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Ever finish a round of golf and feel like nothing went right? It’s a frustrating feeling, but simply saying, “I played badly,” won’t help you improve. To get better, you need to understand the types of mistakes you’re making. Once you can identify your errors, you can focus on the right things in practice and on the course.

I typically break down the mistakes golfers make into three categories.

1. Execution errors

These are the most obvious errors and the ones most golfers think of first. They are the dreaded mishits — chunks, tops, slices and hooks. They happen when your swing doesn’t quite match your intention, leading to a poor result.

While some execution errors are unavoidable, you can minimize them through consistent practice and lessons. But remember, no matter how much you practice, execution errors will happen. Even the best players in the world don’t hit every shot perfect.

2. Strategic errors

Strategic errors are more common than many golfers realize. They happen when you make a poor decision before you even hit the ball. This could be because you didn’t properly assess the conditions, such as a strong headwind, a wet lie, or the speed of the greens.

For example, imagine you have a 140-yard shot over water. You normally hit your 8-iron 140 yards, so you pull that club without thinking twice. However, you fail to notice a strong wind blowing directly into your face. The ball comes up short and lands in the water. Your swing wasn’t the problem. The mistake happened before you ever addressed the ball.

Other strategic errors include attempting shots you haven’t practiced enough or misjudging the risk versus the reward. Often, choosing the smarter, safer play leads to a better score than attempting a low-percentage shot. These are mistakes that are much easier to limit, because they boil down to making smarter decisions.

3. Mental errors

Mental errors are all about mindset, focus and concentration. Unlike a poor swing, these are mistakes that are entirely within your control. They include rushing your shot, skipping your pre-shot routine, or allowing one bad shot to affect the rest of your round.

Elite players understand that mental mistakes are often the easiest to eliminate and can have the greatest impact on scoring. If you can cut down — or even eliminate — mental errors, you can save several strokes per round.

How to avoid these mistakes

During your round, take a moment after every bad shot to determine what type of mistake occurred. Was it an execution error, such as a mishit? A strategic error, like choosing the wrong club? Or was it a mental error, such as rushing your routine? Simply identifying the cause helps you stay present and learn from each shot instead of reacting emotionally.

It can also be helpful to keep a simple record of your mistakes. Create a system using “E” for execution errors, “S” for strategic errors, and “M” for mental errors and mark them down on your scorecard. At the end of your round, tally each category. The results will quickly show you where your biggest opportunities for improvement lie and help guide your practice.

By learning to identify the root cause of your bad shots, you can turn frustration into a clear plan for improvement. The next time you have a disappointing round, don’t just say, “I played badly.” Instead, determine what type of errors you made so you can focus your practice moving forward on what will make the biggest difference.

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The post 5 quick at-home drills that will help you hit the ball solid immediately appeared first on Golf.

I recently ran a golf school for a great group of members at Aronimink, working alongside their assistant, Tessa Teachman. Tessa, along with my fellow dewsweepers, Morgan Hale and Connor Luke, worked together to help a great group of members make some dramatic improvements to their contact in less than a day.

The changes didn’t require anything drastic from a physical perspective. They all came down to helping players associate new feels for what the club can do when you get out of the way and stop working against it. Most amateurs don’t need a swing overhaul — they just need to find the ground in the right spot to get solid contact, and do it with a good pivot. That’s the whole battle for a huge percentage of golfers.

At the school (and with my regular students), I find that handicaps matter far less than the design of what you’re working on when it comes to improving. Give a player something simple they can do at home, in the gym or in the parking lot before a round, and nearly all of them will commit to doing it — and doing it well enough to make a real difference.

Take these five drills we used at the school and incorporate them into your routine this weekend and I promise you that by Sunday afternoon you’ll be hitting more solid shots. None of these drills require a bucket of balls or a trip to the course. You can run through all five in your living room or the backyard. You’ll find the ball at the bottom of your swing more consistently, make more solid contact, hit it farther, and have more control over how it curves.

1. Find your balance

Before you can do anything else well, you need to be hinged correctly at your waist so your hips can turn and load instead of sliding. Set up in your posture and check that the base of your spine is stacked under the top of your spine — not tipped forward or hanging back. You should feel roughly 50/50 in your weight distribution, evenly balanced between your feet. Get that feeling right at address, and everything downstream gets easier.

2. Stabilize your lower body

A lot of golfers move their pressure side to side instead of rotating — sliding laterally on the way back and again on the way down. When your lower body is sliding around like that, it’s nearly impossible to find the same low point twice. Stand on two small balance discs so your base is a little unstable. Hold a club across your chest and make some slow backswings and downswings. The instability underneath you won’t let you lurch or slide; your body has no choice but to stay centered while it turns.

3. Add rotation to your forward swing

If you stay stuck on your back foot and never rotate your upper body through the ball, you’ll never get the low point of your swing out in front of it, where it needs to be. Grab a light resistance band and stretch it so your arms are fully extended out to your sides — like you’re about to give somebody a big hug. Get into your golf posture, then turn your shoulders fully going back and fully going through, all without ever letting the band go slack. That tension is what teaches your upper body to keep rotating instead of stalling out.

4. Hold your spine tilt

This one will feel strange the first time you try it, but the results show up immediately. Hold a club across your chest like you did in tip 2, and this time watch the angle it makes with the ground as you turn back and through. If you keep the same spine tilt you had at address, that club stays at a consistent angle the whole way around. Lose your posture, and it’ll move parallel with the ground. Come over the top, and it’ll go more vertical. Use the club as your mirror, and keep that angle locked in.

5. Push off the ground to rotate your hips

The last piece is learning to use the ground to rotate your hips while staying in posture, instead of standing up or leaning through the shot. Use that same stretchy exercise band and have a partner the middle of it. Grab each end in one hand, and start your backswing like you’re pulling the cord on a lawn mower with your right (trail) hand. Push off the ground, and don’t let the band pull you forward! Now initiate the downswing by pulling with your left hand. The pull from the band forces your hips to actually rotate instead of stalling at the top or through impact.

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The post Jack Nicklaus’s timeless keys to playing amazing golf as you age appeared first on Golf.

The post Jack Nicklaus’s timeless keys to playing amazing golf as you age 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 to our March 1995 issue for some advice from Jack Nicklaus on great golf as you age.

Father time may be undefeated, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to preserve your golf game as you age.

Ask Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear won a majority of his major titles during his prime, but in 1986, he was able to turn back the clock at Augusta one last time for green jacket No. 6.

Nine years later, Nicklaus joined GOLF Magazine to share some of his secrets. Read below for his best tips for playing great golf as you age.

Jack’s secrets to great golf

Some senior tour candidates possibly excluded, I imagine not a whole lot of golfers look forward to becoming 50-plus players. But, as they say about every aspect of growing older, it’s better than the alternative. 

The editors at GOLF Magazine asked me to talk about what has changed in my life and golf game between my peak playing years and early 50s, with particular reference to how other new or soon-to-be seniors might benefit from my experiences. I hope something in the following inspires and helps you to be a healthy person and a fine golfer for many years to come. 

Power

As with most people as they age, the greatest change in my game as I advanced into seniorhood was a loss of power with the longer clubs. Although I’ve had spells where my distance has been acceptable, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve consistently driven the ball as far as I feel I need to, or hit my long-irons — the 1-, 2-, and 3- — as long as or, equally important, as high as in my prime.

In scoring terms, and particularly on PGA Tour courses (as opposed to the shorter ones used for the Senior Tour), this has produced fewer eagle or two-putt birdie opportunities on par fives, given me a harder time with long par fours, set up fewer birdie chances on shorter ones, and made muscling the ball out of the rough a much tougher proposition.

Mentally, the biggest downer has been knowing that, over four tournament rounds on the “junior” Tour, I just wasn’t going to get as close to the hole with 4- and 5-irons as the younger guys who were hitting 8s and 9s. That pressured my short game in general and my putting in particular.

Loss of power doesn’t happen to all players as they grow older. Dave Stockton and Bob Charles, both more successful as seniors than in their younger days, claim to be hitting the ball as far as or even farther than when they played the regular Tour. I’m pretty sure Jim Dent hasn’t lost much yardage, nor Lee Trevino when he really needs it. And I know for sure that Raymond Floyd is as long as he ever was.

What’s caused my power leakage? It’s possible that very long-hitting golfers, as I was in my prime, just naturally lose a greater percentage of yardage as they age than players who never hit the ball big distances even in their younger days. 

Instruction

Insiders Only Jack Nicklaus' 4 simple secrets for solid ball striking

By: Zephyr Melton

From a technique standpoint, the problem lies mostly in my legs. Power in golf is the product of clubhead speed squarely applied. My swing still delivers the club squarely most of the time, but not as speedily due to slower or inferior leg action. At my peak, I created tremendous leverage with my feet, legs, and hips that got the clubhead moving extremely fast through impact. As my strength diminished with the years, my swing mechanics had to be perfect for me to come close to generating that much leverage and thus that much clubhead speed.

Injuries also have been a factor. Occasionally, when I’ve been free from pain, my leg speed and lowerbody timing have both come back and I’ve hit the ball plenty long. This happened when I won last year’s seniors’ Mercedes Championship playing La Costa at the same yardage as the young guys in their event. But such spells have not been frequent enough. Most of the time since I became a senior in 1990, some part of me — hips, back, shoulders — has troubled me just sufficiently to force holding back that critical little bit.

At the time, people remarked on how well I hit the long shots in winning the Senior Open at Cherry Hills in 1993, but they were probably overlooking the elevation factor. The course was set up at around 6,900 yards, but, at more than 5,000 feet above sea level, it actually played about 300 yards shorter than that. I can usually still handle a 6,600-yard golf course just fine—in fact, I only used the driver 15 times during that championship. It’s on those sea-level 7,000-yard-plus layouts, where the young guys were routinely tearing apart the course, that my power-leakage hurts the most.

Power clubs

Ever since my power leakage began, I’ve done everything I could think of to stop it, or at least minimize and delay it. You may not care to take your quest as far as I have in terms of lifestyle and exercise (although we’ll get to those later), but you should certainly give the third area your best shot. That’s the equipment you use. 

The technology of clubs and balls has improved so dramatically over the last decade that, although you still can’t “buy a good golf game,” playing with the right equipment will definitely help you get the most out of the game you’ve got. 

I began experimenting with drivers about six years ago, not in terms of makes or cosmetics, but with shaft and head materials, shaft flexes, head configurations, and the relationship of shaft weight to head weight. As a result, although I now know for sure that no driver will fully restore my power loss, I also know and play the specifications that allow me to most easily produce my present maximum yardage. 

I’m fortunate to be able to obtain and continually update this knowledge with the help of the experts at my own equipment company. Unless you’re ready to undertake the daunting task of tracking, sifting, and comprehending the huge range of options Open to you in club technology, you should find and work with a golf professional who is also an expert clubfitter.

Instruction

Jack Nicklaus: How to hit draws and fades with the same swing

By: Zephyr Melton

Here to assist him and you both is the bottom line of my discoveries. 

If you suffer from skeletal, muscular, or arthritic-type difficulties, graphite shafts will help by reducing the shock of impact. If you want your tee balls and longest fairway shots to “penetrate” and roll, with minimum curvature, deliberate or otherwise, go for metal wood heads. If you want those shots to “carry” and land softly, and to be “‘workable” in terms of drawing and fading, go for wooden wood heads. 

I’ve played much of my tournament golf in recent years with a graphite-shafted metal-headed driver and a steel-shafted wooden-headed 3-wood that I’ve used since I was 18 years old. For accomplished senior amateur players, this could be the ideal combination.

Accuracy clubs

Because my approach-shot capabilities with the medium-irons haven’t changed much, and my short-iron play has actually improved, I’m still using essentially the same iron-club specs that I have for most of my career. However, I’m sure the day will come when I might want to go to slightly softer or longer shafts, or to graphite instead of steel, or to a little lighter swing weight. Those are factors you and your clubfitting expert need to consider, using the specs you’ve settled on for the driver and fairway woods as a guide. 

I never would have believed even 20 years ago that there would come a time when I would leave out a long iron in favor of a fairway wood, but I’ve done that with a 5- or a 7-wood a number of times since becoming a senior. Accordingly, when I see almost as many woods as irons in an over-50 amateur’s bag, I don’t assume, as I once might have, that he isn’t too good a player, but simply that he’s got a lot of sense. Take a peek in the bags on the Senior Tour if you still feel shamed by forsaking long-irons for well-lofted woods and extra wedges.

Offsetting power leaks

As the years inevitably cost a recreational golfer distance, it seems to me that he has two options. One is to accept an even higher handicap along with higher and higher levels of frustration. The other is to wholly or partially make up for the loss through improvement in some other area of the game.

I haven’t been as competitive as I would like these past few seasons, but I would have been even less so without the improvement in my short game that was forced on me by the power leakage. 

The truth is that, at my best, I never really needed much of a short game. By hitting the ball very long and pretty straight off the tee, I needed relatively short clubs for most approach shots. That helped me hit a high proportion of greens in regulation or, thanks to my long-iron skills, better than regulation on par fives. I was also strong enough to be able to get the ball somewhere on the green from most of the rough I encountered. 

As shorter tee shots led to missing more greens, simply being called upon to play more pitches, chips, and bunker shots produced an improvement in those areas. Then, the longer I lived with the probability that 300- yard drives were the exception rather than the rule, the harder I had to discipline myself to include the full range of recovery techniques in my practice sessions.

Like most golfers, I’d always found banging out big shots more fun than working on the little ones. A couple of years ago it became clear that I either had to sharpen my short game or quit tournament play entirely. The upshot was that I’m better around the greens today than any other time in my career. That’s particularly true of my pitching from about 90 yards in with the wedges, my biggest weakness during my peak years.

If you’re leaking yards but fighting to stay competitive at your own level of the game, there’s definitely a lesson for you here.

Exercise

The biggest change in my life since my peak years is the amount of exercising I do. Until I began to jog occasionally in my early 40s, I did no exercise at all from my high school days on, other than that involved in playing and practicing golf.

By my late 40s, it was clear that muscular problems in my back, hips, and legs would end my golf career entirely without radical action to alleviate them — on top of which I was looking at back surgery for disc deformities. Over the Thanksgiving holiday of 1988, this led me to an anatomical functionalist by the name of Pete Egoscue, since when hardly a day has passed without me doing the workouts he prescribes. Since the middle of last year, ve supplemented that regimen with regular strengthening and limbering routines under the supervision of Pete Draovitch, a personal trainer recommended to me by Greg Norman.

Fitness

I followed a PGA Tour trainer's strength routine. The results shocked me

By: Zephyr Melton

The Egoscue exercises are mainly of a stretching nature. Sometimes I do them for as little as 10 minutes, and sometimes for an hour or. more. Adding in the Draovitch routines raises my workout time to upwards of two hours. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would have had to quit tournament golf some years ago without Pete Egoscue’s regimens and my dedication to them. I also believe the program I’m now enjoying with Pete Draovitch is critical to me becoming competitive again.

In addition to these formalized workouts, I always walk the golf course, facilitating that when forced to put the clubs on a cart by asking a playing companion to do the driving.

As with my improved eating habits, exercising heavily has become as much a part of feeling good about myself as a contributor to my golf game. Everyone’s metabolic rate decreases with age, which I’m told by people who should know is why so many older folks don’t feel as good as they’d like. If only because exercise fights off and slows down that process, I don’t see myself cutting back on it very much, even if I quit playing tournament golf.

Will exercise help your game? Well, good golf demands strength and elasticity in many parts of the body, but it’s particularly important in the legs. I don’t know any way a senior can keep his legs in shape without using them a lot.

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The post 3 things every golfer can learn from Chris Gotterup’s unique swing appeared first on Golf.

The post 3 things every golfer can learn from Chris Gotterup’s unique swing appeared first on Golf.

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

Chris Gotterup had a better Fourth of July weekend than most. With a win at the John Deere Classic, the 27-year-old claimed his third PGA Tour title of the season (and fifth over the past 12 months), bumping him to seventh in the OWGR and earning him $1.58 million for his efforts. Not bad for a week of work.

The interesting thing about Gotterup is that when you first watch him swing, you wouldn’t peg him as a Tour pro. It’s a powerful move, but it’s not one that’ll be taught in teaching bays across the country. It’s the textbook definition of “homegrown.”

But while Gotterup’s swing may be unorthodox, that doesn’t mean he isn’t constantly working on improving and refining it. Since he was a teenager, the New Jersey native has worked with GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jason Birnbaum as the duo has carefully crafted a move that can compete with the best players in the world.

“We took what he did naturally well and just tried to add to it and complement those strengths,” Birnbaum says.

Earlier this year, we sat down with Birnbaum to chat about his star pupil’s swing — and find out what everyday golfers can learn from it. Check it out below.

1. Swing hard

When Gotterup first started seeing Birnbaum, he knew how to swing only one speed: fast. And that’s something all young golfers should strive for.

Too often, recreational players spend years trying to build a technically flawless swing before ever learning how to create speed. According to Birnbaum, that’s backwards. It’s much easier to learn to control speed than it is to add it after years of making careful, controlled swings.

“Too many amateurs are trying to be perfect, and then once they feel like they have control, they try to add speed,” Birnbaum says. “Speed really should be first.”

In an era in which distance is more important than ever, learning how to go fast is a must. Don’t be afraid to go all out and learn how to create that speed. There’s always time to refine it later on.

It’s a recipe that worked for Gotterup. It can work for you, too.

2. Don’t be afraid of a strong grip

One of the most recognizable features of Gotterup’s swing is his exceptionally strong grip. Birnbaum says it’s something he’s had since childhood, and it’s been a major reason he’s been able to eliminate the big miss to the right while generating tremendous power.

But Birnbaum also cautions against judging his swing by a single position. Many golfers notice the amount of extension, or “cup,” in Gotterup’s lead wrist at the top of the backswing, along with a steep path into the ball. But according to Birnbaum, much of that appearance is simply a consequence of his grip.

“The stronger the grip, the more cupped the wrist,” Birnbaum says. “The amount of cup he has is probably a little deceiving because his grip is so strong.”

A strong grip can help generate power, so don’t shy away from it. If you do opt for a strong grip, though, remember that there are certain matchups you need to employ to make it work. Gotterup marries these matchups to perfection, and it’s one of the reasons he can play at such a high level with an unconventional-looking swing.

3. Function over fashion

With so much technology available these days, it’s easy to assume that every swing checkpoint has to look textbook, but Birnbaum doesn’t see it that way.

While many swing pundits focus on Gotterup’s steep downswing, Birnbaum stresses that appearances can be misleading. What matters is whether the club is delivering a consistent strike at impact, not whether a frame from the backswing looks unconventional.

“Sometimes pictures lie,” Birnbaum says. “We could look at a video that looks super steep, and the TrackMan numbers are perfect perfect.”

For Birnbaum, launch monitor data and ball flight always outweigh aesthetics. If the swing is repeatable, producing the right numbers and creating the desired shot, there’s little reason to chase cosmetic changes just because a position looks different from another Tour player.

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Most golfers have been taught to keep their heads down when chipping. But according to three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, the opposite feeling may be the key to cleaner contact, more spin and a better short game.

The secret? Learning to use the ground.

If you watch elite players closely, you’ll notice something most amateurs haven’t mastered quite yet. As the club approaches impact, they apply pressure to their lead foot and then rise up through impact.

“We’re not trying to stay down. We’re not trying to keep our head down,” Harrington says. “I’m actually pushing myself back up with that left foot. It gives an absolutely beautiful strike.” 

It’s a subtle move that’s almost impossible to spot at full speed, yet it plays a major role in producing those crisp, spinny chips.

While it’s difficult to detect in another golfer’s swing, it’s surprisingly easy to learn yourself.

Train ball-first contact with a simple alignment stick drill

As Harrington demonstrates, a simple alignment stick drill is a great way to groove this feeling. Just place a stick‚— or other alignment tool — on the ground to mark the midline of your stance. Then, play the ball two or three inches in front of it.

Your objective is simple: strike the ball without touching the stick. If you can consistently miss the stick, you’re training yourself to bottom out after the ball, producing the clean, ball-first contact every good chip requires.

Once that strike becomes second nature, add in the pressure shift. As your club approaches the ball, press into the ball of your lead foot and allow that pressure to push you upward through impact.

“Get yourself left. Stay left. You have to trust that, okay?” Harrington says, “We don’t want any of this backing up.”

An easy way to check whether you’re doing it correctly is to look at your lead leg after impact. If your lead knee remains bent, there’s a good chance your weight has drifted back during the swing. If your lead leg has straightened, you’ve likely used the ground properly.

“If your knees bend … that’s because your center of mass has gone backward and that’s counterbalancing it by going forward,” Harrington says. 

“Whereas, if you get yourself left, you’re just going to post up like so.”

Perhaps the biggest benefit is that this feeling doesn’t stop at your short game. The same pressure shift and ground force that Harrington teaches for chipping are a fundamental part of an athletic full swing. Master it around the greens first, and you’ll not only hit crisper chips with more spin, but you’ll also build a movement pattern that carries through the rest of your game.

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The post 9 simple tips to effortlessly shoot lower scores appeared first on Golf.

The post 9 simple tips to effortlessly shoot lower scores appeared first on Golf.

Golf is a famously frustrating, stressful game. Like the old joke says: It’s called “golf” because all the other four-letter words were taken. But, #$%!, it doesn’t have to be that way — at least not so often. Maybe the smoothest of the smooth are born that way. The rest of us can still produce our best selves — free flowing — at the best times by following a few simple tips.

Check out below for nine tips you can lean on to shoot lower scores.

1. Perfect the grip

Everything in golf, including effortlessness, starts with a good grip. Choking the club to death obviously isn’t the way to begin a buttery move — but neither is a soft grip that’s more in the palms. For effortless oomph, you need to hold the club more in the fingers, which activates the wrists, a key power source. Added bonus: Doing so will help all the slicers out there to square the clubface at impact and eliminate the banana ball. Think of it as an effortless double play.

2. Make smarter choices

A stress-free round isn’t a trouble-free round. You’re never going to hit every fairway and green. It’s not the bogeys that raise your blood pressure; it’s the angst of trying (and often failing) to pull off difficult recovery shots. Shot choice greatly affects our agita levels: Taking your medicine with a simple pitchout or layup instead of attempting the miraculous keeps golf a walk in the park and doubles and triples off the card.

3. Have a reliable warm-up

Does working yourself into a lather sound like the road to chill? The secret may be in the dirt, as Ben Hogan said, but beating lots of balls is for practice sessions, not for planting the seeds for a stressless round. Keep your warm-up to one bucket, maybe even a small one, and focus on being target-oriented. It may also help to make some practice swings with your eyes closed to feel your motion and get into a relaxed groove.

Instruction

Insiders Only Copy this minute-by-minute breakdown of Nelly Korda's warm-up

By: Jessica Marksbury

4. Develop a waggle

Sprinters burst out of the blocks, but an effortless swing isn’t a sprint—it’s more like a leisurely jog, in which you shake out your arms and legs before setting off. Develop a personalized movement as part of your pre-shot routine so that you’re not jolted from a static position. Whether it’s three little wrist wiggles or miming the first 18 inches of your takeaway, devise something that both relaxes and activates you.

5. Make a full turn …

Think about all the effortless swings that are short and quick … Okay, stop, because you won’t come up with one. (Tony Finau is the exception that proves the rule.) A big, full, complete, majestic, heroic backswing is needed to store the power that you’ll soon make look like rolling off a log. This may entail some gym work on hip and upper-body flexibility; in the meantime, consider lifting your front heel off the ground to help create that needed coil.

6. … then nail the transition

At the top is where so many effortless swings jump off the bridge. After a syrupy takeaway, suddenly the brain screams, “Now kill!” The hands go hurtling down toward the ball, speed is wasted early in the swing and smooth synchronization disintegrates. To keep the nice flow and gradual acceleration that yield easy power, think about pushing into the ground with your legs to start the downswing. Don’t worry about your hands; they’ll do what they need to on their own.

7. Stay balanced in the follow-through

Not to get too Zen master, but it can be hard to make an effortless swing when you’re thinking about making an effortless swing. One way to overcome the dreaded “paralysis by analysis” is to think instead about getting to a very specific follow-through position. At the range, hold that follow-through position for several seconds after each swing. You’ll be surprised how well your body soon reverse engineers an effortless move to get to that spot.

8. Don’t overthink in the sand

For many golfers, greenside sand is like quicksand — the more you struggle, the faster you’re swallowed up. To promote the quick wrist hinge and upright swing that makes escaping the bunker a breeze, do this drill: Stick a tee in the butt end of your grip and, during the backswing, hinge your wrists so the tee points directly at the ball. On your downswing, all you need to do is release that angle and let the clubhead glide underneath the ball to blast the ball out of the bunker.

9. Develop a smooth stroke

Effective putting strokes are repeatable putting strokes. If a jab-and-hit pop stroke works for you, fine. But an effortless, Ben Crenshaw stroke, well, looks like a Ben Crenshaw stroke: It has a longer backswing and a shorter follow-through. This ratio promotes the solid contact that produces effortless power and fewer yippy shorties. Practice a little recoil move soon after impact, which helps shorten the through-stroke and encourages purer impact too.

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The post Sometimes a new driver really can fix your golf game — under the right circumstances appeared first on Golf.

The post Sometimes a new driver really can fix your golf game — under the right circumstances appeared first on Golf.

There’s an easy question to ask as a recreational golfer when you’re searching for a quick golf-game fix: “Why don’t I just buy a new driver?” Sometimes it’s said in jest but, as I discovered this season, sometimes it’s the truth.

During the last offseason, I made it my mission to add more power to my game. As analytics have become more prevalent in the modern game, the importance of driving distance has become crystal clear. If you want to shoot lower scores, you have to hit the ball farther.

With that goal in mind, I got to work revamping my game. Part of this process involved hitting the gym and “building my engine” for a faster swing. (You can check out my workout plan here.) Another element involved refining my technique to swing more efficiently. And, finally, there was some good ole fashioned speed training.

After a winter of dedication, the gains were evident. My max swing speed climbed much higher, and my cruising speed had me hitting it further without even feeling like I was straining. Heading into the 2026 season, my confidence was sky high.

But there was one problem I didn’t take into account. With more speed in the bag, my old equipment — particularly my driver — was not optimized. Even though I could swing harder than ever before, I was still leaving plenty of distance (and accuracy) on the table.

You see, when I was fitted for my old driver (a Titleist GT1), my swing speed was in the mid-90s. This lack of speed — combined with some other swing characteristics — meant I needed a driver that gave me more spin to give me more carry distance. But as I added speed and dialed in my swing, that tendency for spin started to hurt me.

During my speed training sessions, I noticed that my spin numbers were way too high. Although I was swinging faster, my efficiency suffered. Even when I was hitting record highs with my swing speed (topping out at 109 mph), my spin was so high that I wasn’t getting the most out of that speed.

That’s when I knew it was time for a new driver.

My new driver

I’ve long been a believer in the idiom “it’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian.” However, as I’ve played more and more golf (and technology has advanced), I’ve come to realize that the saying doesn’t cover all circumstances.

While it’s true that a great golfer can make just about any equipment work for them, when you use equipment that isn’t optimized for your swing, you leave easy gains on the table. Case in point: using a driver that is too spinny for your swing. After I saw how much the excess spin from my old driver was hurting my distance, I scheduled a fitting with Titleist for their new GTS line.

When I arrived for my fitting, I explained to my fitter the issues I was having with the old line and what I was hoping to get out of my new driver. Essentially, it all boiled down to getting less spin while still launching the ball out of my preferred window.

I’m not much of a gear nerd, so I won’t even attempt to break down the different GTS heads and what they are best for (our gear team does a much better job of that). But what I will say is that the difference each head provided to me was noticeable. Some soared through the air with a beautiful shape, while others dived to the ground like wounded ducks. I simply kept swinging my swing and let my fitter do the work configuring a build that would satisfy my needs.

After about 45 minutes of testing different combinations, we settled on the GTS4 — which came as a bit of a shock. I figured I’d be in a GTS2 considering my previous fit of a GT1, but at the end of the day, the GTS4 produced the best numbers for me, keeping my spin down while also launching in a window that maximized my distance.

Now when I hit in the sim, my spin numbers rarely get out of whack and cost me distance. Even my mishits stay in my window of tolerance, and I’m maximizing my distance because of it.

In my previous driver, when I swung hard at it, I knew I needed to catch the ball perfectly to keep my spin numbers down and maximize. But now, I can swing hard and know that even if I don’t hit it perfectly, it won’t spin off the planet.

It may be a joke to suggest to your buddy that he needs a new driver to fix his game — but there are certain scenarios in which that isn’t so far fetched. I can attest to that.

Want to find the best driver for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

Titleist GTS4 Custom Driver

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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA TOUR Superstore, Titleist

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If you want to hit the ball like the pros do, you need to move your body like the pros do. When I say that, I’m not suggesting you need to rotate your hips like Rory McIlroy or shuffle your feet like Scottie Scheffler. Rather, what you need to strive for is to sequence your body the same way they do.

Here’s how it works.

Sequencing is a popular buzzword in golf instruction, but all it means is the order in which each body part moves. Sequence your swing correctly and you’ll create crisp contact and effortless power. Do it incorrectly and you’ll introduce a variety of flaws and inconsistencies.

So, how does the way pros move their body differ from how amateurs do? It all starts with how they shift and turn. When you watch a pro swing the club, take note of the order in which they do so. During the backswing, they shift their weight back and then turn their body to the top. On the downswing, they do the same sequence. Shift forward, then turn. This “shift then turn” sequence is the secret sauce that produces power, controls low point and breeds consistency.

Recreational players tend to get in trouble — particularly during the downswing — when they reverse this order. At the top, their first move to initiate the downswing is a turn. But when you turn before you shift, it throws the clubhead outside the hands and creates an over-the-top swing, often resulting in a weak slice. If your first move is a shift instead, you’ll create more space for your hands and naturally shallow the club on the downswing.

If you struggle to create power and tend to lose the ball to the right, take a look at how you are sequencing your body to start the downswing. There’s a good chance the reason you’re struggling is incorrect sequencing. To correct it, remember to feel a shift and then a turn. You’ll be amazed at how much easier hitting the ball becomes.

3 things I’m thinking

1. Winning is hard: The top five in SG: Total on Tour this season (Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg and Collin Morikawa) have just four combined wins this season. Consistency is king in golf, but sometimes even that isn’t enough to rack up trophies.

2. Nelly’s biggest challenger: Nelly Korda has dominated the headlines in women’s golf this season, but Haeran Ryu is also putting together one heck of a 2026 campaign. In 11 starts thus far in 2026, she has nine top 15s, seven top 10s and a win at the KPMG Women’s PGA. Don’t overlook the south Korean with two more majors still to play.

3. Summer heater: Wyndham Clark is the hottest player in the world at the moment. Over the last month, he’s won twice (including at the U.S. Open), finished top 5 two other times and added a T11 in Canada. He picked a great time to showcase his best stuff.

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The post Arnold Palmer once said this was the key for more power off the tee appeared first on Golf.

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. This week, we look back at our June 1978 issue where Arnold Palmer shared the key for generating maximum power off the tee.

Hitting the ball long off the tee isn’t just useful for impressing your playing partners. When you have a long ball off the tee that you can control, golf becomes a heck of a lot easier.

So, what’s the key for developing the long ball? According to the legendary Arnold Palmer, it’s imperative that you understand how to make a “hook” swing.

Back in the June 1978 issue of GOLF Magazine, Palmer shared with our audience how to develop this hook swing — and how to utilize it to hit longer tee shots. Check it out below.

Palmer’s key for easy power

Some years ago, Jimmy Demaret was answering a question from a reader in Champs’ Clinic. The golfer asked: ‘‘How do I stop slicing the ball?’’ Jimmie’s reply was: “Hook it!’’ Now that’s a funny story, but it makes a most important point and it also answers the question that golfers most often ask me, namely: “Arnie, how do I get more power?’’ 

To get maximum distance, you’ve got to learn to hook the ball. There is no other way. 

You can’t fight city hall. Just about every fine golfer I’ve ever known has started out as a hooker of the ball and later learned to control it. Hogan did it, Snead did it and, I may add, I did it, just to name three, but the full list would be endless. 

In contrast, most average golfers start out as slicers of the ball. Some remain slicers all their lives, and some fight the slice successfully enough to hit the ball reasonably straight, but in neither case do they become long, straight hitters. 

We’ll now compare the slice and hook swings, and what makes them tick. When we’re through, I know you’ll agree with me that you’ll never learn to hit a long, straight ball unless at some point you’ve hooked the ball as your predominant pattern. 

Slice and hook patterns

The slicer’s swing pattern (below, top )is a very weak way to hit the ball. The typical slicer swings back outside the intended flight line. Theirs is a right-sided effort that is more of a lift than a swing. At the top, the club usually points to the left of a line parallel to the target line. Their alignment also blocks a full windup. On the downswing, they return to the ball from outside in, and often more outside in than the backswing swing path; this is the worst move you can make if you want power. As the club is pulled across the ball with an open clubface, a weak glancing blow is imparted to the ball. 

The hooker’s swing pattern (above, bottom) is a strong one. His swing starts to the inside and his left side leads the swing. The windup of the body is tremendous, with the club crossing a line parallel with the target line at the top. On the downswing, they stay under very well and as a result the downswing line is even more inside to out than the backswing path, a move that leads to a strong release and maximum force. 

Slice and hook grips

The slicer’s problems stem from their grip. Both hands are turned too far left on the club, with the V’s pointing to his chin. This “weak” grip encourages closing the clubface going back and opening it coming through the ball. Often, they hold the club too much in the palm of the left hand. As a result, the butt of the hand is not on the grip (lower left). This leads to looseness in the swing, allowing the right side to dominate. 

To learn to hook the ball, you must start with a very ‘‘strong’’ grip — both hands are turned right so the V’s point to your right shoulder (upper right). This grip encourages you to open the clubface going back and, on the downswing your forearms and hands will whip the clubface from open to closed through the ball, a very powerful move. The correct left-hand grip is a palm-finger hold with the handle running from under the butt of the hand to the first joint of the index finger. This grip allows total use of the body. The right-hand grip should be in the fingers. If correct, you will feel more pressure in the last three fingers of the left hand and middle two of the right. 

Slice and hook setups

The “weak” grip induces what I call a “weak” setup (below, left). It forces the right arm away from the body and in turn forces the shoulders and hips into an open alignment, aligned to the left of a line parallel to the target line. The left arm is bent and often the ball is played too far forward. This leaves the hands behind the ball and the shaft tilted back away from the target. All these factors mean a right-sided, outside-in, slice swing. 

The “‘strong’’ grip gives a strong setup, because it forces you to make, even exaggerate slightly, all the power points (right). The ‘‘strong’’ grip puts the left side in command, in position to give the swing a wide radius. The left arm is extended firmly and the right made to bend in toward the body. At the same time, the right shoulder is set lower than the left. There’s one long line from the left shoulder down the left arm and shaft to the clubhead. The shaft is tilted slightly forward with the hands over the ball. Your stance will be square or slightly closed. 

Slice and hook backswings

In the slice backswing, the right side dominates. It’s more of a pick-up and lift from the right side than a swing. The right hand and arm tend to work independently of the rest of the body and so the legs, hips and shoulders move too little and too late. The open alignment also blocks a full windup. The result is a stiff, incomplete top-of-the swing position with the clubface closed. The weak grip gives you a weak setup and results in a weak backswing. 

The strong grip and setup encourage a one-piece backswing, where the hands and whole left side start together. The legs, shoulders and arms all move powerfully taking the club to the inside. The square, or slightly closed, stance and alignment also contribute to your ability to make a full hip turn, shoulder turn, arm swing and wrist cock. The strong grip also causes you to open the clubface a little by the top of the swing. You’re poised for a powerful inside move and release through the ball. 

Slice and hook downswings

The weak backswing has led to a weak downswing. Because the clubface was closed going back, there was a premature right-hand throwing action from the top, working the clubface from closed to open. Because of the incomplete windup, the right shoulder tried to compensate with a heaving action bringing it over the top of the ball, and bringing the club even more from outside to in through the ball. The result is a stiff-armed, stiff-legged pull across the ball with an open clubface. Very little clubhead speed is generated, and the slice spin prevents much roll on the ball. 

This is the payoff of the strong grip. Because the clubface was opened going back, there is a tremendously strong reaction through the ball — the right forearm has crossed over the left, closing the clubface powerfully through impact. Note how the right shoulder is moving under the chin, producing the inside-to-out swing path. There’s maximum use of the body, maximum clubhead speed and maximum distance. 

Modifying the slice and grip patterns

If you start with a weak grip and a slice swing pattern, modifying it will prove fruitless. You can square-up your setup, but what you won’t be able to do is change your swing pattern. You try to swing back to the inside, but due to the swing habits you’ve formed, you still come over the top; your downswing path will still be outside your backswing path. The ball will still tend to fade and your swing will lack the full windup and strong body movement essential for power. 

When you adopt the “strong” grip and hook swing pattern, you must stay with them until the power points — strong setup, inside take-away, full windup, staying under and the strong release — are a habit. This could take a matter of months up to a full season. Then you can modify the pattern by squaring your setup and weakening your grip to the point where you hit the ball straight. However, the power points will still be built in, and you’ll find yourself hitting farther than ever. 

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The post Inside Srixon’s quiet golf ball evolution on the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post Inside Srixon’s quiet golf ball evolution on the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

There is a distinct lack of vanity on the Srixon tour truck.

Walk into the equipment space at any signature event this season, and the talk of the gear community invariably centers around the brand’s rapid takeover of the iron category. The crisp lines of the ZXi series have captured the imagination of golf purists, but focusing entirely on Srixon’s iron success invariably misses the mark on the foundation of that success.

The real, unheralded hero of Srixon’s 2026 PGA Tour campaign isn’t cutting through the turf — it’s flying through the air.

Srixon’s premium ball franchise has quietly undergone an incremental, highly calculated evolution to meet the precise aerodynamic and spin demands of modern tour fields, cementing its status as the ultimate weapon for players who make their living within the 175-yard scoring envelope. Make no mistake, off the driver and long clubs it’s as strong as anything out there, but where I find the Z-star magic to be is in the mid-irons and around the greens.

Take a look at how Srixon’s tour staff is utilizing each of the company’s Z-Star golf ball options to their advantage.

Cracking the mid-iron compromise: The Z-Star Diamond

For a long time, elite ball-strikers faced a frustrating compromise. If they wanted a ball that cut down on driver spin to maximize efficiency off the tee, they often had to sacrifice the vertical holding power required to stop mid- and long-irons on firm, tucked pins.

The development of the Z-Star Diamond effectively erased that compromise, and its validation across the 2026 season has been impossible to ignore for players like J.J. Spaun. Before finding the Diamond, Spaun bounced between models because standard options either ballooned in the wind or dropped out of the sky too early on mid-irons. By pairing the Diamond’s unique high-iron spin profile with his progressive cavity-back setups, Spaun has secured an incredibly stable launch window that holds its line regardless of crosswinds.

Srixon Z-STAR DIAMOND

With a blend of greenside control and long-game distance, the new Z-STAR ♦ DIAMOND also delivers the unique benefit of increased spin on long and mid Iron shots.

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A similar story of precision engineering over marketing hype played out for Nico Echavarria. When Echavarria made the strategic switch to the Z-Star Diamond at the beginning of the year, he was searching for a tighter launch window on demanding course designs.

That search was validated in dramatic fashion at the Cognizant Classic on PGA National’s notorious Champion course. Facing heavy, switching coastal winds and forced carries over water, Echavarria put on an absolute ball-striking clinic, gaining over 8.5 strokes on the field via approach shots and short-game scrambling.

The ball didn’t balloon into the breeze or skip past the pin on long-iron approaches; it held its trajectory seamlessly, validating the Diamond’s design intent of delivering high iron spin without sacrificing high-velocity distance off the tee.

The validation of the Diamond profile isn’t limited to guys looking for more spin; it’s also the bedrock for players who hit it with maximum velocity. Keegan Bradley relies heavily on the Z-Star Diamond to anchor his characteristically aggressive compression profile. 

As one of the tour’s most intense ball-strikers, Bradley’s heavy, downward strike requires a ball that can withstand incredible shear forces off the iron face without shedding necessary flight stability. The Diamond hits his precise parameters by delivering high-spin stopping control on full iron shots while offering a crisp, clickable acoustic feedback around the greens that lets him navigate demanding tournament pins with immense touch.

An equally compelling case for Srixon’s core stability can be found in the consistent rise of Andrew Novak. Armed with the Z-Star Diamond, Novak has carved out a highly disciplined season anchored by five top-25 finishes. For Novak, the Diamond provides a reliable buffer against changing tournament conditions, allowing him to optimize his iron launch vectors and execute short-iron approaches with immense control over the ball’s final roll-out out of varying cuts of grass.

High velocity and visual windows: Staying in the XV

Srixon Z-STAR XV

Z-STAR XV provides maximum ball speed for unmatched Driver and Iron distance. Its premium 3-piece construction gives skilled players complete tour performance, tee to green.

Buy Now$54.99 from Dunlop Sports

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On the firmer, maximum-compression side of the lineup sits the Z-Star XV, a ball engineered to withstand heavy, high-speed impact while maintaining micro-targeted predictability. 

Sepp Straka has ridden this specific platform to an incredibly consistent 2026 campaign, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and making10 cuts in 14 starts. Straka, known for his exceptionally straight and disciplined ball flight, utilizes the XV to establish a bulletproof baseline where his miss-hits stay within manageable parameters. Even during demanding stretches on firm greens, the XV’s aerodynamic consistency kept him inside the top tier in virtually every ball-striking metric, ensuring that a slight strike variance didn’t translate into a missed weekend.

The dynamic nature of these tour-level ball validations was perfectly illustrated on the grandest stage at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

On paper, Straka’s profile makes him the quintessential candidate for the Z-Star Diamond. He delivers a pristine, repeating compression strike that would naturally benefit from the Diamond’s elevated iron-stopping power.

Seeking to maximize vertical stopping control on Shinnecock’s notoriously glass-like, perched greens, Straka actually put the Z-Star Diamond in play for the opening round, turning in a respectable 72. However, after a challenging second-round 75 that led to a missed weekend, the strategic realization became clear.

Because Straka naturally flights a flatter, piercing draw with virtually every club in his bag, the Diamond pushed his peak apex slightly outside of his visual comfort zone. He immediately swapped back to his familiar Z-Star XV for his next start at the Travelers Championship.

The lower-spinning, wind-cutting XV immediately restored his ball flight to the exact trajectory window he needs to see. It stands as a perfect case study of how crucial visual launch windows are at the elite level—where a minor variance in peak height can completely disrupt a player’s shot imagery.

Uncompromising standards from 175 Yards and in

When analyzing elite precision on the PGA Tour, Hideki Matsuyama remains the ultimate gold standard for meticulous gear selection. Matsuyama is notoriously uncompromising about his equipment specifications, demanding a golf ball that produces instant auditory feedback and unmatched ball speed off the face, combined with complete predictability around the greens.

Relying on the firm, wind-piercing profile of the Z-Star XV, Matsuyama has put together an incredibly resilient 2026 season. His trademark aggressive compression requires a ball that can withstand incredible shear forces. The XV’s proprietary Spin Skin+ coating — a specialized high-friction layer that digs deep into wedge grooves — ensures that his launch angles and spin rates remain perfectly uniform, fueling his top-tier rankings in both approach play and greenside scrambling all season long.

That identical reliance on predictable flight and elite short-game feedback is shared by Shane Lowry and Ryan Fox, two wind maestros who rely on heavy compression to cut through harsh conditions.

Lowry’s world-class short game relies entirely on low, checking wedge shots that require immediate friction on the second bounce. He currently ranks among the elite on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach, a stat heavily aided by Srixon’s proprietary Spin Skin+ coating. This micro-engineered, high-friction urethane layer allows the ball to deep-engage with wedge grooves on partial shots, giving Lowry that signature stop-on-a-dime control without altering his launch profile on full iron swings.

Fox similarly utilizes the XV’s low-drag design to maintain a piercing trajectory over long distances, trusting that his high spin rates on short approach shots will transfer seamlessly into controlled drop-and-stop behavior on the putting surface.

Perhaps the ultimate validation of Srixon’s engineering philosophy is Lucas Glover, a player who famously operates without a restrictive, full-bag equipment contract. Every single piece of gear in Glover’s bag has to earn its spot based strictly on raw data and personal performance.

Glover has long been one of the premier ball-strikers on tour, consistently ranking near the top of the field in Proximity to the Hole from the critical 150-to-175-yard zone. He pairs the Z-Star XV with his choice of precision cavity-back irons because it provides a firm, clicking acoustic profile that gives instant feedback, while the FastLayer Core — which features a progressive compression gradient that is soft in the center and firm on the edges — ensures uniform energy transfer. 

When you are attempting to drop iron shots inside a 30-foot circle from the rough on Sunday afternoon, a fraction of a percent of variance in ball manufacturing can ruin your tournament. Glover’s continued reliance on the XV proves that Srixon’s evolutionary, detail-oriented approach to ball manufacturing isn’t just keeping pace with modern equipment—it is quietly setting the tour standard for competitive reliability.

By The Numbers: The decisive 2026 tour data

When you move past subjective feel and look strictly at the advanced metrics compiled across the 2026 season, the statistical footprint of the Z-Star lineup reveals exactly why it is winning the battle of the margins. The tour is won by eliminating variance, and the micro-data from approach play and greenside scrambling highlight a distinct pattern of efficiency among Srixon staffers.

In terms of pure approach consistency, Sepp Straka’s iron play has been pristine. Powered by the low-variance aerodynamic profile of the Z-Star XV, Straka has gained a remarkable 0.696 strokes per round on the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, a premium metric that places him 15th on the entire PGA Tour. Behind that number is an exceptional accuracy rate from the fairway and intermediate cuts, where the ball’s compression window translates directly into micro-targeted distance control.

Keegan Bradley has backed up his heavy strike with robust baseline execution. Over recent multi-tournament stretches, Bradley has displayed immense approach upside, gaining an impressive 0.451 strokes per round in Strokes Gained: Approach during his most locked-in ball-striking stretches. He pairs that with elite touch around the complexes, picking up 0.260 strokes per round around the greens to rank 28th on the entire tour.

Hideki Matsuyama has backed up his meticulous testing with staggering scoring metrics. Matsuyama ranks 27th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach with an impressive 0.403 mark per round, showcasing his surgical mid-iron precision. More impressively, his short-game control has been near the top of the field, ranking 19th on tour in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (0.328).

Shane Lowry matches this relentless standard inside the scoring zone, capturing a stellar 0.412 average per round in Strokes Gained: Approach to solidify his rank at 26th on tour.

The data is just as telling when evaluating the short-game and scrambling metrics for the rest of the staff. Andrew Novak has turned the Z-Star XV into a scoring shield, operating at a premium tier around the greens. Novak currently sits inside the top 75 on the PGA Tour in overall Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green with a steady 0.111 mark. More impressively, over recent competitive stretches, Novak has translated that consistency into a stout 56.91% scrambling rate from the rough. This capacity to control launch angle and grab the turf out of heavy lies is a direct product of the uniform urethane cover friction engineered into the modern XV.

Furthermore, when the pressure mounts, this predictability filters directly into raw tournament execution. Lucas Glover capitalized on the gradient core’s structural consistency to finish 7th in total Strokes Gained: Approach during his deepest run of the spring, heavily aided by elite field proximity out of the rough.

Across the board, whether it is Nico Echavarria ranking first in field scrambling efficiency to gain over 8.5 total strokes on the field at PGA National, or Novak picking up critical fractions of a stroke on the field strictly on short approaches, the numbers confirm that Srixon’s quiet ball evolution is paying massive dividends where it matters most: the scorecard.

The tour breakdown: Who plays what

Want to overhaul your bag for 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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