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How To Break 80 Newsletter

June 24th, 2011

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

1) Pitching From Tight Fairway Lies
2) Tackling Uphill Bunker Shots
3) Question of the Week: Master The Fundamentals First
4) Article: Proven Ways To Save Par And Improve Scores
5) Article: Seven Golf Tips For Sticking Your Irons

Jack's Note: Did you see my message yesterday about back pain? It really can put a damper on your game (it did for me) and force you to stop playing all together. If you've got back pain, I want you to get this FR*EE guide called 7 Day Back Pain Cure written by my colleague Jesse Cannone. Even if you don't have back pain, it's still a good read because it gives you preventative measures to take. Look at Freddie Couples. Man can he play or what? But imagine if his back were healthy!.

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1) Pitching From Tight Fairway Lies
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It's always better to pitch from the fairway than the rough. There's no grass to interfere with the shot. But making solid contact when pitching from a tight fairway lie is a must. It's also critical to stick the shot near the hole. If you don't make solid contact, you'll hit the shot thin or fat. That could cost you strokes. The key to making solid contact from tight fairway lies is making a downward strike on the ball.

Below are fives keys to making solid contact from a tight fairway lie:

* Play the ball in the middle
* Set your weight on your front foot
* Rotate your upper body
* Turn through the ball altogether
* Make sure the clubface points up

Weekend golfers often try to scoop the ball into the air when hitting from a tight fairway lie. That almost never works. Instead, execute the following steps to make solid contact and stick it close.

For a standard pitch shot, play the ball in the middle of your stance. To make sure the ball is in the middle of your stance, position it midway between your ankles. Now set your weight on your front foot. This promotes the steeper angle of descent you need for a ball first hit.

Next, take the club back and make a smooth transition to the downswing. Rotate your body as you make your downswing helps control the pitching motion. Many weekend golfers use their hands or arms to do this, which usually leads to mis-hits. You want everything to turn through the shot, so your hips and shoulders face the target at the end.

Turning through the shot will also help you maintain the loft on the clubface for a higher shot. Make sure your clubface points upward after impact. The club should strike the ground immediately after the ball.

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2) Tackling Uphill Bunker Shots
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Uphill lies in greenside bunkers can give weekend golfers fits. The tendency is to drive the clubface into the upslope. That type of shot doesn't leave too much room for error. If you're off even a little bit, you'll mis-hit the shot. As it is, many greenside bunker shots leave little margin for error. Make a mistake on this one and you'll find yourself back in the bunker with the same shot or maybe a more difficult one.

Below are five keys to uphill bunker shots:

* Play the ball more in the middle
* Shift weight to back foot
* Adjust your body to the slope
* Slide the clubface under the ball
* Swing aggressively uphill

The key with this shot is to shallow out your swing by going with the slope. That enables you to slide the clubface under the ball.

Take your usual bunker stance, but play the ball a little toward the middle of your stance. Experience will tell you where the best to position the ball. Then shift all of your weight to your back foot, leveling the lie out. Doing that automatically adjusts your upper body to the bunker's slope. It also helps create a shallower swing arc.

Having adjusted your set up, swing the club up the slope. You want the clubface slide through the sand and into the follow through with minimal resistance. Use an aggressive swing on this shot because the ball will go almost straight up. It will also land more softly, so you won't get much roll.

When faced with an uphill shot from a greenside bunker, stay cool. The key is to adjust your setup by shifting your weight. This turns the slope into a level lie and shallows out your swing, making this shot easier. Practice the shot before using it on to the course.

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3) Question of the Week: Master The Fundamentals First
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Q.

Jack:

Thanks for the tips. One thing I struggle with is the one crappy shot that costs me two or three strokes. I’ll hit 3 or 4 good drives in a row, and feel like I'm in the zone. Then, all of a sudden, I'll heel a ball into the woods or slice one 60 yards offline. I have the fundamentals down. I practice shots and have consistently good results. But I still make costly shots twice a round. Do I need to see a sports psychologist? What's the solution to this dilemma?

Thanks again for the tips,

Steve Colabufo

A.

Thanks for the question, Steve. It’s a great one. Many weekend golfers have similar problems. Usually, it’s a question of focus. Loss of focus costs golfer strokes. Unfortunately, no one can stay focused for an entire round. You can’t think exclusively about the next shot or the next hole and remain fresh through 18 holes. So how you use the time between shots and between holes is critical to maintaining focus.

Good players learn to do what’s called “snapping back.” It involves taking your mind off the task at hand and then returning to it when you need to. Successful golfers learn to focus on something other than golf between holes or shots and then refocus on the next activity. Your ability to snap back depends on your ability to let go of any unnecessary thoughts, images, or feelings.

Golfers can develop this ability with practice. On the range pick an exact target before you hit the ball, decide how you will hit the target, complete your pre-shot routine, and then hit the ball. For example, think of a TV show or past non-golf event. Spend one whole minute thinking of the event. Now, bring your mind back to the next shot. Plan the shot, complete your pre-shot routine, and hit. Then, think about something else. Do this exercise when at the range. In time you will be able to snap back with greater and greater ease, even on the course.

Other things that can help are to establish a pre-shot routine and to train yourself to play target golf. Also, learn to use both visualization techniques and trigger words. Trigger words, like “focus” or “let it go,” help center attention on the task at hand. Use a trigger word to re-focus your attention on hitting the ball, but avoid dialoging with yourself as much as possible.

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: Proven Ways To Save Par And Improve Scores

... Many weekend golfers don't often practice the key shots than can help them save par. They would rather buy a bucket of balls and work on hitting bombs off the tee. While hitting bombs is great, it won't cut as many strokes from your golf handicap as mastering par saving shots...

5) Article: Seven Golf Tips for Sticking Your Irons

... Iron play is all about accuracy. Unfortunately, many weekend golfers with high golf handicaps focus on minute details in their swings. Often, these details are irrelevant and uncontrollable. You can't predict how a smudge of dirt on your 7-iron will affect contact...

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.

Iron play is all about accuracy. Unfortunately, many weekend golfers with high golf handicaps focus on minute details in their swings. Often, these details are irrelevant and uncontrollable. You can’t predict how a smudge of dirt on your 7-iron will affect contact. You also can’t predict how a slight breeze will affect distance if you hit the ball solidly.  So forget about these minute details. Instead, work on the things that really count. Perform these things well and the minute details won’t matter.

Concentrating on the things that really matter is a great golf tip for sticking your irons when necessary. Here are six others.

1. Listen To Your Shots

Feedback is critical when practicing, as I tell students in golf lessons. Feedback helps you make adjustments to your swing until you get it right. With irons, there are two kinds of feedback: how the shots felt and how they sounded. Thin shots and fat shots have a distinct sound. But good shots have a crisp thwack at impact. Listen for this sound when playing and practicing. The sound of your shot can give you clues as to how well you’re hitting the ball.

2. Direction Over Distance

If you’re serious about shaving strokes from your golf handicap, learn distance control with your irons. Distance control is paramount to sticking good iron shots. In golf lessons we teach students to master distance control by learning to vary the length and speed of their swings. If you do that, you’ll increase your ability to pinpoint iron shots, setting yourself up for the next shot.

3. Keep Head Low At Impact

The one thing many great tour players share is that their heads are lower at impact than when they were standing at address. Great ballstrikers go down after the ball by flexing their knees—not by bending at their hips or dropping their heads. Their knees drop down slightly and move toward the target at the same time. This leans the club forward so that the shaft is angled ahead of your forward arm, leading to a pure hit

4. Maintain Wrist Angle

Another trait great tour players share is that their hands always lead a trailing iron. This makes it possible to hit down on the ball and squash it against the ground, just like you’re taught in golf instruction sessions. To do this, you need to maintain the semi-cocked position with your right wrist (left wrist for left-handers) through impact, with the right palm facing down. Bad ballstrikers have their wrist facing up at impact. More often than not, bad ballstrikers try to flip the right wrist so that the clubhead scoops and passes their hands. This leads to mis-hits almost every time.

5. Capture The Moment of Impact

If you ever get a chance to see video of Johnny Miller, the great PGA pro, swinging, you’ll notice that he’s still staring at the ground after impact. In his words, he’s trying to “freeze frame” that fraction of a second when the clubhead meets the ball. His goal is to actually “see” the moment of impact—something many people say is impossible. Nevertheless, keeping his head down like that helps him square the club at impact and helps produce good crisp contact.

6. Slow Down Your Swing

Speed kills when hitting irons. It’s a common swing fault you see in golf lessons—players trying to swing their irons faster to generate more distance. Reining in your swing speed is the key to accuracy. Instead, swinging the club at about 75 percent of your top swing speed. This provides better balance and rhythm. It also helps improve your mechanics and enables you to hit the sweet spot more often. You also don’t need a lot of speed to put backspin on your ball. Pure backspin is the result of good contact more than anything else.

Sticking your irons is all about distance control. Work on executing the golf tips explained above and you’ll find yourself sticking your irons more and more. Sharpening distance control is one key to chopping strokes off your golf handicap. So if you’re determined to lower your handicap this year, learn to hit your irons accurately.

Even the world’s best golfers miss greens with approach shots. PGA pros average only about 12 GIRs per round. That’s not a lot when you’re talking about the world’s best players. Chances are good, then, you’ll miss some greens during your next round. But that don’t how to hurt your scores. Saving par not only shaves strokes from your scores and golf handicap, it also builds confidence in your game.

Many weekend golfers don’t often practice the key shots than can help them save par. They would rather buy a bucket of balls and work on hitting bombs off the tee. While hitting bombs is great, it won’t cut as many strokes from your golf handicap as mastering par saving shots. As we say in golf lessons, a good chip or pitch can turn three strokes into two.  And when you’re looking to save strokes, the more ways you know to save par, the better. Below six proven ways to save par.

1. “Chipping” From The Short Side

With the ball in the rough on the short side, there’s no room for error. You don’t want to chip or putt it from there. Instead, do what we teach students to do in golf lessons when faced with this shot:  play a miniature bunker shot. Open the face of your sand wedge as much as you would on a shot from a greenside bunker, which lowers the shaft closer to the ground. Keep the clubface open. Now, swing. Allow the trailing edge to slide through the grass on a shallow angle behind the ball. Accelerate through the shot. This shot pops the ball on to the green without a lot of roll.

2. Pitching High Over Trouble

Many weekend golfers can hit a high pitch shot. But put a bunker or water hazard between them and the green, and they forget all the key golf tips on hitting this shot. The mistake we see the most in golf instruction sessions is trying to scoop the ball in the air. Instead, play the ball center to slightly forward in your stance, lean the shaft of your sand wedge slightly away from the target, and then swing your right forearm (left forearm for left-handers) in a straight line with the shaft through impact. Leaning your shaft away helps you pop the ball up.

3. Beating An Elevated Green

The key to beating an elevated green is distance control. If you don’t hit the ball far enough, it can trickle back to you. Here’s a golf tip that will help you conquer this challenge: hit a bump and run. Take a less lofted club than normal  (nothing higher than a 7-iron). Set your weight and the clubshaft leaning forward. And maintain this hands-ahead position through impact. The ball bounces a couple of times and rolls onto the green.

4. Lagging A Long Putt

With lag putts, you need to get the ball close enough to leave an easily makeable shot. The key is keeping the butt end of the putter pointing toward the same spot on your abdomen throughout the shot. To do that, you need to hinge and release your wrists, back and through. You’ll be surprised how much power you can produce with a flick of your wrist. Another tip we give in golf instruction sessions, imagine a three-foot circle around the hole and focus on getting the ball inside the circle.

5. Escaping A Downhill Bunker

Accept the fact that you can’t get a lot of loft on the ball with this shot. At best the ball will come out low and roll. Since you must get your ball on the green anyway you can, match your shoulders to the slopes’ downward angle as best as you can. That will tilt your body forward. Also, play the ball back in your stance. Swing down the slope, skimming the sand, and finish low. If it helps, step down the slope as you swing.

Hitting greens in regulation chops strokes from your golf handicap. But even the best players in the world miss greens, as we tell students in golf instruction sessions. So will you. But that doesn’t have to cost you par. The shots discussed above are proven ways to save par. Practice the golf tips we’ve provided and you’ll boost your chances of salvaging par next time you play.

In light of the US Open 2011 at Congressional, we've decided to run a quick sale through the weekend.

It's our "2011 U.S. Open Special" and here's the deal...

50% off any of our products listed on these pages:

http://www.break80today.com/halfoff

**VERY IMPORTANT**--you must enter the coupon code USOPEN in order to get your 50% discount.  You will have the opportunity to do this after you select your products and get to the checkout.

We have seventeen DVD titles and of course our award-winning book and CD's.

A normal DVD for example would be $47 so you would get it for $23!  And we have some things even cheaper.

But we're only running this through the weekend so check it out now!

Here's a quick list for you:

• How To Break 80 Book and CD's (our core product)

DVD's-

• Full Swing
• Maximum Distance
• Driver
• Putting
• Short Game
• Trouble Shots
• Perfect Impact
• Bunker
• Swing Plane
• Draw (Anti-Slice)
• Seniors
• Precision Putting
• Full Swing Lessons
• Full Swing Drills
• Short Game Drills
• Hybrid

http://www.break80today.com/halfoff

Good golf,

Jack