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If I had to pick just one way to score better I’d say, “improve your putting.” Because it’s a simple formula. If you shot a 100 in your last game of golf and you had 8, 3 putts in that score then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that if you could turn those 3 putts into 2 putts then you’d score 8 shots better.
Ok, we’ve worked out that you need to practice your putting, but how?
Well it’s been proven that the better the putter is the better they are at long putts, so that’s where you should spend most of your time practicing. And don’t just practice your putting line but rather practice hitting putts a correct weight. Because it doesn’t matter if your ball is on the correct line if it’s 10 feet short or long. And think about how often your putts are 10 feet wide of the hole. It’s not often is it?
So practice long putts and one of the best drills to improve your putting touch is to putt balls to the edge of the putting green. Get about 5 balls and start about 30 feet away from the fringe and try to putt the balls so they end up as close to the fringe as possible.
During this exercise don’t worry about direction, only speed. Keep doing this and vary the distance from the fringe for each 5 balls you stroke. Do this at least 6 times so you practice at least 30 putts.
Also, to make this exercise more effective, putt with your eyes closed. And after you’ve hit each putt guess how close the ball has come to your target (i.e. the fringe). Once your ball has stopped rolling, open your eyes and see how correct you were.
Now here’s another great distance control putting drill.
On your practice putting green measure 30 feet from the fringe. Then place about 15 balls down there. Then putt your first ball and try to get it at as close to the fringe as possible. Once you’ve done this then hit your second putt and try to get it to finish as close to your first ball as possible without going past it. Then hit your third putt and try to get it to finish as close to your second ball as possible, without going past it.
Keep doing this and see how many balls you can get between yourself and the fringe. But if any balls go past the previous ball then it’s game over. You have to start again.
This is a fun putting game to see how many balls you can get between the fringe and yourself and it will improve your distance control at the same time. Plus you can keep record of your personal best and try and beat it.
Doing putting drills like this allows you to concentrate solely on feel and weight without worrying about whether the ball has gone in the hole. And if you improve your long putting your scores will improve and it will be easier than working on your swing.
You see, there’s no point in hitting the ball great but then 3 putting. So improve your putting first and then work on improving your swing.
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There is nothing worse than swinging a golf club and feeling the golf club slipping through your hands, because if that happens you’re almost guaranteed a terrible shot. And unless you’re Tiger Woods it’s very hard to stop the swing when you’re half way down to the ball.
I have no idea how Tiger does that!
Anyway, if the weather is very hot and humid the chances of your grip slipping as you’re swinging goes way up. Also, if you’re playing in the rain then naturally the chances of your grip slipping as you make your golf swing go up as well.
But there are simple solutions to this problem which don’t have to cost you anything. And the first solution is a dry towel.
When you play golf you should carry at least 1 extra golf towel. Ideally you should carry two extra golf towels however. And if you’re getting hot and sweaty or it’s raining then before and after every golf shot you should be wiping your golf grips and hands with one of your dry towels.
Also, if it’s raining then I suggest that you keep your towel under an umbrella to try and keep it dry for as long as possible. Then when your towel is not doing a good enough job then simply put it back in your golf bag and get another dry towel out.
Now here’s a neat trick.
Every hole or two simply get some sand from the bunkers (or from the little buckets they give you to put in divots) and rub the sand on your hands and on your golf grips. This will help to absorb the sweat and it will help you to keep a firm golf grip as you’re swinging.
Important Note: If you’re a women golfer you may prefer to take some talcum powder with you to the golf course and put this on your hands instead of sand.
So the next time you play a game of golf where it is possibly going to rain or be hot and humid…or heaven forbid….both at the same time! Then make sure you take at least two towels and try your best to keep them dry. Then every golf hole or two put some sand on your hands and on your grips. Doing these things will help you to keep your golf grip from slipping as you’re swinging. Because again, there’s nothing worse than going to play a golf shot and having your hands feel as though they are going to slip on the golf grip, is there?
Tags: Golf Grip, slip, slipping, Tiger Woods
Apparently on the Sport Science program, which is on the Fox Sports Network, they did an interesting experiment with golfers. The experiment was to get golfers to swing a heavy golf club and then after doing that hit a golf ball. And they found from doing this that golfers lost up to 30 yards in distance…even though the golfer felt as though they were swinging faster.
Now I say apparently because I haven’t seen that particular show. I’m just going off what a number of other people are reporting. However, I have since done some more research into this and found this article which outlines a number of different studies that have found basically the same thing.
Now in my experience with using a heavy club/device I have found that you do feel like you’re swinging faster when you immediately go back to a normal golf club, but the swing speeds don’t go up. I’m not sure what’s going on there but that’s my experience. And it seems like the research backs that up.
I don’t think that heavy clubs should be discarded completely though. Because these tests are showing the results immediately after swinging a heavy golf club and then hitting shots with a normal golf club. I haven’t’ seen any research into the long term affects on swing speed/shot distance by using a heavy club.
My gut feeling is that a heavy golf club doesn’t directly help a golfer to hit the golf ball further but indirectly it might. Here’s my thinking on this…
A heavy club does help to improve functional swing flexibility or in other words it helps you to swing longer. Look at John Daly for a great example of this. He started playing golf as a kid swinging his dad’s golf clubs, which obviously were way too long for him. That’s how he got the super long golf swing he has now…even though he’s a fraction overweight. 
Swinging heavy clubs will help you to become more flexible when swinging a real golf club as long as you swing fully and completely, finishing your backswing and follow-through with the heavy club. I do think you have to be very careful when doing this to swing within yourself however. Because a heavy club does put a lot more stress on your body as you’re swinging.
So I think you should use a heavy club as part of your flexbility program BUT not part of your speed program. If you’re training to hit the ball further I believe you should swing things that are lighter than your normal golf club. The excepted “best” for this is about 12 % lighter than your normal golf club.
Now in that tpi article that I have linked to above it concludes with this….
“Also using the heavy “donut” attachment that is still popular as a warm-up device is definitely not advised. The donut device has been shown to actually alter the swing motion pattern (Southard and Groomer) and decrease swing speed (DeRenne, 1991).
….but I think that needs to be qualified.
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I wouldn’t advise the use of a weighted device immediately before hitting off the 1st tee. But if you’re just warming up on the range before you’re going to hit balls before playing I think a heavy club/device is fine. The thing you must make certain is that you hit practice balls after swinging the heavy club.
I would like to see a study that gets golfers that greatly lack flexiblity to use a heavy golf club for 30 days or more and then see if they hit the ball further. If you know of a study that has done this please post your comment on this blog and let me know. I would imagine that golfers doing that type of program would hit the golf ball further simply because they are swinging longer.
Anyway, I thought I would share this information with you so you don’t get caught in the trap of swinging heavy golf clubs immediately before hitting shots off the 1st tee. Because as I said earlier, you’ll probably feel as though you’re swinging faster straight away but if you check with a swing speed measuring device, you’ll probably find that that you’re not.
Tags: golf club, golf swing, golfers, heavy golf club, John Daly
18 year old Danny Lee won the US Amateur golf championship in the weekend. Danny Lee is from New Zealand so it’s big news over here. But there’s a big reason people everywhere should sit up and take notice of this achievement. You see, Danny Lee is not only the number 1 ranked amateur golfer in the world, but by winning the US Amateur as an 18 year old he’s beaten Tiger Woods as the youngest person ever to win the title….by almost 7 months.
Pretty impressive!
Naturally people are expecting him to turn pro but apparently he’s not…yet. Because by winning the US Amateur he gets invites into 3 out of the 4 majors next year, if he turns pro that won’t happen.
It’s going to be great to see how he goes on the world stage.
I just hope he doesn’t go the way of so many of the top amateurs that we produce….which is to turn pro and basically never be heard of again.
It does look like Danny is different though. He has a heck of a lot of confidence and doesn’t seem to be fazed by anything. As long as he keeps that attitude New Zealand may have a world beater on its hands.
Interestingly, when I saw his swing I noticed that he does the secret golf swing move I outline here.
He looks to really attack the golf course too which will be great to watch.
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The Golf Swing Test
You could have one serious swing fault costing you up to 50 yards in distance. But now you can take this swing test and see if you have this swing fault or not: http://www.yourgolfswingtest.com
Tags: Danny Lee, Golf, New Zealand, Tiger Woods, US Amateur