Playing our best golf is every players goal. If we really did not care, then we would not count strokes. It is unlikely that when you play golf that you do not measure your success by the final stroke tally. As we continue to monitor our success, most amateurs try to find a nugget of knowledge that will give them a leg up on their competitors. Well, I found a something that will help all players improve, but I think it is really designed for the higher and mid handicap players to drastically improve their golf game. If you follow the nine points outlined below, you will be playing golf like a professional and as a result, shoot lower golf scores!
Continue readingTips
Weight Distribution and Putting
Practicing putting indoors is a must in northern climes. With a 5 to 6 month off-season, putting in my basement is very important for a quick start in the spring. Additionally, I found that the extra time I devote to putting allows for a more analytical approach to better ball striking. I try to hit 50 putts each night (which really does not take very long) with a focus on minimizing any extra movements not needed for making a consistent putting stroke. After practicing for a few weeks, I decided to break down my stroke into different segments and focused on just that during each session. Recently, I focused on weight distribution and found out that I was not standing in the optimal position for my swing path. Let me explain.
Continue readingShooting Your Best Golf Score Ever Through Visualization
The desire of every golfer on the first tee is to shoot their best round of golf ever. This is not a profound statement, however I would suggest that most players are not ready to receive this wonderful gift. They are either ambivalent or they are waiting for that first poor shot in order to jump on the negative train! I am not suggesting that we need to play golf with rose coloured glasses on; we need to mentally prepare to accept playing great golf is always a possibility.
Continue readingLowering Your Golf Score The Easy Way
In a world where everything seems to be at our finger tips, there must be an easy way to lower our golf scores. You know, that secret that all professional golfers understand but refuse to share with us mere mortals. Well, I have found the answer that I think will benefit every golfer and it is really easy to implement. Read further and start your journey to lower golf scores!
Continue readingCreating Lag and Adding Distance in Golf
I am currently focusing on increasing lag in my swing to add extra distance to my golf shots. This particular skill is something that I really need to improve upon because as I get older, a controlled swing with more lag will keep me hitting the ball longer and straighter. However, as I delved into this topic, I found that the term ‘lag’ is deceiving and could easily confuse the new player. I determined that fact because I was a bit confused and so I thought it needed to be cleared up.
After looking around I found this definition of ‘lag’ that I understand and best describes what it means to me:
Effectively, lag is shorthand for the angle between the club, wrists and arms. It’s formed by having the correct order of the arms, wrists and club head as the club come around into impact. Often we can become obsessed with trying to generate all of our power from the turning, spinning and torqueing of the body, but if you don’t have your arms and club in the correct order to hit it’s all completely pointless.
https://golf.com/news/create-lag-golf-swing-tip/
So basically, I am trying to create a 90° angle or box according to Ernie Els in order to create the power generating lag in my golf swing. Interestingly, The Big Easy has a smooth controlled swing that produces tremendous power on contact. Here take a look:
Now that I fully understand what lag means, I need a few drills that I can do to create more lag in my golf swing. On a side note, being a 3 handicap does not mean that my swing is permanently grooved; what it means is that I am consistent, but still have many areas of improvement; Lag is one of mine.
I wanted to find a few drills that I could do at home and in my DIY driving net. Simple, repeatable, and effective are three things I look for in any golf drill and I found this video from the Golf Channel:
The interesting aspect of looking to create lag is that it shifts my focus of my golf swing from increasing shoulder turn (which is an important part of any golf swing) to improving my swing mechanics. This change, along with the others I want to make during the off season, will keep me busy until opening day. The trick moving forward is to develop a training plan that will help accomplish my lofty goals.
Do you ever work on lag in your golf swing?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
