The post Easily control your distance from the bunker with this tip appeared first on Golf.

The post Easily control your distance from the bunker with this tip appeared first on Golf.

At a recent LPGA Tour event, while working with one of my players, Caley McGinty, we spent some time in the short-game area. As often happens when players and coaches wander over there, we started exploring some of the tricky situations we all face.

One such shot was the short-sided bunker shot, one of the trickiest shots in all of golf. Let’s face it, when you hit it here, with only six to 10 feet between the edge of the bunker and the hole, you’ve hit it in the wrong spot. When you do find yourself in these situations, it’s important to know how to get it out — and maybe even how to hit it close.

Bunker Shots

There are plenty of methods people try in this situation: adding excessive spin, getting ultra-delicate or barely moving the ball at all. For most players, though, these approaches can lead to disaster, and then they have to try to hit the same shot again.

After some tinkering with Caley, we figured out a method that worked for her time and time again. And it’s something that can work for recreational golfers, too.

To start, set up like you normally would for a bunker shot. Next, make your typical bunker shot, remembering to stay aggressive with speed through impact. As you make your follow-through, stop the clubhead pointing at the spot on the green where you want the ball to land (i.e., an abbreviated finish).

Think about it this way: for a long bunker shot, you make a full finish. For a short one, simply shorten your finish, directing the clubhead toward your intended landing spot, whether that’s just onto the green or slightly short of it.

In the photo above, you’ll see how Caley controls her finish so the clubhead stops where that pile of balls sits just short of the green. This particular shot landed about two inches beyond it and rolled out to a spot where she had a simple putt to save par.

When you’re short-sided in a bunker, this method lets you keep your natural, aggressive swing without overcomplicating things. All you have to do is stay aggressive and finish your swing pointing right where you want the ball to land. If you can do that, I guarantee short-sided bunker shots won’t be quite so scary anymore.

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The post Hit longer drives by utilizing this overlooked key appeared first on Golf.

The post Hit longer drives by utilizing this overlooked key appeared first on Golf.

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

Hitting the ball long off the tee is not just fun, it’s also good for your score. The closer you can get the ball to the green, the closer you’ll be able to hit the ball to the hole (on average). And the closer your approach shots are hit, the more birdies you’ll make.

There are a variety of avenues you can pursue to add a few extra miles per hour to your clubhead and ball speeds, but for the sake of this column, we are going to cover it from an instruction angle. That way when you’re under the gun and need to fly a hazard on the course, you can lean on your technique.

For more on that, we turn to world long drive champ Kyle Berkshire.

A hack for more distance

The golf swing has many moving parts — and for maximum efficiency, all these components need to work in just the right manner. Berkshire likes to compare the golf swing to a symphony, with each part of the body representing a different instrument.

“When you get to the last part of the symphony, the wrist is what dictates how much of that power is released into the club,” Berkshire says.

The release of the wrists may not seem like a huge power driver, but in reality, these small muscles are crucial. The wrists are the last part of the body that moves energy out toward the clubhead, so releasing them in the correct way is essential for generating power.

“If you have wrists that don’t really rotate, you’re really going to be losing a tremendous amount of power,” Berkshire says. “It’s your last point of multiplication of the force.”

Berkshire explains that when he is swinging the driver, he likes to feel like his wrists are very “soft.” And if you want to add power to your swing, you should strive to feel that softness, too.

“I like to have very loose and relaxed wrists,” Berkshire says. “I feel like that’s a good visual to have.”

So, next time you want to add a little power to your drives, remember to keep your wrists soft. It’s a feel that the one of the longest drivers in the world uses — and it’ll work for you, too.

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The post 1 thing most recreational golfers don’t understand about ball striking appeared first on Golf.

Earlier this year, I spent a week working inside the ropes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am alongside my friend, and fellow GOLF Top 100 Teacher, Mike Dickson, giving corporate hospitality lessons to tournament guests. Over four days, we delivered hundreds of mini-lessons (quick 10- to 25-minute sessions) to players of all skill levels. Most were mid-handicappers, a few were low single digits and a couple could really play. But regardless of ability, the same issue kept showing up.

It wasn’t a bad grip or poor alignment, but rather a misunderstanding of something much simpler: where the swing bottoms out.

What every golfer gets wrong

At the start of almost every lesson, I asked a simple question: “Where do you think the low point of your swing is?” Every single player gave the same answer: “at the golf ball.” It’s a logical response, but it’s also the root of the problem.

The golf swing is circular in nature, and every circle has a lowest point, which is the very bottom of the arc. That low point isn’t at the ball; it’s slightly in front of it, roughly under the lead armpit. Understanding that detail changes everything. If the ball isn’t at the low point, it means the club must strike the ball before reaching the bottom of the arc.

When golfers try to force the ball to be the low point, their motion compensates in ways that create inconsistency. The club bottoms out too early, the hands stop leading, the lead wrist breaks down and the clubhead flips past the body. That’s when you see the common misses and unreliable contact.

What good players do instead

Better players don’t try to “help” the ball into the air or meet it at the bottom of the swing. They do the opposite. They keep their hands ahead of the clubhead, maintain structure in the lead wrist and allow the club to continue traveling downward through impact. The result is ball-first contact, a downward strike and a divot that begins in front of the ball. That’s compression, and it comes from controlling the low point rather than manipulating the clubhead.

If you’re unsure where your low point is, the ground provides immediate feedback. A divot that starts behind the ball means the low point is too far back, while a divot that begins in front of the ball indicates it’s in the correct position. It’s a simple, reliable diagnostic.

If you want to work on your low point, try this the next time you’re on the range. Take a 7-iron and choke down so the grip runs slightly up your lead forearm, letting it rest there as you make small, controlled swings. Focus on keeping the lead wrist flat, maintaining the connection between your arm and the shaft and feeling the club bottom out in front of the ball. It’s a straightforward way to train proper alignments and get instant feedback.

Most golfers don’t have a swing problem, they have a problem understanding this concept. Once you understand that the ball is not the low point and begin organizing your swing around where the bottom of the arc actually occurs, you’ll strike the ball more solidly, more consistently, and with more power.

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The post Want to find the perfect posture for your golf swing? Try this appeared first on Golf.

If you want to hit solid golf shots on a consistent basis, you need to have rock-solid fundamentals. If you can’t get the simple pre-shot stuff right, you’ll have no hope of nailing a complex movement like the golf swing.

One of these pre-shot fundamentals that you need to focus on is your posture, i.e. the way you are standing when you address the ball.

GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tim Cooke sees errors in posture from his students every day, and it has a profound impact on their abilities to make a consistent swing. One of the most common errors he sees is the trail hip bumped away from the target, which leads to all sorts of issues in the full swing.

In an effort to correct these setup mistakes, Cooke uses a simple exercise where he has his students jump up and land on an alignment stick that is laid out on the ground pointing down their target line.

“When I land on the alignment rod, I want to land on the tripod of my feet,” Cooke says. “The big toe, the ball of the foot and the heel, I want them all grounded at setup so we can add some speed in the golf swing.”

If you want to try this for yourself, lay an alignment stick on the ground pointing down your target line and stand on top of it so it bisects the arch of your foot, favoring the front side of it. Now, just jump straight up in the air as if you are testing your vertical jump, and try to stick the landing back on the alignment stick.

“When you land, you should feel weight on the tripod of your feet,” Cooke says. “And I can feel my hips and my pelvis sit perfectly between my feet at address.”

If you’re someone who struggles to find the correct posture at address, give this exercise a try. By incorporating a little bit of athleticism into your setup, you will put yourself in a much better position to make a consistent strike on the ball.

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The post What should move first to start your downswing? We explain appeared first on Golf.

The post What should move first to start your downswing? We explain appeared first on Golf.

Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s 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 at our December 1979 issue for a deep dive into how your body should move to initiate your downswing.

The backswing gets everything organized, but the downswing is where the magic happens. From the top of the backswing to impact, what the club is doing is incredibly important. If something gets out of whack in this section of the swing, there is little hope for squaring the club at impact.

The order in which you move each part of the body has a huge impact on how this happens. This sequencing helps with efficiency and consistency, which ultimately makes the game much easier.

But while there are some rules that need to be followed for maximum efficiency, that doesn’t mean every swing is exactly the same. Every golfer’s body moves in unique ways, which has an impact on how they can best swing the club.

One such impact area is the initial downswing move, which GOLF Magazine explored in a 1979 issue by then-instruction editor Ernie Vossler. Check it out below to learn more about how you should initiate your own downswing.

How to initiate the downswing

You’ve completed your backswing. You have paused for a fraction of a second to change directions. Now you’re going to make your first move down. What should that first move feel like? What should it actually be?

Put these questions to top Tour stars, teaching professionals or amateurs and you’re likely to get as many different keys, tips or feel descriptions as the number of golfers polled. What works for some golfers doesn’t work for others.

The fact is that the proper first move down depends entirely on the type of swing you have.

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of golfer. One type is the “hitter,” who has a square or open clubface at the top of the swing. On the forward swing, all he has to do is “hit” or release so that he works the club back from that open position to a square position at impact and then to a closed position in the follow-through. To be more precise, the “hitter’s” club will be in a “toe up” position halfway into the forward swing. From there he begins to roll his right forearm over his left so that waist-high in the follow-through the toe of the club again points straight up. That’s releasing.

The second type is the “puller.” At the top of the swing, this golfer has the clubface to some degree closed. On the forward swing, this golfer has to pull from the left side in order to work the clubface from a closed position back to square before he can release the club.

Now let’s examine these two swing types in more detail. Then we’ll discuss the first moves down for each. 

Hitters and pullers

Because the fine line between “hitters” and “pullers” depends on clubface position at the top, let me clarify the terms “open” and “closed.”

If you extend the fingers of your left hand so that the back of the left hand is in line with the left forearm, then make a fist, as though you were going to hold a club, you will notice a small angle between the back of the hand and the forearm. Your hand is now in the “square” position. Now, with your hand still in a fist, move the back of your hand toward the top of your forearm as far as you can; you have gone from square to a fully “open” position. Then, continuing to hold the fist, move the back of the left hand from square to where the left wrist is in line with the forearm. Although this straight line position is commonly accepted as square, it is actually slightly “closed.” The completely closed position finds the left wrist in as convex a position relative to the forearm as you can achieve.

If you’re square to open at the top of your swing, you’re a “hitter;” if closed to any degree, you’re a “puller.” You can determine which type of swing you have by checking yourself in a mirror or by asking a friend to check you at the top of your swing.

The “hitter” has a big shoulder turn going back. He has some or no forearm rotation to the right, depending on whether he’s to some degree open or perfectly square at the top. (In other words, the forearm rotation or lack of it is the direct cause of the clubface position at the top.) However, his most important backswing characteristic, in regard to the first move down, is his big hip turn. Study any of the “hitters” on Tour, including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan. You’ll see that the “hitter” turns his hips so far in the backswing that he must move the lower body laterally to the left to start the downswing. This allows him to hit from inside, to square at impact, and back to the inside. Without this initial, lateral move, the “hitter” would clear the hips too early in the forward swing. He would pull the club across the line from out to in and slice or pull.

The “puller” also has a big shoulder turn going back. He has a little forearm rotation to the left, if his left wrist is in line with his left forearm at the top, and has more of this type of rotation if his wrist position at the top is convex. (Again, the forearm rotation directly causes the ultimate top-of-the-swing position.) However, as with the “hitter,” the important point is hip action. The “puller” — Lee Trevino, Larry Nelson, Bruce Lietzke and David Graham are examples — has very little hip turn going back. He turns his shoulders, but holds his hips and closes the clubface. On the forward swing, the only reaction his hips can make is to rotate to the left or “clear” very rapidly.

This clearing motion is mandatory for the “puller.” Because he has closed the clubface going back, he has to reverse that position in the forward swing, and the only way to do that is to subordinate the right side and “pull” with the left side by a clearing motion of the hips. For the first two-thirds of the downswing, the “puller” reverses the clubface back to square, then goes ahead and releases normally. However, this late release does require much more strength and more precise timing than the action of the “hitter,” who can start releasing the moment he begins his forward swing.

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The post This green-reading tweak helped Stewart Cink win his 1st senior major appeared first on Golf.

The post This green-reading tweak helped Stewart Cink win his 1st senior major appeared first on Golf.

Stewart Cink won his first senior major title over the weekend — in dominant fashion. With rounds of 69-67-70-63, Cink ran away from the field at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., posting 19 under for a six-shot victory over runner-up Ben Crane.

“To win a tournament like this, back to four rounds on a golf course like this, full field — this trophy is so heavy can hardly pick it up — it feels great,” Cink said. “It’s just validating what I’m doing with my team.”

Cink was excellent all week on the way to his maiden senior major victory, but it was the final round that put an exclamation point on the week. With seven birdies and an eagle, the 52-year-old cruised to a bogey-free 63.

“Today was just one of the best rounds I’ve played as a professional golfer,” Cink said. “It was just really good.”

Really good may be an understatement. With seven birdies and an eagle — and no bogeys — Cink’s round was the best in the field by three shots Sunday, and five better than any other competitor finishing in the top 10.

His sublime final round was no accident. According to Cink, after his third round in which he posted a two-under 70, he headed to the practice green to clean some things up with his short game. That’s when found something in his green reading that was game-changing.

Cink’s green-reading tweak

When Cink went to the practice green Saturday night, he wasn’t searching for a magic fix in his game; he’d played solidly through three rounds. But he did notice that he’d been missing a majority of his putts on the low side (aka below the hole).

“I just kind of went back to a few basics and changed my philosophy on reading the greens just a hair,” Cink said. “Added some break today, actually.”

That’s all it took. By playing a little more break on Concession’s difficult greens than he initially saw, he poured in putt after putt in what he called “one of [his] best putting days of the last year.”

How over-reading can help you

Recreational golfers can learn a lot from Cink’s Saturday-night epiphany. According to research from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Eric Alpenfels, 96 percent of golfers under-read their putts by more than 60 percent. That means that nine in 10 times you see your playing partner line up for a putt, he or she will miss it on the low side.

When you miss below the hole, your ball has zero chance of going in. Plus, when the ball gets below the hole, it gets further from the hole as it rolls out. Both of these things are bad for your putting stats — and, ultimately, your scores.

So, next time you line up for a putt, take a page out of Cink’s putt and play for a little more break. Chances are, it’ll put your ball in a much better position to go in the hole.

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The post 5 short-game mistakes women make without knowing it appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 short-game mistakes women make without knowing it appeared first on Golf.

After teaching many women for many years, I’ve noticed the same short game issues appear time and again. In many cases, these challenges stem from common root causes — such as equipment that doesn’t fit properly or instruction geared toward players with higher clubhead speeds. Too often, women are simply given the wrong information.

Here are some common examples I’ve seen, and how to improve them.

1. Too little bounce on lofted wedges

Players with lower clubhead speeds often benefit from more bounce (typically 12 degrees or more) so the club can glide rather than dig into the ground. This allows the club to move smoothly across the turf and still produce solid results, even if it contacts the ground before the ball.

I often compare this to a rock skipping across water. As long as the bounce interacts properly with the ground, it can help salvage shots from less-than-perfect contact. Tools like Ping’s wedge fitting system can be very helpful in identifying the right wedge and bounce for your game.

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2. Opening the clubface in bunkers

Many women are told to open the clubface in bunker shots. While that can be effective for players with high clubhead speed, it often doesn’t apply to most women.

When the face is opened, some players struggle to generate enough distance, leaving the ball stuck in the bunker. Instead, try keeping the clubface square, playing the ball slightly forward in your stance, and letting the bounce do the work. This approach can help you produce enough carry to get out consistently.

3. Trying to ‘lift’ the ball on pitch shots

The instinct to scoop or lift the ball often comes from other sports, but it doesn’t work in golf. The loft of the club is designed to get the ball airborne. You don’t need to help it.

From a solid posture, focus on extending your arms downward through impact so the clubhead reaches the ground. A gentle “thump” into the turf ensures proper contact and allows the ball to launch naturally.

4. Choosing a pitch shot instead of a bump-and-run

Shorter, simpler strokes are generally more reliable and less risky. Just because you’re near the green doesn’t mean you should automatically reach for a sand wedge and take a bigger swing.

A lower-trajectory bump-and-run is often the smarter play, helping you control distance and reduce risk while getting the ball closer to the hole.

5. Misunderstanding acceleration in putting

Golfers are often told they “decelerated” when a putt comes up short, but this is rarely the real issue. If your backstroke length is appropriate and you allow the putter to swing naturally, the ball will typically travel the correct distance.

If a putt comes up short, the adjustment is simple: increase the length of your backstroke. A longer stroke creates more natural speed through the ball without forcing acceleration.

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Imagine this scenario: You’re in a match with your buddies, and one of them hits an approach shot that finished just off the green. The ball is on the fringe and your opponent should be able to putt it. The only problem is, there’s a sprinkler head directly between his ball and the hole.

In my experience, most golfers assume that because the sprinkler head interferes their line of play, it means they are entitled to free relief. But according to the Rules of Golf, relief in this scenario is not legal.

A sprinkler head falls under an “Abnormal Course Condition” (Rules 16.1). And when it comes to this soft of obstruction, relief is only permissible if the ball touches the abnormal course condition or if the abnormal course condition physically interferes with the player’s area of intended stance or area of intended swing. In the case of a sprinkler head being in the line of your putt from off the green, none of these criteria would be met — and relief would not be legal.

However, if Local Rule F-5 is in place (which is often the case on the PGA Tour), free relief would be granted. According to the local rule, “if the aprons or fringes of putting greens are cut short enough that putting from off the green is likely to be a common choice of stroke, immovable obstructions that are close to the putting green may interfere with such strokes. In that case, the Committee can choose to give an extra relief option under Rule 16.1 when a player’s ball lies in the general area and an immovable obstruction close to the putting green is on the player’s line of play.”

So, next time you’re in a match with your buddies, be sure to specify if Local Rule F-5 is in play. If it isn’t, you won’t be able to take free relief when a sprinkler head interferes with your putt from off the green.

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The post Why slower is sometimes better in the golf swing appeared first on Golf.

The post Why slower is sometimes better in the golf swing appeared first on Golf.

If you’ve taken enough lessons that didn’t stick, you might think that you’re mostly stuck with the swing motion you have. And I bet you can close your eyes and picture a golf buddy’s crazy looking swing that hasn’t changed in all the years you’ve played together. 

But I promise you really can learn a new movement pattern. You just need to approach it in a way that might surprise you. 

Trying to copy a complicated motion like a golf swing at full speed means you never really move from performance mode to learning mode. That’s why I like to do a lot of very slow speed movement work where there isn’t even a ball involved.

You can see what I mean in the video below. Lisa came to us determined to find the speed she lost. She wasn’t very good through impact, mostly because of a hip slide off the ball in her backswing. That made her chest tilt back toward the target, and she ended up in the classic reverse pivot-chicken wing combination that a lot of weekend players have.

We slowed things down and did two drills that really emphasize the new moves — and, just as importantly, the new feels.

In the first drill, Lisa made a more stable turn away from the ball by coiling into her right hip, then stretching an excercise band away from her torso by extending her arms. This slow movement and the load provided by the band completely changed her feel for the move we wanted her to make. 

We moved right into another drill to really get the feel for that backswing turn. She crossed her arms over her chest with her hands on her shoulders, pulled her lead foot back and made some slow backswings. The split stance pretty much forced her to make the pivot into her hip instead of sliding back.

Even if you find a couple of drills like this that really help, the impulse might be to do them a few times and consider yourself fixed. But these pattern changes take time. Over the course of the next three months, we stayed just on these two drills, and just on the backswing. It’s so important to be willing to stay focused on one key thing over time, and to do it even if you see uneven results in the short term. 

Lisa developed a much better backswing, which led to a better top of the backswing and transition. During our most recent lesson, with the help of Morgan Hale, we added some exercises and drills which helped change her sequence out of the top of her backswing and improve rotation through the ball.  From there, she was able to unwind and clear her hips and rotate her chest through, which produced a much stronger and more consistent strike. Amazing when you see the changes and the results from these drills and work. The dreaded chicken wing began to disappear, Lisa got more compression, and more distance and speed each week.  

Beyond the swing work, we set up a training plan at the gym so that the time Lisa was already spending there would multiply those results instead of work against them. That’s a key part of what we do with every player from the professional tours to weekend golf. Integrating that training makes the gains come more quickly, and also helps players avoid injury or even just basic soreness that keeps you from playing or practicing as much as you want.  

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The post 5 ways playing public golf courses can improve your game appeared first on Golf.

There are so many great golf courses out there. Some are private and require an invite to access, while others are public and provide a great place for everyone to play. But here’s my take: even if a golfer belongs to a private club, they should still make time to play public courses.

One of my tennis teammates invited me and another player on the team to play nine holes at a public course, West Palm Beach Golf Park. It sounded like fun, so we all agreed to go. This isn’t something I do often — I usually play golf with my family and spend most of my free time playing tennis — but I figured, why not?

We ended up having a great time, and it made me realize this is something I should do more often. Here are a few reasons why public golf is fun for everyone — and can help your game.

1. Exposure to new courses

There are so many excellent public golf courses, and even those that aren’t considered premier can still be a lot of fun. They often have a more relaxed atmosphere, which can make the experience even more enjoyable.

We played The Park West Palm Beach, an amazing facility that truly offers something for everyone. We played the front nine of the championship course later in the day, which worked out perfectly — it fit our schedule and allowed the course to maximize use throughout the day.

The course itself is outstanding and presents a good challenge. The fairways are relatively wide, but there are plenty of bunkers, and the greens are quite undulating. It’s designed to be playable for all skill levels, and everyone in our group had a great time.

When you are playing new courses, it forces you to adapt your game and hit some shots you normally wouldn’t. And by expanding your horizons, you are adapting your game in new ways.

2. Socializing takes the pressure off

Playing public golf allows you to play and meet people you otherwise wouldn’t — and that can be a great thing for your game as it shifts your expectations and takes the pressure off your performance.

Golf gives you time between shots to relax, talk, and catch up. It was great to hear what’s going on in everyone’s lives and spend that uninterrupted time together. While we all focused when it was our turn to hit, we also had plenty of chances to laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

3. Walking the course

At my home course, I almost always ride in a cart. It’s just what I’ve gotten used to. But when we checked in, we were told our group would be walking, which caught me off guard.

That said, I walk and carry my bag when I play in Ireland and Scotland, so why not here? My friends used push carts, and I carried my bag.

I really enjoyed walking and plan to do it more often. When you walk, it can help you get into a better rhythm between shots, which can lead to better scoring.

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4. Playing with new people

When we arrived at the first tee, we found out we’d be paired with another golfer, something that’s very common at busy public courses.

He turned out to be a recent graduate from Providence College who had played on the golf team, so he was clearly a strong player. He was not only talented but also great to play with. We kept up well, and it was enjoyable getting to know someone new while sharing the round.

While being paired with strangers can feel intimidating at first, it almost always works out well. Plus, it can get you out of your comfort zone and help you become better at playing in front of people you don’t know, which is a great skill to have.

5. Accomplishing individual goals

One of the best things about golf is that, regardless of skill level, there are always small wins that make the round feel rewarding.

I played pretty well overall, aside from one hole where I got a bit too aggressive going for a pin. I did birdie the final hole, though, which was a great way to finish.

My friend Nicole recorded her lowest nine-hole score, which was exciting to see. Jessica, who had recently made a significant posture adjustment, also played really well.

All in all, it was a great day on the course, and it never would’ve been possible without access to a great public course.

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