Old sayings die hard. That’s because they often contain a kernel of truth within them. Take the old golf saying, You drive for show, but you putt for dough—an old saw I often tell students taking golf lessons for the first time. This saying highlights how critical the short game is to winning matches and lowering golf handicaps. As golf sayings go, it’s a good one.

The short game, as I emphasize in my golf tips, often determines who wins a match and who loses one, as well as what your score and your golf handicap is at the end of the day. Weekend golfers with poor short games seldom win matches or have a low score or handicap. Most have a hard time breaking 100. Some have difficulty breaking 90. So don’t look for them to be among the leaders in club tournaments.

From 50 Feet Away
One of the hardest parts of the short game for many weekend golfers is playing a shot from 50 feet away. While the distance to the pin is relatively short, misplaying the shot adds strokes to your score—maybe as many as two or three per hole. If you’re really serious about improving your game, you need to master this shot.

The biggest challenge with this shot is being decisive. Most weekend golfers aren’t sure what club to use. Others are unsure how to play the shot. You have several choices of club and a couple of different approaches to hitting the shot. But you can simplify the process if you approach it logically, as I teach students to do in my golf lessons.

A major factor in club choice is how well you play. If your short game is weak, you’ll want to use a club that provides good control and is easy to hit, cutting down on your chances of mis-hitting the ball. Your club choices are a hybrid club, a fairway wood, and 8-iron, or a wedge.

You also must decide if you’re going to play this shot aggressively or conservatively. If you consistently break 80, you’ll use a different approach than you would if you have trouble breaking 100. Evaluate your skills honestly before deciding how to approach the shot. Below are three scenarios.

Breaking 100
If you have a hard time breaking 100, you’ll probably want to take a conservative approach. The best choice for a tight fairway lie is using either a hybrid club or a fairway wood. Select whichever one feels most comfortable and use a putting stroke to hit the ball. First, picture how you want the ball to bounce and roll on the green. Keep in mind that if the first bounce is before the green, the ball will roll on the green like a putt.

Once you decide how you want the ball to bounce and roll, take a normal putting stance and choke down an inch or two on the club’s shaft to provide greater control. Position the ball in the middle of your stance, with your weight evenly distributed, just they way you’re taught in golf instruction sessions. From there, make a normal putting stroke, accelerating through impact. You need to make level contact with the ball, so avoid a downward stroke. Imagine the shot as a long lag putt, with just a little extra pop.

Breaking 90
If you break 90 consistently, you’ll probably want to be more aggressive. Use an 8-iron with a standard chipping technique. Play the ball off your right instep (for right-handers), set most of your weight on your left foot, and use a firm wrist motion. Swing the club’s grip end to about the height of your right pocket, going back and through to your left pocket.

Your set up with this shot promotes a descending blow. You need to determine where you want the ball to hit and how far you want it to roll, just like on the previous hole. Play for about one-third carry and two-thirds roll, with the first bounce just off the green. Remember the longer the roll, the easier it is to control the shot.

Breaking 80
For players who consistently break 80, taking a more aggressive approach is not out of the question. You usually have low golf handicaps and are probably more accurate with your short game. Instead of trying to make the ball bounce before the green, try flying the ball onto the green to avoid any impressions on the front of the green. Use a pitching or a sand wedge, position the ball in the middle of your stance, and set more weight on your left side than your right. Swing your arms back to the 9 o’clock position, letting your wrist hinge the club up.

Swing through to 3 o’clock, turning your body through so it faces the target. Plan to hit the green with this shot. Play for two-thirds carry and one-third roll. This approach is riskier than a chip shot, so make sure a mis-hit won’t find disaster over the green. This approach works well for many veteran golfers. With practice, you’ll able to get the ball within a foot or two of the hole.

Fifty feet away from the pin, as I caution players taking golf lessons, is a difficult shot for weekend golfers. Indecision is the main problem when it comes to hitting the 50-foot shot. Be decisive. Choose a club and an approach that fits your game and your golf handicap, and then practice the shot until it becomes ingrained. If you’re truly serious a lowering your golf handicap, you’ll learn to master this shot.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

=================================================== How To Break 80 Newsletter

February 21, 2007

“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
===================================================

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Making Solid Contact
2) Controlling the Ball
3) Question of the Week- How To Avoid Fat Shots
4) Article- How To Play 50 Feet to the Pin
5) Article- What To Do When Lightning Strikes

===================================================
1) Making Solid Contact
===================================================
The key to hitting the ball straighter and farther isn’t swinging a club harder or faster, but making solid contact. Hitting the ball “square” is the single most important thing in golf. If you hit a ball with a square clubface and with speed, you’ll not only hit it longer and straighter, but you will improve your scores and lower your golf handicap.

One way to improve your ballstriking is by studying how your hands work during the swing. To understand their role in the swing, start by experimenting with small shots around the green. Watch what makes the ball run or curve or check up. Keep in mind that those things have the same affect even with a full swing.

Here’s a simple chipping drill that will not only educate you on how your hands work but also improve your ballstriking:

Start by presetting your hands next to your front leg, to get a real feel for good impact position. Your lead wrist should be flat, and your back wrist should be bent. Maintain that position through a short waist-high backswing to impact and follow- through. Now practice hitting some balls.

Keep working on this drill until it is ingrained. Then grow the swing until you are hitting full 30-yard chip.

Another way to improve your ballstriking is to learn to play your easy clubs first. As the clubs in your bag get longer, they get lighter, enabling you to generate more clubhead speed. Longer clubs are also harder to hit because of their lack of loft. This combination makes it difficult for golfers to hit the ball right on the button. So change to easier clubs when on the course.

For example, if you’re struggling to break 100, you can benefit immediately by using a 5-wood off the tee rather than a driver or 3-wood. The increased weight of the club helps the light hitter, who doesn’t generate a great deal of speed with his or her swing, and the extra loft helps the crooked hitter, who tends to hit the ball with either an open or closed clubface.

Making solid contact is the key to drive the ball longer and straighter. Spend several practice sessions working on the chipping drill. In addition, switch to the easy clubs for better contact when playing. The two changes will not only improve your ballstriking, they’ll also help you lower your scores and golf handicap.

===================================================
2) Controlling the Ball
===================================================
The difference between a player with a high golf handicap and one with a low golf handicap is often ball control. The golfer with the low handicap makes the ball do what she wants. She curves it around trees, hits it over a pond, or stops it on the green. A golfer with a high handicap lacks ball control and can’t get it to do what she wants when she needs to. And that costs her strokes.

One shot that low handicappers find useful is the low wedge shot. You often see tour pros hit this shot when they’re inside of 100 yards. The shot cuts through the air, lands on the green, and stops after a couple of hops. It’s a useful shot because it prevents the wind from influencing the ball’s flight and it keeps the ball from running off the green.

Using a pitching wedge or a 9-iron, set up so your body weight favors the front foot. Make a short swing, finishing before the hands pass shoulder level. The short swing keeps the shot low. Leaning forward steepens the angle of attack into the ball and imparts more spin to stop the ball.

Another shot low handicappers find useful is the intentional fade. Among the most useful shots for saving strokes, the low fade enables you to go around trees or other obstacle when you don’t have a clear shot at the pin or you don’t want to go over the top of the trees or other obstacle.

Take a club like a 3-wood and grip down a few inches. Open your stance slightly, so that your body is pointing left of the target, if you’re a right-handed golfer. Now, open the face slightly at address and take a swing where you resist the natural release of your forearms. This is known as “holding on” through impact. The ball stays low and curves left to right.

Learning how to control trajectory, direction, and shot shape is vital achieving a low golf handicap. If you can curve a ball around trees and stop it on greens, you’ll be good enough to get that handicap into single digits.

=================================================== 3) Question of the Week- How To Avoid Fat Shots
=================================================== From Hanif

How To Avoid Fat Shots

Q. Hi, Jack I read your Go Low Ezine and it’s the best reading for golf on the Web. What is the best drill to avoid hitting the club on the ground before it hits the ball? I have been hitting good tee shots but only to get on the green in 3 or 4, mostly because I’m hitting the ground first and then the ball with my irons. Sometimes, the divot starts 2 to 3 inches before the ball. What am I doing wrong? How true is it that the divot must start after the ball has been hit? Does it do any good? Please help.
Regards, Hanif

A. Thanks for the question, Hanif. Yes, it’s true. Divots should come in front of where the ball was. As for your problem, it sounds like you’re hitting your shots “fat.” In other words, you’re hitting the ground before you hit the ball because of a swing fault. Hitting a shot fat is often caused by an excessively V-shaped swing. Fat shots are also caused by a tight lie, a rushed backswing, or a desire to lift or scoop the ball out of a lie.

The key to eliminating fat shots is hitting the ball at the right impact point. Ball position—up for a wood, back for an iron—usually determines impact point. With a wood, you want to sweep the ball away with an ascending blow, since the impact point is just past the lowest point of your swing. With an iron, you want to hit the ball with a descending blow, since the impact point is just before the lowest point of your swing arc.

Here are two drills designed to eliminate fat shots:

(1) With a wood, place a tee in the ground just opposite your left foot. Don’t place a ball on the tee. Keep it empty. Now take a normal swing. Focus on “picking” the tee cleanly out of the ground with your club.

(2) With an iron, take your normal stance and ground the club. Take a normal swing and try creating a shallow divot just past where you ground the club. To do that you need to hit down on the ball.

Concentrate on executing a complete backswing with both drills. They will improve rhythm and ballstriking. And they ensure that you hit the ball at the right impact point in your swing, curing you of an excessively V-shaped swing. Practice both drills to eliminate fat shots.

If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from.

===================================================
If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros and creating a more reliable and consistent swing, check out:
http://www.HowToBreak80.com

Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most
recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter02212007.html
Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article- How To Play 50 Feet to the Pin

5) Article- What To Do When Lightning Strikes

Until next time, Go Low!

Jack

P.S. Feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to
break80ezine@aweber.com
=================================================== About the Author
===================================================
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros!”. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.

Golf is one sport where you can make adjustments for age. In tennis a good player in his 20s will probably defeat a good player in is 50s all things being equal. In running a runner in his 20s will probably beat a runner in his 40s in the 100-yard dash. Age has its effects on us when it comes to most sports. But in golf you can make adjustments to your game to compensate for age.

Off the tee is where making adjustments really pays off for older players. Senior players with low golf handicaps can’t afford to give up too much yardage to younger players with equally low golf handicaps and expect to win. Of course, hitting longer drives off the tee won’t guarantee you’ll win a match, but it certainly doesn’t hurt, especially if your shots are straight down the fairway. So as you get older, you need to make changes to keep up with the younger golfers.

These adjustments should include two key changes on the tee. First, you should start hitting a draw off the tee. Second, you need to change your swing so that it not only provides power and accuracy but also doesn’t hurt your back—the Achilles heel of most golfers as they get older. Together, these two changes will help you compete successfully against younger players for years to come. Here’s a quick golf lesson in how make both changes.

Learn to Hit a Draw
Most teaching pros agree that hitting a draw generate anywhere from 15 to 20 yards more off the tee than hitting a fade. With an iron, hitting a draw can add as much as an additional club to your shot. The extra yardage you gain with a draw is due primarily to the run you get when the ball lands, something you don’t receive when you hit a fade.

The reasoning behind the extra run is simple. If you fade/slice the ball, the clubface is open at impact. When you open the clubface at impact, as I’ve explained in my golf tips, it adds loft to the ball. It also slides the ball across the clubface, which means you never fully compress the ball at impact, costing you power.

In contrast, when you pull the ball or hit a draw, the clubface is closed, so you end up taking loft off the ball, which helps make the ball run when it hits. You also compress the ball more at impact, which adds power and distance to the shot. The trick is learning to hit a draw if you don’t know how.

Here are seven things to help you do that:

• Position the ball back in your stance
• Place you hands in a “strong” grip position
• Start the club back on the inside
• Let clubface open in the backswing
• Cup your left wrist at the top of the swing
• “Walk-through” the shot for your follow through

Key Points about the Tips
When taking advantage of these tips, keep the following points in mind:

• Positioning the ball back in your stance slightly will allow you to hit a draw, but you have to be careful not to place it too far back.
• Cupping your left wrist at the top of the back swing allows you to release fully on the downswing, without fear of hooking.
• Sliding your right foot forward toward the target at impact results in what some players call a “walk-through” swing. With this type of swing, the player uses his/her whole body to hit the ball, shifting his/her weight through the ball, adding more power and distance to the ball at impact.
• With a walk-through swing, the upper body is slightly more “over” the ball at impact than with a swing where the body is held back, eliminating the reverse “C” position that often contributes to back pain.

The Plank of Wood Drill
A good drill to tech yourself to swing on the inside path needed to produce a draw is to place a two-foot piece of wood on the outside of a teed ball. Place the wood opposite you and parallel to the target line. Now address the ball and swing away. To be on the correct plane to hit a draw, your clubhead must stay inside the board. If you hit the board when you swing, you know the clubface has gone outside the target line, which could generate a fade.

Practice this drill the next time you go to the range. It will help you learn to hit a draw, if you don’t know how to do it now. Hitting a draw is something even younger players can benefit from.

If you’re older and you hit a fade, think about switching to a draw and using a “walk-through” swing like Gary Player. Doing so will enable you to get the most from your swing. The changes should be enough to help you power the ball those extra few yards so you can continue to compete against younger opponents.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

=================================================== How To Break 80 Newsletter

February 14, 2007

“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
===================================================

In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Hitting the Short Pitch from Tall Grass
2) Hitting the High Soft Sand Shot
3) Question of the Week- Hitting a Hybrid from a Fairway Bunker
4) Article- A Simple Power Strategy For Seniors
5) Article- Determining Your Personal Par

===================================================
1) Hitting the Short Pitch from Tall Grass
===================================================
Hitting a soft pitch shot from tall grass isn’t easy. In fact, it’s probably among the most difficult of all pitch shots. It’s the pitch shot weekend golfers botch the most and the one they’d most rather avoid. But it doesn’t have to be a difficult shot, if you make the right adjustments.

The problem is the grass. Normally, the clubhead approaches the grass from a shallow angle, enabling the grass to “grab” the clubhead before it reaches the ball. This slows down the clubhead’s momentum, draining force. It also prevents you from making solid contact. Not surprisingly, the shot falls short. If you swing too hard, on the other hand, you can easily drive the ball over the green.

Here are 5 tips to help with this shot:

• Set up for a normal pitch shot
• Use your sand wedge
• Play the ball back in your stance
• Lean toward the target
• Address the ball at its equator

The key to this shot is positioning the ball correctly. Set up as you normally would for a pitch shot, but position the ball back in your stance. It should be almost about even with your back foot. That way, the club head will be traveling down at a steep angle when it reaches the ball, preventing the grass from grabbing the clubhead too much.

Use a sand wedge for this shot. It’s heavy enough to penetrate the grass and has plenty of loft, allowing you to get the ball airborne. The wedge’s leading edge also helps. Lean your body toward the target, so your weight is leaning on your front side. This position encourages a sharper descending blow.

Suspend the leading edge of the club so that it’s slightly off the ground and level with the middle of the ball. Don’t worry about hitting the ball thin. The club’s weight on the down swing straightens your arms and lowers the sole of the club, enabling you to make good contact. Let the length of the pitch determine how far back you swing the club and how much you cock your wrists.

This shot isn’t easy. You need to make the right adjustments to pull it off. But with practice you’ll make it more often than not.

=================================================== 2) Hitting the High Soft Sand Shot
===================================================
A student was telling me the other day about making three sand saves on the back nine during her last round. She ended up with an 81 for the day. She’s good player, with a low golf handicap and a good short game. So her three sand saves came as no surprise.

One save was a greenside bunker shot on the par-3 12th requiring a high trajectory and a soft landing. Most weekend players have a tough time with this shot. Even some good players have trouble with it. But the shot’s easier than you think.

Here are five keys to making it:

• Use your sand wedge
• Position the ball forward
• Open the face of the sand wedge
• Keep most of your weight on your back leg
• Take your normal sand shot swing

Your sand wedge is the club of choice for this shot. Just remember to position the ball forward in your stance and to open the face of your sand wedge, adding loft to the club.

As you swing back and through, keep most of your weight on your back leg. Many weekend golfers slide forward on this shot, shifting their weight to their front side dramatically on the forward swing. The shift takes loft off the club and causes it to dig into the sand, making the ball come out low and hot.

By keeping your weight on your back leg, though, your sand wedge maintains its original loft at impact. The ball pops out high and settles quickly on the green.

Hitting the high soft sand shot is easier than it looks. But it requires practice. Remember the five keys to the shot and work on the shot at the range. Once you have a good feel for it, you’ll be able to hit it successfully when you need to.

=================================================== 3) Question of the Week- Hitting a Hybrid from a Fairway Bunker
=================================================== From Kamal

Hitting a Hybrid from a Fairway Bunker

Q. I am having a problem hitting a decent shot from a fairway bunker with a hybrid club. I’ve never made a good shot from a fairway bunker with a hybrid. When I use my 4-hybrid from one particular fairway bunker, I don’t get the distance I want. Sometimes the ball doesn’t even get out of the bunker. How do I hit this shot?

A. Thanks for your question, Kamal. The hybrid is practically a universal club. You can use it on the tee, from the fairway, in the rough, in a fairway bunker, or near the green. To hit a hybrid club, you must make adjustments based on where you are on the course. For pitch and run shots near the green, you can hit the shot as you normally would.

When hitting from a fairway bunker, position the ball in the center of your stance. Dig your feet into the sand, use a shorter swing than usual, and complete the follow-through, just as you normally would. Don’t try to kill the ball, just swing naturally. Swing down and through the ball. This approach to hitting the hybrid should give you the distance you want from the bunker.

Here are some additional tips for hitting the hybrid:

- If you’re using the hybrid on the tee, tee the ball low. Position it near the center of your stance but towards the target. Use a smooth tempo, with a full swing, and complete the follow-through as usual.

- If you’re on the fairway, position the ball closer to the center of your stance. Swing down and through the ball, just as if you were hitting an iron. Hit the ball first and then take a small divot. Complete the follow-through as you normally would.

- If you’re in the rough, position the ball in the center of your stance. Use a three-quarter backswing, with a full follow-through and a smooth tempo. Accelerate the downswing through the ball. Don’t try to kill the ball. Your goal is to get the ball out onto the fairway, in good shape to make the next shot.

Hitting a hybrid takes a little getting used. So don’t get discourage. Work on hitting one at the range and you should learn to hit it within a reasonable time frame.

If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from.

===================================================
If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros and creating a more reliable and consistent swing, check out:
http://www.HowToBreak80.com

Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most
recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter02142007.html
Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article- A Simple Power Strategy For Seniors

5) Article- Determining Your Personal Par

Until next time, Go Low!

Jack

P.S. Feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to
break80ezine@aweber.com
=================================================== About the Author
===================================================
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros!”. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.