Category Archives: Marc Minier

Gravity “Apple Drop” Green-Side Golf Shot

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Nasty lies around the green don’t have to ruin your golf score, you just need the right technique to get the ball close. In this video golf tip, award winning PGA Pro Marc Minier will show you a great way to get the ball up and down, even if it’s caught in deep rough next to the green.

Before we dig into this golf tip you need to know that when Marc says “decel” he is talking about decelerating the club.

Having the golf ball in deep rough a few yards from the green can be a really tough shot. Most golfers are worried that if they swing hard enough to cut through the grass they will overshoot the green.

On the other hand some golfers will chose to take a short back swing and accelerate through impact. This type of shot has its own set of problems including stubbed shots. Relying on your arm power to push through the grass and accelerate through impact is a bad move. You never know what that grass is hiding, and if you hit the ground unexpectedly your club is coming to a stop.

As you saw in the video, the golf shots described above are not very good for this situation.

There is, however, an effective way to get out of thick rough by the green without the chance of way overshooting or stubbing the golf shot, and it’s easy. Simply take the club back and drop it down on the back of the ball “pinching” it out of the rough lie.

You don’t need to worry about your follow through. It simply doesn’t matter. The great thing about this type of shot is that it is consistent and repeatable. This is especially true if you focus on letting the weight of the club do the work.

After a bit of practice with this golf shot you’ll know exactly how far back to take the club for different distances.

The other important factor in this type of golf shot is your club choice. As Marc Minier explained in the video the worse your lie (deeper the rough), the more loft you want.

Choosing a high lofted club, like a 60 degree wedge, allows you to get aggressive and de-loft the club, while not worrying about hitting the golf ball farther than needed.

As always I hope you enjoyed this tip. For more great golf tips from 2006 Southern California PGA teacher of the year Marc Minier Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary, Head Golf Nut OHP

Golf Tip -The Hybrid “Floater” Shot with Marc Minier

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One of the biggest challenges in golf is that on the golf course there are hundreds of different types of shots you may need to make, yet you only have 14 clubs in your bag.

The solution, learn to hit clubs in many different ways. That’s where this golf tip from PGA Golf Pro Marc Minier comes in. In this video he shows you one of the many ways you hit a hybrid golf club.

The “Floater” shot is great when you need to get some serious distance (maybe from a not so good lie) but need the ball to get high, land softly, and have a short roll. Your traditional 3 or 4 iron simply won’t cut it for this kind of situation.

To hit this shot you need to do three things.

First, put the ball at the front of your stance (off your left toe). Second you need to close your stance so you aren’t reaching for the ball. Third keep your shoulders aligned with your target.

When you swing you are going to be swinging the golf club a bit softer than normal. You also want to make sure you are swinging the club along your shoulder line not along your stance.

The result should be a nice shot that gets high, carries a bit shorter than a full swing and doesn’t roll too far. Perfect for when you need a long shot to stick on a green. This shot should also fade a bit due to your closed stance and outside-in swing path.

This is just one more way to improve your game using hybrid golf clubs. As Marc said in the video you simply can’t do this with a 3 iron. Not to mention the fact that hitting a solid shot with a hybrid is so much easier than hitting a 3 iron.

If you don’t yet have any hybrids in your bag I recommend you check out my Hot Metal Hybrids. You’ll be glad you did.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

Golf Tip for More Golf Clubhead Speed & Longer Drives

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Who doesn’t want more club head speed? This is one of the simplest ways you can boost your club head speed and start hitting longer drives.

This warm-up swing forces your golf swing to have a longer, wider arc. The longer the arc of your golf swing the more time you have to speed up the club head, which is exactly what you want to do.

Widening the arc of your swing also helps prevent you from swinging from the outside-in (which is what causes a slice). Starting a warm-up swing with the club head held out in front of you makes it practically impossible to swing outside-in. So if you slice the golf ball this is an especially good warm up.

This practice golf swing has one more advantage. Many players strike the ground on their warm up swing, whether they are getting ready for a drive or a 100 yard pitch shot.

This subconsciously trains your mind to strike the ground first not the ball (this is almost always a problem, unless you are hitting out of a bunker). If you are doing this you are literally training yourself to hit fat shots.

You want to train your brain to hit the ball first, so starting your practice swing up off the ground takes your focus off the ground and puts it on your swing and the golf ball (the two most important things in golf).

On the downswing of your practice swing just skim the grass, there is no purpose to hitting the ground (your golf scores and the greenskeeper will be thanking you).

If you want to start hitting longer more consistent drives try using the practice swing in the video above.

For more great golf tips like this check out Marc Minier’s “Squaring It Up”.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Add Yards Back To Your Drive by Overcoming Lost Flexibility

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As you know the power in your golf swing is developed in your core pivot, not your arms. This is a problem for many of us as we age.

As we start to lose flexibility we stop being able to twist our backs and shoulders like we used to. Because of this we start losing power and yards from our golf shots.

The body lean golf tip in the video above will help you get your back and shoulders to rotate more in the back swing so that you can get more power out of your golf swing.

If you don’t get your back and shoulders into your back swing you will naturally start relying on your arms which will not only cause you to lose some serious distance, but also lead to a number of other nasty problems in your golf swing.

So if you are losing flexibility do yourself a favor and try this out:

Simply open up your right foot (left foot for lefties) pointing it slightly backwards.

Lean your spine back so you are behind the ball, with your shoulders slightly turned behind you at address.

(Note: leaning back slightly doesn’t mean that you start your golf swing with your weight on your back foot. This tip doesn’t change how you balance your weight.)

These simple little tweaks to your golf swing make it much easier for your joints to twist the way they need to get the most out of your golf swing.

As Marc said in the video this little trick will also help you stay behind the golf ball during your swing. Many older golfers have a tendency to get in front of the ball too early in the swing, a problem that also robs power.

Oh and before I forget, you know that stinger shot that Tiger Woods always uses, well Marc Minier has finally decided to demystify the whole thing so average golfers like you and I can start using this little trick.

I convinced him to put together a new video where he breaks the whole thing down and shows you exactly how to hit that stinger shot.

It’s simple to use and it can shave some serious strokes from your golf scores. To learn how to hit the Stinger Shot Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

Hit Longer Drives Using This Weird Bucket Drill

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The key to hitting longer drives is developing a more powerful golf swing. As many of you know swing power is not developed in the arms. Instead the power in the golf swing comes from your core and your pivot.

One of the crucial ways you get power out of your core is by creating torque from your torso. It’s kind of like winding up a spring (your spine is the spring). The trouble is many golfers think they are winding up their torso, when in reality they are just turning their whole body during the back swing.

To visualize this, think of a bungee cord going from your right shoulder to your left knee. If you turn your shoulders the same amount as you turn your hips there won’t be much tension in that imaginary bungee cord. In other words there isn’t much torque in that swing.

If however you rotate your shoulders more than your hips you would be stretching that cord and storing a lot of torque and power in your golf swing.

Now don’t get me wrong your hips and knees will rotate to the right during the backswing. The key is that for a powerful swing your shoulders must rotate further.

The key to this simple golf bucket drill it that is makes you conscious of how you are winding up your torso and hips. You can see and feel it right away.

If the bucket is pointed in the same direction as your shoulders you know you haven’t created any torque in your golf swing. That’s what makes this golf drill so powerful. You don’t need anybody to watch your swing, and there is no guess work (even better it’s free).

So go out there and try this out.

For more great tips like this from PGA Golf Pro Marc Minier (He’s also received the Teacher of the Year Award 4 times) Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Golf Tip – Using Delayed Release To Hit Longer Drives

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As you saw in the video waiting as long as you can to release your lag angle (delayed release) will enable you to put much more power into your golf swing.

The key is where and how you release this lag angle. By waiting till the last minute you prevent yourself from “casting” and wasting that power. The other key is that you must release that energy down into the ball, not forward down the fairway.

If you try to release your lag angle forward you will end up with improper wrist conditions at impact (and lose all your power).

Pay close attention to Marc’s wrists in the video. Although he is dumping that lag angle right at impact he still maintains a flat left wrist and bent right wrist at impact. This is the most crucial part of the swing.

If you are not able to keep your left wrist flat at impact all that energy you stored by keeping that lag angle will be worthless.

The other thing to note is how you get the club face square when you maintain this lag angle until impact. All it takes is a simple turning of your left wrist.

Getting the club face square does not require you to roll your arms over one another. This is one of the most common mistakes that results in a bent left wrist at impact. Instead you simply rotate or twist your left wrist right before impact.

This little twist motion is so quick that it allows you to square the golf club face at the last moment, enabling you to keep that powerful lag angle until you deliver that power into the golf ball (the moment of truth).

Just remember to keep that lag angle till the last moment then dump all that energy down into the back of the ball.

For more instruction from Marc Minier Click Here.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Understanding Club Release

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Dear Hellow Golf Nut,

Doc here, I’ve been so busy the past few months working on a secret little project of mine that I completely lost track of time. I can’t get into much detail about it just yet, but once this thing is completed I will definitely be letting you know about it.

So in the mean time, here’s a quick tip from golf instructor Marc Minier on understanding the release of your club swing. In this video he quickly covers the basics of understanding how and where the build-up of energy is being delivered through the club shaft into the ball. Creating massive drives with little to no effort at all…

Check it out.

For more info
Click Here

Till next time… for better golf.

Doc
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Releasing Power at Impact…

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Here’s a great video tip from one of our pro instructors, Marc Minier -showing the proper release of the golf club at impact…if you want more distance from your shots, you need to stop the power leaks….

For more great tips like this check out Marc Minier’s Power Punch Golf DVD