Experiment with a Weak Grip

by David Nevogt

In my experience, a weaker grip adds power and height to the average golfer's shot. I recommend at least experimenting with this grip. When you take your grip, V's should be created between the thumb and pointer finger of your right and left hand. For example, I'll use the right-handed golfer. Most golfers learn from the beginning, to make both of the V's created point at the right (back) shoulder. The result is a fairly strong grip. Here are the steps you should take if you are interested in trying a weaker grip.

1. Put the strong grip on the club. (Both V's pointed at your right shoulder)

2. Don't move your left hand

3. Keeping your right pinky in place, unlock the rest of your right hand, and rotate everything over the top of the grip. Your left thumb should be totally enclosed by your right palm. Now the V formed by your right hand should be pointed more at your head, or maybe even toward your left shoulder.

This new grip is going to feel strange at first, and may not work with your particular swing. But with certain swings, this weak grip is the missing link.

The Ball of Choice

I am recommending the Srixon AD 333. You can get them for about $20 per dozen, and I find that they perform much better than other balls in that price range. If you want to upgrade look into the Srixon UR-X. Srixon makes the best balls available today, and many of the tour players use them. They are top notch, and if you haven't tried them, you'll be very pleasantly surprised with their performance. The UR-X is very comparable to the Titleist Pro V1.

About the Author
David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to Golfswingguru.com Click Here!
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=58761

The Cure for a Fat Shot

by David Nevogt

This problem may be easier to fix than you think. You may not realize it, but your back shoulder may be dipping towards the ground. This move forces the club to hit the ground too early. Most of the time it happens when you are really trying to get into the ball. Imagine…You're 200 yards out and you've chosen to hit the 4 iron. When you've got it in your head that you have to hit the ball hard to get it there, it's natural tendency to start your downswing with the hips in an effort to "really get into the ball". That may work in baseball, but not in golf.

I'd like to take you through what happens if you make that move in golf. First, get in the your setup position, now take your backswing and hold it at the top. Now move only your hips horizontally towards the target, and notice the way it forces your back shoulder to "dip". If you've made that "dip" with your back shoulder, it's over. You are going to hit behind the ball 90% of the time, and if you do make good contact, you'll probably end up with a killer slice. Lateral movement is no good for the golf swing.

To avoid this problem, and to simplify your golf swing, keep the lower body out of the equation. If you really want to get into the ball, start your downswing with your arms. It's tough to do if you have a habit formed, but once you get used to it, you won't be hitting the ball fat anymore. Most golfers over-emphasize the weight shift. If you keep your hips still, the weight shift will still occur, but it will happen naturally.

Get to the top, keeping your leading arm as straight as possible. Now start down at the ball with your leading arm fully extended. Your head hasn't moved laterally, and your hips haven't moved laterally. Now to take this to the next step, imagine the entire golf swing, through impact, occurring underneath the upper body.

Concentrate on keeping your front shoulder strong and "down" on the ball. This will enable you to keep your swing on the correct plane, and it will help your hands to keep up with your body. Don't let that shoulder come up and away from the target before impact as that will cause your body to get ahead of your hands leading to fat shots and slices.

About the Author
David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to Golfswingguru.com Click Here!
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=58758

How to Eliminate Your Golf Slice Quickly

by David Nevogt

Here's a really good tip that may help you to get rid of your slice. Best of all, it's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it, and understand why it's being used.

Chances are that you have battled with a slice at some point in your golfing days. To be completely direct with you, dealing with a slice really sucks. It hurts your golf game in many more ways than one.

Luckily, it's fairly easy to fix. I cannot claim that this small tip will completely cure your slice, but there's a good chance that it will. I hope it does.

First off, please understand that when you come into the impact zone, there are really only 2 factors that can determine the "shape" of ball flight.

1. The angle of the club face at impact.

2. The Path the club is taking at impact.

So, here's a few things you should concentrate on.

Try to keep your leading shoulder "down" on the ball through impact. This is called staying strong through impact. Many times the leading shoulder (left shoulder if right handed) flies up before impact. Now just for a minute, think about what that does to the club head when it's in the impact zone.

Get up from the computer and actually go though the motions slowly. Let your leading shoulder fly up as you approach impact and you'll actually be able feel and see the clubface coming from an outside-in path. That's the cause of the slice you are battling.

See, golf is all about thinking and analyzing your shots to get better. A huge part of this game is understanding "why" you're getting a certain result, and the physics behind that result. Thinking through your golf swing will provide huge dividends if you're willing to invest the time it takes.

So what can you do to correct that flying shoulder? Well, for starters, try to learn to keep your leading shoulder strong. Keep that shoulder "Down" on the ball all the way through impact, even after the ball is gone and flying straight down the fairway.

So, after impact the leading shoulder is still down. The triangle between your shoulders and chest is still present. Most importantly, the body has NOT gotten ahead of the hands. This is a HUGE distinction. As you may notice, the left shoulder is actually higher than the right shoulder. So what do I mean when I say "leading shoulder down"?

You have to envision yourself from the back looking down on the ball. When I say "down", I mean that the leading shoulder and chest is still facing the ball through impact.

So even though it may seem like the leading shoulder is higher than the trailing shoulder, it's still facing the ball at impact. NOT TOWARDS THIRD BASE in comparison to the ball. If your leading shoulder was facing towards third base at impact, which would mean that you have let the leading shoulder fly up.

Furthermore, hand action is huge in this game. You must learn to release your hands correctly through the ball. This means that you release the hands while the leading shoulder is still "down", or facing the ball.

The key is to let your arms release through the ball, while your left shoulder is "Down" on the ball. To do this you will need to rotate your forearms correctly, and use your leading ELBOW (not shoulder) as a hinge. So another way to explain this movement would be that your hands are still moving towards the target, but your leading elbow has almost stopped.

Keep the leading shoulder down and let your arms and hands release through the ball and you will see the ball go farther and higher. This will take a while to get used to, but once it clicks, the results will be outstanding.

About the Author
David Nevogt writes golf instruction material that helps golfers of all levels reach their full potential and lower their scores. David is the author of "The Simple Golf Swing" which guarantees to have you shooting 7 strokes lower in only 1 week from today. You can find more of his golf instruction by going to Golfswingguru.com Click Here!
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=58646