Golf courses are filled with golfers who have relatively decent iron games, but don’t know how to hit a driver straight or long. Many golfers are downright scared to attempt to use their driver off the tee because they don’t want to be embarrassed by the result! Driving should be one of the funnest parts of the game and you should make it a priority to learn how to hit a driver straight.

Here are some the key points to remember:

1. Find the right grip. The grip may have more to do with ball flight than any other aspect. Everyone’s golf grip is slightly different and you have to find your own grip.
• If you’re hitting golf balls to the right than you should try rotating your hands clockwise on the golf club so that you can see 3 knuckles on your left hand. You should also try gripping the golf club with less pressure, try holding it very gently. These adjustments will encourage the club face to close earlier in your swing.
• If you’re hitting golf balls to the left than you should try rotating your hands counter-clockwise so that you can only see 1 or possibly no knuckles on your left hand. You could also try gripping the club a little tighter. These adjustments will delay the club face from closing in your swing.
2. Rotate your body, don’t rely on your arms. Keep your back straight at address and make sure you’re bending from the hips, not the waist. Rotate your shoulders back from your spine, moving your arms back as a unit with your shoulders. Your right elbow should be bent and tucked in by your ribs, and your left arm should be extended across the top of your chest. With golf irons you can sometimes get away with less rotation and more arm power, but you won’t be able to control the ‘big dog’ like that. Rotation is a very important when learning how to hit a driver straight. Golfers who lift their arms too high in the air tend to have golf swing plane that is way too steep and usually results in the big banana slice!
3. Think about how your hands roll over in your golf swing. As you swing, your right hand and forearm should roll over your left. Players who don’t roll their hands over soon enough tend to hit the ball right. Those who roll them over too early will hit hooks. Either way you’ll be all over the golf course. Work on your timing and try to roll your hands over smoothly and evenly. The idea is to time it so that they’re pretty square at impact (like they were at set-up) or slightly rolled over, depending on the individual.

Only a small percentage of golfers know how to hit a driver straight. Try these tips and try to understand the concepts behind them. Learn how to hit a driver straight and you’ll be among the minority of golfers who can really ‘let the big dog eat.’

Did you know that any player can break 80 regardless of their natural talent for the game? A good online golf coach can help you achieve this.

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How to Hit a Driver Straight – Key Points to Hitting the Driver Straight Consistently
By Case Bauer

Find out all the secrets to how to hit a driver straight and how to improve all other aspects of your game.

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How to Hit a Driver Straight – Key Points to Hitting the Driver Straight Consistently

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Your anatomy attests to the fact that you were born to move. However, to putt well you need to be still. Unnecessary movement during your putting stroke is a killer of consistency.

Putting in its simplest expression is the ability to direct a golf ball in a straight line and send it a certain distance. To most golfers this is an insurmountable task.

The main reason for our failure to meet this challenge stems from our creation – the way we are built. We have articulated joints that provide us with freedom of movement. It is this same freedom of movement that creates the untold variables that undermine our putting stroke.

We have the ability to hinge our elbows and our wrists. We can rotate our arms and shoulders. Our freedom of movement allows us to flex and straighten our knees, raise our torso and head, and twist and turn in many directions. Unfortunately from the point of view of putting consistently this is not entirely a good thing.

To putt well you have to develop a restricted repeating action, with as few moving parts as possible. Golfers who putt poorly typically fail to exercise enough control over the different joints of their body.

For a start you should identify those parts of your body that should remain quiet. Movement here is unhelpful and will only harm your putting stroke.

In essence you should lock down your lower body and keep your head as still as possible. Imagine that you are holding a basketball between your knees and balancing a book on the back of your head.

What moves in the putting stroke is the triangle that is formed by your shoulders, arms and wrists. Nothing else should move. Your challenge is to keep the shape of the triangle intact.

The biggest culprit that ruins the shape of the triangle is over-active wrists especially through impact. The ideal technique is to putt with inactive or ‘dead’ wrists.

There are a number of putting aids designed to stabilise the left wrist that is prone to cupping. The simplest aid is to tape a sharp pencil to your wrist so that it digs into the back of your hand if the angle of your wrist changes.

Finally it seems that when it comes to putting we are like small children unable to keep still for long.

Next time you play, watch the putting action of the other golfers in your group. See how many of them:

• Keep their head still through impact as if they were trying to discover if an imaginary coin under their ball was heads or tails.
• Lift their head and rotate their shoulders as they look up early to follow their putt.

Then reflect for a moment how your anatomy and freedom of movement is influencing your putting.

The biggest culprit that ruins the shape of the triangle is over-active wrists especially through impact. The ideal technique is to putt with inactive or ‘dead’ wrists.
~ Neville Walker ~

Wrist Rite is the #1 Golf Training Aid to prevent your Wrist from bending during your swing. Whether your putting or Driving
Wrist Rite teaches your wrist to remain flat and breaks the habit of bending your wrist when you are playing golf.

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Neville Walker has a passion for golf and has played golf on hundreds of golf courses all over the world. His particular interest is writing about how to improve your putting. He runs a web site on the subject which can be found at http://www.better-golf-by-putting-better.com

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Every golfer, whether high or low handicapper, wants to better his game and the secret to improvement lies in the golf swing. We are all individuals and as such we come in all shapes and sizes. However to achieve that perfect golf swing, and send the golf ball soaring away into the distance, we have to harness our individual physical peculiarities and ensure that at the moment of impact the club head travels through the drive line and impacts the golf ball square on. Here are nine ways that your golf swing can be fine-tuned to help Bring Down that Handicap.

* Before starting the golf swing the first basic essential is to keep your head still and look straight down at the golf ball. Many things are written and taught about the position of address relative to the ball but the position of the head is of prime importance. It should be perpendicular to your spine with your head raised slightly so that the left shoulder fits under the chin when you start the backswing. You will be unable to perform a proper golf swing with your chin tucked into your chest.

Practice addressing the golf ball, with your feet correctly positioned, your back straight and your head slightly raised whilst still looking at the ball. Practice a dozen times, your backswing and downswing without hitting the ball or following through, whilst keeping the head still. Take a rest, relax, and then repeat the exercise. Repetitive training will condition your body to automatically assume the correct posture each time you prepare to start your golf swing.

* Relaxation is another important aid to perfecting your golf swing. Relaxation is not easy when you are striving to power the golf ball down the fairway. If however, you relax your muscles when addressing the ball, your golf swing will be that much smoother and consequently contact with the golf ball will be that much sweeter.

* However good an address set up you have it is still important to understand the affect of hitting the golf ball with your chosen club. There are 4 main factors affecting your golf swing and knowing how to combine these to produce a good swing is essential.

The first factor is the angle at which the clubface impacts the ball. A square on hit will propel the golf ball, without spin, straight down the fairway. Anything off of square will put spin on the ball and cause it to hook or slice.

Get your club face square with the ball at impact INSTANTLY with the Wrist Rite golf tool. Eliminate slices and hooks, increase your distance and lower your handicap scores.

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* Secondly the vertical angle of the club head to the ball will affect the flight path height. Anything other than 90 degrees to the horizontal will cause the golf ball to fly high or stay low; either way the result will be loss of distance.

* Every golf club has a so called sweet spot. This is the optimum point on the club head that gives driving accuracy and distance. The size of the sweet spot varies with different golf club manufacturers and obviously the larger the sweet spot the easier it is to strike the golf ball well. The main point here however is to ensure that at address you align the ball with the centre of the sweet spot.

* The next important factor is the speed of your golf swing as the club impacts the ball. Speed equals power but this is not dependent solely on body strength. Flexibility, timing and movement of the upper body through the downswing play a great part in successfully striking the golf ball. Do not depend on shoulders and arms alone; accuracy and distance do not come this way.

* Following on from the last point it becomes apparent that to gain flexibility in your golf swing it is necessary to have more control over your body and a simple exercise regime should be followed to gain this control. The more control you have over your muscles allows you more relaxation and confidence during the golf swing which in turn leads to more control over your mind. We all know that golf is very much a game played in the mind.

Simple golf specific weight training will enable you to strengthen your muscles and improve functional strength and automatically gain more control and balance. We are not talking here about becoming the next Arnie Schwarzenegger; just a tone up to improve your general wellbeing which in turn will greatly assist your golf.

* If you are able to follow some simple golf specific weight training the main benefit will be found in your golf swing drill when addressing the golf ball.

To execute a good golf swing drill you start by swinging the golf club right back as far as your body allows. Obviously the older you are, the less flexible you become and you will not be able to achieve the back swing of your youth.

Having achieved your maximum back swing the drill moves to the down swing. Start this by transferring your weight easily from the back to the front foot as you swing the club with your hips, upper legs and then knees all moving forward.

The ideal golf swing is completed with the body weight on the outside of the front heel and the front of the rear foot.

If you carry out simple golf specific weight training as outlined in the previous tip your body will be better prepared to complete the perfect golf swing drill.

* You hear a lot about club speed and how important it is in achieving those long drives. Many of us are guilty of trying to hit the cover off of the golf ball. We get a great feeling of satisfaction when we make, what at first may seem to be a tremendous strike. Then seconds later we look up in dismay to see the golf ball veering sharply left or right.

The solution to this is to relax. Hold yourself back a little. Swing nice and easily. It is ok for the top professionals to go all out, but they are just that. Professionals! They practice for many hours a day and are also far more talented than we mortals.

handicapdown.blogspot.com

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Tags: GOLFING TIPS, The Golf Swing by admin
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