Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we look back to our June 2002 issue when we polled our Top 100 Teachers for the best tips they’d ever heard.
Golf tips are a dime a dozen. If you’re into golf, you likely can’t go a single day without your social media algorithm feeding you posts about how to fix any swing ailment you may have. It’s both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, you’ll never be left searching for answers when you find a problem with your swing. On the other hand, it can be difficult to discern what’s actually good information and what’s just noise.
A good rule of thumb: Only take swing advice from teaching pros. You wouldn’t treat your illnesses based on the advice of a random Tik Tok video, so why would you do so for your golf swing? If you’re serious about getting better, only listen to those with the proper credentials.
In the text below, you’ll find a collection of the best golf tips some of our GOLF Top 100 Teacher alums ever received. The tips were originally published back in 2002, but there’s a good chance some of them can still help you today.
11 great golf tips
There hasn’t been an original idea in golf instruction since Old Tom Morris gave Young Tom his second lesson. Every tip you’ve ever read or heard — even in GOLF Magazine — has its origins somewhere else. They have been handed down through generations of instructors and players via lessons, clinics, books, magazines, observation, and word of mouth. Even Ben Hogan’ alleged secret, wasn’t. It’s just that nobody had won nine majors with it before.
But that doesn’t mean recycled tips are worthless. Far from it. Like precious heirlooms, tips that do get passed down are valuable, because they get results. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t keep popping up over and over again.
Below, 11 of our Top 100 Teachers tell us about the best tips they’ve ever heard and explain why they work so well. After these tips help you, feel free to pass them on. Just be sure to tell everyone you saw them here last.
1. “Swing the club back to 7 o’clock and out to 1 o’clock.” —Bob Toski
During a golf school that I was observing, Bob Toski was teaching a student who was swinging out to in and hitting slices. To help this pupil, Toski drew a clock on the ground with spray paint-with the target at 12 o’clock and the target line running back through the 6-and had his pupil swing the club back through 7 and forward through 1. Helped by this visual aid, the student was able to fix his swing path.
You don’t really need to paint a clock on the grass. Just visualize the face on the ground as shown, and feel as if you are swinging from 7 to 1. In reality, the clubhead will never reach 1 o’clock, but this image will help straighten out both the path and ball flight. —Rick Grayson
2. “Feel like your left shoulder is intersecting the target line about 30 yards in front of you at address.” —Al Gerring
My father, Al, who was the pro at Union Country Club in Union, South Carolina, would say this all the time. Most players hit weak slices, and this set-up tip helps load up the right side, prevent a reverse pivot and promote a swing from the inside — a path that encourages draws.
The important thing to remember is that only the shoulders are closed. Begin by lining up the feet, hips, and shoulders square, or parallel, to the target line. Then swivel just the shoulders until they intersect the target line. This way, you’re not changing your aim while setting up for a more powerful swing. —John Gerring
3. “Throw the clubhead.” —Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus offered this tip at a clinic I attended. It means you want to produce a whipping action that increases clubhead speed and puts your club on the correct path from the top of the backswing. When your right wrist is fully loaded at the top, it forms a 90-degree angle with the club. Trying to hold this angle for as long as possible in the downswing, as some suggest, is too difficult to time properly.
Instead, “throw” the clubhead so the toe passes the heel just after impact. If you slice, throw the clubhead to the right of the target to promote an inside-out path, and feel like the toe is passing the heel before impact to close the clubface. Just make sure the right elbow drives toward the target and the shoulders keep moving along with the clubhead. If the right elbow stops before reaching the ball, you will lose power and accuracy. —Robert Baker
4. “Make the freest swings on the tightest holes.” —Jack Nicklaus
I read this in Jack Nicklaus’ Golf My Way years ago, and it has stayed with me. On tight holes with a lot of trouble, people tend to try to steer the ball, which causes them to apply extra pressure with the arms and manipulate the club improperly.
Provided you have the correct alignment, grip, and sequence of movement, the club wants to swing properly; let it. Don’t try to influence it with excess tension. If you let everything rip, you have a better chance of swinging the club on the correct plane and hitting straight shots that avoid trouble. —David Lee
5. “Move the grip of the putter back and through during the stroke.” — Doug Sanders
I was a young assistant pro at Westwood Country Club in Houston, and Doug Sanders was the resident tour pro. One-evening, I was trying to fix.a wristy putting stroke when “Doug Walked by. He gave me this tip, and I’ve been sharing it ever since
To prevent the breakdown of the wrists, move the grip in the same direction as the putterhead. Wristiness comes when the grip moves in the opposite direction of the head. In short, make the grip an extension of the putterhead and pretend you’re hitting the ball with it. This will keep your wrists firm and the putter on the right path. —Todd Sones
6. “Keep your right elbow under the right forearm at the top of the swing.” —Fred Daly
I was 17 years old and suffering from a bad case of the shanks when I received this tip from 1947 British Open champion Fred Daly. The next day, I shot a course record at Shandon Park Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
This position of the right elbow at the top of the swing helps to keep the club on plane. If the elbow juts out away from the body, the club will “cross the line” (point to the right of the target) at the top. This requires downswing compensations that are difficult to time properly. So to keep your swing on plane, try to achieve this position, as if you were a waiter holding a tray of food. —Geral McCullagh
7. “Keep your butt against a wall during the entire swing.” —Jon Fiedler
Jon Fiedler, now head professional at Las Posas Country Club in California, gave me this tip to cure my hook. It prevents the club from dropping too far inside on the downswing, which promotes a hook. If you tried this drill with a hook swing, the clubhead would hit the wall. In addition to correcting swing plane and path, standing against a wall will help your posture.
Find a wall and simulate your swing without a club. Touch the right cheek against the wall at the top of the swing, both cheeks against it in the downswing, and just the left cheek at impact. With a club, the wall should be about belt-high. —Bruce Hamillton
8. “In a greenside bunker, take a wider stance and set up low with lots of knee flex.” —Seve Ballesteros
After the first round of the 1991 Scottish Open at Gleneagles, Seve Ballesteros was having a greenside bunker contest with Per-Ulrik Johansson that turned into an impromptu clinic. A group of us gathered to watch Seve explain his technique as he hit soft bunker shots.
Many people think you want a steep path in a-bunker, but that will just cause the leading edge of the club to dig into the sand. As Seve showed, you want to.set up wide and low, which encourages a shallow swing that will keep the clubface open and allow the.clubhead to slide under the ball and use its bounce to produce soft, high shots.
By the way, Seve won the contest. —Gary Smith
9. “Never let the distance between the wrists change throughout the entire swing.” —Mac O’Grady
I was on Tour in 1987 when Mac O’Grady gave me this tip. He explained that because of the wide range of movement possible in the wrists, they could produce many swing flaws. Maintaining this gap will ensure that the clubface remains square with the proper loft. If the gap changes during the swing, the wrists are manipulating the clubhead. For example, if the hands flip the club through the ball and change the distance between the wrists, the result can be fat or thin shots.
Think of this gap as an indicator of what the clubhead is doing. Keep this gap intact, and your clubhead control will improve. —Mike Bender
10. “Pretend you’re bowling: Throw left-handed hooks in the backswing, right-handed hooks in the followthrough.” —Hank Haney
Hank Haney introduced this image to me. In the backswing, envision the lane extending away from the target; start the imaginary bowling ball along the left edge of this lane and hook it into the middle. In the follow-through, the pins are at the target; start the ball along the right edge of the lane and move it left.
To throw hooks in bowling, swing your arm up then across your body so the palm faces down at the finish. Duplicating this motion during the golf swing will put the club on the correct plane and encourage the clubface to close through impact. —Peter Krause
11. “Try to hold your back to the target in the downswing.” —Nick Price
Nick Price said this as we were sitting in a cart seven or eight years ago, when he was in his prime. I have also heard Fred Couples mention it since. This tip really helps amateurs overcome one of their biggest faults: Coming over the top, caused by the chest opening too early in the downswing.
When you keep your back to the target in the downswing, the arms drop straight down from the top, then swing the club from the inside. It will be easier to square the clubface and you will hit the ball more solidly with more distance. Don’t worry about turning toward the target; the momentum of the swing will pull you through impact and into a full finish. —Rob Akins
