Golf Tips

dobaluchi

Whats the most important golf tip you have been told you focus on that works ?

What do you think is the most important thing for you in hitting a good shot ?

Mr. Larson

Slow the feck down. Can never do it consistently though.

heavyballs

Jabberwocky wrote: »

Slow the feck down. Can never do it consistently though.

i think using this slowing down swing thought can prove to be quite detremental as it results in lack of rhythem and lack of club head speed resulting in the player trying to scoop the ball up as opposed to hiting down on the ball.
yes some swing too fast,this is true but if i'm teaching someone from scratch i try to get a natural tempo going whether that be slow or fast and then work on the other parts of the game

one of the main faults i see is players gripping the club too firmly,do that and your pissing again' he wind from the start

Mr. Larson

I guess that's the issue really. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another.

Some good videos here.

http://www.videojug.com/film/golf-swing-instead-of-hit
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-perform-the-perfect-golf-swing
http://www.videojug.com/film/the-rhythm-of-the-golf-swing

Last one illustrates heavyballs' point about rhythm very well actually.

dobaluchi

I defo agree Jabberwocky about slowing down.

The thing is under stress u default to a swing that tries its damndest to hit the bloody thing and the result is pants.

Trying to build in a swing that takes everything into account that yer supposed to do and for that to become your default swing is what I am trying to do.

For me though moving my back before my arms works a treat.

Sammo13

Since I was a kid, I was told when placing the ball on the tee, always place the logo/name at the back of the ball. So when hitting the ball, zone in on the name and don't move your head until its hit.

Don't complicate the game, keep it simple, swing easy, eye on the ball..

charlieIRL

Jabberwocky wrote: »

Slow the feck down. Can never do it consistently though.

same here.

and keep your head down!!

thegen

heavyballs wrote: »

i think using this slowing down swing thought can prove to be quite detremental as it results in lack of rhythem and lack of club head speed resulting in the player trying to scoop the ball up as opposed to hiting down on the ball.
yes some swing too fast,this is true but if i'm teaching someone from scratch i try to get a natural tempo going whether that be slow or fast and then work on the other parts of the game

one of the main faults i see is players gripping the club too firmly,do that and your pissing again' he wind from the start

Heavy, Are you a Pro?

Halfprice

slow swing seems to work for me also but mostly i need a nice rythm. I can tell well i swing to fast (hard) rather than consistent swing. Best tip was to pick spot few inches ahead of the ball to line myself up properly.

BoardsMember

For me, at various stages of learning golf, the thing to come back to has always been keep the head still. Putting, driving, irons, it's always key for me. It obviously includes keeping your head down, but it also means not swaying. If your head is in the same position throughout the swing, so will most of the other big muscles, and you've half a chance of getting a decent hit on the ball, regardless of swing speed etc

Irishvillian

Sammo13 wrote: »

Since I was a kid, I was told when placing the ball on the tee, always place the logo/name at the back of the ball. So when hitting the ball, zone in on the name and don't move your head until its hit.

Don't complicate the game, keep it simple, swing easy, eye on the ball..

Agree 100% with this i find it really helps,also agree with not gripping the club too tightly.

stockdam

With irons and fairways woods.......hit the big ball after you hit the small ball.

heavyballs

thegen wrote: »

Heavy, Are you a Pro?

no was down to 2,now at 5,teach in a few schools around,have been told i have a good eye in terms of teaching,give lessons to friends for free,use them as lab rats as i am thinking of getting involved in the next few years as going by the improvement in some of my friends i must be doing something right
self thought down to 2 and the only lessons i've ever had(about 6) have been just for info purposes to see what the different coaches thought of my swing

heavyballs

best tip you'll ever get and goes totally against what a few posters mentioned,
don't keep your head down,what i mean is a lot of players keep it down after the ball is gone resulting in the turn and the correct sequence of the swing stopping
does anyone else agree with this
(trying not to be sexist)you see a lot of women with this problem,i often wonder how do they know where the balls gone,i wish my other half would keep the head down that long:D

garancafan

dobaluchi wrote: »

What do you think is the most important thing for you in hitting a good shot ?

Don't hit - swing!

G1032

heavyballs wrote: »

don't keep your head down,what i mean is a lot of players keep it down after the ball is gone resulting in the turn and the correct sequence of the swing stopping
does anyone else agree with this

Yes. I agree.
Sure people will top and skull the ball, even miss the ball, but 99% of the time it's not because they didn't keep their head down. 'Keep your head down' is a comment you hear after someone has hit a shot similar to what I've described above. But keeping the head down isn't the solution.........
You top a ball because your whole body is raising up through impact (and as a consequence the club head), not just your head, and if you're being told to keep your head down to resolve this issue then I'd bet you're not being told this by your local pro. You're being told this by your playing partners, who 99% of the time, don't know what the're talking about when it comes to the golf swing.
I think the best tip anyone could get is not to listen to their playing partners advice and not to listen to the 'tips' they print in golf magazines.

snowy666

I have three things I'm constantly checking;

1). The number one thing for me at set-up is getting a stable base. I actually want a little tension in my right thigh, as it gives me something to build against in the backswing. I then drive from that leg into impact,
2). I agree you're not keeping your head down as such, rather keeping it in a stable position, in relation to the swing. By doing this, it stops me moving too far laterally away from the ball and encourages that turn around and against the right leg.
3). Tempo, tempo, tempo. This could actually be numbers 3 to 10, it's that important. I regularly count 1, 2 in my head when things are getting out of whack. That 1, 2 count goes for EVERY club when using a full swing. It stops me over-swinging. If I start to over swing, my right arm will fold and... well I don't like to think about it tbh:eek:

A lot of people - my previous self included - seem to think you need to swing back as far as you can to gain power. This is nonsense. In actuality, they end up having a decreased club head speed at impact. More controlled, compact swings, using your legs to drive through the shot are very powerful and far, far easier to replicate, giving the consistency we all look for.

Jul3s

The best tip I ever got was to clearly pick a small target and concetrate totally on that point and you'll never be too far away.
Also when people say "keep your head down" they don't mean keep it perfectly still and locked in one position, because that is clearly wrong, what people mean is don't lift your head too early.

shaycl

The best tip I got is to stay connected throughout the swing. Have a look at Ben Hogans 5 fundamentals. I dropped 4 shots this year after applying his principles from playing off 18 for years.

G1032

shaycl wrote: »

The best tip I got is to stay connected throughout the swing. Have a look at Ben Hogans 5 fundamentals. I dropped 4 shots this year after applying his principles from playing off 18 for years.

Good stuff. Fair play to ya. It's a great book I think. Found it helpful myself.

hades

Currently getting lessons myself, and the first thing the pro mentioned was that "i bet people keep telling you your lifting your head" He was right, i was topping the ball an awful lot. But he said, my head wasn't the issue, my right leg was straightening in my back swing, so i was coming up off the ball on my follow through, resulting in my topping. So my 2 bits of advice from my lessons are.

1- Make sure not to straighten your right leg on your back swing.

2- Posture, sit, don't squat into your stance, making sure you have weight on the balls of your feet, but not all of it, to effectively turn through the ball. What you've got to imagine, if you will, is that your giving a kid a piggyback, if your weight is on your heels, you'll fall backwards, and weight all on the balls of your feet, you'll fall forward. So keep it, perhaps 60% forward.... seems to have done the trick for me.

ianuss

heavyballs wrote: »

best tip you'll ever get and goes totally against what a few posters mentioned,
don't keep your head down,what i mean is a lot of players keep it down after the ball is gone resulting in the turn and the correct sequence of the swing stopping
does anyone else agree with this

I received the same tip froma pro recently during a lesson. He said I was keeping my head too still. So still in fact that my head was still looking at the ground after I'd hit the ball. The whole 'head still' thing had been driven in to me from an early age when I first tried golf as a teenager about 15 years ago.

The pro who gave me my recent lesson suggested that my head should follow the rest of my swing and move in the direction of the ball once contact had been made. After all, at the end of your swing, most of your weight should be on your front foot anyway - and this is impossible if you're keeping your head too still.

But the one tip I would actually give you is to go and get a lesson. Even a 30 minute one (probably only ~€30) will give you enough to take away and improve upon. The problem with taking advice from a forum like this is that the information given is just an abstract thought, and you can't quite visualise exactly what you should be doing. A lesson with a pro, at a minimum should be able to do that much.

sweetswing

Pre shot routine, get the feeling of the shot you want to hit, then hit it, I'm always stunned when I see someone just step up and swing at the ball

whizbang

to follow on from the "head up" comments,
Try lifting your head UP as much as possible

Before

you start the backswing:rolleyes:
it helps to give the feeling of stiff spine which contributes enormously to a good backswing, and helps prevent overswinging.
- on that note, has anyone ever seen a video of their golf swing and WASNT swinging back as far as they imagined?

ianuss

whizbang wrote: »

on that note, has anyone ever seen a video of their golf swing and WASNT swinging back as far as they imagined?

Yes, quite recently too. I was actually amazed how short my backswing was. I've since gone to great lengths to try and correct it. I now aim to have my shoulders in line with the ball when I'm driving. My iron play hasn't changed too much though.

AldilaMan

How can so many people be into such things as keeping the head still and all that nonsense . The most important thing in golf is that you picture what you want to do before you strike the ball. That means that you visualise the shot in your head. The more vividly you can do this the better the result (mostly) and that includes imagining wedge shots to the green - where the ball will first bounce and then kick left or right depending on your shot type (draw/fade). How many times do you come to a hole where you have gone out of bounds previously, picture that moment and then repeat it. Deja vu. Think of past good experiences with a vivid picture and swing. The subconscious is much more capable of controlling the muscles than conscious instructions like keep the head still or keep the hands from turning over.

Quote from Jack Nicklaus

“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”

dobaluchi

PARlance

New to boards and golf so go easy!

I've just started golf this year, but very eager and clocking up a lot of hours up at the range and on course. Very pleased with progress so far, no club or GUI yet, but playing rounds between 20-24handicap, not great... but it was a lot higher a few months ago and aim(have a bet on it) is to get to 16 (proper GUI) by end of sept 2011.
Anywho, I digress, my iron game went to sh1t after a few months after being decent, ( it coincided with my Driver, Wood, Hybrid improving...love this game)
I didnt see this anywhere so it might be against logic (i could see how it might lead to bad swing??) but one day up at the range I decided to start taking a few shots by just using my right hand...left hand held behind back to keep balance.

Within a few mins I was hitting it nearly 50% of the distance, straight and with good shape.
I then went back to the 2 hands after 20 shots or so and noticed a big improvement.
I was hitting down on the ball, unlike before, I had also lost my awful hook.
I now do this for first 20 or so balls everytime i go to the range.

Anyone else heard of/tried this before?

I've had 3 lessons over summer but wont be going again till new year, appreciate feedback from anyone playing the game a while in the meantime.

padywhack

Best putting tip I've received is...

"The hole NEVER comes to the ball"

Nicklaus

But just one tip? I concentrate on my knees throughout the entire swing. I try to keep them level all the time - it helps me to stay balanced and to 'stay down'.:)

charlieIRL

sweetswing wrote: »

...... I'm always stunned when I see someone just step up and swing at the ball

played a round with a fella there sunday (never met before - spare spot on timesheet) and for every single shot he stood behind the ball then just went up and hit it. No practice swing or anything, even when putting, and he had a great score at the end of the day. He was playing of 13.