Ten Best Golf Tips of All Time

This first tip has nothing to do with your golf swing but is the best advice I can give you for playing better golf and having more fun out on the course. You must refrain yourself from getting upset or angry on the golf course. We have all been there so don't dismiss this first tip so quickly. This is much easier said than done so here are a few things to keep in mind to help you focus on your next shot rather than the one you just shanked. After hitting a poor shot, step back and take a practice swing at the same spot. This will allow you to feel your correct swing and wipe away the mess of the previous shot. Immediately following a good practice swing, forget about the shot you just hit and shift your focus to your next shot. Fight off all the negative thoughts attempting to race through your head about your score increasing and etc. You can't take the shot over so there is no use wasting energy thinking about it. Your next shot is obviously crucial so keeping your focus solely on the shot at hand is very important. Remember stay in the present, not the past poor shots you have hit or the future of what your finishing score will look like, but the very next shot that is in front of you. One last thing is to enjoy this wonderful game. The fact that it is challenging is half the fun and makes improving you golf game that much more rewarding. Bring the right attitude out on the course and start playing better golf immediately.

First of all putting takes a whole lot of practice. Speed is such an important factor in putting that developing good feel with your own putter is extremely important. If you are playing a course you haven't been to before you need to get some rolls in on the putting green before teeing your ball up. This will save you a number of strokes once you are out there. If you are tight on time here is what you do. Start with some short and straight five foot putts to get your stroke down. Then take five putts downhill, uphill, left to right, and right to left. This will give you a general idea of how the greens react on their different slopes. Then take five long putts and try not to three putt any of them. Once you have completed that, take a few more short putts and you are ready to get out there and roll that rock.

This quick tip is good mental preparation for hitting any golf shot. One of the biggest mistakes that amateurs make when it comes to ball striking is that they swing AT the ball instead of through the ball. The speed and strength of you golf swing should release through the golf ball out in front of your body instead of into the ground where the ball lies. This applies to almost every shot including shots around the green. An easy way to see if you are hitting your irons through the ball is to look at where you take a divot. Try placing a tee right next to your golf ball marking where your divot should start. After hitting the ball take a look at where the divot was. It should start right where the golf ball was sitting and should be deepest about an inch in front of the ball. This kind of divot shows good ball striking through the golf ball. Try reminding yourself before shots that you need to hit through it instead of at it, and I am sure you will see an improvement in ball striking.

I constantly see amateurs missing the balls in the same places and they are unable to adjust correctly. I think some of this is due to not knowing what causes those shots. One of the most common misses in golf is coming over the top of the ball. This will most likely cause the ball to slice or snap hook. The easiest way to get rid of this over the top movement is to keep your back elbow tucked to your body on your backs swing and through the ball. This will keep the club inside on your downswing and put it on a better plane to hit the ball straight. One way to make sure you are doing this is correctly to simply twist a knot in your shirt at your back armpit. The knot will slip out if you do not keep your elbow and arm in on your swing. Practice maintaining the knot throughout your swing and you will get rid of that slice in no time.

Strokes are given away so easily around the putting green that it is no wonder your short game can make or break you. It is important to get the fundamentals of pitching down so you can hit more consistent shots and eliminate very poor ones. The basic set up for a pitch shot would be keep your club face square to your target and open up your stance. Your feet should be opened up to your target but you must readjust your hips and shoulders back in line with your target. Your weight should rest on your front side and your hands tilted slightly forward to insure you hit down on the ball. One of the most important aspects is that you accelerate through the ball. If your club is decelerating the long grass has a much easier time grabbing your club face and causing a duff. Remember to accelerate down and through the ball trusting that the loft of your club will pop the ball up. A common mistake is trying to sweep and lift the ball out when the exact opposite is necessary. Practice is very crucial for this part of the game but apply these few tips and I am sure you will see improvements right away.

This is a quick lesson on a simple bunker shot. There are obviously many positions you could be in where you would have to change your strategy, but this should help you get out of most bunkers more effectively. Start by taking and open stance where the ball is positioned near the middle of your stance. Open your club face and make sure your feet are firmly set in the sand. The goal is to hit about an inch behind the ball in the sand. To do this more effectively you should pick out a spec of sand behind the ball where you want the club to enter. When you are hitting the shot your focus should be entirely on that spec of sand that you have identified. How far the bunker shot is will determine the length of your swing and the club you select. This should all be determined by practice and repetition. The most important thing to remember about your swing should be acceleration. You must accelerate the club down and through the sand to have any chance of hitting the shot you want. These tips should help you convert some crucial up and downs.

Some amateurs may glance over this tip thinking it is too difficult but PLEASE READ. Understanding how to shape the ball can give you a much better feel for how the golf swing works. This may be especially helpful if you continue to slice or fade the ball. There are a few different theories of the best way to hit a draw but I will give you the basic idea of how the shot is created. Contrary to some beliefs the draw is created by bringing the club from the inside out. The club head turning over through impact while moving outward creates the right to left spin (for a right-handed golfer) on the golf ball. When hitting a draw you should always position your aim where you want the ball to start. A very simplified way to hit a draw would be to aim your body and your feet where you want the ball to start, and aim the club face at the end target. You can take your normal swing on the plane of your body and the closed club face should bring the ball back towards your target. This works because your technically swinging the club inside out compared to your target. Understanding how this shot works and how to shape the ball will surely improve your game. This might also help you determine what you are doing wrong with your swing when you miss the ball out on the golf course.

This may sound like a simple topic but it is necessary to address and can lead to better golf. The advice that I find most effective is always clubbing up. Especially when you are at a yardage between clubs you should always select the higher club. Taking a shorter swing with the higher club will increase your consistency and accuracy. When you select the lower club you will end up swinging too hard and this will cause errant shots. Next time you are on the range work on 3/4 shots where your left arm (for right-handed golfers) stops parallel to the ground. Perfecting these shots will allow you to hit any target distance, and it will eliminate gaps between your clubs.

Golfers misplay shots out of the rough all the time even at the professional level. The difficulty in these shots is reading the lie you have in the rough. If the ball is sitting up chances are you have a flier lie. This is when the ball comes out very cleanly and tends to fly much farther than you would normally expect. In this case you can count on playing a half a club or a full club less on these shots. If the ball is sitting down you should be playing a half a club or full club more than you would hit from the fairway. One of the most important things to remember when hitting from the rough is you need to keep a loose grip on your club. Amateur players tend to do the opposite and grip the club extremely tight thinking this will help get their club through the thick grass. With a loose grip your club will be able to cleanly sweep through the grass and make better contact with the ball. When you have a tight grip on your club the long grass has a much easier time grabbing a hold of your club face and causing errant shots. Remember the lie you receive in the rough will determine your club selection for the shot.

This is a simple rule of thumb that will save you shots around the green. When the ball is sitting on the fringe or fairway off the green you should always putt the ball. Amateur golfers tend to want to chip this ball and rarely get it up and down. To prove this theory to yourself, chip 10 golf balls from a spot just off the green on the fringe or fairway and estimate the average distance from the hole. Do this same thing putting the ball and I guarantee you will be closer on average with your putts. When you take this shot you should move the ball slightly back in your stance and put your weight on your front foot. This will ensure you strike the ball properly and put topspin on the putt. Using your putter from this position will eliminate the dubbed chip shots that amateurs hit so often. This is a very simple way to prevent you from throwing away shots around the green.