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(29).."CORRECT POSTURE"

....Posture effects not only your balance but also your swing plane. When your posture is too upright, you'll swing the club in an exaggerated curve around you that results in a hook or a pulled shot. When you're bent over too much, you'll pick the club up producing an abbreviated back swing that's so abrupt that it virtually guarantees sliced golf shots.

---Knee Flex:
Your knee flex should match the knee bend of your normal walking stride just as your forward foot fatten on the ground. This is your natural balance flex point and it differs from golfer to golfer, depending on flexibility and body physique. The amount of knee flex is also related to the length of your arms. With proper posture, golfers with short arms require more knee flex than those with longer arms. No matter how much knee flex you have, make sure that your weight is evenly spread from the balls of your feet to your heels and never on your toes.

---Bending From The Hips:
Your body is designed to bend forward from the hips, not the waist. When you bend from your waist, you hunch your back and de-activate your centers of rotation. Your hip joints lock up, thus forcing your hips to move laterally, producing a slide instead of a turn.

By bending from your hips, your arms will hang, tension-free, directly below your shoulders. This also creates room for your arms to swing, and it will establish your swing plane. Notice that when you assume the correct position, your abdomen is retracted upward and inward causing your backside to protrude. Remember that with your spine angled correctly, the weight of your head and shoulders pulls you forward toward the ball during your golf swing and it is your protruding backside that provides the counter weight to keep you in balance.

To get the feeling of the position, imagine that you are about to sit on an above-the-waist three-legged stool. The traditional image of a regular-height stool causes too much knee bend with a squatting appearance.

---Shoulders: The shoulder level check point features your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders with your upper arms adhering lightly to your body as if they were strapped on top of your chest. You're in the correct position when you can drop the club at address, relax your arms and they don't change their angle of hang.

To achieve proper posture...

1... With straight knees, place a shaft across your hips, parallel to the ground.
2... Now push the shaft backwards until your backside protrudes and your upper body bends forward and your weight moves to your toes.

3... Then flex your knees slowly until you feel the weight move back to center of your feet. You are now in correct posture and balance.



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(39).."BUNKER SHOTS"

The Fundamentals of the Splash Shot:

...For the splash shot. always open your club face to maximize the bounce. The shorter the shot, the more open your club face. And be sure to always open the club face before you finalize your grip on the club. Do this by hovering your club head above the ball using only your right hand to aim the club face to the right of the target. Then take your grip with both hands, keeping your club face in place. The problem with taking your grip first, then rolling your arms to open the club face to the ball, is that doing it this way, your arms roll over through impact returning the club face to square or, worse, closing the club face.

Secondly, with the butt end of your club pointing at the center line of your body, open your stance by pulling your left foot away from the target line until your club face aims to the target. By opening your stance, you effectively shorten the length of your left leg and plant your weight in your left hip. This provides a stable platform that encourages you to hit down and through the shot.

To execute the splash shot properly your club swings along your shoulder line, so you should position the ball forward in your stance of your left heel. This opens your shoulders, producing an outside to inside swing path that carves the ball out of the sand.

In taking your stance, work your feet into the sand for stability. With your feet below the ball it guarantees that you'll hit behind the ball, a necessary feature of the splash shot. It also allows you to test the consistency and texture of the sand - information that you need in order to calculate where to contact the sand and how hard to hit the shot. However, take note that when you dig your feet in, you effectively move the hosel of the club closer to the ball, so adjust by standing farther from the ball. For every inch you lower yourself in the sand, move back an inch from the ball.

The final set up key involves the position of your head and spine. It's vital that you hold your head in the center of your body with no spinal tilt toward the left or, the more common error, toward your right shoulder. The weight of your head is significant so if your head and spine lean toward your right shoulder, the rest of your body weight does also, tilting your entire body out of position.

The swing itself is upper-body oriented because your weight starts, stays and finishes on your left side. Your arms swing fully allowing the club to move along your shoulder line.



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(40).."BALL POSITION"

.....A correctly positioned ball is a prerequisite for square contact. The location of the golf ball affects both your shoulder alignment and the steepness of your swing. If the golf ball is too far forward in your stance (toward your target foot), your chest must turn toward the target so that you can sole your club head behind the ball. This "opens" your shoulders and because the club swings where the shoulders point, you're stuck with a slicer's swing path - steep and outside-to-in.

....If you locate the ball too far back in your stance (toward your trail foot) then your chest must point to the right of the target, closing your shoulders and creating a flat, inside-to-out swing path. That's not what you want either.

1... With the ball to far forward, your shoulders align left of the target promoting a slice.
2... With the ball back in your stance, your shoulders align right of the target, the prelude to a hook.

3... Depending on the club, the ball moves about three ball widths from your left cheek, to your shirt logo and finally to your armpit.

The bottom of your arc:
With an iron, your club face contacts the ball just before it reaches the bottom of its arc. When the ball is teed with a wood, contact takes place at the bottom of the arc or slightly on the upswing. Since your left hand is higher on the club than your right hand and you are on your left leg at impact, the bottom of the arc is opposite your left armpit. Thus for your driver, the ball will be positioned opposite your left armpit, guaranteeing that the club will travel level to the ground at impact. With your long irons and fairway woods, locate the ball off your shirt logo and with the medium to short irons, the ball will be positioned farther back opposite your left cheek.

Don't use your feet:
Always relate your ball position to your upper body: feet are a poor reference, since most golfers use their toes to judge ball position and they can give the illusion that the ball position is correct when, in fact, it is not.

You can see how easy it is to be fooled by trying out the following: place a ball in the middle of your body. Now when you draw your right foot back about five inches the ball appears to have moved forward. When you open your stance the ball appears to "back up" just as it does when you flare your left foot out.



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(41).."THE MENTAL GAME"

One of the primary keys needed to unlock your mental game is to become very aware that your emotions affect your brain's chemistry and performance.

Dave Pelz is the master of understanding and teaching the short game. His Short Game Bible digs deeply into the importance and probabilities of golf inside 100 yards.

I am a great fan of Dave's and my insights this week will be limited to his feelings on "Muscles and Adrenaline", because believe it or not there is a definite mental side to this great game of golf.

Dave correctly explains that when a golfer feels pressure his body responds differently than when you are relaxed. On the practice tee where there is no outcome at stake there is little or no self-imposed pressure. However, on the golf course the outcome becomes a primary concern for most golfers. Focusing on the outcome creates this mental pressure and not only affects one's muscles and adrenaline flows, it affects the numerous biochemical or neurotransmitters secreted by your brain.

As a result of this mental pressure and chemical changes in your brain and body, it is impossible to duplicate the same golf shot you have on the practice tee and your ability to perform suffers both physically and mentally.

Dave advises that you counter these pressure situations by making a conscious decision to keep the strong muscles out of your short shots and to swing with "dead hands" in order to beat the adrenaline effect. If you practice with dead hands, he contends that it's a small step to doing the same thing during a match when your heart is pounding and your muscles are pumped full of adrenaline.

Besides being technically superior, what really makes swinging with dead hands work well under pressure is that it forces a golfer to change his focus from the outcome to focusing on the process of having dead hands. When you focus on the outcome of making the shot, you open yourself to the fear of missing the shot. The emotion of fear is the trigger which creates chemical changes in the brain that diminish one's ability to perform and totally destroys any touch you may have had in practice.

Since your mind can only focus on one thing at a time, by focusing on the process of swinging with dead hands a golfer automatically reduces his level of fear and self-imposed mental pressure. If a golfer is mentally strong enough to stay totally focused on the process and not the outcome, he could duplicated his strong muscle practice shots inside 100 yards on the course since there would not be any pressure or adrenaline affect.

Since it's easier to learn using dead hands than to stop chasing the outcome, I recommend following Dave's advice as well as learning how to control your fear.



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(42).."TRUST YOUR GUT"

One of the primary keys needed to unlock your mental game is to become very aware that your emotions affect your brain's chemistry and performance.

Trust Your Gut.......

When you are reading the green, holding a club in each hand to determine which one to use, or the many other decisions you make during a round of golf, your gut feelings help you decide. Trust your gut! Your first choice is usually the best choice.

If you doubt your gut feelings, you are concerned about the outcome and not the process.

Who is smarter?

Is it your conscious mind that is full of negative emotions or your relaxed instinctive mind? Fear or doubt affects your brain's chemistry causing your judgment and performance to suffer. When your gut feeling is not correct, you will find that it is not off by much. Your brain is a very sophisticated computer. It loves to solve your challenges if you allow it to help you. Help your brain to help you. Optimize its chemistry by eliminating your negative emotions and provide it with objective feedback.

The human mind put a man on the moon and brought him back. If it can do that, it certainly can help you read the green, determine how the ball will break and give you the proper direction and force to apply to sink a putt. Your brain talks to you through your gut feelings.

Golf becomes an art form once you master the mechanics and your emotions. Instead of expressing your feelings with paint on a piece of canvas, you express your gut feelings with a club and a ball on the golf course. Great golfers are known to have a real feel for the game because they have learned to trust their gut.



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(43).."POINT OF IMPACT"

.....Sometimes when you are struggling it is beneficial to know where exactly the ball is striking the face of the golf club.

Although there are a million impact type tapes and gadgets you can put on the club face to show you where the ball hits the face, they have two things in common.

1...They are pain to put on, especially when you are playing a round of golf.

2...They are expensive.

Here's a an easy, inexpensive alternative. Stop and buy yourself a small container of Johnson & Johnson baby powder. They have tiny plastic ones that moms carry in their purses and these fit anyplace in your golf bag.

Now when you are at the range or playing a round of golf and want to see the impact point, just pull out the powder and lightly dust the ball. Hit away and voila on the face of the club is the imprint of were the ball impacted the face of the club.

Fast, easy, inexpensive....Doesn't get any better than that..



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(44).."6 GOOD HABITS"

....Keep It Simple!....

Sometimes the simplest advice pays the greatest dividends. It's been my experience that when people come to me hoping for a magic tip, or to be enlightened on the intricacies of grip, stance, and posture-when all they really need are some good golf habits!

So here it is: My list of the six ways to lower your scores and your handicap.

1. Move Up....
Having trouble achieving a mental breakthrough? Try playing from the forward tees, in order to alter your comfort zone and lower your scores. Playing a shorter course will instill a "go-for-par" or birdie mind set that will stick with you when you return to your accustomed tees. If you can't score any better from the forward tees, consider it a message that you need extra work on your short game!

2. Do it Daily....
Ben Hogan once said he hated to miss a day of practice because this meant it was one more day before he could get better. While you may not be able to keep this regimen, you should keep in mind that you get out what you put into the game. Time pressed? No problem. Just taking a club out in the backyard and swinging for 15 minutes will aid the cause.

3. When You Play Golf, Play Golf....
If you're going to take the time to play, do it seriously and focus on each shot. Never make a careless swing during a serious round! Of course, this doesn't mean you can't have fun-it just means you should turn up the focus a notch. Use the driving range for working on technical skills, and the golf course for focusing on the real target: lowering your score.

4. Get Better Gear....
I'm not saying you should spend thousands of dollars on equipment. But if you're using an older set that isn't fitted properly, you may be needlessly holding yourself back. Many recent technical advances such as perimeter weighting to produce a larger sweet spot and larger clubhead volumes-will make a difference in the consistency and distance of your shots. Why not take advantage of them?

5. Don't Short change Your Short Game....
Chipping and putting account for more than half the strokes in a typical golfer's game. Consequently, you should devote most of your practice to your short game. I like to use a football analogy here: It's great to be able to advance to the two-yard line, but it won't mean a thing if you can't make it into the end zone!

6. Write it Down!....
It's easier to improve if you can document your hits and misses. Where do you hit good shots, and where do you hit poor ones? Did you hit right, left, or on top? How many putts of less than five feet do you miss? Keep a journal and consult it periodically to unearth patterns and discover areas that need work



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(45).."PRE SHOT ROUTINE"

This tip comes from one of my favorite players...
Raymond Floyd.

In my 35 years of playing professional golf, one thing that I have noticed is that all great players have developed a pre-shot routine.

Mine begins by positioning myself behind the ball and determining my line of flight. I am a firm believer in visualization as are many of my peers on tour. Next, I visualize the shot I need to play for the given conditions. I actually "see" the ball fly toward the green and land near the flag stick. With a putt, I visualize the ball rolling on my intended line and going into the hole. After visualizing the appropriate shot, my pre-shot routine continues with my proper alignment to my target, and my waggle to get me comfortable. Only then, am I prepared to execute the swing itself and make a well-played shot.

My pre-shot routine does not take a long time to complete, and if you timed me, you would see that it takes me the same amount of time whether I'm driving the ball or putting. In comparison, an amateur approaches his shots differently each time and seldom begins from behind the ball.

I suggest that you learn from the great players and develop your own pre-shot routine that begins from behind the ball and includes visualization. Never vary from your routine and I'll bet you lower your scores.



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(46).."CORRECT CLUB POSITION"

FINDING YOUR NATURAL CLUB POSITION

The following simple exercise will help you find the club position best suited for your height and build.

Important.... Go to my golf tips archives and under "THE SWING" ...posture and balance to assure you are achieving a correct and balanced address.

Without a club, assume your golf address and place your hands in a praying position, palms facing together. Now, lift your arms up, then let them drop, palms still together. Repeat the exercise several times. You will note that your hands always fall the same distance away from your body. Depending on your build, the distance that separates the club from your body could range anywhere from six inches to ten inches. The important idea is to establish a position with which you feel most comfortable and at ease - without undue stretching or cramping of the arms.

When you are establishing your natural club position, remember always to assume a "correct" position on address.

Now with a club in your hands assume a "correct , balanced address. Lift the club up with your arms extended, keeping your hand pressure steady. Bring the club down slowly until it touches the ground. Repeat this movement several times. The club will hit the same place each time, indicating that you have found the position best fitted for you.

Try repeating the above exercise assuming an upright, straight leg position on address. Because of the stiffness of the upper body and arms, you should see that the club head will seldom return to the same place when it is lowered.

Arm and hand muscles should be neither too tense nor too relaxed. The body should be alert and in control of the club at all times.

It is crucial, therefore, that you always assume a "correct balanced" position to ensure minimum variation of club head position. Golf is a game of repetition, the more you are able to exactly repeat something the more consistent you will become and that my friends means better golf.



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