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How To Break 80 Newsletter
January 21, 2009
"The Web's Most Popular Golf Improvement
Newsletter"
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In this issue we'll discuss...
1) Back To Basics: Escaping Deep Rough
2) Regaining "Flow" On The Greens
3) Question of the Week - Conquering A Sidehill Downhill Lie
4) Article -
Attacking Wide Holes Can Cost You
5) Article - Beating The Top Five Swing Flaws
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1) Back To Basics: Escaping Deep Rough
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Sooner or later everyone lands in the rough. If it's close to the green, you need a good chip shot to save par. The problem is the grass. It wraps itself around the club’s hosel and twists it, delofting the clubface at impact. Meanwhile, the grass trapped between the clubface and the ball reduces spin. That makes it harder to stop the ball on the green. But if you can chip it close, you can save yourself a lot of strokes.
Below are 6 keys to this shot:
* Choke down on the club
* Play the ball up in your stance
* Shift your weight forward
* Open up the clubface
* Maintain the clubface open
* Rotate your chest through the shot
The keys to this shot are (1) swinging down on a steep angle and (2) maintaining an open clubface through impact. First, choke down on the club for a firmer grip. Play the ball up in your stance. And shift your weight forward. Making these changes will encourage you to swing down at a steep angle.
To maintain an open clubface, rotate your chest through impact and try not to turn over your forearms. If the grass is really thick, play the shot like a greenside bunker shot. Open your stance and your clubface even more, creating loft. You’ll come out high and soft, and stop quicker than usual.
For practice, place a ball outside the first cut of rough on the green's fringe. Make sure the grass is about one and one-half inches long. Instead of hitting the ball, sweep the grass tips. Use a low sweeping motion, employing your arms, shoulders, and chest. After 10 sweeps, move quickly to the ball and chip it, using the same motion. Move the ball back to higher grass and repeat the sequence.
Master this shot and you'll save par more often while cutting strokes from your golf handicap.
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2) Regaining "Flow" On The Greens
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Ever played a round where you couldn't miss a putt? Everything just seemed to go right. We've all had these rounds. That's because most of us are streaky putters. One day everything goes in. The next, nothing drops. When that happens, it's called losing your sense of "flow." Flow is the feeling you get when everything is working perfectly. When that disappears, putts rim the cup. Confidence wanes. And strokes accumulate. If you want to be a consistently good putter, it's good to know how to regain "flow" when it disappears?
Below are five keys to regaining "flow" during a round:
1. Follow your pre-shot routine
2. Take your time putting
3. Dispel negative thoughts
4. Close out all distractions
5. Eliminate self-consciousness
The key to recovering "flow" is to regain tempo. Start by slowing things down and executing your pre-shot routine. It prepares you physically and psychologically for putting. Also, work on eliminating distractions and negative thoughts. In addition, rid yourself of any self-consciousness. Concentrate strictly on making the putt and only on making the putt.
You also need to eliminate negative thoughts. A good way to banish bad thoughts is to replace them with other thoughts, like Nick Price did a few years ago. Winner of 17 PGA Tour events and 24 international titles, Price is a streaky putter. His quick abrupt tempo serves him well in his long game, but not so well in his short game. His quick aggressive "rap"-type putting stroke hampers his consistency.
To achieve flow, he worked hard on maintaining the tempo of his stroke—slowing it down, smoothing it out, and keeping the putter low to the ground. To banish negative thoughts, he constantly reminded himself to make a longer, slower stroke and keep the putter low to the ground. This approach worked.
Achieving flow in putting increases consistency. If you lose it, slow everything down. (But don't hold up the group.) Execute your pre-shot routine. And banish negative thoughts. Instead, think lower, slower, and smoother. Before long, you'll regain your flow, your confidence, and your putting stroke.
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3) Question of the Week - Conquering A Sidehill Downhill Lie
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Q. Dear Jack, Thank you for the opportunity to see that others have the same problems. Your answers are clear, concise, and extremely helpful.
At our course we have several holes where you end up with a sidehill lie that is also a downhill lie. It is understood that the shot will generally hook/draw from this situation. But what's the best way to play this shot? My feet can be anywhere from 6 inches to a foot below the ball and generally hitting into an elevated green. Please help!
Larry Turi
A. Thanks for the question, Larry. Gravity is the culprit here. It pulls you down the slope, causing you to fall forward. As a result, your swing becomes too vertical and prevents the club from rotating properly at impact. To hit this shot successfully, you must maintain your balance.
To do that, you must battle gravity and prevent yourself from falling forward. Start by adopting a normal stance, but squat down a little more than normal. Spread your feet slightly wider than usually. And put your weight back on your heels. In other words, "sit back" to counteract gravity's pull.
Try to retain that position during your swing. Don't let your weight move you onto your toes, causing you to fall forward. If you focus also on keeping your knees flexed, you'll be less likely to fall forward.
With a severe slope, take an extra club and use a three-quarter swing. Don't try to do too much with this shot. You can't. And, plan for the ball to slice.
Sidehill/downhill lies are tough. But if you follow these golf tips and practice the shot, you can master it.
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
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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.
