Fix Your Golf Slice Today

Congratulations on your decision to take up the great game of golf. Let me save you endless frustration and expense and encourage you to quit now..while you still have your sanity. Just kidding..just kidding. Since you’re new to golf, there are some basic tips I can provide to you to help make your introduction to the game much more enjoyable, and hopefully keep you coming back to the course for many years to come. Believe it or not, these suggestions are not really swing related. While the swing is one or the most important aspects of golf, for the beginning golfer, there are equally important aspects which help steer you in the right direction for your game.

Get a lesson…or five! – You’ve probably been to the driving range with your friends who are golfers, and that’s how you decided you wanted to get into the sport..correct? That’s a great introduction to the game, however if you want to start learning the basic mechanics of the golf swing, you’ll want to take a lesson from a certified PGA teaching professional. Most decent golf courses and driving ranges will have a PGA teaching professional and they usually have good package deals for beginner golfers, and will often have group lessons for discounted rates. I suggest setting up an individual lesson, where the professional will go over the basics such as grip, stance, posture, and swing mechanics. Don’t fall into the temptation to allow your friends to teach you. While their intentions are good, they will do your golf swing more harm than good. Golf professionals know how to teach a golf swing, that’s why their professionals. Get some lessons and learn properly. I can’t stress this enough.

Stick With the Driving Range – Even after you have a few professional lessons, continue to hone your skills on the range for a while. There’s nothing worse than heading out to the course as a beginner and realizing that you don’t have the necessary skills to get around the course in a reasonable manner. If you stick with the range, and continue to practice what you learned in your lessons, your first trip to a course will be much more enjoyable. When you do decide to venture out on the links, and executive or par 3 course will be your best bet to get comfortable with playing an actual round.

Don’t Buy Clubs Just Yet – I knew you’re probably excited and want to get all the cool golf gear, but let’s wait on that for just a bit. After you get a couple of lessons, and see if you still want to play this cruel game, then you can think about getting your own set of clubs. Online is a great place to get deals on golf equipment, but I don’t necessarily recommend that. Even though you’re a beginner, you should be properly fitted for your first set of clubs. The same place that you took your lessons should also be able to fit you for irons and woods. They will check your swing tendencies and variables and suggest club length, lies and shaft flexes for your particular swing. Being properly fitted will allow you to maximize your swing and equipment’s abilities. Generally the cost for this fitting will be included in the price of the clubs you order. How much you want to spend on your set of clubs is up to your personal budget, but you should be able to get a great starter set in the $300 range for the irons, and a good quality driver for under $100.

Practice, Practice, & Practice – That pretty much says it all. However practice with a purpose! So many new golfers ( and experienced golfers) just bang balls at the range with no goal in mind…this is worthless. You should be working on some aspect of your game whenever you’re out practicing. Pick targets and try to hit them. Work on your balance or tempo or if you’re new, just work on striking the ball consistently. And until you groove your swing..keep the driver in the bag. The worst thing you can do is to hit 100 balls with your driver and neglect your pitching wedge. Spend twice as much time on your short game (putting included) as the rest of your game.

Etiquette & Rules – Take some time to learn the rules of golf…and the etiquette, as this is just as important as being able to hit the ball 300 yards. The game of golf is about honesty, honor and respect, not just hitting a ball around a grassy park. You can get a copy of the official rules at the USGA website. Keep it in your bag and study it so you know the rules for any particular situation you may find yourself in on the course. As for etiquette, these are just common sense issues more than anything. Don’t walk in other peoples putting lines because it can disturb the grass and make putts go offline. Don’t talk when others are hitting. Don’t stand directly behind or in front of a player who’s swinging a club. Always dress appropriately and according to golf course rules. These are just some of the basics but as you play more you’ll learn the in’s & out’s of golf etiquette..and don’t be afraid to ask a seasoned golfer about a rule or an etiquette issue. They’re usually happy to help a beginner learn. I’m not a professional golfer by any means. I’m currently a 5 handicap, and it’s taken a LOT of work to get there. These tips are some of the things I wished I had known back when I started playing the game at the age of 10.

And while these are just some very basic tips for the beginning golfer, they’re aspects which are often overlooked. Golf should be an enjoyable pastime, and learning the proper way will play a large part in how much enjoyment you get from the game. You don’t have to have the game of Tiger to have a great time playing the game. Get out there and have a great time…golf’s a game you can play for the rest of your life.

By: Christian Rogers

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Putting a golf ball can be difficult at the best of times. For many people, when they have problems putting, they try everything under the sun including a various string of new putters. But the main thing they forget to do is to go back to the main, basic fundamentals. Most times they simply need to correct the problem they may not realize they have. Follow along as we give you a few brief golf tips that will help you to putt more consistently.

Putting tips have to be very simple in order to be effective. Over thinking disrupts concentration on the putt and only makes things worse. That’s why it is so important to return to the fundamentals when you can’t seem to putt as well as you did previously. Quite often, when people start to putt badly they develop the yips, the term that applies to the herky-jerky putting motion that creeps in. The main cause of the yips is misalignment. You can correct this by consciously making sure your eyes are directly over top of the ball along the line of the putt. When people end up with misalignment problems it’s usually because their eyes are not dead center over the line of the putt to the hole. Your eyes can be directly over the ball or a little behind it but they should always be dead center in the middle of the golf ball along the line of the putt to the hole.

Here are a couple of putting tips to help you make sure you are lined up over the ball properly. Almost every putter in existence has a straight line painted or etched on the top of the putting blade. Always make sure that line is pointed directly through the ball to the hole. You should be able to tell fairly easily if the line is angled a degree or two off the line through the ball to the hole. But here is an added, unique little tip that will help to make your aim a little better. Mark your ball, pick it up and look for the lettering. Now, when you set the ball back down, align the string of letters so they are aimed directly at the hole. Now when you set back up behind the ball, the line on the top of the putter should aim through the letters in a direct line to the hole. Now instead of guessing, you have some visible markings to help you determine if you are set up properly over the top of the ball with your putter square to the hole. This is a method used by many of the top professionals on the tour today.

Putting strokes can come and go even for the best of professionals. Sometimes our eyes can play tricks at us when we think we are set up properly over the ball. Whenever you have problems on the putting greens, it always good to resort to do the basic fundamentals. Get back to the basics and you will soon be dropping them into the cup again in no time.

By: Lee MacRae

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The short game has always been considered a big key to lowering your handicap. If you can putt well then this can really improve your game and lower your scores. If you saved one putt on every 3 holes then you would lower your score by 6 shots – imagine your score after that.

One key to putting is to be in total control of the shot. It is essential to keep your body really still whilst taking the shot. So, once you have assessed the lie and the speed of the green and you are ready to take your shot, think of a few key points to keep yourself in control of the putt:

Smoothness: make sure you hit the ball smoothly, don’t jerk the shot and make sure you follow through on the ball, don’t snap or tap at it. Pendulum Effect: Think of your arms as pendulums on a clock in the way that they swing in a fixed plane parallel to your body. Keep your body really still and keep your arms fixed as they swing through. Deep Breath: Try taking a deep breath in and out before you take the shot, this can help keep your body still and controlled when hitting the shot. Visualize: imagine being in complete control of the shot and sending it straight into the hole. Control Long Putts: If you have a really long put then be sure to control the ball so that you aim to get it within say a 2 foot imaginary circle around the hole.

Keeping in control of the shot is the key to a smooth and accurate putt, mentally and physically.

By: Marian Lishman

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A common putting flaw I see in my golf lessons is excessive wrist action. Increased wrists leads to a loss of control of the putterhead before impact and an abundance of missed putts. With greens in better condition these days, the need for precision in putting has grown. In other words, you must overcome this putting flaw to achieve a lower golf handicap. Enter the long putters.

Long putters curb wrist action by anchoring the putter to a fixed point–your stomach or your sternum. While I prefer a regular putter to a long one. I encourage players who take my golf lessons to use whichever putter works for them. I also encourage them to learn the proper technique using a long putter, which I described in my golf tips.

Three broad categories of putters exist: regular, long, and extra long. Regular (or the standard length) putters measure 33 to 36 inches long. Long putters (or mid-length) putters measure 38 to 45 inches. And extra-long putters measure from 46 to 52 inches or so. Most long putters have split grips. Try several types before choosing one.

Once you’ve selected a putter, you need to learn how to hit it. Below are some golf tips on hitting long and extra-long putters.

Extra Long Putter

The extra long putter takes wrist action almost completely out of play, replacing it with a fixed center (sternum) around which your putterhead moves. With the extra long putter you need to think pendulum. The sweeping pendulum-like stroke needed with an extra long putter is more consistent than the stroke required for a regular length putter. Plus, the club is easier on the back than a regular length putter. However, the extra long putter does have a weakness–lack of distance control.

To use the long putter, place your top hand at the top of the putter’s grip and place the grip against your sternum. You can grip the club with the other hand as you normally would. Or, you can try another grip. Some players hold the shaft like a pencil. Others hold the shaft between the curled index finger and middle fingers of the right hand. Either way works as long as the top of the shaft ends at about the height of the logo on your shirt when you’re in a slightly upright putting stance and the putter’s sole is resting on the ground.

You have two ways to applying force with a long putter–bending and straightening of the right arm or rocking motion your shoulders. Some players prefer to bend and straighten their right arms (for right-handers). Others prefer to rock their shoulders back and forth. Whichever method you choose, it’s essential keep the upper body still so it can act as the fulcrum around which the pendulum- like swing moves.

Mid-Length Putter

Mid-length putters are 10 to 12 inches longer than a regular putter and have either an extended grip or a split one. With this type of putter having the right length club is critical. The putter should extend to about three inches beyond your belly button when you’re standing in the upright position. Your height and body shape will determine the exact length for you.

Using a mid-length putter is a lot like using a regular putter except, of course, for anchoring the putter to your mid-section–which provides the foundation for your swing. The anchored shaft stabilizes the club around the hinge point, taking the wrist out of play. You’re options for putting the ball are the same as with the long putter. User either your right arm to pull and push the club or your shoulders to provide a smooth, rhythmic swing.

Both the long putter and the extra-long putter are viable alternatives to a regular length putter. Both minimize wrist action when hit properly and both need a stable anchor point to be effective. Both they also require you to learn a new a putting technique to hit them properly. But learning a new putting technique is only the first step in using these putters. You still need to practice with them every chance you get, if you want to lower your golf handicap.

By: Jack Moorehouse

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Bogey Score

A bogey is the kind of score that professional golfers get all the time. It’s a normal thing for them to get a bogey. Recreational golfers consequentially are pleased with a bogey score. These are golfers who don’t ask themselves “how to fix golf slice” because they have already rectified their swing, enabling them to get a bogey score. The term bogey is one of the most recognized golf terms in golf clubs all over the world, but it isn’t fitting to limit it to one swing over par. Two strokes and even three strokes in that par can reproduce a bogey as well. Two strokes in that par is called a double bogey and a further three strokes is referred to as a triple bogey. So a golf bogey above par isn’t really a bad thing, again depending on what level you are, it will either be a stable benefit or stand for a disadvantage to your golf handicap. And if you want to know your golf handicap, well this can be done by using and online golf handicap calculator.

Bogey Golf?

So now let move away for one minute from and lets find out what is “bogey golf”. Here are a few golf tips to help you out. First for the new golf players, their first goal should be to “break 100″. Now if you want to break 100, you have to make sure you have a fix golf slice, one that is almost a full circle from start to finish. But what does it mean to break 100? What this means is that you shoot a score of 99 or beneath. Once a golfer can engage and do this on a regular basis, the next step would factor in to play bogey golf. That means that a player recurrently shoots between 90 on a par 72 course. That also means that they develop an average score of a bogey on every hole of the course. But basically, the aim of golf is to shoot as few shoots as possibly as they play the course. Other players are gaining better golf swings and fixing their slices, better balance and golf grips, and because of that, you don’t want to be ignored and left behind in the pack. Investing in your golf game would be a wise decision because it would reward you in a repeated cycle of growth in your golfing. It could be playing on a more regular basis or getting more lessons, either way, it will further improvement to your golf game.

Golf Bogey

A lot of people look for golf tips to explain what a golf bogey is. Well, basically, from your everyday, non-complicated golf lessons, it refers to the level of capability that a golfer has in the sport of golf. And if that golfer has a fix golf slice, then it would be highly likely that their ability to score a bogey would be really high, and so, quite simple for them to do. Other alike terms that are used in the golf game are; golf birdie bogey and golf bogey score (as mentioned above). So, when you are on the golf course, or even if you love golf games such as online golf games, a bogey actually is when the player comes into a single point above par. For example, if a player is playing par -3 hole, thereupon a score of 4 would be considered a bogey. A score of 5 would not be considered as one. There is no authorized phrase for 2 or 3 or more above par. However, they are sometimes referred to double and also triple bogeys. Sometimes, golfers will also use the term buzzard to explain a double bogey. This should be a nice and simple definition of what the term “bogey” means in golf.

By: Gerald Mugo

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