Stop the Shanks

Dewsweeper writes in they cant stop the shanks can I help?

Most of the time a shank is caused by and over shut club face which results in the ball going off the hosel. The more we shank it the more we try and shut the face and the worse it gets.

The key here is to hit shots trying to leave the club face open.
Some thoughts that might work would be for a right handed player to keep his/her right wrist bent through impact.

Drill:
Try and hit little shots with face looking to the right.
Another very effective way to practice is to hit balls next to a 2x4. Position the ball about an inch inside the board and keep the board square to the target line.

bad divots?

Dewsweeper writes in that they are having trouble with divots that are thin and toe in at the end of the divot. The result of this is that they are not hitting it solid. They would like to know what does this mean whats the fix?
This means the club is being pushed through or maneuvered with your hands.

This requires you to rely on timing to hit the ball solid and costs you distance as well as accuracy.
Here is a thought I use frequently when helping my students play better.

Hit little shots and think of dragging the face through the turf with your body
Practice hitting small shots trying to make the divot stay as wide as the face of the club for the entire divot. In order for the divot to remain wide you will have less hands.

Tip to Improve Short Putting

A question from a Dewsweeper how can I improve my short putting.
One of the things I see from good putters is a very steady putter head that finshes low to the ground.
Bad putters have a putter that is waving all over and with lots of motion at the end.
Watch Tiger finish his stroke….that putter finishes low and in front of his body over the ground.
For better putting hold your finish with putter low to ground.

Is it ok to release your head and eyes when chipping?

A dewsweeper writes in with this great question...

Is it OK to release your eyes or head when hitting chips or pitches?
It certainly can work to release your eyes with the contact of the ball as it flies towards the target. This release of the eyes and swivel with the head can make it easier for you to pivot through the ball rather than hanging back onto your back foot. Before you get to carried away with it consult your local teacher.

Tilting versus turning

One thing I learned early in my teaching profession was to take tilters which is the majority of golfers who are struggling and learn how to make them turners.
If you slice the the ball and/or end up on your back foot and never seem to be able to get onto your front foot at finish most likely you are tilting during your backswing. By tilting what I mean is that your front shoulder (left if you are right handed) goes down towards the ball. What is happening is that your shoulders are working in too much of an up and down movement rather than staying level and turning across and behind the ball.
The fix: Try and turn your shoulders more level and make your left shoulder feel as if it is turning straight across your body to a position that is even with or behind the ball. Try this backswing tip out and see if it doesen't help you make better backswings and hit better shots!!

Stop Lateral Slide

We all know how much we preach making a good turn and pivot motion. Well, it is impossible to have proper rotation and rotary movement if you have lateral movement or slide in your swing.
Here is a suggestion: take a lawn chair and place it next to your left hip (if you are right handed) and practice making backswings while keeping your left hip touching the chair. Your swing will feel shorter and tighter, but the slide will go away.
Try this tip to take the slide out of your swing.

Hit a Cut off the Tee

Whats the best way to hit a cut off the tee?
Start with some set up procedures.

Tee ball lower. This makes it harder to get the club head under the ball and thus makes it harder to put any draw spin on it.

Play ball more forward so club is swinging more across ball at impact.

Aim the club face at target
Aim feet along the line you want to start the ball
Some players usually more advance also use different arm and hand motion.
For this you can have the back of your left or lead hand facing up going throught the ball. This helps hold the face open and produces a bigger cut. I would start with the set up procedures first before attempting the reverse hand roll.

Drill for a good forward swing pivot!

A Dewsweeper wants to know a drill for how to learn what it feels like to go throught the ball properly
Most golfers don’t realize how far forward the body(chest) is and how far left the club swings.
Here is a great drill to help you get the feel!
Stand in your address position with the left hand only on club. (right handed player)
Keep head looking down at ball
Take club in left hand and put waist high with left hand only while still looking at ground and maintaining posture.

Now while keeping in posture and looking at ball reach right hand over and put on the grip.
This drill will put you in the correct forward swing position post impact and teach you what it feels like to make a great forward swing pivot!

How to stop Coming Over the Ball

A question comes in about any way to stop coming over the ball.
First of all you must make sure you are coming over the ball not using hands and hitting a face pull. I see a great deal of golfers who are hitting the ball or starting the ball left because they are shutting the face with their hands rather than because of a path which is from the outsidde or over the top.
If you are over the top and need to fix the path think of where you are trying to hit the ball.

Inside quarter!
Hit the inside quarter of the ball. This thought has helped many of my students get their plane shifted more to the inside and get the ball started more on line. When doing this it is helpful to think of trying to smash the ball down and out into the turf.

Drill:
Use a board or a box and place inch to right of ball and hit shots square to board. This will help your path come more to inside