Golfing Tips, Advice and General Help

Thought I'd create this thread as its something that people have suggested and asked for over the last few months. A place for us all to share tips, advice or ask for help from fellow players and posters.

Whether looking for help with your swing, course management or how to play in certain conditions. Looking for a way to shave a few shots off or just gain consistency hopefully we can all use this thread to seek the help we want or just to post something we may come across that may be helpful to others, hopefully we can all help each other out.

So I'll start off by posting something I did on another thread when a fellow poster was seeking advice in how to play in windy conditions:

Mavs Guide to playing in the wind:

-Club up
-Grip down and inch maybe more if comfortable
-Place your ball postion just slightly back of where you usually have it
-Hands ahead of ball at address
-Swing smooth but no more than 3/4 length back and through.
-Never swing flat out when doing this, as the harder you try to hit it the more spin you will impart on the ball causing it to rise/balloon into the wind and get blown back at you.
-The key is do all the above with a smooth swing and this will produce a lower ball flight with more release/roll.

That's how I was taught many moons ago by a good pro when I was a junior and having played links for years found it works a treat.

Also try to perfect hitting your driver off the deck, again you'll need to grip down and address the ball slightly open allow for a fade with the club but the low flight and and run produced with this shot is ideal for winter conditions.

Marcus's tip for when playing a slow round:

Don't take the club out of your bag until you're able to hit your next shot.

I used to get a club out immediately, get irritated by having to wait, and still be irritated when standing over the ball. This resulted in many bad shots. Now I only get my club out when absolutely certain that I can go through my normal pre-shot routine uninterrupted, and I have found that its far easier to concentrate only on the shot, rather than the delay that preceded it.

Marcus, i'd agree with that.
Lots of pros (and Bob Rotella) talk about having a finite amount of concentration available during a round and the idea of turning it on and off between shots.
Like you, i never stand around for 10 minutes holding the club, thinking about the shot. I may have decided on the club and shot but i won't pull it out until you can play.
Same for teeing up. I hate standing around looking at my ball on the tee. by the time the shot comes i've imagined all sorts and am not fresh at all, feeling like i've already played it 10 times!

In all my years playing that thought had not occured to me cheers guys will use that this week when I get back out playing sunday

It definitely works.

I found that I used to grip the club too tightly, plus not be 100% focused on the shot after an annoying wait. Now I can compartmentalize the wait and the shot, and make a decent, uninhibited swing.

nice tip Marcus.
Im currently having trouble bringing my good short game in bounce games/practice to competitive rounds.
Think my main problem is tightening up on putts and chips and not committing/releasing the club head through impact. any suggestions?

struggling with the same thing myself hend - gleaned some useful responses from this thread:

https://www.606v2.com/t10029-advice-for-a-positive-attitude-to-chipping-please

Clearly if your chipping is good in bounce/practice rounds there is nothing wrong with your technique. Sounds simply like your tightening up and applying pressure to yourself as its competitive play. Best advice on this is from Bob Rotellas book golf is not a game of perfect; and that is train it and trust it. Hone your skills and technique in practise and when you get out in comps simply trust what you have learned and practised, a big release of breathe before making the storke to relieve unwanted stress and anxiety then pull the trigger

actually just bought it online a few days ago Mav! picked up the one specifically for putting too while i was at it. hopefully they make a difference. in the short term i starting putting from just off the green which is always a bit of a lottery.. particularly as the ground gets a bit softer.
I've told myself that starting in 2 weeks time (basically end of competitive season in our club) that im chipping everything that is off the fringe. hopefully play myself through the barrier and come out a bit more comfortable with it on the other side

They really are good books and well worth picking out what applies to you. I like his simple approach and how he tells it in form of experiences rather than instruction

How do you overcome the fear of returning to the game?

I have not played since the end of August (when I shot one of my worst scores for years on the back of poor ball striking for a month) for various reasons but planned to go the range last weekend when I has some free time. When the moment came however I remembered my poor play and had what can only be described as fear of hitting shots in case I was terrible. So instead I popped on the ps3 and didn't even bother to go to the range.

This awful feeling of fear and doubt still exists which is knocking my motivation to pick up the clubs again. How can I get over this?

McLaren wrote:instead I popped on the ps3 and didn't even bother to go to the range

This confirms everything i had imagined

Get out some of the old course photos Mac, surely that should wet the appetite??

Mac - like this post of yours written in a such a way as to seeking help from a shrink.

come take a seat on my couch dear fellow and allow me to begin:

firstly i can understand your problem in a roundabout way. as you know i have come back from a long injury lay off, however i was hitting the ball well prior to this. but like you full of doubt and fear about my return.

so best advice from dr mav is, find a way to relax that takes your mind totally away from golf on the journey to the range so as not to fill your head with what if's and doubts. when you arrive at the range take a wedge to start with and instead of doubting yourself picture the best shot you've ever hit with it. begin then to warm up by hitting 10balls with your feet together to allow you to feel how the arms and body work in unison and help to feel the release of the club, hitting the ball like this will prevent technical issues and thoughts as all you will focus on is maintaining balance. Then simply on ball 11 address again with feet together and just before hitting the shot slightly widen stance and hit with the same focus just on balance.

That'll be £300 and I do take cheque,paypal or favours from girlfriends

mustputt

I know you are joking but it might not be such a bad idea, I might start thinking about a trip to coast, that always reignites the passion.


Mav

Actually some ver good advice in there which I will follow when I go to the range this weekend. I might only take a couple of wedges to ensure I do nothing but work on feel.

I have another problem, but I am not sure it is suitable for the golf forum shrink.......................

Mac, about the photos bit i actually wasn't joking. You did a thread with a bunch of pics once and i was actually hoping for more of those. Get to work on that. Two birds / one stone = wet appetite and good thread.........

The golf forum shrink I like the sound of that! Hmm Dr Mav's open couch sessions!

Mac I try to make sure any advice I give is sound and will help if I think otherwise or do not have the answers I'll henstly admit to that, often though of and still do about taking the PGA diploma to help others in golf!

As for your other thing can always PM me dear fellow am happy to help though my hourly rate increases for one to one cases!

Fot those that get a bit tight on a particular shot....

Don't focus on the outcome of what can go wrong, just focus on the technique of hitting the shot.

It all boils down to the fear of the worst that can happen. Picture the shot in your head then commit to it.

Slow play tips. Marcus, good tip but not sure it would work for me, I like to have a club in my hands and just loosely swing it to stay relaxed. What I do try to do though is use up all my available time. If I know that I'll be waiting on the next tee, I'll pace all round the green looking at my putt from all angles etc. Basically anything to use up time that would otherwise be non productive.

Good thread Mav

D4S, good one re using the available time. I will use that.

I hate standing around on the tee so in friendly games if there's no one behind i will just spend the time practising putting, chipping etc, however thinking about it, i could just be spending more time on the real putt.

Seems obvious now!

For driving,I was told to tee the ball that is in line with the inside part of your heel .it has straightened my driving amazingly

Would someone like to moderate that last piece of advice...

Yankee what do you mean when you say straighten the club?

BlueCoverman wrote:Would someone like to moderate that last piece of advice...

Lets not let all threads descend into a mod squad bash.

I would like to know like Mac though what on earth is meant by straighten the club!

Maybe he bent the shaft over his knee on the previous drive?

Marcus wrote:Maybe he bent the shaft over his knee on the previous drive?

Sorry got confused with two different tips I got.meant to say it has straightened my drives.Must the old age creeping in.

BlueCover:
That was one of the funniest posts I've seen on here.

Cheers Kwini

Apologies Mav, my comment was in no way meant to be a bash at the mods...

Spaceman

sorry to hijack your thread but here goes......

The towel under the arms routine is a well known drill and promotes some very useful habits but you do have to be wary of coming back too far on the inside if you practice that drill.

Personally, I'd just try to get a feeling of keeping the arms in front of your body and turning low and wide away from the ball. Keep your right elbow tucked in to get the compact feeling you are after then start your downswing by turning round with your hips back towards their starting position (NOT sliding forwards) which in turn then pulls your shoulders and finally your hands through which is the correct sequence.

Hope this helps you achieve a nice powerful, compact swing

Good tip there D4S. Keeping the hands out in front of the body is something I find key to my swing, but have found the towel drill as you say allows to get too far inside.

Blue: no wrroies mate I found the comment comical and had a little chuckle but just felt in the climate we were suffering yesterday it was a good idea to say wht I did

Fair enough Mav, I'm glad it made you smile!

I did read all that was going on yesterday but refrained from getting involved...until the mischief making Yankee appeared on this thread and then I couldn't resist!

Cheers D4S - Thanks for the response. I have a tendancy to sway towards the ball on the downswing and shank the ball. To correct this I really focused on attacking from the inside, which worked great for a while, but now I can shank it that way too! The pro who last year got me concentrating on the inside attack is now saying I'm over doing that and should think more about a more neutral/staright up and down swing and think about pulling the arms 'around' me on the follow through, keeping the left arm close to my side, but results are a bit mixed.

I'm trying to develop a reliable fade as it's my natural shot. Can anyone give me some advice on setup?

My thinking was if I align myself to the left of the target but keep the face pointing at the target then the ball will start left and then fade in. Does that sound correct?

I often hit the shape I want, but it starts down the middle and then fades. Should I align myself further to the left?

sounds about right to me!

shclaff wrote:

Play to your natural shot schlaff. Many great golfers have a natural fade - me included - and they aim a little left and let it fade into the middle. In the past, when my 'fade' was more like a 'slice' I have aimed and hit the ball out of bounds, trusting it would come back in bounds!

not sure aiming further left is a sustainable solution. i'd have thought that would be more likely to promote a slice than a fade. set up square and make sure you complete the rotation, finish with your chest pointing toward the target. i'm certainly not qualified through experience or skill to offer thorough enoughadvice on this so would be interested to hear the advice of others too. good luck!

The way I was taught to play a fade is to set the body alignment to the path on which you want the ball to start and aim the clubface at the point where you want the ball to finish. Then swing on the path of your body alignment as you would for any straight shot. (Simplified open stance and body aimed at start point, clubface aimed square to target line) This always has for me produced a nice controlled fade. (Is also the way big Jack used to play it)

For a draw do exactly the same thing but obviously body aims different way to a fade(closed to target line)

Thanks all, seems as though I'm sort of on the right track. Practice needed. Cheers for the suggestions

Remember when practicing to pay attention to where the ball starts relative to your target line. Its vital in understanding your swing. Not enough know about the new ball flight laws either. The old rule used to be the club path influences the direction of the ball and the club face imparts the spin to curve it but in fact its the other way around. Club face influences the starting direction of the ball more than the path and the path imparts the spin. You can stand what ever way is comfortable for the shot but ultimately a closed face to the swing path is a left shot and an open face to the path is right shot.

Next time you are practicing place an alignment stick or old shaft along your target line about 2 feet infront of your ball and during and after each shot think about what side of the target line you are going to start the ball and then observe ball flight to see if you got it right. If you practice on a grass range you could stick the stick in the ground and think about starting the ball either side of that stick.

When hitting a half shot the standard advice includes:

1 - Grip down the shaft
2 - Shorter swing
3 - Slower swing

I try to do a little of all three as doing only one is too big a change unless you practice a lot. Three smaller changes have the same overall effect but feels closer to a normal swing.

Lairdy wrote:Remember when practicing to pay attention to where the ball starts relative to your target line. Its vital in understanding your swing. Not enough know about the new ball flight laws either. The old rule used to be the club path influences the direction of the ball and the club face imparts the spin to curve it but in fact its the other way around. Club face influences the starting direction of the ball more than the path and the path imparts the spin. You can stand what ever way is comfortable for the shot but ultimately a closed face to the swing path is a left shot and an open face to the path is right shot.

Next time you are practicing place an alignment stick or old shaft along your target line about 2 feet infront of your ball and during and after each shot think about what side of the target line you are going to start the ball and then observe ball flight to see if you got it right. If you practice on a grass range you could stick the stick in the ground and think about starting the ball either side of that stick.

Good advice although it's interesting that people are saying "the new ball flight laws" - they've always been that way it's just that ex-players etc and people like Brandel Chamblee don't understand what makes the ball fly the way it does. If it's the swing path that dictates the starting direction and not the face angle, why doesn't the ball go into the ground when you hit down on a wedge shot?

shclaff wrote:I'm trying to develop a reliable fade as it's my natural shot. Can anyone give me some advice on setup?

My thinking was if I align myself to the left of the target but keep the face pointing at the target then the ball will start left and then fade in. Does that sound correct?

I often hit the shape I want, but it starts down the middle and then fades. Should I align myself further to the left?

That's a perfect demonstration of face controls start direction and swing path controls curve.

A tip I was once given by a very old but once exceptional amateur at my old club was when playing pitch shots from up to 100 yards to attempt to pitch the ball on the top of the flagstick. Reason being, he said, was that amateurs are almost always short of the target when pitching and if it spins, it's even worse by the time the ball stops.

My pitching made an immediate improvement when implementing that.

Another tip from the same old guy. If you have a fried egg (plugged) bunker shot to deal with, rather than open the face of your sand wedge, hood it closed instead. Looks odd and you'd never believe it'll get the ball out but if you just hit down behind it, the ball pops out every time. Only problem is lack of backspin but you won't leave it in the trap.

I assume it helps as you hide the bounce of the typical SW if you hood it and it therefore cuts much deeper and underneath the ball. If you leave the blade open you'll have to be extremely aggressive to get the blade under the ball and might end up thinning it into the bunker face.

Try it sometime on the practice ground if you can. Works amazingly well.

NBS those 2 tips really are 2 of the oldest and best tips I was ever given when I I first started playing. We had a club pro that was in the midst of retiring but still used to give out tips to juniors.

The first one about pitching makes you focus purely on the smallest part of the flag the tip so takes all technical thoughts out and makes you far more accurate a pitcher and means a lot more shots close rather than short like you say.

The bunker one, hooding the club face makes it pop straight out with more roll and less spin but highly effective it was explained to me it works by virtue of the toe end of the club digging deep into the sand causing the ball to run up the clubface an pop out and release to the target. In my mind the single best bunker tip I've ever had.

Another one the old sage used to tell us for warming up, make the last dozen shots in the net or on the range the exact same shots you will look to play the first 3 holes, so by time you got to them rather than having early round nerves you'd already played an executed those exact shots on the range and played them stress free. After that the round used to flow. Still do all of these things to this day

I remember Johnny Miller sort of explaining the hooded SW shot for plugged bunker lies. He even said that if you think about turning the club head over slightly more through impact that the ball will stop quicker. Looking at Mav's explanation turning it over even more at impact must cause the ball to run up the face quicker or something imparting more spin. Not that it will stop on the spot but it would stop the large run outs from these shots. Would imagine that, as always, it would have to be practiced as I can imagine the results of over doing it!

NBS, I think in the good old days the thought of setting up with face at target and swinging left or right of it somehow produced the conditions that the new ball flight laws explain. Due to their swing paths or some other reason their club faces at impact werent quite what they started with at address. Understandably, considering how quickly impact happens, they just never knew this... I suppose if they are swinging agressively out to in or in to out then they subconciously knew if they returned the club head as per address they would get a hook or slice, therefore they 'adjusted' the club head to a more neutral angle to the path. I think.

Maverick wrote:The bunker one, hooding the club face makes it pop straight out with more roll and less spin but highly effective it was explained to me it works by virtue of the toe end of the club digging deep into the sand causing the ball to run up the clubface an pop out and release to the target. In my mind the single best bunker tip I've ever had.

I agree. As long as you have some green to work with, you've got a chance of getting it close.

Mav - what do you do with regards to aiming for the top of the pin now we have laser range finders?

Lairdy wrote:...NBS, I think in the good old days the thought of setting up with face at target and swinging left or right of it somehow produced the conditions that the new ball flight laws explain. Due to their swing paths or some other reason their club faces at impact werent quite what they started with at address. Understandably, considering how quickly impact happens, they just never knew this... I suppose if they are swinging agressively out to in or in to out then they subconciously knew if they returned the club head as per address they would get a hook or slice, therefore they 'adjusted' the club head to a more neutral angle to the path. I think.

I think you're spot on with that. What some of these exceptional players actually did through impact and what they thought they were doing are two different things.

Mercurio wrote:Mav - what do you do with regards to aiming for the top of the pin now we have laser range finders?

IMO that makes it even easier as you have the exact distamce to hit to. Pick the club that will give the distance to land ontop of the pin and watch it stop close by.

The top of the flag gives you the smallest pissible aim point so in your mind all your focus is on this and not on technique or even yardage (even if you have the exact distamce) that is secondary to the actual visual target, try it out see how you get on.

Right chaps after playing my first eclectic round on Saturday, I found I wasn't striking any irons cleanly, so confidence dropped slightly. But the big downer I experienced was on 3 consecutive par 4's, where I had creamed good drives, leaving me a simple 7-iron, 9-iron and gap wedge respectively. All 3 approaches were shanked. After the last shank I stood on the fairway with my arms aloft screaming 'wtf has happened'.