Professional golfers are incredibly talented. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on the Tour. But they also spend a lot more time practicing their games and honing their skills. Week-end golfers often don’t get the kind of practice or playing time they really need to put a big dent in their golf handicaps. So the learning process is slow.

Weekend golfers speed up the learning process by watching the pros. That’s why we en-courage students who take our golf lessons to observe the pros carefully, whether watch-ing them on television, online, or in person. It’s amazing what you can learn by simply watching the best golfers in the world. And what you learn isn’t always about shot me-chanics. Here are some things we observed the last time we watched a pro tournament:

Power And Control

Tour players exhibit power and control with their shots. Key to doing this is the release of the club through impact, as we’ve mentioned in our golf tips newsletter. Some players, like K.J. Choi, like to hit lower piercing shots with a strong left to right ball flight. The key: his arms and club go immediately left aft impact. Other players like Luke McDonald approach things differently. His arms and clubs go out and away from his body after im-pact. This allows his club to transfer the stored energy into the ball. It also increases the shot’s trajectory.

Releasing The Putter

In golf lessons on putting, teachers often talk about how important it is to release the putter. Releasing the putter is actually a simple concept. It basically entails keeping the butt end of the putter pointed at a fixed throughout the stroke. This is a key putting fun-damental and something professional golfers are work on religiously. It allows the put-terhead to swing on plane while the putter ace travels naturally through the stroke.

If you want to get a feel for this, try practicing with a belly putter, as we have some of our students do during golf lessons. The belly putter is attached to the your navel during the stroke—just the way it should be. It’s a great putting tool for golfers who struggle with releasing the putter, even if you want to continue putting conventionally.

Power And Consistency

If you watch the pros you’ll see that they exhibit power and consistency. One without the other doesn’t really help your golf handicap. But watch closely and you’ll see that both qualities actually start at the feet, not with the hands. The body needs to lead the hands on the downswing and that motion begins with the feet. Tour players move aggressively toward their front foot without spinning to begin the downswing. This maintains the club on the proper angle, shifts the player’s weight into the ball, and let’s her snap the club-head into the ball through the use of the body pivot.

Practice Shots You Use

One key thing that separates pro golfers and weekend warriors—and something we strive to emphasize in our golf instruction sessions— is practice. When the pros practice, they not only practice shot mechanics, they practice shots that they will actually need to hit during a round. Many weekend golfers don’t take this approach. They go to the range instead and bang out a bucket of balls—with very little thought to hitting shots they might need during a round. That’s a hard way to shave strokes off your golf handicap.

Weekend golfers don’t usually have the skills that the pros do. They also usually don’t have the time needed to hone their skills at the range. But they can shortcut the learning process is by closely watching the pros play with a goal of picking up golf tips that can help them shave strokes off their golf handicaps.

Here’s a question often get asked in golf lessons. What’s the most difficult shot in golf? Some say the downhill bunker shot. Others say driver off the deck. Then there are those who say a high soft lob over a short-sided bunker. The most difficult shot in golf is the straight shot. If you’ve been trying to hit dead straight shots, the effort could be costing you strokes on your golf handicap.

A dead straight shot is hard to hit. Everything in your swing has to be absolutely perfect to hit the ball dead straight. That’s why many great players hit fades and draws. They are easier to hit when it comes to precision and timing, and easier to repeat. And that is a big plus when it comes to playing well and/or shaving strokes off your golf handicap. You need consistency to shave strokes from your scores, as we tell student in our golf instruc-tion sessions.

Among the keys to hitting a fade or draw with control is the downswing. How the body initiates the downswing is critical, as are attaining specific positions at key points in the downswing. And while the differences in hitting the fade and draw are subtle, they are substantial. Below are some golf tips that will help you master the subtleties of the down-swing when trying to hit fades and draws.

The Fade

To hit a fade you need a steeper swing plane into the ball than with a draw. The steeper swing plane lets you to hold the clubface slightly open at impact. To achieve that steeper swing plane, the hands need to be high above the head at the top of the swing, your gloved hand cupped, and the left elbow (right for left-handers) flared out. In addition to coming in at a steeper plane, you must also maintain a more upright plane midway through the downswing. (Here’s a golf tip: If you look in the mirror you’ll see the shaft bisecting your left arm, ensuring the steeper angle into the ball.)

It’s critical at this point as you come into the ball that the body rotates fully to meet the clubface. To do that with a fade, you must use more of an upright angle to get to the ball. You can’t hit a fade (as a right-hander) if you never get to your left wrist. Simply put: A strong lower body rotation is critical to avoid hitting blocked shots.

The finish position for the fade is with the hands held high, the torso fully rotated, and the head facing the target. For more fade, simply open the clubface more. Whatever you do, don’t try to over manipulate the your body. You don’t want to get too upright and/or too steep into the ball. That will cause you to slice. One drawback with the fade: it doesn’t usually travel as far as draws because of the ball’s backspin. On the other hand, fades tend to stay in the fairway. A good swing thought to have when hitting a fade is to remember to keep the clubhead high after impact.

Hitting The Draw

Let’s look now at the same key areas of the downswing and how they differ with a draw. The key to hitting a draw is the position of the upper body at the top of the swing. To hit a draw your hands must be lower at the top than when hitting a fade. That’s because your downswing doesn’t need to be as steep as with a fade. You also need a flat left wrist and a more rounded swing plane.

The draw is more of an arms-driven swing. And you need to come from the inside. If you can’t get there, you won’t be able to start the ball to the right (left for left-handers) and draw it back toward the fairway. Unlike the fade, the bottom of your swing arc is charac-terized by a more active rolling of the hands. Since you can’t hit a draw with an open clubface, the clubface must be square or slightly closed at impact.

The finish to a draw mimics the lower position you were in at the top and midway through the downswing, like the finish on the fade. This helps flatten out the downswing, so it becomes more rounded. If you want to adjust how much draw to put on the ball, close the clubface a little more at impact.

These golf tips will help you hit better fades and draws. Hitting a crooked shot with con-trol is much easier than trying to hit a dead straight shot. So if you’ve been trying to hit your shots dead straight and that strategy hasn’t done much for your golf handicap, do what we often tell students at our golf lessons: try hitting fades and draws.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter
October 31, 2011
"The Web's Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter"
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In this issue we'll discuss...

1) Tip: Speed Reading Greens
2) Tip: Hitting The Super-Soft Pitch
3) Drill: Controlling Your Pitches
4) Article: Work the Ball Both Ways With Ease
5) Article: How PGA Pros Are Different from Us

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1) Speed Reading Greens
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The fastest way to lower your golf handicap is by improving your putting. That’s easier said then done. Where do you start, for example, when looking to improve? One place to start is by learning to read a green correctly. A good read tells you not only where the green’s contours are but also where the putt breaks. Once you know where the putt breaks, it’s just a matter of determining how much speed you need to sink the putt.

Below are five green reading tips for weekend golfers:

1. Start from 70 to 80 yards away
2. Some greens slope from back to front
3. Some course designers build up greens
4. Take a 360-degree view of the putt
5. Study the last few feet of the putt

Professional golfers start reading greens when their 75 to 80 yards away. You should, too. Reading greens from this distance enables you to see the overall shape of the green. Once on the green look for low spots. They’ll tell you the putt’s true direction.

Below are some other green reading tips:

• Many greens slope from back to front. But some greens slope from front to back in-tentionally. These greens are hard to stop shots on. To compensate, aim for the center of the green with your approach shots.
• Some course designers build up their greens with mounds—a design characteristic that often defies rational thought. For example, instead of the green breaking toward the water, it breaks away. Study these greens carefully before putting.
• Different perspectives give you different views of the green. Squatting behind the ball to see how the putt breaks is only one viewpoint. Take a 360-degree view of the putt, if time permits, keeping the natural terrain in mind as you do.
• Speed is the biggest factor in determining how much a putt will break. When the ball slows down, the green’s contours and gravity really affect a putt’s progress. So study the putt’s last few feet carefully. Take note of where the putt starts to break.

Improving your putting starts with reading the green correctly. Take every opportunity to read greens, even when practicing. The more you read them, the better you’ll become at doing so.

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2) Hitting the Super-Soft Pitch
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When facing a tricky pitch with an obstacle between you and the pin, you have several types of shot to choose from. One is hitting a high floating lob shot with a 60-degree wedge. A second choice is hitting a lower pitch with tons of spin to get your ball to stop after a single hop. A third option is the super-soft pitch using a simple technique that adds extra loft to your standard pitching motion. This gives you a high pitch shot that stops near where it lands.

Below are six keys to executing the super-soft pitch:

• Sole your 56- or 60-degree wedge
• Play the ball slightly back of center
• Swing your arms and chest away
• Stop your backswing at knee level
• Swing your arms and chest at the same speed
• Rotate your chest through impact

The key to this shot is pre-setting your body in the correct impact position. This helps you strike the ball with just the right amount of loft.

Start by soling either your 56- or 60-degree wedge with the face square and pointing di-rectly at your target. Play the ball slightly back of center and lean your shaft forward. Be careful not to close the clubface. Make sure that your shoulders are level and hang straight down and that you ease up on your grip pressure. You need soft hands to execute this shot.

Now, swing your arms and chest away from the ball using an easy wrist hinge. Make a slight turn so the club’s toe points straight up as you execute your backswing. Stop your backswing just as your hands pass your back knee. Now turn toward your target to start the downswing and unhinge your wrists, so that you return to the same position as at ad-dress.

Finally, rotate your chest through impact while swinging your arms at the same speed as your chest. You want everything working together. Finish with your hands low and di-rectly in front of your chest. The ball will pop up high and land softly on the green.

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3) Controlling Your Pitches
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You must be in sync when executing precise pitches. More specifically, the action of the hands and arms must blend with your body movement to achieve accuracy consistently. Below is a simple drill to learn the feel of everything working together:

Take your normal address position with a wedge. Place a spongy ball between your fore- arms just below the elbows. You can also stretch a towel across your chest and hold it under your armpits. Now make half-swings with the goal of keeping the ball or the towel in place. After practicing without a ball, drop one and hit some pitches with the ball or towel under your arms.

The only way to prevent the towel or ball from coming loose is to rotate your body and swing your arms back through in harmony. If one part moves independently of the other, such as your arms swinging without your body turning, there’s little chance you’ll hit an accurate pitch.

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

Click here to view this newsletter on the web

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article: Work the Ball Both Ways With Ease
...What's the most difficult shot in golf? Some say the downhill bunker shot. Others say driver off the deck. Then there are those who say a high soft lob over a short-sided bunker. The most difficult shot in golf is the straight shot...

5) Article: How PGA Pros Are Different from Us
...It's amazing what you can learn by simply watching the best golfers in the world. And what you learn isn't always about shot mechanics...

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.

Today I want to help you learn how to fix a slice.  Slicing your golf ball will certainly rob you of precious distance and accuracy but also can make you look pretty silly on the course.

Watch the 70,000 lesson man show you how to stop slicing your tee shots with the driver.  Learn how to fix a slice with this in depth lesson.

A controlled fade is fine but a big slice will kill your chances at scoring.

See how Bobby Eldridge shows you 3 STEPS TO FIXING YOUR SLICE.

Leave comments below and enjoy!