Genuine golfers love to take a shot at the basics of the swing and stroke, which leads to “automatic” improvement that you truly don’t have to consider, until the point when your move gets out of sorts (and it will, even for the best players). Yet, past the basics are significant tips that deal with the aim, club selection, course management … all those nuances that add up to a more complete golf package. I call them 5 tricks to improve as a player, and I’m glad to share them with you here.
Align the Clubface
One of the most common mistakes amateurs make is improper alignment. Some figure they ought to adjust their feet at the target, others attempt to get their shoulders parallel to it. A few golfers attempt to adjust everything at the target. They’re all wrong. The right method to adjust your shots is to dependably start by first evaluating your target from behind the ball. This will give you a point of view of the entire and help you aim right where you need the ball to go. Furthermore, before you make your actual position, set the clubface behind the golf ball and align it directly at the target. Do this before, not after, you get into your position.
PGA Tour players have a talent for adjusting the clubhead in this mold. Focus on how they do it whenever you tune in. After you have the right clubface alignment, then comes time to situate the rest of your body. Most players benefit from aligning their lower body left of the target line and their upper body parallel to the target line. There’s actually no right answer as to what works best for you, but one thing is for sure. Aligning your body directly at the target rarely works. It usually leads to crossovers and over-the-top swings. Keep your body aiming left of the target line, and experiment with what works best for you. But be sure to align that clubface first.
Choose the Right Club
Most beginners choose the club based on its length. On shorter holes, they use shorter clubs. Longer holes, they use longer clubs and so on. But experienced players know that there is more to choosing the right club than just that. You need to factor in things like natural shot tendencies, wind, hazards and whether or not hidden dangers lurk in prime landing areas. But most of all, a better player looks at what type of approach shot is to follow. The hole may be 365 yards long but with a good drive, that leaves a touchy 70 to 80 yard approach. The right play would be to avoid awkward distances and hit a 3-wood, leaving a full wedge approach. Lastly, a good player acknowledges that a shot with a 3-wood has a greater likelihood of hitting the fairway that a driver shot does.
Don’t Change Your Stance
You may think that the stance changes, depending on the club which is not true. When it comes to full shots, maintaining a consistent stance is critical to becoming a better ball striker. There’s not much to say here, there are some minor adjustments in spine angle, ball position, and stance width but speaking generally, how you stand over an iron should not be far off from how you situate yourself with a driver.
Make A Good Grip
Good players always and I mean always, have a strong solid grip. To begin, grip the club with your gloved hand and emphasize the handle’s placement in the fingers between the first knuckle and the palm. Then, apply the ungloved hand so it wraps comfortably around the handle. From there, the thumb and index fingers of both hands form two Vs, and both of them should be pointed somewhere around the right side of your chest or right shoulder. Follow this trick and you should have a solid grip.
Play For More Break, Not Less
Have you ever heard the saying, It’s always better to miss it on the pro side of the hole? How about, never up, never in? In case you haven’t heard these sayings, they have a simple meaning. Good players know that, no matter how well you judge the speed and break of a putt, if you consistently miss on the low side of the hole you’re never giving yourself the chance you need. Since golf balls don’t roll upwards naturally, unless hit by the putt from below the hole up the hill, the ball has no chance to go in. On the other hand, if you tend to miss more often on the upper side of the hole, once in a while, the ball may actually find the hole.
The key is speed. Having the right speed, even if you aim a little high and for a little too much break, the ball actually may slow down more and start to break into the hole even though you were a little off with your aim. Better players understand this and mostly miss the higher side of the hole rather than the lower side. They also cite speed as more important than direction. That being said, next time you practice, find a breaking putt to the right, and then one that breaks to the left. Practice on both holes until your misses start trending toward the pro side of the hole. Of course, the goal is to make more than you miss but with the right kind of misses, you may find yourself making a few more putts too.
Hopefully, these tricks helped you with your game. Other sports may be easy to learn but hard to master, golf is hard to learn and hard to master. That’s why taking all the good advice that you can consume is the right way to go. These are easy and quick tricks to learn and to implement in your game but they can make some huge positive impacts in your game for you.
