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How To Break 80 Newsletter

August 26, 2011

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

1) Tip: Conquer This Awkward Bunker Lie
2) Tip: Drain Short Putts Like A Pro
3) Question: Stop Pulling Tee Shots
4) Article: Exploding Three Golf Myths
5) Article: Hit It Long And Straight

Jack's Note: If you're not playing as well as you know you can, it's time to do something about it. My solution has worked for over 100k golfers and I want to help you too. BTW, as a subscriber I am offering a ridiculously low price this weekend, See here.

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1) Conquer This Awkward Bunker Lie
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What shots do you dread the most? Chances are you said bunker shots. Bunker shots where the ball is above your feet and resting on an upslope near the bunker’s lip may not be the most difficult shots you’ll face, but they’re right up there. If mishit this type of shot can cost you. It can leave you in the bunker and turn a good par into a double of triple bogey.

Below are four keys to hitting this awkward shot:

1. Stand a little taller
2. Dig your feet slightly into the sand
3. Grip down slightly on the club
4. Make a relatively shallow swing
5. Make the needed alignment adjustment

This bunker shot is a challenge but you can conquer it by making some adjustments. When the ball is above your feet, you must stand a little taller, so you can follow the contour of the bunker with your swing. That’s imperative to getting out of the bunker.

Also, dig your feet into the sand for a little more stability and grip down on the club slightly to compensate for digging your feet into the sand. Having taken your stance, make a swing that’s relatively shallow and rounded, not deep and upright.

Since the ball is above your feet, the shot will tend to fly left of the target if you’re right-handed or right of the target if you’re left-handed. You must make the necessary alignment adjustment to hit your target. Right-handed golfers must aim more right. Left-handed golfers must aim more left.

Making a bunker shot with the ball above your feet is no picnic. But if you use the swing keys mentioned above—and practice the shot a bit—you’ll build your confidence. And confidence in golf is half the battle.

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2) Drain Short Putts Like A Pro
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Where you putt from is the key to how well you putt. The closer you are to the hole the better your putting—all things being equal. Weekend golfers probably face more six- to eight-foot putts than putts from any other distance. Master putting from this range and you’ll dramatically cut your scores. But sinking six- to eight-footers isn’t as easy as it sounds. Confidence is a big factor. So is practice.

Below are five tips on sinking six- to eight-foot putts:

1. Think speed more than line
2. Stay away from dead straight
3. Stroke through the ball under pressure
4. Stand with your eyes over the ball
5. Focus on the first inch

Weekend golfers tend to focus on line with short putts. But speed is equally important. Determine your line. Then, move on to considering speed. Putt aggressively, but not too aggressively. The hole’s edges might come into play, causing a nasty lip out.

If your putt looks dead straight, look again. If you start the putt straight, you have a margin of error of only half a cup on either side. If the putt breaks right or left, the whole cup is exposed. So make sure the putt is dead straight before putting.

Putting mechanics are usually a matter of preference. But there’s one universal rule for sinking six- to eight-foot putts: Get your eyes over the ball. This simplifies things enormously for most weekend golfers.

The most common miss under pressure is the push. Why—because golfers tend to ease up on short putts. When the pressure’s on, golfers tend to hit at the ball instead of stroke through it, resulting in a push. Don’t ease up. Stroke right through the ball.

The first inch the ball travels is the only area of true precision when it comes to the line. Be painstaking about that first inch. At address keep your eyes riveted on the first inch and don’t move them until you’re ball is one inch past impact.

Follow these tips when on the course and you’ll drain six- to eight-footers like a pro.

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3) Stop Pulling Tee Shots
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Question.

Jack:

I have begun pulling the ball off the tee. The pull is upwards of 45 degrees. Previously, I went to a controlled fade / slice but was lacking distance. Then, I switched to my 3-wood, which I can hit longer with greater control. After awhile, I decided to try the driver again only to either pull or play that controlled fade, so I practiced the pull by turning 45 degrees in hopes of the pull still being there but at least it would be playable. That doesn't always work! Can you help me?

Todd

Answer.

Thanks, Todd. Many golfers use the 3-wood off the tee because it offers them more control. They reserve the driver for wide-open fairways—fairways where they can make a mistake and it won’t cost them strokes.

To stop pulling your drives, you must swing the club on an in-to-out swing path or change the clubface’s position at impact. You can do both by trying one, all, or a combination of the five golf tips below. It’s often a case of trial and error, but the cure is here somewhere.

• Strengthen your grip
• Close your body alignment
• Close the clubface slightly
• Straighten your right arm early
• Encourage your right arm to cross over

Strengthening your grip should be your first change. To do that, move both hands to the right until you can see three knuckles on the back of your left hand. The thumbs and “V”s between both thumbs and forefingers should be parallel.

Next, try closing the overall alignment of your body a little by aiming your feet, hips, and shoulders to the right of the target and by moving the ball back a little in your stance. Or, close the clubface slightly as you move the ball back, keeping it “looking” at the ball for a little longer than usual.

You also might try straightening your right arm a little earlier in the downswing and/or encouraging your right arm to cross over. If you’re left handed, try straightening your left arm a little earlier in the downswing and encouraging your left arm to cross over.

These tips will help you straighten out your drives.

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: Exploding Three Golf Myths

...these myths can hurt your game and your golf handicap. Below we dispel three of the most popular golf myths....

5) Article: Hit It Long And Straight

...Accuracy without distance also does little to shave strokes from your golf handicap. What’s needed is both distance and length. ...

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.

Golf features many myths. No one knows where they come from or how they get started, but they’re there. Golf myths are often based on a kernel of truth or on something someone said in a television interview. They also come from someone reading something in a golf tips newsletter or sports magazine and misinterpreting the information. Unfortunately, these myths can hurt your game and your golf handicap. Below we dispel three of the most popular golf myths.

Myth #1: Keep You’re Head Still

You’ve probably heard someone say, “Keep your head still” after a bad shot. This is probably golf’s most popular myth. When combined with another popular myth, “Keep your head down,” the two make for a deadly combination—one that we see in many golf instruction sessions. The combination can hurt your swing. For example, keeping your head still and down on the downswing impedes your upper body rotation through impact, forcing your body to rise up and causing you to mis-hit the ball.

In reality its okay to let your head slide from side-to-side slightly, as many teachers suggest in golf lessons. Your head (and neck) is an extension of your spine, which should always be leaning toward the ball.  Allowing your head to shift a little—more if you’re really inflexible—encourages proper weight shift on the backswing. It’s also acceptable to move your head a little at the top of the swing and to shift it a little toward the target during the downswing.

Myth #2: Use A Natural Grip

A second popular myth addressed in golf instruction sessions is about using a natural grip. This grip is usually comfortable for golfers. But just because it’s comfortable doesn’t mean it’s right. Nor does it make it the right grip for you. The grip can be the trigger for a chain reaction of swing errors. If your grip is off, your swing is off, so you need to get it right. That’s why its one of the first things addressed in golf lessons. The key to the right grip is having one that matches your swing.

Start with a neutral grip, in which the “V” formed by the crease in your index finger and thumb of your left hand point toward your right pectoral and your ungloved “V” formed points toward your right shoulder (left shoulder for left-handers). If you find yourself hitting a slice try a strong grip, in which the ‘V” of your gloved hand shows three knuckles. If you’re still slicing, try a very strong grip. With this grip your left hand grip stays the same as for a strong grip, but your right hand has the “V point off your right shoulder.

Myth #3: One Ball Position For All Clubs

Golfing great Jack Nicklaus says he uses one ball position for all clubs. But most weekend golfers don’t have Jack’s talent. So most golfers are better off using different positions for different clubs. The key is knowing where each club bottoms out. Clubs of different lengths reach the bottom of the swing arc in different places—longer clubs bottom our far forward in your stance than shorter ones. With longer clubs, you also must adjust to how far you are from the ball.

To determine ball position for a specific club, take a few practice swings. Then, find the spot where the club consistently bottoms out. The area just before that spot is the ball position for that club. Also, keep this rule of thumb in mind when it comes to ball position: With longer clubs, it’s almost always better to have a ball position too far forward than too far back.

Golf myths can hurt your swing and your game. Many are based on something someone thought he or she heard on television or read in a golf tips magazine. Often, something gets lost in translation. If you’re not sure about a myth, ask a teaching pro for his advice or take some golf lessons. Dispelling a myth in golf can only benefit your golf handicap.

Length without accuracy, as we often say in our golf tips newsletter, does little to shave strokes from your golf handicap. Accuracy without distance also does little to shave strokes from your golf handicap. What’s needed is both distance and length. Some call it useable accuracy. Useable accuracy is hitting the fairway with sufficient distance to help you dominate a hole. Unfortunately, the mechanics for hitting it straight are often at odds with the mechanics for hitting it long.

One golf tip on hitting the ball long and straight is to have the right clubs. Few golfers get fitted for their clubs, preferring instead to buy them off the rack. There’s nothing wrong with that. Many golfers play well with off-the-rack clubs. But getting fitted clubs can help with control or distance issues because you can tailor them to your needs. For example, golfers that hit it long can build drivers that flex less down near the clubhead for more control.  So if you’re striving to hit it long and straight, buying fitted clubs is an option. Below are additional golf tips that will help you on the tee.

Keep Hands Quiet

Sometimes, golfers who hit the ball long fire their hands through impact, causing their right hand to cross over the left. (With left-handers, it’s their left hand crossing over the right.) Too much hand action can prevent you from hitting it straight.  When you fire your hands through impact, the clubhead ends up crashing through an imaginary wall behind the golfer’s heels long before the grip end of the club gets there. To gain more control, think about smashing the wall with the entire club simultaneously. That provides more control of your shot and a straighter ball flight.

If you have trouble keeping your hands quiet, try this drill: Hit some full wedges with a towel tucked under both arms. To keep the towel in place on the downswing, you can’t let your arms out race your body, which is what tends to happen when you can’t keep your hands quiet.

Unblock Yourself

If you’ve taken golf lessons, you may have learned how to setup for hitting a draw—a wide, closed stance with closed hips and the ball back. This stance helps create an inside-out swing. But the stance also blocks you from rotating your body through the swing. If you want to add distance to your drives, you must generate more width, stretch, and speed on the downswing, so narrow your stance to shoulder width, open up your hips and feet, and move the ball up a couple of inches. These changes will help you make a strong shift toward the target on the downswing.