Free Golf Tips That Really Work

Pick up your free golf book "SimpleGolfogy101  Play Better Golf and Have More Fun Here!

Wrist Hinge In The Golf Swing

With so much confusion out there about the golf swing, this may be the best way for you to feel how the wrist hinges in the golf swing. It's something that you see the pros doing all of the time, but you may not have picked up that this is an excellent way for you to learn the wrist cock in the swing.

Have you ever watched John Daly practice hitting golf balls with only his left hand on the club? He'll stand with the club resting on the ground beside him, with his hand on the club. You'll notice that his hand is on top of the club, not with the back of the wrist pointing to the target. You must have the club in the fingers of your left hand in order to achieve the proper wrist cock.

Try it next time you are out at the range. Be aware of how the clubhead sits behind the ball and how your hand feels on the grip. You will notice that instead of you feeling like the face of the club and the back of your hand are positioned together facing the target, your hand will be in a much stronger position. It's more like your thumb is sitting behind the clubface and this is what controls the clubhead. Now swing back using just your left hand(for right-handed golfers, of course). You should feel as you swing back that the wrist cocks up towards your right shoulder. Your wrist will stay strong and not break down into a bowed position.

Now swing down at the ball. Your wrist will uncock naturally. You will feel the back of your left wrist staying straight in line with your forearm. When the weight of the clubhead has pulled the wrist down as far as it will go, the forearm will turn over. If your follow-through is only about hip-high, you will sense that your wrist is flat and strong as steel. This is the feeling that you are shooting for. Once you learn how the wrist hinges up like this, your full swings will be a whole lot better. The swinging of the clubhead releases the wrist cock like it should. You clubface will come into the ball square giving you better distance and accuracy and your whole game will get better.

Watch the pros next time a tournament is on and see if you can catch them doing this wrist cock drill. Try it for yourself around the house.

Now about that trailing hand. If you have taken the proper golf grip, with the lifeline of your trailing hand sitting on top of your other thumb, it is a lot easier for you to feel the wrist cock in your right hand. It will feel like the crease made by your forefinger and thumb follows the path of the clubface. Let your right hand just ride along with the role that the controlling hand takes. You will notice that you can fire your right side down through the ball easily and confidently. Or, as Johnny Miller says, "Cover the ball with your right hand".

Easy Swing Golf Tip

When I get a golf club in my hand, I get that feeling of wanting to knock the cover off the ball.  It feels good to put all of my strength into hitting the ball.  Just hitting the ball as hard as I can does not mean that I play good golf though. 

If you just need to relieve a little stress, then swinging with all your strength may accomplish your goals.  However, if you want to play golf well, then you are going to have to hold back on the power a little. 

One of the most frequent mistakes is to swing the golf club too hard.  A hard swing shows that you have power, but accuracy is the name of the game in golf. 

You need to relax when you are swinging.  This will help you swing easily and will help to reduce your power.  If you put your feet closer together, then you can further reduce the strength of your swing.  Tensing up will also cause you to use too much effort. 

Your center of gravity is also very important.  Keep your center of gravity the same and your head will stay still.  If you keep both of your feet in the same position throughout your swing, then your center of gravity will be stable.   

If you jerk your body then your head will move and you will not be able to focus on the ball.  This can also change your center of gravity.  It is imperative that you keep your feet planted so that all your weight will be concentrated in your feet when you make contact with the ball. 

Expending very little effort should be your goal.  If you hit the ball correctly, then it will feel smooth and easy.   

Don't tense up when you are about to make contact with the ball.  If you tense up, your balance will be thrown off.  You want the club head to travel in a straight line to make contact with the ball. 

To help correct slicing, see how centered you can hit the ball with your club and how low you can send the ball.  If you send the ball too high, it gets into the wind and can go left or right on rough ground. 

You want to only use the amount of power that you are able to control.  The goal of the game is not power, but accuracy.  You want to be able to control every facet of your swing so that you hit the ball cleanly and it goes where you want it to go. 

The distance will come from your clean and correct swing, not how much power that you put into it. 

You want to try to gradually increase your speed during your swing until you connect with the ball solidly.  If you do not have a smooth swing, then you are pulling your hands somewhere during the swing.  Keep your head as still as you would if you had a glass of water balanced on top of it.  This will help to improve your swing and help you to swing more smoothly and fluidly. 

Swing at a decent enough speed to keep yourself from becoming tense and stiff.  Don't swing too slowly or so hard that you feel the effort of the swing.  Stay relaxed. 

Try to keep the idea of power out of your head.  Keeping your power under control so that you can be more accurate in your golf game is what counts! 

Best Free Golf Tip 

What could be the greatest free golf tip ever given? Is it to keep your head still? Or how about starting the golf swing with the weight shift onto your left foot? Right elbow tucked in, suppinate, pronate, or a combination of all of these?

All of these tips need to be implemented, but how can you focus your attention to all of these in the 2 or so seconds it takes to swing the golf club. Do you have to tell yourself how to get up off the couch and go change the channel on the TV? Of course not! Playing golf like this is what leads to fear, anger, and desperation for most golfers trying to improve their golf scores.

Let's look at what some others are saying:

Jack Nicklaus gives us this free golf tip; "All I think about during the swing is applying the clubhead to the ball."

Harvey Penick says; "The best advice I can give you is to just hit the ball with the clubhead, Take Dead Aim!"

Bobby Jones had the greatest free golf tip ever; See What Bobby Said Here

I like to take it one step further and say that when I'm playing my best, all I'm focusing on is getting the ball to the target, nothing else. No swing mechanics, no swing thoughts, just total focus on feeling the clubhead coming in square to the ball. Other than that, nothing else affects where the golf ball is going to end up. Why try to cram 3 or 4 thoughts into your brain, when, if you allow it, your body knows how to swing the golf club. It's just a matter of you being aware the clubhead is in relation to the ball.

Stop Hitting It Fat!

If you want to stop hitting it fat, and increase some club head speed at the same time try this. Where is the butt end of the golf club when you release? Next time you're at the driving range, or even swinging around the house, give yourself a test. Being aware of the grip end, do you release the club when it gets to your right hip? How about at belt buckle height? Ideally, you should let the end of the shaft pass your left hip before you release. Give yourself a grade. The farther you get the butt end of the club past your left hip the higher the grade. Not only will this stop you from hitting the fat shot, you will see an increase in distance. This drill teaches you to be aware of what your club is doing, not how to do it.

Keep Your Head In Your Golf Game!

No matter how you think your round of golf ought to go, there are those days, Right!? What you have got to do in those occasions is "Keep Your Pecker Up" as grandmom used to say.

Don't get down on yourself. Who cares if you lose a hole to a friend, you know you can always get him next time. Chunk it! Forget about it! Hit the next shot up there the best that you can. Swing more freely. Cause it doesn't really matter what you shoot when you're having a bad round of golf. You might end up playing better which puts your thoughts on playing good the next time.

Don't give up on yourself ever. Focus on only hitting your target, not on how bad a day you've had.

How The Left Wrist Cocks In The Golf Swing

Using golf training aids in your golf game is a good practice. There are training aids for everything from putting to hitting a driver. How about the training aids that you use on your body to keep yourself connected or lined up on the target line correctly. The only problem is, there seems to be confusion as to how the wrist cocks in the backswing. This especially true for beginners, because the wrist cock needs to be felt. How can a golf training aid help you to feel how the wrist cocks?

There are plenty of places that you can learn from about how the wrist cocks in the golf swing. You can find them in online golf instruction, golf magazines, and especially my favorite, infomercials.

Seeing a golf tip in action is always better for you than reading or hearing about it. Let's see what an infomercial can tell us about how the wrist cocks in the golf swing. Here's some you might have seen.

* Greg Norman's Secret

* The Medicus

* The Glove

* Kallassy's Swing Magic

Now you don't have to rush out and go buy any of these golf training aids if you don't want to. By watching some of these infomercials though, you can start to pick up on a central theme. How and where your wrists are supposed to be during the golf swing. Better yet. How they are supposed to feel.

Take a look at Greg Norman's Secret. If you watch the infomercial, you might pick up the fact that your right wrist shouldn't be moving much at all. It's movement is fixed. The stationary piece of plastic won't allow any back and forth movement of the hand, only a slight raising of the thumb towards the wrist. Greg even tells you that the wrist cock is like shaking hands with someone. I want you to take this feeling with you. Try to keep the 'V' of your right thumb and forefinger pointed at your right shoulder all the way through the swing. This feeling will allow your wrists to hinge naturally.

Then there's the Medicus. It doesn't matter if you want to talk about the iron or the driver. That shouldn't matter much to you. What you need to pick up on is how the hinge is oriented to the club face. The hinge is facing the same way as face of the club. So if you were to break your wrist backwards on itself, wouldn't the hinge on the Medicus also break. The only way to take the club back without making the hinge break is to cock the wrist upwards. Watch the Medicus infomercial sometime and try to pick out the feeling that you are trying to achieve with this training aid.

The next time that you're watching The Golf Channel and you see an infomercial from one of the golf training aids mentioned, take the time to really watch it. Study what it is about the training aid that is helping golfers improve. Are you feeling the same thing that the training aid is trying to teach? Are you making your golf game more complicated by cocking your wrists too much? Or the wrong way?

These products, the golf training aids, are helpful if you own them, but you can learn a lot just by watching how they are being used.

Here's one way to feel how the left wrist cocks in the backswing. Think of holding a flat stick, say about 1/2" thick and 2" wide, in your left hand. Lay the stick down in your palm where the edge of it sits in the crease between fingers and palm. Now set up to an imaginary ball. You should feel like the face of the stick is pointing out away from the target line about 30 degrees. Now hinge the stick up towards your right shoulder following the plane of the face of the stick. Practice with this feeling for a while. Use both hands. Feel how the stick comes up, then follows the same path down. Where are your hands when you make an imaginary swing at impact. Is your left wrist square to the target line along with the face of the stick? It should be.

Practice this left wrist cock in the golf swing drill to help improve not only swing speed, but impact position also.

Do You Slice

The problem with most poor golf techniques is the fact that they get worse the longer they are left unaddressed.

Many people have a problem slicing the ball when driving off the tee than virtually any other area.

Go to and public golf course any day of the week and you will be sure to find someone slicing the ball. Even players with single digit handicaps can slice the ball on a regular basis.

Some people even adjust their game to allow for a slice that they can't seem to cure.

The more most people try to cure their slice the worse it seems to get and even professional tuition from golf pros can take quite some time to resolve this issue.

And what makes it all the more frustrating is the fact that during the week when you were at the golf range all your drives where as straight as a die.

So you arrive at the golf course for your weekend game and it all falls apart again.

The majority of golfers just accept that they have a problem and do nothing about it, resigned to the fact that it is an inherent problem with their game that they can't seem to fix.

Unfortunately problems like this put a dampener on the pleasure you can get from your golf game, so it is certainly worthwhile addressing the issue.

Spending money on new golf clubs, or changing the types of golf balls you use won't solve the problem. It needs to be addressed as soon as possible as it will generally tend to get worse.

The problem is so widespread that one golfer dedicated his time to a study of golf slices and created a guide to help people eliminate this problem and open up their opportunity for rapid improvements in their game.

It is called the 'Dave Way' and is well respected as getting many distraught golfers back onto the 'straight and narrow' - that being the center of the fairway.

If you have a problem with slicing the ball you need to address the issue with the help of your golf pro or the information that is available in Dave's guide.

By pinpointing what you are doing wrong, rather than guessing and possibly messing up more of your game, you can target the most common flaws that lead to this problem.

Just like practice and education can improve your short game, eliminating your slice when you drive will result in more distance and the ability to ensure that your approach to the green won't be coming from somewhere out in the rough.

What A Difference A Week Makes

What is it about golf that makes it easy to perform on one day and difficult on another? I'll give you the clue at the end of the article.

After finishing a round of 76 today, I couldn't stop myself from reflecting on the round that I played last week. 85!

What a difference a week makes. Although it was windy last week(that's not an excuse) finding the fairway was next to impossible. Overswinging, trying to kill it or was it lack of concentration from being tired. Don't know, don't care to dwell on it too much. Rather than focusing on the bad days, reflecting on the days when you are hitting it good or great is much better for you in the long run.

When you find yourself out there, lost, with no hope of finding your game. Stop! Remember the feeling that you had when you were unstoppable. Bring it back clearly in your thoughts. Envision the shots, feel the swings, see the ball going into the hole. All of your imagination needs to be called on.

Bringing your subconscious mind into play when you are struggling to find your way WILL help you overcome your obstacles. What I didn't mention was the fact that I scored 40 on the back. I stopped at the turn, gathered my wits, felt the great swings I have made in my day come through in my imagination. Golf wasn't so stinking hard after that.

What clue did I find that helped me play a better round, hit lots of fairways, average 275 yards on my drives and hit 13 greens? I found something that I was missing here.

If you would like to 'Play Better Golf and Have More Fun', I have just finished a FREE golf instruction report for my fellow golfers. You might find what you are missing in your golf game. You can pick that up here.

The Secret  Key to Putting

When you have it, you have it.  The world is yours.  When you don't have it…then you think that you would be better off placing the ball in the hole with your hand rather than using your putter. 

Just the last time you played you had the same stance, putter, and "feel" as you had today, but last time you made the shot easily.  What happened? 

Do you just have bad luck this time?   

Putting is not a game of chance.  Although sometimes it may seem that there is no rhyme or reason to it, there are some tips to help your putting. 

If you are having putting problems, your solution can be boiled down to one little word. 

Tension.

Concentrate on keeping your muscles relaxed while you are putting and your shots will become more and more accurate. 

Stiff muscles only make it harder to putt.  Good putting takes complete muscle relaxation so that your movements are fluid.  Fluid movement gives you the freedom to make a good putt.  If you are trying to tense your body up to keep your balance, then you are guaranteed to have problems. 

When you are not having problems putting, your confidence is increased and you are having free movement.  When you miss an easy putt, then you become tense and you try more carefully.  The more tense you become, the more freedom you lose and your putting goes down the drain. 

You can change everything about your putting and try to copy every professional player imaginable, but it all hinges on you being relaxed.  Relax your muscles.  Be loose and free.  Pretend your muscles are like jelly. 

Making a good shot is impossible if you are tense.  When you stiffen up from your face to your feet, you lose the freedom that you need to make a good shot.  You may make several shots this way, but there will come a time when all you will hit are bad shots.  You need to stay relaxed enough to fall down (but stay up).  

If you will stay relaxed then your putt will improve, your confidence will rise, and you will be more relaxed for the entire golf game! 

Are you looking for the magic key to putting?  RELAX!  Good putting hinges on this one key! 

Wrist Cock Madness

It seems nowadays that each year brings with it enough golf equipment to bring about the fantasies of golfers all over the world. As you might suspect, 2007 has been no exception with the arrival of the new square head driver. Golf enthusiasts waited with baited breath for the new Nike Sumo and Callaway FT-i. The manufacturers didn't disappoint us either. Technology has taken the barriers of clubhead weight and Moment Of Inertia and pushed them down. But with the advent of new tools for the golf enthusiast, has the way in which you learn to use them been forced to evolve with these new golf clubs?

Scouring the internet, golf publications and forums, it seems that some golf instructors have tried to revolutionize the teaching of the golf swing just to make something 'New and Exciting'. Yes, technology has given us plenty of advancements, but should we then sacrifice the basics of a good golf swing just to keep up with golf equipment evolution?

Let's take the wrist cock in the golf swing for instance. You will find people telling you to fold your right wrist back on itself. Sounds like SHANK to me. There's others that want you to keep the clubhead outside of the line for as long as possible. Works for Jim Furyk, but he's been playing that way since he was a kid. What happened to 'Not' breaking your wrist? Is this golf instruction invalid because it's been around for centuries. Less is more, right? Doesn't the wrist cock in the golf swing occur when you set the clubhead down behind the ball? The whole idea is to bring the clubhead back to the ball square. How hard is that for the average golfer if he's wailing away at the top of his backswing? Or trying to somehow 'uncock' his wrists at the precise moment that he needs to even though he's probably only hit a few shots during the month! Thinking about your wrist cock is just one more thing for your mind to process. Keep it simple!

Beware. Make sure that you are not following golf instruction that is meant to lead you astray from what is simple and repeatable while you are playing.