Eyes Over the Ball

Are your eyes over the ball when you putt? Try this quick drill to find out.

Where are your eyes when you putt? Commonly, putting problems start when a golfer’s eyes move too far inside the ball. To find out where your eyes are, take a normal putting stance. Hold a ball between your eyes and then drop it. If you’re properly aligned over the ball, the dropped ball should strike the ball you would putt. If the balls miss each other, adjust your stance until your eyes are over the ball.

Step Drill

Take a step towards a proper weight shift with this drill.

Many people suffer from a reverse pivot or a poor weight shift. There’s one simple drill that will help you “get through” the ball with your weight on your left side.

This drill is borrowed from baseball. Start with your feet together and then swing the club to the top. As you start your downswing, step toward the target with your front foot just as you would to hit a baseball.

Starting with your feet together will ensure that you get your weight onto your front side as you swing through the ball. This drill is also very good to get the feel of the swing starting at the bottom and stop those golfers that cast their hands to start a golf swing. Try this drill without a ball first or until you have mastered the stepping motion with good balance.

Seve Accused of Assault

Seve Ballesteros has been accused of assault by a European Tour official, but details are nonexistent.

Seve BallesterosThe European Tour is investigating Seve Ballesteros, accused of assaulting a Spanish golfer off the golf course during an amateur tournament last month. Ballesteros was a spectator at the over-35 event in Pedrena, Ballesteros’ home town. Jose Maria Zamora, a tournament director on the European Tour and amateur player, is the reported victim.

Zamora penalized Ballesteros for slow play at last year’s Italian Open. Ballesteros refused to adjust his card and was later fined by the tour. The European Tour has said that they’re investigating but is declining to comment. No other details are available, and we imagine that suing someone in Spain is just as easy as it is in the United States, so what constitutes “assault” can be left to the imagination of the readers. Was it a prod with a forefinger on the shoulder to accentuate a point, or was it an attack?

We will simply go with “innocent until proven guilty.” Especially given the fact that it is the European Tour doing the investigating and not the local police.

Overcome Caveman Golf

Golf is a game of risk vs. reward. Being realistic about the risks – and the reward – is the key to playing smart golf.

Golf Digest recently published a “Guide to Caveman Golf” for those people incapable – or unwilling – to overcome their “smash it and then go look for it” tendencies. If you are able to overcome your tendencies, you may score better as a result. We don’t advocate hitting nothing but your 3W off the tee, but do try to ask yourself a few questions:

  • If you hit a 3W from this tee, do you still have a 7I or less into the green?
  • If you hit to the fat part of the green instead of going at the flag just over that water hazard, can you lag and tap in for par?
  • Do you need to make this putt, or would lagging one up there be sufficient?
  • What’s more important: being closer to the pin or hitting the highest lofted club you might be able to get to the hole?
  • If you go at this par five in two and miss the green, will you be in better or the same shape as you’d be if you safely lay up?
  • Would you rather play your next shot from the trees again or from the fairway?

I think you get the point. Golf is a game of risk vs. reward. Being realistic about the risks – and the reward – is the key to playing smart golf.

Hole in One Registry

You can register and view holes-in-one across the country at PGA.com.

If you took dead aim and recorded a hole-in-one, you can register your ace at PGA.com and bask in your own glory. Enter your details for the world to see, or poke fun at. For example, this fine lady used her trusty driver to conquer the monstrous sixty-yard par 3 in 2001.

Ahh, who am I kidding. I’m just annoyed that Tiger bagged his first ace when he was six, and I’m still hoping.

Duval Has Best Round of the Year

David and Bob Duval team up with Special Olympics athletes Kevin Erickson and Oliver Doherty in a made-for-TV match.

david_duval.jpgDavid Duval and father, Bob Duval, played golf at the Timuquana Country Club with Special Olympics athletes Kevin Erickson of Wisconsin and Oliver Doherty of Ireland in a made-for-TV match called “A Tee Time Like No Other” to be televised by CBS Sports on New Year’s Day. The match was set up by the Special Olympics, who wanted to feature some of their finest athletes.

During the first hole of the made-for-TV match, that paired David with Kevin and Bob with Oliver, Erickson hit a slight draw and landed in the middle of the fairway. Duval hit a slice into the trees. “At least one of us is in the fairway,” Erickson told him. Duval shot right back, “Fairways are overrated.”

Continue reading “Duval Has Best Round of the Year”

2004 Funai Classic

Ryan Palmer is a Titleist man, and he used these clubs to win the 2004 Funai Classic in his rookie year.

Ryan PalmerRyan Palmer used this gear to win the 2004 Funai Classic:

Driver Titleist Titanium 983 E 8.5°
3 Wood Sonartec SS03 14°
5 Wood Sonartec TRC 18°
Irons (3-PW) Titleist Forged 690 CB
Wedges (PW, AW, SW) Titleist Vokey Design 46°, 53°, 57°
Putter Odyssey Rossie II
Ball Titleist Pro V1x

Yes folks, Palmer is also Titleist kinda guy.

Photo Credit: © PGA Tour.com.

Putt to a Dime

Practice your putting with FDR to improve your concentration.

DimeNeed to work on short putts? Putt to a dime. The smaller target will force you to concentrate. Once you get good at that, putt at the edges of the dime. If you can roll it over FDR, you can roll it into the hole.

If you’re looking for information about the dime, well, by all means drop by the Wikipedia.

Shoulder Under Chin

Great baseball hitters say they can see the ball hitting their bats – there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try to see your clubhead meeting the ball as well.

Lots of people hit the ball thin. Whether they’re afraid to hit the ground or take a divot or simply trying to swing too hard, hitting the ball thin is still an unwanted problem. One way to avoid hitting thin shots (they sure sting sometimes, don’t they?) is to get into the habit of feeling your right shoulder on your chin before you look up for the ball. Let your shoulder bring your head up, and you’ll avoid “coming out of the shot” and hitting it thin. Great baseball hitters say they can see the ball hitting their bats – there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try to see your clubhead meeting the ball as well.