Golf Tips 22 - Reaching Lofty Heights Part III : Making the Swing

Now that you're set up to create a lofted wedge shot, consider possible swing faults which can prevent a well-stuck shot.

Closing the Clubface on the Backswing: The clubface does not face the ball at all times during the backswing. Instead, it works like an opening door. At the waist-high position in the backswing, the toe of the club should point upward with the leading edge-perpendicular to the ground. The clubface is closed if it is turned more to face the ground and ball. As noted above, avoid gripping too strongly and aiming with a closed clubface to the target.

Overswinging into Deceleration: Taking too big a backswing in relationship to the distance you hope the ball will travel makes you decelerate in the forward swing. Your body seems to know that you've gone too far in the backswing, so it slows down the forward swing to keep from hitting the ball over the green. Decelerating the club in the forward swing can cause fat or thing shots. Practice following through farther than the distance you take the club back. Reprogramming your brain input eliminates past bad habits.

Inside Swing Plane: If you swing the clubhead too much inside from the target line, the clubhead will return to the ball too shallow, making it difficult to get the clubhead underneath the ball. A steeper angle of approach by the clubhead is necessary to get the ball lofted. The club swinging down makes the ball go up. Never try to lift the ball up or swing up! The wedge has plenty of loft. Let the club do the work; don't try to help it.

Club Laid Off: With any golf shot, the direction in which the butt of the club points during the backswing indicates the club's returning path to the ball. With a less-than-full-swing wedge shot-that is, one using a one-quarter to three-quarter size backswing-the butt should point somewhere between the target line and your toe line in the backswing. When it doesn't, the clubhead cannot naturally return to the ball to produce the desired lofted shot. It would somehow have to be manipulated into the correct path, and this is pot luck. For example, if the but points beyond the target line, the clubhead will return to the ball shallow or in the shank position.

Once you can consistently hit lofted wedge shots, the fun begins. Now, you can have productive practice sessions to a target and start developing feel around the green. Begin with three different size swings, with each size determined by the distance your hands travel in the backswing. Take the club back to knee or thigh-high for a quarter swing; waist-high for a three-quarter swing. Through practice, you'll learn what size backswing to take for various distances.

Experiencing these different size softy-lofty shots on the golf course builds confidence for continued good shots and better scores. Don't berate yourself over a poor shot. Instead, allow the ball's direction, trajectory, and distance to tell you what went wrong so you can make the necessary corrections for the next wedge shot.

By Sharon Miller, LPGA Member

Golf Tips: Swing Vision Tiger Woods

Golf Tips 21 - Reaching Lofty Heights Part II : Preparing to Swing

If you're having trouble getting loft from your wedge, check your pre-swing fundamentals. Here are the basic setup checkpoints for the less-than-full-swing wedge shot.

Make sure your grip is correct. Especially ensure that your hands are not in too strong of a position. For right-handers, the more the hands are turned to the right from a neutral position on the clubhandle, the stronger the grip (opposite for left-handers). You will see too much of the back of the left hand and the fingers of the right. A strong grip tends to close and deloft the clubface, creating low shots that go to the left. Hands turned more to the left form a weak grip, which tends to open and add loft to the clubface.

Grip down on the clubshaft to make it shorter in length. Although this isn't necessary, it gets you closer to the ball, makes the club lighter, and puts you into a less-than-full-swing frame of mind. You may find this helpful. Play the ball in the center of your stance or where your swing arc bottoms out. Playing the ball too far back in your stance can cause a topped or bladed shot. (Sculled is another term for those across-the-green screamers.) Playing the ball too far forward can cause the notorious chilly dip.

Take a narrower stance than normal. This quiets down your lower body and also puts you in a shorter backswing frame of mind. Open your stance a little to help you follow through more easily-like lobbing a ball underhanded onto the green.

Weight is equally distributed or, preferably, a little more on the forward foot. Minimal weight shift during the swing gives the clubhead a better chance of returning to where it started with a descending blow and getting underneath the ball. A more pronounced weight shift during the swing makes for a longer, flatter bottom of your forward swing arc, which increases your odds for hitting a fat or sculled shot.

Hands are in a forward press position even with or a little ahead of the ball. The hands stay ahead of the clubhead throughout the swing. If the arms and hands decelerate on the forward swing, the clubhead catches up and passes the hands, causing the clubhead to either hit the ground too far behind the ball or blade the ball. These setup guidelines work for many of my students but don't constitute the only correct technique. Experiment to find what works best for you. It's not how, but how many that counts.

By Sharon Miller, LPGA Member

Golf Tips: Golf Instruction & Swing Tip - Preparing for Tournament Play

Golf Tips 20 - Reaching Lofty Heights: Drills for Loft and Consistency

Place a tee in the hole of the butt end of the grip so you are aware of where the butt points in your backswing (in photos 1 & 2 I am using a shaft extension for clarification). It should point between your target line and your toe line in less-than-full-swing wedge shots. Practice several stop-action swings without a ball so you can see where the tee is pointing; keep correcting yourself until you get it right. Your mind and body will eventually get the idea and swing the club correctly without conscious manipulation. Eventually, you must let go and trust your swing.

# At the finish position, the tee in the grip should point at your bellybutton or thereabouts (photo 3). If your arm and hands decelerate through the ball, the clubhead will pass the hands and probably cause a fat or thin shot. If his is the case, the tee will point more toward the ground at the finish. Practice you swing, and hold the finish position for two counts. Make necessary corrections as go along.
# Place the grip end of your club under your left armpit, and place your hands on the shaft down near the clubhead. Practice swinging back and forth to feel the sensation that the shoulders, arms, hands, and club swing as one. This keeps the shoulders form getting left out of the swing. If the shoulders don't turn toward the target during the finish, the tee cannot point toward your stomach in the drill above.
# Practice half-swing finishes with the clubface facing the sky (photo 3). Pretend there is a glass of water sitting on it at the finish and try not to spill it. On the forward swing, do not allow the toe to pass the heel of the clubhead. The heel leads the toe.
# If you have a proper grip yet tend to close the clubface in the backswing, practice 12 stop-action backswings and make sure the toe of the club points toward the sky and the leading edge is perpendicular to the ground (photo 4). The toe leads the heel going back, and the heel leads the toe going forward and through.

By Sharon Miller, LPGA Member

Golf Tips: Perfect Golf Swing, Tiger Woods Correct Golf swing Fix Swing

Golf Tips 19 - Warming Up Your Golf Muscles

Your hands are the only contact you have with the club, and unfortunately for most golfers, this is where all the problems begin.

Why? Because when we play we all get nervous at times in tense situations like the first tee in front of all your friends or competitors. Under pressure we revert back to squeezing the club tighter than we intended, thus creating an improper chain reaction culminating in less than desired results.

Here's an excellent way to warm up those particular muscles groups before and during your round to counteract our tendencies to "hit, "and instead will allow you to train your golf muscles not just your golf mind-to make the swings you've imagined in your practice sessions. First, grab one of your clubs with your left arm only and lift the club to about chest level high. You can use your right arm as support if you wish, as this will help isolate the amount of movement in your left elbow. Just put your right hand underneath your left elbow as you do the drill. Next, gently allow the clubhead to be lowered by turning your left forearm to almost a horizonal position. The key is to keep your left elbow maintained in the same position that you had when you started. This is essential in order to maximize the resistance, and really work this particular muscle group which is vital in your golf swing.

Then slowly bring the clubhead back to its original starting position. Now allow the forearm to rotate in the other direction and hold for a second once you reach the desired horizonal angle. You'll find that doing a series of reps like15/12/10 and alternating to the other arm, will more than suffice in the beginning to get a good workout for your forearms, hands and wrists. The purpose of this drill is to increase flexibilty in your wrists and forearms which, in turn will prevent injury due to the jarring downward blows that occasionally occur in a golfer hitting down too much on the ball with their iron shots. This exercise will also teach you the feeling of how your forearms(bigger muscles)need to control the smaller muscles, which are your hands and wrists. Most golfers are under the impression that the hands/wrists control the arms, when in reality it's the other way around. Doing this type of specifically designed program daily will help you reap benefits quickly by preventing injuries and increasing your clubhead speed in your swing-which means longer, and straighter shots. Remember most of your bad shots are caused when you use you"hands" to hit the ball. Any attempt to hit the ball using your hands will ultimately lead you to break down your wrists, thus causing you loss of power and control. The best part of this drill is you can practice it in the privacy of your home, office and on the links. You'll be training yourself how your arms move in the swing without having to pound thousands of golf balls daily stressing your joints. Having a good understanding of how your muscles work in your golf swing will be critical to your success.

By Tom Ward, PGA Tour Instructor

Golf Tips: Pre-Golf Warm Up Exercises For Golf Swing