Knowing how to hit a driver straight is key for improving your game. There are a couple elements to hitting the ball well with this club.

The stance

No matter what secrets you might want to hear about improving your swing, having a sound stance is critical and can’t be overlooked. Many players forget about this pay the price, because you simply can’t ignore the foundation of the swing and expect to hit a good shot.

Make sure you widen your stance to slightly more than shoulder length which will help you achieve better balance throughout the swing. Keeping your stance too narrow will free up the swing but will likewise make you more wobbly because you don’t have a good base and is not the right method for how to hit a driver straight.

Keep the clubhead on plane

At the top of your swing you want to be certain that the clubface is pointed towards the target. The ideal position is having your hands higher than your back shoulder and at the same time having the club angling towards the area you want the ball to go.

Check out just about any tour players’ positions at the top of their swing; while they have different paths of getting there, in just about every case the club is always pointing in the direction they want the ball to travel in.

Remember, hooks and slices are often times the result of the club not being in the same direction as where you are aiming. Implement these tips for how to hit a driver straight and you will achieve accuracy as well as distance.

The ONLY guaranteed way to hit the ball farther…

No discussion on the driver swing would be complete without a tip on gaining distance. To get more distance you will need to do 2 things-increase your shoulder turn and resist with the hips. This is why tour players hit the ball so much farther than most players, because they are stronger and more flexible and therefore can turn farther.

There are many ways to increase your distance but this is the only one that is guaranteed to work for every player. Use these tips for how to hit a driver straight and far and you will see a big improvement in a hurry.

By: Aaron Thomas

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To play golf at a high level, the game is about making birdies and not three three putting. This means you have to make putts. To become a confident putter under pressure, it will take some practice time to work with your stroke. The three drills below are great practice. They will teach you not to move or peek at your putt. These get worse as the heat is turned up on your putting stroke. In addition, you should also work on creating a repeating routine so when a big putt needs to be holed, the focus is on holing the putt. Use these drills and you will see an improvement in your putting and more importantly your pressure putting.

1. KEEP YOUR HEAD STILL
You should hold your head still to keep the putter on path throughout the stroke. There are many ways to do this. You can practice this at home or in a hotel room if your travel. Take your putting stance with your head touching the wall. As you take your stroke you should not be able to feel your head move off of the wall. If you do you have too much motion in your putting stroke. You also can incorporate a friend. While you swing your putter back and through freely have your friend hold your head still. This also provides instant feedback. After the ball is gone, look at the spot where the ball was and slowly count to three and listen for the ball to fall into the putting cup. Although counting to three will seem like an eternity, this is key to become a good putter under pressure.

2. EYES CLOSED
After you line up a short two to three foot putt, simply close your eyes. Closing your eyes will encourage you to really feel the movement of your arms. You will find that the slower your arms move, the more consistent you will putt. In addition, you will become much better at your distance control.

3. STABLE BASE
This drill will help you keep your lower body in place during the putting stroke. First, take your putting stance and then wedge a rubber ball between your knees. You will need to squeeze the ball slightly to create a solid foundation and no to let the ball drop. You will develop the feeling of stability which is a fundamental of a consistent stroke by rolling putts this way.

By: Brad Myers

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Broadly classifying, there are three major categories of golf balls available in the market. To start with, there are one-piece golf balls that are used mainly for practicing purposes and are relatively cheaper. Then you have the two-piece and the three-piece golf balls. What you finally buy will depend on what are your credentials on the golf course and how do you plan to improve.

A two-piece golf ball is made up of a hardened rubber core covered with a plastic layer of surlyn. Almost all the golf balls have dimples on the exterior to aid the ball travel a long distance. Two-piece golf balls will be your ultimate choice if you are a beginner and want your hits to travel distance. However, they lack in good spin. These type of golf balls come in varied levels of hardness which can be felt easily with ones fingers. In order to cater to all kind of golfers, manufacturers normally produce very hard to very soft two-piece golf balls.

Just like the two-piece golf balls, the three-piece versions also have a proportionately larger rubber core. This is however, topped up with a thin layer of plastic followed by the uppermost layer of cover. There is another important variety of three-piece golf ball known as the wound ball available in the market. It contains a liquid center wounded up with the leather thread. The third layer of cover is either made up of balata, hard plastic or synthetic rubber. The three-piece golf ball provides great backspin, however, it is not recommended if you wish to hit long distances. Owing to its high cost, the wound ball is not very popular among the golf players.

Beginners normally prefer the two-piece golf balls as it helps them overcome the initial limitation of not being able to catch up on the distances. Thus, it is important to consider ones strengths and weaknesses before making the final selection of the golf ball.

On the other hand the three-piece golf balls are more popular with the seasoned golfers who look for consistency in their shots after having achieved the ability to hit long distances with ease. If you are starting to learn golf, you should just concentrate on hitting the balls perfectly and in correct direction rather than getting bothered about the spin. Once you have mastered the art of hitting perfectly, you can graduate to learning about spin maneuvers as well.

Almost all kinds of golf balls that find a place on the up-market shelves of prestigious golf stores can be classified into one, two or three-piece golf balls. Once you are aware which one suits you the best, you can go ahead and splurge! Have fun!

By: Abhishek Agarwal

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One of the golf swing basic you must master is to control you slice. Fully more than 70% of golfers hate to slice the golf ball because it is almost impossible to control the direction of the ball. This article will help you to fix your golf slice.

In fact, if you are a right hand golfer your golf ball will most probably curve to the right. To help you cure your “banana ball”. You must first understand your slice. Following are the 3 types of slice you might encounter.

Type 1: The straight slice

Your club is open when applying a bit of spin to the ball. Normally, you ball path will look straight initially and then curve to right. This is known as the straight slice.

Type 2: The Pull Slice

This kind of slide result from which your club facing outside in (clubhead facing slightly to the left). The result of this slice is first the ball will travel to your left and then curve to your right.

Type 3: The Push Slice

The opposite of pull slice which is club facing inside out (club head facing slightly to your right). The ball will first travel to your right and then curve to the right giving you a nice (as intended?) banana curve.

Now, you can judge your slice by looking at your ball path. You should have a better idea why your ball go in those directions. To fix your slice, follow these few tips.

Tip 1: Fix Your Swing

Chance are you have a bad habit of slicing the ball outside in creating a left spin on the ball. When enough left spin applied your ball will curve to the right naturally. To fix this, you have to hit your ball inside out.

Try to drop your right foot to about 10 inch (for right hander) to the back, this will allow you to swing outside in easier. Adopt this swing to your normal stance, you’ll be amazed.

Tip 2: Throw A Bag?

This is a simple yet effective practice. Get something with decent weight, perhaps an impact bag. Swing and drop the bag to the direction you want your ball to land on. Remember to choose something light enough not to hurt your back but heavy enough to control your swing motion.

This practice helps grooves an anti-cut motion. Keep your left arm connected to your chest as you swing back, and maintain that connection until you release the bag to the right of the target line.

Tip 3: Fix your direction

If your swing is straight, ie, not swinging outside in, chances are your clubface it facing the wrong direction. To fix your direction, get a small magnet with the size of a calculator battery and a tee. Glue the magnet to the tee and place the tee onto your clubface.
Place your DIY magneted tee to your clubface with the tee pointing out. Make a few slow-mo swings, and study your clubface to see whether the tee pointing to the direction you intended?

As clubs get longer and as players swing faster, it is quite impossible for beginners not to slice their shots without clear instructions. However, with proper practice and analysis, any golfer can slash his handicaps by 3 to 7 within a short amount of time.

By: Eason Chan

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Most beginner golfers and even professionals loose strokes playing their short game. Unfortunately many golfers find their ball lands in the grassy area surrounding the green or a sand trap, they are then confronted with the tricky shot of pitching the ball onto the green and getting it close to the pin without overshooting the green.

When in the ruff or sand, the golfer is faced with a difficult choice of determining the conditions and choosing the right club for the shot. Pitching onto the green can be done with any club from a 3 wood to a 60 degree pitching wedge. Quite often beginner golfers will choose a seven iron regardless of the conditions, find pitching the ball difficult, and not get very close to the pin. A pitching wedge should be chosen based on the distance the ball needs to travel to the pin, condition of the grass or sand, and wind may be a factor. A lot of this knowledge will come from trial and error as well as regular practice. As a rule of thumb there are 4 basic types of wedges to choose from.

The pitching wedge typically has 45-49 degrees of loft and is used for longer shots. Men will typically hit about 110 yards and women about 90 yards. It’s most often hit from the grass, and has minimal bounce of about 2-5 degrees.

The gap wedge typically has 49-54 degrees of loft and is used for shots of about 100 yards for men, and about 95 yards for women. The bounce is typically 5-12 degrees; getting a little more loft on the ball then the pitching wedge. You should choose a loft that divides the “gap” evenly between your pitching and sand wedges. For example, if you have a 48-degree PW and a 56-degree SW, buy a gap wedge that is 52 degrees. This club is also known as a “dual” or “attack” wedge.

The sand wedge typically has 54-57 degrees of loft and is used for shots of about 90 yards maximum for men, or about 80 yards for women. It also has the most unique club head, with a lot of bounce ranging from 10-16 degrees and another feature called heel-toe camber. Heel toe camber is what gives the sand wedge an oval shape on the bottom of the face. Finally, sand wedges have more sole width (the distance between the leading and trailing edge). All these features are designed to reduce the risk of digging to deeply into the sand. On occasion sand wedges may be used from the grass if the circumstances are right.

The lob wedge typically has 57 or more degrees of loft and is used for shots of about 65 yards maximum for men, and 60 yards for women. These clubs are also referred to “finesse” wedges, and are for “touch” shots around the green that need to get into the air quickly and land softly. The bounce is minimal from 0-10 degrees, because there is usually very little room under the ball, and a tiny error can make the club bounce off the ground causing a bad shot. It has less sole width and a sharp leading edge. One reason many players like this club is because it allows a full, unrestricted swing to cover a short distance, rather than making you shorten your swing. The ball flies short and high.

Practice and choosing the right wedge will improve your short game, allow you to hit more greens in regulation, and will likely result in more pars. Just remember your short game is usually what will make or break your game, so you want to have the right club for the job.

By: Tracy Patton

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