Category: Playing Tips

This tip comes from Masters champ Jackie Burke, widely regarded as one of the best putters of his day and, perhaps, ever.

The tip is relatively simple: practice two-footers with your left hand only. Start with two-footers, and bang several dozen of them in. It may be difficult at first, but your stroke will become smoother as you continue. You’ll strike your putts more solidly. This helps to eliminate the dreaded breakdown of the left wrist.

When you’re confident in your ability to make the two-footers, move back to 10 feet. When you’re comfortable with that, put your right hand back on the putter. You’ll be surprised at the difference.

This drill works for cross-handed putters, “claw grip” putters, and more. According to Burke, it may be the quickest way to turn you into a good if not great putter nearly instantly.

“Casting” is releasing the club from the top of the swing. Your wrists unhinge early, and your club resembles a fishing rod “casting” a lure to a pond behind you. Casting results in loss of power and accuracy.

To stop casting, think of your body as a hurricane. Your arms are like the outward arms and your body the middle of the storm. As the head stays still (the eye of the hurricane), the body uncoils. The arms follow behind but at extremely high velocities. Your upper body effectively pulls your arms and thus, the club, into the ball.

This tip was inspired by the January 1 entry in Bill Kroen’s “Golf Tip a Day” calendar. He’s also written a book, which you can find at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers.

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.

Today’s Tip of the Day is actually several, and it’s brought to you by MJ of MJ on Golf. Here is a sampling:

• The 4C chain of golf – Consistency, Concentration, Confidence and Commitment. All are related and if any one weakens, your game falls apart.
• Single-Axis golf is much easier to learn and allows one to reach their potential faster.
• The timing and tempo required to shoot par using the traditional finger grip swing is beyond the genetic capabilities of the vast majority of golfers.
• “I want to be like Moe.”
• If you have to think about your swing while on the course you haven’t practiced enough.

And, finally…

• Beware of the tip mongers. Their tips are often based on their perception, not reality, and can be contradictory to your game.

Check out the complete list at mjongolf.com.

Whenever you talk to a PGA Tour player about the shots they play, undoubtedly they’ll mention that they look at the lie of the ball before doing anything else in determining shot selection. Is the ball sitting up? Sitting down? Sidehill? Is there a tuft of grass beside the ball? Did I land in a divot? Is the grass thin here? Is the ball resting on some hardpan?

Amateur players rarely consider their lie until they’ve gotten into their pre-shot routine and addressed the ball. At that point it’s far too late to make any decisions or changes. I know of some amateurs who determine their next shot before the ball even comes to rest from the previous swing!

Start every, and I do mean every analysis of the proper shot selection with an inspection of the lie. The quality of the grass, the height of the ball, the cleanliness of the ball (any mud on it?), and innumerable other factors have a great impact on the type of shot you can play.

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.

Do you play golf like you’ve just walked out of a bar after slammin’ back a twelve pack? In other words, how’s your balance? Poor balance is one of the most common problems in amateur golfers. If you can’t stay balanced, you’re not going to play consistent golf.

Here’s a trick to teach you to stay a bit better balanced: put a quarter on the toe of your left shoe (for righties). Swing while keeping the coin there. After your swing, have a look at the coin. Still there? Good. Fell of? No good.

If the coin falls to the inside of your foot, you’ve probably rolled your front foot on your backswing. You’re shifting too much weight, making it difficult to move forward through the swing. If the coin’s fallen outside of your feet, you’ve rolled too far to the outside or towards your heel on your downswing and finish.

And that’s the best advice you can get for a quarter.

We’ve all seen Jack Nicklaus tilt his head just before starting his backswing. He’d cock it to the side a little, looking at the ball out of his left eye a little more so than out of his right.

It’s a relatively simple trick that can have a massive impact on your game. Looking at the ball out of your left eye (for right-handed golfers) forces the shoulders closed a little. Looking at the ball out of your right eye forces the shoulders open a little. Thus: look out of your left eye for a more inside-to-outside swing (draw or hook) and out of your right eye for an outside-to-in swing path (fade or slice).

I’ve personally used this drill to affect the shapes of my shots. The changes it makes to your swing are natural and need not be thought about while “the machine is in motion,” yielding consistent results. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

When my swing feels rushed or I sense that I’m out of balance, I always revert to one very simple drill: I put my feet together and hit shots. The steps?

1. Put your feet together
2. Swing
3. Don’t fall over

Start slow, and build up to faster swings. With your feet together, you’ll be forced to make a smoother, more balanced swing. Your tempo may improve, as any sudden changes will result in a loss of balance. Your head will stay more centered (if it sways, you’ll topple!) and you’ll use your shoulder and hip turn to generate power. You should be able to hit most of your shots at least 80 to 90% as far as normal.

This drill is perhaps one of the purest drills for improving your golf game.