Instruction

Three steps to better golf with no practice

Published

9 years ago

Apr 22, 2015

Eric Cogorno

Let’s talk about three simple things you can do to help get the season started on the right foot.

Play to the yardage to the back of the green, not the middle.

This means that when you have a shot to a green and it’s 150 yards to the middle of the green and it’s 165 to the back edge, I want you to play to the 165 yardage, not 150. How often does your shot finish some amount short of the hole? A lot, right?

Almost 90 percent of all golf shots I see (full swing, chip, putt, etc) all finish short of the hole. How many times do you hit a shot that goes over the green that you hit well and didn’t skull? It’s very rare, agreed?

There are a lot of things stacked against you that cause you to hit it short:

Bad contact
Wrong club
Bad strategy

For most golfers, hitting a ball over a green RARELY happens. So do us all a favor and when your ball comes to rest at the 150-yard marker, find out how far it is to the back of the green. If you don’t know how far it is to the back, it is generally safe to add 10 to 15 yards to the yardage you have to the middle. This gives you much more room for error if you mishit a shot or choose the wrong club in the first place. Trust me on this one.

Focus on speed control with putting

Speed control is the most important factor in putting. While reading the greens well and starting your ball on your intended line is important, speed is king — especially at the start of the year.

The two things I want you to focus on to attain this (outside of hours and hours of practice) is to:

Make sure you hit some long-distance putts on the putting green before you go out and play.
When you are taking your practice strokes while playing, make sure you are looking at the hole or the spot by the hole where you’re aiming. If you were going to toss a ball to someone, would you be looking at that person or your hand/ball while getting ready to throw?

Aim for the center of the green

This one is simple. Unless you are shooting par or better every time you are playing, you will be better off aiming for the middle of the greens rather than shooting for flags on the left or right side of the green. The percentages and stats on this one are very clear. Anything 100 yards and out, aim for the middle. Trust me.

That’s three very simple things that can help you play better golf WITHOUT practicing! No excuses!

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Eric Cogorno

I coach golfers of all levels! I split time coaching between the Bethlehem Golf Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and at DiJulia Golf at Jericho National in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

21 Comments

Don

Apr 28, 2015 at 3:30 am

I found all the advice to be sound and sensible. As an aging golfer the consistency of the ball strike is slowly diminishing.

The idea of playing longer than the pin is so sensible. I know when I’m not on my game I take more club than I need… and the majority of the time it finishes on or close to the yardage.

After 40 years of golf as an A grader… its great advice… I know I don’t play like a pro… I just work on managing my way around the course.

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James

Apr 27, 2015 at 2:31 pm

I know I’m a little late to the responding party, but I wanted to tell you Eric that this was a great article and read for me. Once in a while (and some people more than others) we all become expert critics in golf and/or all other aspects of life in general. If we only look for what is negative or what is wrong, we only find the negative and what is wrong, rather than seeing the value and positive side of the situation.

I agree with all three steps you have laid out, knowing/assuming that there are situations where selecting the club for the exact yardage or aiming at the pin is the go to play, and your three steps to better golf are great statistical measures for everyone playing better and I appreciate that.

Think about if you are a sports gambler betting on a game that is listed as a pick’em, even though 1 team is clearly the heavy favorite every time and is likely to win 80% of the time. Clearly, you would pick that favorite every time, knowing that if you bet every time and the same amount each time, you’ll win 80% of the time.

Whoa, I apologize to everyone for this philosophical comment… I don’t really know where that all came from….long story short, great article Eric.

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MarkNado

Apr 25, 2015 at 9:51 am

Everyone is missing the point of rule 1
Just like 90 percent of golfers slice
90 percent constantly come up short
I watch a lot of ppl play in front of me and if this was done a little more then gir would go up….
But I will say this doesn’t apply to players that score well cuz their miss is left or right not so much long and short or should I say short and short

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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:29 pm
  
  Agreed. Certainly, there are situations when you wouldn’t want to miss long. If you are a good ball striker and don’t miss short often…which is a very small percentage of golfers..than perhaps this doesn’t apply to you as much. But if every single golf shot hit this year was played to the back edge, overall handicaps would come down.
  
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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:32 pm
  
  Agreed. Certain situations where you wouldn’t want to be long, but for the masses the stats are clear. More greens would be hit..scores would lower.
  
  For players who are good ball strikers and can control their distance really well, perhaps #1 wouldn’t apply to you as much..
  
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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:38 pm
  
  Yes, agreed. The statistics are very clear. If every single golfer in the world played to the back edge, there would be more GIR hit..
  
  Reply Report comment
Sideshow Rob

Apr 24, 2015 at 3:46 pm

Number 1 is bad, bad advise. The other 2 are good.
If you want to visit the ugliest places on any golf course, just go long. As a bonus, on the off chance you actually have a shot, you will have a downhill chip or pitch. That’s the fastest way to make a double off a well struck shot that I can think of. This might work on the local muni but if you play a better course you better learn to pick your spots for being aggressive.

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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:37 pm
  
  I still believe when aiming for the back edge, very very few people would actually go long…
  
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AussieDanB

Apr 24, 2015 at 3:02 pm

I think the article has some validity, however the 1st point – whilst I get the basic logic behind the concept, we are having to assume that the player hits a lot of heavy shots as his or her mishits. Playing off a 0 handicap, I get asked by fellow club players how can they improve their general game, I always respond with- learn how far you hit your shorter irons- most golfers playing 18+ handicaps will be hitting a lot of 3rd shots from under 100yards and the sooner they can learn how to control them clubs the better the chances they will have at making the odd par and easy bogeys. Secondly, I’d always suggest learn to play to the middle of the green? The average green is 30/35yards in depth so if you can hit the middle you should never really have more than 40foot putts assuming the worst case scenario of a very front or back pin. The best miss the average golfer can make is the middle of the green, hitting short/long/left/right only means they then have to chip or pitch, not usually the strong point of higher markers.

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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:40 pm
  
  Yup. The logic behind it is to have a game plan where your absolute best shot would reach the back edge..leaving room for anything less than perfect still on the green and putting..
  
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Andy

Apr 24, 2015 at 12:24 pm

All of these are great suggestions, but step 1 makes a lot of sense especially for par 3’s. I feel that most trouble on par 3’s is towards the front of the holes.

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- Eric Cogorno
  
  Apr 27, 2015 at 12:40 pm
  
  People who design courses know most people miss short…so they put trouble there 🙂
  
  Reply Report comment
setter02

Apr 24, 2015 at 7:54 am

1. You’ll likely have an easier putt if short of the pin, not hole high or past. No different then a ball short of the green, but chipping up hill. How many players can really roll the putts well down hill, let alone see how much more break needs to be played?

2. With so many poor putting techniques and a lack of green reading skills, this one is always going to be tough unless you put the time in.

3. About 95% of all golfers are just hoping to ‘hit the green’, let alone try for a specific area of the green. So they are already aiming for the big green thing, let alone the middle, which would be firing to a certain area of the green in which they are only hoping to get onto, any part of…

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Phil

Apr 24, 2015 at 3:12 am

I tried the hit to the back of the green tip last night, when our course was playing hard and fast. It doesn’t work. I was having to drop the ball on the front to get it to stop before the back because the course is so firm and dry. If you play on a hilly, firm course like myself then its useless the majority of the time. It just leaves you a lot of downhill putts!

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michael p

Apr 23, 2015 at 11:56 pm

You know its interesting that many professional golfers tell amateurs the same thing about hitting one more club and swing smoothly. Instead of hitting your 150 yard club or wedge at full speed it actually works! I have tried to use that theory because I would rather hit one more club and swing in good tempo rather than trying to force a club that I might have hit it that yardage on a good day and not make it there. Putting it has been always about speed the line is fine but the speed is the most important part of the equation. Finally the center of the green is the best option especially when they tuck the pins. I hit a draw and I generally aim at the flag when its tucked on the right hand side and let the ball go to the center of the green. If the pin is tucked on the left I am at the right side of the green or edge and let the ball naturally go left to the center. Unless I make a mistake and over cook the draw to a hook. Its about minimizing your mistakes and having the best chance to make par and maybe even a birdie but mostly taking double bogey out of the equation and at worst making a bogey.

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Double Mocha Man

Apr 23, 2015 at 11:12 pm

Pretty good stuff for the average golfer. Though I’d say aim for 10 yards beyond the pin, after determining just exactly where on the green the pin is located. And a bonus for going long, based on the article claiming our chip and pitch shots tend to be short, is that over the green generally will give you a downhill slope that will help you not miss short coming back.

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snowman

Apr 23, 2015 at 10:43 pm

Yep; all are very good pointers. #1: Your playing partners may think you are a short hitter with the irons, but you’ll be pin high a lot more often (only ignore this advice if there is a hazard over the green). #2 Unless you are below a five handicap, you’re gonna have lots of long putts. Focus your putting practice on lags(you hit the green but not ‘stiff”, or you played a mediocre/poor pitch.chip) and 5 foot and in (you hit a mediocre lag or a decent chip/pitch).
#3. Absolutely forget the flag unless you have a PW or less in your hands. What will guarantee you will lower your handicap? GIR! Your main objective is to get your ball on the green – anywhere on the green will do.

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acemandrake

Apr 23, 2015 at 5:47 pm

1. Correct
2. Correct
3. Correct

All three suggestions are grounded in reality and can make the game easier. Too many of us have unrealistic expectations and make the game more difficult. Play to your abilities and help yourself with these wise strategies.

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Liam B

Apr 23, 2015 at 4:40 pm

I have to say I do not agree with tip number one at all here Eric. I think that step should be more like “learn where to miss your next shot”.

For one thing, each hole will be different. I would never tell someone to play the yardage of the back of the green when the flag is short, water or bunkers are behind the green or the wind is going with your shot.

The second reason I do not like this is BECAUSE you may end up with a better shot when you DO NOT make solid contact or play the wrong club ect. This could train the mind to think that it is okay to hit bad shots and over a long term make your ball striking ability progressively worse because you are now thinking about hitting a so-so shot to hit the middle of the green.

Learning where to miss your next shot in my opinion will actually strengthen your course management far more. I agree that players should play to the middle or safe side of the green but I think they should also consider where would be the best place to miss if they were going to and what would be the worst place. With that in mind you can pick your target, how you want to shape the ball to that target (if you have the ability that is) and execute knowing that even if you do not hit the shot you intended to you have a far better chance of being in a position to recover then you did if you hit it somewhere else.

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- sgniwder99
  
  Apr 23, 2015 at 8:58 pm
  
  If you think that the front side of the green is where you should play to miss your next shot when the pin is on the front (“I would never tell someone to play the yardage of the back of the green when the flag is short”), then Eric’s post is for you.
  
  Reply Report comment
Golfraven

Apr 23, 2015 at 7:14 am

Cheers. Some very good advise I will take to the course playing. I see how this can improve scoring over time.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

Published

3 weeks ago

Mar 29, 2024

Terry Koehler

My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

2 months ago

Mar 4, 2024

Shawn Clement

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

Published

2 months ago

Feb 26, 2024

Todd McGill

This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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