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When making your back swing, much has been written regarding the movement in the left foot. In my humble opinion if you are flexible enough to make a full back swing with the left foot planted then do so!

Keeping the left foot planted throughout the swing allows most golfers to create some good resistance and balance, giving a great feel of coiling the upper body over a stable lower body during the back swing and a solid left side to swing into during the down swing.

I only encourage a little lifting of the foot if the client is struggling to complete the back swing with it planted, it simply allows a little more freedom of motion to some golfers, maybe helping them to complete a full turn. Then I ask them to plant it firmly down on the ground at start the down swing, that way giving them balance and a good weight shift in the down swing.

Let me know if this helps?

When playing those little chip and run shots from the fringe of the green, we encourage you to take onboard some basic putting principles to help you gain greater control.

Hold the club (say a no 7 iron for example) in exactly the same manner you hold the putter, using your standard putting grip. Basically this shot is like putting with a different club, so by taking your putting grip you will encourage a pendulum like motion, keeping the wrists very quiet in the process. It will allow you to use the loft of the club to nudge the ball over the thicker fringe grass and then run the ball down to the hole. Soft hands on the club and quiet wrists during a pendulum like stroke, should give you a consistent and controlled stroke.

One other small tweak on your normal set-up is to stand the club up a little more upright when addressing the ball. Even if the heel of the club then feels like it’s off the ground a smidge, don’t panic as this will help quieten the wrists and stroke the ball like a putt.

If your playing uphill and need a little more run out of the ball, then try a less lofted club. On the flip side, if the green falls away from you and the ball is going to run out quicker, then a more lofted 9 iron or wedge will help you control the run on the ball.

Good luck with this tip!

A good percentage of golfers we see here at the academy picture a line down through their shirt buttons and you turn around this centered point. Unfortunately this can lead into a classic reverse pivot motion, with the weight normally moving to the left leg during the back swing and then having to lean back out of the way onto the right leg during the down swing. So if your hitting weak, high shots and falling back at the finish of the swing then this could be you!!

To get a true and dynamic range of motion during your swing, generating a powerful and repetitive ball flight then picture using the right leg as the pivot point on the back swing and the left leg as the pivot point for the down swing! (Based on you right handed golfers, opposite for you lefties) So feel like you are turning into that right leg, almost sitting into the knee is a sensation I like to have. Feeling like the right knee remains flexed and the weight is as much as 70 to 80% into that right leg at the top of the back swing. From here it’s a case of allowing the weight to shift back to the left side with a little bump of the left knee and hip and when you finish that follow through, your weight should be fully onto the left leg, with the tip toe of the right shoe, the only point of contact with the ground and your tummy facing the target. Hold this pose for several seconds as it brings your swing to a nice composed finish and is a good gauge as to your level of balance in your swing.

More great tips on the GAINMORE Golf Community 

Always address the ball, by starting with your feet together and placing the club head behind the ball.  Getting the club positioned behind the ball, helps you to consistently achieve the correct position to build your swing from.  Once the club is in squarely positioned then place the correct grip on the club, left hand first if you’re a right hander, then the right hand snugly on top.  Finally the feet into the correct position, making sure you’re the correct distance from the ball. So consistent golf starts with a consistent routine and set-up! 

When playing that all important soft landing wedge shot over the bunker or indeed anywhere around the green, one of the most important factors is to encourage a descending blow into impact. If you are looking for more control on the distance you hit these shots, then the strike pattern has to be similar each and every time you play this shot, a major factor in this consistency is a descending blow. 

A great drill to help achieve this correct angle of attack into the ball is to place an umbrella or empty sleeve of balls, about 6 inches or so behind the ball. Now set-up to the shot, checking your weight is positioned nicely onto the left foot (for you right hand players), ball position centre and stance slightly narrower than usual. From here simply swing the club up and over the umbrella and then back down again, allowing the club to descend into the back of the ball, missing the umbrella in the process and giving the perfect ball/turf strike pattern. If you strike the umbrella first then you would have tried to scoop the ball up yourself, rather than trusting the club to get the job done. In addition to this your weight will have probably moved back onto the right side, a classic mistake we see all too often during initial lessons. So keep the weight left and swing up and down over the obstacle and the strike pattern will be hugely improved and way more consistent than previously. 

Best of luck with this, any problems or thoughts, as always feel free to get in touch!!

One of the biggest complaints we hear from our clients is not having enough time to work on their games. Even when they do find a few minutes to practice, are they indeed working on the most relevant area of their game? The simplest way of learning which area of your game is the most important to you personally, the pattern to your game if you like, is by keeping some statistics on your golf, other than just the final score! After each and every round write down a few details on the following:

Fairways hit?

Greens in regulation? (I.e. putting for birdie)

Putts per round?

Up and downs? (I.e. how many chip and one putts)

Start with just these four basic figures and I’m positive you will start to understand exactly where you are dropping your shots on a regular basis. Either store them on your pc or jot them down in a note book that you can keep in your golf bag. You can even forward me these stats as it makes sense that I know which are the key areas to work on for the next lesson. 

For anyone who is keen on this and wants to store the information really professionally, then please take advantage of our partnership with Strokeaverage.com.  These guys are the market leader in recording statistics on your golf, so I’m thrilled to be involved with such a great product and indeed company.  It records, compares and analyses your golf statistics helping you and I to eliminate weaknesses and build on strengths.  With a complimentary trial period of 14 days there is no need to take my word for it, make your mind up during this trial period before taking the plunge at a discounted rate for the year.  If you pop in JANES1 as the promotion code, this will entitle you to a 20% discount on the yearly subscription.  

So a few minutes identifying the pattern in your game can allow you to work on your weaknesses and not waist time fine tuning your strengths!!

For you slicers!

If you (or maybe a friend you know!!) suffer from the common fault of the ball starting left of target and fading right, then find a slope with the ball above the feet and hit loads of practice shots from there. Slopes are a great way of giving us an improved feel for the correct shape to the swing. Up until now you would have felt a very steep swing, with the club moving on a very steep plane and from out to in, with the divots pointing left of target. Practicing with the ball a few inches above your feet allows the club to work a little more around the body, allowing a nice shoulder turn to be completed during the back swing. Then the momentum is set for the downswing, when the club naturally approaches the ball more from the inside path and a little more shallow than your used to. This in turn will help control the ball flight and you might even be able to turn the ball over from right to left.

For you hookers!!

If on the other hand you have the opposite ball flight to our friend above, maybe a controlled (or otherwise) draw flight from right to left, then you need to find some slopes with the ball below your feet and hit plenty of practice shots from there. In the past you are used to the club coming into impact too much from an inside path, on a very shallow plane and the face closing through impact, hence the right to left shape. With the ball now several inches below your feet this slope will encourage the club to swing more up and down on a steeper plane and angle of attack, thus leaving the clubface more neutral and less right to left shape on the ball, you might even fade one or two from left to right!! 

Just before you go out on the course the standard routine on the putting green is to grab three balls, stand ten feet from the hole, miss all three putts and then stroll to the first tee, what a confidence booster, sounds familiar!! Then you find yourself on the 1st green and funny enough miss from the same distance!!

You should be achieving two things from your putting warm up, feel for the pace of the green and confidence to take to the course. So pop a tee peg into the ground somewhere on the green, take one ball and roll it up close. One ball because you only get one go when playing regular golf on the course and a tee peg because all you are working on is feel. If you miss it you are not worried and if you do hit it then that’s a real bonus as the tee is significantly smaller than a hole, all you are really trying to do is roll it up close.

We see a huge amount of golfers aim left of target with their body alignment when addressing the ball, or open as we term it in teaching.  A simple and very effective way of combating this is, when addressing the ball, having got the clubface aligned correctly, always place the left hand on the club first.  By putting the left-hand on first you immediately get the left side of your body slightly forward and then all you have to do is tuck the right hand on the club and not change the alignment of the shoulders as you do so.  This is especially helpful when addressing woods, as it gives you the feeling of being tucked in behind the ball, with the right side of your body nice and low, even the weight slightly favouring the right leg, all good pointers when trying to sweep the ball cleanly from the tee, with a nice ascending blow.

Ever taken a slow motion swing?  Yep that’s what I thought until I spoke to Jayne Storey!!  Jayne is a Tai Chi expert and good friend of mine, she showed me a great drill to get real feedback and awareness of what is going on during your swing.

I’ve always been a fan of slow motion swings for my clients, as it helps them piece together their swing and create awareness of certain aspects that at full speed cannot be fully realized.  But this is taking it to another level, so starting off by taking 30 seconds at first and then a full minute to make the full swing.  Boy do you get some feel for what each part of the body does during the swing and it really helps you become aware of problem areas that need some shall we say fine tuning! This works with every club in the bag and no matter what your current swing thought is, this will help you become more aware of that particular area.

So no cheating now, 30 seconds to start with and when you feel that is under control then onto taking a full minute to make that swing.  

PS. One for the range not the course, I don’t want complaints of 6 hour rounds please!!