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Staying In Sync During the Golf Downswing - ...ready to start your downswing - what should you focus on? Unfortunately this piece of advice will not really be useful for anyone who falls away from the golf ball but in general a lot of golfers tend to focus too much on driving their hips forward as a means to start the downswing. This is what many of the best teachers advise though isn't it? As with many things in golf, a little is good but too much of a good thing can cause problems. By over-emphasizing the leg drive many golfers end-up sliding ahead of the ball rather than...

Great Golf Tips - ...golfers have when it comes to chipping is to keep the hands ahead of the club through-out the chipping motion and not keeping the left wrist firm at impact. So, what is the secret to chipping well? First, remember to choke down on the club some to have greater control, open your stance and place the ball towards the back of your stance. Then, one drill that many people find helpful is to actually try chipping with just one hand; your left assuming you play golf right-handed. Don't worry too much about where the ball goes...

Golf's Mental Challenge

You have developed your golf swing and have reached a skill level that you can compete with. But you still feel there is something missing from your game that is keeping you from playing at the next level that you know you can reach. My friend, you have come to the point in golf where you need to work on the most important area of your game: the six inches between your ears. The mental aspects of your golf game will separate you from the average golfer and take you beyond where skill alone has taken you. It will allow you to remove those last few strokes from your score that talent alone will not remove. It will allow you to play and excel when a more talented golfer may crumble under pressure.

You will find ways to score well when you do not have your "A" game with you on a particular day. In this article, I will discuss three ideas to allow you to do more than just hit the golf ball. I will challenge you to thoroughly evaluate your shot, properly select the club you use, and confidently execute your swing.

Shot evaluation starts as soon as you envision the hole you are playing and your strategy for the hole. You may even "rehearse" the first three or four holes on the practice range, hitting the shots you anticipate that you might need for the first few holes. When you approach each shot, the first thing that comes to mind is distance. There is more involved to determining distance than looking at a sprinkler head or yard marker. Always consider the effects of wind and elevation on your shot. Will a helping wind carry my shot through a dogleg or green? Do I need to use more or less club due to elevation on the hole? Is the pin placement in the front or back of the green? Are there bunkers or other hazards that I need to carry or lay up to or avoid altogether? Is the air moist or dry? Each of these factors helps determine the effective yardage of the shot at hand. Make sure you consider these and other factors that change the actual yardage of your shot.
Once you have determined the effective yardage to the hole, select the club that will allow you to reach the safest position in proximity to the hole. That may not be the closest position to the hole. Watch those "sucker" pin placements where a well hit 8-iron that backs up will back up right off the green. Beware of pins near the edge of the green that if you miss the green, you have a short-sided chip from the rough or a bunker shot with no green to work with. Set up your hole so that you can hit your approach shot from the best angle into the green and hit to the safe side of the pin. You will save a lot of strokes with two-putt pars instead of up and down attempts from off the green. Know how far you normally hit (carry) each of your clubs. This distance is not your career best, but an average carry distance you can realistically expect for each club. This will assure that you can clear any trap or hazard that is protecting the pin. Statistics show that a large majority of shots into the green come up short, so make sure you hit enough club, even if greens are hard.

Once you have processed the shot and selected a club to hit, picture a successful shot to your selected target spot (be specific as to target). Do not allow over one simple swing thought. Trust your swing to execute the shot you have pictured in your mind and swing aggressively and confidently to a full completion of your shot. If you have performed step one and two above there is no reason for second thought or regrets. Take a moment to calmly analyze the shot you hit and then forget it. As you approach your ball, begin the process all over again.

An occasional poor shot is part of the game. Do not, however, allow a poor shot or a poor break to escalate into a poor attitude and a series of poor shots. Remember, for every poor shot you hit, you will have a great shot and for every bad break or bounce you receive you will receive a fortunate one. You cannot do anything about the shot you just hit, so forget it completely. Move on positively to your next shot. When you control the mental part of your game, you have conquered a part that the majority of golfers will never conquer or even address. Let your positive frame of mind separate you from the other golfers in your group.

Dennis Krall is an avid golfer that is willing to share tips and experiences with others who share his passion for the game. See more information at http://hittingthegolfball.com and http://lefthandedgolf.us

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Golf Backswing Tips - ...the old "low and slow" adage. Certainly of you are prone to making very quick swings this can be a helpful piece of advice but for many people this tip can do more harm than good. First, there can be a tendency to sway rather than rotate on your backswing if you focus too hard on keeping the club low to the ground. Second, if you slow your backswing too much this can cause you to over-swing and also encourages a feeling of really wanting to lunge into the downswing - neither of which are desirable. It's also worth mentioning that...