Expert Golf Tips

By: Raynay Valles

How do you say goodbye to 3 and 4 putts? Practice, practice, practice. The key to improving your short game lies in putting practice. But where?

You can practice conveniently on your own home putting green and it may even increase the value of your home. If you’re thinking about installing a putting green, there are several factors to take into consideration.

Will your putting green be a portable one?
Portable greens are a simple and popular choice. Roll-out greens come in many sizes. Popular sizes are 2′ x 6′, 3′ x 12′ to 6′ x 15′. Some feature a regulation cup, while others have a smaller cup than regulation size, which will hone your targetting. Some feature a ball return.

When you are thinking about installing a green, you have more choices and other considerations. Large indoor installations can be as large as 12′ x 30′ or you can do a custom installation. Outdoor greens can be as large as you want.

How much do you want to spend?
Roll-out greens can be found in a wide range of prices from $20 to $300. Larger indoor greens can cost as much as $700. When you start looking at outdoor putting greens, you are talking about costs per square foot for all of the materials - the green material and the base layers.

What material will your green be made of?
Indoor greens are synthetic of course. When you’re considering outdoor putting greens, you have a choice of materials. Your choice is natural grass or an artificial turf.

At first glance, you may think all-natural grass might be best. Think again though. If you choose grass, you will need to spend time maintaining the green. The question is, would you rather be mowing, watering, feeding and weeding OR putting? Since most golfers choose putting, let’s talk about artificial greens.

Artificial outdoor putting greens
With an artificial putting green, maintenance is minimal which means more time to putt. The synthetic fibers are manufactured to resist fading and matting.

There are two popular UV-treated materials: polypropylene turf and nylon turf. Nylon turf is easier to maintain than polyropylene turf. The fibers spring back so your ball has a true roll to the cup. Nylon turf is also denser than polypropylene turf.

Polypropylene turf needs sand fill to keep the fibers upright. During installation, sand is spread across the top of the polypropylene surface and brushed into the turf with a broom. Since the sand can wear away, from time to time, you’ll need to add more sand.

Outdoor putting greens also require a base of stone or concrete. The cups are concreted into place. As for drainage, synthetic turfs drain off the turf, not through it. Drainage needs to be provided.

How fast will your outdoor green be?
Another decision you’ll make is regarding green speed. Stimp measures how fast the green is. You can have your green speed matched to your local courses or to a championship course. In general, adding more sand to your synthetic green makes it faster.

Will you Do-it-Yourself?
You can buy a putting green kit to install yourself. Many come with video instructions. Depending on the size and design, you may need help in installing the green.

Once your new putting green is installed, you can enjoy hours of putting practice and improve your golf game. For a putting green resource site, visit http://www.allputtinggreens.com/

Raynay Valles is a writer for http://www.golfcoursechicago.com. Visit today for golf resource directories, articles and golf tips.

 

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By: Alastair Canawa

If you are seriously considering lowering your scores, then you must take your putting seriously, as roughly half the strokes you play in a round of golf are likely to be on the putting green. However good you are at driving, pitching and chipping, if your putting is not up to standard, you will never make the next level. My Dad told me the famous quote when I was probably about 12 or 13, ‘Drive for show putt for dough’, this says it all! That is why it is quite incredible that putting is not often concentrated on.

Tips for setup:

First of all I’d just like to say that there is no one correct putting grip/posture/stroke, there are wide variations, so if your technique is different, don’t worry, some of the top golfers have very different putting actions e.g. Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson all have very different techniques. These are basic tips that can be applied to most techniques to help improve your game.

An ideal putting stroke should strike the ball on the up, to do this the ball should be placed opposite the inside of the left heal (for a right hander), this results in the ball being hit on the up and top spin is generated.

In relation to setup, the hands should be either inline with the ball or ahead of the ball, if the hands are behind the ball, then a clean consistent strike of the ball is not likely, and the common result is the ball popping up in the air.

Tension on the green is one the most destructive things that can happen to your putting, especially with the short putts, this is known as getting the ‘yips’, this is caused by moving during the stroke. This causes you to ‘fluff’ your shot and miss your putt. To avoid this happening, concentrate on the spot where the ball was after impact rather than following the ball. This ensures that you do not move your head during impact and will help give you the clean smooth impact you require.

A simple technique to reduce the tension in the body and the stroke is simply to let your arms dangle in front of you before you putt and gently shake them. This should relax your muscles enabling an enhanced sensation of feel and touch, both vital for reliable consistent putting.

Tips for the swing

Your grip should not be too tight, and your arms should be relaxed. Gently and smoothly in a one piece action, sweep the putter backwards. It is important to keep the triangle formed between your arms and the line joining your shoulders consistent through the whole shot and the shape should not change. The move backwards should be like a pendulum movement with your arms, while your wrists remain stiff. A good tip for making sure that this is correct is by starting the action by dropping your left shoulder; this will get the pendulum motion started.

Keeping the triangle mentioned before in tact, in a pendulum motion, accelerate the putter smoothly through the ball; the ball should be hit on the up. Throughout this whole period, keep your eyes fixed on the ball to avoid fluffing the putt and keep the eyes fixed on that spot after impact.

It is vital after impact that the left wrist remains firm and does not break; the follow-through should go inline with the direction you were aiming and should be the same length as the backswing.

Key points

Try and relax before playing the stroke, this will help enhance your feel and touch and help avoid the yips due to excess tension

The stroke should be a pendulum action swinging with your shoulders and arms while the wrists remain stiff.

Don’t move your head during the swing.

Swing in a relaxed smooth fashion with a smooth and constant rhythm.

Keep the wrists firm throughout the stroke.

Play the ball from underneath the eyes.

Have the ball in the front of the stance to ensure that the ball is hit on the up.

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By: Richard Smith

In Putting there is definitely always room to improve, so take a look at the drill below and take some time to improve your feel and sense pace on the greens.

The short game is the most important area of your whole round. At least 70% of your shots during a round will be from 100 yards in.

So doesn’t it make sense to practise your short game?

You first of all need to start practising your putting, and I have come up with a drill that will help you improve your sense of feel and pace on your putts.

No Peeping

No Peeping is going to focus on helping you to obtain a good feel and to help you develop a smooth putting rhythm. And the way you are going to achieve that is to “CLOSE YOUR EYES”

Yes, that’s right, No Peeping!!!.

Now, take four golf balls onto the practise putting green and set them down about twenty feet (6 to 7 Yards) from the hole.

Take your normal putting stance and grip, and now just hit four putts with your eyes open to get a quick idea of the pace to the hole.

Now place the four balls down again and set one up ready to putt.
Keep your eyes open and look at the hole to get an idea of the distance. Take a look at the ball and position your putter behind the ball. Take one more look at the hole with your eyes open and then it’s
time to go.

Close your eyes and, with “No Peeping” make the putting stroke. Because your eyes are closed your stroke will be a lot slower but more crisp through the ball. Do not open your eyes until you hear the ball drop or until you are sure it has stopped.

Look up and see where the ball has gone. Is it short? Is it
long? or is it in the hole.

Now take the result of the first putt and use it to change
the pace and feel of the second putt.

Continue with the same procedure for the third and fourth
balls.

The result you should be aiming for here is to get all four balls either in the hole or within at least one foot (tap in distance) from the hole.

Now you must achieve this result of getting all four balls within tap in distance at least three times in a row before you move on toanother area of practice.

I’m sure you’ll be surprised how quickly you can achieve this target, and let me tell you, once you can do this with your eyes shut it becomes a breeze with your eyes open.

This is one exercise that will definately cut out those annoying three putts and it will soon have you getting that handicap down.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy this drill and have lot’s of fun with it.

Keep on practising

Richard

Richard Smith is the founder of the The Big Golf Lesson http://www.biggolflesson.com. The website offers a FREE 14 part e mail course for golfers wishing to improve their golf game andlower their handicap

 

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