Posts tagged "Tension"

How do you prepare for a round of golf that you really want to play and score well in?

If you have 2-3 hours to prepare how do you do it?

I like to stretch out at home for 15-20 minutes before I head off to the course. Then I get there about 1 hour prior to my tee time. I will chip and putt for about 30-40 minutes to make sure I have a really good feel for the greens. Next I will hit about a half a bucket of balls to really get my timing down (about 15 minutes). With the last 10-15 minutes I do a little extra stretching that kind of loosens me up and gets rid of any tension in me. While I loosen up I go over course strategy in my head so that I have a general game plan for each hole. I really like to get to the first tee focused on the mental aspect.
How about you?

Arrive an hour early, generally just try and get that ‘chill’ feeling – not rushed. Hit some short shots like chips, pitches and flops focusing on making solid contact and distance control. Hit a few long lag putts, a few medium putts from both sides of the hole (right to left / left to right), then a few short putts keying on a positive accelerating stroke.

Head to the range and hit some 100 yard sand wedges, a few 7 irons, a few 5 irons, then a few rip drivers. Focus on my targets and working the ball a bit – hitting ‘shots’ and not obsessing about mechanics. End on a good shot.

Please review my golf swing if ya got a minute or two?

This video is average quality but it has down the line and side view.
I tend to hit the ball of the toe and hook it left any advice?

Set up looks good with one exception. You are very straight legged with no knee flex at all. If you notice in both views you struggle to maintain balance at the finish. The side view shows why. You have a large move to the right in your backswing, which I’m sure feels to you like making a big turn or getting behind the ball. But you are so far back there that there is no way for you to get all the way back to the ball at impact. Even in these practice swings we see the club bottoming out well before where the ball would be. That means the club is already closing by the time you get to impact. The slide to the right in the backswing causes much of this. The big question is what causes the slide?

Go back to your address position. Create a little bit of knee flex and maintain that flex in your right knee through the backswing. You should actually feel tension created in the inside of your right thigh as you coil. If you lose your knee flex you will again slide to the right and get too far behind the ball. If you can maintain your knee flex you will be more on top of the ball at the top, your backswing will become more compact, and you will see a huge difference in your drive through the ball and balance at the finish. Yours is actually a pretty easy fix!