Beginners Golf Swing Blog

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Do you struggle hitting your driver? Some of you tee the golf ball low, thinking that you will be able to drive the golf ball through the air at a different trajectory. And those of you that tee it high think that that will make it soar through the air.

You thought that when you went out and purchased that 8- degree titanium boron shaft with a super-duper new grip, that it was going to drive down the middle of every fairway. Or maybe you purchased the newest golf training aid and you think youll be more consistent overnight. I dont think so.

Now here are the golf tips for driving better. The lower you tee a golf ball, the more your chance will be that you slice the ball to the right. The higher you tee the golf ball, the more your chance will be for you to hook the golf ball to the left.

If you’re hooking the golf ball, tee it down a little lower. If you’re slicing the golf ball, tee it up a little higher. And heres why.

When the golf ball sits on the ground and its a little lower than it should be, the golf club has to come in on a steep angle and that will cause it to slice. On the other hand, if you tee it up a little higher, it will come in and enable the club face to close a little quicker.

Now, heres the golf training aid on what to do on the first few holes.

My driver has 8 degrees of loft. That means the face is very flat. If I happen to have the club face a little too open or a little too closed at impact, the flight of the ball will either go to the far right or to the far left.

Therefore, I decided to use my great little 3 wood, and no matter what I do, I might miss it, but it wont curve as much as if I used my driver.

So, I hit the golf ball with my 3 wood and guess what. It went into the rough, but not as far into the rough because I went with a more lofted golf club for the first few holes.

So, the next time you go play, remember this golf training aid for hitting your driver. You dont have to pull the driver out every time you get on the tee box. Maybe you dont use your driver for the first two or three holes until you get a little warmed up, but in the meantime, take your favorite lofted wood and give it a whack.

Copyright 2006 David Nevogt

By: David Nevogt

About the Author:

One of the problems most golfers have is slicing the golf ball. It causes great frustration and some struggle for years hoping to improve this problem. There are many tips and tricks to eliminate the problem, it’s up to you to identify which areas of your game, grip or stance needs work.

Proper Grip

Start by moving your hands until they are in proper golf grip position. Take the club in your left hand and place your thumb on the shaft. If the line between your thumb and your index finger is pointing towards your right eye then it’s placed correctly. Now you have to wrap your right hand over the left hand and place your left thumb on the palm of your right hand.

Avoid gripping the golf club too tightly if you are right handed, it could cause the ball to hook towards the left. But you could cause the ball to slice towards the right if your grip is too weak; therefore you have to practice having a neutral grip when holding your golf club.

Proper Stance

Ensure that your shoulders are aligned with the ball. You are allowed to adjust stance to feel comfortable, but stance does play quite a big role when it comes to eliminating golf slice. Pay close attention to how you stand and address the ball – if you are doing everything else right but still slice the ball, you might want to practice your stance in the mirror and see if you find any areas to improve.

Tips to Avoid Golf Slice

As mentioned previously as well, the easiest to fix is your grip. Don’t tighten up when you get nervous, relax and keep the grip as neutral as you can.

If nothing you try seems to work – experiment with a stronger grip bit by bit. This won’t work for everyone and it should be something you try when nothing else seems to work for you.

During the downswing, your left hip will be leading and during the early downswing it will be your right shoulder that lowers and your right elbow should return to your side. A slice will be produced if your elbow is flying or flapping in the breeze, you must avoid this.

Proper position means your right arm will be closer to your torso than your left, your shoulders will be in line with the target line and your right shoulder will be lower than the left.

Avoid turning your hips too much, limit the movement. If you have too much movement the club will go too far inside and loop over the top.

Move into your forward swing with a leg thrust to the left.

By: Mike A Murray

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Do you make this mistake and cost yourself 15 yards off the tee?

In an effort to hit the golf ball harder to pick up a few more yards on your drive, do you grip the club really hard on the downswing, thinking that if you could just put a little more power into the shot you could launch a bomb? Only when you get out to your ball you find that it is actually shorter then your normal drive? (that is, IF you can even find your drive?)

Extra Grip Pressure Kills Swing Speed

Your extra grip pressure may be costing you 15 yards or more off the tee – particularly if you squeeze with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand.

The “secret” to driving the golf ball as far as you can is to increase your clubhead speed. For every 1 mph increase in clubhead speed you add about 2.5 yards of distance to your drives.

Anything you can do to speed up your clubhead speed will improve your distance.

Conversely, everything you do that slows down your clubhead speed will cost you distance.

To Swing Faster, Allow the Forearms to Rotate Through Impact

Maximizing your clubhead speed at impact involves allowing the forearms to rotate through the impact zone. Your right forearm should cross over your left forearm after contact with the golf ball.

Physiology May be Working Against You

You may be making a physiological mistake that is robbing you of forearm rotation, and therefore robbing you of distance!

If you have your right thumb on top of the shaft – what I call a 12:00 position – it is a quite normal reaction during the downswing to push with the thumb and squeeze with the right forefinger to control the club.

The Right Thumb at 12:00 Prevents Forearm Rotation

The problem is that using the thumb and forefinger activates a set of muscles on top of the forearm that prevent rotation, thus slowing down club head speed!

One of my students has taught woodshop for 30 years. When we discussed grip and the right thumb position, he related it to the way students are taught to hold a hammer. For precise nailing in fine woodworking the thumb is placed on the top of the hammer handle. He had always thought that lining the thumb up at 12:00 was more accurate because of the alignment. He had never considered that placing the thumb along the top of the handle activated muscles that worked to limit forearm rotation!

Bing!

You could see the light bulb go on.

His forearms were not rotating through the impact area in his golf swing because his thumb position was activating the forearm muscles that prevent forearm rotation.

Move the Right Thumb from 12:00 to 10:00

When we moved his thumb to a 10:00 position the results were immediate. His distance and his accuracy improved dramatically.

But there was more.

Through long habit with his thumb on top of the grip he had learned to squeeze with the right hand thumb and forefinger on the downswing. We used the “finger-wrap” drill to finally get him to stop squeezing.

Finger-Wrap Drill to Eliminate Grip Squeeze

To use the finger wrap drill, take your normal grip and address the ball. Without changing your hand position on the grip take your right forefinger from underneath the grip and wrap it around the top of the grip. Leave your right thumb in position on the grip (forefinger will rest on top of the thumb). The grip will now be between your right forefinger and middle finger.

Make your normal swing. It looks and feels awkward, but the results may surprise you.

Relaxed Thumb and Forefinger Adds 15 Yards

Pay attention to the way your grip pressure feels, particularly through the impact zone. Keep the pressure from your thumb and forefingers light. The finger-wrap drill is an easy way to learn how to keep from squeezing with the wrong muscles that slow down swing speed. Your golf ball will fly straighter and your drives will be longer. I’ve had students pick up 5-6 mph in swing speed and 12-15 yards immediately without any other changes to their golf swing, and the answer was right at their fingers!

By: Eric M Jones

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Getting a good score in golf partly depends on several factors. One of them is the golf ball. Unfortunately, except for private games, you normally cannot control what ball you use. Two factors which you can control are your golf club and your swing. If you know how to choose the right club for the right situation and know how to use that club well enough, then it becomes easier to do well. The following is a list of 9 questions and answers to help a new golfer choose the correct club:

1) What are the correct golf clubs I need for a game?

Firstly, you are allowed up to 14 golf clubs. For their full set of golf clubs, many players choose a driver (1-wood), two fairway woods (generally 3- and 5-woods), a set of irons from 3 to 9, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, a putter, and one more club of the player’s choice. A common variation is to replace the 3- and 4- irons with modern easier-to-hit modern “hybrid” clubs.

2) The hole is nearby. What is the correct golf club to use?

The putter. This club is specially designed to keep the ball on the ground and rolling on the grass after you hit it.

3) What do I use for my first shot?

You use the driver, also known as the 1-wood. This is your longest-ranged club. Normally, this will be only time you use this club. Modern 1-woods are designed to hit off the tee, and difficult for beginners to use elsewhere. They have the longest shaft and the biggest head.

4) My ball keeps on hitting the hills. What is wrong?

Generally, this means the number of your club is too low. A club with a higher number is designed to hit your ball higher into the air. The downside is that you trade distance for height.

5) I swing my woods the same way, but I cannot get a consistent distance. Sometimes the ball goes farther, sometimes nearer. What should I do?

Try a wood with a stiffer shaft. A stiffer shaft gives you more consistent distance, but reduces your maximum distance. This is probably your best choice if you are a weekend golfer without very much practice time.

6) Oops! My ball is in the sand trap…

Sigh… Step 1) Pray. Step 2) Grab your sand wedge.

7) There are so many irons. How do I know which one to use?

For a beginner, let me suggest the 1-Iron Golf System. Firstly, all the irons in your set of golf clubs have the same length, so you only need to learn one swing and one ball position. With a normal set of irons, you may need to learn up to 10 different swings and 10 different ball positions. While a pro may lose out in flexibility, a weekend player gains in simplicity and consistent performance.

Generally speaking, you use the high-numbered irons for more height, more control and less distance. You reserve the low-numbered irons when you need more distance, but not the height. Typically, the rougher the terrain, the higher the iron.

I’m in the rough. What is the correct golf club?

Normally, you would use the irons. They are designed to punch or cut through the grass and hit the golf ball. The heads of your woods, in contrast, are designed to skim on top of the grass.

9) I am facing a hole with a hazard right in front of the green. Which club do I use?

This is one reason why even beginners should try to develop a swing which delivers the ball a consistent distance. With just the right hybrid club, you can hit a shot to carry the full distance to the green in the air, but then “stick” on the green relatively close to its impact point. This is due to the design of many hybrid clubs, which prevents the ball from rolling very far at the end of the shot.

By: Godfrey Swain

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A proper golf swing starts with the correct grip. While gripping
the club properly seems simple enough, an improper grip is quite
common.

And without the proper grip, even though the rest of your
golf swing may be solid, your shots and consistency will suffer.
So how do you make sure your grip is correct?

Everything starts with the grip, and the grip starts with proper
placement of the left hand on the club. The left hand is the
first point of contact between you the golfer and the club.

The
correct grip with the left hand is what allows the proper hinge
of the wrists that positions the club to swing freely through
the ball.

A big problem for a lot of golfers is that the grip can look
right from the outside, when the hand is on the club. But you need
to take a closer look and see what’s underneath.

Many golfers have the shaft of the club running high on the palm of
the left hand. This inhibits your wrist hinge, which can cause you
both distance on your golf shots, as well as accuracy.

The shaft of the club should run diagonally across your hand from
the base of your little finger to the middle of your index finger.

While this is still primarily a palm grip, you’ll feel the grip
a lot more in your fingers than when the club was running higher
up on your palm.

This adjustment in your golf grip will allow you more flexibility
in your left wrist, allowing for a greater range of motion in your
hinge that is necessary to generate clubhead speed through the impact
of the ball.

If you’re looking to improve your golf swing, start by taking a look
at how your gripping the club with your left hand. A proper golf swing
starts with your grip.

By: Tim Hathaway

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