What is the best golf lesson or tip you ever received?

[Alex B]

A great image for hitting greenside bunker shots: "Fillet it out."

Even regardless of its meaning (which provides a cool metaphor), the sound of "fillet" is exactly what you want in a bunker shot: it begins with a soft backswing ("fil") followed by a harder downswing that nonetheless cuts smoothly through the sand (the "lay" sound is accented but contains the liquid "l" and leaves an open vowel, suggesting a gentle thump -- if you pronounced the "t," that'd be like catching the ball first and skulling it over the green).

[weavej2]

Put a sharpie line totally around your golf ball and use it to line up drives as well as putts. Once you "set" the line...trust it to line up your feet/body for your swing. Dont waste alot of time doing it..but do it every chance you get.

[c. lassiter]

"If you have a bad grip, you don't want to have a good swing."

That line (or something like it) was in one of the Harvey Penick books and it changed my game instantly. I went from having a bad weak group to going strong and ripping the cover off the ball in about 6 seconds.

[Tifosinumerouno]

The "new" ball flight laws have helped tremendously. I use "new" fecetiously because it always been the law. Physics doesn't change, just our understanding of the subject does. However the best single tip I've received was "maintain the flying wedge." I spent alot of time "releasing" at the ball, so it caused me to be a flipper. The picture of holding off the "release" until after impact has gained me about 15 yds of distance on each club. I know I can do better than that, too, as I know I'm not holding it as long as I should, but it's definitely a major improvement over the fishing pole move i used to have.

[zeg]

Mine was from a nice guy I got paired with last summer on a day I was floundering terribly (worse than normal) with tee shots. He pointed out that I was swinging very upright, and needed to swing around---i.e., my plane was way too vertical. It had an immediate improvement (think I hit 4 or 5 of the next 5 fairways) and, although I've made many improvements since then, it was really the basis for my current swing being as good (or maybe as not terrible) as it is.

[pixel5]

Try exaggerating bad posture/swing elements. They will help you understand what motions and stances cause bad ball flights. Once you've figured those out, what remains is a good swing.

[Bullitt5339]

"Turn your shoulders as you come back, dummy"

From one of my playing partners, when I was having a lot of trouble hitting a decent iron shot. I was using all arms for a long time, and could get no better until I started using my entire core to hit the ball. Now I've come from a 24 to an 18 in 4 months, and still dropping.

[sean_miller]

Course Management: "Don't look at the hazard - look at where you want your ball to go."

Same advice works for riding a bicycle and snowboarding.

[BallStriker]

I have to post two different tips....

1. "Use your tap-in stroke for 3 and 4 foot putts"

Seriously, next time you are on the putting green, experiment with your tap-in stroke and see how far it goes -- I am currently reading Raymond Floyd's book on scoring and he places a huge emphasis on putting from 6 feet and in -- 5 footers are on the fringe for the tap-in stroke method, but I can't recall missing a 3 or 4 footer in my last five or so rounds using this tip -- it is just money for me.

2. "Swing with the feeling of your weight staying forward"

My weight goes to my back foot, but my hips no longer move backward with the backswing....huge, huge improvement with my ballstriking.

[$2 Nassau]

I have to post two different tips....

What do you mean by tap in stroke? I'm imagining just the short, almost stabbing-motion type of stroke that I use to knock in a 10" putt. Is that correct?

[Wiley]

"Stop thinking about mechanics during the round, just swing the club!" Dad

This quote was often said during my baseball career also. In my mind practice is the place to worry about mechanics. Once your round starts you have to dance with the swing you brought to the party.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Two from my youth have stuck.

When I was getting a lesson, at about age 12, my clubs weren't very clean. The pro asked me, "Would you brush your teeth with a dirty toothbrush?" Me: "No." Him: "Then never hit a golf ball with a dirty club." To this day, my clubs are spotless when I go out and they get cleaned as soon as I get home. That little bit of respect spills over to taking care of the course and being a good playing partner, too.

At about that age I was playing as a single with three adults and one guy was telling everybody how to play the game even though he wasn't that good himself. One of the men commented to me on about the eighth hole, "Never give unsolicited advice. People just don't want to hear it." Boy, was that a life lesson.

[jamo]

1.

This is one of the things that I am doing in an attempt to improve my putting. If all goes well, it may even become my normal stroke. FWIW my tap-in stroke is with my stance fairly open and more of a straight left arm.

Some of mine are: Always aim as if you are going to hit the fairway. If you are battling a slice don't aim in those left trees, aim in the left rough or the left side of the fairway. You might miss a few more fairways in your life, but you won't have that terrible feeling when you hit the ball straight- straight into the left tree. Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect . Don't read magazine advice . Never change your call . This one I actually learned from umpiring little league. When you make a tough call on a close play, it's inevitable one team is going to be pissed and one is going to be happy. You need to block that out and go with what your first instinct was because more often that not it is the right call. This applies mainly for club selection. It's not to say you shouldn't take lie and wind and other factors into account, but it provides a clear peace of mind when you stand over the ball.

[double_j]

A couple of critical points for me:

1.) My main swing thought before takeaway is 'arms like ropes' - it really helps to get rid of any tension in your grip and arms and promotes a smooth swing

2.) Find your own tempo and never lose it - good tempo and rhythm in your swing makes up for a lot of swing faults!

3.) Even if you don't normally hover your club at address, do it with your hybrids in all situations. I don't quite know why this works but everyone I know who's used this one has significantly improved their hybrid play. (PS - hovering also helps with your irons when you're hitting out of a bad lie or from a fairway bunker) - learned from a friend who's a teaching pro

[acegolfer]

Course management: "Don't change the swing during a round."

[imtomtomim]

"Hit the ball over there"

simple as that

[No1CeltsFan]

I am extremely new to the game, but in the short time I've played I would say "grip that club with the same pressure as if you were holding a baby".

Read it online 2 days ago and when I put it into action at the range, it improved my 5 wood greatly. That had been my worse club, but after that it was light years better.

[No1CeltsFan]

The best advice I've heard: "You're just not good enough to get angry with yourself". I had a tendency to really beat myself up when I'd play poorly, but hearing this tidbit helped me look at the game in a different perspective. I calmed down and got much better at shrugging off my bad shots and bad days, and this really helped me stay in the moment of each shot. And lo and behold, I actually did start playing to the level that I thought I should be all along.

if you really think about that, it's so true. I like this one the best so far that I've read.