I started my practice plan in preparation for the upcoming Hickory Championship next Monday and Tuesday. As I stated yesterday, I had a plan to work on my short game, putting and ball contact. I played nine holes and hit 5 balls from various locations on each hole. It was a plan to test out my hickories to determine which club I should hit from what distance. The plan started off well, but I need to make a few adjustments moving forward.
Continue readinglower golf scores
Become A Better Putter!
We are fooling ourselves if we think putting is not the great equalizer in golf. This simple stroke can make or break you score. Since most of our shots of any round happen on or near the green, it only make sense that we spend a large portion of our practice time on our short game. Putting is by far the most important area of play if you are planning on lowering your golf score. I have talked about putting a great deal at The Grateful Golfer and today, I will provide three putting drills that could improve your game.
Over the years, I have offered many putting drills. The ones today fall into new, old and I am not sure with respect to usefulness. Regardless, I think it is important to see different drills as some may resonate home better than others. For now, here are the three drills:
The new drill for me is placing two elastic bands on the putter head. This is a very simple drill and I can see the value of ensuring we hit the ball on the center of the club face. It is adjustable, sustainable, and repeatable; talk about a great drill. I definitely recommend this drill. If we combine the elastics with two tees as gates, then something special might happen improving the consistency of our putting.
The right handed putting drill is not new. It is something I have talked about before and provides a stable connection between the club and our body through our right (or left) hand. I figure if Tiger Woods uses this drill it has to have value. I have used this drill in the past and found that it helped me control the putter head to ensure square faced contact between the club and the ball. Overall, this is a great drill.
The coin on the back on the putter. To be fair, I have never used this drill and I will have to give it more research before assessing its value. In principle, I see the value. However, during execution I am not so sure. Again, I will not assess this drills value without experimenting more. If you have used this drill, please drop me a line and tell me how it worked for you.
There you have it. Three new drills to help improve your putting. Improving our flat stick results will definitely lower our golf scores. You may not like all the drills presented, however I am sure there are a few that will help your game. It is up to you to pick and choose. Regardless of which drill is good for your game, practicing your putting is a sure fire way to lower you golf scores.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
Thinking Through Tough Golf Shots
Every golf shot requires a certain amount of thought before execution. Sometimes it is a straight forward process, however more often than not, it takes a bit of brain bites to hit the appropriate golf shot. There are many different stressors on each shot that should be evaluated, however most of those challenges can be mitigated through one thought on tough golf shots. Yup, I have narrowed the multiple influences down to one thing can control to help make challenging shots.
Continue readingA Perfect Golf Swing Is Impossible To Attain
If you have played golf for any length of time, making a perfect golf swing is impossible. Science tells us that there is such a swing, but as an amateur player I have given up all hope that I will ever achieve perfect harmony in every aspects of my golf swing. I will admit from time to time I can hit the ball very well, but perfection I will leave to players with far greater skill than I. This does not mean I will stop trying to improve my game, but it does mean that I understand my limitations and try to maximize my efforts to improve. Once I stop trying to improve my golf game or other aspects of my life, then it might be time to move on to other things. Let me explain.
Continue readingUnintentionally Hitting The Wrong Club
Every once in awhile I make an unforgiveable mistake while playing golf. I unintentionally hit the wrong club. Yup, through pure inattention I hit the ball either too long or short because the club I selected was all wrong. Now, I bet you are wondering how this huge mistake can happen; well it is easier than you think. And I bet all of you have committed this mistake at least once. I know how to fix this issue, but I am not sure I can employ it all the time.
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