Five Tips To Improve Your Golf Game

Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Game

So you don't just want to play golf. You want to play great golf. Problem is you are not as fit or as flexible as Tiger Woods and your golf swing technique is far from "Tiger-sensational." It definitely needs some working on.

The good news is you picked the right place to learn how to improve as a golfer. While there is no super-secret technique to lowering your handicap and improving your swing, the years have taught us that there are a few things you can do that, when done correctly, will contribute to better golfing for you.

Here are five tips to help you increase your abilities and skills as a golfer:



Tip #1: For Maximum Speed, It's All in the Wrists

This is a little known fact in golf. Most players erroneously think it's any of the following:

Shoulders

Arms/elbows

Knees/legs

Feet

Back/hips

Torso

Of course, you can't really blame them for thinking this. After all, when you address the ball at swing, most of the movement before the downswing is done by the shoulders. But then, think about the point when the club reaches the downswing where the club is level with the ground.

Compare the position of your shoulders at downswing and the position of your shoulders after the ball has been hit and the club is parallel with the ground again. How far has it moved?

Most golfers would display an average of 45 degrees angle between the first position and the second position. Now, compare that with how far the club has moved at over 180 degrees. That's less than half the distance the club has traveled.

If the shoulders were the parts responsible for contributing maximum speed to your swing, how come they display only little movement at downswing? What makes up for the other half of 180 degrees?

The answer, of course, is the wrists. The hands or the wrists are the ones that contribute the most when it comes to generating maximum club head speed. The shoulders and arms can only move through less than 50 degrees while the club head can move through 180 degrees. All of the rest of the movement, therefore, could be traced back to the wrists.

This is not to say, however, that your swings should rely on the strength of your wrists from now on. Always remember that golf is about going with the flow of your body's movement. It's all connected so when you go for the downswing, the movement of your shoulders will initiate movement of your arms, then hands, then finally, wrists.



Tip #2: Fitness Exercises for Motor Control

Control comes into sharp play when you are aiming for short golf shots or those made from 100 yards in. In addition to motor skill control and muscle coordination, the short game also calls for muscular strength in the hands, forearms, and wrists.

The key, therefore, is to improve motor control and develop muscle strength. By doing so, you increase your endurance for these short games, have the ability to set your hands where they need to be and hold the club face in the correct position.

But muscle strength and motor control are two related but distinct aspects of improving your short game. While muscle strength is all about increasing your endurance, motor control is the culmination of the interaction between your brain, nerves, and muscles.

Therefore, you need a type of golf fitness exercise that addresses both of these and develops not only your physical strength but also your ability to coordinate your brain functions with movement of your arms, hands, and wrists.

The answer is in the form of balance exercises. These are a type of golf fitness exercises that incorporate your brain, nerves, and muscles. Besides creating higher levels of muscular strength and endurance, these exercises also assist in motor control.



Tip #3: Shave Strokes off your Golf Game

What golfer doesn't want to shave more strokes off their game? Unless you are an ace player who likes to shame everyone with your hole-in-one game play every time you're in the course, shaving strokes off your game is your aim.

How is it done? Is it even doable?

Of course, it is doable! In fact, the fastest way to do it is also the easiest way - correcting your golf slice.

Many golfers remain frustrated even after years of playing golf. They don't understand what they're doing wrong nor why they can't improve their game even after so much practice in and out the course.

Well, it's no wonder they're not improving. It's because they've been slicing the ball all this time. No matter how much practice you've been doing, if what you've been practicing is wrong, then chances are you're going to keep on doing things the wrong way and never see a single improvement.

Whereas, if you correct that golf slice right now it won't take long for you to see some improvement with your scores.

It starts with adopting the proper golf stance. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and shoulders aligned. Then, adjust your hands for a proper golf club grip - hold the club with your left hand, your thumb along the shaft, right hand wrapped over left hand, and left thumb resting against right palm.

Even minor adjustments in either your golf stance or golf club grip could affect your golf slice in a very major way. So try practicing with the proper stance and proper grip and make small adjustments as you go along. Until you get the desired result, don't stop.



Tip #4: Focus and Pitching from Bad Lies

It's a fact in golf that every player could end up in a bad lie. It just happens. Like the way a good shot sometimes lands in the pivot. So if you can't avoid it, the question therefore is how to overcome it once you're in that position.

Pitching from bad lies requires focus. If you are focused on your game and your target, pitching from a divot or bare ground is not as tricky as it seems. All you need is a good selection of golf clubs and a few adjustments.

Here are 5 absolute must-dos when you are pitching from a bad lie:


Use a club that has a sharp leading edge - Most players would use a sand wedge because, well, it makes sense. However, if you want to increase your chances of striking the ball solidly, you need pitching wedge or a 9 iron which has a sharper leading edge than a regular sand wedge.

Position the ball in the middle or the back of stance - Centering your weight over the ball is critical to pitching from a bad lie.

As you flex your right knee and your upper body coils over, shift your weight slightly backward. This is the perfect position to hit the ball with a strong descending blow from its back to drive it forward with more brute force, which is necessary to get back on the fairway.

Keep your hands ahead of the ball - Be sure to keep your left hand firm. Upon impact, most of your weight should be transferred to your front foot while your head remains centered over the ball.

Set wrists slightly earlier - The only difference between the downswing in hitting a pitch shot from a clean fairway and from a bad lie is the wrists. Earlier in the takeaway, set your wrists earlier than normal, allowing your hands to adjust to the force.

On downswing, take a steeper attack angle - This is probably the only shot in golf where brute force is an asset.

You don't need to change your swing when you pitch from a bad lie. All you need to do is put more muscle into it, but not too much because your main goal here is to get out of the grass and into the fairway, not to end up in the rough again.



Tip #5: It's all Mental and Drive

"Drive for show, putt for dough." That adage is old news. In his book Shark Attack, Greg Norman, says: "Don't ever sell me on that line. If you can't put your tee-shot in play, the smoothest stroke in the world won't help you enough. To my mind, the most important shot in golf is the drive."

Mr. Norman is not alone in this. Many are saying that the drive is one of the most important strokes in golf, especially for amateurs. Rather than spend all your time on short strokes getting to the green, you can seize the advantage early on by focusing on the drive and getting off the tee safely with some distance.

Problem is, not many golfers can hit good with a driver. So other than taking another set of golf lessons, what can you do about it?

Well, to start off, get a new driver. With today's technology, drivers are light years ahead of the #1 wood just three years ago. After that, it's all mental.

The key is to direct your mind so that your brain falls in sync and harmony with your muscles. First, focus on your desire to hit that little white golf ball. Then think about how you want to translate that desire into the correct contractions of the muscles, timed and sequenced in such a way so that the driving club will move in the direction of the ball, nit it squarely and with great force.

It's not as complicated as it sounds. Remember when you rode a bike? Did you have to tell your legs to paddle even as your arms are occupied with the handle bars? Of course not!

With golf, it's pretty much the same thing. Your subconscious mind is the key to your drive. If you have made a successful drive before, then your subconscious mind knows the proper formula - nerve impulses, sequence of muscle contractions, etc. - in order to do it again. All that you need to do then is to keep your conscious mind from distracting your subconscious by keeping focus on the game.



There are many ways to effectively improve your golf game. With time and lots of practice doing the right thing, you will see a dramatic improvement off the tee.