to see the wrinkles on your wrist. Keep it in this position throughout the swing. This position lets you keep the clubhead low and ensures compression at impact, which helps you get the ball airborne.

All of us want to improve. But few of us do what we need to do to get better, like working on our chipping.  Good chipping helps lower your scores by turning three strokes into two. Do this enough times and you’ll chop strokes off your golf handicap.  To become a great chipper, you must first engrain the mechanics of chipping. Once you’ve done that, there’s no telling how low you’ll go.

Some people never learn to really play golf well—even after years of golf lessons. But many PGA players make it look easy. Take Fred Couples. The former number one ranked player in the world has won numerous golfing events, including the Masters Tournament in 1992. Born in 1959, Fred is among the oldest players on the PGA Tour. But he can still hit the ball a long way. His power stems from a seemingly effortless swing that players with high golf handicaps can only envy.

Fred’s swing is among the most efficient in the game. Among the keys to his swing’s efficiency is his rigid spine angle. Fred maintains the same spine angle from setup to impact. This creates a dynamic where Fred’s arms, head, and club can freely accelerate through the ball—just like they preach in golf tips and golf lessons. Like many pro golfers, Fred understands that the body always seeks to stay in balance. If your spine is curved at address, it will try to straighten during your swing, costing you power.

Below are several golf tips and drills that will help you achieve and maintain your spine angle. Working on these drills increases your swing’s efficiency and improves your consistency and accuracy:

It’s easy maintaining a constant spine angle if you start that way. This means bending at the hips—not slumping forward from the waist, as players with high golf handicaps often do. To learn to bend at the hips, do this exercise: Hold a club at both ends across your hipbones and just under your belt buckle. This pulls your shoulders back and locks in a straighter spine angle. Once you’re set, pull the club up to your chest and bend forward from the hips. Now, simulate your turn with the club across your chest. Make sure the club points just beyond the ball as you turn.

A strong lower body, including your legs, helps you create and maintain an athletic posture and adds power and efficiency to your swing. Power squats (fast knee bends) strengthen the big muscles of your legs. Make sure you balance yourself on the balls of your feet when you do them. Maintain a straight back and keep your abs flexed as you go down. For a maximum burn, pump your arms up as you go down and pump them down as you go up. Power squats are also a great warm-up exercise. Do three sets of 20 repetitions.

Powerful shoulder muscles are also keys to efficiency. The Rope Drill strengthens those muscles and adds speed and technique to your shoulder turn. Loop a jump rope around a table leg or a post and grab one end in each hand. Now pull each end one side at a time, as if you were starting a power lawn mower. But keep your head steady. This exercise also increases your range of motion and improves your swing tempo. Do three sets of 20 repetitions.

Players with efficient swings all have one thing in common—strong core muscles. The Back Brace drill, which instructors sometimes incorporate in their golf instruction sessions, strengthens your core: Drop into a push-up position but rest your weight on your forearms, not your hands. Hold your back straight and your body off the ground for 30 seconds.  To work your oblique muscles, turn sideways and hold yourself up on one forearm for 60 seconds. Then switch to the other forearm for the same length of time. Do a few of these each day.

Doing these four drills won’t turn you into a Fred Couples. But they will strengthen the key muscles that help you maintain the correct spine angle. Doing so will help you create a dynamic where your arms, head, and club freely accelerate through the ball—just like they tell you in golf tips and golf instruction sessions That in turn will help you smash longer, straighter drives that can lead to a lower golf handicap.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter

October 4, 2010

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

1) Erase An Erratic Shot Pattern
2) Straighten Our Your Snap-Hook
3) Question of the Week: New Clubs Take Time
4) Article - Positioning Yourself To Win
5) Article - The Laws of the Golf Swing

Jack's 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.

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) Erase An Erratic Shot Pattern
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We see it all the time. A golfer walks up to the ball, takes a quick practice swing, and then hits the ball. The golfer took her practice swing or swings without having a purpose in mind. That's too bad. By taking her practice swing for granted, she missed an opportunity to groove her takeaway for her real shot and it could end up costing her strokes. If you want to cut down on bad shots, use your practice swing wisely.

Below are five keys to a good practice swing:

* Take your normal stance

* Picture your ball flight

* Waggle the club

* Hinge the club up

* Rotate the clubface open

You want the clubface to stay square to the arc of your swing during your takeaway. This is often hard for players to visualize, so they do it poorly. Rehearse this move in your practice swing. Here's how:

Take your stance with a picture of your ball flight in mind. Now waggle the club and start your takeaway. As you go into your takeaway hinge the club up and rotate the clubface open relative to the target line. Now complete your backswing, make a smooth transition to your downswing, and accelerate through impact to a balanced finish.
If you keep the clubface shut relative to the target line, you'll bring the clubface back to impact closed. Or, you'll try to open it just before you hit the ball—and you'll probably open it too much. Neither of these things is good.

Take practice swings seriously. Use them to groove your takeaway and start your swing off correctly. If you do, you'll eliminate a common cause of bad shots and greatly improve your ballstriking.

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2) Straighten Our Your Snap-Hook

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Snap-hooks are ugly. They're also costly. They can get you into deep trouble and cost you strokes. If you hit snap-hooks regularly, you're always afraid you're going to hit one at the wrong time. That's not a good swing thought to have in mind when you're on the tee. A swing thought like that can cause you to follow a snap-hook with a wicked slice, which also spells trouble.

You hit a snap-hook when your top hand slips underneath your bottom hand in the downswing, swinging the clubface open. The only way to square the clubface is to arch the wrist of your top hand and snap the clubface closed. While the pros can do that and hit the ball straight, weekend golfers can't.

To eliminate a snap-hook, keep the heel of your top hand on the club's grip all the way through the downswing. That way it doesn't slip underneath the bottom hand, forcing you to make the snap compensation. If you hit snap-hooks regularly, the simple drill below can help solve the problem:

Tee Between The Hands Drill:

Place a tee between your two hands as you grip the club. Wedge the tee between the top knuckle of your bottom hand and the palm of your top hand at the base of the thumb. Hit balls on the range with the tee between your hands. Make sure the tee doesn't come out during your swing.

It helps to imagine that the tee is a thumbtack you're trying to push into your bottom hand. If you start slicing, rotate your top hand over your bottom hand a little earlier in your downswing. Always keep your right hand on the grip.

Solving your snap-hook problem won't help you beat your buddies. But it will keep you out of trouble and shave strokes from your score.

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3) Question of the Week: New Clubs Take Time

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Q.

Hi,

I've played golf for 6 years now and went from hitting around 110 to low 90s using the same clubs. I even broke 90 a few times. I went and had my clubs fitted to my length and lay of the club. From that point on I've been hitting fat shots and just spraying the ball all over the place. I am guessing this is a mental thing. But right now I'm confused and haven't a clue as to what is going on with my swing.

Confused,

Steven Newland

A.

Thanks for the question, Steven. It takes time to get used to new clubs—even clubs that have been fitted to you.

Also, you're could be swinging too easy, which is why you're hitting them fat. Or, you could be taking an excessively V-shaped swing. A rushed backswing and a desire to scoop the ball also cause bad shots.

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

With your irons, remember to strike the ball with a descending blow. Try to hit the ball just before the lowest point of the arc. Also, there's no need to try to scoop the ball or get under it. If you strike it properly, loft sends the ball skyward.

Here's a drill for eliminating fat shots:

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

Good luck with your new clubs. In time you'll recapture your old 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.

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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 - Positioning Yourself To Win
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/06/positioning-yourself-to-win/

5) Article - The Laws of the Golf Swing
http://www.howtobreak80.com/blog/2010/10/06/the-laws-of-the-golf-swing/

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

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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.

Make no mistake about it. The golf swing is all about geometry. The body’s lines, angles, and arcs and the club must all align to produce solid, consistent results. The quality of this relationship, among the most basic in golf, determines the quality of your swing. Simply put, if your body type matches your swing type, you’ll achieve a powerful swing—at least that’s what T.J. Tomasi advocates in his theory of LAWS. It’s covered in his book The LAWS of the Golf Swing, which explains the theory and provides numerous golf tips on matching body type and swing type.

T.J.’s credentials are impeccable. He is an adjunct professor at the Keiser University School of Golf, an accredited university offering degrees in Golf Management, where he teaches numerous courses. Also, he gives golf lessons at the PGA Center For Golf Learning and Performance, and is one of golf’s most widely published instructors. His golf tips often appear in popular golf magazines. His theory of LAWS provides a unique approach to the golf swing—one that could help you not only develop a better swing but also reduce your golf handicap.

The Theory of LAWS
Tomasi’s theory holds that when it comes to your swing, you can’t escape your body type. Each body type has its own characteristics and its own requirements for a good swing. Each swing type has its own characteristics and it’s own requirements for the right body type. Your swing’s key elements (swing plane, takeaway, hip action, downswing and so on) must match your body type to produce a consistent swing—an idea not often covered in golf lessons. Three body types prevail—mesomorph, ectomorph, and endomorph. These are matched to three swing types—the leverage swing, the arc swing, and the width swing.

Mesomorphs have a symmetrical build, with evenly proportioned limbs and good strength and flexibility. To have a good swing, mesomorphs should use a leverage swing (think Fred Funk/Annika Sorenstam). Ectomorphs are thin-chested and have flexible builds and long arms. They have decent strength and good flexibility. To have a good swing, ectomorphs should use an arc swing (think Fred Couples/Lorena Ochoa). Endomorphs are barrel-chested and have thick frames and short arms. While they have good strength, they lack some flexibility. To have a swing that produces consistent results, they should use a width swing (think Craig Stadler/J.B. Holmes).

Swing Plane Must Match Body Type
Swing plane is a key swing element that must match body type. For instance, your body type influences the lie angle of your club. The lie angle, in turn, must match your swing plane at address and impact. The alignment allows your swing to travel along an almost identical path in the backswing and downswing, with little or no change in either the transition or through impact. Of course, each club in your bag has a different lie angle, thanks to their varying lengths. So it’s not truly possible to swing on the exact same plane with every club. Instead, every swing plane will be a little bit different.

Match Your Entire Motion
But matching your swing plane to your body type isn’t enough. To produce consistency, you must also match your entire motion to your body type, from takeaway to impact. If you look at players in a group golf instruction session, you’ll see many different body and swing types. All these players can function on the highest level, if they get their swing elements to match their body types.

You can find out more about the T.J. Tomasi’s theory of LAWS at his website ( HYPERLINK "http://www.tjtomasi.com" www.tjtomasi.com). The site has an online test that tells you what body type you have, so you can match it to the right swing type. The site also provides golf tips based on the Tomasi’s theory. Developing a consistent swing will improve not only your ballstriking but also your accuracy and distance control, enabling you to chop strokes from your golf handicap.