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Archive for the ‘Golf Swing Mechanics’ Category
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Topping the Golf Ball
I know we all have done it. You set up to the ball ready to deliver that perfect swing and swoosh the ball never leaves the ground and shuffles out about 70 yards or less.
How did that happen?
Some of the things you can check are as follows:
- Grip
- Ball Position
- Stance
- Posture
Grip
The grip may be too tight at address, preventing a proper hinging of the wrist and thus properly releasing the clubhead at impact causing the club to be topped. You can correct this by holding the club light but firm and felt in the last three fingers of the left hand and the middle two finger of the right hand (reverse if you are lefty).
Ball Position
The ball may be too far forward in the stance or you may be standing too far away at address. To correct this check that for shorter irons the ball is about midway between the feet, for longer irons move ball slightly forward in the stance toward the target and the driver should be opposite the inside of your left heal. How far away, depends on your height but the butt of the club should be no farther than 4-5 inches from the inside of your left thigh.
Stance
The problem could be the body weight is set too much on the heels at address and cause you to pull away at impact
and pulling the head of the club up. To correct this at address try to keep your weight on the balls of your feet and not rock back through the swing.
Posture
An inability to maintain your knee flex may cause you to dip downward on the backswing. If this happens the only way to get the club back to the ball and this causes a straightening up of the body up and away from the ball. Check that your posture is correct by looking at yourself in a mirror. You should imagine a vertical line from the middle of your shoulders, down through your kneecaps and into the balls of your feet.
Well that is why we top the ball and a few remedies for you to try.
until next time,
John
P.S. Emmanuel Fauvel has a great short e book that will take 10 strokes off your golf score, get you a copy Now.
See previous post for information
Lower your score by 10 strokes, we have all heard that claim before from just about every golf guru around and usually it involves these big thick manuals or dvd’s that take forever to read or watch.
I want something small that I can look at and get the information I need and not have to waste all my time watching or reading.
Well, I found a short, easy to read book that does all that and more.
The book is called Golf Crisis, authored by Emmanuel Fauvel – winner of 2006 President Cup in Coutainville Golf Tournament, France and is also a member of Green Valley Golf Course. He wrote this eBook so that every beginner and medium level player can improve their golf score.
In this ebook he covers all the essentials and strategies to lowering your golf score.
Most Golfers reach a certain level and never improve beyond that point.
Fauvel’s book explains some of the concepts that will get you out of your scoring crisis.
Vital Tips to lower your score include:
- Gaining Confidence in your routine
- Work on the most important part of your game
- Choosing Equipment to match your game
- Visualization
- Working with your local pro
- Leaving frustration behind
The information is valuable and the fabulous thing about it is the price.
Click this link to grab a copy now Golf Crisis
until next time,
John
So you are having trouble getting the ball off the tee with your driver. You have bought so many different drivers and still you can’t hit any of them. What can you Do? Try the following tip next time you are at the practice area.
Develop a low, sweeping kind of action. One way to do this is by widening your stance a little and position the ball just opposite the left heel as you align to the ball. About two-thirds of your weight should be on your right foot at address.
Tee up the ball so that the top half is above the club head. This should cause you to hit the ball in the up path vice down like the irons.
When you start your swing do not ground the club at address. Let it hover above ground and behind the ball. This should result in a smooth shallow take-away vice a snatch away.
Now when you are ready take the club back on a smooth plane slowly and begin to quicken but not rush the shot in the forward motion. Sweep the ball off the tee and down the fairway.
Hit on the up. When you make a low sweeping swing the club will hit the ball after it has passed the lowest point and is beginning to rise.
Don’t get ahead of yourself, a driver or fairway metal requires that longer, flatter swing and can only be achieved by pushing the ball farther forward in your stance so that your hands are in line with the club head. The hands should appear to be slightly behind the ball at address. This will encourage the action of hitting up on the ball.
Allow your head to turn and rotate through the shot just like you would follow the shot through your whole swing. From start rotate your head back, follow your head down the fairway. This will allow your body to rotate through the whole swing and allow you to make a powerful hit through the ball.
Hope this helps,
John
One of the shots that is very frustrating to me is the skied drive, you know the one where you hit it reasonably straight and straight up in the air with the distance of a 9 iron. I even saw Tiger Woods sky one yesterday at the Master’s Golf Tournament. This tip will explain why you sky your drives and how to fix it.
With a skied golf shot you will lose up to 70% of your distance, this occurs because the clubhead chops down under the ball much like your short irons. Sometimes this is caused by teeing too high but more times than not it is because of poor technique.
A common fault is that your swing is excessively upright on the backswing, caused by picking the club up too steeply with your hands at takeaway. In other words, too much lift and not enough width with your backswing.
To fix this fault try to start your takeaway low and slow, watch Ken Perry when he takes back the club.
Concentrate on sweeping the club away and turning your back on the target and swinging your arms and club around your body promoting a full and wide backswing.
In your downswing focus on sweeping the ball away rather than hitting down on it. There are many drills that can re-create this movement.
I will go over some of those drills in the next few posts.
See you on the links,
John
Do you know what the most important golf shot on any hole is?
No, it is not the final putt.
No, it is not the approach.
No, it isn’t the chip.
Yes, you got it, the most important golf shot is your tee shot. A long, straight tee shot benefits your whole results on any given whole on the course and makes each subsequent shot that much easier.
A longer drive will enable you to hit a shorter approach into the green and will likely better your chance of hitting it closer to the hole to sink more shorter putts. If statistics are correct, the longer, accurate golfers score
lower.
So how do you start? For a regular drive, make sure you tee the ball to the correct height. You would be amazed that most golfers are really unsure what height to tee the ball up.
As a general rule, try to tee the ball so that the top of the clubface is level with the manufacturer’s logo on the ball.
Many golfers slice their tee shots because they tee the ball too low and have to hit down too steeply to get the ball in the air. To reduce your chances of slicing, try teeing the ball a little higher.
This will force you to swing the club more around yourself on a slightly flatter plane
in order to strike the ball with more power.
I have started to create some lessons that you might find interesting if you want to increase your distance and accuracy. For more information go to www.golfswingreal.com. This is my website.
Luke Cameron sent this one to me.
If you start with a bad golf stance, you’ll probably follow with a bad golf back swing, a bad downswing, and a bad follow through. Not to worry though. It’s just not that difficult! Your golf stance may not be perfect, but you can compensate by staying balanced and relaxed.
Your weight should be equally distributed over your left and right leg. If you can pick either of your feet off the ground, you’re not balanced. Start by placing the inside of your front foot just ahead of the ball. Since you’re going to be using a driver or 3 wood, the front and back feet should be shoulder width or slightly more than shoulder width apart.
Next, bend at the top of the legs (keep your back straight) and then bend slightly at the knees. The kneecaps will be directly above the balls of your feet. The angle of your back to the ground will be approximately 45 degrees. Your arms should be hanging straight down from your shoulders.
Good posture counts. Keep your back straight but don’t tense up. You might think of it as pushing your back pockets higher.Your weight should be on the balls of your feet, not on the toes or heels. Likewise, your weight should be equally distributed between your front and back foot. Now you should be more comfortable
and less tense. If you’re out of balance, you’re falling down. That’s no way to start a good golf swing.
A line drawn across the front of your feet should point to your target. You may want to check this by first placing your club up against the toes of your feet and then step back and see if the club is really pointing to your target. This is your target line and your knees, hips, and shoulders should also be parallel to this line.
One slight adjustment will be the position of your shoulders. When you assume the proper golf stance and grip, your club and left arm will form a straight line between your shoulder and the ball. For this to happen,
your right shoulder will be slightly lower to the ground than the left, but a line through your shoulders should still be parallel to the target line.
Once you grip the club and take your stance at the ball, find a way to relax and loosen up before you start your swing. You may want to waggle – or shake your tush – just a little bit and to heck with those who might laugh at you. Once you hit that monster shot, they’ll stop. Now you’re ready to swing.
Tip from Bobby Eldridge
If your chin is in the correct position, and your spine is long, and your knees are flexed the correct amount, the golf club will not sole correctly on the ground until you tilt or bend over from the hips.
You do not want to bend at the waist. You always want to bend from the hips. The difference is if you bend at the waist your spine will bend (not good). If you bend at the hips you can maintain the spine angle and sole the club on the ground correctly. If you do not bend at the hips, you will not be able to sole the golf club.
When you bend over from the hips you have to make sure you do not straighten out or lock your knees. When you bend at the hips you have to pay close attention to making sure you do not bend at the bottom of the spine.
The hips play another role not related to their posture position. Your hips must be parallel to the line of the ball flight at address. If your hips are open at address you will have a tendency to open the hips too soon in the downswing. The club face will be open at impact and the golf ball will start right. If your hips are closed at address the golf club will swing too much from the inside in the downswing and the golf ball will either start right or you will struggle with a quick hook left.