Author: Guest Author

This tip comes from Robert Speirs:

1. Learn the Basic Fundamentals Grip, stance, and setup will make this game a lot easier to learn. Once you understand the basics, the rest will come quite easily. Don’t worry about swing plane, launch angle, clubhead speed, or anything else. Just worry about getting set up in a good stance, with a proper grip, and accelerate through the ball. The rest will fall into place.
2. Learn to Putt and Chip the Dots Off It The nicest thing about putting is that there are a million ways to do it and nobody can say a darn thing so long as you get the ball in the hole. There are some simple basics – squaring the clubface, accelerating through the ball – but there’s lots of room for style within those rules.

   The nicest thing about putting is that you can do it at just about any time. Challenge players to putting and chipping costs. Keep a roll of quarters in your bag and you’ll be surprised how often you’ll beat golfers that are much better than you, but pick up what you can from them. Chip frequently and vary the kinds of shots – low spinners, high flops, downhill, uphill. Tie the two together into chip-and-putt contests.

Continue reading “Advice for Juniors”

From this weekend’s telecast of the Mercedes Championships comes a fantastic, yet simple tip – a wider putting stance helps to keep one’s balance in windy conditions.

For the pros playing last week and for those going to the Sony Open this coming weekend in Honolulu, windy conditions are the norm. The trade winds (from the northeast) and the kona winds (from the southwest) are typically 5-15 miles per hour. When bad weather arrives, usually indicated by the kona winds, it can get even worse. Even placing your ball on the green and getting it to stay put can be difficult at times.

So in those times of increased breeziness, open your stance a few inches or more. The last thing you want to do is fall over on a putt.

Here’s a great game from Chi Chi Rodriguez’s book, Chi Chi’s Golf Games You Gotta Play that will help you focus on hitting the ball in the fairway. It requires accuracy and timing and features a little bit of pressure to boot. The game is called “Fairways to Heaven.”

In this game, each player antes up a predetermined wager on the par 4s and 5s. Bet a quarter, a dollar, whatever’s comfortable. The order of play is determined and followed for the entire round, and a different golfer is “on the spot” on each hole. If that player hits the fairway, he collects the money in the pot. If he misses, the pot carries over and new bets are added on the next hole.

If your course has 14 par 4s and 5s, then each player gets three shots to win the pot. The last two driving holes should be played as a team: players 1 and 2 on the thirteenth driving hole, players 3 and 4 on the fourteenth. Play “both must hit the fairway” or “if either hits the fairway” depending on your level of skill.