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How To Break 80 Newsletter
February 23, 2012
"The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter"
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In this issue we’ll discuss…
1) Tip: Drain More Short Putts
2) Tip: Add Ten Yards To Your Drive Now
3) Drill: Create Lag For Power and Accuracy
4) Article: Golf Tips On Mid-Round Quick Fixes
5) Article: Six Golf Tips On Long Distance Driving
Jack’s Note: You guys enjoying the 2012 Golf Season so far? I was able to get up to the Northern Trust Open last week and boy, what a finish on Sunday! Let me know your thoughts on the 2012 season…what do you need help with in YOUR game? Look forward to hearing from you.
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1) Drain More Short Putts
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Kyle Stanley missed a critical short putt at this year’s Farmer’s Insurance Open that probably cost him the match. The miss tied him with Bruce Snedeker, who eventually won the tournament in a playoff. Short putts can fool you. Just because you’re more like-ly to hole them than long ones doesn’t make them easy. In fact, short putts can be more difficult because you expect to make them. The added pressure increases the tension in your hands, causing you to stiffen over the putt. If this happens to you, the simple tips below can help:
Below are five keys to draining more short putts:
- Choke down on the putter
- Lower your center of gravity
- Accelerate through the putt
- Stay low without lifting up
- Putt with confidence
The key to sinking more short putts is getting low over the putt, like Jack Nicklaus does. To do that, take a normal putting grip and stance and then choke down on the grip a couple of inches. Getting low makes you feel like you’re not only closer to the ground, but also that the putt is closer. It also lowers your center of gravity.
When putting, take a slow backswing and then initiate the forward stroke. Make sure you accelerate through the forward stroke and stay low through the finish without lifting up. Make a confident stroke.
Getting low helps you hone in on the putt with greater precision. It also helps you elimi-nating swaying or deviations away from the putting line through the stroke. Picturing Jack Nicklaus in your mind staying low over a putt can help.
Use the golf tips described above the next time you’re facing a short putt and you’ll drain more of those pesky little short putts.
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2) Add Ten Yards To Your Drive Now
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Want to add 10 yards to your drives right now? Learn to release the clubhead through impact properly. Weekend golfers often release the clubhead by straightening the right wrist just before impact. This causes the left wrist (right wrist for lefties) to straighten prematurely, releasing the club. When you straighten the left wrist prematurely, you re-verse the wrists’ roles.
This spells trouble. You’ll hit all sorts of blocks, pushes, and pop-ups. And when you do hit the ball on the nose, it doesn’t go very far. What you want to do is create lag. This means retaining the bow in your right wrist on the downswing until just a split second before impact. Then, slap the club through the impact zone. The slap adds the extra power you need to drive the ball and extra 10 yards. It’s a lot like the motion you use with a paintbrush stroke.
Below are two drills that will teach you how it feels to release the clubhead properly:
- Stick a tee in the ground. Set up to the tee with your driver. Now, reverse your hands like you would do with a cross-handed putting grip. Make sure your fingers surround the shaft and you have a good hold on the club. Take some short swings, back and forth. Try to just flick the top of the tee. Feel the bow in your right wrist? That’s what releasing the club properly feels like.
- Take your golf towel. Tie it in a knot around your driver’s shaft. Let it slide all the way to the clubhead. Now, stick a tee in the ground, set up to the tee with your driver, and take some short swings. The towel adds weight to the clubhead and promotes a better feel for the clubhead as it passes through impact. Try to remember this feeling when you hit some balls without the towel.
Practice these drills often. They will groove the feeling you want. Learn to hold your re-lease until the bottom of your swing and you’ll max out clubhead speed and power.
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3) Drill: Create Lag For Power and Accuracy
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“Casting” is a common swing flaw among weekend golfers. You “cast” the club when you release it too soon from your swing’s top. Casting dissipates power and hurts accura-cy. Creating “lag” corrects this flaw. Lag creates a 90-degree angle between your left arm and your club shaft and enables you to hold the bow in your wrists till just before impact. Lag is a must if you want to hit powerful, accurate shots. The drill below teaches you to create lag.
Milking The Cow
Address the ball as usual. Then swing the club to the top. Swing halfway down while re-taining a 90-deree angle between your hands and the club. Return the club to the top of the swing. Swing halfway down again and retain the 90-degree angle. You should feel as if you’re making a pumping motion and that your right hand (left hand for lefties) is “milking the cow.” Swing to the top one more time, and then swing through the ball in one fluid motion.
Practice this drill whenever you hit balls. It not only improves ballstriking, it also boosts power and accuracy—two things we must have to hit powerful shots.
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.
