The post Gary Player: Stop making this mistake and start hitting more fairways appeared first on Golf.

The post Gary Player: Stop making this mistake and start hitting more fairways appeared first on Golf.

Power might be king in the current era of golf, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore accuracy off the tee. If you can’t find the short grass at a decent clip, it won’t matter how far you hit the ball.

Hitting fairways at a higher percentage doesn’t always require making swing changes. In fact, by making some simple adjustments in your setup, you can easily up your fairways hit without making any changes to your swing.

Gary Player recently published a fascinating post on this subject on X, which you can see below. In it, he explains that a huge mistake he sees recreational players make is trying to hit the ball straight. It may seem like a counterintuitive line of thinking, but once you break it down, it makes a ton of sense.

Fix this flaw to hit more fairways

Think about the last round of golf you played. How many shots did you hit that would qualify as straight? Now, how many of those shots came with the driver?

If you’re like most recreational golfers, you likely didn’t hit many shots dead straight. As Player said in his post, Ben Hogan used to say the straight ball was a “fluke.” That’s where the trouble starts for the weekend warriors. They always set up for the straight shot.

Trying to hit a straight shot isn’t bad course management, but it’s also not the smartest strategy. Most golfers have a typical shot shape, whether that be right-to-left or left-to-right, and a majority of shots with the driver move in that direction. You should use that knowledge to your advantage.

When you set up for the straight shot, you are giving yourself maximal room for error on either side of the fairway. However, if you know your shot is going to be moving in a predicable direction, aiming with that in mind will make the fairway effectively larger.

For example, if you’re a righty and you fade the ball, line up down the left side of the fairway. So long as the ball moves in its typical direction, you’ll have made the fairway twice as large compared to when you aimed down the middle. If you normally draw the ball, line up down the right.

“If you aim up the middle, you then you cut the fairway in half,” Player says. “This means a shot that draws too much ends up in the rough on the left and a ball that fades too much ends up in the right rough. The game is tough enough, so try to give yourself as much advantage as possible.”

It’s a small tweak, but one that can pay huge dividends if you implement it correctly.

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The post This Tour winner uses an unorthodox method for adding swing speed appeared first on Golf.

The post This Tour winner uses an unorthodox method for adding swing speed appeared first on Golf.

Winter is the worst time of the year for golfers in cold climates. Temperatures are low, courses are closed and daylight is slim. It’s a golf-sicko’s worst nightmare.

For someone like me who grew up in a year-round golf climate, the move up north took some adjusting to. For the first time in my life, golf had a true offseason.

I didn’t love the offseason at first, but I’ve since come to enjoy it. Not only does the offseason allow me time to decompress from the season that was, but it also lets me make changes in my game in prep for the season ahead.

This is much the same approach that the pros take. But when it comes to making some changes, there are certain pros that do things a little but different than others.

Take recent PGA Tour winner Maverick McNealy, for example. In a recent appearance on Smylie Kaufman’s podcast, McNealy revealed one of the ways he adds swing speed in the offseason is by heading to the ice.

Mav’s unique speed training

Everyone wants to swing the club faster, and there are numerous ways to go about it. Some golfers get in the gym to bulk up a bit, while others use speed-training programs. However, McNealy’s method for adding swing speed is a bit different than most.

McNealy, a former No. 1-ranked amateur, grew up playing competitive hockey in California, and he still makes sure to get plenty of ice time during golf’s offseason. The reps on the ice don’t just keep him connected to his former sport, they also help with his golf game.

“I just shoot [hockey] pucks,” McNealy says. “Makes me faster.”

McNealy estimates that if he gets a few hours of ice time during a week, he’ll come back to the course with two to three extra miles per hour on his golf swing.

Much like the golf swing, the motion of shooting a hockey puck requires you to sequence your body in a very specific way to generate power. And while the hockey-shot motion is slightly different than the golf swing, it does force you to use similar muscle groups.

“It’s hard to train the way your body moves in a gym,” he says. “Weights and stuff are generally very one dimensional. Getting all the muscle groups to work together, synchronized together — like I was just sore in random places. I kind of just want to buy a slide board and just fire pucks in the garage.”

McNealy’s method might be unconventional, but it also serves as proof that cross-training can be extremely beneficial to your golf swing. All you’ve got to do is activate the right muscles and you can train your body for golf without even knowing it.

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The post Payne Stewart’s best tip for hitting crisp shots with your irons appeared first on Golf.

The post Payne Stewart’s best tip for hitting crisp shots with your irons appeared first on Golf.

Payne Stewart was one of the best ball strikers of his generation. This much is clear when looking at his resume that includes 11 PGA Tour victories and three major titles.

If not for a tragic aviation accident that took Stewart’s life in 1999, those numbers would surely be higher. But while Stewart may no longer be wis us, we can still learn from his rock-solid swing.

In the video below, filmed during Stewart’s prime, the three-time major winner outlined a common flaw he saw in many golfers’ swings — and a great way to go about fixing it. Check it out and it just may improve your own game.

Stewart’s ball-striking tip

Failure to properly shift the weight during the backswing is a swing flaw that many recreational players struggle with. Either they do no shift their weight at all, or, in an effort to make a big turn, they “reverse pivot” and leave themselves in a poor position at the top of the backswing.

“The proper weight shift is to go from the right side to the left side,” Stewart said.

Just this week, we covered a great feel for getting into the proper position at the top of the backswing. In the video above, Stewart gives us a simple feel to then unload that weight in the downswing.

Once you get to the top of the swing, you’ve got to transfer your weight (and energy) through the ball to hit a solid shot. A great way to teach yourself to do this is by exaggerating the feel.

When you’re making some swings on the range, take a step with your trail foot toward the target after impact. It’ll feel awkward at first, and you might not make great contact with the ball, but when you do this, it’s impossible to leave your weight on the back side.

If you’re struggling to transfer your weight during the downswing, give this drill a shot.

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The post Use this trick to get used to the speed of new greens appeared first on Golf.

The post Use this trick to get used to the speed of new greens appeared first on Golf.

One of the key ingredients in good putting is proper speed. If you can roll a putt with the correct speed, it makes the effective hole size larger and gives you a better chance of making putts.

Proper pace is not only useful for making putts, though. When you’ve got your speed dialed, it reduces three-putts and helps keep big numbers off the card.

When you watch a great putter on the greens, you’ll notice their speed is typically very good. They aren’t having to grind over their second putts because they leave their first roll inside the gimme zone. This should be something all golfers aspire to.

For more on how we can dial in our speed on the greens, we turn to elite mid-am golfer and Bridges Cup participant Taylor Wood.

How to dial in your speed on the greens

Getting your speed correct on the greens is crucial, but it’s not always an easy feat. With different courses having different green speeds, you have to adjust every time you tee it up somewhere new. And if you want your game to travel, you’ve got to get your speed on the greens dialed in at every place you play.

Taylor Wood knows this fact well. As an elite mid-am golfer, he plays in tournaments all over the country — and every time he tees it up somewhere new, he makes it a point to get a feel for the speed of the greens.

How does he do this? It all starts with establishing a baseline.

“I keep it simple and think of my home [course] speed,” Wood says.

Each time Wood arrives at a new course, he starts by putting like he would at home. Often times, the speed of the new greens are not like his home course’s speed, but with that baseline in mind, he can make the necessary adjustments.

One of the drills he likes to rep to get a feel for the speed is placing an item from his bag — like a glove — at a random spot on the greens. Then he rolls a few putts toward it with the goal of getting the balls to stop as close as possible to it.

“I’ll hit some putts where I’m not really focused on making a putt,” he says. “I’m really taking my feel from home, bringing it here and hitting some putts to understand how to recalibrate.”

If you’re playing a new course, it might be wise to take a page out of Wood’s book. Before you tee off, head to the practice green and roll putts with the singular goal of getting a feel for the speed. If you can do that, you’ll reduce three-putts early in the round and get off to a faster start.

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The post A clever way to learn about your swing without a launch monitor appeared first on Golf.

The post A clever way to learn about your swing without a launch monitor appeared first on Golf.

With winter weather and col temperatures greeting much of the country, the golf offseason is officially here. And while that may not be welcome news to most, it does represent an opportunity for improvement.

If you’re smart about the way you practice, you can come out of the winter a much better golfer. No, you likely won’t be able to practice these skills outside on the course, but you can revamp your game practicing inside.

Using a launch monitor and simulator will give you lots of feedback on your swing and give you an idea of what to work on. But even without the benefit of technology, you can learn a lot about your club path and strike pattern just by looking at the tee marks on your clubs. GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jonathan Yarwood explains more in the video below.

Learn about your swing looking at tee marks

After using your driver (or other woods) for a while, you’ll start to notice some marks on the face and sole from where the tee is contacting the club. But before you wash off those marks, take note of the patterns you see.

“You can learn a lot about the path of your golf club from the tee marks underneath it,” Yarwood says.

In the video above, Yarwood notes that the tee marks on his driver are cutting across from the top left to the bottom right of the sole. From this pattern, he can immediately tell that his club path is working from inside to out through the impact zone. If his swing path were outside to in, those marks would be moving in the opposite direction, from upper right to lower left of the sole.

You can also see where on the face you’re hitting the ball by looking at these tee marks. If the tee marks are mostly around the center of the face, you’re doing something right. However, if these marks are scattered around the face, you’ll want to work on improving the quality of the strike.

“[The tee marks] tell the tale,” Yarwood says.

For those without access to a launch monitor, this is a clever way to learn about your swing — and understand what needs to improve.

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The post A clever trick to determine which way your putts break appeared first on Golf.

The post A clever trick to determine which way your putts break appeared first on Golf.

Becoming a great putter requires you to master two crucial skills. One is, of course, the putting stroke itself. The other is reading the green.

Without the proper read, you’ll never make many putts. You could have a stroke as smooth as Ben Crenshaw, but if you aren’t reading the correct break, you have little chance of sinking anything.

Everyone has their own method for reading greens. Some people rely on their eyes while others use their feet. Some people read putts only from behind the ball, while others stalk all the way around the hole. There’s no one right method — all that matters is that you find one that works for you.

That said, there are certain tricks you can employ to incorporate into your own routine. Check out one below from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Andrew Rice.

A trick for easy green reading

One of the most important things to keep in mind when reading greens is which way the grain is growing. Simply put, this is the direction the individual blades of grass are pointing when they lay down. Bermuda greens are well-known for having grainy surfaces, but just about every grass type is affected by grain.

When you’re reading putts, it’s important you note which way the grain is growing. There are certain tricks you can use to determine this (which we’ve covered before), and Rice has another one you can add to the list.

“Grain grows downhill,” Rice says. “Bermuda grass, bent grass, it all has grain and it all grows in a certain direction. Grain grows downhill.”

You can often determine the direction of the grain based on how the grass looks. Grain growing away from you will be shiny while grain growing toward you will be darker.

“When you step onto a putting green I want you to start looking for color,” Rice says. “The color is going to indicate the direction of the incline.”

Once you start noticing different colors for upslopes and downslopes, it will become much easier for you to read greens. Take note of the color in different parts of the green next time you step on the putting surface. If you do, you’ll likely find yourself holing many more putts.

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The post Learn how to chip from different grass types by doing this appeared first on Golf.

Chipping off of different types of grasses can be a tricky proposition. When you’re used to hitting off one type of turf, switching things up can be a challenge.

For example, up in the northeast, rough around the greens is typically thick and lush. It requires an open face and aggressive swings to get the ball to pop out and onto the green. If you’re playing on Texas, though, the rough is non-existent. Instead, you’re hitting off of tight and grainy Bermuda lies that need a totally different technique.

If you want your game to travel well, it’s imperative you learn how to adjust your technique depending on the conditions. This isn’t always easy, but in order to become a truly elite player, it’s absolutely necessary.

Adjust your chipping technique based on the grass

Drew Stoltz might be one half of the popular podcast Subpar, but he’s also one heck of a mid-amateur golfer. Despite juggling the responsibilities of a budding media career, he’s been a finalist in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball twice in recent years.

Part of the secret to his success is being prepared for any scenario a new course might present. For example, at the Bridges Cup, the lies around the greens were much different than those he sees at his home club in Arizona. But before the competition, he made sure to familiarize himself with the new grass type.

“[The long grass] is the kind of place I want to spend my time,” Stoltz said. “After I hit a handful of these shots, I’ll start to feel how the grass affects the shot. Does it come out dead? Does it come out hot? High, low, those sort of things. These are the areas that I spend my time and I try to develop a feel so that by the time the tournament starts, I’m ready to go.”

It’s obviously important to tune up on the shots you are familiar with during practice rounds, but in order to not be caught off guard during competition, you’ve got to maximize your preparation.

If you’re headed to play a round at a new course, make sure you take some time before the round to get a feel for how the unfamiliar grass plays around the greens. That prep time could be the difference between a personal best and just another forgettable round.

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The post How to use the ground to create power, explained in 60 seconds appeared first on Golf.

The post How to use the ground to create power, explained in 60 seconds appeared first on Golf.

Hitting the ball hard (and far) requires you to have a fast swing speed. The faster you swing, the farther the ball goes. Simple.

Generating a faster swing speed is contingent on several factors, but one of them is the speed you rotate your body. Typically, if you rotate your body faster, you will have more power.

However, when trying to rotate your body faster, you shouldn’t just be focusing on your core. Instead, you need to use the interaction between your feet and the ground to generate speed.

How to use your feet for power

Teachers often talk about how golfers with lots of power “use the ground” to generate swing speed. But what exactly does this mean? It all comes back to Newton’s third law.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This principle is on full display when golfers use the ground to generate power. When pushing into the ground with their feet, the ground pushes back with an equal force.

“By pulling our trail foot back and pushing our lead foot forward, that creates rotation,” says GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Blackburn. “The best players are pulling very hard back with their trail foot and pushing forward with their lead foot.”

This phenomenon in the golf swing is often referred to as “ground reaction forces” and is a driver of power for just about every bomber in the world.

This technique is not always easy to pull off for recreational players, but if you want to up your swing speed, it’s an absolute must. If you can master these ground reaction forces, though, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it becomes to generate swing speed.

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The post Increase your attack angle to hit longer drives. Here’s how appeared first on Golf.

The post Increase your attack angle to hit longer drives. Here’s how appeared first on Golf.

Getting longer off the tee is a goal of just about every golfer, but at the recreational ranks, few know how to go about the pursuit effectively. Exercise and speed training are great places to start, but there is a way to hit the ball longer without increasing your speed, and it all starts with changing how you swing.

With the proper technique, you can add yards off the tee quite easily. The trick is nailing down that technique and applying it to your own game.

You’ve probably heard the term “tee it high and let it fly.” Unlike most cliches, though, this one is quite practical as well. Hitting the ball longer can easily be accomplished simply by teeing it high and increasing your attack angle.

In the video below, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jonathan Yarwood demonstrates a great drill for teaching you how to properly hit up on the ball. If you can implement it into your own swing, you’ll see distance gains in no time.

How to increase your attack angle

Increasing your angle of attack with a driver can be difficult for lots of amateur golfers. Hitting irons and wedges require a negative angle of attack, while the driver requires the opposite. This change in technique between clubs can make achieving the right angle of attack difficult for some to master.

If you’re struggling to hit up on the ball, give the drill above a try. Start by putting your lead hand in your pocket and then gripping the club with your trail hand. Swing back to the top and then to start the downswing bump your lead hip forward and drop your trail shoulder.

“Drop your head back and then throw the club,” Yarwood says. “The drive of the club exits higher, it freewheels more. Stay back and throw it and it’ll get the angle of attack up.”

Once you get the hang of this feeling, take your normal address and try to get the same feeling during the swing. When you do it correctly, you’ll get a positive angle of attack and produce much longer drives.

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The post Fix your aim and alignment with this common household item appeared first on Golf.

The post Fix your aim and alignment with this common household item appeared first on Golf.

Getting into good practice habits is crucial if you are serious about lowering your handicap. Getting reps in is always good, but you need to be efficient in your practice to get the most out of it.

One of the best ways to achieve efficient practice is by using training aids. No matter what issue you’re trying to correct, there’s sure to be a product out there that can help you.

Don’t think that means you need to spend hundreds of dollars to fix your swing, though. In fact, some of the best training aids are extremely cheap — and some can be made out of common household goods.

Use a string as a training aid

If you’ve got a piece of string laying around — congrats! You’ve got yourself a pretty useful training aid. It might sound odd, but if you know how to use it, a few feet of string can be used for all sorts of things.

“It’s huge for me,” says elite mid-amateur Jonathan Bale. “It’s my feet alignment, it’s the clubface, it’s distance from the ball. Just something so simple like that helps me a lot.”

During every practice session, Bale lays a piece of string on the ground pointing at his target line. Not only does it make sure his aim is correct, but he can also make sure his clubface is square before every swing.

“I’ve always had a problem keeping the face square,” Bale says. “So for this, obviously [the string] is perpendicular to the clubface and I can see that my clubface is square from there.”

Unlike an alignment rod, the string can be quite close to your clubhead as you make swings. In fact, you can even put a ball right on top of it and hit shots without affecting your clubhead as it comes through the ball.

If you’re someone who struggles with aim and alignment, look around the house for a piece of string. It might just be the secret to curing your woes.

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