Why do we find a move that seems so easy to the professionals so incredibly difficult to perform?
Recently, I discovered that psychologists believe that we learn differently as adults than we do when we were children.
And I believe this may be the key to explaining why we have such a difficult time of it.
The large majority of professional golfers will have taken up golf when they were kids – Tiger Woods was swinging a club well at 3!
But … I would imagine the majority of amateur golfers took golf up when either in their late teens, early twenties or even later in life … as adults.
The psychologists believe that as children we learn from repeating the model that we see – we know that kids are very trusting of what they are told. Yes, they ask lots of questions but they trust the answers given. They see, and are told, and DO.
Now as adults we learn differently. We have already formed opinions about how the world is and how things operate. So when we learn something new we actually test it against the rules that we have already built up in our heads as to what is right and wrong.
Unfortunately for us, the golf swing is actually illogical to our adult minds. That’s where the problem stems from. In our heads we can’t actually accept or believe that that is how the golf swing works. We then trust our instinct and test it against our rules and go back to what we believe is logical.
Here is what is illogical about the golf swing:
A Golf Swing without Effort = A Powerful 300 yard drive
It’s been said before that the secret to the pros swing is that it achieves ‘Power WITHOUT Effort – how illogical is that!
It’s a bit like saying we’re going on a 200 mile car journey, but we’re not going to turn the engine on! No ones going to believe you.
That’s how our brains interpret it…we think there’s no way you can hit a golf ball 300 yards without LOTS of effort.
So next time we coil up on the back swing our brain tells our muscles ‘right guys we need plenty of effort if we’re going to send this ball long and straight’.
Pro’s do actually put effort into their swings to get the ball to go that far (look at Tiger Woods face just before impact and you’ll see what I mean) BUT they put it in at a completely different point in the swing to amateur golfers. They also know the technique that allows them to produce such great results …. and it doesn’t involve power, certainly not how the amateur golfer understands it.
Amateur golfers think you need to start the golf swing powerfully BUT the pro golfers know that you put the effort in at the bottom of the swing.
If you try and take this point on board this will start the process of adjusting your mind.
In my book … Golf Swing Eureka … I OPEN your EYES to how the golf swing actually works … much of which we amateurs don’t appreciate … and the answer to the question … why is the golf swing so hard?
Category: golf tips
Where Should The Golf Ball Be Positioned
Critical Ball Position Instruction Revealed
When you swing a golf club well you do so without any conscious thoughts. Or in other words you swing the club automatically using your subconscious mind. The better and more consistent your setup the more you’ll be able to swing automatically. And to back me up on this read this quote from Tiger Woods:
“Poor ball position is a silent killer. If you don’t place the ball precisely in relation to your stance, the ball will be playing you instead of you playing the ball. You’ll have to conjure up some type of weird swing movement just to get the club on the ball, and because of that you’ll never be consistent.”
Tiger Woods
So one huge determining factor as to whether or not you become a consistent ball striker will be where you position the ball in your stance and how consistently you get the ball positioned where it needs to be for each club. If your ball is positioned poorly then you’ll need to make a lot of compensations as you swing and this will mean you’ll greatly lack consistency.
So here’s where you need to position the ball in your stance to become a consistent ball striker.
For your Driver and 3 Wood your ball should be positioned directly off your left foot instep.
Then for your 2-iron through to 6-iron your ball should be positioned a ball width inside your left instep.
Important Note: If you’re using high lofted woods or hybrids then here is what I suggest. Anything up to 19 degrees in loft, e.g. a 5 wood should, use the driver ball position. Woods/Hybrids over that, e.g. a 21 degree 7 wood, should use the 2nd ball position that I suggest for 2 – 6 irons.
Finally for your 7-iron through to 9-iron your ball should be positioned two ball widths inside your left instep.
Now after seeing this you may be wondering why I teach three ball positions when it would be so much easier to have just one ball position. Well, here’s the reason.
When you swing a driver you need a more sweeping motion than you do with say a 5-iron. And if you had just one ball position for both of these clubs then you would have to adjust your swing consciously to produce the correct swing motion (i.e. a sweeping one for a driver and a more downward blow with a 5-iron) and that’s not good.
So work hard on getting the ball positioned correctly and consistently for each club you’re using and you’ll give yourself a great chance of becoming a consistent ball striker.
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Article used with permission from Nick Bayley (Professional golfer) who has discovered just one golf swing fault that could be stopping YOU from ball striking consistency and success.
But now you can take a simple 2 minute golf swing test to see if you have this swing fault or not.
Tips For Driving a Golf Ball
Tips For Driving a Golf Ball… learn to adjust to playing conditions and reduce your score.
Here are some good tips for driving a golf ball in tough conditions by Bobby Eldridge, head pro at PurePoint Golf.
Have you ever gone to play a round of golf and the first hole the wind is straight into you, the next two holes it’s blowing out of the right, the next two holes it’s from the left, then four holes in a row straight back into the wind, and then it gets worse?
The next three holes it’s blowing harder from the left. Then you get the shortest hole in the golf course downwind. And then, of course, you know the rest of the story, the next three holes, the longest holes in the golf course, dead into the teeth of it.
Well, those are tough driving days and you have to be prepared to react to it, because the wind isn’t going to stop just for you.
And when you’re playing well, I know you’re going to laugh, but it seems like every hole’s downwind. And when you’re playing difficult, it seems like every one of them is into a gale.
Remember this about tough driving days, this driver is not always the answer. How many times have you driven the golf ball 50 yards left of the fairway and only wished that you would have hit 6 iron off of the tee to get a better golf swing?
I’m not advocating that into the wind. However, the flatter the face on the golf club, the more the golf ball’s going to curve and the better your golf swing will be. And the windier it is, it exaggerates the curve if it’s going in the direction of the wind. So, this isn’t always the answer.
I have a 1 iron that I love, and I have driven with it many times on windy days, even into the wind, because it was important to find the golf ball in the fairway and not out of bounds.
So, don’t forget this is not the answer on rugged days. This is the answer when you’re driving the ball well.
When you’re not, it might be a 3 wood. Don’t give into the driver.
Timing In Golf Swing
Here`s a quick golf tip on the timing in golf swing from Bobby Eldridge, head pro at Purepoint Golf.
PurePoint Golf – Timing – Golf Instruction Lesson
I want to review something with you that I consider to be one of the, I don’t know, I think it’s one of the most misunderstood verbiage’s or terminology’s in all of golf.
It’s called timing. And it’s used a lot on television and in all the magazines, but they don’t explain to you what timing is and what it means.
So, let me give you a little golf instruction lesson, and then, that way you’ll start to understand the value of the word timing. Okay, here it goes.
Whenever you watch a good player hit a golf ball and or when you hit a good shot, this is what timing means. It was your ability to swing the arms down as your left hip moved out of the way, and gets out of the way for you.
Now, there are a couple of mistakes you can make. First of all, some people swing the arms down, and this never moves and you stay still. If you do that, you would be one that would come down and the club face closes quickly at the bottom of the hit.
If your timing is off because you didn’t move the bottom out of the way, the arms will cross over real quick.
On the other hand, most of the golfing public, when they swing down, their body moves out of the way and leaves the club behind them and open.
So, a little golf instruction lesson, if your timing is off and your body’s too quick, you’ll go to the right. If your timing’s off and your body’s a little too slow, you might hook it.
If your timing is on, all that’s saying is that you have the combination of the body, the bottom part of the body moving out of the way, as the arms swing down.
Again, the body moves, arms swing down. It’s just a combination of getting the arms and the hands to match up with the bottom part of the golf swing.
Thanks, and have a great day. I hope that golf instruction lesson helped.
Bobby Eldridge is the Head Instructor for the PurePoint Golf Academy where he teaches “The Simple Golf Swing” theory.
The Golf Driver – How To Hit It Long And Straight
The Golf Driver – How To Hit It Long And Straight
Here is some straight forward golf driver advice from Nick Bayley, who has a very unique golf swing test that can be found at The Golf Swing Test.
Here`s Nick…
So often I have golfers come to me saying….
“I can hit my irons well but I greatly lack consistency with my driver. Can you give me some advice on what I need to do to hit my driver like my irons?”
If you resonate with that question then you’ll want to read this entire article now. Because in it I’m going to give you some simple tips to improve your driving off the tee. And the first thing we’re going to look at is your equipment. More specifically, I want you to look at the shaft in your golf driver.
You see, the shaft of any club is the most important aspect of the club that will affect performance. And if you have a shaft in your golf driver that is not suited to you then you’ll struggle to hit that club consistently well.
So when a golfer comes to me complaining about great inconsistency with their driver over their irons I routinely ask this question…
“Does your driver have a different shaft than your irons?”
And normally I get an answer back like this…
“Yes, but my irons have steel shafts in them and my golf driver has a graphite shaft in it. Although they are all regular shafts.”
Now what most golfers don’t understand is that because a shaft has regular on it does NOT mean it is the same flex as another brand of shaft that has regular on it. There are no standards as far as golf flex is concerned. So don’t ever assume that having the same shaft flex from two different companies means you essentially have the same shaft.
So my first advice to people that can hit their irons well but not their driver is to get the exact same shaft as is in their irons put in their driver. And 9 times out of 10 just doing this solves there driving problem.
Now in case that doesn’t solve your golf driver problem here are three more tips to help you to hit the ball better and further off the tee.
1. Before you take some full swings with a driver you should always warm up by doing some stretches. The golf swing is incredibly hard on the body and you’ll only do yourself damage by trying to swing a driver hard without warming up your muscles first.
2. If you tend to fight a slice with a driver you should tee the ball higher as this helps to promote a draw. Conversely if your problem shot with a driver is a hook you should tee the ball lower.
3. When you’re teeing up to hit a golf driver you need to take into account the shape of shot you’ve been hitting with the driver and then tee the ball up on the best side of the tee to allow for that shape.
For example, if you’ve been fading your driver (and other shots) and you’re faced with a long par 4 that doglegs to the left then you’re going to be in trouble if you leave your ball on the left of the fairway. So to give yourself the best chance of success you should tee the ball up on the side you most want to avoid. And in this case you don’t want to go left as you’ll be forced to hit a draw for your second shot and that’s not a shot you’re hitting well.
So with this in mind in this example you should tee the ball up on the left-hand side of the tee box so you’re aiming away from the left-hand side, and you should aim down the middle of the fairway. That way if you hit the ball straight you’ll be in the middle of the fairway. If you hit a fade you’ll be in the right hand side of the fairway and if you hit a little slice you’ll be in the right rough still with a good shot to the green.
You see, you’ve got to be smart when you’re teeing up your ball. And here’s a general rule to remember to help you do this…always tee up your ball as the same side as the trouble and aim away from it.
If you’re struggling to hit your golf driver well I’m sure if you put these tips into action you’ll hit your driver longer and straighter.
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Nick Bayley is a professional golfer who has discovered just one golf swing fault that could be stopping YOU from ball striking consistency and success. But luckily for you, now you can take a simple 2 minute golf swing test to see if you have this swing fault or not. So don’t delay!
Solid Iron Shots
Solid Iron Shots… Four Tips To Hit Quality Iron ShotsThe topic for my post today is golf iron shots. You have hit a good drive and now it`s time to hit a quality iron shot. There are many factors that come into play but, for today, we are going to review four (4) tips that will help us to hit quality iron shot and, in turn, lower our golf scores.
These iron shot tips will help you to go through the thought process that will produce quality golf shots. You will be amazed how quickly your golf scores will come down.
Just using some common sense can dramatically effect how we play and our golf scores, plus, did I mention, your enjoyment of the game!
Four Golf Iron Shot Tips
1. Stay within yourself.
Don`t try to hit your seven (7) iron one hundred and seventy (170) yards when your best seveniron shot only goes one hundred and fifty (150) yards. Hit the iron that will get to the target with a comfortable swing, no over swinging! Also, when you are determining the yardage for your iron shot, be sure to take into account the position of the pin on the green. By this I mean, even though you are standing at the one fifty (150) marker, you might be one hundred and sixty five (165) yards to the pin if the pin is at the back of a large green, or one hundred and thirty five (135) yards if the pin is in the front.
You don`t want to back off of your golf swing but you also don`t want to be grunting!
2. Know how far you hit each iron.
I know you have seen this and it really slows down play. What I am talking about is watching someone pacing of their yardage to the pin and you know, full well, that they have no clue how far they hit each iron shot. So, my point is, that we need to spend some time at the driving/practice range, to find out how far we hit each iron shot.
Now, we probably are not going to know how far each iron shot goes, to the yard, like the tour pros do but we can find out within a five (5) yard range.
There is nothing more frustrating than hitting a good drive and following that up with a well hit iron shot and the golf ball ends up ten yards short or long. If we expect to hit the correct iron shot, we need to know how far we hit each iron.
3. Play the shot that your lie will allow.
We need to survey our lie and determine how the lie is going to effect our iron shot. By this I mean, if we a playing summer rules, no preferred lies, the lie will dictate what kind of shot we have to play. If the lie is less than perfect, we need to adjust where we play the golf ball in our stance. With a poor lie, we need to move the ball back in our stance so that we will be able to make solid contact. You also need to adjust for downhill, uphill and sidehill lies.
In general, we need to adjust our stance to follow the contour of the fairway for uneven lies, keeping in mind that uphill lies will add loft to your iron shots (hit more club) and downhill will take loft off of our iron shots (hit less club).
4. Play the percentages.
Here`s a question. If the best players in the world aim away from some pins then should not we do the same? If the pin is on the side of the green near a bunker, water hazard or out of bounds, it may make sense not to try to hit directly at the pin but hit your iron shot to the safer part of the green. We have to measure, the percentages, our chances of pulling off a shot. The best in the world do it! So, next time you are getting ready to hit your iron shot, stop to think of what is your best percentage play. This alone will shave numerous strokes of your golf score.
Also, remember there is a right and wrong side of the green to miss on. You would prefer to miss the green on the side away from where the pin is placed on the green. This gives you the best chance to get up and down for your par, if you miss the green.
Sand Shot Tip
Sand Shot Tip… how to handle a buried lie
Here`s a real helpful golf sand shot tip from Bobby Eldridge, the head pro at PurePoint Golf, #1 golf instruction resource.
At some point, all of us had the problem of a buried lie in the sand!
Well, in the video below, Bobby explains exactly how to hit the buried sand shot and does it in under 3 minutes.
He explains, that what we need to do is understand how the bounce on the sand wedge works and use it to our advantage instead of it working against us. In normal sand shots, you don`t want the sand wedge to dig but in a buried lie the bounce works against us. You want the sand wedge to dig and pop the ball out of the bunker.
Bobby, as usual, does an excellant job of explaining the golf tip very simply and clearly. You will be able to take this sand shot tip straight to the golf course today. If it`s not snowing where you are!
Putting Tip Videos
Here Are Two Putting Tip Videos…
First is an excellent putting tip from Bobby Eldridge, head teaching pro at PurePoint Golf. He shows us the best way to use the back swing and forward swing.
Putting Tip Videos…
Check out this wonderful putting tip from PurePoint Golf on how to correct your back swing during the putt.
Putting Tip Videos… thanks for the putting tips.
Here is the second putting tip video….
I bet you have tried time and time again to get your golf ball to roll perfectly across the greens? Why is it so hard to get the ball to stop skipping, hopping, or bouncing on the turf?
Well it can be as easy as ball position. Once you have the perfect putting mat that is!!
This video will show you how you can roll your ball perfectly every time by getting the perfect ball position. This will get you sinking more putts and making more money off your friends than you ever thought possible.
Visit http://www.rotaryswing.com to get your mat and make more putts.
Thanks for the golf putting tip videos!
Putting Secrets ( Kindle Edition )
The author is Jack Moorehouse. 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 is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.”
In his book “Putting Secrets”, you’ll find help on subjects like putter choice, pre-putt routines, reading greens and more, all presented in extremely simple terms. Jack even reveals the single most critical factor in sinking a putt. Lots of tips and suggestions for establishing practice routines and making the most out of your practice in this concise, 23-page book.
Sign up for Jack’s free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction. How To Break 80
Practice Your Chipping
Practice Your Chipping… improve your golf scores the easy way … and fast.
Here is a quick, under two minutes, video with Bobby Eldridge, head pro at PurePoint Golf, with a method to practice your chipping.
Bobby has just finished playing in a pro-am and his amateur playing partners had skulled their chip shots numerous times. I don`t know if you are plagued with this problem but many amateur golfers have this affliction and it can be quite frustrating.
In the video, Bobby shows us how to take a good chipping set up. He shows us how to get our weight forward in our stance, how to execute the proper take away and what the follow through should look like.
This set up, take away and follow through allows us to hit a crisp chip every time and prevent those dreaded skulls.
I`m sure you will find this method will be very helpful as you practice your chipping.
As usual, Bobby does an excellent job of explaining the problem and the cure.
I hope you enjoy the video and it helps you practice your chipping. As always, I welcome your comments!
Play Smart Golf
Play Smart Golf… Learn To Save Stokes
Playing Smart Saves Strokes
Even players who thrive on crushing the ball know that hitting it long isn’t always the best strategy. Sometimes, they need to hang back and save that muscle for another time. We call it playing smart. Jack Nicklaus was a great example of a player who plays smart. He knew when to take what the situation gives him. That’s one reason why he was one of the world’s best golfers. For weekend golfers, playing smart can save strokes and keep your golf handicap from ballooning.
But playing smart isn’t always the first thing on your mind when in trouble. Many golfers try “miracle shots” to salvage the situation when in trouble. Often, it’s a shot they’ve never hit before. Save miracle shots for when you must try one. The rest of the time, play smart. It may not seem like the best strategy, but it can save you strokes later on. In my golf lessons I emphasize three situations when playing smart works well. Below I describe these situations and provide golf tips on how to play them.
Ball In High Grass
When we say high grass, we mean high grass—the no man’s land of rough. You know the kind—where you could be standing over the ball and not know it. The problem with this rough is that it’s much thicker than regular rough. It’s so thick it can catch your club and turn the hosel before the clubface is even close to the ball. Thus, it may take multiple shots to get out. It’s that thick.
The only remedy for this lie is to take your wedge and attack the ball with a hard descending blow. But first you need to adjust your set up using these golf tips: Use an open stance but close the clubface a bit. Next, take a firm grip, aim just behind the ball, and swing down hard. These adjustments make it easier for the clubface to cut through the grass. Make sure, you also swing through—because if your club gets stuck, the ball will, too.
Ball In Bunker
While a ball buried deep in the sand requires a shot like the one described above, a regular lie in the sand—one where the ball is sitting on top of the sand—needs just the opposite approach. The goal here is to “shave” the ball out, not shovel it. Here, you need to take a smooth controlled swing with an open stance and clubface. Aim to make contact two inches behind the ball. It will fly out softly with minimal sand, saving you strokes and landing the ball close to the pin.
Playing The Punch Shot
The punch shot is a third play smart situation. The object of the punch shot is to keep the ball low, straight, and precise. It makes for a great approach shot in the wind. But it also makes for a great shot to salvage par from the trees. Many players use a longer iron to make this shot, but a hybrid works just as well, as I’ve mentioned in my golf tips newsletter. Here’s how to make a punch shot work for you:
Play the ball just back of the middle of your stance, which takes some loft off your club and enables the ball to fly lower with backspin. Take a three-quarter swing, mostly with your arms, and keep your wrists firm and hands quiet on the downswing. Make a smooth controlled swing, with out decelerating or hurrying through the shot, and keep your follow through short and low. The punch shot is a great weapon to have when in trouble or when playing in a stiff wind.
These three common “play smart” situations are often discussed in golf instruction session and golf articles. There are more not so common play smart shots. Look for them and then store them in your mind so you’ll remember them. In these situations, forget the “miracle shot” you’ve never hit before unless you’ve no other choice. Playing smart helps keep a lid on scores and stops golf handicaps from ballooning.
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.