Getting Ready for Tournament - Chipping Practice

Well, my finger is getting better and the tournament is getting closer.  I have just over a month to get in form for the next qualifier.

Since I broke my finger just over a month ago at a qualifier for the Champions Tour in Georgia, I haven't been able practice until about a week ago.  I was informed that I can start putting as long as it doesn't hurt or cause discomfort. 

The putting went well, so I have now started practicing chipping.  I am working on my short game around the green improving my timing and control.

So what I have been working on is  20 yard chip drill with my 60 degree wedge.

• Start with stretching exercise
• Place 4 tees three feet around hole
• Using Hinge Hold technique

• open stance
• open club face
• back swing hinge wrist
• forward swing keep hands ahead of club head
• focus on spot you want to land ball on green
• watch how far ball rolls
• adjust landing spot with roll distance to get within markers around hole

• Goal

• 20 chips in a row inside marker area

This is a drill you can do all the time.  This drill help you develop a short lofted shot that will allow your ball to land near the hole with little or no role.

On my next blog I will share with you another chipping drill I am currently practicing.

Until then, keep your head still and your finish smooth........

Rainy Day Sunday Cont'd - Things To Do Indoors 3. Working with your Swing

The third area I want to work with you is your swing. 

This will be a little more difficult indoors unless you have a high enough ceiling and plenty of room that you won't break your wife's (or husband's/Mom's, or Dad's) special glass pieces or TV.  If you have a garage and you can move your car into the rain to give it a good washing then that is probably what you want to do and you can kill to birds with one stone so they say.

There are a couple things you can do indoors to work with your swing but I believe the most important would be working on your tempo.

If you can get your tempo to be consistent and smooth then you can apply it to every club you use and it will help lower your score on the course.  Golf is about tempo and timing.  If you have that in place then you can easily observe the distance each club carries the ball in the air and you can have easier determination on what club you will use for each situation.

To work on your tempo the following is what you need:
  

•  have proper posture

• feet at least shoulder width apart, spine angle about 8 degrees (depicted on left of picture to right). 
• knees slightly bent

• back spine straight at angle below.

• Balance.  The weight of your body should be reflected on the inside ball of each foot. 
• Rhythm.  this should be smooth going in your back swing as going through to your finish.
• Tempo.  This is the movement like a grandfather's clock pendulum going back and forth.

What you want to do while indoors is to make sure all these are being done correctly.  This will allow you to work on tempo of your swing to keep it consistent throughout all shots.  Get to know what this feels like so you know when your tempo is off. 

Of course you don't have to wait until you are stuck in doors to work on this you need to work on tempo all the time.

Tempo is not enough, all though, with tempo and balance you can have a few swing quirks that can be hidden.  Follow my blog and later you will find swing techniques on helping improve distance and power without swinging hard.

Until then, with a smooth and steady tempo, your game can become consistent no matter what level player you are.......

Five Spring Time Drills to Improve your Golf Swing

Well the weather is starting to get a little nicer out as we get further into spring. The golf bug will be kicking in and everyone will want to skip work school and get on the course.  You haven't played golf for a few months and you want to get back into it.  Your swing isn't  the same since the end of last year because of the cobwebs, stiffness, and lack of movement has crept in.

Remember, stretch before every workout.

Stance

If you are having trouble with your aim, the ladder drill may help. To perform the drill, drop a ball in front of you and address it as if you are lining up to take a swing with a mid-iron so your feet are neither open nor closed to the target.

Drop the club at your feet so the shaft runs from foot to foot. Look down and examine where the club is pointing and make adjustments. Imagine the club making a line to out to the target. If that line is to the left of the target, during a real golf shot, your ball will end up to the left. If the club's line is to the right of the target, then your ball will fly to the right of the target.

To correct, aim slightly left or right of your starting point, depending on the direction of the error. For example, if the club line is pointing to the left, adjust your stance slightly to the right and repeat the drill.

Do this drill regularly and you will see a noticeable difference in how you address the ball.

Follow-through Drill

The release is one of the keys to a solid golf swing, in which the wrists become un-cocked and turn at impact with the ball. If that does not occur correctly, the club head will strike the ball at an angle, resulting in a ball flight to the right or left.

To perform this drill, take a club and swing about half your typical speed. Stop when your arms make a L during the backswing and check where your wrists are. Swing through and release, turning your wrists through the ball and finish by creating the reverse L as you follow through.

Continue swinging in this manner, but increase the speed. You will become more cognizant of these two important points in the golf swing while noticing increased power.

If the desired ball flight is not occurring while you're doing this drill, adjust your grip and arm angle. These should be slight adjustments that the individual golfer will need to experiment with, because it depends somewhat on the strength of the grip and velocity of the swing.

During the adjustments, continue to do the drill and test different arm angles and grips. This will help the golfer understand the relationship between club head, wrist motion, arm angle and grip in his own swing.

Putting Drill

One of the least-practiced skills of golf is putting even though it is a huge part of the game.  While being able to read greens is an important element to being a good putter, the most critical part is understanding pace. To perform this drill, place three balls at 5-feet intervals away from the hole on

the putting green. Attempt to hit each ball into the hole, concentrating only on the length of your putting stroke. Every putt, no matter the distance, should be struck with the same speed of the putter. The only element that changes is the length of the backstroke. Continue to vary distances while keeping the same pace, but altering the length of the backswing. The final step is to do this drill with several balls and various distances with your eyes closed. This will allow you to feel the clubhead move back and forth through the ball.

Counting Drill

Is a hook or slice killing your golf game?  Try this drill on for size. Take a normal backswing. At the top of the backswing, stop. Count to 2 before proceeding back to the ball. This will decrease the speed of your lower body and help you think of your swing in sequential parts, exposing issues with your downswing and giving you the ability to see, feel and correct them.

This drill will help the golfer expose an inconsistent velocity issue with his/her swing and body. If the body is slightly ahead or behind the golf swing, then the ball will be sliced or hooked. This drill will break this timing issue by making the golfer's body move at the same time as the club.

Penny Drill

This simple but extremely effective drill will help a golfer get the ball off the ground quickly. Take a penny and place it on a practice mat. Hit a penny off a mat. Try to hit the penny off the mat with different clubs. See how high you can get it to fly. This will help you stop topping the ball. Now try to hit the penny when a ball is on top of it. This will continue to train you not to top the ball.

 

Well time to go.  Keep practicing and the game will get easier.

 

bye for now.....