Hit it further than ever before

Learning how to use your legs properly is the key to generating extra clubhead speed and consistency.
At set up our knees should be equally flexed as demonstrated in the picture. However in the backswing as our body rotates our left leg will flex more than at address and our right leg will straighten slightly (right handed golfer). It is a common misconception that the right leg doesn’t straighten in the backswing. However because we bend forward at the hips to play golf when our hips turn in the backswing the right side goes slightly up and the left slightly down in the backswing, as seen in picture two.

impact and the down swing

The opposite happens in the downswing and follow through only in a more dramatic action because our body is far more rotated. Notice in the picture of an ideal impact position the left leg is fully extended and the right leg is flexed this is due to our hips being 45 to 55 degrees open at the moment of impact. The flexing and extending of our legs into impact is the ultimate power move and should lead the rest of our body and club into impact.

finish

More of the same happens through to our balanced finish practice this and I guarantee you more consistent and longer shots.

Improve in 2009

With spring in the air it is time to dust of the clubs and get back to the golf course, the only question is, are you actually going to improving your golf this year or keep being frustrated by you same old faults. As a golf coach who has coached golfers of all levels, the one thing I see which is common to most, is at some point they hit the glass ceiling of improvement and sit in the middle management of golf for the rest of their days.
So what I am going to ask you to do is approach your golf like a business plan and objectively assess your game and set some realistic goals for better golf. The objective measures I am talking about are the Statistics readily available on all of the best players in the world and you need to know them in order to improve your own game.
· Fairways hit
· Greens in regulation
· Sand saves
· Chipping up and downs
· Total putts
You should also ask yourself after each round whether your decision making and strategy assisted or hindered your day. A bit like a mini appraisal, just like one you would hold with any staff member you were trying to help improve their skills.
Setting realistic goals is easier once you have the above information because you will have an objective measure of where the weakest parts of your game are, and just as important you will know when you have made an improvement no matter how small.
Armed with this information you can now head to your local golf professional and take lessons specific to the area of your game that most needs help, and remember once you have taken a lesson or read one of my tips it is important to give it a chance to work. Consistent is what consistent does once deciding to take a course of action you need to follow it through for at least a month to receive any benefit.

Long Putting need wrists

A big mistake made by alot of golfer when hitting long putts is to use the same stroke that they would use on a short putt. A wrist less putting stroke is great for being accurate on short putts but simply wont do it for distance control on long putts where pace is more important than line. If you look at this picture and the two below you will see how at set up my putter shaft points between my arms, in the backswing it lines up with my left arm and in the follow through it lines up with my right arm. practice this and your long putting will improve.

Long Putting needs wrist action

notice how in the backsswing my wrist have hinged so now the shaft lines up with my left arm

The Tee Shot 17th St Andrews

About the most famous Blind tee shot in the world is the 17th at the Old Course St Andrews. This is Peter Fowler in a practice round before the Dunhill Links 2008 his line was over the L in Hotel. Sometimes hard to do but the key is to pick a line and trust it. So if you are lucky enough to play the old course rip it over the L.