Golf Tips: Advanced Tips

Read these 7 Golf Tips: Advanced Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Golfing tips and hundreds of other topics.

Golf Tips: Advanced Tips has been rated 3.6 out of 5 based on 620 ratings and 3 user reviews.
What’s the cure for a slice?

A Cure For Slices

You need a wide and powerful backswing to get distance on your drive. But if lately you've been slicing the ball, you should find out why this is happening and make the proper adjustments. If you're right-handed, maybe the problem is in your left arm. You need to keep this arm out straight on your backswing, but if it is still straight when you follow through, your ball is going to slice. Tension in your left arm will prevent your right arm from rotating over naturally, the way it is supposed to do when you hit your drives.
Result: the clubface stays open instead of squaring at impact and your ball slices to the right. This problem can be fixed if you concentrate on letting your left arm bend when you follow through. If you're too conscious of this, that can create problems, too. Best to practice this correction before you get out on the course with your buddies. They'll be proud of you when they note that your slice is gone.

   
What are some of the things the pros likeTiger Woods do to get more distance from their drives?

Hitting the Ball Longer

Tiger Woods, one of the best golfers in the world, only weighs 180 pounds but he hits the ball 20 yards longer off the tee than the average tour player. If you're like most golfers, including those who have been playing for quite some time, you'd like to add yards to your tee shots, too. How does Tiger do it? Watch him and you'll see the same small, dark grass area next to his hips when he is at the top of his swing and at impact. Many amateur golfers make the mistake of pushing their hips toward the ball when they make their downswing. Tiger rotates his hips in making his downswing but he doesn't make the mistake of moving them toward the ball. There's something else Tiger does that you might want to follow. When he begins his downswing, he starts rotating his left forearm. With that action he begins to square the face and gradually release the clubhead. His swing is already halfway down when the uncocking of his wrists begins.

   
What can I do to get ready for my best round of golf?

Warm-up Before Your Round

Want to play one of the best rounds of your golfing career? Do what the pros in any sport do to get ready for a game: start with a warm-up an hour before the game. Get to the clubhouse early and head for the driving range. Walk briskly to get your blood moving. Maintain a positive attitude and keep your mind intent on making the most of this day. Begin your warm-ups by taking two clubs and swinging them in circles above your head. Do this 10 times with each arm to get your shoulders ready. Put the rest of your clubs on the ground in a vertical position, then put your hands on top of the grips and do 10 squats to warm up your knees, calves, and hips. Now begin your club practice. Hit your irons for about 10 minutes. Start slowly with three-quarter length swings, then build up to full swings. This will give ample stretch to your arm, leg, and core muscles. Do the same with your woods. You are now primed to play a career round, the best you've ever played.

   
What can I do if I’m still having trouble with my bunker shots?

Getting Out of the Bunker with Panache

If you've been playing golf for a long time, maybe by now you've mastered the bunker shot. But if you're still having trouble with it, maybe you need some refreshing on your technique.
Know that when your ball lands in a sandtrap you have your work cut out for you. To make an effective shot, your club must never touch the ball. Your sand wedge must reach into the sand beneath and behind the ball and toss it on to the green at a carefully determined speed and stroke. This kind of stroke should give the ball backspin, limiting the amount of roll. This means you'll want the ball to land near the pin so you'll have a short putt. Maybe then you can make par or even a birdie, depending on how much you lie when your ball falls into the trap. As always, practice makes perfect. If you're still having trouble with your bunker shots, either get help from an instructor or make yourself practice until you get it right.

   
How can I get rid of the tension when I’m about to putt?

Taking Some of the Pressure Off Putting

You've been playing golf for a long time and consider yourself an "advanced" golfer. Experience has taught you how important your putts can be to your score, but you still can't putt well. Sure, putting is a tense part of the game, so how can I keep tension to a minimum?
First make a good study of the line. Crouch down behind the ball and look toward the hole. Know where you want to aim, adjusting for the lie of the green in your trajectory. Then take a couple of practice strokes to give yourself the right feel for how hard you want to stroke your putt. Now you're ready to address the ball. As good instructors advise, "stay in the present." Don't try to anticipate whether the ball will go past the cup, be short, or go in. Stroke the ball with confidence and accept the results. If you make the putt, you will be elated. If you miss, you'll know you've done your best.

   
Is there a trick to help my game that I haven’t tried yet?

Ever Try This Scoring Trick?

As a golfer with lots of experience under your belt, you've probably learned a lot of techniques along the way to improve your chances of scoring well. For instance, you know how important good chipping can be. But what do you do when your ball lands in a trap near the green, your ball has a clean lie, and the lip of the trap is no higher than your knees? Do you sandblast out as you usually do when your ball is in a trap? Not necessarily. Ever try just chipping the ball onto the green? Your ball will get more roll that way, but that's something you're used to with chip shots. Maybe you've never tried this before but have sometimes been tempted to do it. Choosing the right club is no problem. You can use either a pitching wedge, taking some sand with your shot and puttinge stop on the ball. Or you can use another iron, maybe a seven or an eight. The advantage is yours because you have a clear look at the green, even clearer if the lip of the trap is a lot lower than your knees.

   
What can the new Callaway X460 do for advanced golfers?

New Drivers for Advanced Golfers

You've been playing golf for a long time and your game is pretty good. But you'd always like it to be better, right? For one thing, you'd like to hit longer drives. The answer for you could be in the new Callaway 460, usually priced somewhere in the $300 to $400 range, depending on where you buy it. This new driver has some unique features. It not only has the largest clubhead and potential ball speed allowed by the USGA, it has a face thickness controlled to tight tolerances to give golfers performance potential over a large area. With increased ball speed this can result in longer distance more often. Another key advantage is the face of the X460, which is a full 10 percent larger than the Big Bertha (R) Titanium 454 driver. In addition, the keels of the soleplate rest on the turf, giving golfers more ease in aiming the club face and in stabilizing the clubhead. The new driver also has the traditional Callaway short, straight, hollow hosel, which allows weight to be moved lower and to the perimeter of the clubhead for greater forgiveness.

   
Not finding the advice and tips you need on this Golfing Tip Site? Request a Tip Now!


Guru Spotlight
Sherril Steele-Carlin