We all love to play the game of golf, but sometimes it can be a very frustrating game.  It took me many years to really enjoy the game of golf and end my frustration (well at least most of it).

Here are a 5 things you can implement to enjoy golf more.

1. Don’t play the blue tees.  Unless you are at least a 10 handicap or lower, don’t make the course harder for you than it has to be.  If you are shooting in the 90’s or triple digits, it makes no sense to play the more difficult course. Play the white tees and remove the extra stress of trying to hit those longer shots.
2. Improve your lie.  When you are having a recreational round of golf, there is no reason you should be playing the strict rules of golf. It is okay to bend the rules to improve your lie.  Play winter rules all the time.
3. If it is your honor, take it.  You just birdie the last hole, it’s your tee, you earned it, take it, it’s okay. You can then challenge yourself to get another one.  You will be pleasantly surprised at how often you can have two birdies in a row.
4. Play different games.  Don’t just play match play all the time.  Mix it up and make it fun.  Maybe you can compete with your golf buddies by what I call categories.   Some examples would be:
   • Most fairways hit
   • Least amount of 3 putts
   • Most 1 putts
5. Lower your expectations.  If you are an average golfer that play just on the weekends or maybe only twice per week and you don’t practice as much as you should, how can you honestly think you are going to improve. You can’t honestly think that your game is not exactly what it should be. Just enjoy the game itself, don’t be so hard on yourself when you’re not playing well.

You can enjoy the game of golf again.  You just have to think outside-the-tee-box and have fun.

You can produce more power with your golf swing in just 3 simple moves.

A great article by Anthony Renna called “Three Moves for More Power”, gives you three keys to generating power in the golf swing and three quick drills you can do right on the range to help generate this much wanted power in your golf swing.

The 3 keys for generating more power are:

1. Maintaining good posture
2. The ability to internally rotate around your hips
3. Have good separation of upper body from lower body

The 3 drills are:

1. Hip Hinge Drill
2. Hip Twisters
3. Back Lunge with Rotation

In his article, Anthony even shows you pictures of how to do the drills.

I think you will love it.  Go to http://golf.lohudblogs.com/2009/03/30/tip-of-the-week/.

I have found these drills to be helpful for me.  Let me know what you think of these drills.

Here’s To Better Golfing!

- Rick

PGA professional can hit long irons out of the bunker with relative ease.   However, you probably have realized by now that you are Not a PGA pro and neither am I.

For most of us, hitting a long iron from the fairway grass is hard enough, much less trying to hot one out of the bunker.  Most amateur golfers would do better to hit a 5-wood or a 7-wood out of a fairway bunker.

In order to it a 5-wood or 7-wood from the fairway bunker, you will need to make some minor adjustments to do it effectively.

• Open the clubface slightly
• Play the ball back in your stance
• Dig your toes into the sand
• Swing normally
• Make contact with the ball first

You need to hit ball on a descending arc rather than trying to pick it clean as most PGA pros do. Playing the ball back in your stance will help with this. I would practice playing the ball back 1 to 2 inches behind your normal positioning.

Make sure you dig your toes into the sand and not your heels.  This should help you avoid hitting a fat shot.

Do not try to kill the ball. Make your normal swing and focus on making contact with the ball first.

Follow these tips and you will have greater success hitting the golf ball from the fairway bunker and land in a good position for your next shot.

For even more information about bunkers and fairway bunkers you need to checkout The Bunker DVD.

Are you tired of being frustrated with that push shot?

Learning to correct and eliminate your golf push shots from your game is vital to lowering your handicap and improving your score.

The reasons for a pushed shot are: wrong alignment at address, a closed club face on the back swing, and not enough hip turn through impact.

If you want a quick fix to the push shot you need to check out The Perfect Impact DVD – Angle of Attack Tip.

Some golf pros refer the the push shot as a delayed shot and is something that most golfers do unconsciously. You see, if you delay your shot by a fraction of a second, you could end up hitting the ball at the wrong time and the wrong place.

When the clubface hits the ball sooner than you expected, you will find the ball traveling in a direction not to the line of the target.

What can you do to correct the Push?

Improper alignment

The alignment of your hips, shoulders, and feet, are aimed right of your target putting you in a position to push the shot. This in fact makes your club head aim even further to the right.

This position blocks your hands and arms when you try to swing them on a line towards your target. Your arms and hands will rather tend to swing on a line that is parallel to your hips, feet and shoulders creating a pushed shot.

The Fix

To correct a push shot you need to aim your body more to the left of your target. This opening of the body will help you achieve more of a free swing with the arms and hands towards your target. Your left hip will be able to clear quicker giving your arms and hands the freedom they need to swing through the ball.

These changes at address will create the correct positions at impact and help you hit the ball straighter.

Try getting in the habit of aiming your club face first behind the ball then take your address position.

Closed clubface at address and in the takeaway

Addressing the ball with a closed clubface may seem like you will hook the ball but this is not necessarily the case. Most golfers who do this actually open the clubface at impact.

Mentally speaking when the clubface reaches the top of the back swing it will be instinctively opened to prevent a hook and a pushed shot will occur.

The Fix
To cure this fault you need to understand the grip/takeaway/ hinging of the right wrist first. With your right hand in the correct position at address it will encourage an opening of the hands and club face in the take away.

Remember to blend the movement of the arms and club together with the wrist hinge. No independent hand action should be felt.

Not enough hip turn through impact

Your problem may not be at address or takeaway but rather at the impact area.

Should your hips slide instead of turning to the left, the club head will not be able to close through impact resulting in a push shot. (It gets delayed in squaring up)

The Fix
You need to use a mental key of “Bump and turn”Bump the left side to the left and turn the hips left. It is a “one move feeling.” The bump I am referring to here is a slight lateral shift till the left hip is directly above your left foot. There will be enough lateral motion created in the turn too. Feel the hip turn pull your left arm into the impact area. They work in unison.

Every golfer wants to hit the ball as clean and accurate as possible. It really just comes down to your hard work and your technique. If you want to learn more, check out Perfect Impact DVD – Angle of Attack Tip.

Work on fixing these areas and you will eliminate the push from your golf game and lower your golf scores.

To Your Golfing Success!

This quick golf tip comes courtesy from David Christenson of Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield, Conn.
In the illustration, you can see that I’m standing in the middle of railroad tracks. Well, I’m not really standing on the tracks; I’m using the image to help aim and align myself to my target. Picturing the tracks’ parallel lines helps me identify my primary target (and intermediate target) and keep my body lines parallel to one another. All too often I see golfers address the ball with contradictory body lines (their feet aim to the right, but their shoulders aim to the left, for example). Not only do these “crossed lines” minimize a golfer’s chance of making solid contact, but they force him or her to make awkward adjustments in the swing just to get the club on path. Notice how my feet, knees, hips, shoulders and clubhead are all parallel to the tracks. That’s how you want them (unless you’re purposefully trying to cut or draw a shot). The next time you play, bring this railroad tracks image with you. Set up parallel to your target line and swing away.

Use the image of a railroad track to align yourself for each shot. It will help you keep your body lines parallel and your stance perfect for each shot.