How To Add 10 Metres 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 metres 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 ahead club head at impact
4. Keep hips and arms in the same place
5. Make sure the back of your front hand faces the target
6. Transfer your weight to your forward foot.

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 club face-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 back swing 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 metres to your irons and cuts strokes from your scores.

For more golf tuition, go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne

Get Better Posture For Better Swings

It gets harder to change bad habits the longer you have them. So you need to correct them as soon as you discover them. Otherwise, they'll become ingrained and you'll never root them out. If bad habits plaque your swing and you're looking to make a change, the best place to start is with your posture. Good posture increases the chances of striking the ball solidly.

Below are five keys to good posture:

1. Keep your spine straight through the swing
2. Bend forward from your waist
3. Keep your knees flexed but not too much
4. Place your kneecaps over your insteps
5. Point your fingertips outside your shoes

You address position greatly impacts your swing. If your looking to perfect your swing or get rid of bad habits, a good place to start is with your posture. Good posture increases your changes of hitting the ball on the sweet spot.

To check your posture, set up to an imaginary ball. Relax your body and let your arms hang straight down. Your posture is good if your kneecaps are over the insteps of your feet and your fingertips point to the tips of your shoes. If your fingertips point inside the tips of your shoes, you're too upright. If the point outside the tips of your shoes, you're bent over too far and your too flat.

Also, keep an eye on your knees. Many golfers don't flex their knees enough. In addition, make sure your spine is straight and that you're bending forward from the waist to avoid slumping your shoulders.

If you're unhappy with your swing or you've developed bad habits and you're looking to make a change, start with your posture. If you're set up with good posture, your chances of hitting balls crisply greatly increase.

For more golf tuition go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Getting Your Hands Through At Impact

Have you ever thought about what your hands and forearms are actually doing at the moment of impact? If not, please give this a try because it's one of the most important parts of the swing. The Simple Golf Swing explains this move, and others, in much more detail.

Try to get into the impact position, like you are about to make solid contact with the ball. Now flip your trailing wrist like you were casting a fishing pole. This is referred to as a wrist break, and it's not a move that you want to make in golf. So if you are trying to "flip" your hands through the ball at impact, this tip may help you understand the correct way to make this happen.

If you put a wrist watch on you'll be able to visualize the correct moves to make. As your leading arm approaches impact the watch face should be getting close to pointing exactly down the target line, or to the flag. Now simply ROTATE the watch face so it's pointed at the ground. With a club in your hands, you'll see that this move makes your trailing wrist and forearm "flip" on top of your leading wrist and forearm.

You also see that this will help to "close" the face of your club nicely, that will both reduce your slice, and add distance. This is the correct move to be completing through impact.

It's important to note that your forearms should be working together as well. Try to keep your forearms as close to each other as possible through the impact zone. If you can master this move, you'll find increased distance and it will also do wonders for your slice.

If you want further golf tuition go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne

Escaping From The Worst Rough

Is there's any worse lie than when you're in really thick rough and the grass is growing against your ball? When that happens, the grass slows down the clubhead, grabs the hosel, and shuts the clubface. It's a recipe for disaster. But you can escape the rough by adjusting your setup to accommodate the thick grass.

Below are six keys to this shot:

1. Take an extra club

2. Stand closer to the ball

3. Position the ball slightly back

4. Open the clubface a little

5. Make an early wrist hinge

6. Use your normal swing

This shot sounds tricky, but it's not. Like many shots in golf, it's mostly adjusting your setup. If you make the right changes, you'll get out.

Take an extra club, position the ball slightly back of its normal position, and stand a little closer to it. (If the grass were growing toward the target, you'd take less club on the shot.) Standing closer helps you swing the club more vertical, reducing the time the clubface spends cutting through the grass.

Open the clubface a few degrees, offsetting the shutdown effect of the grass. Grip the club tighter, preventing it from twisting in the grass. And take your regular swing, but hinge your wrist early. Your thumbs should be pointing toward the sky by the time the club reaches hip height in the backswing.

Hinging your wrists early is the key move. It creates the angle you need to come down sharply on the ball. It also prevents the clubface from coming in contact with grass for a long period. The less contact with the grass, the less chance the club will twist in your hands and shut the clubface down.

Getting out of thick rough with the grass flowing against the ball is tricky. But if you make the right adjustments to your setup, you'll escape with little trouble.

For more golf tuition visit http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne

Hitting From Hardpan

Here's the scenario:

You've sliced it right and landed on hardpan (or in a waster area on a desert course). You struggle from hardpan lies, tending to skull the ball more often than not, but you're close to the green and want to go for it. An easy swing gets you home from here, if you hit it right.

Below are six keys to hitting this shot:

1. Use a hybrid for the shot
2. Position the ball forward
3. Hover the club above the dirt
4. Shift your weight slightly forward
5. Take an easy three-quarter backswing
6. Strike the ball and hardpan together

Use a hybrid for the shot because the club's extra loft makes the shot easier. If you're inside the hybrid's range, choke down.

Position the ball just forward of the middle of your stance, hover the club above the ball, and set your weight slightly forward. Don't place too much weight forward. Your swing will be too steep and you'll drive the clubhead into the hardpan.

Take a nice easy three-quarter backswing. If you swing harder, you risk slipping on the sand. Your footing isn't that good to start, since you're standing on hardpan and your spikes can't dig in. Keep your lower body quiet. It should feel like your upper body is turning, but your chest isn't swaying.

Hit the ball and hardpan simultaneously. To do it, rotate your shoulders, hips, and knees toward the target together. If you turn like this all the way through, you'll avoid coming down too steeply with your swing and bouncing the club off the ground.

The key move here is hitting the ball and hardpan simultaneously. If you do that correctly, you'll reach the green easily, leaving you a chance to make par.

For more golf tuition go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne

How To Add 10 Metres 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 metres 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 ahead club head at impact
4. Keep hips and arms in the same place
5. Make sure the back of your front hand faces the target
6. Transfer your weight to your forward foot.

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 club face-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 practising.

If your back swing 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 metres to your irons and cuts strokes from your scores.

For more golf tuition, go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne

Swing Plane Explained

The swing plane is a term used to describe the path that your
club travels in when you make your swing. The next time you are
on the course playing with a friend, take a look at the angle
in which his club shaft meets with the ground.

Have your friend then make a practice swing in slow motion.
You'll notice that the angle of the club shaft goes behind,
down, and through, all in a relatively constant motion.
That would be your friend's individual swing plane.
Every golf player has his or her own unique swing plane.


What Is The Best Swing Plane To Have?

There is no right or wrong swing plane. Some golfer's angles
come in steep, while others are shallow. Although not set in
stone, you'll notice that shorter people whom use standard
length golf clubs will have a shallow swing plane. And taller
men and women who use standard length clubs tend to show a
steep swing plane in comparison.

Of course these are just generalities but you'll find them
to be true with at least 75% of those playing golf.

Other differences which may affect a person's swing plane
is joint stiffness and flexibility.  Some older men and women
who have tighter joints will also have a steeper swing plane,
even if they are considered short, as compared to younger
players or older persons who are very flexible.


The Type Of Club Also Makes A Difference

A golf player's swing plane may also be affected by the size
and type of golf club being used. For example, when a player
is using a sand wedge (a very short club as compared to a driver),
they will have a considerably steeper swing plane than when
using the driver. In fact, the driver is the longest golf club
in your bag and will always have the flattest swing plane.

You can use different swing planes, each with good success,
so long as you never allow your swing plane to vary too much
during the swing. It is okay if your backswing tends to be a
little steeper than your downswing, so long as they have
exaggerated differences.

Last Minute Tip: Achieving  the right swing plane will be
determined by your position, or setup. Try not to stand too
close to the ball and never tilt your upper torso too far to
the left (right-handed golfers), or too far to the right
(left-handed golfers). Doing so will make your swing plane
a bit too steep.

For further golf tuition go to http://www.learninggolfswing.com

Wayne