How a Golf Fade Works
April 28, 2008
Would you explain to me how to make a golf fade works and how it’s different from a slice? - Jeff in San Antonio, TX
A fade in golf is a term given to the flight path of a golf ball as it comes off the clubface. The trajectory of the ball will move from the left of your intended target before it curves slightly back to the right. How a golf fade can get confused with a slice in golf is simple to understand especially for beginners. Basically a slice is a severe and unintended curve of the golf ball to the right.
Now to fade a golf ball you should align your body to the left of the target and point your clubface directly at the target and here are 4 easy steps to follow that will help you produce a golf fade to envy.
Step 1
Set your clubface square to the ball. Hold the very tight in the bottom three fingers of your left hand.
Step 2
Aim your feet and shoulders to the left of the target making sure the clubface is still square.
Step 3
Because you are aiming your body towards the left except for the club, it should force you to make an out-to-in swing path. Aim to hit the ball at a 2 o’clock angle.
Step 4
Now on the downswing your focus should be on bringing the club back across the ball, with your angle of attack brought down on the 2 o’clock position of the ball which should give you a feeling of your right hand coming underneath the shot.
After you make this method your own, you can fade a golf ball whenever you need it and use it as a tool to set you up for that perfect putt. Happy strokes!!
Listen to this post
Golf Yips and Botox?
March 19, 2008
I came across an interesting article from the Mayo Clinic about golf yips and how botox might be used as a future treatment. Every now and again I get the yips right before I take a shot and was wondering what you thought about this? - Joan in Waterloo, IA
Yes, I’ve read the article about golf yips and have found it to be very interesting that they are considering Botox as a form of potential treatment. I’ve known many friends who suffer from this horrible jerking motion when they hold their shaft in their hands, as they want so badly to make a perfect shot only to have the opportunity slip away because their brain is having a conniption fit.
For the poor afflicted souls that do have this condition, I bet a well placed Botox injection just might help lower your golf scores. The upside being is that if the doc already has the needle out, why not only cure the golf yips but a winkle here and there too?
Listen to this post
A Golf Slice Cured
March 7, 2008
I have a golf slice but I really want to get better and improve this as much as possible. Do you think this is something that I can work out on my own? - Quinn in Rapid City, SD
A golf slice requires a lot of hard work to improve and if you really are interested in making this cure stick then lets get into the meat of how and why this happens and go from there. I want to pick this apart so you can gain a much clearer understanding of what you need to improve your stroke. Now, to make it perfectly clear, this advice is for righties so you need to reverse this if you are lefty.
If you hit a golf slice to the right, it means that it’s curving in a left-right motion across the horizon and if the ball doing this, it is spinning in a clockwise direction. Right now, imagine that your ball is sitting on a peg. To spin the ball clockwise, the club has to swing more to the left with the clubface pointing slightly to the right. In a golf slice, hitting the ball with an open clubface makes the ball curve across the sky as a slice. So tell me, my virgin friend, how’s your grip in golf?
Consider this. Your grip has little to do with the direction of the swing but has absolutely everything to do with where the clubface is looking upon impact with the golf ball such as being in the opened, closed or square position. Everyone has their own unique way of holding a golf club. To keep this simple, if your hands are turned too far to the left on the club, this will more likely than not return with the face of the club looking to the right at impact.
Something else to keep in mind while preparing to swing is having a correct golf stance. In the course of playing you find yourself hitting a golf slice far to the left, you may find yourself compensating by adjusting your swing over to the right. However, in doing this basically you are not addressing the root of the problem and creating another one from the opposite direction. What do you do to fix this then?
Lay your club on the ground and make sure that it is parallel with your target line so you can check your aim. Make positive that your aim is not too far over to the left and keep in mind the alignment between your feet, knees, hips and shoulders are parallel to the club on the ground and with your target line.
By checking your stance you can determine what is really going on with your swing. Let the ball be your guide. Are you seeing it curving less over to the right? If so then you are getting close and if its curving over to the left or flying straight, then you are starting to make some headway.
Now if you are one of those rare hard to find, self-motivated go getters, then it is definitely possible that with practice and A LOT of hard work you will see an improvement in your score, not to mention your overall enjoyment of the game.
Get out there and experience for yourself if this works go over to all your buddies and tell them how the Golf Virgin helped improve your game. You never know until you try.
Listen to this post
Say Hello to the Golf Shank Fix
February 23, 2008
Golf Virgin, I don’t know what to do. I’m at my wits end. When I go to swing, I almost always shank the damn ball. It’s horrible and I’m sick of listening to my buddies razz me about it. What can I do to find the golf shank fix and cure the golf shanks for good? - Jeffrey in Albuquerque, NM
Jeffrey, oh Jeffrey, you poor poor… thing. I truly do feel your pain. As the Golf Virgin, I’ve seen this many times and I know how bad it hurts when you’re out there giving it your best, getting so close and then all of a sudden you just can’t hit and your club basically hangs there in the breeze, useless due to “performance fear”. But no worries, I will show you the perfect fix. For a lot of the less inexperienced players out there who may not be familiar with what a shank golf shot is or what causes a shank in golf, here’s the definition.
A shank is simply when you hit the ball with the hosel of your club instead of the actual club face. This occurs because you are not using a good stance and distributing your body weight evenly and also means you are more than likely standing too close to the ball. Heres how you fix it. Do not over flex your knees when you’re about to swing. This shifts your weight to your heels, instead of in the middle of your feet were it belongs.
When you start off with too much weight on the heels this causes the body to seek out a balanced position during the swing. So when the club head makes contact with the ball your weight gets transferred from your heels to your toes. This results in the hosel being closer to the ball and all of a sudden your buddies are laughing out loud as your ball shoots off in search of it’s own kind. You see, a good address position which is a proper stance is absolutely necessary for a great golf shot to take place.
For this stance you must align your body square to the target line. This position entails having the shoulders, hips, knees and feet aligned parallel, but left, of the line that runs from the ball to the target. Even if you have this stance down, if you are standing too far away from the ball, you will unconsciously move your weight onto your toes and thus ruin your balance.
Keep in mind that standing too far from the ball can cause the knees to stiffen. More than likely this will increase the chance of hitting the shot thin where the ball will bounce off in yet another unintended direction and again you get to enjoy roars of laughter.
The width of your stance should be a shoulder-width apart when you’re taking full swings. Be sure to keep your knees flexed with a slight bend in your waist and remember to keep your weight on your heels.
This will allow you to maintain your knee flex from takeaway to impact, so you will develop a stable, even stance that will enable you to put your buddies to shame. If you spend the time and effort training this way you will never have to worry about the dreaded golf shanks again.
So remember to keep an proper, balanced stance and back up just far enough so you can hit it. Relax, don’t be afraid, it’s just a teeny white golf ball… and from here forward you will have the last laugh as you get to watch your buddies balls fly off of their own free will and disappear into the wild blue yonder.
Listen to this post
-
Join Me At MyBlogLog
