Play Golf with a Quiet Mind

If you find yourself conversing with the golf ball after each shot, you are creating chaos in your game.  Learn to either enjoy in solitude or suffer in silence.  Its ok to give yourself a 5-10 second evaluation after each shot but talking to the ball or commenting after each shot is unnecessary.  

Fill your Wedge Yardage Gaps

You need to fill your wedge yardage gaps with three if not four wedges.  I carry four wedges with 4 degrees difference in each wedge start at 45 degrees (PW).  This gives me 15 yards between wedges starting at 70 yards with my 57 degree wedge.  It also gives me more choices around the green.

 

Chipping Made Easy

This is an easy way to become a consistent chipper of the ball.  The technique is based on having your hands oppose each other and position the club more upright so it sits more on the toe to get the leading edge off the ground.  This will help your consistency and avoid chunking the ball.

The Hybrid…Swing it Like a Wood or an Iron?

The lie of the ball will determine whether you play the hybrid like a wood or an iron.  If the ball is sitting nicely on the fairway, on a tee from the teeing ground or sitting up in the rough then play it like a fairway wood.  If the ball is sitting in a depression or a divot in the fairway, or is sitting down in the rough, then play it like an iron.  The iron swing will be a bit more vertical causing a divot.  The ball will come out lower from the bad lie so use a more lofted hybrid.

Dial in your Wedge Yardages

 Dial in your wedge yardages starting with a 50 yard baseline shot with your most lofted wedge.  It’s a matter of combining your length of backswing with speed to obtain 50 yards.  I would err on a softer swing rather than a hard swing.  Once you get 50 yards dialed in, just change the length of your swing to carry 30,40, 60 and then your full swing yardage.  I carry four wedges and my full swing difference between wedges is 15 yards.  

57 degree - 70 yards, 53 degree - 85 yards, 49 degree - 100 yards, 45 degree - 115 yards

Your yardages may vary but I recommend even loft increments to fill any voids.

Use your Imagination to Hit Draws and Fades

 The beach ball is a great visual to understand draw/fade spin.  To hit a draw you imagine the ball spinning counter clockwise.  To accomplish this the toe of the club has to pass the heel.  To hit a fade you imagine the ball spinning clockwise.  To accomplish this the heel has to lead the toe.  The impact bag drill enforces your feels and then you introduce the ball.  Start with small swings and with each success you can increase the swing.  

 

To Knee or not to Knee

How much your lead knee moves in the backswing is determined by your flexibility.  Some players need more movement, some less.  From the 1930’s through the 1970’s we saw a lot of movement of the lead knee with tour players and from the 1980’s to current we see less.  Experiment and see what works best for you.