Learn to Improve Your Swing and Read Golftips | Good at Golf

Always Keep a Perfect Spine Angle

Greg — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:58:01 +0000

If you stand up you lose. Keeping your spine angle is one of the most important factors in an athletic golf swing.

Most golfers can’t do an athletic golf swing because they stand up during their swing instead of keeping their spine angle. The usual cause are the bend knees during setup. Bend your knees only a little during setup. Your weight should be be evenly distributed on the balls of your feet. You should feel some tension in the back of your thighs. While swinging keep your spine angle at least until impact – that’s the only way to have a successful strong and long shot.

Tip: Practice 25 inches in front of a wall. If you keep your spine angle you won’t touch the wall!

7 Mental Tips for the Golfer – Especially for Beginners

Greg — Sat, 12 May 2012 18:42:14 +0000

Golf is a very technical sport but you also have to get your mind right to play at your best. I for one see my results go south immediately when I’m elsewhere with my head. I think it’s probably the same for you. So here are 7 tips to get your mind right.

1. Check Your Expectations and Goals

Stay away from any verbalisation that include a “must” or a “have to”! Golf is a process and you should focus on your good shots and when things are working out for you. Forget the rest and enjoy yourself.

2. Focus in your Ball and on Your Target

Concentrate and focus where you want your ball to go on the fairway or the green. Get rid of any thoughts where you don’t want the ball to go like “Please! Not into the water!” or “Please! Don’t go left”. Instead think of what you want to accomplish like “Into the middle of the fairway!”

3. Follow Through

Never look back. When you have decided for a specific shot and iron – follow through!

4. Appreciate the Golf Course

Enjoy the time between your shots to actually see the golf course and the nature around you. Take a deep breath and enjoy the fresh air.

5. Play in the Now!

Never think about a missed shot. You can’t change that. What you can do is focus on your task at hand and go with confidence into your next shot.

6. Always Focus on Where the Ball Should Land

Especially when you are in front of a bunker or water. Let them fade away in your mind and focus on the point where you want the ball to go.

7. Smile and Have Fun

Golf should be fun. So don’t be one of those guys that gets angrier and angrier with each shot. You know who I mean. Have fun and laugh about the situations that you can create.

Hit the Sand! – How to Succeed in the Bunker

Greg — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:36:53 +0000

Every beginner already knows what to do, nevertheless the green bunker remains a nightmare for most of them. Women usually are to timid with their swing. The club head doesn’t develop enough force and therefore sticks in the sand instead of gliding through it. Men usually use too much force. The swing is too steep and the club head dives too deep into the sand. The result: The ball doesn’t move very far out of the bunker if it get’s out at all. But both men and women share the same fear of accidentally hitting the ball clean and shooting it miles behind the green. So everything we want to do is hit the sand not the ball.

If you look at photos of successful green bunker play you can see that the club is in front of the ball just after impact. If the ball would have been hit directly it couldn’t be seen in the picture but would already be 50 yards away.

The formula is actually pretty simple: The club moves the sand – the sand moves the ball. To achieve this effect you need the proper angle at impact and the appropriate club head speed. To be able to control these things you have to experiment while you are training.

Technique

The sand wedge is designed to glide through the sand easily with its’ trailing edge. It usually has a big sole with a lot of bounce. As long as the club head is a little open at impact and the swing is not too steep you can’t do a lot wrong. Otherwise the leading edge of the club digs deep into the sand automatically.

In eight steps out of the green bunker

1. Dig your left foot a little deeper into the sand than your right foot. This way you shift your weight a little more to the left. You shouldn’t lean to the left actively in any case. This only benefits a steep back swing which you don’t want at all.

2. Aim with your shoulders, hips and feet in a slightly open stance approximately 20 degrees left of your target.

3. With a good lie the ball should be positioned opposite of your left heel. The deeper the ball is stuck in the sand the more you should position it to your middle.

4. The open club head is aligned a little right to your target. Don’t be afraid to do this. The alignment of the club head won’t have any effect on the flight path of the ball. The ball will be carried by the sand and won’t contact the club head at all.

5. Hinge your wrists immediately in the back swing and swing wide enough. Your hips star turning a little earlier than usual to avoid a steep back swing. Don’t hit any harder than out of the semi-rough.

6. Don’t focus on the ball it isn’t your target! Aim for a point a couple of inches behind the ball.

7. Your knee should be kept bend through impact. Otherwise you could hit the ball instead of the sand.

8. Feel the open club head gliding clean through the sand. Your right hand should release the club head but shouldn’t close it while the left leads the swing.

Follow these eight steps in your next practice session and the bunker should be become your best friend instead of a dreaded nightmare.

Reading Greens

Greg — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:37:38 +0000

Have you ever thought about how the grass is growing on the green? Then you shouldn’t be surprised when the lengths of your putts are way off.
Let’s take a closer look. The grain of each green is the main reason for balls rolling really fast and considerably slower on the same green. Moreover it’s a reason for drastically different breaks on the same green. Most Golfers don’t know how massively the grain influences the speed of greens.

Grass isn’t grass

A Golfer finds different kinds of grass on the golf course all over the world depending on different weather and temperature conditions. On courses in cooler regions you can usaually find bent grass which is particulary soft and flexible. In warmer regions you’ll most likely be confronted with bermuda grass which is hard and rigid. When you are putting on bermuda grass against the grain your ball will be quite slow. Whereas a putt with the grain can be compared with a billiard table. That’s the main reason why a putt in one direction can be way to long while in the other direction it suddenly falls way too short. This effect gets even stronger because golfarchitects usually like to sow their grass growing downhill. Thus making downhill putts really fast.

Reading the green

If you want to learn to cope with different grains you first of all have to be able to recognize and assess the direction of the grain. First of all harder grass has a bigger effect on putting than soft grass. Then it’s good to know that grass is usually growing in the direction of water, a hill and usually growing downhill.
But you can see the grain too if you look for it: Stand in the middle of a green and look down in a 45 degree angle. No turn and see how the brightness of the green changes. With a little practice you will notice where the grass is the brightest and how it is the darkest in the exact opposite direction. That’s because the back of the culms reflect the light (bright) making the grass appear brighter. The rule is easy: bright equals fast, dark equals slow.

Try the following

To get a feeling for different grains try putting uphill diagonally against the grain. Then try putting downhill diagonally with the grain. Putting diagonally will give you a better feel. Start with putting into a defined area (e.g. stick some tees into the ground) and watch how each putt behaves. Then try the same with some golf holes.

5 Tips to boost your mental game

Greg — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:24:29 +0000

When your mental game is astray you play way below your capabilities. So being cool about your mental game is the basis for playing well. When you stay calm and judge every shot with an objective view you naturally play better golf. But that’s easier said than done. Especially when you are bummed out about a bad shot you wouldn’t even consider possible. To have a strong mental game you have to be able to deal with pressure situations, stay calm in your mind when things go astray and try to make the best even out of bad preconditions.

So here are 5 Tips to improve your mental game:

5. Blow off some steam
It’s okay to be loud or throw your club if its appropriate. The pros do it too. Don’t eat it all up.
Don’t over do it and let things get to your head though.

4. Calmness in the storm
After getting things out of your system get calm, real calm.
The more trouble you are in the calmer you have to get.
Take a couple of deep breaths and try to assess the situation realistically. Which club to use next?
What’s the lie? Do I need to drop?

3. Have Fun
Golf’s about fun. Don’t get stressed out. Even when you shoot some big banana balls. You at least have something to laugh about, right?

2. Golf is a process – It always has been and always will be
Never to forget: Nobody plays perfect golf.
You win some. You lose some. Just keep your overall direction towards your best game.

1. Take breaks
If it’s not working out don’t get stressed out and start grinding balls on the range.
Take breaks and come back with a clear mind and a plan about what to do next and what to work on.

So what could you do right now?

Take a piece of paper and write down all the frustrations you currently have with your game.
You’ll be surprised what you’ll come up with and what a relief that exercise can be. Trust me!
Ever thought about starting a golf journal? Maybe that’s a good thing to start with.

Simply awe-inspiring!

Greg — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:06:14 +0000

Now and then you stumble across a story in golf that is simply mindblowing.
I won’t say anything more. See the man for yourself!

Quickfix – How to fix your Slice for good

Greg — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:31:49 +0000

Sure, there are no quick fixes especially in golf. But if you don’t try new things you won’t make any progress so changes are good. With that said maybe the following things will make those pesky curve balls go away forever:Stand firmly on the ground. Turn your arm club unit as far and good as you can. Stay with both feet firmly on the ground while pulling your arms down. Keep your right shoulder back as good as you can. Try to keep the right side of your body out of your swing.

Keep your head and your upper body consciously behind the ball. For the downswing tell yourself arms down and down through! quiten your legs to cure your slice says Nick Faldo. Overly active legs in the downswing promote a too early bodyturn and too much of it. A good picture to keep in mind is the hips running away from your left shoulder.

How to Train Golf in the Winter

Greg — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:05:09 +0000

The season is over. Golf is a seasonal sport. During the winter we focus on different things. Because it’s too cold to go play or even to spend some time on the practice tee. Right?

No! Wrong! And you know very well that this isn’t true. It’s just a mindset that many golfers take on during the wintertime.

The weather delusion

Of course it depends on where you are living but often enough if you look outside the window you could very well go play or train with the right clothing and the right plan. So don’t stop just because it is winter and the course is getting emptier. You can not only keep your game in shape during the winter but also improve quite a bit with the right mindset. Of course it’s freezing outside and you can barely hold your clubs then it’s finally time to go inside. Which doesn’t mean that you have to stop to play or to train.

Training inside

There are a lot of things you can do inside. Especially in the short game area. Try working on your putting game for a couple of weeks. If you have the room you can even train some chipping or your full swing. Try taking the same approach that you have on the practice tee. How about working in chunks of time while focusing on the different areas of your game. For instance you could do a two or three hour training session two or three times per week. It could consist of some putting chipping and working on a different aspect of your swing.

Trying new things

Wintertime is also a great time to try out some new sport. How about trying other sports that are played with a club like tennis or hockey if you haven’t tried that before. And it’s never a bad idea to do some fitness. So go to the gym or lift some weights at home. And if you’re not in the mood for training your body at least train your mind. Take some golf books off your shelf and work through them. How about reading those that have collected the most dust.

The secret to winning golf

Greg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:03:53 +0000

Okay — I admit it the title sounds corny! But now that I have your undivided attention I want you to at least think about what I’m writing here. And I really mean that! Please don’t take anything I’m saying for granted and think to yourself: “Oh yeah I know that stuff I heard that before — been there done that!”
With that said let’s dive right into it.

The information age

Again nice title, ey? but bear with me these things actually have to do with golf (and pretty much anything in life). I think we are currently not living in the information age but in times of over information. Just think about it. Never before in history was so much information so easily available to the public. Moreover we are bombarded with information every day all the time. And we have to consider all the time whether the information is relevant for us or not. So we are using a lot of our focus and mental energy about relevance before we begin to think about the information itself. That isn’t necessarily good or bad. We just have to keep these facts in mind when we are learning new things or when we are growing in general. Which leads us right to…

The right mindset (the magic pill)

The abundance of information and things to do leads a lot of people to some kind of snacking behavior. What I mean by that is that they jump from one thing to another to another without really focusing on one thing at a time. They want instant gratification without putting in any amount of work. They’re looking for the magic pill! Let’s say if someone would actually come around the corner and offer you a magic pill. If you swallowed it you’d automatically become the best golfer on earth. You would shoot an 18 on every round without even trying. No strings attached it’d just be that way. Would you take the pill? I doubt it!

Yet I have the feeling that most golfers are looking for just that pill. Even when they are saying that they just want to become a little better you get immediately the feeling that they are just looking for the magic pill. But they wouldn’t take it if you’d offered it to them. So what are they really looking for? And most importantly what are you looking for?

Having a plan (what to look for and where to look)

So before you go to the practice tee the next time ask yourself what you want to achieve. In fact thinking about the following questions could be an even better training than going to the practice tee.

Why do I play golf? What do I enjoy about it?
How and why did I start to play golf?
What defines success golf for me?
What do I want to achieve in golf?

I seriously mean that! Take the time to answer these questions for yourself. Write your answers down if you can!
That should give you some insight of where you want to go, the starting point of your plan. So with that in mind try to formulate a clear set of goals you want to achieve with your practice sessions. Try to include a measurable outcome and a realistic timeframe.

For example:

I want to improve my long game and hit at least 70% of my fairways in a full 18 hole round by March 15 this year.
I want to win at least two rabbit tournaments until the end of this season.
I want to be able to enjoy a full round of golf without being frustrated no matter how good or bad I play by the end of this year.

Your goals can be anything but choose a realistic time-frame and make them attainable. That means that you should have a feeling in your gut that you could achieve them if you worked towards them. Finally make a step-by-step plan with actions you can take. If you have a local Pro show him your plan and talk to him about the goals you’ve set for yourself. Which leads us to the last step — taking actions.

Taking action (walk your talk)

The single most important tip I can give you here is to spend two hours of practice for each hour of reading or planning. I for myself have spent so much time with gathering information and accumulating knowledge that my actual skills are way behind the things that I know. So go play more and read one article on my blog or one book less!

Hello and Welcome to Good at Golf!

Greg — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:48:05 +0000

Hello and welcome to goodatgolf.com a blog about the greatest game on earth. My name is Gregor Grund and I’m a webdesigner currently living in Berlin, Germany. I’m an avid golfer too. As every golfer I strive for a better game every time I take my clubs into my hands. In this blog I want to share my learning experience and all the ways I think are good to improve.

Thus far I have planned the following sections for my blog:

Training and Improvement

If you ask 10 different golfers how and what they are training you get at least 12 different answers. In this section I’ll cover different training methods and plans that worked for me and improved my game.

Reviews of books, equipment and gimmicks

There are a lot of golf books and training aids that promise to make you a scratch player in a couple of minutes. I always look around and read a lot of golf books. Now and then I stumble upon a real gem that doesn’t promise a quick fix but a real way for improvement.In this section I review books, training aids, equipment etc. that provide real value and ways to a better game.

Moments and fun facts about and around golf

Golf is a sport that features moments and stories only life can tell. In these posts I cover some of the most memorable moments the sport delivered thus far.

My journey

I still have a lifetime to learn and improve myself. Now and then i’ll post about my own successes, failures and ways on and around the golf course.

I created this blog to share and to connect so feel free to comment or shoot me a mail if you like. I’ll update at least once a week. So stick around or subscribe to my RSS feed if you like what you read.