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The post This move is a major power-booster used by the pros appeared first on Golf.

Just like snowflakes (which are in the forecast for many of us this winter), every golf swing is unique. No two swings are exactly alike, and everyone has their own flair that makes their move unique.

That individuality doesn’t mean there aren’t some similarities, though. While each swing is unique, there are still some commonalities that are shared — especially among elite players.

Take the transition feeling explained in the video below, for example. At the beginning of the compilation, Bryson DeChambeau — one of the longest players in the modern game — explains that he feels like he’s “pulling” his lead arm down to start the transition.

“It comes from the lats,” DeChambeau says. “I’m pulling the club down as hard as I possibly can. I pull up and I pull down, and then I go back and away. And that’s what I’ve done to create speed.”

Sergio Garcia shares a similar feel in the next part of the video, while we can see Rory McIlroy ingraining the same feeling in the following clip. If you were to look at each of these players’ swings as a whole, you would not think their moves are very similar. However, when you look a bit closer — such as the move they use in transition — you can see the similarities. Heck, even Sam Snead cited a similar “pull down” feeling to create power way back in the 1960s.

What does this tell us? Well, it shows that the “pull down” feeling is one that is shared by many of the games great ball strikers — and that the move has been used for several generations.

If you’re looking for a little extra oomph off the tee, it might be worth trying the feeling in your own swing.

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The post This is something ‘99% of amateurs’ get wrong. Here’s how to fix it appeared first on Golf.

The post This is something ‘99% of amateurs’ get wrong. Here’s how to fix it appeared first on Golf.

One of the most common pieces of advice for those looking to add speed is a simple one: just swing harder. Literally just get on the range and swing out of your shoes, giving little thought to where the ball goes. It’s a method of speed training that teaches your body how to swing hard and gets you used to moving fast.

Simple, right?

Well, as anyone who’s speed trained will tell you, it isn’t always so easy. Despite putting in max effort on each and every swing, it doesn’t always produce results. That’s because effort isn’t the only thing that matters in the swing — efficiency is important, too.

That’s where getting your swing synced up comes in. If you can properly sequence your legs, torso and arms, you’ll produce maximum efficiency — and with it, maximum clubhead speed. The trouble is, most golfers have zero idea how to sync up these vital components.

“We want to make sure that everything is moving [together],” says two-time major winner Padraig Harrington. “That we have the right amount of torso and the right amount of arms.”

Many golfers have no idea what that looks and feels like, though. When they try to really go after the ball, they’ll swing their arms too far back without enough shoulder turn, which causes an ineffective out-of-sync move.

To fix this, feel like you’re making a huge shoulder turn while making a shorter arm swing. It will produce a more compact swing that is more in sync, and one that generates much more power.

“The feeling of a shorter arm swing both back and through will lead to a better relationship with your body,” Harrington says. “And your body will actually turn more to compensate for the short arm swing.”

When you focus on this short-arm swing and full-body turn, it helps create the proper sequencing your swing needs — and with it maximal efficiency.

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The post The 3 biggest keys for hitting a fairway when you absolutely have to appeared first on Golf.

The post The 3 biggest keys for hitting a fairway when you absolutely have to appeared first on Golf.

Golf is a game of managing pressure. Those who have the most success in this game are the ones that can keep their head when the stakes get highest. Although hitting the shots is important, managing the mental game is paramount.

Pressure comes into play on all sorts of shots. There’s seldom a shot that doesn’t come with a little bit of anxiety, but those that produce the most typically come at the end of the round when the stakes reach their peak.

Hitting the fairway on the final hole with the tournament on the line is a safe bet for one of the most pressure-packed shots in golf. Getting your ball safely on the short grass is the first step to making birdie on your final hole. Fail in that endeavor and you’ll be scrambling to save your score.

Luckily, you can lean on a few keys to hit the fairways when under pressure. GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kevin Sprecher shared three of them with us at the recently.

1. Visualize success

As noted above, golf is first and foremost a mental game. You must rid your mind of bad thoughts if you want to execute at the highest level. And that’s especially true standing on the tee box with your match.

“You must stand on the tee box and visualize the shot you want to hit,” Sprecher says. “If you can’t picture yourself having success, it’ll be hard to produce it.”

2. Nail the setup

Pressure can make us do funny things. Mistakes that we’d never make under normal circumstances become all too common when the heat gets turned up. With that in mind, it’s crucial that you can lean on your fundamentals, namely your setup.

“Make sure you set up correctly for the shot you want to hit,” Sprecher says. “You can’t hit a good shot if you have a bad setup.”

3. Choose the right club

If missing the fairway isn’t an option, you’ve got to choose a club you’re confident with. That might not necessarily be the driver, although Sprecher recommends you hit the big stick if at all possible.

“I would recommend hitting driver, because with the size of the head, they’re actually pretty forgiving,” he says. “Learn to hit the punch cut shot that you see Tour players hit. If you can execute that, I think it’s much more effective than going full bore with a three wood because with the biggest face, the driver is much more forgiving.”

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The post The 2 best things you can work on in your golf game from home this winter appeared first on Golf.

The post The 2 best things you can work on in your golf game from home this winter appeared first on Golf.

With cold temperatures in the forecast and handicap posting closed in much of the country, golf season is officially coming to an end. All that’s left to do now is put the clubs in storage and wait for spring.

Or is it?

Winter might mean the end of the traditional golf season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your golf game has to suffer. In fact, with the right practice strategy, you can improve your game during the winter months all without leaving the comfort of your home.

There are a variety of things you can do to keep your game sharp as you wait for spring. From mobility training to hitting balls on a simulator, there’s plenty you can accomplish this offseason when it comes to your golf game. All you need to do is focus on the right things.

Putting

In an ideal world, every golf nut would have a simulator in their home. Unfortunately, very few of us actually have that luxury, so making full swings is not always an option.

Luckily, there is a way to work on your short game at home, and it comes in the form of using a putting mat to dial in your stroke.

“The Perfect Putting Mat is the best,” says GOLF Top 100 Teacher Scott Munroe. “When you look down, you see the lines and your eyes match your elbows and your shoulders and you’re able to calibrate your stroke over and over again. That’s one of the best things you can do. It’s all about repetition and consistency.”

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Ball position

Fundamentals might not be the most exciting things to practice, but if you can nail them, it makes gaining consistency a heck of a lot easier. One of the most important fundamentals is ball position, and it’s something you can easily work on in front of the mirror at home.

“Getting in front of the mirror lets you actually see where your ball position is,” Munroe says. “Sometimes students will say, ‘Oh yeah, that feels like it’s in the middle.’ And then they get in front of a mirror and it’s actually in the front or back of their stance. So getting in front of the mirror and looking at their ball position helps them see and feel where the ball actually is.”

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Even if you can’t get outside and hit balls, it’ll be helpful to get in front of a mirror and work on your ball position. By the time spring comes, you’ll have an even better understanding of where everything lines up in your swing.

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The post The 1 mental mistake recreational golfers make way too often appeared first on Golf.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Golf is an inherently mental game. While the physical intricacies of the sport may be a challenge, there is no greater feat than conquering the mental game. As Bobby Jones once famously said, “Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course — the distance between your ears.”

Sometimes, controlling the emotions that happen on the five-inch course between your ears is harder than controlling your shots on the course. When things start going sideways with your game, keeping your head in the game can be a real challenge.

Making bad swings is forgivable — even the pros make bad swings from time to time — but making bad decisions may be the easiest way to cut strokes off your score. Especially when it comes to playing shots that are outside their capabilities.

“I always see amateurs try to hit shots they haven’t practiced,” Kevin Sprecher said at the GOLF Top 100 Teacher Retreat. “They’re going and trying to execute a shot they’re not confident in. And that usually leads to failure when it comes to trying to execute something you don’t really know how to do.”

It might be fun to try to hit the shots the pros play, but more often than not, it’ll end in disaster for the average joes. Instead, play within yourself and only hit shots that you’ve practiced before.

“Stick to the things you practice,” Sprecher says. “Even if it means using a little less club and knocking it up short of the green and then chipping on — don’t try to hit the hero shot.”

As long as you can keep big numbers off the card, your scores should be okay. And a great place to start in that endeavor is by avoiding hero shots.

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The post How to choose the correct tee box for your ability, according to a top instructor appeared first on Golf.

The post How to choose the correct tee box for your ability, according to a top instructor appeared first on Golf.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Golf is a beautiful game because it can be played alongside players of all different abilities. Experts and novices can share a group in any given round without much impact on enjoyment. That’s not always the case with other sports.

One of the reasons this is possible is that courses offer a variety of tee boxes. Typically, the higher your skill level, the further back you will play. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but more often than not, that’s the way it shakes out.

The key to enjoying the game to the fullest, however, is selecting the correct tee box. Tee off too far back and it can make for a long day.

Many times, though, golfers have no idea where they should actually play from. And much of that comes from over-estimating their abilities.

“Golfers just need to be more realistic,” instructor Stefanie Shaw said at the GOLF Top 100 Teachers Retreat. “I can’t tell you how many times I have golfers tell me they hit their driver 230 yards and then they’ll get set up on a launch monitor and only hit it 160. You have to be realistic about your distances.”

Simply put: Don’t overestimate your abilities. You might have the capability to hit the ball 230, but that doesn’t mean you do it on a consistent basis. If you find yourself hitting many long irons and hybrids into greens, don’t be afraid to move up a tee box.

“Moving up will make you a better golfer, too,” Shaw says. “When you don’t have to hit long clubs into every green, you’ll score better. Plus it’ll help you enjoy the game more.”

Swallowing your pride might not be easy, but when you do, you’ll find yourself enjoying the game more than you ever have before.

Stefanie Shaw is the director of instruction at Ocean Reef Golf Club in Key Largo, Fla. For more tips from Shaw, click here.

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The post Pro explains why using a line on your golf ball isn’t always ideal when putting appeared first on Golf.

The post Pro explains why using a line on your golf ball isn’t always ideal when putting appeared first on Golf.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to aligning your golf ball on the greens. One is to use a line on your ball. The other is to go at it without the line.

Now, there are benefits to either. For example, with a line, you can point the ball directly at your line, giving you a clear target on the greens. But without a line, you become more in tune with your feel.

“Anytime I use the line, I struggle with my speed,” Rory McIlroy said several years ago. “I’m so into what I’m doing here, that I lose connection with the target. So there are two different trains of thought.”

If you’re more of a feel player, going without a line might be your best bet. However, if you want to see if your ball is rolling end over end or not, using a line is the better option … or so we thought.

Michael Kim has become one of the best follows in professional golf of late, and he recently shared his thoughts on the line vs. no line debate. And according to the PGA Tour pro, using the line on your ball to see how it’s rolling isn’t as beneficial as you might think.

“That’s not the best way to do it,” he wrote. “It’s actually very hard to line up the ball perfectly on top which means the line will roll crooked even with a perfect stroke and greens are imperfect [sic], it can easily bounce offline at the start.”

So what you you do instead to check your stroke? Try a gate drill.

All you need to do is create a gate with tees a foot or so in front of your ball and try to hit the ball through it. If you’re actually rolling the ball well (and hitting your start line), the ball will roll straight through the gate. If not, the ball will bounce off the tees and you’ll know your stroke needs some work.

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The post Here’s how temperature affects carry distance with your driver appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s how temperature affects carry distance with your driver appeared first on Golf.

As Ned Stark once said, “Winter is coming.” The consequences might not be as severe in the real world as they were in the Game of Thrones universe, but the changing of the seasons will have an effect on your golf game nonetheless.

For those fortunate enough to live in a temperate climate, winter golf isn’t too bad. But for those of us in the north, winter golf can be a challenge. In some places, it’s not even possible. In others, the game plays on — albeit in parkas and winter gloves.

As those who can’t put away the clubs for the winter can attest, playing golf in the winter is much different than in the warmer months. Not only are the courses in rougher shape, but the strategy when playing in the winter is totally different, too.

How temperature affects distance

As it gets colder, the ball doesn’t fly as far (duh). But exactly how much does it affect your carry yardage? Thanks to a study from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Andrew Rice, we now know.

Rice conducted a series of tests on Trackman, and he found that golfers will lose about two yards with each club in their bag for every 10-degree drop in temperature below 75 degrees. On the flip side, golfers will gain two yards with every club 10-degree increase above 75 degrees.

“The primary reason for the differences we see is that temperature can affect the air density, which, in turn, affects the golf ball’s flight,” Rice writes. “As the temperature increases, the air becomes less dense, resulting in a decrease in air resistance. This reduction in air resistance allows the golf ball to travel farther through the air. Conversely, as the temperature decreases, the air becomes denser, increasing the air resistance and reducing the distance that the golf ball will travel.”

Check out the chart below for a look at how temperature affects driver carry distances.

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The post Phil Mickelson says this is the key to making every 3-footer appeared first on Golf.

The post Phil Mickelson says this is the key to making every 3-footer appeared first on Golf.

Three-footers are often scooped up on the weekends, but when you’re playing for something, these putts can make the knees shake. Pros and other high-level players are quite good at making these testers. Weekend warriors? Not so much.

Leaving your lag putts inside the leather should always be the goal, but that’s only half the battle. To make those lag putts really count, you’ve got to make the clean-up putt, too.

The shorties are easy to ignore, but crucial for scoring. A three-footer might not seem like much, but once you miss a couple, they can make you sweat. Everyone — pros included — has missed a three-footer before, and it’s never a fun experience.

The only way to make sure you’re up to snuff on these putts is to practice them (obviously). But instead of mindlessly swiping away on the putting green, you should go into the practice session with a goal.

In the video below, Phil Mickelson details the key to making all your three-footers, and a great drill to help you practice it.

The 25-75 rule

Mickelson has wowed fans with his wedge play his entire career, but he’s tidy with a putter in his hands, too. And some of that can be attributed to a tip he learned from Jackie Burke Jr.

“The trick that Jackie Burke taught me is 25-75,” Mickelson said. “We want to go back 25 percent [and] through 75 percent. That really helped me because when I was going so long [in the backstroke] my face angle would move as I would ease into the ball.”

By shortening the backstroke, it gave Mickelson’s putter face less time to open or close during the stroke. And additionally, it promoted a more aggressive stroke through the ball.

“I want to hit this ball aggressively, but still have it die into the hole,” he said. “That’s the basis for the technique.”

To practice this when hitting his three-footers, Mickelson used what he called the three-foot circle drill where he set up 10 tees in a three-foot circle around the cup. Before he would leave the putting green, Mickelson would go around this circle until he made 100 putts in a row.

“I do it three or four times a week while I’m competing,” Mickelson said. “This is the foundation of it.”

If you can remember 25-75 while doing this drill, you’re sure to make more than your fair share of three-footers.

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The post Lee Trevino says this is the secret to hitting the ball solidly appeared first on Golf.

The post Lee Trevino says this is the secret to hitting the ball solidly appeared first on Golf.

As one of golf’s all-time greats, Lee Trevino should be celebrated every day. However, today is a little more special for The Merry Mex — it’s his 84th birthday.

With 84 years of experience on this Earth, Trevino has amassed plenty of knowledge. And his expertise — golf — is something he’s always willing to talk about.

Two years ago, GOLF.com caught up with Trevino on the range at Gary Player‘s annual pro-am. And when the subject of ball-striking came up, he was more than happy to impart his knowledge.

How to hit the ball more solidly

A golf swing is the sum of its parts, but with so many variables in play, it can be difficult to get everything moving in harmony. Proper sequencing is key to a good swing, but doing that is easier said than done.

To get the sequencing correct, you need your entire body working together, and your arms are some of the most important elements.

“Your arms are only so long,” Trevino said. “You have to understand that your arms are like the limbs attached to the trunk of a tree. My body is the trunk, and my arms are the limbs. They swing back and forth.”

With your arms straightening as you swing, determining the low point is crucial. In order to hit the ball solidly, you need to hit the ball at the bottom of the swing radius.

That’s where ball position comes in. You want the ball to be at the bottom of your swing arc to produce the best contact. For many players, though, ball position is something they struggle with.

“The secret to hitting the ball solidly, if you’re not hitting the ball solidly, is keep moving the ball back [in your stance],” Trevino said. “If you get the ball too far forward and the limbs come up, [you hit it thin].”

Trevino explained that he always tried to hit the ball on the inside of it — right around 7 on a clock. To do that, he’d move the ball a little bit back in his stance.

“These limbs are only going to go so far before they release, they rotate or open,” he said.

Next time you find yourself struggling to make solid contact with your irons, heed Trevino’s advice. The problem might just be that you have the ball a little too far forward in your stance.

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