But, is this really a formula for success?

Chances are, that it is really a formula for disaster. Too slow can ruin your tempo.

Did you ever see a pitcher that went back slowly and then tried to fire the baseball? If he did, he wouldn’t get any speed on the baseball. In order to get speed we need to keep our body in dynamic motion.

The same is true in golf. If we freeze over the ball at address, or turn back slowly and then try to turn forward really fast, all of our timing and balance is lost. Also this makes the club feel heavy.

Just hold your club in front of you and then turn your shoulders back at a pace that is natural for you. This will promote a smooth effortless “take away” and an easy transition to your downswing – just like a pitcher throwing a baseball.

I hope that this helps.

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip: Golf Tips for Jeff – Part 1

Happy Golfing,

Bob

Easy 80 Golf

Just take your normal address position and make a full swing without a club. Use only your right arm – let it swing freely both on the backswing and follow-through. As you finish your swing, let your right hand give you a pat on the back, while making sure that your right shoulder is aimed somewhat down the target line and that most of your weight is on your left foot. (Just reverse this instruction if you are left-handed.)

This is the same feel that you want when you swing your golf club. This feel will give you both a good release, and a full follow-through.

You may well want to incorporate this drill into your warm-up exercises so that you are fully ready to use this feel on the golf course as soon as you start playing.

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  How is Your Backswing?

Happy Golfing,

Bob

Easy 80 Golf

He looked surprised, so I explained.

“It doesn’t matter what your swing looks like – whether it’s outside-in or inside-out. The ball will end up pretty much where your club face is aimed at ball contact. With an outside-in swing and a square club face, you will produce a slice, but the ball will curve back to pretty much to where your club face was aimed. The same is true for an inside-out swing. I use this fact to slice or hook around obstacles on the golf course.

This also accounts for our open stance that we use in sand shots. We stand open and swing normally but our club face is aimed at the target and our ball flies in that direction, not the direction of our swing.”

I hope that this story helped your game.

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  A Good Drill For Proper Release!

Easy 80 Golf

Yet, there is another factor that can cause pushes and pulls, slices and draws – especially with your mid range irons – and it is not even your fault!

Please look at this “modified” excerpt from Lesson #4 of Easy 80 Golf which explains this problem and it’s solution better than I could here:

First of all, what do your divots look like? Most of us play with “off-the-rack golf clubs”. We don’t know if they are set up perfectly – especially for our swing. We know the loft of any club in our bag; but do we know the “lie angle”? The lie angle can affect golf ball flight a lot. (In case you don’t already know, loft is the angle formed between the club face and the ground line; the greater the loft angle measurement on the club, the higher the golf ball will fly. Lie of a golf club is the angle formed between the center line of the shaft and the ground line, with the club in normal playing position.) This lie angle is extremely important when it comes to direction control, particularly with the mid and short irons.

So let’s look at some divots really closely. Pick up a mid-ranged iron – a five, six or seven – and just make a few swings taking a new divot with each swing. Now, look closely at each divot. Which part of the club face hit the ground first and made the divot? Was it the heel of the club, the toe of the club, or was it the whole bottom of the club? If the heel of the club made a narrow divot, then the toe of the club will close as the club hits the ground and you will have a tendency to hit your ball to the left of the intended target, no matter how well you swing. If the toe of the club made a narrow divot, then the heel of the club will pass the toe and you will have a tendency to hit right of the intended target, no matter how well you swing. But… if the bottom of the entire club made a wide shallow divot, you will hit in the direction of your target line most of the time, and that’s what we want.

Fortunately, most sporting goods stores that sell golf clubs can also alter the lie angle. If necessary, have one of these stores change the lie on one of your irons to the angle that seems right. Then take the club outside (or wherever you can) and repeat the “divot swings” as mentioned above. Keep repeating this until the lie angle is absolutely right for you and the divot is nearly always shallow and wide. Then set all of your clubs to that lie angle (except your putter.) Now your ball flight will start, for the most part, in exactly the same direction as your divot. (Note: Although you don’t take divots when using your driver, the same principles apply. So, you may want to have it set to the same lie angle as the rest of your clubs.)

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  The Most Important Part of Your Golf Swing!

Easy 80 Golf

Most people that slice badly have have two things in common. First their swing is coming outside-in and the second is an open clubface at impact.

To tell if your swing is outside-in, just look for two things. Does you ball flight start left of the target and then turn right and are your divots aiming left of the target? If either of these is true, you have an outside -in swing.

Don’t feel bad, as it is one of the most common problems amateur golfers face, and is really not your fault!

Believe it or not, it is caused by your subconscious! We explain why this happens and show you how to change from an outside-in to an inside-out swing in just a few minutes, in the very first lesson of Easy 80 Golf.

So, look at your ball flight and at your divots to see if you do this. If you do, please take a minute to contact me, and I will send you some free valuable information as to why this happens and how you can change it even during the winter months.

Part #2:

But what if this is not true and you still slice or fade your ball? What if your ball flight starts straight at the target and then turns to the right and your divots are straight forward or slightly to the right? Well, you simply have an open clubface at impact.

This open face is most often caused by a tight grip – i.e. griping tightly on the golf club.

This tight grip prohibits our hands and arms from rotating back and releasing our club easily to square position. The result is an open face that starts our ball straight down the target line and then turns it right.

To feel what I am talking about, close one of you hands very losely and rotate your arm back and forth. Now close that hand to a tight fist and rotate your arm the same way. Do you feel the resistance? Notice how your rotation slows?

This is what happens within your golf swing. To remedy this, practice holding your golf club as though you were holding a live bird. Hold the club just tight enough that the bird won’t get hurt, but tight enough that it can’t fly away.

Note: In Lesson # 2 of Easy 80 Golf, we teach a drill that relaxes your hands and arms, finds your perfect grip, and speeds up your swing – all at the same time – and it’s very easy to do. This lesson can also be learned during the winter anywhere that you have room to swing your club.

But, is there a possibility that you swing correctly with your club face square and still push or pull shots to the right or left – especially with your mid range irons? Yes there is - and these bad shots are not your fault! We will discuss this problem next week.

Maybe you should take time to bookmark us - so that you don’t miss anything, as we discuss more about slicing and how to fix it next week in part # 3.

Happy Golfing,

Bob

Easy 80 Golf

To tell if your swing is outside-in, just look for two things. Does you ball flight start left of the target and then turn right and are your divots aiming left of the target? If either of these is true, you have an outside -in swing.

Don’t feel bad, as it is one of the most common problems amateur golfers face, and is really not your fault! Believe it or not, it is caused by your subconscious! We explain why this happens and show you how to change from an outside-in to an inside-out swing in just a few minutes, in the very first lesson of Easy 80 Golf.

So, look at your ball flight and at your divots to see if you do this. If you do, please take a minute to contact me, and I will send you some free valuable information as to why this happens and how you can change it even during the winter months.

But what if this is not true and you still slice or fade your ball? What if your ball flight starts straight at the target and then turns to the right and your divots are straight forward or slightly to the right? Well, you simply have an open clubface at impact.

We will discuss why this open clubface happens, what you can do to fix it, and why it may be caused by even another problem that is not your fault in part # 2 and part # 3 of Why We Slice.

Please bookmark us now so that you don’t miss anything as we discuss more about slicing and how to fix it next week.

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  Why We Slice – Part # 2!

Easy 80 Golf

The simplest way that I have found to avoid this problem is to visualize the ball as sitting on a tee buried under the sand. I swing to remove the tee, not the ball.

However there is a little more to this: Remember to keep your body still and your left arm straight (not stiff) throughout the shot – especially in the backswing. Swing mostly with your arms – do not force a full shoulder turn either back or through to remove the imaginary tee.

Remember that the sand will slow your swing and act much the same as 3″ of grass. Hit the sand and accellerate through the ball to a full finish.

Does this help?

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  Why We Slice – Part # 1!

Easy 80 Golf

As luck would have it, I was paired with him on the course. I dreaded the idea as I felt I would have to wait 5 – 10 minutes between shots. (I knew he would play super slowly.)

On the first tee of a 440 yard par 4, I hit first and put my ball about 135 yards from the pin. The old man said nothing, took out his driver and hit his ball about 150 yards in the center of the fairway. On the next shot he hit his driver from the fairway – again only about 150 yards. As he was still behind my ball, he hit again. This time he hit his 3 wood to about 12 feet from the pin.

When it became my turn to hit, I took my 9 iron with a 3/4 swing and hit slightly long. My ball landed about 10 feet behind the green. I chipped on and 2 putted for a bogey 5. The old man walked to the green, surveyed the hole and 1 putted for a par!

I had lost a hole to someone 95 years old – I couldn’t believe it.

The rest of the day he beat me on at least 5 holes. Although I ended the round only 5 over par, he ended only 3 over par! (He had shot a 75 at the age of 95!!!)

That day taught me just how important accuracy in the short game is. Although I could often win driving contests, I didn’t putt and chip very well, but he did, so I lost.

The moral of this story - it is, at least, equally important to master your short game as it is to master your long game. And, don’t let anyone tell you that you lose your putting stroke as you get older. Although I didn’t count them, this 95 year old man probably didn’t have more than 25 putts for the entire round – and I don’t recall him ever missing a green from 130 yards or less.

THIS WEEKS TIP: Work on your short game at least as much as your long game. It will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  How to Avoid Skulling Out of the Sand!

Easy 80 Golf

This week I have more of a question than a tip, but it really provides something to think about.

I have played with several people that have bad swings and bad grips - some people align themselves poorly – others have strange stances and ball positions.

Too make matters worse, most of these people hit relatively short shots and have little accuracy.

One friend of mine (that shall remain nameless) has asked me for help several times in the past. I have worked with him on these occasions and he has improved quickly. One time, when I helped him, he added 20 yards to his drives and turned his slice into a draw within 5 minutes. He repeated the shot over and over and was very excited!!

But, just two weeks later, he was back to his old habits and was now ignoring everything that I had taught him.

This has actually happened to me several times with many golfers. They have improved dramatically when I helped them but, almost immediately, reverted back to their old habits when on the golf course – even though the old habits have never brought repeatable success. And, to make matters worse, they don’t even practice these changes when on the driving range.

My question is, why do they do this? Is it because they are afraid that they will look bad for a short time while making the transition?

Actually, I have a theory. I think that the possible reason is that if they hit a poor shot using their swing change that they immediately revert to their old habits  – because these bad habits are so familiar.

What do you think?

Please let me know your thoughts as I am really confused. When a swing change has proven itself to work, why don’t we stay with it religiously?

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  My Lesson From A 95 Year Old Man!

Easy 80 Golf

Although hand and arm action seems important, it has less to do with distance than you might think. Many players believe that if they swing fast with their hands and arms that they will hit longer and gain much more distance. Seldom does this actually help.

The truth is that if you rotate your body and especially your hips fast just prior to and after ball contact that you will gain much more distance. Also, if you rotate your shoulders at a good pace and do not slow down until the finish, your hands and arms will be propelled faster than you could ever do it consciously.

I sincerely believe that if you let your body take command of your swing you will have more distance and accuracy than your hands and arms could ever provide.

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Note: In Lesson # 5 of Easy 80 Golf, we provide a simple drill that teaches you how to rotate your body faster and more powerfully than you probably ever have – all without thinking about it.

Happy Golfing,

Bob

PS. Don’t Miss Next Week’s Tip:  Why Do We Resist Change?

Easy 80 Golf