===================================================
How To Break 80 Newsletter

September 19, 2007

"The Web's Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter"
===================================================

In this issue we'll discuss...

1) Taming Fast Greens
2) How $0.25 Can Sink More Putts
3) Question of the Week - Eliminating Pop-Ups Off the Tee
4) Article - Three Stroke-Saving Putting Drills
5) Article - The Science of Squaring the Clubface

Jack’s Note: A big congratulations goes out to Tiger for winning the first ever FedEx cup. It was a dominant victory for him and pretty much locked up his votes for Player of the Year. Do you guys like fast greens? Well, I do and in today’s tip we’ll discuss just how you need to play them differently than slow greens. Enjoy!

===================================================
1) Taming Fast Greens
===================================================
With September come fast greens. Lower humidity, cooler temperatures, closer mowing, and less watering turn what were once ordinary greens into super fast speed traps. While some players like fast greens, they can be treacherous. They multiply errors in judgment of speed and break, adding unnecessary strokes to scores and ballooning golf handicaps.

Here are five keys to negotiating fast greens:

First, try to get a feel for speed beforehand by using the practice green. Hit several long putts to see how fast and how far they travel. Then compare those to what usually happens. While every green's unique, putting on the practice green offers a good idea of the green's speed that day. Make determining the speed of the greens before each round a priority every time you play.

If the greens are super fast, choke down on the club. How much depends on how fast the green. Choking down reduces the energy transferred directly to the ball. Choking down beats hitting the ball off the putter's toe because it keeps the ball on line when it's hit. Using the toe is an alternate way of putting on fast greens, but it can twist the club in your hand, skewing your line.

In addition, lighten your grip, which helps control pace - a critical element in sinking a putt—and take the club back a shorter distance, which also imparts less energy to the ball. Instead, make a longer follow-through, which promotes acceleration through the putt and keeps the putter on line.

Finally, eliminate wrist action. Swinging from the shoulders in one piece allows you to execute shorter, more delicate strokes with precision. And don't be afraid to take advantage of technology. Soft cover balls and soft epoxied inserts for the putter's face lets you take a slightly harder stroke that yields less distance.

===================================================
2) How $0.25 Can Sink More Putts
===================================================
To sink a putt, you must do four things correctly: (1) read the line of the putt, (2) align the putter to the hole, (3) execute the moment of impact factors, and (4) produce the right speed. Mess up any one of these things and you'll probably miss the putt.

Of the four, speed is perhaps the most critical. Putt a ball with the wrong speed and it ends up short, long, or never breaks. Speed is especially critical on big breaking and downhill putts. If the putt breaks big and the putt's too fast, it goes right through the break. If the putt goes downhill and the putt's too fast, it goes sailing past the hole and ends up who knows were.

Ideally, you want to hit the ball hard enough to travel 18 inches past the hole, assuming you've covered it. The problem is that when you're practicing, you don't cover the hole. You leave it uncovered so the ball drops in. This approach creates a tendency to hit putts so they just drop in. As a result, you leave putts short. Here's a drill that eliminates that tendency.

Drop A Dime Drill
This drill teaches you accuracy and speed, so when you want to hit the ball 18 inches past the hole you can do it. Drop a quarter on the green and step back several feet, depending on how long a putt you're practicing. Place 10 balls on the green and try to hit each so that it touches the quarter when the ball stops. When you've mastered that, replace the quarter with a dime. Then, replace the dime with a tee. An added benefit to this drill is that when you're though, the hole looks 10 times bigger than usual.

===================================================
3) Question of the Week - Eliminating Pop-Ups Off the Tee
===================================================
Q. Hi, Jack, I played in the Irish Open Senior on Monday and drove the ball really well. Next qualifying day, Tuesday, everything was going well until I started driving the ball high off the tee. I got away with it on the 9th and 10th hole. I lost some distance, but it was still down the middle. However, from then on my drives started to go higher and higher. I failed to qualify by just a couple of shots, and I'm trying to figure out just what went wrong.

A. Thanks for the question, Julie. Too bad about the Open. Hitting a pop-up is embarrassing. It's also costly. You lose distance on your drives and add strokes to our scores. Players who pop-up shift their weight forward too much and approach the ball at too steep an angle on the downswing. The combination de-lofts the clubface, causing the club’s top line to become its leading edge. Hence, the pop-up

Here are 5 tips on eliminating pop-ups:

Simple changes in your set-up help eliminate pop-ups. The key is encouraging a higher and longer backswing arc. This in turn shallows out your swing plane and reduces the steepness of your downswing. Here's how:

First, widen your stance slightly, creating room for a bigger backswing arc. If you're not comfortable using a slightly wider stance, hit practice balls until you are. It won't take long.

Second, concentrate on maintaining a higher position at the top of your backswing and a lower one at the finish, widening your swing arc.

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

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter09192007.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Three Stroke-Saving Putting Drills
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/pdrills.html

5) Article - The Science of Squaring the Clubface
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/squareface.html

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, send a blank email to break80ezine@aweber.com

===================================================
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.