Golf Tips to Help You Improve Lag Putt Percentages

Probably one of the most important golf tips we can offer on Golf for Beginners has to do with putting.

Dave Pelz said that the "make percentage" of PGA Tour players averages just over twenty-nine putts per round compared with twenty to thirty handicappers who average a staggering thirty-five and more putts per round! Knowing this one simple stat makes you really want to work on your short game.

Golfers know that it is extremely important NOT to choke on those easy three-footers, but it is crucial to learn the art of lag putting to get the average player into the "circle of trust".

Move that little white ball safely into the hole in the least number of strokes and your score will drop.

In his recent Golf Digest article, "4 Shots You Need to Win at Augusta (and Anywhere)", Brooks Koepka notes that a "tricky lag" was needed during The Masters in order to compensate for the speed and swing on the greens although the short putts were equally as treacherous.

"Nowhere else do you see four-footers that break three cups. You have to hit the short ones with authority, but to even get those, your lag putting needs to be dialed in," noted Koepka.

This week, Golf for Beginners has put together a few easy golf tips and drills to avoid posting those nasty three-putts to your scorecard. If, as Pelz states, "PGA Tour pros three-putt an average of 2.4 times—per event," you can imagine how many strokes the average player is throwing away!

- If you are the type of golfer who always seems to lag the ball short of the hole, Dave Pelz suggests putting with a chipping stroke. "Add a little wrist hinge both back and through. Again, this will help you avoid hitting the ball too softly and coming up short."

- Bradenton Country Club’s Head Pro, Brian Lake, says that "feel" is overrated. "You’ll learn distance control faster, applying science."

"If you play just by feel, it takes you three times longer to finally teach your brain what those distances are,”  Lake states. The science behind the tip is, for every one inch you swing your putter behind and forward of the ball, the ball is going to roll approximately one foot. If you swing your putter two inches back then two inches forward, the ball should travel approximately two feet, and so on.

Golf for Beginners certainly doesn't want to overwhelm players so, since these two tips are easy to remember, try them the next time you practice your putting and let us know how these putting drills worked for you in our golf blog comments section below or on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Improving One’s Golf Game While Building Snowmen

The snow will soon be blowing in and it will be time to go sledding, build snowmen and drink hot chocolate. Put another way, the cold is here so now it is time to bundle up and try to stay warm because it is too cold to go outside and play golf. 

Mike Baird tells us how we can keep our game fresh through the cold and silly season.

With the cold weather, there is no way to play golf, improve your swing or your overall game...or is there?


Believe it or not you can improve your game even while it is cold out and while there is snow on the ground. Here are some things to do during the winter months to help you improve your golf game:

Work out

Winter time also brings the Holiday season, which makes it extremely difficult to do anything but eat turkey, cookies, cakes and pies. But working on keeping your cardio up and strengthening your arms and legs can really help you to improve your overall game once the warm weather returns.

  

 Putt in the family room

Putting is an essential part of any golf game. Practicing your putting on the family room carpet will help you to practice and feel more confident in your putting skills for when it counts later on. The carpet is similar to how it feels out on a green and it is convenient because you can find a spot to practice in your house. Use cups as holes and the furniture in the room as obstacles.

Drills/Practice/Repetition

Drilling and or putting your strokes in the garage or a gym will help with your swings. Other golf experts have recommended a putting drill in which you place only one hand on your putter then practice five foot strokes for ten minutes. Research other drills and training aids that will help your swings and your game then practice them over and over again. Practicing those drills and repeating those drills will help with your consistency.

Do some homework

If you want to play like the golf pros you have to watch the pros and learn to do what they do. Do your golf homework by watching the Golf Channel. This will probably be the easiest thing to do this winter. Watch the pros and TV shows like The Golf Fix in order to see others learning and working out problems in their golf game. 

Mike Baird is founder of GolfGator.com and a PGA Pro who teaches golf lessons full time and also likes to write about putting aids.


Voice your opinion on Twitter @Golf4Beginners and friend on Facebook.



photo credit: LifeisGood.com

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Spider-man Camilo Villegas putting strategy, using your brain to defeat the brawn and two bits for better putting

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"Spider-Man", "Trendsetter" and even "Rock-Star" are some the monikers which come to mind when branding 26-year-old Camilo Villegas. Magazines are targeting him, with People voting Villegas one of its hottest bachelors and Golf Digest naming him one of the most ripped golfers on tour.

His flexible signature maneuver on the green is memorable. And ladies are attracted to his retro look from international clothier J. Lindeberg, who has been hailed as the most influential fashion designer in Sweden, claiming to have "reinvented the wheel" when creating golf fashion.

Villegas seems a bit overwhelmed by the attention thrust upon him and prefers to talk about golf, not girls.

"If people like the way you play, the way you dress, the way you look, that’s all good. But the bottom line is my goal is to play good golf," Camilo stated in a Golfweek interview.

Take a tip from Natalie Gulbis, Camilo, and expand your horizons. Calendars and reality shows make plenty of money too and can turn Camilo Villegas the golfer into Camilo Villegas "business entrepreneur".

Camilo's ability to stay focused on his golf game is one reason why we have chosen a putting tip from the up-and-coming Columbian player. Another reason for our selection is that Villegas' positive putting stats on the PGA Tour don't lie.

Golf for Beginners also takes a look at the mental game, honing in on how to outthink and outplay the competition. This week's putting drill uses quarters as an incentive to make your view of the golf hole bigger and easier to hit. Click for more golf drills...


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PGA Tour discovers Turning Stone, a great New York weekend getaway plus putting drills and driving range tips

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"Turning Stone leaves no stone unturned!"

That's Barry's quote, plain and simple, after we accompanied a group of golf travel writers to Turning Stone Lodge. Our mission? To let our listeners in on the buzz accompanying this multidimensional casino/resort. The PGA Tour has chosen Atunyote golf course at Turning Stone for the start of its 2007 fall series.

From beginning to end our weekend at the Lodge at Turning Stone offered us the opportunity to relax, unwind and forget about our day-to-day routine.

We boarded the Turning Stone motorcoach in Manhattan. This coach is hired for corporate conferences and "team building". Our "team" got to know one another here and we were offered massages, food, gaming table and all of the amenities necessary to comfortably carry about twenty people the four hour drive to Verona, New York.

Once there we received our itinerary which included a tour of the premises and several opportunities to sample the gastronomic wonders created by Chef Daniel Graban. Our supper at Wildflowers and lunch at Rodizio were memorable events. Wildflowers offered creative cuisine, right down to the "donut soup" at the end of our meal. Rodizio is a Brazilian steakhouse where roasted meats are served tableside. This restaurant is a meat-lovers paradise!

I decided to try my first ever spa treatment at the highly touted Skana Spa. "Lavender Dreams" will not disappoint spa afficionados although there are a wealth of treatments available. You will want to relax here all day (especially if the weather doesn't agree with your golf plans), either lazing by one of the several fireplaces sipping herbal tea or taking a dip in the mineral pool.

But for golf lovers, it's all about the courses, right? Although Atunyote was off-limits, being groomed for its debut on the PGA Tour, Barry played Shenendoah GC, one of three eighteen hole courses operated by the Oneida Nation and rated by Golf Magazine as one of the "Top 100 Courses You Can Play". I decided to take a lesson with PGA Professional Steve Campanaro. His putting drills and golf tips for the driving range were easy to understand so we discuss them in this week's Golf for Beginners podcast.

The golf dome is great for short game practice. Turning Stone is now building a tennis dome connected to the golf dome by a clubhouse for times of inclement weather.

Although there is also a main casino hotel, in my opinion the place to stay is at the Lodge. Be sure to inquire about a fireplace and plasma screen television in your suite as these items add to the ambience of your stay. The robes and slippers in the room as well as the spa bathroom are also a nice, upscale touch.

The main resort is elegant and has a more cosmopolitan feel, making you wonder if you are staying at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun rather than the adirondack feel of the Lodge. The smell of cigarette smoke emanating from the Casino into the main lobby made me feel as if my healthy spa experience had come to a shrieking halt.

Video slots instead of the "one-armed bandits" and a special card that must be constantly refilled when the money runs out are both positive and negative experiences. We're not big gamblers anyway but I found that I didn't invest as much as I normally do when I travel to Atlantic City.

This is a BYOB establishment but we were told that there are shops that will deliver liquor to your room.

Turning Stone is a luxurious, upscale and restorative resort for a long weekend jaunt. There is plenty to do if you're seeking action and adventure but also gets the "thumbs up" when you're looking to unwind and alleviate stress from the week.


Check out other great New York Hotels.

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"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

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