1. Place your feet about shoulder width, and the ball just forward of center by an inch or two.

2. For starters, keep the feet square and not open.  And for most players, I would suggest you use a 60 degree or lob wedge, and not the sand wedge.  It will give you more loft, which will get the ball up easier without your help of scooping.

3. Bend the knees, almost as if you were sitting on a bar stool, this will help you hit the ball fat or behind an inch or so.

4. Follow through like a normal golf shot, with the weight on the left leg and the hips, chest, and head facing the target.

5. If you still struggle, draw a line in the sand.  Straddle the line with the line slightly ahead of the center of your chest.  Take practice swings hitting the line without a ball.  Pay attention to see if you are hitting too much behind or forward.  Make adjustments with your swing, not set up, remembering to always finish the golf shot on the front leg with balance.

6. If you are really fearful of the greenside bunker and there isn’t a lip on the edge of the bunker, putt it.

Give these tips a shot and if you need some more help in this area, give me a call and we will take care of it together.

Tension will destroy any fluidity and smoothness in your swing and make your rhythm, tempo and timing very inconsistent. Remember to “Swing em’ and fling em’. And what I mean by that is to let your arms “swing” and let your shoulder “fling” your arms. They work together. Notice a beginning golfer and how they are all tense in the arms when trying to “hit” a ball. Where as the accomplished player not only “flings” the arms back and up by rotating those larger shoulder, chest and upper back muscles they also swing their supple arms in conjunction with the upper body rotation.

Being tension free has a numerous positive effects for your swing. One benefit is extension. Notice the word “extension”, take away the “ex” and all you have remaining is “tension”. If you “ex” the “tension” you get “extension”.

Imagine hanging soft ship rope from your shoulders. If you rotated your upper body back and through, the ropes would extend as far as possible from the center of the swing. In your back swing don’t try to keep your left arm (right-handed player) straight, however keep it extended instead by being supple in those “ropes”. That extension gives you arc width, which generates swing speed. An effect all long hitters benefit from. Rotating creates centrifugal force. Being tense will reduce any built up centrifugal force your rotation has produced. Too much tension will also inhibit a proper release of the forearms, hands and club head. Let’s go back to that rope analogy. Imagine ropes are hanging from your shoulders and the hanging ends of the rope are tied into a knot. The knot represents your grip. In the forward swing the knot would turn counter clockwise following the rotation of your upper body and your arms swinging down and forward. That counter clockwise turn of the knot would represent your grip. Another words, your right hand would turn over your left hand producing a clubface that went from open (pre-impact) to square (at impact) to closed (post-impact) in the forward swing.

Countless students that I have worked with on this have told me that they feel as though they have no control. That is good because they are now swinging the club instead of hitting at a ball. They are transforming a feeling into their swing that they are now getting out of their own way. Pay attention to your tension and you too will gain control by letting go of your so called control.

Split Handed Drill

Split Handed Drill: Split your hands apart then swing the arms, hands and club to get the feeling of the proper release of the right wrist (for right-handed players) rolling over the left wrist through impact. Do this enough times and you’ll incorporate this feel when you need it, during your swing on the course.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Drill: I can’t over emphasize this enough. Look in a mirror at your set-up, down the line, face on and during your swing. You will see the difference of what you think your doing and what your actually doing.

Rehearsing Impact Drill: Take a mid-iron and find something solid like the corner of a wall and take your set up and press your club head against the wall making sure your club face is square to the direction of the pressure. Be aware of your flat left wrist, left arm against your chest, hips open in respect to your target line and shoulders slightly rotated in the same direction.

Weighted Club Drill

Let me simplify what the club causes at impact to produce these effects. There are five causes that effect the pattern to your golf balls flight.

• Club head speed
• Club head path
• Face angle
• Angle of approach
• Center-ness of hit

Club head speed:

Or the speed to which the club head is traveling during impact. A no brainer, the faster the club head goes through impact the more velocity or speed the golf ball will have, providing you make contact (sorry, I couldn’t help it). If I throw a baseball with fast moving hands the baseball will have more velocity or speed. We call that a “fastball”. If  I toss the baseball underhand with slow moving hands, well, we usually reference that to “slow pitch softball”. So, more club head speed (cause) the more golf ball velocity (effect) which produces a shot that goes farther.

Our first goal: To end up with a long ball flight by generating more club head speed. However, long can be wrong, let’s move on to the next law of ball flight.

Club head path:

This is the path of the club’s head traveling through the impact zone. Now, let’s make an imaginary ball to target line by getting back behind the ball, straddle that imaginary ball to target line with our feet and look straight down that line towards our target with the right foot on the outside or to the right and the left foot on the inside or to the left of that imaginary ball/target line. So, if the shot starts to the left (a pull effect) the clubs head was traveling along a path from the outside to the inside (cause) in respect to our imaginary line during impact. The opposite holds true for a shot that starts right (a push) of the imaginary ball to target line. The clubs head traveled from inside to outside with respect to the target line. That doesn’t mean that if the ball started right or left that it will stay right or left, that is determined by the spin of the golf ball.

Our second goal: To end up with a long ball flight by generating more club head speed with a shot that started straight by producing a club head path that was down the line at impact. Now you cringe and utter, “Geeeezz, well it started straight, why the heck did it turn to the right!” Well, let’s move on to the curve of the ball.

Face angle:

There are three face angles. Open, square and closed. Two of them (open and closed) to various degrees. Really open, really closed, just a little open or just a little closed. Square is square. But it’s the position of the clubs face angle in respect to the club heads path that is going to determine the spin or shall I say “the curve of the golf balls flight”. For a right handed golfer, an open clubface (cause) produces a curve to the right (slice effect) and a closed clubface (cause) produces a shot that curves to the left (hook effect). Just a little open or closed with respect to the club heads path would impart less spin to the right (fade) or left (draw).

Our third goal: To end up with a long straight ball flight by generating more club head speed, producing a club head path that was down the line and achieving a square face at impact. “Yeah baby, that’s 300 yards straight down the middle!” “No that was only 200 yards down the middle.” “You may have gotten 300 yards had you got the ball up in the air.” Lets move on to getting it airborne.

Angle of approach:

Another term for this law is “angle of attack”. There are three angles the clubs head will approach impact. Descending down into the ball, ascending up into the ball or level through the ball. One way to think about this is to draw a circle. The circle represents your club head arc. If you were to draw a line straight down from the center of that circle you would intersect the lowest point of the circle. That represents the lowest point of your swing arc. If the ball is just behind or left of that lowest point the club would descend. If the ball was directly at the bottom of the arc, your clubs head would approach the ball on a level arc. And if the ball was just in front of that lowest point or to the right the clubs head would approach the ball ascending up into the ball. You want your clubs head approaching down or descending into the ball with wedges and irons to create backspin so the ball stops on the green. You want your putter ascending up into the ball to create top or forward spin so it will roll to the hole. When you swing the driver, which has less loft than wedges and irons, your ball rests on a tee 1-3 inches off the ground which is placed just in front of your bottom most portion of your swing arc. That way the driver swings through impact at a level approach to slightly ascending so you create less backspin than an iron or a wedge. So with the driver, when the ball lands it can reverse its spin and tumble over to create roll.

Our fourth goal: To end up with a high long straight ball flight by generating more club head speed, producing a club head path that was down the line and achieving a square face at impact. Remember create backspin by hitting down on the ball rather than scooping or trying to get the club under the ball to try and lift it up in the air. This is probably the most important issue regarding ball flight law for the beginner. “You mean I’ve gotta hit down on the ball to get it up in the air?”, my students ask. “Yep, golf’s a game of opposites, lowest score wins”. Lets move on to efficiency.

Center-ness of hit:

You can contact the ball on the toe of the clubface (the farthest part of the clubs face from the golfer) inducing a hook shot. Or, contact can be on the heel (the closest part of the clubs face to the golfer) inducing a slice. God forbid you hit it on the housel (where the shaft is inserted into the head of the club) inducing a …, well I won’t even completely spell it much less say it. It’s golf’s dirtiest word, starts with sh___, but has three letters, not two. You could whiff it. Which still counts as a stroke, but one stroke better than long and wrong into OB (out of bounds) territory. I think most readers of this article understand it’s better making contact in the middle of the clubs face (sweet spot) than anywhere else on the club. The golfer will get a more dynamic efficient strike on the ball by making contact on the sweet spot of the clubface. This does take practice. Lots of good practice.

Our fifth goal: Causing a flight of the ball that was long (club head speed) in respect to which club is being used, started straight (club head path), then stayed straight with no hooking or slicing from side spine (face angle), getting it airborne (angle of approach) with an efficient strike (center-ness of hit). “IT’S IN THE HOLE!”

In summary, it’s very helpful to first know what your club is telling the ball what to do. If you don’t know what the clubs doing to the ball, how do you know what to do to the club? These five laws of flight are set in stone. They’re based on physics, or the natural order of things. Call it what you will, but you can’t descend down into the back of the golf ball and give it topspin, it’s law. It won’t happen. You can’t throw a baseball forward and have it travel backwards.

You can, however, tee it up with your driver. Swing out of your shoes. Make contact directly under the ball with the top of the driver because it was teed up too high. By doing so, you’ll impart backspin on the ball sending it straight up in the air. When it lands around the same spot it started from, your net result will be a drive that went a negative yard. I’ve seen it. Number 2 tee box, Torrey North. He was a friend of mine more than a student. We were laughing so hard after he created that shot, I said “I’ll give you $100 if you can do that again”. Well he tried, but we would have been there all day.

For the athletically inclined, some think that they can fix their swings themselves. It looks so easy, “I can swing like that Tiger, guy”, one might surmise. Or “I was the high school quarterback” or “I made the tennis team” and “excelled in every other sport I’ve tried”. Then after playing a couple rounds or practicing on the range a few times they come to appreciate the talent of a guy like Tiger Woods, but still think they can achieve a game they’d be happy with on their own.

Some just get ready for their company event or that corporate outing by cramming for a test like a college student who hasn’t studied during the semester. They hit the driving range two or three times a couple days before the tournament trying to get ready and only end up with blisters and sore muscles when the tournament arrives. That’s a hard way to prepare. Now I’m not saying that you might not have some sore muscles after some professional help, but more than likely, they’d be the correct sore muscles.

Some might have tried one lesson years ago and didn’t see any immediate results so they cut short their enthusiasm for taking lessons. To others it might be intimidating to take “Instruction”. Yes lessons can be expensive but some might not know the value of how much a lesson, lesson series or golf school has to offer.

A lot of golfers are perfectly happy with their game and just don’t have the time to improve. But if you or someone you know, gets embarrassed, upset, are confused or frustrated you are ready for instruction. There’s a couple of ways to go if you’re looking to improve your golf swing and your golf game.  If you have the time and would like to broaden the learning process, take private lessons.

Private Lessons

A typical series of private lessons works like this: You take a private lesson every one or two weeks depending on how much you can practice. By the end of a series, you should able to try it on the course. This could be one or two months later, or a shorter or longer period of time depending on your schedule and your commitment to the development of your swing. I teach thousands of private lessons a year. I can’t tell you the amount of times after a lesson or two a student has told me they wished they started lessons a long time ago. Private lessons are not the fastest way to learn the game, it’s the fastest way to learn a swing.

Golf Schools

For the student that doesn’t have a lot of time and would like a game evaluation, a golf school is encouraged. Golf schools can be a half to three and even four days of learning. In a golf school we can evaluate your swing along with your game. In golf schools you learn to evaluate the course, selecting the correct club, etiquette, pace of play, order of play, course management, rules. These are all components of the game and are not usually taught in a private golf lesson.

Most golfers are recreational players and are not competing in tournaments. No golfer, whether they’re a beginner, low handicapper, top ranked amateur, or even a professional  want to go out and get embarrassed, remain frustrated, confused or upset. The #1 player in the world, Tiger Woods, can still get upset or frustrated with his swing or game. When that happens he takes a lesson from his golf professional. So it goes with out saying, if Tiger takes lessons to learn why he’s upset at something, so should other golfers.

Call, email or visit my to set up your Private, Semi-private, Playing lesson or Prepare and Play Golf School.

Let’s start with the grip.

When I say You’re…

Grip “Position”… This is relative to positioning the hands clockwise to counter clockwise on the golf club.

“Strong” grip position… Whoa! This has nothing to do with your grip “pressure”. Too many knuckles are visible on the back of your left hand (Right handed players) while a strong right hand means the palm is looking at the sky instead of looking down your ball to target line. Also known as a closed clubface grip.

“Weak” grip position… Uh-Oh! This also has nothing to do with your grip “pressure”. No knuckles can be seen by the student in the left hand while a weak right hands palm is facing the ground. Also known as an opened club face grip which can lead to slices and fades.

“Neutral” grip position…Lovely! Usually 1½ – 2½ knuckles are visible in the left hand. Right hand palm is facing directly down the target line. Produces very little right or left spin on the ball creating a straighter ball flight.

Grip “Placement”… it’s where the hands are placed in a vertical location on the golf clubs shaft. For a full swing (power shot), the hands should be placed a ½” or one finger width from the butt end of the golf clubs grip.

Grip “Pressure”… Wow, look at those white knuckles! “Pressure” is in relation to how tight or loose your holding the club. Stay supple. Keep white knuckling your grip pressure and it sends tension all the way up through the wrist and into the forearms. Which is not good. What’s the proper pressure? Think of a full tube of toothpaste, squeeze down just enough to start a constant even flow. Not much is it? Students usually squeeze the hands to tight.

Next, let’s go to the set-up.

If you’re encouraged to …

“Address” the ball… (take your “set up”). It’s the position of the golfer and their club as they stand over the ball preparing to make a swing or take a shot.

Take your “Alignment”…Square Up. Line up your body to the intended target. The position at which the golfer addresses the ball in general should be parallel to the imaginary ball to target line. By drawing a straight line from the players heels parallel to the left of the target, the players heels, knees and hips should result in three parallel lines and is known as ‘parallel alignment’. The player can be too “closed” pointing to the right of the intended target or too “open” pointing to far left of the intended target. Like a set of railroad tracks, the ball to target line is the outside rail and the heels, knees and hips are the inside rail.

If I say…

How bout’ some “Posture”… straighten the lower spine. No hunching of the back with the chin buried in the chest. A feeling of sticking your butt out and the chin up. Also known as a universally athletic position. Think of a basketball player, shortstop, or a tennis player returning a serve.

Create some “Spine Angle” … from looking down the ball to target line the players spine is bent forward from the hips, not the waste. If there is too much angle in the spine then it’s considered “flat”, not enough angle and I’ll let you know it’s to “upright”.

“Tilt”… looking face on at my students, the tilt of the spine should be to their right while the left side is higher then the right. Don’t lean, just tilt the spine to the right. Remember “Spine Angle” which is observed down the line is not to be confused with “Spine Tilt” which is observed face on.

“Center” your hips… make sure your hips are centered between your feet. A line drawn vertically down from each hip should intersect equally in distance from each foot. Don’t confuse this with having your hips square.

“Connection”… feel the light “pressure” of your biceps against your chest.

“Knockem” … another sensation of having the “tension or pressure” on the insides of your thighs and/or feet. This gives the player a stable foundation during the swing. As an instructor I don’t like the term “tension” except when referring to the build up of torque during the swing. And “pressure” except when referring to how little the player has in the grip and being connected.

“Fan” the feet… by splaying the feet out 25-30 degrees, especially the left foot, this facilitates the golfer to release their hips all the way through to the finish allowing a full turn.

“Relax”… the hands, wrists, forearms, shoulders and upper back all need to feel like a wet noodle. Droop the shoulders, flop the chest, slump the upper back, drape the arms and by all means supple up the wrists and the forearms. Whatever it takes…relax.

“Forward Press”… move your hands left towards the target in front of the ball and the club head, not behind the two. The golfers hands should be just opposite the left inner thigh. Done correctly this permits the arms to be fully extended while influencing the left side of the body to be higher than the right. Which we call… that’s right, “Spine Tilt”.

“Bend” or “Straighten” your knees…exactly what it means. Bend or straighten your knees.

Now finding a golf pro that’s right for you, well, that might take a little more effort. Just because they have the “pro” title, doesn’t necessarily make them a competent teacher. Some important considerations are:

1. The length of time the pro’s been teaching.
2. How often do they teach. Do they teach full time or do they have other duties such as running the pro shop or tournaments.
3. What associations are they members of and are they a member or an apprentice of that association.
4. Does the pro use video technology?
5. Days and hours that they teach.
6. Do they offer on the course playing lessons, short game or putting lessons.

Having been at Torrey Pines for twenty years, one of the most popular questions I get is “Do you teach beginners?” My answer of course is “absolutely”. Other questions are “Do you teach junior, ladies, seniors, the handicapped?” Just because a teaching pro has more experience than another doesn’t mean they only teach the more experienced player. The teaching pro who teaches full time or has more experience has observed more swings than the less experienced or part time instructor. The advantage of an experienced pro is they can frequently reveal the flaw sooner and establish a quicker remedy to the fault at hand. Again, it doesn’t mean they only teach the better player.

Generally, most golf pros better qualified to provide lessons are members of the PGA which stands for the Professional Golfers Association. They become PGA members only after they complete an apprenticeship. The apprenticeship takes about five to six years to complete which includes passing a playing ability test and numerous subject matters from specific business issues to teaching. That’s not to say apprentices or non-members of the PGA are not competent at teaching. There are golf instructors, coaches, club fitters, etc., that are very competent at teaching. They’re just harder to find. Being a member of the PGA or having credentials at least gives the golfer looking for lessons a bench mark to start with.

• Power Game (full swing distance & accuracy)
• Short Game Skills (100 yards and in)
• Putting (execution and green reading)
• Game management evaluation (club & shot selection)
• Mental skills (controlling your focus & emotions)

There are other advantages to a playing lesson. Learning the proper pace of play, order of play, rules, proper golf etiquette, or any of the “little things” that better players and even tour pros do that might not be that apparent to the recreational player. We can focus on any one, some or a bit of all of these during a playing lesson. Not to mention, just enjoying beautiful Torrey Pines!

Give me call and we’ll get you penciled in for that playing lesson you’ve always wanted or purchase a Torrey Pines playing lesson gift certificate.

1. …it’s not proper etiquette to stand on the intended line of putt, extending beyond the hole or behind the ball to see how the putt will break. Most golfers that do this have their own ball mark relatively close to this same intended line of putt. There would be a penalty involved if it was the putters caddy or playing partner.
2. …once a player starts putting, it’s their option to finish, regardless of where their ball lies. They don’t ask. They tell their playing partners “I’ll finish” or they mark their ball.
3. …a player should always mark their ball once on the putting green. It can be cleaned and look at for roundness. There should only be one ball on the putting green while a player is putting. All other players watching should have their ball marked on the green.
4. …that if a player hits a fellow competitors ball while putting on the green, that it’s a penalty for the player that putted and not the player that forgot to mark.