by Beth Rinehold
erinehold@pc-medical.com

As Education Chairperson for 2008, I have decided to contribute a monthly” golf tip” article. I hope this will be helpful in pursuing a more pleasurable golf experience. I would also like to encourage input and feedback, so I might address your questions and/or comments to make this forum more useful.

January 2008

This month, I would like to address “Reading a Puzzling Putt”.

I am sure you have all experienced this putt. You stand or kneel behind a putt and you read the putt as you are looking at the hole. It occurs to you that you cannot see the line. You KNOW there is a break on the putt, but you are puzzled about the line.

Keep in mind that reading a putt begins about 40 yards from the green. As you approach, you should be looking at the contour of the green. This will give you some confidence in what the slope and movement of the green might be. Put this in your memory bank.

Now that you are looking at this putt, remember what the slope and movement looked like, as you approached the green. This should tell you the break, either to the right or the left. This will give you a point of reference.

So, you have now decided that the ball will break to the right, but you still cannot see the line. Walk to the side of your putt line so you are facing the line at 90 degrees. Look at the line your ball will travel on. Is the slope coming toward you, or is it running away from you? This will help confirm which way your putt will break and how much. Try this next time you are looking at a “puzzling putt” and it just might help. 

Download January Golf Tips (pdf)

February 2008

This month’s tip, “Preparing your approach shot”.

Someone once quoted that “the approach shot is the most important shot in golf.” Hummmm? Well it is. If your approach shot lands within 10 feet of the pin, you have a good chance at a one putt. If you miss the green, you are approaching the green again. Having said that, I would like to go back to the shot prior to your approach shot and address this strategy.

For some of you, preparing for your approach shot begins on the tee box. For others it could be one or two shots after your tee shot. The idea is to be aware of when you are 2 shots away from the green. This is the shot that will set you up for your approach shot.

Once you are two shots away from the green, look for the placement of the pin on the green. Is it back or front, is it left or right? Know the pin placement. If the pin is in the back right hand side of the green, you will want to hit your next shot to the left side of the fairway. If the pin is on the left side of the green you will want to place your shot to the right side of the fairway. The idea is to have a straight shot to the pin, on your approach, with lots of green to work with and no hazards between you and the pin.

All golfers have heard the term “short siding yourself”, that is what happens when you set your approach shot on the same side of the fairway as the pin. You have no green to work with and it is nearly impossible to get the ball to stop on the green. So, next time you are approaching your approach shot, try this out. I hope this helps. 

Download February Golf Tips (pdf)

March 2008

This month's tip is “Picking a line for your shot”.

Some if not all of us, have a difficult time with alignment of our shots. You think you have yourself lined up for your shot only to have it miss the target by 20 or 30 yards. It only takes inches to translate to yards once the shot is hit. There is a simple technique that everyone can use, to reduce your wayward shots. It does work, but only if you use it all of the time. Make it part of your routine and trust it. I personally use it on every single shot I hit and it is part of my routine.

Whether you are approaching your next shot in the fairway or teeing the ball up on the tee, you can use this technique. Stand 5 to 8 feet behind your ball and visualize the line for your ball flight. In your mind, see the line a few feet in front of the ball. Pick out a blade of grass, broken tee, a leaf or some item you can line up to. This spot is 2 feet in front of your ball. DO NOT remove your eyes from this spot. Address and align your ball, to the spot. Once you have addressed the ball, DO NOT look at your target, in the distance. This will give you a false reading on your alignment. You will then second guess your alignment and start moving your feet and your body to compensate.

If you want to get use to this technique, try this while working on the driving range. Stand behind each shot, pick a target, visualize the line and pick a spot 2 feet in front of the ball. Make this part of your routine and I promise you that this will help. But here is Beth’s disclaimer; I cannot guarantee that your ball will hit its target, if you slice, hook, chili-dip, top-it or chunk-it. Happy golfing;-}

Download March Golf Tips (pdf)

April 2008

This month is “ball position in your stance”.

If you have taken a lesson or read any golf magazines, most likely you have been told about ball positioning in your stance. The long and short of it is that if the club is longer, as in your driver, it takes a longer swing path. This translates to making proper/square contact with the ball, later in your swing. In other words, it takes a longer time for your hands to come through and finish your swing. In this case, you would have the ball position forward in your stance, or closer to your left big toe, for right handed golfers. This gives you ample time to finish your swing. The principal would then apply as your clubs get shorter. The ball position would then move closer to the middle of your stance. All sounds good in theory, right???

But what I have noticed is that there is not one swing that is the same and everyone finishes their swing in a different place. So you must experiment to find your ideal ball position. You can spend a lot of money trying to change your natural swing or you can work with what you have and get some pretty good results, pretty quickly with a few tips. So here goes the tip. . . . . . . .

If you have a ball flight that consistently flies to the right, which is a slice or fade, then you may want to move the ball further forward in your stance (closer to your left foot). This will give your hands and your clubface a chance to finish and bring the ball closer to a straight flight path. You can continue to move the ball forward in your stance until you start to pull the ball left, at this point you have gone too far. I recommend that you try this little trick to either get rid of a slice or get rid of a pull. A little doe-c-doe with your ball and you will be hitting straighter and longer shots in no time. Have fun trying this out, it really does work. It’s all in the physics. Happy golfing ;-} 

Download April Golf Tips (pdf)

 

July 2008

This month, "It's the shot, not the score that counts."

The Santa Barbara Chapter returned this week from the Sectional championship in Tucson, Arizona. We had some interesting weather to say the least. Monsoon rains on Thursday evening that dumped 4” of rain. The Dell Urich course, that we played, went from a hardpan send the ball anywhere you wished course, to a narrow course with a lot of water hazards. The course proved to be interesting and the competition went on. While speaking to players after the event, I heard low and high handicap players make the same comment. “Boy, I was shooting for a bogey or a par on every hole.” “I could have scored a 4, if I had made that chip and instead I took a 7.”

These comments made me realize how many players keep an eye on their score throughout the round and some times every hole. They are driven by the score. Let’s call this approach, “scorecentric”.

I would like to introduce another approach to the game of golf called, “shotcentric”.  This concept is pretty simple and it is the approach that I take while golfing. While contemplating your shot, focus on the type of shot you wish to make and what that looks like. Where do you want the ball to finish? Once you have decided, use your routine and address the ball. Focus, keep your head down and execute that perfect golf shot. If your focus is the perfect golf shot, (and we all know what that feels like), you will find yourself enjoying the game more and hitting better golf shots. Get out of the habit of adding your score as you go. Add at the end of the round.

If you execute the perfect golf shot, every time you address the ball, the score with take care of it self. “Hit perfect golf shots and the score will come.”

Download July Golf Tips (pdf)