Free Golf Tips Online Archives

Balance and Tempo

All great players have the ability to swing every club at a consistent tempo and with great balance. Rhythm and balance are linked. Some players, like Tom Watson, exhibit faster tempos. Some, like Ernie Els, exhibit a slower tempo.

Yet all remain balanced. The key to consistency is to maintain your balance and use a smooth rhythm.

If you rush your swing you will loose your balance and the end result is inconsistent contact and poor ball flight. Outstanding ball strikers are rarely off balance at impact and their rhythm is the "glue" that bonds their positions and movements.

Often their swings seem effortless and they, as Julius Boros described it, "swing easy and hit hard." Great rhythm allows you to properly sequence your body motion and arrive at impact in a position of leverage and power.

Ten-time PGA TOUR driving accuracy champion Calvin Peete says the three keys to straight driving are "Balance, Balance and Balance."

If you want to be a more consistent ball striker, you must understand how the body should be balanced in four key positions.

Setup

Although your spine is tilted away from the target at address, you should have your weight evenly balanced between your right and your left foot with your middle and long irons. Also, you should feel your weight evenly balanced between your heels and your toes, roughly on the balls of the feet.

Top of the Backswing

As you pivot to the top of the back swing, your weight moves into the inside of the back foot. You should feel approximately 75-percent of your weight on the back foot and 25-percent on the front foot. The weight must never move to the outside of the back foot.

Impact

By the time you arrive at impact, approximately 70- to 75-percent of your weight should be shifted onto the front foot. Your head must be behind the ball and your hips must shift forward approximately 4 inches past their starting position. This increases the spine tilt by at least double.

The Finish

At the completion of the follow through, you should have the majority of your weight - about 90-percent of it - on the outside of the front foot.

Tip of The Week

OK, so you had a bad round. But you don't know exactly WHAT was bad! Next time out, turn your scorecard into a diagram. Under the section where you put the players name, place the following: Hit Fairway, Hit Green, and # of Putts. Then, for each hole, you can check that particular column or row if you hit the fairway, or if you hit the green. You can also put down the number of putts it took to get in.

You can get detailed. For example, under "Hit Green" you can put the number of shots it took you to get there. On a par 4, it typically takes two (not for me!!). If it took you 4 shots to get there, put '4'. You'll have an excellent understanding of where your game needs work!!

From our Readers:

>From Janette, a beginning golfer (as we all are, no matter how long we've been playing!!)

"BEING YOUNG IS BEAUTIFUL BUT BEING OLD IS COMFORTABLE. I, for one, think your newsletter is informative and interesting. Being a novice golfer, I "inhale" any information that is laid out to me and give it a shot. I am glad my golfing friend gave me your address as now we both can gain some knowledge from your experience. I happen to have a golf tip, well really it is a putting tip, that has helped me putt.

I was told that I wasn't bring my putter straight back that my swing had an "arc" direction. I could have sworn that I was bringing my putter straight back! Wanna check your swing path in putting? Line up a golf ball against the wall or baseboard in your house. With your putter,pretend to swing at the ball.

Stop on your back "swing" and see how far away from the wall is your putter. (Mine was about three inches when I first started this practice.) If you understand what I am trying to convey, please put it in your own words. As I said, I am a novice golfer and don't know the appropriate terms to explain my suggestion. Keep up the good work."

Janette, it is a GREAT tip. If you are a reader of this free golf tip newsletter, you know how important we believe putting is. If you keep inhaling information, and practice YOUR STROKE, you will be having a lot of fun on the links!