It doesn’t matter how great or poor you’re playing, any given round requires at least one spectacular shot to win a skin, save a much-needed stroke or, in some cases, avert a disaster. We like to call these “money shots,” as opposed to “miracle shots,” because we believe that with practice, these types of shots Read more…
After teaching the game for almost 30 years I have noticed that there are several golf shots that people NEVER seem to practice, yet these are the exact shots that cost them strokes round after round. Practice doesn’t make perfect in this case—it makes you prepared. If you don’t practice each of the shots below, Read more…
QUESTION: Are you struggling hitting your wedges the correct distance? Here’s how to get your wedge game in shape for those tricky shorter shots. While playing college golf at Austin Peay State University and then on the professional circuit, I found that it was imperative to make sure that the distances I hit my wedges Read more…
As I begin this critically important instructional piece that I call Target Line USA (more on that in a moment), I’d be highly remiss if I didn’t give full credit to the late great Coach Bill Strausbaugh. Bill was a PGA of America National Teacher of the Year, my primary mentor, a father figure to Read more…
Golfers need to be proficient at two types of bunker or sand shots: from fairway bunkers and from greenside bunkers. Here’s a simple plan for each. The Fairway Bunker Shot The main priority here is to make solid contact between the club face and the ball. This can be accomplished by using a similar setup Read more…
The Rules of Golf allow every golfer to carry up to 14 clubs in their bags during a live round or competition, and most of us take full advantage of that longstanding rule. But no matter your level of play, 65 to 70 percent of the shots you hit during a round of golf are Read more…
Short par-3s generally don’t intimidate most golfers unless there’s some sort of forced carry and/or a small green to contend with.
Moe Norman was considered by many to be the best ballstriker of all
time. Even Ben Hogan was once quoted as saying that “Moe was the only
guy that I would walk across the street to watch hit balls.” But anyone
who’s familiar with Moe Norman knows that his golf swing was a bit
unconventional. Compared to today’s popular techniques, Norman’s golf
swing adhered to a single axis, not the two planes normally associated
with the modern dynamic. Taking away and returning the club on a single
plane fueled Norman’s consistency and correctness at impact by
“de-complexing” the swing. Is a single-axis motion the best way to
swing a golf club? The debate has raged for decades. At the very least,
it effectively simplifies and helps improve the most important part of
the swing—impact. A comparison of the single-axis technique and the
modern swing shows how.
Any golfer worth his salt dreams of trying his hand on a true links golf course. Turnberry, Kingsbarns, Royal Dornoch, even Carnoustie–they all present challenges that inland courses, protected from the elements, simply can’t muster. The soft fairways that prevent errant drives from running into the rough don’t exist. Spongy, well-watered greens that receive approaches of all kinds just aren’t there. It’s a whole different style of play that favors putting over pitching and low, authoritative punch shots over high, spinning floaters. Above all, links golf demands imagination.
What’s the best way to learn and practice the game of golf? Many teachers would say it’s from the hole back. Tough to argue the point: A three-inch putt counts just as much as a 300-yard drive, so why not get that shot down first, building confidence as the hole moves farther away and the Read more…
