If like most golfers, you want to get more distance with your driver off the tee. So they hit the driving range and practice their drives and forget about their short game. The fact is that the majority of shots in a round of golf are from within 100 yards from the green so they should be practicing more their short game. You can actually lower your handicap by improving your pitching than you could by lengthening your drives by several yards.

Perfecting the art of pitching can lower your score and your handicap. With a good pitch you can take 2 strokes instead of 3 by pitching next to the pin. Learning to pitch correctly from the fairway is fundamental to improving your game but it requires good distance control which is not always easy to accomplish, even for a Golf Swing Guru!

The Pitch Shot

To perform a great pitch shot you must position the ball in the middle of your stance as you want to get under the ball and get it up in the air. Position your feet closer together, with an open stance, and with more weight on your left foot. Aim the club face at the target and ensure you strike the ball with a perfectly square club-face. The height of your backswing will decide the distance the ball will travel – it might be waist height, shoulder height or a full swing. Strike the ball with a crisp, downward stroke to ensure ball then turf contact.

Even though you feet are in an open position, aim the club facetowards the target, just as if your feet were parallel. By opening your stance you are decreasing your backswing; also, you can choke down on the grip which will also shorten your backswing but it will give you more control. Release the club head openly through impact and then move smoothly into your follow through position.

Select One Club to Use for Pitching

Many golfers mistakenly use too many different clubs for each distance. For shots up to 100 yards you could successfully use a full sand wedge, pitching wedge, or you could even use a 7, 8, or 9-iron by reducing your backswing. But there is no need to complicate matters; the best strategy is to choose a distance that you are secure with and one club that you can always use to go that distance.

For instance, let us say that you are great at hitting the ball 95 yards with an 9-iron and using a shoulder length backswing. The idea is that you use this distance as your pitching zone. If you hit a wayward drive on a par-4 you need to hit the ball out to the fairway so that your ball stops in your pitching zone. If you have practiced sufficiently you should be able to get your ball close enough to the pin to give yourself an opportunity of saving par. The same thing for a par-5; instead of going for the green in 2two which is a hard shot, you should hit a higher lofted club to your pitching zone which still gives you a putt for birdie.

Practice your Pitching Distances

Of course, there will be lots of times that you will have an approach shot of somewhere between 30 and 100 yards. Here is where you will have to learn your pitching distances. Again, it is a good idea to choose one club that you can control and regulate the length of your backswing for the different distance. You will need to practice this a lot until you can judge the distances time after time. Pitching and chipping are more about control and touch but it is exceedingly important because you can reduce your score a lot with a good short game. It is also very important to practice your putting game and The Simple Swing !

Mick Euan Tait has been a golfer for many years until he had lower back surgery. After several years without playing golf he discovered a Golf Swing Guru that teaches a Simple Golf Swing that is great for people with back problems.

categories: golf distance,golf practice,pitch,pitching,chipping,short game,putting,golf,sports

This is the Best Golf Swing Setup Routine I’ve Ever Come Across…

OK, here we go. This is something that I was shown by a Pro Golfer. I have never seen this before in any golfing material before or since. It is a setup routine to ensure that you are exactly the right distance from the ball every time with every club.

I have checked this golf swing setup routine with the setup of some of the world’s top Pro golfers and it is bang on. I really benefited from this setup.

So how does it work I can hear you asking. Well it’s rather simple, which is why I’m surprised I’ve not seen it before.

How do you currently know how far you should be from the ball? This routine is simple and accurate.

Here we go. It is all related to the length of the club you are about to hit the ball with.

The main benefit from this setup is that by setting yourself up right to the ball it will give you plenty of room to work in between you and the ball, rather than getting all cramped up at impact.

Setup Instructions

This setup routine should ONLY be used on the practice range, I don’t want you getting disqualified from some big competition! Any significant change should be practiced – you should never make major changes to your golf swing during a round. Work it all out on the practice range, check it works, then implement it. Only implement this setup on the course once you can get the right distance from the ball without laying your club on the ground.

Choose the club you plan to hit the ball with. The following instructions are for a 9 iron through to your long irons:

1. Lay the club down on the ground pointing away from your body, that’s from your body when setup alongside the ball in your normal stance, towards the ball.
2. Now move the club head (which should be closest to the ball, away from your body) so that it is on the other side of the ball. So as you look down to the ground you will see the club shaft running away from you with the club head wrapped around the other side of the ball.
3. Now move yourself to the ball and put one finger width space between the ball and the clubhead as it is laid on the ground.
4. Now move back to the butt end of the shaft.
5. Now take up your stance but this time line up the back of your heels with the butt end of the club. This now sets your feet the correct distance from the ball.
6. All you need to do now is keep you feet on the line you’ve set them and pick your club up and address the ball.
7. WARNING: This setup gives you the correct amount of bend at your knees. To get yourself balanced you will need to push you bum out behind you, remembering to keep your back straight and bend more over the ball.
8. WARNING: The first time you do this you may think you are way too far away from the ball. I have checked this setup and it is absolutely correct and matches the setup of the worlds top pro’s.
9. WARNING: You may find it easier to change your setup in small steps rather than go straight to this setup – if the ball feels way too far away from you then gradually increase the distance over a few rounds.
10. You need to practice the setup as described above until you can do it without laying you club down on the floor. Soon you will be doing this without even thinking about it.
11. If you’re not certain that this is correct then go to www.golfdigest.com and take a look at the swing sequences and check it out – make sure the golfer you’re looking at has an iron in their hands.

The Other Clubs

The only differences for the other clubs is that for clubs shorter than your 9 iron you add another finger for each club, two finger space for a pitching wedge etc.

For the driver, instead of the end of the butt of the shaft being along the back line of your heels the end of the butt should be around the middle of your foot.

Give it a try, you might be nicely surprised at how much easier it is to hit the ball with this extra room to work in.

Happy Golfing!

An excerpt from the book Golf Swing Eureka by Jon Barrett

‘Why is my practice swing often better than my real swing?’

When I understood the answer to this question it made a big difference to my golf swing. How many golfers do you see on the tee making a nice free practice swing and then duff or slice the ball with their real swing? It happens doesn’t it, it happens a lot. Well, I came to realise that when I understood the journey that the golf club needs to take around your body then I also realised where so many amateur golfers were going wrong with the difference between their practice swing and their real swing.

You see when you understand that the golf swing is about technique not aggression then your body starts to work differently.

When you make your practice swing you remain relaxed and free moving. When you make your real swing you immediately start to tense the big muscles in your body particularly your back and shoulders. Your brain starts telling you body ‘look guys if we want to hit this ball a mile then we need to put loads of effort it’ – WRONG!

Next time you swing – remember to keep your back and shoulder muscles relaxed so that your real swing is as good and as free as your practice swing.

Remember the proper and most efficient golf swing is all about technique not aggression.

The answer to this question lies in the way we think the golf swing works – we need to convince ourselves that the Pro Golfers swing works – Power without effort – and we too will follow their lead.

A good exercise to demonstrate that loose muscles work better than tense muscles is to try running down your garden with loose muscles then tense your muscles and try again – the difference is dramatic isn’t it and the golf swing is no different, we need to keep our muscles relaxed for them to work effectively.

Tensing prior to moving doesn’t help – you need to relax to let your muscles work properly at the right point in your swing.

One of the main problems that generates this tensing motion is caused by the way many amateur golfers practice. How many golfers have you seen at the golf range who go straight for their driver and start trying to knock the ball out of the range? Many I would guess. These golfers are simply trying too hard. Golfers should concentrate on accuracy on the range not distance i.e. how close can I hit it to a line from me to the target?

One way of practicing that takes out the need to try and knock the skin off the ball is to use plastic balls, you know the ones you can by from the golf shop. Once you start hitting these balls you quickly realise you can’t hit these balls 300 yards so don’t try to. It results in you concentrating far better on technique. They also have the added benefit that you only need about 30 yards of space to practice in.

Happy Golfing!