But making adjustments is not conducive to generating low scores or a low golf handicap. In fact, on-the-fly adjustments tend to do just the opposite, since they create a lot of opportunity for error. The goal then is to hone your swing so it is as technically perfect as you can make�not an easy task. Below are some drills that will help you grove your swing.

Triangle Takeaway Drill
The takeaway may be the most important move in the swing. It encourages good positions throughout the swing, increases your chances of executing a perfect swing, and delivers the clubhead squarely to the ball at impact�the key to hitting longer, straighter drives. This drill teaches you to stay connected during your swing, grove a one-piece takeaway, and employ a fuller body turn, creating added power:

Grip your driver a few inches below the club’s handle. Place the club’s butt end gently against your stomach at a point just above your navel. Now practice making small swings. Concentrate on keeping your arms close to your body with the club touching your navel. A lot of golf teachers use this drill in their golf lessons to help beginners groove the proper takeaway.

Thumbs-Up Drill
The next important phase of the swing after the takeaway is the backswing and the coking of the wrists. A mistake at this point in your swing causes a dramatically negative domino effect, with the club ending up well behind the body on the backswing. That in turn eliminates the chance of achieving square clubface-to-ball contact at impact.

Take your address position without a club. Swing back to chest level as if you had a club in your hands, making certain that your thumbs are angled up toward the sky. Hold that position for a few seconds, so you remember it and physically feel and grove it. Next, swing through to chest level, again making sure that your thumbs point at the sky. Practice this drill several times a day.

In-The-Slot-Drill
Players who fail to find the right slot in their downswing fail to have a square clubface at impact. Unfortunately, some players release their right wrist (left wrist for left-handers) and/or right elbow (left for left-handers) much too early in the downswing, causing a weak misdirected slice. This drill teaches you to maintain the proper wrist and elbow hinge until you reach the impact zone.

Take your address position and then swing the club to the top. Hold that position briefly. Now start unwinding your hips on the downswing. Simultaneously, drop your elbow down in front of your back hip then freeze this position. Feel the position of your arms but do not uncock the wrists. This move trains your wrist to remain cocked and teaches you to feel the sensation of delaying the hit, without feeling the need to pull on the butt end of the club.

Stop-And-Go Drill
One of the biggest mistakes weekend golfers make is triggering their downswing with either a violent body move or an exaggerated lower body slide. As a result, the player tends to come into the impact area with the clubface wide open and slice the ball severely. This drill teaches you to make a smooth transition and synchronize the downswing move with the rest of your body.

Take your address position and then swing the club back, stopping at the top of your stroke. Be sure at this stage to check that your weight is balanced. Hold that position for a few seconds. Next, complete the swing and trigger a perfect chain reaction by rotating your hips and legs smoothly toward the target. Many teachers use this drill during golf instruction sessions to teach an efficient, on plane move and for promoting good balance during the swing.

The Twenty Drill
Some golfers lose power on the downswing because they fail to accelerate their arms during this phase of the swing. As a result, the player hits balls much shorter than they should. The goal with this drill is to teach the player to swing the clubhead powerfully, so that by the time the club makes it to impact it is moving at high speed, enabling you to hit the ball longer with better height and carry.

Use your driver for this drill. Take your address position. Now swing the club back and through to the finish twenty times in a row without stopping. Ideally, you want to remain flat-footed through the impact zone. Some players are able to swing the club all the way through into the finish while remaining flat-footed. Swing as fast as possible. Do 20 swings in the morning and then 20 swings at night.
None of these drills require you to go to the practice range or the course. You can do them in your backyard or in your house or office. Work on the drills as often as you can. They’ll help you achieve lower scores and whittle down that golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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Exercising helps. We’re not talking about lifting weights or running 5K races. While resistance training and running are good, you don’t have to become a body builder to maintain your golf handicap. Stretching is just as effective. It’s just a matter of pinpointing weak areas and using the right exercises to improve those areas.

Some strength and conditioning experts believe that the body’s a series of mobility and stability joints. When a mobility joint is weak and malfunctioning, a stability joint compensates. This causes instability, dysfunction, and pain. If your hip�a mobility joint�malfunctions, then your lower back�a stability joint�compensates and you experience lower back pain.

Do two sets of each exercise (8 repetitions). Repeat in the opposite direction if the movement is to one side.

Over the Top
Coming over the top with your swing is one of a weekend golfer’s most common mistakes. Weekend players attend thousands of golf lessons every year trying to cure this problem, created by the inability to turn your upper and lower bodies independently of each other, to no avail. The swing flaw causes you to come straight down with your swing, resulting in slices and pulls.

Supported Stork Turns:
Hold onto a club and stand on one leg, using the club as a support. Keep your shoulders square and rotate your pelvis back and forth.

Chicken Wing
If your shoulders are inflexible, you’ll have difficulty rotating. Shoulder problems can cause the front arm to jut away from the body at the elbow during the through swing and look like a chicken wing. This flaw can cause elbow tendonitis and sliced shots.

Windshield Wipers:
This exercise uses lightweight dumbbells. Holding the dumbbells in front of you while in your golf posture, rotate your arms away from each other as far as you can.

Body Sway
I’ve discussed this flaw in my golf tips a few times. If your hips are inflexible, your body can’t turn properly. Instead of rotating, your hips turn away from the target in the backswing and your body weight shifts outside your feet. You end up hitting thin or fat shots.

Kneeling Long Turns:
Line your feet behind each other and kneel while holding a club overhead. Turn your body as far as you can each way when in the kneeling position.

Flat Shoulder Pain:
If you have back problems and your shoulders are tight, then you will have a tendency to lose your posture during your swing and make a poor body turn. The club will be off plane. This flaw makes it difficult to produce solid contact.

Reach, roll, and lift:
From a crouching position with your head resting on your fist on one hand, slide your other arm along the ground as far as you can and then lift it as you roll your palm upward toward the sky. Hold this position for 15 seconds, and then switch arms.

Getting Stuck:
If you have issues with your lower body, especially your ankles, your pelvis will thrust forward on the downswing and then move forward into the space where the club was supposed to travel. The club gets stuck behind the body, leading to blocked and hooked shots.

Ankle Wipers:
Sit on a physio ball and lift your toes to the right and left, like a windshield wiper, keeping your heal on the ground and your knees still.

The exercises described above help you maintain strength and flexibility in your mobility joints. They address five key mobility areas that weaken as golfers age. The exercises�if done correctly and faithfully�improve your flexibility and strength in these areas and help you swing a club more powerfully and efficiently. That in turn helps you maintain your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Tags: golf tips, golf faq, golf beginner

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Block shots rank high on the list of bad shots by golfers who swing the club too aggressively. When driving, being too aggressive often forces golfers to fire their bodies too quickly on the downswing, causing the club to drop behind the players too far to the inside. From there, golfers either block their shots or hook them, depending on their release at impact.

If you tend to block shots, you may be swinging too aggressively. If you are, you must learn to curb your aggressiveness to improve your game. Once you learn to control your aggressiveness, you can use it to lower your scores and golf handicap. Below are four golf tips I recommend in my golf lessons to help eliminate blocked shots.

Tip #1: Better Posture, Better Impact
When your lower body races ahead of your upper body�the result of being too aggressive�your upper body tends to tilt away from the target. Being too fast with your upper body produces blocked shots. Since you want to “feel tall over the ball,” make sure you set your spine straight at address. Also, make sure you’re not squatting too much. If you are, flex your knees slightly. And make sure the ball isn’t too far back in your stance. Setting the ball forward helps keep the back straight during the swing.

Tip #2: Less Tilt, More Coverage
When you’re too aggressive, your upper body often tilts away from the target. If that happens, your back shoulder will drop, causing the club to drop too far under the backswing plane. Your path becomes too inside out through the swing plane. Now if your legs get too aggressive and your front hip clears too soon, your upper body falls away from the target. That’s not good. If you want to eliminate blocked shots, keep your upper body straight during the swing and your back shoulder “covering” the ball through impact. In other words, stay stacked over the ball throughout the swing.

Tip #3: Release The Head Early
Keeping your head down and straight contributes to blocked shots. Lack of head movement causes you to lose your forward tilt toward the ball. If your head stays down and straight, your hips lunge toward the ball, pulling you out of your posture and leading to poor contact. But if you turn your head slightly with the shot you’ll have better results. You’ll keep your spine straighter and get the club back in front of your body sooner. When your arms get out in front of your body, they can swing down the line better. Watch Annika Sorenstam and David Duval. They’re great examples of releasing the head early.

Tip #4: Brace Your Left Side and Release
Getting the club too far inside also results in hooks. To compensate for hooks, some golfers “hold” on through impact, so they don’t flip the clubface closed during impact. But this can cause you to pull your arms away from your body. Since you can’t release the club from that position, you end up blocking the shot. To overcome this problem, brace your front side. With a firm front side, you can swing the club down the line and release it, resulting in a straighter, truer drive.

Numerous drills exist that ingrain the four tips suggested above. For example, to learn to maintain posture, take a narrow stance and then drop your back foot away from the target line about 12 inches. Using a middle iron, hit shots from this position, which discourages your upper body from tilting back on the swing and teaches you to hit against a firm left side. Use drills like this to improve your swing.

If you block shots off the tee, it may be because you’re swinging too aggressively. Being aggressive has its advantages as long as you keep it under control. Then, you can use this aggressiveness to your advantage, as I teach in my golf instruction sessions. If you’re serious about chipping away at your golf handicap, learn to control your aggressiveness and put it to better use.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Tags: better golf, golf beginner, golf

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Actually, the concept isn’t new. It’s been around for years. What’s new is its execution. Thanks to advances in golf club manufacturing technology and golf club research and design, center of gravity is a concept whose time has come. And while it’s not a term you’ll hear a lot about during a golf lesson, it’s a term you should know because it can have a decided impact on your golf handicap.

COG Defined
One golf Web site defined center of gravity as “the point within the head of a golf club at which it would be perfectly balanced.” That’s as good a definition of COG as any I’ve read. Technically, COG is determined by balancing the clubhead on its face, sole, or any place on the head � the intersection inside of the head of all these different balance points is the center of gravity of the clubhead.

Since the center of gravity is a single point inside the clubhead, its location has to be defined in 3-dimensions. There’s a vertical COG location (how high up in the head the COG is from the sole), a horizontal COG location (how far over it is from the center of the shaft in the hosel of the head), and a depth COG location (how far back from the face it is located). If you alter the position of any of these points, you alter both the COG and the club’s performance.

Position of COG
The position of the center of gravity within a clubhead alters both the trajectory and the accuracy of shots. A COG position that’s low and toward the back of a clubhead encourages a higher trajectory for any given loft angel on the club. On the other hand, the closer the COG is to the shaft, the less a golfer tends to hit a ball offline. The farther the center of gravity is from the shaft, the more a golfer tends to hit the ball offline.

In theory you would always want the COG in line with the center of the clubhead’s face. But moving the COG helps “mitigate” some swing flaws. That’s great for those of us who don’t hit the ball in the face’s center, which judging from my golf lessons and my experience in general, is the category where most recreational golfers fall. The more the designer incorporates perimeter weighting in the clubhead’s design, then, the better off a recreational golfer is with the club.

COG also alters ball flight, which is good for players with some ability. Moving the COG toward the heel helps you hit a hook. When contact occurs away from the center of gravity, the ball’s axis of rotation tilts toward the heel. That imparts sidespin, causing the ball to move. However, as moment of inertia (MOI)�the relative stability of off-center hits�increases, the more you have to move the COG to produce the sidespin you need to hook the shot. Impact of COG
What does all this mean for a golfer and his/her golf handicap? When you’re buying golf clubs, research the COG of the clubs your considering. Since you’re not a professional, look for a club offering the best center of gravity for your caliber of play. Cavity-back irons, for example, where the COG has been moved more toward the club’s outer edges are great for beginners because they’re more forgiving of off-center hits, which means the new golfer find the fairway a lot more than with clubs lacking perimeter weight design.

However, be careful when considering clubhead design. Manufacturers often add or subtract design features in an attempt to make their clubs perform better and differentiate them from other clubs. Some “improvements” impact COG, which means they will affect the clubs performance, too. What you need to do is find the clubhead that works for you, test the club if you can. Testing is the best way of determining if a club is right for you.

Now that you know what center of gravity is, take advantage of it the next time you’re in the market for new clubs. COG will impact a club’s performance, including trajectory and accuracy. That in turn impacts your golf handicap. For best results, look for a club with a center of gravity that fits your game.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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Curing your slice isn’t easy, especially if you’ve had it for a long time. You’ve ingrained the swing fault in your muscle memory and making changes to it will feel uncomfortable and strange. But the benefits of slicing less far outweigh the costs. Hitting straighter shots more consistently not only keeps you on the fairway, it also cuts strokes from your golf handicap because it produces better approach shots.

Causes Of A Slice
The causes for a slice are well documented in magazines and often discussed in golf lessons. Four things trigger a slice:

1. Upper body turns too soon
2. Hands are too high at impact
3. Upper body outraces the club on the downswing
4. Grip end gets too far in front of the clubhead at impact.

These errors leave the clubface open at impact�a major swing error. How major? Recent research by one club manufacturer indicates that a club with an S flex shaft with 9.3 degrees of loft and the face open at impact about 2 degrees results in a shot that finishes 16 degrees off the target line. Obviously, you must get the clubface square at impact to hit the ball straight.

Slices and Cures
Let’s look at the four most common types of slice and consider four drills you can practice to help cure your slice. Your divots will tell you what kind of slice you have.

1. Opening Up Too Soon (The Pull Slice)
This is perhaps the second most common slice type. Its generated by your right shoulder moving out and over on the downswing, causing the clubface to come into the ball on an outside-in swing path. Your hands sensing that the club is coming from the outside hold the clubface open to the path, resulting in a pull slice. With iron shots your divot points left of target.

Drill: Hit practice balls with your back foot moved back a few inches from the target line and your heel down. Swing the club back making a full shoulder turn. The idea is to feel as if you’re swinging the club primarily with your arms and shoulders through impact. Let your body respond to the swinging of the arms and the releasing of the clubhead.

2. Handle Too High At Impact
If your hands are too high at impact just before and through the ball, you�ll cause the clubhead to get stuck behind you. Often this happens because the golfer tries to clear the hips too fast or doesn�t trust the loft of the club to get the ball airborne. Whatever the cause, you end up with a slice. There�s little or not divot with irons.

Drill: Take your normal address position. Have a friend hold a club so the grip hovers just above your hands. As you swing back and through your friend should keep his club�s grip end steady. Concentrate on letting your hand pass just under his club.

3. Body Outraces Club (The Push Slice)
With the push slice your ball starts to the right of your target, then goes even farther right. Usually this means that your body outraces the clubhead. Some people call this a lunge. To compensate some people try flipping the club through the ball with their hands in an effort to square the clubface to the ball.

Drill: Use your driver or fairway wood. Tee the ball up. Take your address as you normally would but with your left leg positioned slightly inside the ball. Now stand only on your front foot. Swing the club back and through and try hitting the ball. Alternate hitting five balls on one leg, then with your normal swing. 4. Handle Too Far Ahead Of Ball
Getting the handle too far ahead of the clubhead is probably the most common cause of a slice. The primary problem is back of forearms rotation. If you make a strong strike of the ball and it starts straight down the target line before curving to the right. With your irons the divot would be square to the target line.

Starting with knockdown pitches, rotate your left forearm (right-handers) during the swing so your left hand knuckles face the ground just after impact, with the clubface turning down. Let your right hand come off the club. Once you get the hang of this, use other clubs. This drill increases clubhead speed and squares the clubface for a straighter shot.

Keep in mind as you practice these drills that you may not want to turn your slice into a draw. Hitting a fade has its advantages, too. The key, regardless of the type of shot you develop, is hitting a dependable, more consistent shot that keeps you out of trouble and gives you control of the where the ball lands. The type of shot will cut strokes from both your scores and your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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Unfortunately, learning the left side approach is a challenge. Since most people are right-handed, their right side is their strongest. It’s also their most natural. Teachers preaching the left side approach are asking players to do the unnatural using the weaker side. It’s no wonder that many golfers have problems learning this approach. Some golfers never do. If this is your problem, you can use the right side approach to ignite your swing if you make some adjustments.

The Right Advantages
One notable player using the right side to ignite his wing is Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, who for a time was one of the most feared golfers on the PGA Tour. Self-taught, Seve adopted the right side approach when he was young because he couldn’t master the left side approach. It was so bad he almost quit the game. Instead, he switched to the right side and it eventually paid off. He eventually mastered the approach and it took him to the highest levels of golf.

However, when Seve first made the change, he fell victim to many of the swing errors teachers preach against in golf instruction sessions. Eventually, he made some adjustments that helped him eliminate these errors and grove his swing. That made a big difference in his game. Making these adjustments allowed Seve not only to better control the pace of his takeaway, but also to pull the club away on the correct path and keep it traveling on the right plane and arc.

The Right Approach: The Hip
One adjustment you must learn to make involves synchronizing your upper and lower bodies. The problem with using the right side approach is that it discourages you from getting your lower body into the swing. Instead of getting your whole body into the swing, you get only your upper body, short-circuiting power. You need to make an adjustment to keep both bodies synchronized.

To do, turn your right hip clockwise an instant after pulling the club away from the ball with your right hand. This minor adjustment encourages your lower body to participate in the swing and stay synchronized with your lower boy. The result: a longer straighter shot geared to chopping strokes off your golf handicap.

The Right Approach: The Grip
Another key to the right side approach is the right grip. To be effective your grip must tie in with the right side approach because it dramatically influences one of the most critical parts of the golf swing�the takeaway.

Here are five keys to the right grip:

1. Stretch the thumb down the shaft
2. “Marry” your two hands
3. Adopt neutral grip
4. Overlap the pinky finger
5. V’s must point between your chin and shoulder

A neutral overlapping grip offers many advantages. By setting the club diagonally across the base of the fingers and partially in the palm of your left hand, your will achieve a secure, unified, and flexible grip. To increase control of the shaft, you should allow your thumb to stretch down the shaft as far as possible. But be careful you don’t over stretch the thumb. That throws off your control.

In addition, make sure your pinky finger overlaps the first finger of your left hand. This removes enough muscle from your stronger right hand to prevent it from over powering your left, yet still allows it to remain in control, since it sits closer to the clubhead than the left. It’s also vital that the two V’s formed by your hands point between your chin and right shoulder. This assures you that your palms are parallel and in a neutral position.

Combining a neutral overlapping grip with a slight turning of your right hip will enable you to ignite your swing with your right side. However; we must always remember one thing, whether using the right side or the left side to start our swing. Acquiring a swing designed to lower your golf handicap depends on achieving an effective sequential action and reaction of the entire body. That’s conventional wisdom you can take to the bank.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Tags: golf lessons, shoot, golf faq

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Step #1: Create Categories
Divide golf balls into three categories: High Spin/High Performance, Medium Spin/Recreational, and Low Spin/Low Compression. Some balls will overlap into two categories. If you have a low golf handicap, you could add a category: Very High Spin/High Performance.

Step #2: Categorize Balls
Research the balls you’re considering and note their characteristics. Then place them in their respective categories. For example, the Titleist Pro V 1 falls in the Very High Spin/High Performance category. The Nike One Platinum falls in the High Spin/High Performance category. And so on.

Step #3: Assess Your Swing
Assess your swing. Be honest. Do you have a tendency to put excess sidespin on your drives (slicing or hooking)? Or, do you need to put more spin on the ball? While the need to reduce spin is common, some people actually need to add spin to their shots.

Step #4: Make Your Selections
Review the characteristics of the balls you are considering and match them to your swing. Make your selection carefully based on your swing. Choose two or three candidates for testing.

Step #5: Test The Balls
Go to a practice range and test the balls. Use four clubs to test them: driver, strongest fairway wood, mid-iron, and a wedge (53-57 degrees). Select one ball as the winner and try playing with that. If you’re not comfortable with that try another until you find the right one.

Keep in mind when conducting test that the right ball is one that satisfies every part of your game. But the characteristics that work for one club may not work for another. That’s why you test them with four different clubs.

Keep in mind also that woman often need a low-compression ball that produces very high rates of spin. So do male senior golfers. These players have ball speed and launch conditions that are too low. They require special golf balls.

This five-step approach isn’t as technology-driven as the first approach. But it provides a practical method for selecting the right ball for your game, one that will help you reduce your scores and cut strokes from your golf handicap. This method might not be as precise as a more scientific method, but in lieu of the resources needed to go to a clubfitter, it will help you choose a ball that will help reduce your golf handicap without even attending a golf instruction session.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

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Spotting swing flaws in other people’s golf swing is a good way to learn about your own swing and a great way to improve your game. By watching what others do and then comparing it to what you do, you can isolate your own swing flaws. Then you can find golf tips or golf drills that will help you correct the problem or problems. Incorporating the tips in your swing and working on the drills in practice will help you correct the flaw.

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Diagnosing the Problem
Observing others is, as you may have guessed, merely one step in a four-step process that you can apply to your own game to improve play and cut strokes from your golf handicap. Let’s take a closer look at the process.

The first two steps in the process are observing and diagnosing your problem. Numerous tools exist for observing your swing. For example, video cameras are great game improvement tools. You can have a friend film you hitting balls at practice range and then view the film on a computer or the television to observe your flaws.

But investing in video cameras and software can be expensive. In some cases, it is also unnecessary. Among the best�and least expensive ways�of diagnosing a swing problem is to simply to watch the flightpath of a shot. You can tell a lot about a golfer’s swing by simply observing the flight of his or her ball. It will tell you what the golfer is doing wrong. By observing someone else’s flightpath and comparing it to yours, you can identity your swing flaw or flaws.

Next, you need to diagnose the problem. Let’s say you’re a right-handed golfer and you observe yourself or someone else hitting weak slices the right. This is one of the most common flight paths among recreational golfers. The question is what caused the problem. Was it the result of excess body movement, standing too far from the ball, too little wrist cock, or not enough hip turn?

Normally, this type of flightpath results from too little wrist cock on the backswing. A player who exhibits this flaw merely lifts the club into the air with his arms and then starts the downswing by spinning his front shoulders toward the ball. This forces the club outside the line of play and requires him to cut across the ball from outside to in, causing the slice.

However, the lack of distance indicates that in addition to the above swing flaw the player used no wrist cock and little hand action during the swing. This in turn reduced the force of the swing at impact, resulting in a loss of distance.

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Now that you’ve diagnosed the problem, you need to prescribe a remedy. So how do we correct for this problem? Several drills exist for correcting it. One of the most effective is the cross-handed grip drill. To teach the golfer what the feel of a good wrist cock is like, you have the golfer grip the club with a cross-handed grip and then hit balls at a practice range.

By holding the club in this manner, the golfer can’t help but increase the angle between clubshaft and the left forearm at the top of his swing. With more wrist cock he is able to pull downward with his left wrist along an inside path. Once the player gains the feel for a good wrist cock, he can go back to hitting balls with a normal grip. With additional practice, he’ll be able to apply the remedy on the course.
Observing, diagnosing, prescribing, applying - four steps in a simply process that can help you improve your game. Use the process to help correct our flaws, lower your scores, and cut golf handicap. It can work wonders.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Tags: golf beginner, golf lessons, golf courses

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But even if you play smart, you still need the right driver. Without it, you’re in trouble. Too long a driver is just as bad as too short a driver. But the right size driver helps you hit more fairways, lower your scores, and score well. But choosing the right driver isn’t easy, as I tell students in my golf instruction sessions. You need a good plan to do it right. Below are five elements to include in our plan.

Check Out The Loft
You’d be hard-pressed to find a PGA pro using a driver with less than 10 degrees loft. Why—because the key to distance is high launch and low spin. The longer the ball is airborne, the longer the drive. Since balls are designed to stay airborne longer, you want a driver that maximizes this technology. Higher loft also increases your chances of hitting straighter shots. If you’re using a driver with 12 degrees of loft, try one with 13 or even 14 degrees of loft.

Get The Right Shaft
Shaft technology lets you choose shafts that hit the ball higher, straighter, and/or longer, and that provide better responsiveness. Key considerations when choosing a shaft are torque, stiffness, and length. Shafts that are too stiff cause distance and control problems, as I see with students in golf lessons. Stiff shafts also hamper responsiveness. Longer shifts have the potential for longer shots, but are harder to hit straight. Choose the shaft torque, stiffness, and length that let you to make a consistent, repeatable swing.

Size Matters
Size matters when it comes to clubheads. PGA pros are switching to larger and larger clubheads these days. These larger clubheads, as you’ve probably read in magazine golf tips, have more “miss area.” This is called Moment of Inertia (MOI). The bigger the clubhead, the higher the MOI. In other words the bigger the clubhead, the more forgiving the clubhead. So think big when selecting a clubhead.

Offset Offers Advantages
If you slice or hook—and more than 75 percent of us do—consider a driver with an offset clubhead. Many offset drivers also have closed face angles to further help a slicer hit the ball. Some even add weights in the heel to help the club rotate closed toward impact. Offset drivers are great for the average player.

Don’t Forget Grip
Last but not least is the grip. Since it’s the only point of contact with the club, you need the right size grip. Most clubs come with standard size grips. But not every player’s hands are standard. In fact, I see all sizes of hands in my golf instructions sessions. Hundreds of grips exist in the market. Almost all can be fitted to your hand size. Take advantage of this flexibility and get the right grip.

Loft. Shaft. Clubhead. Offset. Grip. All are key elements in a driver. Develop a plan that includes these elements before buying a new one. And don’t get side tracked by all the hype surrounding drivers. On the tee it’s better to be in the fairway 10 yards short than in the woods 20 yards longer. That’s just smart golf. You’ll be surprised what smart golf does for your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Tags: golf, golf handicap, golf courses

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Golfer’s elbow is a form of tendonitis. Its cause is overuse. Tendons at the end of your muscles attach to bone. The insertions points of the tendon on the bone are often pointed prominences. Inflammation at these points, caused by overusing the elbow, produces the pain you feel with this injury. The main difference between golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is the pain’s location. The pain from tennis elbow’s pain is more on the outside of the elbow than the inside.

The Mechanism Varies
What triggers golfer’s elbow varies. It ranges from a single violent action to repetitive injuries where an action is performed repeatedly, like swinging a golf club or a tennis racquet. Often, golfer’s elbow appears at the start of the season. But it also occurs during the season when the repeated action increases in duration or intensity. In addition, golfer’s elbow comes from work-related injuries, like hammering nails. In that case, swinging a golf club only makes the injury worse or prevents it from healing.

The initial treatment for golfer’s elbow is rest, ice applications after using the elbow, and anti-inflammatory medicines, like Advil or Motrin. Ibuprofen also helps. These medications control the pain and reduce swelling. But use them carefully if you have stomach or kidney problems. If these measures fail, a cortisone injection is an option. If you get two cortisone injections with no relief, a third probably won’t help. In extreme cases surgery is an option to remove the inflamed tissue. But this is rare.

Build Up Your Muscles
Once you’re pain free, build up the muscles around the inside of your elbow. Use wrist and forearm exercises and stretching. Avoid exercise and stretching if you still have pain, though. They just inflame the tendons more, causing more pain. Also, try wearing a forearm brace like that used by tennis players and baseball players. It redistributes the jarring force from impact to different area away from the inflamed tissue.

Another option that keeps you playing is teeing the ball up on every shot—even from the fairway. You might have to adjust your golf handicap to make this option acceptable to your playing partners. But it decreases the force of impact, minimizes pain in the elbow, and lets you enjoy the game.

Change Your Swing Mechanics
You may also want to change your swing mechanics. See a local pro who uses a video cam. Have him check your mechanics. Or, have a friend whose judgment you trust watch you swing. If your mechanics are off, take some golf lessons or read some golf tips and correcting them. Also check your clubs and grips. Both must be right for you. Otherwise, you’ll still have problems.

Golfers elbow is serious business. It not only creates bad shots that increase your golf handicap, but also produces intense pain. Rest, ice, and medication usually help. When the pain subsides, exercises and stretching can prevent a recurrence. Also check your mechanics. If they’re off, attend golf instruction sessions or read golf tips to correct them. If the pain persists, see your doctor. It’s better to stop playing for a season, than injure yourself permanently and never play again.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction

Tags: hit, golfer, golf

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