golf swing tips
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Putting Away golf swing tips
golf swing tips Putting Away
One of the trickiest lies in golf occurs when your ball comes to rest against the fringe of the green, leaving you a short but quick downhill putt. The trouble here is behind your ball. The thing that makes this shot such a challenge is judging how much the ball is going to roll. Anytime the grass gets between your ball and your club face, it's tough to judge how hard to hit it.
Normally, from this position you'd either putt or chip, but in this case neither of those is a viable option because you can't get the clubface cleanly on the ball. The best way to play this shot is to give the ball a gentle tap with the toe of your putter. Turn your putter so the toe faces the hole. Put all your weight on your left side and leave it there as you tap.
You don't need any body action for this shot, so keep everything as still as possible except for your wrists. In fact, your hands hardly move from their address position because you break your wrists only slightly, just enough to move the putter head away from the ball 8 inches or so.
Then all you have to do is uncock your wrists, focusing on making contact with the top half of the ball. In effect, you're topping the ball. This type of stroke puts maximum overspin on the ball so it gets more than the normal roll, which is just what you want for accuracy -- maximum roll with minimum movement.
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Nicklaus still has one more goal to shoot for:
His age
Jack Nicklaus has won 18 professional major championships, 73 PGA Tour titles and was easily named the Golfer of the 20th century. But there's one thing the Golden Bear has yet to do in his brilliant career.
Shoot his age in a tournament.
Don't think it's something Nicklaus, 64, brushes off as just another accomplishment. He was grinding away in January when he shot rounds of 68, 66 and 67 in the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii.
"This year my goal is every I time I tee it up to shoot 64 or better," said Nicklaus, who pointed out he would have shot a 64 if all the putts counted in last month's Senior Skins Game.
"I'm thinking about doing it every day. I thought about it starting last year in Hawaii when I turned 63. Every time I teed it up, I felt like I should shoot 63. Last year I was choking like a dog every time I had a chance. I don't know how you're choking when you're shooting 63, but it feels like it.''
Another area Hall of Famer, Gary Player, 68, has shot his age three times on the Champions Tour, most recently when he shot a 68 in the third round at MasterCard. He once held the senior record for being the lowest to shoot his age (64) at the 2000 BellSouth Classic at Opryland, but Walter Morgan eclipsed that mark in 2002 when the 61-year-old shot a 60 at the Canadian Senior Open.
"It's not a great big deal, but it's a nice feeling to know that you've played well for a long time and you've exercised and tried to watch your diet and stay in shape," said Player, who's always been one of the fittest golfers. "For some people, it's a very common thing. One of my dreams this year is to score my age in all three rounds of a tournament."
The one good thing about this task is it actually can get easier the older you become. As the late Sam Snead put it, "Once you get over 70, you're supposed to do it, aren't you?"
Snead holds the unofficial record as being the youngest player to shoot his age on the PGA Tour when at 67 he shot a three-under 67 in the second round of the Quad Cities Open in 1979. Snead felt so good about it, he bettered his age in the final round with a 66.
The PGA Tour didn't start keeping age-shooting records until 1986, but a spokesman said he believes only two other players have shot their age on their circuit: Jerry Barber, who did it many times in the early 1980s, and Arnold Palmer, who matched his age with a 72 in 2002 at the Bob Hope.
About a half-dozen players do it every season on the Champions Tour, including Palm Beach Gardens resident Bob Charles. But nobody will likely match Barber's longevity. In 1993, when he was 77, he shot his age or better 31 times in 41 rounds. Since '86, the tour says Barber shot his age or bettered it 237 times before he died in 1994.
"I don't think Jerry ever thought about shooting his age," Al Geiberger said. "He just expected to."
------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
"Getting through the first round is the hardest thing.
We've seen great players get knocked out in the first
round." — Nick Price on the Accenture Match Play format
golf swing tips
One of the trickiest lies in golf occurs when your ball comes to rest against the fringe of the green, leaving you a short but quick downhill putt. The trouble here is behind your ball. The thing that makes this shot such a challenge is judging how much the ball is going to roll. Anytime the grass gets between your ball and your club face, it's tough to judge how hard to hit it.
Normally, from this position you'd either putt or chip, but in this case neither of those is a viable option because you can't get the clubface cleanly on the ball. The best way to play this shot is to give the ball a gentle tap with the toe of your putter. Turn your putter so the toe faces the hole. Put all your weight on your left side and leave it there as you tap.
You don't need any body action for this shot, so keep everything as still as possible except for your wrists. In fact, your hands hardly move from their address position because you break your wrists only slightly, just enough to move the putter head away from the ball 8 inches or so.
Then all you have to do is uncock your wrists, focusing on making contact with the top half of the ball. In effect, you're topping the ball. This type of stroke puts maximum overspin on the ball so it gets more than the normal roll, which is just what you want for accuracy -- maximum roll with minimum movement.
------------------------------------------------------------
Nicklaus still has one more goal to shoot for:
His age
Jack Nicklaus has won 18 professional major championships, 73 PGA Tour titles and was easily named the Golfer of the 20th century. But there's one thing the Golden Bear has yet to do in his brilliant career.
Shoot his age in a tournament.
Don't think it's something Nicklaus, 64, brushes off as just another accomplishment. He was grinding away in January when he shot rounds of 68, 66 and 67 in the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii.
"This year my goal is every I time I tee it up to shoot 64 or better," said Nicklaus, who pointed out he would have shot a 64 if all the putts counted in last month's Senior Skins Game.
"I'm thinking about doing it every day. I thought about it starting last year in Hawaii when I turned 63. Every time I teed it up, I felt like I should shoot 63. Last year I was choking like a dog every time I had a chance. I don't know how you're choking when you're shooting 63, but it feels like it.''
Another area Hall of Famer, Gary Player, 68, has shot his age three times on the Champions Tour, most recently when he shot a 68 in the third round at MasterCard. He once held the senior record for being the lowest to shoot his age (64) at the 2000 BellSouth Classic at Opryland, but Walter Morgan eclipsed that mark in 2002 when the 61-year-old shot a 60 at the Canadian Senior Open.
"It's not a great big deal, but it's a nice feeling to know that you've played well for a long time and you've exercised and tried to watch your diet and stay in shape," said Player, who's always been one of the fittest golfers. "For some people, it's a very common thing. One of my dreams this year is to score my age in all three rounds of a tournament."
The one good thing about this task is it actually can get easier the older you become. As the late Sam Snead put it, "Once you get over 70, you're supposed to do it, aren't you?"
Snead holds the unofficial record as being the youngest player to shoot his age on the PGA Tour when at 67 he shot a three-under 67 in the second round of the Quad Cities Open in 1979. Snead felt so good about it, he bettered his age in the final round with a 66.
The PGA Tour didn't start keeping age-shooting records until 1986, but a spokesman said he believes only two other players have shot their age on their circuit: Jerry Barber, who did it many times in the early 1980s, and Arnold Palmer, who matched his age with a 72 in 2002 at the Bob Hope.
About a half-dozen players do it every season on the Champions Tour, including Palm Beach Gardens resident Bob Charles. But nobody will likely match Barber's longevity. In 1993, when he was 77, he shot his age or better 31 times in 41 rounds. Since '86, the tour says Barber shot his age or bettered it 237 times before he died in 1994.
"I don't think Jerry ever thought about shooting his age," Al Geiberger said. "He just expected to."
------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
"Getting through the first round is the hardest thing.
We've seen great players get knocked out in the first
round." — Nick Price on the Accenture Match Play format
golf swing tips
