Great Tips to Sharpen your Game (Series #2, Tips 5-8)

This is the second in a series of blogs to help you simplify your knowledge of golf and hopefully improve your game. [Includes abbreviated tips from an article published by Luke Kerr-Dineen for a GOLF franchise called “Play Smart”.] I have only distilled nuggets of knowledge from his article to provide you with a quick reference to sharpen your games.

5/ Understand the loft and spin relationship: A properly hit golf ball will create an undercut or reversing spin on every golf ball. [Not to be confused with side spins caused by the path of impact or the open or closed face of the club which cause a draw, fade, hook or slice.] Too much spin with a driver will rob you of distance. That’s why your driver has a very low loft and you typically gain height with the launch angle off a tee. (A topped ball is never desired as it creates an over-spin which will force your ball to dive down and along the ground.)

The more loft on your club, the more it’s going to spin the ball. That’s why your pitching wedge stops on a green much faster than lower lofted clubs. A little extra spin can help you hit the ball straighter off the tee or land softer on the green, but too much of it can send the ball ballooning up into the air. Less spin can help you hit the ball lower for more roll-out. The key is getting control over spin, which starts with a good club-fitting

6/ Adjust Your Tee Height: Changing tee height has a direct impact on the launch and spin of the ball off your driver and can be used to help you get more distance with a simple adjustment. A higher tee also creates the opportunity to hit the ball above the middle of the club face. These 2 factors increase launch angle and reduce spin, which, in turn, help optimize launch conditions for up to 25 yards more distance. So, if you’re struggling to keep up with your buddies off the tee, experiment with teeing the ball higher. You could pick up serious yards.

Half of your ball should be above the top edge of your driver to ensure that the center of your impact with your ball is above the center-line of your driver face.

7/ Practice Swinging in Slow Motion: Will Zalatoris said “Whenever I’m working on something, I rarely ever do it at full speed. My practice? A lot of slow-motion work. It’s something my dad really drilled into me growing up. It helps me with my body awareness and matching stuff up.” [Will’s recent successes may indicate that he is on to something.]

8/ A Slower Roll Makes A Bigger Hole: Gravity exerts its greatest effects when the ball is moving at its slowest, like when you’re putting. Thanks to a recent Trackman study, a putt entering the hole at 0.01 mph uses 100 per- cent of the hole’s size, meaning it’ll catch the lip and almost certainly fall into the cup. But as the ball rolls faster, the less likely that it will happen. A putt that’s traveling fast enough to end one and a half feet past the hole makes the effective size of the cup about 25 percent smaller. Firm and in, is not always the best way to putt those short puts. [Longer putts should be stroked with enough power to pass the hole by up to 18 inches to ensure that gravity and flaws in the green do not miss-direct your putt.]

For Tip #8 try practicing with GOLFSTR+ to lock your leading wrist flat when you are putting. We also suggest that you stare at your ball location as you complete your swing (DON’T follow the ball with your eyes). For short and downhill putts, choose your line on the high side of the hole and putt with enough speed to reach the hole and die into the hole. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com