Golf Course and Free Golf Tips

There are two things to key on during your set-up of the three-quarter wedge shot:

1. Play the ball in the center of your stance (being sure to use your body as your reference point and not your feet) or maybe even slightly to the right of center.
2. And the most important part – when you address the ball it’s no problem to have the butt of the club pointing at the center of your body, but as you turn your shoulders and, indeed, your entire upper body, this can be a little tricky if you think of this relationship solely in terms of pointing the butt of the club at the center of your body.

The basic swing path for a three-quarter wedge is the 11-to-1 swing. What we mean by that is that you should picture yourself as a giant clock.

Your head is at 12 o’clock and your feet at 6 o’clock. So the ball and the club are at 6 o’clock as you prepare to play the shot. Read More

This is one shot that you will typically need several times during a typical round. Actually, you need it any time you’re closer than a full wedge, but still have too far to cover for it to be a “feel” shot.

The first thing you need to know about playing a three-quarter wedge is that there is nothing abbreviated about it. It has a clear beginning and end, and if you cut either part short, you’re not going to like the result.

In essence what we’re doing here is pointing out the downside before we tell you how to play the shot. That’s because the greatest number of mis-hits in attempting this shot occur because the player cuts the swing off before it’s finished. Read More

I’ve played the same golf course for over 20 years now and although the course has not changed a bit, my expert eye always seems to experience each day as a set of new challenges.

New players may not have the same connection, but in time you will notice that even the smallest new challenges need to be addressed. Here are a few good tips to keep in mind:

Match Putter Loft To The Speed Of Greens

In general, many professional golfers say that a putter with less loft is more effective on dry, fast greens, while a more lofted putter works best on slow greens. Read More

The next time you get frustrated on the golf course when cold rain moves in, the temperature is freezing, or you are playing on a new course when on vacation, remember – the thrill of the game is in facing a variety of challenges and changes it brings to you.

Check out the following tips that just may come in handy whenever your game gets confronted with unplanned events:

Think Of Shots As Breaking Putts In The Wind

During windy conditions, on every shot you just try to let the wind help your ball toward the hole rather than blowing your shots off line. Read More

For those of you who are lucky enough to travel and play golf at the same time, testing out a variety of courses throughout the year, the following tips will help you make better adjustments from course to course.

Even playing the same golf course throughout the year can still present a variety of changing conditions where even the smallest tip can help keep your score on track and your game in check.

From changing weather conditions to unique styles of course, learning how to be versatile is important to enjoying your game. Read More

Once you are in the sand you want to get your feet set in position to play the shot. You probably already wiggle your feet back and forth to dig in somewhat, and you certainly see the professional golfers do this when on tour.

But when you dig your feet it shouldn’t be an absent-minded process that you do simply because it’s fun to wiggle your feet around in the sand.

What you are actually doing when you dig your feet into the sand is lowering yourself in relation to the ball.

How far down you dig with your feet and how close you stand to the ball are inextricably linked. When you want to play a high shot, you want to stand farther away from the ball and also have feet dug farther down into the sand. Read More

For the purposes of this discussion on the fundamentals of playing from the sand we’ll assume that you have a clean lie.

Of course this is not always the case, which will be covered later, but for the time being, you have a clean lie.

The first thing you do before entering the bunker is determine how far you want the ball to carry when executing the bunker shot. In general, the closer the ball is to the hole, the higher and shorter you want the ball to fly. Read More

The fairway metal off the tee is a smart play; it gives you respectable distance and the extra loft on the face offers a greater level of accuracy than a driver. You can hit more fairways, which is a positive thing.

Once you have decided to hit a fairway metal off the tee, the key is making sure you don’t try to make up the distance that, in the back of your mind, you know you’re losing through not hitting a driver.

That’s an easy mistake to make, but not one made by Jim Furyk.

Furyk’s swing may not be picture perfect, but there is no one better at maintaining good rhythm and playing for position rather than for power.

He believes in his swing, he knows exactly how far he hits the ball with that club, and he never pushes for more distance. That’s why he hits more fairways than probably any other top player in the game.

So, when you’re hitting a fairway metal off the tee, think position, not power. That’s the whole point of the club!

When you start to lose distance on your long drives it’s time to find the problem before these quirks make their way into your short game shots.

Some of the solutions you may find here are quite simple, and may seem too lame for seasoned golfers, but the issue of losing ground that you normally shoot at does not have to be complicated to fix.

Control Your Feet

Check the position of your feet. The issue of lack of distance that you would normally get on your tee-off shots may have to do with limited hip turn, which is the result of the tips of your feet being perpendicular to your target line (a big mistake). Read More

It is not uncommon to start losing distance on your tee shots - it happens to even the best golfers. If the problem is not corrected then the issue can carry over into other shots as well.

So anytime you are in a slump where you find your tee shots consistently falling short by ten or more yards than you normally get to, here are a couple of checkpoints to go over:

Remove The Death Grip

Probably the number one enemy of distance in golf is too much tension on the club. The reason is because everything about a good golf swing that you learn – the springing, winding up and down, the coil action, etc. is all meant to work in harmony to create the perfect swing, but only as long as your body is tension free. Read More