Orlando Golf

The key to consistent ball striking is balance.  Balance, whether good or bad, affects your golf swing in numerous ways.  If you improve your balance, you will hit a higher percentage of straighter and longer golf shots.  Proper balance is a skill that can be developed and should be practiced on a continual basis.

One of the best balance drills is not golf specific, but can have a dramatic impact on your golf swing.  Practice standing on one foot for as long as you can.  Start by standing with your weight on your right foot.  Then, stand with your weight on your left foot.  You might be surprised with the difficulty of this seemingly simple exercise.  Begin with a short goal of 20-25 seconds on each foot and try to improve your times daily.

In previous golf lessons I discussed how to hit a golf ball from an uphill lie and how to hit a golf ball from a sidehill lie with the ball below your feet.  Here is a golf lesson on how to hit a golf ball from a downhill lie. 

When you face a downhill lie, the ball lies below your feet.  The address position relating to the ball and clubhead positions should be the same as a level lie.  Ball position should be in the center of your stance.  Because of the downhill lie, your body will need to bend more at the hips to reach the ball.

Because the excessive bending is uncomfortable when finishing your backswing, golfers have a tendency to straighten their posture similar to a level lie.  The straightening of the posture results in thin shots and in some cases…topping the ball.  To alleviate this problem, widen your stance slightly.  The wider stance will make it easier to reach the ball.

In our previous golf lesson article I discussed how to hit a golf ball off an uphill lie.  Hopefully, you had a chance to practice hitting balls off the uphill lie.  Now, I will discuss how to hit a golf ball from a sidehill lie with the ball below the feet.

When you face this type of sidehill lie, the ball lies below your feet.  The address position relating to the ball and clubhead positions should be the same as a level lie.  Ball position should be in the center of your stance.  Because of the sidehill lie, your body will need to bend more at the hips to reach the ball.

The uphill lie and stance can be confusing for golfers.  The awkward lie angle naturally changes the swing plane.  Here’s a good method to hit a golf ball off an uphill lie with better precision.

When you face an uphill lie, the golf ball lies above your feet.  The address position relating to the ball and clubhead positions should be the same as a level lie.  Ball position should be in the center of your stance.  Because of the hill, your body will be in a straighter or more erect position.  Grip down on the club.  By gripping down on the club you can be closer to the ball and the steepness of the hill grade is reduced.

Distance and direction are the two variables for putting success.  Direction is important for shorter putts.  Distance control is vitally important for longer putts.  Inconsistent distance control leads to the majority of 3-putts for golfers off all skill levels.

Are you having trouble with distance control on the putting surface?  If so, use the following helpful drill to improve your distance control and putting touch.  Take your normal set up and putt a golf ball from various distances to a target or hole.  Start off the drill from the shorter distances: 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet, 5 feet, and 6 feet.

Now, do the same from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 feet.  Note: we are incrementally increasing distances.