Tag Archives: Golf Instruction

Falling Victim To The Putting Illusion?

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As Bobby said in the video the importance of proper putting cannot be ignored if you want to shoot low scores. I’ll admit putting isn’t the most fun thing to talk about, but let’s face it consistently dropping 6 footers will take a serious bite out of your score (plus it will drive your golf buddies nuts).

Golf is a mental game and putting relies even more heavily on your mental state and confidence level. That’s why overcoming the illusion Bobby talked about is so important if you want to become a consistent putter.

Focusing on keeping the putter face perpendicular to the target line through your whole stroke will drive you nuts, force you to do some funny things, and cause you to lose confidence on the green.

To eliminate many of those problems all you need to do is understand that the putter face will open and close naturally through your putter stroke.

Some guys intuitively understand this or simply go with what work, and through chance and luck they figure it out. Others guys (like me) need to understand this phenomenon conceptually before our brains will let us trust the putter stroke.

This video and the inclined plane tool should prove to you that taking the putter straight back on the inclined plane results in the putter face opening up. The same rules of geometry that caused it to open up will cause it to be square when it hits the ball. So as long as you take the putter straight back you don’t need to worry about getting or keeping the putter face square at impact.

All it really comes down to is accepting that this is fact of golf. It will allow you to focus on much more important things while putting, such as your speed, follow-through, break, and the speed of the greens that day.

You probably don’t have an inclined plane at home so use a score card like Bobby showed in the video if you need to prove it to yourself. The score card will also help you ensure that you are bringing the putter straight back.

For more putting tips and tricks from Bobby Schaeffer check out his Hot Touch DVD Package. This stuff will shave some serous strokes off your score.

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

2 Simple Steps To Longer Drives

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To get the most distance out of your drives you want to make sure you are making contact with the right spot on your driver. Everyone has heard of the sweet spot on the golf club, but you may have never heard of the hot spot.

The hot spot is a relatively new term that really only applies to the big drivers on the market today. If you have a driver with a large club face hitting the sweet spot of the club will certainly produce a great drive, but make contact a little higher up and you will get even more distance out of your golf drives.

As Bill McKinney said in the video hitting the hot spot gives you a higher launch angle and less back spin. Both of these equate to more distance. The trouble is without a long tee you won’t be able to hit the hot spot. So do yourself a favor and get some taller tees. You’ll be able to maximize your swing and your equipment for longer drives.

There is a bit of a trick to using longer tees. Luckily I’ve got a video that explains this trick and how to get those long tees working for you. You can see it right here (Tee it High).

The other thing that will boost your drives is making sure your spine is tilted back during impact. At address your spine should be straight, but during your downswing your upper body should be behind your hips.

Having your torso tilted back improves the launch angle of your drives even more, and it also reduced backspin on the ball.

These two tips combined should have you hitting longer drives in no time. So go hit the range before you next round and see if you can work these tips into your swing.

For more great instruction from Bill McKinney check out his Natural Power Golf Swing.

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

Secret To Shaping Shots

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Learning how to shape golf shots will help you get around the course much easier. Using a hybrid golf club is a great way to teach yourself how to shape shots. Because these clubs are easy to hit, it takes much of the frustration out of the process.

Start off with the easiest way to shape shots, trajectory control. Trajectory control is as simple as moving the ball around in your stance. To hit a low golf shot simply play the ball back towards your back foot. To hit a high golf shot play the ball more off your front foot.

When shaping the trajectory of your golf shots you also want to make sure you are paying attention to your hands. You don’t need to scoop the ball to hit it high. Your hands should still be in front of the ball at impact, but with as little forward shaft lean as possible (depending on how high you want to hit it).

For a low golf shot you will want a lot of forward shaft lean. This takes loft away from the club keeping the ball lower.

Now for the fun part, hitting fades and draws. As Bill McKinney shows in the video above hitting a hook or draw is simply a matter of swinging inside-out and “wrapping the toe around the golf ball.” You will also want to line up your stance to the right of your target. This type of swing is much like curving a table tennis shot. Cut across the ball to the right and the ball goes left, and visa versa.

To hit a fade golf shot or a slice you do the opposite. Align your stance to the left of the target and swing from the outside-in cutting across the ball. Also remember to keep the club face square into your follow through, closing the club face will take some of the spin off the ball. By doing these three things you will cause the ball to curve to the right.

The last segment of the video shows you the practical ways you can use these techniques on the golf course. Imagine the green was directly behind the tree in the video. Without being able to shape golf shots (or have pinpoint accuracy and hit between the branches) you would have to hit left or right of the green and take another shot to get on. Knowing how to shape shots would allow you to go for the green saving you a stroke.

Hybrid clubs make shaping shots much easier because they are so forgiving. If you don’t own any already I would recommend picking up a set. They will change your game, and you will find yourself pulling off shots you never thought you could, and miss-hits will virtually go away. For more information on Hybrid Golf Clubs Click Here.

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

Perfect Your Ball Striking With This Simple Drill

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Just so there is no confusion, this golf drill it is not meant for practicing bunker shots. This drill is geared toward improving your ball striking for golf shots off of grass.

This golf drill will teach you to strike the ball more cleanly. By practicing in the sand you are able to see exactly where your club first touches the ground in relation to the golf ball. This will really help you dial in your swing.

During normal practice off of grass it is difficult to tell whether or not you are striking the ball cleanly, because after you swing the ball is long gone and you have no reference point to compare your divot to.

As you saw in the video when you practice this drill in the sand you can draw a line, place the ball just ahead of it, make your shot and get instant feedback from your swing. After you take a few shots you will know right away if you were are a little ahead or behind the ball.

Ideally you want to strike the golf ball first then the ground, so your divot should start right after the line you drew in the sand. Your divot should never start in front of the line (that would be a fat shot). If your divot starts before the line you know you need to adjust your swing.

The length of your divot is also important. This is where the sand really helps out. Since grass is resilient it will only take a divot where you make hard contact. Soft contact simply scuffs the grass.

Sand on the other hand will tell you exactly how long you were contacting the ground. A long divot means that you have a good follow through and are maintaining proper wrist conditions through impact.

If your divot is short you need to work on staying down through all your shots. Try focusing on having a flat left wrist through impact, and carry that wrist position as long as you can into your follow through.

If you really want to dial in your golf swing this drill is a must, so go out there and try this out.

For more great golf instruction from PGA Pro Bill McKinney Click Here.

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

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

Secret To Low Powerful Golf Punch Shots

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As you saw in the video the secret to a low power shot is to have a large amount forward shaft lean. This takes some of the loft off of the golf club keeping the ball flight low.

This type of shot can be used in many different ways. It’s pretty common to use a 4 iron for this kind of shot but other clubs work in different situations.

You can use a half swing and get a small 50 to 75 yard golf shot with a low short flight and a really long roll, or you can use a full swing and like Bill said in the video get up to 200 yards out of it (which will also be low and have a long roll).

The bottom line is that this is a very versatile golf shot, one every golfer should know. It can really save you if you wind up in the trees or on the edge of the fairway where you need to keep the ball low to clear overhanging branches.

Aside from being able to use this shot to get out of trouble it will also help you train your hands to stay in front of the ball at impact.

This kind of low power shot simply exaggerates the forward shaft lean to keep the golf ball low. If you have trouble getting your hands to stay in front of the ball or can’t seem to keep your left wrist flat at impact this is a great shot to practice.

By exaggerating forward shaft lean with this golf shot you will get the feel for where you hands should be during impact on a normal shot (sometimes exaggerating something is the best way to get a feel for it).

If you play around with this technique you will also find that you can start controlling the height of all your golf shots by simply changing the amount of forward shaft lean.

To learn more great golfing tips and tricks from Bill McKinney Click Here.

That’s it. Now I’m going to go out and try that umbrella trick myself (at night while nobody’s watching). You should try it too (but it’s not my fault if you break your umbrella). Leave me a comment if you can hit the umbrella, or just leave a comment for any other reason, I love to hear feedback from other golf nuts.

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

Find Your Driver’s “Hot Spot” For Added Distance Off The Tee

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Aligning the driver directly behind a teed up golf ball is one of the most common mistakes when it comes to teeing the ball high. This is why many golfers avoid long tees. Once you understand this little secret it will open up a whole new world of distance for you. This one trick alone can get an extra 20 to 40 yards out of your driver.

I recommend using 3 inch tees. Here’s what you need to do:

Tee the golf ball up with a 3 inch tee. Align yourself to the ball without letting the club rest on the ground. Make sure your arms are fully extended (like they would be at impact). The ball should be at the center of the club.

Now relax your wrists and arms letting the club rest on the ground. Notice that the ball is now aligned to the toe of the club, that’s okay because like you saw in the video your arms will lengthen at impact putting the ball right where it should be.

The key to this trick is that the sweet spot on drivers isn’t where it used to be. New golf driver technology and the massive club faces found on modern drivers have moved the “hot spot” higher up on the face of the club.

I use the term “hot spot” because when I talk about the sweet spot most people are thinking about the spot smack-dab in the center of the club face. The center of the club face isn’t a bad place to be hitting, but on most new drivers hitting a little above the center will actually get you more distance.

This is why using a longer tee is so important. Without the golf ball sitting up higher off the ground it is pretty much impossible to access the “hot spot” on the club face.

In addition to hitting the “hot spot,” teeing the ball higher brings your swing plane closer to the horizontal axis. The driver swing is already much more horizontal than an iron swing because of the long shaft. Teeing the golf ball up an inch higher brings it even closer to horizontal.

Why is this good for you? Well many (actually most) golfers tend to hit at least a slight slice with their drivers. A sliced golf shot can be caused by two things: an open club face, or an outside in (sometimes called coming over the top) swing path.

The closer your swing plane is to the horizontal axis the more difficult it becomes to swing outside in.

So in addition to helping you hit longer drives, teeing the ball up higher can actually help to fix your slice. All you have to do is remember to address the shot with the golf ball toward the toe of the driver, it’s that simple.

For more great tips from Bill McKinney Click Here.

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

P.S. Have you guys noticed the weather getting warmer? Time to dust off the clubs and try out some the great video tips I’ve been sending your way this winter. So go out there and have some fun.

Unorthodox Golf Drill Cures One Sided Golfers

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Not only does this drill look really cool it can actually help improve your golf game in a big way. This golf drill allows you to train both sides of your body and your hand eye coordination at the same time.

It is similar to the one handed chip shot. The one handed chip shot forces you to use both sides of your body properly if you want to make a clean shot. It exposes weakness in your swing that your strong side may be compensating for.

The drill in the video above also exposes weaknesses in one side of your body or the other. Mastering this drill will not only amaze your buddies, it will also sharpen your golf skill tremendously. Your hands will be forced to get into the right position for impact every time you swing the golf club. Training with this drill will make proper wrist conditions (flat left wrist, bent right wrist) second nature.

This golf drill will also improve your hand eye coordination. Luckily the ball doesn’t move when we address it on the course, but your body is constantly moving during the golf swing. Although we don’t often think about this it requires a lot of hand eye coordination.

Developing good enough hand eye coordination to be able to hit the golf ball after turning and twisting our bodies in the back swing is something that we learn very quickly. However, developing the razor sharp hand eye coordination that will allow you to hit the right spot on the golf ball every swing, regardless of course conditions, is something that many golfers never achieve.

This is exactly the kind of drill that fine tunes your hand eye coordination taking your golf game to the next level, and like I said above it educates your hands at the same time.

So go out there and try this drill. If you can get half as good as Bill McKinney at this drill I guarantee that your ball striking skills will improve and your golf scores will start dropping.

If you want to get even more serious about dropping your golf scores and improving your swing check out Bill McKinney’s Natural Power DVD package.

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

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a reply in the comment section below. I’d love to hear what you guys think of the video and take any requests for future videos.

Loading Your Golf Driver Shaft For Massive Power

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Getting your driver shaft to flex properly is one of the best ways to add major distance to your golf drives.

Golf club shafts are meant to flex in the down swing. This flex stores a ton of energy (like an archer pulling the string back on his bow). When that flex releases at the right point (at impact) you will be able to launch the ball much further than you would if you were to rely on swing speed alone.

The key to getting this flex to work for you is choosing the right kind of shaft. As you probably know golf shafts come in a variety of flex levels. They range from junior to double extra stiff like Bill is using in the video.

Just as he says you need to find the right shaft for you. If you are young flexible and consider yourself to have a fast swing, a stiff shaft may be right for you. If you are a bit older and not quite as limber as you were in your younger days, you may want to get a medium flex shaft or senior flex so that you can properly load the shaft (and still out gun the younger guys).

Now for the technique shown in this video:

Loading on plane means that you are not getting all whacky with your golf swing when you are trying to flex the shaft. Staying on plane is crucial. The key is using your base (feet, knees, and hips) to stress the shaft.

By having a strong weight shift on your down swing you are able to put enough torque on the shaft to load it without jerking down from the top or getting off plane.

Once you have the shaft loaded you need to keep it loaded until impact. If you “cast” or release your wrists before impact you will lose all that stored power in the shaft (not to mention you won’t have proper wrist conditions at impact).

To keep the shaft loaded you have to use your core pivot to drive the swing all the way THROUGH impact. Your arms simply won’t be able to keep the shaft flexed on their own. Now go out and try this technique yourself.

Oh and before I forget you should go check out Bill McKinney’s Natural Power Golf Swing you’ll be glad you did. You will learn how to load your shaft and many more insider tricks that will get you hitting longer straighter drives.

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

Bridge Stroke Drill To Tap More Power Into Your Drives

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Fixing your driver swing can be pretty difficult if you just hit drives all day. A full speed driver swing happens so fast you have virtually no time to recognize problems or fix what you are doing wrong.

This is where the “bridge stroke” comes in handy. This simple power pitch shot is slow enough that you can diagnose problems, yet similar enough to a full swing that it will fix problems you have with your drives (and even add more distance).

In this quick video Golf Pro Bobby Schaeffer will show you exactly how to use the bridge stroke to fix your swing and add tons of power and distance to your golf drives.

As you can see in the video the bridge stroke slows down the most common trouble spot in the golf swing. It educates your hands teaching your left wrist to stay flat through impact, while at the same time teaching you to use your core pivot to add power.

One of the secrets of this golf drill is keeping your shoulders and neck loose. The power in the golf swing comes from your core pivot not your arms. When you tense up your neck and shoulders you have a tendency to use your arms to hit the ball.

Using your arms to swing the golf club robs massive power from your swing. So stay loose and let your core do the work.

Just remember to keep that left wrist flat through impact. Don’t let your wrist flop over after impact. You have to keep your left wrist flat into your follow through.

Now go out there and have some fun. I know you will get some extra yardage out of this drill. For more information on hitting longer drives Click Here.

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

Simple Golf Workstation Drill For Longer, Straighter Drives

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As you can see in the video this “work station” that you can easily set up on the driving range can help you fix several problems and get you hitting longer, straighter drives.

The best part is you only need two spare clubs and a handful of golf balls.

The first step is to lay a club between your stance pointing at the ball and perpendicular to your target. This lets you to easily glance down and see where the ball is in your stance (forward, back, or center).

Next lay a club parallel to your target line and about 6 inches away from the ball. This makes it much easier to see your target line while you are looking down.

Place a few golf balls along your target line downrange. Place the first ball 2 feet in front of the ball you are going to hit. Place the next ball 2 feet from that one, and so on.

The final step is to place a few golf balls behind you, along your swing path. The first one should be about 3 feet behind you along your swing path. The next 2 a few more feet back along your swing path.

The video shows pretty clearly what the swing path should look like. Your current swing path may not look like this (even if you think it does) so give this drill a shot. This workstation is designed to make it easy to visually check and make sure your golf swing is following the correct path.

As Bill describes in the video the first ball that is placed behind the golf ball you are hitting teaches you to have a low take away. The phrase low and away is a great way to remind yourself of this.

The back of your club should tap that ball out of the way as you take the golf club back to the top of your back swing. A low take way forces you to use your core and pivot to start your back swing (one of the keys to great golf). To practice this you can even let your club drag on the ground a bit in the take away.

This drill helps you on your down swing too. The balls placed along your swing path will help you see if you are coming over the top (swinging from outside to inside) or laying off (an exaggerated inside out swing).

For another one of Bill McKinney’s free golf instruction videos click here. Be sure to come back next week for another great video tip.

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

Tee Box Control Drill

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Dear Fellow Golf Nut,

Doc here with another Golf Tip for you.

This one comes from my good friend Billy McKinney.

I call it The Tee Box Control Drill, and this drill will give you a confidence boost like no other right from the start of each hole!

I’ll tell you what, when I first learned about this drill I tried it out on the driving range by taking my time with each shot I took.

Visualizing everything from a dog leg left with water hugging the left side of the bend, to a dog leg right with a bunker lying right in front of my targeted flag stick.

After only one bucket of balls, I went out and had my best round of golf in months, my golfing pals were all left stunned in amazement on how low my score was.

It was all they could talk about back at the clubhouse!

Anyways in this tip, Billy shows you how ball placement at the start of every tee shot can effectively help your game and boost your confidence by providing you with the best shot possible down the fairway.

Simple and VERY effective.

Check it out.

If you would like to purchase Billys’s Avalanche of Power Video Package, which this tip was taken from, simply click on the link below.

Bill McKinney’s Avalanche of Power

Till next time… for better golf.

Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP Golf

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