Golf — Shorten Your Long Game

Before you can putt you have to get on the green. To get there in one shot is the ideal you aim for. Here's some advice to approach it.

GRIP AND POSTURE

Once you've selected good equipment, it all starts with grip and posture.

Position your left thumb to the right of the middle of the grip, making the V formed between your thumb and forefinger point toward your right shoulder. This helps your club sit more in your fingers, less in your palm.

Remember, the key to maximizing distance is not how tight or strong your grip is, but how fast your clubhead moves (and at what angle, assuming the correct impact point). Keep your grip relaxed but firm.

The correct posture is one which allows you to swing your arms and turn your body freely back and forth throughout the swing. To check this, let your arms hang down with your back straight, your knees slightly bent. Your arms should be a few inches away from the front of your thighs.

To maximize distance, widen your stance. Position your feet outside your shoulders. This helps create an elongated takeaway and a wide backswing arc. It also tends to restrict your hip movement, helping you build coil. Third, you'll find it easier to shift your weight to the left on the downswing.

Flaring out your right foot can also help you make a more powerful turn away from the ball.

SWING

Power comes from the 'coil' in the backswing. To create coil you also need resistance.

To form the proper coil, turn your hips 45 degrees and your shoulders 90. Your right knee should stay in the position made at address. The back and shoulder muscles (which provide most of the force) will twist and compress, ready to unwind through the ball.

Instructors will sometimes tell a student to keep his head down. But, with your head down, your leading shoulder can't turn under your chin on the backswing. The result is, your weight stays on the same side as your front foot. If you hit the ball with your weight moving away from the target, your swing loses force. Your head should move with the swing, allowing a full shoulder and weight shift.

One of the newer styles is exemplified by Tiger Woods. It's a kind of two-pivot swing that you might experiment with. During your backswing, as your upper body turns, allow your left shoulder to move across toward the right. This moves your left shoulder above your right foot at the top of your backswing. Start your downswing, trying to finish with your right shoulder above your left foot.

IMPACT POINT AND ANGLE

But, more than anything, you have to practice consistently impacting the ball at the proper point on the clubface, with the correct angle. (Remember, there are two angles involved —— clubface open or closed, and the angle the clubface makes with the imaginary 'wall' at the front of the ball. Keep both in mind.) If you top the ball, or contact it with the club too near the heel or toe, all the speed in the world won't help you make longer drives in the desired direction.