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Golf Tips and Lessons November 15th, 2008

Gate Drill can help your putting | Golf Tips

Lessons for Golf

Here is an oldie but goodie drill for putting that is making a big comeback, thanks to a company called Momentus. They make many well-made teaching aids for golfers of all abilities and ages.

This one is called the gate drill. If you don’t want to pay the $50 fee for the device itself, you can make your own for with some supplies you most likely already have.

Pictured on the left is a simple practice putting station with two golf tees and a string representing your line to the hole. On the right is the Momentus teaching aid that does the same thing.

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Gimmies take away satisfaction of making putt for birdie

Golf Lesson

You’re playing with your regular foursome and hit a great iron shot up onto the green with your ball landing only two feet from the hole.

What do most weekend players do next? They walk up and knock the ball away, giving themselves the putt either before or after their partner said, “that’s good.”

Not only did you break a rule, but you’ll never know if you actually would have made the putt.

You’ll forever lose the satisfaction of making a real birdie since you didn’t actually putt the ball in the hole.

Golfers do this everywhere, on every course, and they’re breaking the rules every time they do it.

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Golf tips from a pro

Golf

There is not much movement needed to make short putts, but we often leave the green with a sour taste because we miss one too many of them. The problem is we get so caught up in mechanics, that we forget how simple they really are.

The best way to start to make more short putts is to practice them and learn to free your mind. I’m going to give you a few drills and games that you can do to improve your putting.

* Place six tees surrounding the hole, about 2 feet from the hole. Play a putt from each spot until you can make them all in a row a couple of times. Then try to make them with your eyes closed. Listen, too. Hearing the ball going in the hole will help to build your confidence.

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Golf tips: getting the kids started

It is definitely a great idea to get your kid or kids started out in this great game early and correctly.

It teaches them so many wonderful things like self control, honor, respect, teamwork, problem solving and the list goes on, and on.

Your child does not have to be the next great thing in the game, just get them started and just watch what happens.

You do not have to go to the golf course to work on this game with kids. Keep it fun, I would suggest getting them to enjoy putting first. Any decent simulated putting green will be fine.

Once they learn some basic rules and etiquette start taking them to your nearest driving range or par-three golf course to learn the full swing and how to play the game. If you are not sure of the basics yourself, get the “summary of the rules of golf” for juniors from the USGA or PGA. Your local pro can help you. Good luck and keep it simple.

All golfers no matter their abilities, from amateur to professional, continuously seek to drop golf scores by one or two strokes. For most, it is a never ending commitment to practice, driving on the range, and practice sessions spent with a golf professional. For golf enthusiasts seeking guidance, there are several easy insider’s secrets you can implement that can significantly improve your golf score.

Begin with with your swing. A sage bit advice is to try to develop a good sense of rhythm in accordance to your swing and golf game. There are plenty of golfers who get themselves into a bad rhythm simply because they rush themselves through their swing. Slow it down and you gain more control over the club face with determines the direction of the ball goes[/spin]. The truth is by taking your time and developing a steady swing it can save you on those poorly hit shots, thus saving you a stroke or two.

Many golf rounds are ruined by bad putting. The second piece of advice to shave some strokes off your golf game is to change your putter to one that is more suitable to your tempo and swing. Many times golfers tend to use a putter that is either too light or too heavy for them. This can lead to either over hitting or under hitting the golf clubs on the putting green, not to mention what it does to your line of the put. That is why the putter of choice for many golfers is a belly putter, it’s a putter with an extended shaft that pokes the golfer’s belly, they’re able to regulate their putting stroke better since the weight distribution is so much better.

When playing golf, you should also use the right tees to enhance your performance. A lot of beginners achieve better results when they use a tee that positions the golf clubs higher from the ground. This can help the golf player who needs that extra height get off a clean drive without worrying about hitting the turf.

Prior to beginning a round of golf, make sure you are properly outfitted for the game. Start with a good pair of golf shoes so your feet not only feel good but help your overall posture during the swing. After that, there are many little things that cumulatively improve your experience on the course. When looking at golf accessory you have a sizable list of golf aids. golf towels are best made of absorbent cotton so it can absorb any sweat on your hands and clean your clubs. Other golf items include:

• divot repair tool
• statistics tracker
• golf scope

A final insider’s secret to consider in reducing your score on the course is to lighten up your approach to the game and enjoy the course and the playing experience. Many golfers are too focused on winning the match and can play particularly poorly as a result of this hyper-competitive though process. Many golfers will tell you that positive thinking does more to help a golf game than many of the other insider’s secrets one can take into account.

Also, remember that all the golf items you wish for also make presents for golfers for your friends. With the holiday season coming up, these gifts and accessories are something your golf buddies would really appreciate.

Being new to golf has its advantages, first of all you have not learned any bad habits that need to be broken. You are starting out with a clean slate and it is much easier to learn good habits from the start then to unlearn bad ones.

Many new golfers tend to go through the same learning curve and go for the big drive as opposed to learning another, just as essential skill which of course is to learn to putt correctly.

First of is to get your self some decent golf clubs, your local golf equipment shop should be able to help you here as most of the good one employ golf pro’s who can advice you correctly about a good choice of clubs and putters.

Men’s golf equipment varies as will your own needs so make sure you get this very first step right as well.

Putting may not see like a lot of fun to work on but it is crucial if you want to keep your scores low. Most beginners make the mistake of going out to the driving range and hitting ball after ball with their driver believing that the only way they are going to get good and hopefully break 80 is by hitting a 300 yard drive.

This is a big mistake, what you need to remember is that a missed three foot putt will cost you the same amount of strokes as a 300 yard drive.

So how do you get good at putting? You get good a putting by learning the fundamentals and by practicing. Here is an often overlooked putting tip for beginners and experienced golfer alike.

Read the Break

When you are learning to putt you want to learn how to read the greens. This takes time but there are certain things that you can do to help the learning curve.

First if you belong to a home course take several balls out onto the course and just putt around the green. Look for any general tendencies, for example, if there is a lake around you may be surprised to learn that the greens, everywhere on the course, tend to break towards the water.

Then walk around on the greens and look and feel. There is a reason that the pros walk around their putts, not only are they looking for the breaks they are feeling with their feet the subtle breaks around the green.

Once you have done that stand on the side of the green and take a look at all the breaks on the green, see if there are any levels and which way it slopes. All of this information will be very helpful to helping you learn how to putt in actual playing conditions.

Ever seen a grown man cry? Chances are it was on the green. What is it about the green, a putter and golf ball that can turn grown confident men into gibbering wrecks?

It’s called pressure and golfers have a name for it when the pressure gets to a fellow player, they call it “The Yibs.”

As you stand over the ball it dawns on you that everyone is watching you, you are center stage and everyone bar your playing partner is willing you to mess up. It’s not a nice a nice feeling and effects a lot more golfers than let on.

Take your time applies to all golf shots but especially to on the putting green. We’ve all seen the pro miss on TV and heard the commentator say “he rushed it.” What he means is, the player just wanted the pressure to end as soon as possible and so he hurried his shot so he could get off the green.

As well as taking your time, thoroughly read the green, take into account the conditions as you walk around to view your shot from behind the hole. Picture the shot going in, breath deeply and when you are ready approach, address and play your shot with confidence.

Club houses are full of golfers who reacg greens in regulation and yet can’t get a handicap in single figures. Practice your putting just a much as you practice your driving.