It’s that time of year again folks and this year’s Masters Tournament is more notable than years past because of the return of The Chosen One, Tiger..

Despite a five month absence from the game and competition, he’s still a 4-1 favorite by most bookmakers.

But let’s be honest….it will be difficult for him to pull it off.

With the off course distractions and absence of  Tiger all together, there have been many players emerge as viable contenders for this year’s Masters.

My short list would include Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter and yes, Freddie Couples.

Mickelson?  Well, of course he can pull it off but I am just leary of any guy who can go from shooting a 58 in a  practice two weeks ago to struggling to make the cut at the Shell.  That kind of inconsistency this close to the Masters is dangerous.

Because of the extreme difficulty of this event, anything can happen and anyone can win….but I’d like to hear from YOU. Who do YOU think will win this week and be crowned the new Masters Champion? Just post your answer here in the comments. Answer correctly and we’ll put you into a drawing on Monday April 12th for selection my products. If your name is drawn, you get to pick any three (3) of our award-winning DVD’s or instructional books (we have sixteen to choose from)…on the house. And yes, we pay for the shipping too

There’s only one rule….only those posts submitted by end of day Thursday will count. Those who vote after that won’t be counted toward the contest because by then you will have an unfair advantage.

And oh yeah….only ONE VOTE per person.  You can’t list several…just pick your favorite.

You’re more than welcome to post at any time though!  Good luck and I hope you choose wisely and get some instructional products for free!

You’re obviously interested in golf or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Well, imagine if you could make a great living by having a golf related business. Imagine turning your golf passion into a business that not only gave you great profits and financial security but gave you an awesome lifestyle.  All of this without needing to be a PGA pro or without even needing a lot of golf knowledge.

If you’d love to do that then go here and watch this video now:

http://www.golfbizinabox.com/indexa.htm

It’s a FREE video and if you’ve got any interest in turning your golf hobby into a great lifestyle business I strongly recommend you watch that video now.

Here is the link again:

http://www.golfbizinabox.com/indexa.htm

After watching the video make sure you sign up for free to find out more.  This could be your year to do something totally new and unique that could change your life for the better.

Jack

P.S. If you’re interested in golf just a little bit then you can turn that interest into a great little business to provide some nice extra cash. Or you can turn your golf interest into a hugely profitable golf business that gives you everything you want in life.  The choice is yours if you know how.

Then follow the instructions in the video!

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) How To Drain 15-Footers
2) Knock It Close From Ultra-Short Range
3) Question of the Week – Dropping It Close From A Long Distance Bunker
4) Article – Use Forward-Shaft Lean To Hit Crisp, Clean Shots
5) Article – Curing Your Putting Woes

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1) How To Drain 15-Footers
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Alignment is a precursor to your shot. If you’re not aligned properly in the box or on the fairway, you’ll be away with your shot. The same holds true in putting—especially when it comes to mid-range putts. If your putterface points open just a degree left or right of your intended target on a 15-footer, you’ll miss the hole by three inches. If you want to drain more 15-footers, aligning yourself to the hole is key.

Below are six keys to a dead on alignment method:

1. Hold your putter with your dominant hand
2. Stand behind the ball with your putter
3. Walk to the ball holding your putter in one hand
4. Set the putter behind the ball
5. Keep your eyes on your line the entire time
6. Turn your eyes down to the ball

If your read is right, you have a good chance of draining mid-range putts. The best way to make sure your read is right is by aligning yourself with the hole.

Start by taking the putter in your dominant hand. Then walk behind the ball to determine your line. Make sure you’re directly behind the ball. Now walk to the hole, holding the putter in your hand. Keep your eyes on your line. Set your putter behind the ball and point the face at the target.

Keeping your eyes on your line, take your stance and place your other hand on the grip. Once you’re settled in, turn your eyes down. Look at the hole to identify distance and pull the trigger. Once you set the putter down, don’t re-aim it. You’re already aligned it dead straight.

Practice this method a few times to you nail it down. Once you do, it will help you drain more 15-footers.

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2) Knock It Close From Ultra-Short Range
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Normally, you shouldn’t break the game’s basics. But sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you must—such as when you have a decent lie in a greenside bunker and the hole is up close. If you can’t hit the ball high from the bunker, it will be hard to drop it close using your standard bunker shot. Instead, try this alternative.

Below are 7 keys to this shot:

1. Set up square to your target
2. Play the ball forward in your stance
3. Tilt your upper body away from target
4. Aim for an inch behind the ball
5. Keep your weight back at impact
6. Allow the club to pass under your hands

In this situation your standard bunker shot calls for you to hit a cut shot. This won’t work here. Instead, grab your lob wedge from the bag and set up square to the target, with the clubface pointing to your landing spot. Position the ball off your front heel and tilt your body away from the target.

In addition, aim for a spot an inch behind the ball and keep your weight back as the club enters the sand. You should feel like you’re slapping the club against the sand under the ball.

As you swing the clubhead past your hands, don’t slap it to the left (right, if your left-handed). Your right hand should flip under your left, so that the club points straight up in your follow-through, not back behind you. The ball should come out high, like a flop shot, and drop near the hole.

Normally, you shouldn’t disregard the fundamentals. But sometimes, you must. Hitting a flop shot from a bunker is one of those times. This shot is worth trying if your bunker shots barely clear the bunker’s front lip, or you take too much sand when using a sand wedge and leave the ball in the bunker.

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3) Question of the Week – Dropping It Close From A Long Distance Bunker
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Q. Hi, there. I’m have so many problems hitting out of the sand from about 50 to 80 yards out. They never seem to stick for me on the green. But as soon as I get up close, you’d think I was I pro. Please help it’s driving me crazy.

Thanks again
Dan Borse

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

A. Thanks for the question, Dan. Don’t feel too bad about not being good at this shot. It isn’t easy. But there is a technique that should give you a better chance of hitting the green and sticking.

First, use your 9-iron on this shot. It gives you the extra distance you need to hit the green.

Take your normal stance. Set your clubface slightly open at address, but square it like you usually do. Pull your feet in closer together, but don’t dig them into the sand too much, just a little. This will produces a shallower divot when you swing and gets the club and the ball moving faster down the target line.

When you swing, turn through the shot, just like you do with a normal iron shot. You’ll need extra body with this shot, so keep everything moving—body, arms, and club—to a full finish.

And keep your back heel down. You won’t have a solid stance with this shot, so keeping your heel down helps stability. And don’t try pivoting on your back heel. You’ll lose your balance.

These adjustments, combined with extra body behind the ball, should land you on the green and leave you in position to complete the up and down.

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 – Use Forward-Shaft Lean To Hit Crisp, Clean Shots
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/use-forward-shaft-lean-to-hit-crisp-clean-shots.php

5) Article – Curing Your Putting Woes
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/curing-your-putting-woes.php

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.

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1. Add Ten Yards To Your Irons
2. How To Make A Restricted Swing Shot
3. Question of the Week – Eliminating The Reverse Pivot
4. Article – Designing The Perfect Golf Swing
5. Article – The Toughest Shot In Golf

1) Add Ten Yards To Your Irons

How well do you hit your irons? If you rarely take a good divot, chunk the longer clubs or hit them thin, and/or leave your approach shots short, you’re leaking power. Swinging harder only drains more power from your swing. That’s because your arms outrace your body, the true seat of power in a golf swing. You must plug those power leaks in your iron swing to add yards to your swing:

Here are six keys to plugging those power leaks:

1. Maintain your head behind the ball
2. Assume a powerful back arm position
3. Keep the shaft is ahead club at impact
4. Keep hips and arms are in the same place
5. Make sure the back of your front hand faces the target
6. Transfer your weight to your forward foot

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The key to hitting power irons is to arrive at impact with a descending blow. Unfortunately, some golfers swings are so flat, they can’t return the iron squarely to the ball at impact.

Here’s a drill that teaches you to generate good clubface-to-ball contact with your irons:

Stick an umbrella in the ground. Next, place a ball on the ground so that when you take your stance the heel of your back foot is about two feet from the umbrella. Swing back. If the club hits the umbrella, your swing is too flat. Take numerous practice swings until you’re sure you’ll miss the umbrella on the way up. Before you hit balls, move the umbrella back six to ten inches, so you won’t hit it on the way back down. But use it as a reminder. Move it back to its original position when practicing.

If your backswing path is flat, you can’t return the club squarely to the ball. You’ll hit weak irons no matter how fast or hard you swing. Work on the drills like the one described above to ingrained its fundamentals and plug the power leaks. Making solid contact consistently adds yards to your irons and cuts strokes from your scores.

2) How To Make A Restricted Swing Shot

You can hit a shot in the woods even on the best of days. When that happens, chances are good you’ve lost your ball, but not always. If you do find your ball, it may be lodged tightly up against the base of a tree. While you can make a full backswing, you can’t follow-through without slamming into the trunk. Knowing how to make a restricted swing can save you and your club.

Below are five keys to this shot:

• Take a shoulder-width stance
• Play the ball toward the middle
• Hinge your wrist quickly
• Power the club down with your arms
• Pull back at impact

The secret to making this shot is not to slow your swing down, but to maintain your normal speed and take a smaller swing. That way you can pull your club back at impact.

Select a mid- or short iron for the shot. (A shorter club is easier to control and doesn’t travel as fast as a long iron.) Take a shoulder width stance, play the ball as close to the middle of your stance as possible. But if you must play the ball forward, that’s okay. Just place more weight on your front foot.

Take the club back by hinging your wrists quickly. Swing your hands back to hip height, then power the club down with your arms. Pull the club back the moment you make contact with the ball, almost as if the club were rebounding from the ball. Try to take a steep divot.

Many golfers slow their swings with this lie. That leads to mis-hits. Maintain your swing speed, take a shorter swing, and pull the club back at impact. This will save your hands and your club. If all goes well, you’ll find yourself back on the fairway in good position.

3) Question of the Week – Eliminating The Reverse Pivot

Q. Hi, Jack, Lately, I can’t seem to hit the ball with a lot of power. My friends tell me I’m making a reverse pivot when I swing. Can you tell me what that is and how to correct?

Marion Luig
Charlotte, NC

A. Thanks for the question, Marion. A reverse pivot results from poor weight transfer. Normally, you transfer weight to your back foot when swinging, then onto your front foot during the follow-through. With a reverse pivot, you do the opposite. This flaw constricts the proper turning of your body, costing you power and accuracy.

The reverse pivot stems from many things, including an obsession with keeping your head down and/or your left arm (right for left-handers) rigidly straight. Allowing your head to turn to the right (left for left-handers) slightly as you turn back helps. It encourages your spine to rotate and gets your weight moving in the right direction. Allowing your arm to bend slightly is okay, too.

This simple drill helps eliminate a reverse pivot: Adopt your address position. Place the club across the back of your shoulders. Make a slow turn, as if you were going to hit the ball. Set up and do it again. The club encourages you to move your head and spine a little as you turn. It also encourages better balance.

Do this drill as often as you can until you’ve ingrained the feeling. Try to remember the feeling when you go to the range or to the course. With practice, you’ll make solid contact and drive the ball.

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.

===================================================
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 – Designing The Perfect Golf Swing
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/designing-the-perfect-golf-swing.php

5) Article – The Toughest Shot In Golf
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/the-toughest-shot-in-golf.php

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
About the Author

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.