#Golf Tips to Help You Stop Hitting Behind the Ball

During the past few rounds of golf with my husband, we both start the round hitting the ball clean and crisp and then Barry begins to chunk down behind the ball.

Next thing I hear are grumblings about how much grass he took, how short the ball went, how many inches he hit behind the ball...and the list goes on.

Naturally, this problem could not continue - Barry just wasn't having any fun during his rounds and his next step was to make an appointment with a qualified instructor for help and for golf tips on ways to stop hitting behind the ball. Here is what he learned about his swing:


- Probably the most important thing Barry learned was that he wasn't properly transferring his weight. He was keeping the weight on his back foot throughout the swing. A video from PGA Teaching pro Eric Hogge suggests a baseball drill, stepping into the swing from behind the ball.


- Another problem causing chunky shots was that Barry's golf swing was not beginning with his chest (shoulders) turning; instead, his swing was beginning with an arm movement. If this is happening when you swing the club, take a tip from Michael Breed on Golf Channel - use the Elephant Drill which also improves tempo. I also regularly place a golf club parallel to the ground up against my shoulders and turn back and through.


- Finally (and isn't that enough?) Barry was using the dreaded "death grip"; he was gripping too tightly, not allowing the golf club to swing freely.

Too much squeeze and everything in your swing gets affected from wrist hinge to a loss of power and control. A tip to improve your golf grip pressure comes from one of our early Golf for Beginners podcasts and from this visual at Golf Tips Magazine.

Hold the golf club in front of you with just enough pressure to stop it from falling down in front of you. Also, something that I always try to do is to think about holding a bird in my hands - you don't want to crush the little one so you want just enough pressure to keep her from flying away.

Do you have tips or drills to stop fat shots? If so, please share here on this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

photos: videojug.com, Golf Tips Magazine

Seven Ways Technology Can Improve Your #Golf Game

So, come on...who knew that finish was going to happen at the U.S. Open?
We've seen some real doozies at the majors but this blowup is going into the reels of "The Agony of Defeat".

Not ideal for our Myrtle Beach friend Dustin Johnson (shades of 2010 Pebble Beach?), but it goes to show that even the best of us three putt...and it's not dependent on the amount of pressure. The next time the choke happens to you, don't beat yourself up about it. These things can’t be helped.

Rather than dwell on things we can’t control, we’re looking today at things that we can improve.

We’ve been surveying a couple of golf apps of late, Mobitee and Hole19 to name a few, and have come up with a quick rundown of ways in which today’s technology can help improve your game.

1. Course and Hole Management: We’ve all done it. Stood on the tee box, driver in hand, knowing that if we hit the ball correctly, it’s going to sail into the bunker that’s been inconveniently put in our way. Do we change clubs...do we plot a different course of action? No. We take on the driver hoping it sails over the sand...and the inevitable happens. If you are one of those people, you should stop reading this and visit the app store right now.

2. Tracking and Game Improvement: This is a biggie . How many wedges do you take, on average, per round...7-irons, 5-woods? What are your GIR's? What was your score last time you played this course? Are you getting better? Like the advert says, there’s an app for that, complete with statistics and game analysis.

By monitoring your strokes, what club you use and how far it goes (GPS), golf apps are essential course tools for helping serious golfers improve their game.

3. Performance: I mean on the course. Golf apps are just waiting on iTunes and Android ready to help you avoid under or over-clubbing to shave a few shots off your round and make you feel good about golf and life itself.

4. Comfort: Does this count as technology? I think so. There’s some amazing golf gear available today. From lightweight bags and waterproof shoes to hybrid/iron combo sets and moisture-wicking gloves, what we wear, how it fits and breathes is just so much better than it used to be. Worst case, if you’re still carding over 100, at least you look better doing it.

5. Round Length: If, with all the advances in the game, a round still takes approximately four hours, imagine what it would be like without apps!

Quicker buggies, lighter clubs and even robotic trollies have helped, but, maybe golf apps are the final piece of the puzzle to help get the average time of a round down even further.

6. Course Planning: You know those expensive course planners, which guide you hole-by-hole? Well, now they’re pretty much obsolete. You can get a great aerial view of each hole from your phone from golf apps that are free. You can put that five dollars into a beer after the round.

7. Enjoyment: Let’s be honest, anything that can help us avoid tanking the ball into the lake or watching it dribble five feet from the tee is going to help us enjoy the round a bit more. Of course, when your friend does it, it will still remain highly enjoyable.


Do you use a golf app to improve your game? Tell us on this Golf for Beginners blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Unique Facts About U.S. Open #Golf and Chambers Bay

Are you getting your favorite chair plumped and ready for the 115th U.S. Open? Have you been reading through tons of statistics, trying to figure out the winner for your Fantasy Golf entries?

You are not alone. Many fans believe the U.S. Open to be the most exciting major of the year.

Remember when Tiger Woods hobbled down the fairways in 2008 to beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff, or the heartbreak we all felt as we watched Phil Mickelson double bogey the 18th hole at Winged Foot? Well folks, that's U.S. Open golf and there will be, no doubt, many stories to come out of this year's second major of the year.

With these memories in mind, here are several very interesting and unique facts about the U.S. Open and the golf course on which the winner will be decided.

Did you know...

1. The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held in 1895 had only eleven entrants! The winner received $150 and a gold medal. Source: CNN.com Martin Kaymer, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, received $1.62 million!

2. There were 8,300 entries this year with the requirements that players are professional or have a handicap index of 1.4 or better. Source: Newsday,com

3. The 2015 U.S. Open muni golf course, Chambers Bay, was built on the site of a former sand and gravel quarry.

4. Is it true that Chambers Bay has only one tree on the entire golf course? That is correct. It is a Douglas Fir on the 15th hole which Robert Trent Jones said gave the course "character".

5. The U.S. Open of 1912 was the first and the only Open course which had a par-6 hole - Country Club of Buffalo.

6. The 2014 U.S. Open had on hand 100,000 ¼ lb. Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs and 365,000 12 oz. Beers ready for the fans consumption.

What unique or fun facts can you share about the 2015 U.S. Open golf tournament or about Chambers Bay? Share with us on Golf for Beginners blog or on Twitter @Golf4Beginners!