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You have to love technology. It not only makes our lives easier, it also enables us to see and do things we might not see and do otherwise. Take the Internet. If you haven’t been to the official U.S. Open Web site (www.usopen.com), go there. The site provides numerous high tech features, like an iPhone app, to help you truly enjoy the 2010 U.S. Open at California’s Pebble Beach golf course. The Web site also provides some unique articles that will not only peak your interest, but also help you chop strokes off your golf handicap.

Perhaps the most interesting high-tech feature on the Web site—for serious golfers, that is—is the course preview page. It gives you a great overview of the course from a variety of angles. It’s so good you almost feel like you’re walking the course. The Web site lets you not only watch a Fly-Over video of Pebble Beach, but also do a video walkthrough of the course. The walkthrough is like you were really there. In addition, the page offers tee, fairway, and green views of the course. The preview page comes as close as you can to being at the course without actually being there. The page is a golf instruction session all on its own.

Among The Prettiest Courses
The Web page’s overview of Pebble Beach is so detailed that people who’ve never had a golf lesson or read a golf tip in their life will enjoy it. Pebble Beach is among America’s prettiest public courses. Opened in 1919, it hugs the rugged California coastline. The course offers wide-open vistas, cliff-side fairways, and slopping greens. Pebble Beach claims Jack Neville and Douglas Grant as its designers. Home for the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Championship, the course often serves as a site for PGA events. This is the fifth time it’s hosted the U.S. Open. It also hosted the event in 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2000.

Another interesting feature of the Web site is a two-part article on how the U.S.G.A gets a course ready for an open championship. The article examines all the decisions and changes that need to be made by the grounds keepers to get the course in shape for the U.S. Open. In this case officials from the United States Golf Association walked the course addressing the changes that needed to be made.

For example, one changes involved the rough: Would it be a graduated? Officials decided to make it graduated. Another decision involved the bunkers. Previously, Pebble Beach had light rough running into around the fringes of its bunkers. Officials had all the fringes cut. Now, a wayward shot is more likely to run into the bunker than be stopped by the fringe, penalizing the golfer. This year Pebble Beach has a course rating of 76.6 and a slope of 149 for the Open. Course length is over 7,000 yards. Players will hit from the black tees.

Experts Choices To Win
Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood are among the more popular choices to win the Open.

Westwood is fresh off his win at the St. Jude’s Classic. It was his first win in the United States since 1998 and he seems to play well on West Coast courses. He also plays well in the U.S. Open. He’s played in three Opens and finished near the top in all three. He came in seventh in 1998 at Olympic, fifth in 2000 at Pebble Beach, and third in 2007 at Torrey Pines. He had a good chance to win in 2000, but left some shots out there and made some bad decisions. Westwood is playing well, Woods, on the other hand, is not playing well. His layoff seems to have affected him more than some experts thought. Then he had some problems with his neck a few weeks ago, so it’s anybody’s guess how well he will play this year around. Still, Wood is 113th in driving accuracy and 164th in driving length.

His putting accuracy this year is 1.708, which would be first on Tour if he were eligible for the ranking. Experts who pick woods say he needs to leave his driver and the bag and use his 2-iron off the tee. They thing the course sets up well for him, if he features his “stinger” out of the tee box.

It’s anybody’s guess which player will win this year’s tournament. But if you really want the full U.S. Open experience, stop by the championship’s Web site and make use of the technological features there, especially the course views. You’ll not only get a up close and personal view of the course, you may also get glean a few golf tips based on how the course is set up to help you chop a stroke or two off your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Golf studies are intriguing. But some are more intriguing than others. Take those done on power. They show you can gain 25 yards off the tee without going to a gym or buying a new driver. All you have to do is improve your swing’s sequencing and efficiency. How do you do that? Strengthen your core. That’s right. Beef up your core and you could quickly become the top dog in your foursome when it comes to driver. With luck, you could also cut strokes from your golf handicap. Increasing clubhead speed is the key to hitting bombs. More precisely, you add 2 yards to your drive for every mile per hour you increase your clubhead speed, as I’ve said in my golf tips newsletter. Increase clubhead speed by 10 miles per hour and you add about 20 yards to your drives. Pro golfers average clubhead speeds of about 130 miles per hour. Long drive champs average clubhead speeds of about145 miles per hour. And weekend golfers average speeds of about 100 miles per hour. That’s a big difference.

Seven Groups Power Your Swing
Seven muscle groups power your swing—(1) glutes, (2) groin, (3) abs, lats, and obliques, (4) quadriceps, (5) pectorals, (6) hamstrings, and (7) rotator cuffs. But many other muscles also help. For example, while the left adductor (groin) pulls the body forward, the right latissimus dorsi (lat) balances the body so it doesn’t topple over as you shift your weight. If you’ve taken golf lessons or read a lot of golf tips, you know how vital a balanced sequential weight shift is.

Nevertheless, while your legs, shoulders, back, and chest help generate power, it’s your core—abdomen, pelvis, and thighs—that’s the true producer of power. In fact, if you watch the pros closely, you’ll see just how critical the core is to drilling a golf ball a long way. In other words, to belt drives 250 yards or more, you must fire your hips through the hitting area quickly and efficiently. To do that, strengthen your core muscle group:

Two simple exercises and two easy-to-do stretches can help you strengthen your core. They make a difference because they improve the flexibility, coordination, and strength of your hips, abdomen, and pelvis. Do the exercises faithfully and you’ll be hitting bombs without having gone to any golf instructions sessions or trekking over to your health club.

Hip Rotation Stretch
Stand next to a wall, with your shoulders perpendicular to it.  Step forward with the right leg, knee bent. Keeping most of your weight on your right leg, place your hands on the wall and turn your shoulders to the right, sliding your hands back as far as you can.

Hip Flexor
Kneel on your right knee in a lunge position until you can feel a stretch in your left hip. Holding a club in front of you, slowly turn the upper body to the left while keeping the lower body stable and the club at chest level.

Single Leg Rotation
Stand on one leg, knees slightly bent.  Holding the club in front of you, mimic the spine angle you would have when you address the ball. Now slowly turn as if you were making a backswing then a through swing, before returning to the address position.

Step-down Hip Rotation
Stand on a platform so one leg hangs off the edge. Holding a club in front of you, turn your upper body toward the platform as the hanging foot taps the floor. Then return to the start position. Be sure to work the opposite side equally.

Perform these stretches and exercises in sets of three (10-15 reps), then alternate sides. Perform each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Do them as many times a week as you’d like and before long you’ll be the top dog in your foursome.

We all want to generate power off the tee—whether you have a golf handicap in the low single digits or one in the high teens. Longer drives mean shorter approach shots. Shorter approach shots mean more GIRs. More GIRs mean more par and birdie putts. Sinking more of those can help cut your golf handicap dramatically.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Pro golfers are known for many things. Some are known for driving. Others are known for putting. And then there are those known for chipping. Phil Mickelson, for example, is known for his wedge play. Regardless of what they’re claim to fame is, professional players are top-notch in all phases of the game. They’ve achieved a level of consistency well beyond that of the average player. For weekend golfers, achieving consistency like that is the key to lower golf handicaps.

Good iron play, for example, cures a multitude of golfing woes. Hitting an iron is about controlling three things: trajectory, spin, and distance. Control these factors with consistency when hitting irons and you’ll find yourself playing from the fairway more and in a better position to hit approach shots. You’ll also stay out of trouble. Below are seven golf tips that will help you not only increase consistency with your irons, but also chop strokes off your golf handicap.

Keep Your Shoulders Level
When addressing the ball with a driver, your shoulders are slightly tilted. But when addressing a ball with your irons, your shoulders should be level. Level shoulders position you to hit crisp iron shots, like they teach in golf lessons. To achieve this position stand with a club in front of you and push downward with both palms on the butt end. This centers you.

Pre-Set Your Wrist Hinge
You need a compact swing to hit solid irons. In fact, the more compact your swing the easier it is to hit solid irons. To eliminate wasted motion, pre-set your wrist hinge then simply turn to the top. Feel this sensation when starting from your normal address position. Before long, you’ll find yourself hitting crisp irons like they show in golf instruction sessions and videos.

Maintain Your Spine Angle
Maintaining a consistent spine angle is critical to good iron play. Your spine angle enables you to hit down on the ball. Weekend golfers often rise up when hitting an iron in an effort to lift the ball in the air. Lifting leads to poor contact, producing thin and fat shots. To correct this tendency, swing to a finish position and hold it for a second. Then bring the club back down, as if someone hit the re-wind button. You should be back in your address position. If you are, you’ve maintained your spine angle.

Rehearse Your Impact
To achieve the correct pinching action, like that described in my golf tips newsletter, rehearse an exaggerated impact position at address. You want to feel the clubhead meeting the ball and then descending into the turf. To encourage this, lean the shaft forward with your hands well ahead of the clubhead. Make your normal swing. Try re-creating this feeling when striking the ball. Work on this often and before long you’ll be hitting solid irons.

Bow Your Left Wrist
Professionals hit their irons solidly because they deloft the clubface to a degree when hitting the ball. Maintaining your wrist hinge keys this move and produces a penetrating ball flight. Keep your left wrist bowed through impact for a solid hit. To ingrain this move, pretend you’re holding a club and practice bowing your left wrists so your knuckles point downward.

Focus On The Basics
Weekend golfers sometimes try to do too much. They try to make shots their not capable of making. Attempting a miracle shot often throws your swing off. Instead, focus on the basics: Hit the ball hard and straight, without getting too fancy about shotmaking. Concentrate on three things: focus on your target, swing freely, and try to hit the ball solidly. This approach simplifies the shot and helps you hit crisper irons.

Consistency is the key to lower golf handicaps. The seven golf tips described above will help you achieve consistency with your irons. Hitting crisp irons puts you in good position for your next shot, keeps you out of trouble, and helps generate better approach shots more often than not. That in turn will help you chop strokes off your golf handicap and take your game to the next level.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Wedges are among the most sophisticated clubs in your bag. In fact, they’re almost as sophisticated as drivers. Wedges come with a wide variety of designs and features and a broad range of lofts and bounce angles. Yet you probably pay as much attention to your wedges as you do to a sand trap. This disinterest may be packing strokes onto your golf handicap. If you’re serious about lowering your golf handicap, learn more about wedges.

Some golfers think shaft length, shaft flex, turf conditions, and lie when it comes to wedges. These factors are important. They can dramatically affect your shot. But sole design is probably the most important factor when selecting wedges. Sole design, which includes bounce angle, determines how your club reacts to the ground (or the sand) on impact. Other factors are gaps between wedges—as we’ve said in our golf tips newsletter—and sole design variation.

Effective Bounce Is The Key
Bounce is the distance of the bottom of the sole extending below the clubface’s leading edge when the club is squarely soled in the impact position—something often mentioned in golf lessons. Bounce is completely independent of loft, length, weight, and shaft flex. In other words, there’s no assigned bounce to specific types of wedges. The club’s designer chooses its bounce. But there is an optimal bounce for each of your wedges that will provide the best results for you and your swing. Get to know what the optimal bounce is for each wedge.

Depth of bounce also matters in wedge performance. Depth of bounce, as you may have heard in golf instructions sessions, determines the wedge’s “effective bounce” at impact. Effective bounce depends on how much bounce is designed into the club’s sole, how deep it is in the sole, and how open the clubface is at impact. An open clubface can dramatically affect a wedge’s performance. Wedges come with shallow, deep, or anywhere-in-between bounce. Shallow bounce wedges don’t change effective bounce much. Deep-bounce wedges do.

Gaps Between Wedges
Some golfers carry only two wedges—a pitching wedge, with a loft of about 48 degrees, and a sand wedge, with a loft of about 56 degrees. This approach leaves a huge gap between wedge lofts. Other golfers use three wedges, which let you easily cover shots from 100-yards in. They carry a pitching wedge for full wedge shots (about 100 yards out), a sand wedge used for shots about 30 yards out, and a gap wedge, with about 52 degrees of loft, for shots in between. Some golfers with low golf handicaps also carry either a lob wedge and/or a flop wedge. (We recommend carrying three or four wedges in our golf tips newsletter.)

Sole Design Variation
Sole design variation is just as important as gap coverage when it comes to wedges. You want to carry a set of wedges with a variety of sole designs to handle a broad range of lies. For example, always carry at least one wedge with a small and shallow-bounce sole design for hardpan and other hard-ground lies, and at least one wedge with a deep-bounce sole design for deep rough or sugar-fine sand. You never know what kind of lie you may be facing. Having the proper sole variation covers all contingencies.

As you can see, wedges are rather complex clubs. If you’re among those players who seldom think about them, you may want to change that approach. They can help shave strokes off your golf handicap, so the more you learn about them—whether through attending golf instructions sessions or reading golf tips—the better.

Also, when assembling a wedge set, remember these factors: bounce, gaps between wedges, and differences in sole variations. Above all, tailor your set to what you face the most, but have a wedge or two you can substitute when playing courses with different conditions.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Occasionally, you hear of a PGA player hiring a new swing coach to help the player change his swing, like Tiger Woods did a few years ago. Or, you hear of a little known player suddenly winning tournaments thanks to a major swing change orchestrated by his swing coach. Making major swing changes takes hours and hours of practice. But when you’re playing for big money like today’s pros, it’s worth it.

Most weekend golfers don’t have that kind of time. Taking a couple of golf lessons a month, hitting the practice range now and then, and playing once a week is all they can muster. That doesn’t mean that weekend players can’t whittle some strokes off their golf handicap. Below are five simple golf tips for making tricky shots. Perfecting them may not make players the best in town, but they’ll help reduce golf handicaps.

1. Making A Wedge Back Up
Getting a wedge shot to back up is harder than ever. Manufacturers do a great job of combining trajectory and spin characteristics in golf balls, but today’s balls just don’t spin the way they used to. But you can make the shot if you execute it right. Use a wedge with extra loft and then hit the ball with a descending blow. Since you must hit the ball first, play the ball back in your stance. Also, swing hard but stay under control. You’ll need clubhead speed to make the ball spin, but if you swing too hard, you’ll lose control.

2.  Playing Out Of A Divot
Don’t try and scoop the ball. Scooping exposes a club’s leading edge, producing sculls and worm-burners. Instead, play the ball back slightly in your stance and lean toward the target. This sets up a steeper swing plane and a downward blow. The ball comes out lower with some run. You can also take an extra club, play the ball forward, and open your stance and clubface slightly. Then, swing across the club, as if you were hitting a bunker shot. This approach lets you hit the ball higher and stop it faster. But it’s harder to execute.

3.  Chipping Off Hardpan
This shot crops up more than you think. So for novice players, mastering this shot can help you whittle a stroke or two off your golf handicaps. Mastering this shot will also help veteran players. Play the ball back in your stance, set the club’s heel off the ground, and make sure the shaft is vertical. To do this, you must stand closer to the ball. Keep the clubface square to the target when you swing, and use a putting type stroke by rocking your shoulders up and down. Focus on ball first contact.

4. How To Hit It Over A Tree
If you find yourself playing a course filled with trees, knowing how to hit the ball high may come in handy. To hit it high, hit the ball from a shallow angle, drive with your legs, keep your head and upper body behind the ball, and create clubhead speed. Also, position the ball farther forward at address, open the clubface, and allow for a fade. Then, hit hard with your right hand. Make sure you’re working “under” the left through impact. Left-handed golfers need to work “under” the right.

5. A Soft Pitch To A Tight Spin
If you’re in light rough, play this ball like a bunker shot. Open your face, cock your wrists early in the backswing, and hit the grass behind the ball with some speed.  The harder you swing, the higher the ball goes. But from a tight lie, you’ve got to make perfect contact and nip the ball off the grass. To do this, keep your grip pressure relaxed and your head positioned constant. Don’t raise or dip it through impact.

There you have it. Five golf tips that can help chop strokes off your scores and golf handicap. You don’t have to attend golf instruction sessions to learn how to hit them. But you’ll be surprised how many strokes they’ll chop from your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Over the years we’ve talked a lot about swing plane and its impact on golf handicaps. Swinging a club on plane greatly influences—if not controls— depth of divot, centeredness of contact, starting direction, and curvature of ball flight. In other words, It greatly influences you’re ballstriking. The better you’re ballstriking, the longer and straighter your shots and the less trouble you’ll get into. Needless to say, if you want to lower your golf handicap, you must learn to swing on plane.

Nobody, of course, swings on plane every time. Usually, we swing on a “reasonable” plane as it approaches the ball. The closer you are to being perfectly on plane—all things being equal—the better off you are. So you don’t have to swing perfectly on plane. Two golfers may have very different backswings, but if they’re good ballstrikers, their swings will look similar as they approach impact. Swinging on plane is so important some instructors spend a great deal of time on it in golf lessons.

An On-Plane Swing
So what do we mean by an on-plane swing? Simply put, it means swinging the club on the same angle as it rests on the ground. A 6-iron at rest leans on a natural angle to the ground of about 45 degrees. To swing on plane, you must swing the 6-iron either right on, or closely parallel to that angle, throughout the swing.

If you watch golfers hit balls during golf instruction sessions, you’ll see that some players have a one-plane swing. Others have a two-plane swing. In a one-plane swing, the arms stay on the same axis as the shoulders. If you look in a mirror and your shaft and left arm are aligned, you’re a one-plane swinger. To be a one-plane swinger, simply crush the logo on your golf shirt with your front arm. With a one-plane swing a golfer can unwind without much concern for timing. One-plane swingers usually stand a little farther from the ball.

In a two-plane swing the arms swing on an axis that’s different from the shoulders. Taller players, like Jim Furyk, tend to have two-plane swings. Two plane swings, as I’ve said in my golf tips newsletter, have downswing planes flatter than their backswing planes. So their planes match up with someone who has a one-plane swing as they approach the ball. Two-plane swingers must start their swings with their lower bodies and unwind their hips to the left so the club drops to the inside of the their target line. Two-plane swingers usually stand close to the ball.

Training Your Backswing
The Stand Bag Drill helps teach you to swing on plane. An “at rest” stand bag has the same angle as a 6-iron when it’s grounded. You can use the bag to gauge whether your swing is on plane. First, stand a bag on the ground with the club heads pointing away from the target line. The bag’s base should rest on the target line. Take your address position along side the bag with a 6-iron and make a backswing. Stop about half way through the backswing. Your shoulders, arms, and clubface should match the bag’s angle at rest.

Now move the bag in front of you, with the base resting on the target line and the clubheads pointing away from the target line. Swing the club. The club’s angle at the finish should be the same as the bag’s angle. You’re on plane if your eyes, right arm, shaft, and shoulders are parallel to the bag. If they are, you’ve made a good swing and stayed on plane throughout the swing.

Practice Anywhere Anytime
You can practice swinging on plane anywhere anytime using a drill we teach to students who take my golf lessons. Take your address position with a club. Now make your backswing. Stop when you get about halfway back in your backswing and check your hands. Your “open hand” (right hand) should be parallel to the clubface. If it is, you’re on plane.

Swinging on plane boosts ballstriking. That’s because swing n plane greatly influences key factors in your swing, like depth of divot. Better ballstriking leads to longer and straighter shots, not just from the tee but from the fairway as well. Hitting longer and straighter shots helps you avoid trouble, which in turn, will help you lower your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Poor greenside bunker shots add more strokes to golf handicaps than probably any other shot. That’s because they intimidate many golfers—even those who’ve taken golf lessons on how to hit them. In fact, most golfers would rather hit from deep rough or a side hill lie than a greenside bunker. As soon as their ball lands in a greenside bunker, they mentally add two or three strokes to their scores. That’s no way to approach this shot.

Actually, bunker shots are easier to hit than most golfers think. They have a wider margin for error than many other shots if you use the right mechanics, according to one well-known golf guru. Dave Pelz, author of Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible, analyzed dozens of bunker shots in a recent study. The study shows that using the proper technique makes “sand play easier because it is more forgiving and minimizes the consequences of making normal human errors.” Nevertheless, golfers still fear greenside bunker shots.

Poor Mechanics A Key Reason
Poor mechanics are one reason most golfers hit bad bunkers shots. Even after taking golf lessons and/or reading golf tips on the subject, they still can’t hit a good bunker shot. The main problem, says Pelz, is that these golfers don’t understand how the club interacts with the sand on bunker shots. As a result, they hit poor bunker shots. Pelz is right. Watching dozens of students hitting hundreds of bad bunker shots during my golf instruction sessions has made me a believer.

Your setup, as you probably know, is one key to hitting good bunker shots. You can’t hit good bunker shots if you’re setup is poor. What’s a good setup? Your feet should be about shoulder width apart, with your knees slightly flexed, your upper body bent forward slightly from the hips, and your weight centered on the balls of your feet. The ball should be on-line with the inside edge of your front foot and the clubface wide open. Your stance should be pointing slightly left of target, if you’re right handed.

But understanding how the clubface interacts with the sand is just as important as your setup, if not more important. Many bunker players use what Pelz calls the “dig and push” method of hitting bunker shots. With this method the golfer aims the clubface square at the target, so the wedge enters the sand about an inch behind the ball. At impact, the clubface’s leading edge digs down two or three inches and, hopefully, pushes the ball out ahead of it. Unfortunately, this method has little margin for error. Plus, it requires a great deal of energy to execute. Under pressure, the method often breaks down.

The Scoot And Spin Approach
A better approach, Pelz says, is the “scoot and spin” method. (Actually, it’s probably better referred to as the “skim and spin” method.) This method uses the same setup as the dig and push method, except the clubface is wide open at address. Helped by the wedge’s bounce, the clubface skims under the sand and past the ball, blasting it out high, soft, and with spin. If hit correctly, the ball bounces once or twice, checks, rolls slightly to the right, and stops near the hole.

The scoot and spin method offers numerous advantages over the dig and push method. To start with, it’s easier and simpler to execute. All you need do is aim left of target, open the clubface, and play the ball forward on the inside edge of your left heel. Then take your normal wedge swing. Also, the method requires less energy to get the ball out of the sand and it provides a wider margin for error. More importantly, it doesn’t break down under pressure, so you’re less likely to flub the shot.

Don’t let greenside bunker shots intimidate you. Although they probably account for more strokes being added to golf handicaps than any other shot, they’re not as hard as they seem, if you understand how the clubface interacts with the sand. Switching from the dig and push method of hitting a greenside bunker shot to the scoot and spin method, along with taking golf lessons and reading golf tips on the subject, improves bunker play. Eventually, bunker shots won’t intimidate you.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

What’s the most frustrating shot in golf? Some say it’s the pop-up after a great drive. Others say it’s hitting a dribbler on an easy approach shot. Then there are those who say that topping the ball from a great fairway lie is the most frustrating shot. Those mis-hits certainly hurt. But for our money the shank is by far the most frustrating shot in golf. It’s also among the most dreaded. Once you start shanking the ball, it’s often hard to stop—even with golf lessons.

If you’re among golfers who’ve started shanking the ball and can’t stop, you’re not alone. Plenty of golfers have suddenly had this problem. Many were unable to stop, even if their lives depended on it. As with most mis-hits in golf, specific reasons exist for shanking a shot. There are also fixes that can help you shake off the shanks. These fixes are simple to execute and apply, and can really benefit your game. With their help, you can rid yourself of the shanks, keeping your golf handicap in check.

Swinging From The Outside In.
A shank can happen many ways. One way is by swinging the club from outside the target line to inside the target line. When you swing outside in, you risk hitting the ball with the clubhead’s neck and hosel. If you’re really good at finding the clubface before impact (or your clubface is closed at impact), you probably won’t shank. If you’re not good at making hand adjustments—and most golfers are not—you’ll shank the shot.

The key to stopping this cause of shanks is to swing the club more from the inside out. In other words, start your takeaway inside the target line, and initiate the downswing with the body to prevent coming over the top and swinging across the ball. Some teachers refer to this as “dropping the club in the slot.” Do this and rotate through to the finish and you’ll shank your shots a lot less.

Hands Not Releasing
Another cause for shanking is not releasing your hands through impact or releasing them too slowly through impact. The hands must release the club through the impact zone square to the face before contacting the ball. If they don’t, the club makes contact with the neck of the iron first, boosting your chances of shanking the shot.

To fix this problem, loosen your hands. Then take a few short swings while focusing on releasing the hands well before you reach the ball. This type of release is unusual, but it helps greatly when it’s time to make a full swing. At that point, your hands will be ready to release right over the golf ball, the way they should.

Open Face And Body
A third cause of shanking is an overactive body turn. If you’ve read my golf tips newsletter, you know how important body turn is. If the body slides or rotates too much and the arms don’t have time to catch up, the clubface reaches the target wide open, increasing your chances of hitting the ball with the club’s neck. In fact, anytime your body and arms disconnect, you risk shanking your shot. To overcome this swing flaw, try this simple drill that I use in my golf lessons:

Align your stance so your front foot is closest to the target and is about a foot in front of your other foot. Your other foot should be behind you. At this point, you should be standing so that it looks like you’re walking forward. Now hit some balls from this stance.

The drill teaches you to maintain your turn away from the ball. It also allows your arms to swing from the proper path and release the clubhead on time. It’s a great drill to get your swing coming from the inside out and for limiting excess body rotation through impact—both of which lead to a mis-hit.

Shanking is among the most frustrating shots in golf. Once you start, you can’t always stop. Shanking affects golfers at anytime and at any level. Even veteran golfers with low golf handicaps sometimes have a bout of the shanks. Swinging the club from the outside in instead of inside out can cause you to shank. But learning to swing from the inside out will help prevent the dreaded shanks from occurring and your golf handicap from rising.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Every golfer wants to excel when he or she plays. But learning to play golf well is hard. That’s why only a handful of golfers own single digit golf handicaps. These golfers rack up low golf handicaps because they know how to save strokes around the green, not because they hit the ball a ton. A great way to save strokes around the green is by mastering the art of getting up and down. Doing so can save you a ton of strokes over the season.

To master the art of getting up and down, you must understand how your wedges work. For example, you need to know what “bounce” is and how it affects your shots. You also need to know the best place to hold your elbow during wedge shots. And you need to know how your right elbow affects short game shots pitches. Having learned all this, you can then go on to practicing drills that can boost your ability to get up and down.

Choosing The Right Wedge
Some golfers carry as many as four wedges in their bags—a pitching wedge, sand wedge, gap wedge, and a lob or a flop wedge. The primary difference between these wedges is their “bounce.” Bounce is the part of the clubhead that hangs down behind the leading edge, as I’ve explained in my golf tips newsletter. It allows the club to skid instead of dig into the ground, making the wedges play differently. Generally speaking, a club with more bounce is easier to hit from the sand and rough because it doesn’t dig into the ground.

Bounce often determines which club is best suited for making a short game shot For example, a 58-degree wedge with 12 degrees of bounce offers the most flexibility from sand and grass. That’s why many pro golfers use this club around the greens, instead of a 52-degree gap wedge or a pitching wedge. The 58-degree wedge is also more useful than a 60-degree wedge with no bounce, which is much harder to hit. That’s why many golfers use the 58-degree wedge as their “go to” club for short game shots.

The Wrists And The Clubface
Your wrists at impact and the face of your club work together. To see this relationship, hold a tennis or badminton racket with your lead hand. Use a golf grip. If you’re right-handed, grip the club with your left hand. A cupped left wrist adds loft to the racket for a higher shot. A neutral or flat left wrist produces a neutral face. A bowed left wrist reduces loft. However, in all these positions, the racket face remains square to the back of your left hand, as many learn in golf instruction sessions. The same holds true for the clubface.

Your back elbow also plays a huge part in hitting good short game shots, which many golfers don’t realize—as I discovered in my golf lessons. Trying to manipulate the clubhead on the backswing is among the most flagrant short game swing flaws. The player either pulls the clubhead inside or pushes it outside, both of which lead to poor results. Instead, slide your right elbow along your side on the backswing and let your right wrist hinge softly. This keeps the clubhead under control, increasing consistency.

Get Forward On Short Game Shots
The key to hitting solid short game shots is setting your weight forward. Also key is keeping your shoulders level. To do that, hold the club in front of you in your right hand and slide your left hand down your left leg. When your left hand gets to your knee, move it to the club and take your normal grip. To get used to how this shift feels, hit some sand shots from this tilted position. This exercise trains you to avoid leaning back during your swing.

If you’re serious about chopping strokes off your golf handicap, you must master the art of getting up and down. Doing so can cut a ton of strokes off your score during the course of a year. Use the golf tips provided above to help you understand how your equipment affects your shots. Once you understand the equipment side of the equation, making adjustments will be easier. Before you know it, getting up and down will be a piece of cake.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

This is the second part of a two-part article about the role of plane angle shifts in your swing. Last week we talked about the four different plane angles. This week we discuss plane angel shift models.

Every golfer—no matter what his golf handicap—must go from the backswing to the downswing. Making this transition, as you know from reading my golf tips newsletter or attending my golf instruction sessions, is critical. Make a poor transition and it costs you. Golfers use different methods to make the transition. These plane angle shifts all work, but they require different adjustments. To develop a swing that helps chop strokes off your golf handicap, you must master one of these plane angle shifts.

These shifts involve the four planes—the clubshaft plane, the right elbow plane, the squared shoulder plane, and the turning shoulder plane. These four planes show where the clubshaft can go in your swing and determine the actions the shaft must take on the way down to the ball. Most players shift planes to execute a smooth transition from backswing to downswing. In our golf lessons and written golf tips, we like to refer to the different ways to make the shifts as models.

The Single Shift
This model encourages a single shift from the shaft plane at address to a vertical plane during transition. Think of it as an “out and over” move. It’s commonly seen in players who hit a fade. The danger with this shift model is that it can easily turn into an uncontrolled, over-the-top motion that causes mis-hits, especially when the tempo is off.

The Double Shift
This is the most common shift model. Taught in individual golf lessons and multi-player golf instruction sessions, it starts with the clubshaft plane at address, moves into a more upright position into the backstroke, and then falls back to the clubshaft through the ball. This is a good motion—provided you can keep the clubshaft from lifting too much into the last part of the backswing. This model requires a lot of flexibility.

The Triple Shift
This is the classic in-up-and-over move. Basically, the club moves to the inside of the shaft plane on the back swing, then above it on the downswing. If you use this plane angle shift, you must control your release or you’ll hit left-to-left shots (right-to-right shots if you’re left-handed).

The Reverse Shift
This shift model includes lifting the club steeply to the top with a high right shoulder and then re-routing the club back to the clubshaft plane established at address. This shift model requires powerful lateral and rotary hip motions to aid the reversing action.

The Reverse Loop
Players using this shift model lift the club to the top slightly; yet have shoulder turns level or perpendicular to the spine’s axis. These players have no need to re-route the arms and shoulders, but only need to re-route the shaft back to the clubshaft plane on the downswing.

The Pivot Motion
Another key move that players must master is the pivot motion. Not quite as critical as the plane shift, this move is still important. When the club is in a manageable delivery position, you’ll find that the club is either trailing the hands slightly or slightly out in front of the hands, but not by much in either position. From here all you have to do is let your weight continue to move in the forward foot as your torso rotates.

The best way to learn the correct pivot motion is to hit belt-high pitch shots, feeling your weight move through as you rotate into the finish. The ball should go straight and you should feel little or no hand action through the ball.

Every golfer no matter what his/her golf handicap must master the pivot motion and one of the plane angle shift models. When combined correctly, these actions help you hit the ball straighter and longer, and chop strokes off your golf handicap. If you master both the pivot motion and a plane angle shift, you’ll develop a graceful yet powerful swing.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.