Golf Tips Instruction
In the GolfLink golf tips articles section, you will find an extensive listing of golf instruction articles and columns. Covering such vital aspects of golfing as the full swing, club grip, help for a slice, driving, putting, the short game, golf fitness, and even etiquette and the mental game, these golf tip articles will surely help you take several strokes off your score.
Bunker Play
- How to Hit Out of Fairway Bunkers
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This golf tip discusses the best one that I have ever received. No, it wasn't about "adding distance to your drives." Nor was it about "foolproof putting." Instead, believe it or not, the best tip I have ever received was on fairway bunkers.
- The Ever Dreaded Bunker Shot
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There are various techniques for getting out of sand, but using the same principle as the flop shot is very effective. The main difference is that you hit the sand first, not the ball.
Course Management
- How to Read Tee Box Alignments
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Golf course architects don't necessarily try to trick you into hitting a bad shot, but they don't always point you in the right direction, either. Couple that with the tee markers being placed more to save the grass on the tee box than to alig...
- Know Where You Want Your Tee Shots to Land
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Most golf holes present multiple opportunities, both from the tee and into the green.The key is to identify the optimal spots for your game, your shot shape. Don't get caught up in where your playing partners are hitting the ball, especially ...
- Choosing the Right Golf Balls
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There is nothing worse for golfers than wasting a good swing. Maybe it was a perfect drive on the range right before tee off. Maybe it was that perfect practice swing. Or maybe, just maybe, you wasted a good swing because your golf ball was not suited for the situation, or was piece of junk altogether.
- Adjusting Your Golf Swing For Cold Weather
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Cold air is heavy, therefore it creates more resistance to the flight of the ball. Cold, heavier winds naturally encourage golfers to swing harder, which will create more errors.
Driver
- Perfecting Your Golf Swing - Increasing Your Drive Power
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The golf swing is arguably one of the most difficult athletic movements to perform in sport today. It requires you to draw the club in a sequential order, on a specific path, with the correct time. Error in order, swing path, or timing can result in a poor outcome.
- Angle of Approach When Driving or Approaching
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The club head should be descending at impact with the exception of the Driver and the Putter. What is meant by descending angle of approach? Many players do not truly understand this term, and its meaning.
Etiquette
- Know The Rules: Loose Impediments
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It is one of the most common things to occur on a golf course. You or your playing partner removes something from the ground and tosses it aside.It is a "loose impediment," but what exactly is that?A loose impediment is defined by the USG...
- Terminology, basic golf etiquette, history
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The Golden Rule... "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" ...is a good basis for golf course etiquette: treat fellow golfers and course property just as you would like them to treat you and your property. Proper golf course etiquette, for the most part, involves just plain common sense, courtesy and respect.
- FORE! A Powerful Word
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Next time you hear someone yell "FORE!" on the Golf Course you might take special heed of that well-known expression. Let me give you some facts, supplied to me by friends who do important testing for equipment manufacturers in the golf industry, that are absolutely fascinating...
Fairway Woods
- Hit a Fairway Wood from a Fairway Bunker
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It's tough to hit a decent drive only to later find it has rolled into a fairway bunker -- especially if you're a good distance from the hole. While an iron is often the safe play, there are times when you'll need the extra distance that a lon...
Fitness
- Golf Specific Strength Exercises
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Every golfer is looking for more power. Golf specific strength exercises can get you there the quickest. You see...it is not pounding more balls that will get you to drive the ball farther, nor is it taking more lessons. The key is incorporating strength exercises that are golf specific.
- Back Pain And Golf Can Be Improved With Exercise And Stretching
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Every golfer at some point experiences back pain in golf. It's unfortunate and can keep a golfer off the course indefinitely, but is something that needs to be dealt with effectively.
Full Swing
- The Proper Golf Grip
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The function of each golfer's swing is to consistently deliver the ball to its intended target. The swing, therefore, must be able to accomplish that task. In order to create the desired results, the greatest gift that I can give you, something t...
- Five Musts for Every Great Golf Shot
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Once a player has confidence in shot results, then optimizing the chances of hitting a great golf shot is the next step. Here are the five musts I would recommend that you do. 1. Time travel and imagery: When a player approaches his nex...
- Use a Strong Grip on the Club
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The grip is probably the most talked about area of the swing in terms of instruction. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have ever seen someone getting a lesson who is NOT told to alter their grip somehow.
- The Perfect Swing - Reality or Myth?
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Most golf instructors, with few exceptions, will agree that the perfect golf swing is a myth. All you have to do is look at the variety of different swings on the PGA and LPGA tour each weekend on television. The swings may look different but they have some common elements.
Inner Game
- Relaxation During the Swing
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Do your scores range from the North to South Pole on a day-to-day or hole-to-hole basis? Do you want to score consistently lower than you have been? If so, read on. One or more of the following suggestions may work for you and your game.
- Four Ways to Develop Confidence on the Course
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It's easy to feel confident when you're playing well, but the real challenge is to remain confident under adversity. That's the part that is difficult, and one every golfer must struggle with. Confidence can be learned.
Irons
- Reaching Lofty Heights: Drills for Loft and Consistency
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Place a tee in the hole of the butt end of the grip so you are aware of where the butt points in your backswing (in photos 1 & 2 I am using a shaft extension for clarification). It should point between your target line and your toe line in less-than-full-swing wedge shots.
- Reaching Lofty Heights Part III : Making the Swing
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Now that you're set up to create a lofted wedge shot, consider possible swing faults which can prevent a well-stuck shot.
Power
- 7 Easy Tips for Longer Drives
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Hitting the golf ball a long way is a simple combination of clubhead speed and a square clubface at impact.Sounds easy enough. The only problem is the golf swing has a number of components and if one breaks down, you can experience a lack of ...
- Building A Long Distance Swing
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Distance is clubhead speed. Clubhead speed is produced by body motion swinging the club in vertical, circular and horizonal directions. With the clubhead moving in these three directions it's important to understand why you need a proper lever system in your golf swing.
- Ladies Only: More Distance!
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If you are looking for more distance, look no further! A majority of LPGA players (and some PGA players) do something at impact that helps generate more distance. The secret is in the footwork.
Putting
- How to Develop a Routine to Read Greens
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Simple routines govern our lives and the game of golf is no different. Tee up your ball, check your alignment, waggle once or twice and go. These simple motions help you to perform the repeated action of your golf swing. It is important to ...
- Improve Your Putting - End Every Practice Session on the Green
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It sounds so simple -- practice your putting. But too many players ignore the one part of their game that will likely impact their score more quickly than any other.Here's an easy fix. End each practice session on the green.It doesn't hav...
- Putting - Cross-Handed
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As I am sitting here watching the Skins Game, I am noticing that Freddie Couples has gone back to his cross-handed style of putting. This is something he has used on and off for the last few years. This raises a couple of pertinent questions.
- Putt Well for a Better Score
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In terms of scoring, putting is the most important part of the game. To be a good putter takes a good technique, concentration and lots of practice. Many players lack confidence in putting. In some cases they actually fear this part of the game taking away all the enjoyment.
Short Game
- The Flop Shot
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The high lob (flop shot) is a short game shot that every golfer needs to be able to execute. No matter if you are a tour pro or a 30 handicapper, you will be faced with this shot quite often.
- Weight Shift - Chipping Club Selection
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The inside of your right leg. The inside of your right leg. How many times have you heard this notion before? Although it may be correct, the thought of shifting your weight to the inside of your right leg could lead to some large problems. The fact is that you should never think of shifting your weight in the swing. It should happen automatically.
Shotmaking
- Hit from Downhill Lies
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Hitting from a downhill lie requires a couple of simple adjustments. First, understand the ball will come out lower than usual and also your swing arc will bottom out sooner relative to your stance line. Like a lot of challenging situations...
- How to Vary Your Loft on Pitch Shots
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A bag full of wedges has become the status quo. Most touring pros carry at least three and it's not uncommon to see four wedges depending on the golf course. This has filtered down to the ranks and now many players feel they have to complete t...
- Consistantly Hitting the Ball Low
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Becoming a low-ball hitter is a great way to improve your accuracy. I don't mean just hitting a knock down into the wind either. I mean having a consistently low trajectory to your shots. Ben Hogan was a low-ball hitter in his day. Hal Sutton is a low-ball hitter today. They also happen to be a couple of the best ball strikers in history.
- Hooking the Ball
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If you are topping the ball, don't follow your friend's advice and "keep your head down." The most common causes of hooking (too much right to left curve on the ball) are a closed club face at the top of the back swing or a bad grip or both.
Trouble
- Thoughts on Some Common Trouble Shots
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Long grass has the effect of closing the face of the club and decreasing the loft of the club. For this reason, the player should use a more lofted club than if the ball were in the fairway.
- Correcting Your Slicing the Ball
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The most common explanation of a sliced shot (the ball curving too much from left to right) is that the ball is being struck from the outside to the inside of the target line. However, you can just as easily slice the ball from the inside to the outside which could be worse as the ball starts to the right and then slices.
