Now this is a little more difficult than it sounds as he is a lefty and everything is backwards. However I have no doubt in my mind that I can help him and within a few months I will have him break 100.

The things I have noticed about his swing and his game are as follows:

Lack of confidence in his driver and his woods. A fantastic set of golf clubs in his bag but a mental block means he misses out on a lot of distance by not using his driver off the tee and his fairway woods on the fairway. The one time he did use his driver it went a very long way but very left of the target.

Inconsistent setup. This was something that I bit my lip on till we got back to the club house because I wanted to make sure I was right, the setup he has to the ball is good but there is a slight movement in his stance before he swings the club. This is causing the ball not to go as straight as he would like it to.

The grip it and rip it mentality. When getting himself into a position that he struggled to get a full swing or a clear line of sight at the target he would go for it anyway. This is something I learned a while back, that it is often a good thing to get out of trouble with one shot than get in even more trouble. I used to think “MUST GET CLOSER TO THE GREEN!” the problem was when if that shot got me closer to the green then I would be in even more trouble. Playing the game using your mind to work out shots, to play sensible golf will bring the score down.

So those are the three main areas that I will be working on with him over the next few months and the aim which I think is more than reasonable is to get his score below 100. I have advised him to check out the Golf Instruction Manual that I have used in the past to give him a good heads up on the things he will be needing to work on.

So what is so special about Tiger Woods Swing? Well basically everything is right about it but there is much more to it than just the swing. The video below was an advertising campaign by Nike. They pointed a military grade camera that takes photos at the rate of 4000 frames per second.

Apart from his setup watch his left arm through the whole back swing it is straight as he hits the ball it is still straight and through to around 85% completion it is still straight. This has more of an importance than most people seem to realize. This means he has incredible power through the core of his body. The strength of the back muscles, the abs and through to the back are all important to be able to swing a club this smoothly.

It is also important that you stretch out regular in order to get flexibility up to a maximum as well. In wanting to improve your swing or to make yours more like Tiger Woods Swing then it is important to think about your physical fitness and to maintain a regular practice routine. A good strong back will give you more of a spring in your swing that will give you an faster head speed and more distance from all of your clubs.

If you want to take a look at improving your fitness then Mike Pedersen has a very good book on golf fitness that can be giving you extra yards on your game in no time at all. We don’t like to recommend things that will not improve your game and this is no exception, getting fit and having a good stretching will get your swing and Tiger Woods Swing to be a closer match!

I then had great pleasure in telling him to read this blog tomorrow morning as I would have posted a few tips on how to get backswing. So firstly Welcome to my new reader! Now lets get you some backspin. Many people think that to get good backspin you have to scoop the ball and get right under the ball in order to apply the spin. Not the case.

To get backspin you really need to strike the ball on the downward motion so you are striking down on the ball, this then allows the ball to roll up the club face, meaning the balls moving forward but with backspin on it. So some simple steps to achieve this:

Firstly you need to have your body slightly open to the target so you need to be aiming slightly to the left of where you want the ball to go.

Secondly when you strike the ball should be just to the right of center with the ball further back than normal in your stance with your hands in front of the ball. This helps get the ball struck on the downward arc.

Finally (and this was the bit that always used to catch me out) your back swing needs to be steeper and more upright than normal getting a good hinge in the writs. Take back straight then a little nick of the fairway taking slightly less then normal and you will see results.

As with all parts of the game the best thing you can do is practice until you are comfortable. Please don’t try it when it is vital to your round unless you have spent a few hours trying it out first.

Normally I wouldn’t advise going at this so deep but he has had a rough year personally and wanted to just be totally focused on one thing for a while so went for it. It really paid of dividends for him. Before he did this he was very much reliant on getting a massive straight drive off the tee which happened one in ten times. Today his swing was slower more controlled and the club head did all of the work off the tee. He probably dropped 10 yards off his furthest drive as it was 6 weeks ago but this time from 13 drives he hit 12 fairways!

His positioning on the course was second to none today getting a clear shot into every green and his control around the greens lead to a single handicap score for the day. Not bad when you consider he was a 23 handicap at the start of 2007!

This is what lead me to the title of this post, hitting the ball further is not always the answer. I have read so many articles from people who’s advice is to give the ball a good old slap to get it off down the fairway and when people try it they lose the ball or get the ball wet and even worse look like complete fools when they hurt their back! As I have said in the past slow it down get the control then think about the power, in many cases getting the control and getting the club to do the work will mean you can stop thinking about getting so much power because your game will be more controlled and less demanding on the physical aspect.

Of course I am not saying that being fit to play golf is a myth of course it helps a massive amount and helps prevent injury, but knowing the club is capable of doing most of the work is a great way to get ahead on the course.

When you think about a professional golfer setting up for their swing on most occasions you will see them wave the club from one side to another, if you think that those clubs even though a little lighter than your average shaft it takes a fair amount of strength to perform this action. So how can you go about getting stronger wrists?

Here are a few tips on how you can strengthen your wrists without having to spend a fortune on weights and equipment.

Wrist Curls: Hold a tin of soup in the palm of your hand and with your palm pointing skywards and pull your wrist towards you. Do this ten times and then relax for 20 seconds and repeat 4 times.

Reverse Wrist Curls: As above but in reverse hold the tin in your hand with your palm facing down wrists pointing out and pull your wrists towards you. As before do this ten times and rest 20 seconds repeating 4 times.

Golf Club Cock: No its not rude, behave! Hold your arm by your side with a seven iron in your hand then using only your wrist lift the club towards the sky. do this ten times on one side then ten times on the next and repeat four times.

If you do these exercises a few times a week and you will start to see you have more control over the club head throughout your swing.

It would seem I was not the first and I know I most certainly wouldn’t be the last. The Hybrid Golf Club is one that requires a little more thought than you would normally give to your club selection but the basic rule is that you would use the Hybrid to replace a mid to long iron club.

Take a look at how you hit your 5 iron, striking down through the ball, this is exactly the same as you should treat your hybrid club. There are of course a few minor exceptions, the main one being when you select the Hybrid from the tee. The Hybrid tee shot should be again treated very similar to the long iron but tee it up a little higher and make a very important change to your set up routine. Take an extra practice swing. The reason for this is that the Hybrid is heavier than the other clubs in your bag and you will need to prepare yourself for the extra weight.

Make sure you slow your tempo down a little in order to not slash at the shot otherwise your club will punish you in the long run or long rough it could be said. The extra weight will be enough to take the ball further than your normal swing.

Those are the basics on Getting to Grips with your Hybrid Golf Club good luck and enjoy the benefits of the club.

I had the pleasure of following Miguel Angel Jiminez around a pro am a few weeks back and noticing how he sets up his stance on hit shots is a large part of why he is as good as he is. Yes it takes practice and a special talent, but having the perfect “V” helps a great deal.

So what am I talking about? Well basically in the grip and the arm set up of the golf swing if you get it right then you can get yourself lowering your handicap and seeing the benefits.

So how does it work? Well you start with the grip of your club place your upper hand (this works in both ways lefties as well) you will notice that where your thumb and index finger roll around the club this makes a “V” (ah ha). This is the first in the three “V”‘s that we are looking for. The second is your second hand again the “V” between the thumb and index finger.

Now the third you are looking for is the one between your two arms, if you have lined up the first two “V”‘s on your hands up with the your front shoulder then you will be hitting straighter in no time.

Now his hook was so bad he was aiming his shots around 45 degrees off target in order to be anywhere close to the fairway or green! So taking his word for it that he was certain he knew he was almost cured he lined up around 30 degrees away from where he thought the ball was going to land. I questioned this and said “Would it not be a good idea to aim straight at this time?” I mean he thought he was cured. He told me that law of averages said if he aimed over there then even if there was a little bit of a hook he would still be in a good position for his second shot. Not wanting to get slapped by my younger but much larger brother I stood back and tried not to laugh as he struck the straightest and longest drive he has ever struck over the trees and out of bounds!

His swing action was corrected and he was much more fluid in his striking of the ball which means he was cured of his hook and should have taken the first shot as a sign that everything he had done to correct what was wrong had worked. Unfortunately another ball went sailing over the out of bounds before he was confident he should aim straight down the middle of the fairway. When he did same shot but this time long, straight and bang on target, unfortunate that he was 6 shots off the tee!

After forgetting that his swing was repaired on the first 4 drives he tried he added a whopping 15 shots to his total score that didn’t need to be there. Had he not taken those uncertain shots he would have shaved 8 shots off his best round.

If you have corrected your swing then take a trip to the driving range a few more times before you pay your green fee’s otherwise you might end up in the same position as my brother (laughed at for not believing in himself!)

Firstly make sure you know where you want the ball to go picking out the area of the fairway you want your ball to land is an important factor but a very obvious one if you play the game in any way at all.

Now once you have picked out your spot put your tee into the ground, now if you have a 460cc driver you might want to leave the tee a little higher than if you have the 400cc. The reason for this is that you have a larger more forgiving area of the club to strike the ball with. Now once you have your tee in the ground place your ball on the tee with the writing on the ball pointing to the area of the fairway you picked out in the first step.

Now take any practice swings that will make you feel comfortable of that are part of your routine. Once you are comfortable you can get your body in position over the ball. Making sure your hands are in the perfect V that points to your addressing shoulder from both hands in your grip.

If you are not sure about direction hold the shaft of the club in both hands and ensure that it is pointing at that spot and parallel with the writing on the ball. Now keeping your chin up and your eye on the ball, address the back of the ball with the club and take the club backwards keeping your front arm as straight as you can and then bring the club face through the ball and follow all the way through.

The club should finish pointing towards the spot where you lined up the ball. Keep practicing and in no time at all you will be slapping the ball down the center of the fairways.

Using a 6 or an 8 iron to chip onto the green gives the ball a lower trajectory and will allow the ball to roll further when it makes contact to the green. The shot is very much like a putt with the ball further back in your stance. It is an easy shot to play as long as you practice it.

This method works because the light rough around the green or the fringe itself can slow down your ball and make it stick meaning that you get frustrated with the shot you have played because the ball just stops where it lands when using a more lofted club such as a wedge. However using the lesser lofted club you will push the ball in the direction that you want it to go rather than up and down.

Don’t get me wrong there are times when there is a need to get the ball high around the green but play with your head and work your whole bag not just the club you are told to play.