Doing a pre-round warmup is important for shooting better scores and preventing injuries. This is something I need to get better at. Too often, it’s tempting to just check in at the pro shop and head right to the first tee. To perform optimally, we need to prepare our minds and bodies for the rigors of the game. Physical Warm up Getting the blood flowing and stretching out the muscles gets us loose and prepared to swing the golf club at peak speed and efficiency. This equates to power and consistency right off the bat. If we don’t stretch prior to the first tee, then it can take several holes to loosen up and get into a good swing groove. Trying to jump right into full swings also increases the chance for injury in muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are cold and tight. This can result in sprains, strains, and tears. At the very minimum, it’s good to hit some balls at the range before teeing off. Start with some half wedges, focusing on slow,
Splash It Out Of The Rough
I saw a great tip on an recent episode of Playing Lessons With the Pros on the Golf Channel. I want to say it was the Craig Stadler episode, but don’t hold me to that. It was a great technique for getting out of thick green-side rough. Often, if you try to make a normal pitch or chip shot in that situation, the club head can get hung up and any number of things can happen, including the possibility of hitting it fat or thin, skulling it, or flubbing it a few yards. The rough will tend to grab the hosel and turn the face closed causing problems with shot trajectory, direction, and distance. What you can do in that situation is use a sand wedge and open the face and play it sort of like a little splash shot out of the sand. When you lay the face open a bit, the bounce of the club gets the leading edge moving through the grass better with less chance of the rough grabbing the hosel
Equipment Review: SkyCaddie SG4 Golf GPS
When I started playing golf, I never would have believed that I would some day be able to take a GPS unit out on the golf course for accurate yardages from anywhere. Well, SkyCaddie and its line of golf-enabled GPS systems has made this a reality. I recently had the chance to buy and test the latest generation SkyCaddie, the SG4.
Use The Tee To Your Advantage
Most people know that the teeing ground consists of a rectangle whose width is defined by the two tee markers and whose depth is defined by two club lengths back from the markers. Too often, I see people just going right to the center of the tee markers and hitting their drive without consideration for their typical shot shape and to the shape of the shot they intend to hit on that hole. One of my favorite course management tips: tee up your ball after careful consideration of the shot you’re about to hit. For example, assume your typical shot is a slice. If you tee up the ball on the right side of the tee (close to the right marker) and aim for the left side of the fairway, you have a lot more room for the shape of the shot you typically play. If it does what you expect, you’ll be in the middle of the fairway. If it unexpectedly goes dead straight, then you’re on the left side of the fairway. And
Check Your Alignment
As I work my way back this year, I’m starting to notice that my alignment during my setup is somewhat inconsistent. In fact, my whole setup is somewhat inconsistent, but that’s a problem for another day. Alignment problems are sometimes not apparent, but many times they are the result of other swing flaws. Your body is smart. Sometimes you may subconsciously make little corrections that get the ball where you want it to go. The problem is, it really just masks or compensates for other problems. Here’s how to check and work on proper alignment. At address, your shoulders, hips, knees, feet, and eyes should be aligned parallel to the target line. Remember that your body should line up parallel left of the target because you’re actually standing a little ways behind the ball. If you were to aim your body lines directly toward the target and make a good swing the ball would go a little right of the target. The analogy of railroad tracks is often used for a good mental picture. Imagine
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