Karen's Favorite Golf Tips

1. The amount of Grip Pressure you apply to the club is very important. Remember tension kills clubhead speed, so don't grip too tightly. Waggle the clubhead a few times before every swing to relieve tension and get the proper grip pressure. On a scale of one to ten and if ten is as tight as you can hold it and one is where the club falls out of your hands, grip the club about a four or a five.
   
   
2. To be sure your Body Alignment is correct, place a golf club on the ground pointing parallel to your target line. Make sure that your feet knees, hips and especially shoulders are parallel to the club. You are now square to your target.
   
   
3. Karen's Top 5 Course Management Rules
   
   I. Get the ball into play off the first tee.
   II. The best way to beat the hazards is to avoid them.
   III. Aim to the middle of the green.
   IV. Don't make the same mistake twice.
   V. Play your own game.
   
   
   
4. How to be "The Complete Golfer"
   
   a. Positive attitude, be confident.
   b. Avoid hazards, swing under control.
   c. Be a good lag putter and practice those short putts.
   d. Stay in shape. Exercise and stretch.
   e. Learn how to pitch and hit out of bunkers.
   f. Get a killer short game, get up and down everytime.
   g. Learn how to shape shots. Learn to play a draw and a fade.
   h. Learn how to hit high and low shots.
   i. Control distances, always hit pin high, never short.
   
   
5. If you slice your driver, you may have what is called a weak grip. To Promote the correct clubface-check your grip at address. If you are right-handed, make sure that your left thumb is rotated to the right (away from the target) instead of straight down the shaft. When you look down at our hand, our left thumb should be angled towards the right. You should see at least two knuckles of your left hand.
   
   
6. If you slice, you may have a faulty takeaway. If your clubface rolls to the inside on the takeaway this will cause the clubface to open. To prevent this from happening, practice taking the club away keeping the back of your lead hand pointing to the ground. This will keep the clubface square on the takeaway and help you get rid of the slice.
   
   
7. If you slice, you may be "Coming over the top". Coming over the top is easily the averages player's most common fault. If you initiate the downswing by spinning your shoulders and upper body towards the target, you will throw the clubhead away from your body and hit the outside of the ball at impact causing a slice. To correct this, imagine a line running from the tip of your chin straight down to the ground. Make your normal takeaway, but on the downswing be sure your hands and arms pass underneath your chin: don't allow your hands to pass outside that imaginary line.
   


8. If you hook the ball, your shoulder plane may be too flat. If you turn your shoulders too flat or around on your backswing, your backswing will be too flat and this will cause hooks. To correct this problem, first, check your posture, if you slouch at address, it will be hard to make a good shoulder turn. Second, practice this drill; take practice swings and stop at the top of the swing, the shaft should be directly on top of your back shoulder. If you were to let the clubshaft fall, it would fall directly on the shoulder. If it falls behind your shoulder, then your shoulder turn is too flat.
   


9. If you hook the ball, you may be releasing the clubhead too early. A primary cause of hooking is releasing the club too early. In other words, the golfer rotates the clubface into a closed position before impact. To correct this problem, learn to hit down and through the ball at impact. To do this, tee a ball about one inch off the turf. Using a short iron hit the ball and make a divot after impact. You must hit down on the ball, so that you don't release the clubhead early.
   
   
10. If you are losing power, you may be initiating your downswing with your upper body instead of you lower body at the top of the swing. This will cause your arms to swing away from your body, creating a power lose. To correct this, you must initiate the downswing with your lower body first and let the upper body follow suit. Concentrate on leading your downswing with your legs instead of your upper body.