Most people fear their ball going into a sand trap but if you watch the pros, they would almost prefer to have their ball in the bunker as opposed to being in the heavy rough around the greens.
the sand shot is fairly simple and the following basic tips will certainly help.

The sand shot is one of just a few shots where you are not trying to make contact with the ball. You are trying to make contact with the sand just in back of the ball and let the sand propel the ball out of the trap. The easiest way to do this is to take your normal stance( maybe anchoring a bit in the sand so you do not slip) and then move your feet away from the target so the ball goes more towards your foot that is closest to the target. The ball might be even with your front foot. From that position you should open your club face which means that it will by lying more with the face pointing towards the sky. This will help the club glide through the sand. Once you have this set up make your normal swing. The club should contact the sand just before the ball and send the ball on to the green. The distance will still be controlled by how hard you swing.

This is the easiest and simplest way to get out of a trap. A good practice would be to get into a bunker and make some swings with no ball and see if you are making contact with the sand. The club should glide through and the spot you hit should be consistent. Not having a consistent bottom of the swing is a problem with all you shots so practicing this would also help you in all your game.

Make the sand trap your friend!

John White CPGA

Tags: Lessons in Golf by John White
No Comments »

I can’t believe how many people are trying to keep their arms straight in the golf swing. We are trying to learn a swing and if you use an actual swing as a model, how many swings have the two arms holding the seat up as being something stiff and straight. Most of them are ropes or chains and the weight of the person swinging back and forth keeps them taught.

This is very important to free motion, synchronized motion. People that are trying to keep their arms straight are too tense and inhibit motion. Their arms will also get out of rhythm with their body and cause poor shots. Keeping the arms straight will also cause the wrists to break the wrong way, another cause of poor golf shots (the Wrist Rite will help).

Do not ever give the advice to keep the arms straight. We certainly don’t want to lift the arms or carry them, we must throw or swing the arms back and up which if done will keep the one of the arms extended throughout the swing until the finished position.

Tags: Lessons in Golf by John White
No Comments »

Consider that Pelz Golf Institute research shows that less than five per cent of all putts are perfectly straight. That tells us we should be prepared to accurately read some break on almost every putt we face. So let’s start with two simple terms: the “ball-hole line” and the “aim line.”

 Ball-Hole Line: The ball hole line is an imaginary, perfectly straight line between the ball and the hole. If your putt happens to be dead straight, then the ball-hole line is also the line the ball needs to roll on in order to fall into the hole.

Aim Line: The aim line is a putt’s initial starting line and the line from the ball to a point or direction where you intend to start your putt that will allow it to break into the hole.

I have watched thousands of golfers correctly choose a good aim line then, when it comes time to make their stroke, I see them turn away from the aim line and aim back toward the hole. I also see golfers make their practice stroke while looking at the hole rather than the aim line. This is one of the key reasons most missed putts miss below the hole: people don’t play enough break, even when they see it correctly. But this is an easily fixed problem and here’s how:

1. When choosing an aim line, be sure you commit to it.

2. Stand behind the ball on an extension of your aim line and visualize your ball rolling on it.

3. Make practice strokes parallel to the aim line.

4. Once you’ve made a perfect practice stroke, step in and putt the ball, still looking and stroking down the aim line.

Notice in the picture below of a breaking putt, the putter head stays square throughout the stroke and swings along the aim line. Had the golfer stroked the putt toward the hole or at some point between the aim line and the hole, the putt would most likely have missed low with little or no chance of going in.

Get the Full Story….Is Your Aim True? – @ SCOREGolf.

Now John White is away this week on a Tournament schedule and we will be sure to check in with him this coming week so he can elaborate on eyeing down the hole. John has his own brilliant instruction when it comes to Aiming True…. Stay Tuned!

Controlling the Club Face
When your lining up your ball to the hole, its important to consider the placement of your wrist at the point of impact. Your wrist controls the club face direction. If your wrist is not flat when your club makes contact with the ball, you could be hitting it too much to the left or right and taking your ball out of your “true aim”.
It is a lot to remember all this while your playing. You can make it simpler with “tons of practise” OR even simpler by getting a Wrist Rite to place into your golf glove for an instant flat wrist every time. Wrist Rite will help you to build muscle memory to keep the lead wrist flat.
Get the Full Scoop on Wrist Rite and find out how you can get over $100 in Free Gifts.

Tags: Lessons in Golf by admin
No Comments »

One of the core fundamentals of the golf swing is balance. The motion is so precise, any little sway or loss of balance creates challenges to hit the ball correctly. There is no key to balance just awareness and practice.

Make sure your feet are solid on the ground and you are in a ready position. I liken this to a player getting ready for a tennis serve or to guard someone in basketball. Practice a lot of swings without the ball focusing on a spot just below your navel as that is where your center of gravity is. Practice your footwork so that when you are finished your swing all your weight is on your front foot and you are in balance. Increase your awareness of any tension, especially in your arms and neck area. Let go of this tension as it will cause balance problems.

I believe we can improve our balance through practice and awareness. The better balance you have the smoother and natural the motion will be. This will breed consistency in your stroke. Anything that you can do to make yourself better balanced will help your golf game. Look at your posture and make sure that you are balance before you start your swing. Lift your feet up and down off the ground to make sure you ate able to move them properly when you make your swing.

We need to constantly check our balance as this might be the cause of our miss shots.

Tags: General, Golf General, Lessons in Golf by John White
No Comments »

I talked to a lot of avid golfers about their swing and they tell me that they “swing to fast” or “come over the top” and then I ask them whether they have ever seen themselves on video and the most common answer is “no”. Most of them watch golf and know what a good golf swing looks like so it is very important that they get to see themselves on video to actually know what they are doing.

This would be the first step that I recommend to everyone out there that plays golf and wants to improve. You must know what you are doing as oppose to what you think you are doing. It would help also to have a qualified golf instructor analyse it and give you positive steps to improve your motion.

The golf swing is a complex motion so anyone that tells you that it is simple then I would look for another person. It is a series of motions and compensations that end up in you overall motion. If one part is changed it changes other reactions and results so you need someone who knows the whole motion and all the parts of it that affect other parts. Most of the time instructors are trying to correct the effect rather than the cause. This just leads to more frustration. For example the head comes up for a reason in other words coming up is the effect, what is the cause, improper weight transfer or fluctuations in spine angle, physical problems, clubface correction, proximity to the ball or any number of other things. The next time an instructor tells you that this is happening in your swing make sure you ask him why that is happening. If he can’t tell you then he doesn’t know the cause either.

Tags: General, Golf General, Lessons in Golf by John White
No Comments »