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With old man winter approaching there’s hardly any time to practice our golf games. However, there are a couple things you can do this winter that will keep your swing in shape for the up and coming golf season.

Of course practicing your swing and hitting balls is the best way to practice. But a lot of us, especially those of us living up north, can’t hit balls this winter. That doesn’t mean we can’t practice and keep our swing in shape. Here are a couple of great drills from my book Golf Swing Connection that will keep your swing in-sync this winter.

Slow speed downswing:
This drill can be done indoors or outdoors. Assume your correct set-up and posture with a club, but without a ball. Make your backswing and stop at the top of your backswing. From there, start your downswing slowly feeling your lower and upper body starting together. Stop halfway down, and then swing back to the top. Do this about 3 or 4 times feeling the lower body and your upper left connection starting down together. After the third or fourth time starting down, you can then slowly swing on through and feel what the entire swing should feel like. This is a great drill to train all of your muscles in what a correct downswing feels like.

Arms crossed:
Without a club, assume the correct set-up and posture. Next, cross your arms in front of your chest. From this position, simply turn your torso inside your feet over a braced right knee, pause and feel the coiling sensation in your body. After you turn back and feel where your body should be, then return to the set-up position with your arms still crossed. Next, repeat the same move back, and then after a little hesitation, shift your weight as you turn back through all the way to the finish position over a straight and braced left leg. This is a great drill that you can do anywhere and feel what the body does in the golf swing.

These are 2 very good drills you can do (one without a club) to help the timing of your arms and body moving together. If you would like to see more great drills you could do this winter, and when golf season starts, they are in the ebook Golf Swing Connection you can find at golfswingconnection.com.

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By Richard A Glanville

Long irons are the golf clubs from the 1-iron to the 5-iron. These clubs have relatively long shafts with the 1-iron having the longest shaft. The club shafts get progressively shorter as we go down in clubs from the one through the five iron. The lower the number of the club - the longer the iron and the less angle the club head has to it.

The longer the shaft of any golf club, the more difficult it is to hit. Golf clubs with longer shafts force the golfer to stand farther away from the ball. Standing farther away from the ball makes it more difficult to hit correctly and accurately.

Grip

The best grip is a neutral one that is not held too tightly.

Stance

Stand far enough away from the ball to compensate for the longer shaft length. Ensure the ball is not too far back in your stance. Your ball needs to be in the middle of your stance for you to hit a low shot. Putting the ball inside the left heel will lead to a lifting strike.

The stance for the long irons is slightly wider than for medium irons. Set yourself up over the ball in a “square” position with your feet, hips, and shoulders on a parallel line toward your target. Flex your knees slightly to help keep your balance throughout the swing. Your weight should be evenly distributed between both feet. The hands are slightly ahead of the ball, and the arms are tucked in close to the body.

Backswing

Swing the clubhead back along the ground for the first 30 centimetres, utilizing the body and shoulder turn. Gradually lift and cock your arms and hands when they pass outside your right leg. Cock your wrists when your hands get to hip level. The clubhead should point towards the sky. At the top of the swing the weight is almost entirely on the right side. The wrists are fully cocked, the left arm is straight and the full shoulder turn is complete. The club head should be directly over your rear shoulder once you get to the top of your back swing (for a full swing).

Lift the left heel off the ground about three centimetres during the turn from the ball. This prevents straining the hips and shoulders.

Downswing

Begin your forward swing by unwinding from your hips. Keep your head down. If your head moves too much or comes up, the club head will bottom out before it strikes the ball resulting in hitting the ball fat.

As soon as the hips start the downswing, plant the left heel firmly and purposefully on the ground.

Strike the ball from inside the target line. A shallow arc allows you to sweep the ball with the club as opposed to hitting through the ball. A descending and even stroke takes advantage of how the club is angled. Keep your left arm straight.

Halfway through the downswing the wrists are fully cocked and the right elbow is tucked in against the right side. At this point, the weight is moving to the left side and the right side is beginning to drive into the shot.

Start activating the right hand and forearm close to impact with the ball. Once the club is parallel to the ground the right hand and forearm can stop the arms and club from rotating past palms perpendicular to the ground and club toe up, and make the club go straight up vertically. The right hand must force the club up in the vertical plane in order to hit the ball solid, straight and longer.

The longer the club, the more energy and emphasis needs to be applied.

Hit the ball with a descending arc ensuring that the ball is struck prior to hitting the ground.

At the point of impact your head must be behind the ball, your hips must be open and your hands together with the shaft of the club must be forward of the ball.

Swing the club level through impact making sure that you stay tall and your arms swing around your body. To keep your shot accurate and clean when you hit long irons you need to immobilize your head and keep still.

Your swing must produce a club face that is square at impact. Aim the bottom edge of your long iron just beneath the mid-point of the golf ball. The bottom edge of your long iron must contact the ball just prior to contacting the ground below the equator and the result will be a good flight path for the ball with proper loft. Make sure that the club face impacts the ball squarely.

Follow through

Complete the swing with a decisive follow through following the path right to the target.

Don’t forget to rotate with your hips completely after coming through the ball.

These Golfing Tips will assist you with hitting long irons consistently well.

For many more golf related articles try http://www.progolfingtips.blogspot.com

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By KC Bacon

One of the most important golf swing basics that is most overlooked is learning how to hit out of bunkers. Bunker shots are a part of nearly every round of golf you will participate in whether you are a pro or a complete beginner. The mistake many people make is they take the golf swing tips they have learned and implemented for their iron shots and try to utilize those when hitting out of a bunker. The golf swings used for a 155 yard approach shot and a 15 yard pitch or chip are as different as the swing you should use when hitting out of a bunker.

Getting in the Proper Mind Set

Very few if any golfers get flustered or nervous when hitting a 20-30 yard approach shot from the fairway or the rough, yet when faced with an approach from a bunker at the same or even a smaller difference they immediately write it off as something they can’t do. This mindset makes failure almost inevitable. You must train yourself to feel just as comfortable getting into the sand as you are when hitting just another approach from the fairway. This will come by focusing on controlling your thoughts once you’ve hit into a bunker and when hitting out of a one as well as by learning certain golf instructions that with a bit of practice will have you viewing a bunker shot as just another shot. Just as there were certain golf tips for beginners you sought out for your drives and iron shots when you first started golfing, there are certain golf swing mechanics you must learn in order to have a proper golf swing for maximum results in the sand.

9 Golf Swing Tips for Hitting Out of a Bunker

Choke down on your club - your right pointer finger should rest at about an inch from the grip’s bottom. By choking down you will have a bit better “feel” necessary for successful bunker shots.

Stand with your feet a bit closer together and play the ball a few inches further in relation to your stance. Narrowing your stance and standing a bit behind the ball will help give you more control as well as more lift with your shot.

Dig your feet into the sand and get relaxed and comfortable.

Throughout the swing make sure you keep your body completely still with NO hip rotation.

Start and end your swing using only your arms and use a vertical swing. At the top of the swing point the butt of your grip at the ball. Steep is better here!
At the top of your swing your left arm (if you are right handed) should be fully extended and parallel to the ground.

Start your downswing at the sand focusing on hitting about 1 inch behind the ball. DO NOT focus on hitting the ball as you normally would. By hitting an inch behind the ball in the sand will ensure that you get out every time.

Follow the ball as it leaves the sand with your arms and your body.

A steep angle swing is key here but don’t swing too hard. You do not want to blast the ball out of the sand but rather we are advancing it out of the sand.

A Drill You Can Practice to Quickly Improve Your Bunker Play

Take your P wedge, S wedge, and L wedge (if you have a lob wedge) into a practice bunker. Note that the sand wedge isn’t necessarily the club that will yield the best results when hitting out of the sand. Hit a few shots with each club and pay close attention to the difference in feel and the way the ball exits the bunker with each club. Remember to swing steep and to hit 1 inch behind the ball with each swing. Make a mark 1 inch behind the ball when first practicing this technique. Whichever club yields the best results and feels the best throughout the shot is the club you should use for most of your bunker shots. You can also practice steep swings anytime throughout the day at home or at the office and focus on a steep swing and pointing the butt of the grip at the imaginary ball.

Conclusion

Just as with every shot you practice, remember that you are not likely to achieve the best golf swing. Pros practice for several hours each and every day and have been doing so since they were children and still they have minor problems and glitches with their swings. Focus on simply achieving a better golf swing by changing one thing at a time and your results will blow you away. Just master and focus on the golf swing basics, never getting too complicated to see the best and fastest results.

Click here for more tips and information on golf swing basics. Also, check out my story on how I was able to drastically improve my golf game at http://learngolfswingbasics.org.

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By Daniel Poundall

Expert Author Daniel Poundall

Reading the green in golf can be the difference between winning and losing, and needs careful attention if your going to get anywhere in your golfing life. To put it simply, reading the green is an attempt to visualize or guess the path that the golf ball will take once you hit it, and getting this part of the game right will almost always result in a better putting experience.

Learn to read the green correctly and your game will quickly improve.

Here are a few green reading tips:

1. Putting Line

Although there are many things to consider when attempting to read the green, the two key areas you mainly need to focus on are the speed of the green, and the line you need to take. A good tip to remember is that the faster you hit your ball, the less the slope or gradient of the green is going to affect your putt, and vise versa. So for example, if you have a long putt, the breaks in the green are going to have less impact on your golf putt because longer putts need to generate more speed in order to get to the target.

2. Green Reading Angles and Levels

Remember to read the green from all possible angles. Even as you approach the green there may still be something you can see that you may not be able to close up. Reading the green from further away will usually give you a better idea of what to expect from your golf putt.

When possible, try reading your putt from a lower level. Viewing the green from a lower level will give you a better idea of which way the green will break.

3. Green Speed

In order to be a consistent putter, it is important to be able to judge the speed of the green. This is where the weather can play a big part in the game. For instance, on a rainy day the green is going to absorb moisture making the putting green slower than usual. But on a hot day the greens are going to be dry, making them a lot harder, resulting in a much faster green.

4. Grass Length

Another thing to take in to account is the length of the grass on the green. Longer grass will usually reduce the speed of your putt and can even have an impact on the direction.

Adding these simple green reading tips to your game can make a big difference to your putting game, and will hopefully give you a better idea of how to read the green correctly.

If your interested in learning more about How To Golf I would recommend reading Breakthrough Putting Secrets. This Golf Ebook is a great read for anyone looking to improve their Putting and comes with a great range of bonus material regarding the Golf Putt.

Learn more at GolfClassic.info

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By S. Pesavento

Many golfers are able to hit great shots on the driving range where the conditions are perfect and the ground is level. Once they get on the golf course, they may struggle a bit with the various lies that occur for different golf shots. It’s very helpful to spend enough time practicing out on the golf course besides just the driving range. On the range, it can be hard to simulate the actual shots that will need to be played out on the course.

When faced with an uphill or downhill lie, the most important thing is to tilt your shoulders so they match the slope as closely as possible. Your goal with your golf swing is to swing along the slope. If it’s an uphill lie, you tilt your shoulders so the right one is down and the left one is higher. As you take your club back, you’ll feel yourself drag the club back lower to the ground. As you come through impact, you’ll actually be swinging up through the ball otherwise your club can get stuck in the ground after impact.

On a downhill lie, you’ll tilt your shoulders so your right one is higher than your left. As you swing back, you’ll pick the club up slightly quicker. Through impact you want to feel your club chase down the slope a little more. This will ensure you are able to hit down and through the golf ball with good contact.

With an uphill lie, try and play the ball slightly more forward in your stance than normal. With a downhill lie, you should play the ball a bit more towards the back of your stance. This is important in order to catch the golf ball solidly with your clubface.

It can also help quite a bit if you widen your golf stance slightly on these uphill or downhill lies. Anytime you are not dealing with a level lie, it will help your golf swing if you can stay more balanced. It’s easier to get off balance with sloped lies, so widening your stance can assist in making better golf swings and hitting better golf shots.

Learning how to master uphill and downhill lies will help your golf game tremendously. Many golfers lose shots out on the golf course simply because they don’t know how to deal with these sloped lies properly. Get good at mastering different lies, and golf will become more enjoyable and rewarding.

Play Better Golf with an easy golf swing system developed by The Golf Swing Genius.

The Golf Swing Genius is a top golf instructor dedicated to helping golfers of all levels improve their swings and play great golf.

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By S. Pesavento
Your golf stance is an important base and setup fundamental for having a good golf swing. The golf stance needs to be adjusted depending on what club you are hitting. Typically with your full swing iron shots, your stance should be shoulder with apart. With a driver swing, you want to have your feet slightly wider apart than shoulder width. When you are chipping or pitching you want to have a narrower stance.

Another issue golfers may have is knowing how far away from the golf ball to stand. Standing too close or too far away from the golf ball can cause some problems with the golf swing. If you are too close to the ball, oftentimes a golfer can start coming out of their shots too early. You’ll end up being too jammed up at impact and will have to compensate in order to hit the golf ball. Alternatively, standing too far away from the ball can cause you to lose your balance and make other compensations in order to hit the ball.

If your posture and stance are correct in your golf setup, a helpful checkpoint is to have a fist and a thumb width of distance between your left thing and the golf club handle or grip. To see if you are doing this correct, simply take your setup and then take your left hand off of the golf club. Set your left hand directly on your thigh and stick your thumb straight out. Where your thumb ends is the point where the golf grip should be. Being the proper distance away from the golf ball will allow your arms to hang down naturally and correctly. If the arms are too far extended from being too far away from the ball, your swing path will easily get off track and it will be harder to be consistent with your golf swing.

A helpful tip when setting up to the golf ball is to put your golf club head down first behind the ball. This is where you’ll align the clubface towards your target. Then set your right foot ahead of your left and step into your golf stance with your left foot then finally readjusting your right foot. This will help you to get a feel for standing the proper distance away from the golf ball and you’ll be able to repeat your setup the same way every time leading to more consistency as well.

For more great golf swing tips and strategies, check out the Golf Swing Genius.

For more great golf swing tips and strategies, check out Best Golf Tips and play your best golf starting today.

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By Greg A Banks
Practice your short game! This is the best golf tip you will ever hear. Driving the golf ball happens only once per hole. The rest is approach shots, pitching, chipping, and putting.

To be good at the game of golf, you need to be a well rounded player. There will be many situations you must learn to adapt to. Like playing out of high ruff, being under a tree, getting up and down from a sand bunker, or reading a steep down hill putt.

All of these things will happen to you as a golfer. Not being prepared will definitely add strokes to your score card. If you’re serious about golf, putting the time in to practice all parts of the game is a must.

Approach shots
Practice hitting 150 to 140 yard targets at the golf range. Find the clubs in your bag to do the job. Pay close attention to your ball flight and how your ball lands. When it lands does it, roll to the right, roll to the left, or keep rolling straight. You need to know this to either make adjustments to your swing, or know what to expect during real play.

Pitching
There’s a certain touch that comes with pitching. This can only be learned through experience. Part of a good short game is learning to pitch the ball high, or low if needed. You will need different types of these shots from close range, all greens are not created equal. You need different techniques to take advantage of certain situations near the green.

Chipping
There’s nothing like screwing up a shot 5 yards away from the green. It’s not hard to become very good at these short shots. They can also be very rewarding. These shots can go in to save Par, or put a birdie on your score card.

Sand bunkers
Some golfers are doomed when they get in a sand bunker. All because of no practice. Sand bunker are part of the golf course. You should practice getting out of the sand just like any other part of your game.

Putting
Becoming a good putter is a major way to save strokes. Becoming confident in this area is idea for high handicappers. Getting the feel for the speed of your putts will lower the chances of giving up three strokes on the green.

All of these situations are bound to come up while playing a round. If you want lower golf scores, practice your short game. A nice drive off the tee doesn’t guarantee a good score.

Play better golf with a good Short Game read more golf tips @ Lower Golf Score Now.com.

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By John Holdsworth

By the nature of their design the longer clubs are harder to strike consistently well. If miss-hits creep into your game it tends to be with one of the longer irons. Most golfers are confident using a 9 iron but aren’t so sure about how to hit long irons. The club is longer and has less loft but if you make exactly the same swing with each club you can achieve consistent results.

If you are having problems hitting long irons a simple practice drill may restore your confidence. Hit alternate shots on the practice fairway with your 3 iron and 9 iron. Begin with the 9 iron as it is easier to hit. After a good shot change to the 3 iron - hitting long irons immediately after a good shot will give you’re the confidence to conquer the club you fear most. Work at making the same swing and try to maintain the same rhythm for every shot.

Most golfers understand the principle that you need to hit down on the ball to gain height on a shot. Achieving this on the golf course is harder to carry out. From the beginning of your downswing ensure that your hands lead the club head into the ball. If you let the club head get ahead of your hands you’ve got trouble as from this position it is impossible to put the club on a downward path into impact.

When the leading edge of the club head strikes the middle of the ball you hit a thin (also called a sculled shot). The ball flies very low and runs a long way. In dry conditions the ball can travel as far as a good shot and can finish close to the intended target. If the ground ahead is flat this shot is not such a problem. However, if there is a hazard in front of you, you may have a problem. A thin is more likely to happen when you try to hit the ball hard. This shot can happen from the longest iron to a short chip shot.

If you are striking the ball well but the trajectory of your shots is too low go back to basics and check your address position. Ensure that the clubface is aligned square to the ball to target line. The further you are from the hole, and therefore a longer shot, the more alignment faults are exaggerated.

Correct ball placement is one of the most neglected fundamentals in golf. Most players analyze their swing in search of the cause when their shot goes wayward but faulty ball position could be the problem. As little as half a ball width can make the difference between striking off the heel, toe or sweet spot

of the club. For your long irons the ideal position is opposite your left heel. As the club length shortens the ball should be nearer the middle of your stance.

These are just a few hints and tips on how to hit long irons which should help you learn to hit long irons with confidence and precision.

Find more information on how to hit long irons and when you can master that learn how to hit a draw and take your golf to the next level.

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By Jack D A Brown

There are many different reasons for poor putting, but one of the most common amongst golfers is having too much wrist action in their putting stroke. Having too much wrist action in your putting stroke leads to a loss of putter head control and consequently inconsistent ball striking

Finding a solution to this problem is not always easy, some golfers like to experiment with different ways of gripping the putter and some prefer to see if moving to a longer putter will work.

The main idea behind the long putter is to create a putting style that minimizes or even removes the wrist action completely from the putting stroke, by anchoring the putter to a fixed centre point. Depending on the size and design of the long putter, this anchor point could be your sternum, belly or chin.

If we take the sternum length long putter as an example!

Most elements of the setup should be the same as when using a conventional length putter, i.e. your feet, hips and shoulders should all be parallel to the target line, your eyes should be looking directly over the ball and the putter face should be square to the target you are aiming for at address.

The main difference with the long putter is how you grip it, your left hand (for right handed golfers) will grip the top of the putter and hold it against your chest or sternum, so that it is in a fixed position. Your right hand will grip the putter at around thigh height.

Not only does the long putter help to reduce the amount of wrist action involved in the putting stroke, but it also encourages a pendulum style of swing which is much more consistent than a wrist and hands style putting stroke with the conventional length putter.

The long putter is also easier on the back as there is less tilting required from the waist. This will enable you to spend a bit more time on the practice green perfecting your golf putting performance!

Why not continue to improve your golf putting performance by following a step-by-step revolutionary golf putting formula that will help you to drastically lower your handicap in no time at all!

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By: Sneaky Long

So what is Phil Mickelson putting style? After all, he can string together a bunch of birdies in a round. Yes, his approach shots to the green have a lot to do with it. However, it is his amazing use of his putter that seals the deal.

Well, first you must understand that Phil uses an inside to inside putting path line. On the backswing, his putter moves towards his body, then his putter squares up at impact and, finally, it moves towards his body on the follow thru.

Phil’s inside to inside putting technique is not your only viable option for putting. Many pros use a straight back to straight thru putting stroke. Some use an inside backswing and straight follow through. Further, copying Phil putting path line is only a small part of learning how to putt like him. In fact, you can adopted a different path line and still follow hi putting philosophy

Let’s say that you have a putting path line that you already use and which you would prefer to continue using. What you can still learn from Phil is how to build your grip, setup (stance, posture, ball position and eye position), routine and putter selection around your putting style. This is Mickelson’s secret. And it makes sense.

However, us typical amateur golfer will likely overlook the importance of making sure that all aspects of his putting match his chosen putting style. We may purchase any putter that looks good off of the shelf. We may adopt any setup that feels comfortable. We may use any grip technique that allows us to hold the putter. Why, because we do not know any better?

But the truth is that constructing a putting stroke is like building a car. All the parts of the car are made to fit together to make the end product. So too, all of the parts to your putting should fit together to make it more likely for you to consistently make putts with your chosen technique.

The Phil Mickelson putting stroke secrets go deeper than his chosen stroke. It’s his setup, routine, grip, putter and more that is all neatly pieced together to make his putting style work.

Visit the Phil Mickelson Putting article at Golf Tips A2Z to learn how Phil pieced together all the different components of his putting technique to make his inside to inside style so successful.

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