Practice How You Intend to Play

When you are practicing on the range, do you go through your pre-shot routine? If not why not?

You want to practice how you intend to play, so that when you get to the golf course you don't have to think about it. That includes practicing your routine on the range.

If you don't hit balls on the range going through your routine you are telling yourself that it is not as important as when you are playing on the course. The problem comes when you get to the course and all of a sudden, instead of just stepping up there and hitting the shot, you are now evaluating the lie, the wind, the yardage and taking onsiderably more time over the shot than you do on the practice area.

This automatically creates more tension (which we want to control at all times), as you have created the scenario as a result of the way that you practice.

Make sure that when you stand on the practice tee you hit balls going through your routine just the way you would on the golf course. You will find that you are a lot more relaxed on the course and able to execute the shots that you want.

Leaderbord - Swing trainer

I heard about this training aid at the end of last year, and finally got a chance to have a go on it after hearing some mixed reviews. I have struggled to a certain extent with my hips spinning out on the way down and either hitting a big push or flipping the hands and hitting a nice big hook that finishes left of left.

Stepping on this initially I was a bit unsure. With the sliding platform there is a rather different feeling. I can tell you one thing, it is hard to spin the hips out on the leaderboard if done properly.

After half a dozen shots, I returned to the grass and hit a few more shots from there. It really works your hips and glutes. These are two muscles that are important for playing good golf.

As you are hitting shots while on the leaderboard, the feeling transfers well to hitting balls on the grass. This is probably the most important aspect when selecting a training aid "Can I hit balls with it?"

There are different resistance settings that can be altered underneath to allow just about anyone to use it. I didn't have it on that high a setting, so there is definitely a lot of scope for improvement for me on this. There is also a bonus with it, you can use it for just about any part of your game, and also for your strength training.

If you live in the US, please click on the picture above. If you are in the UK, please go to my website http://www.wholovesgolf.com/ and send me an e-mail if you would like to purchase a leaderboard.

This is a training aid that I will be using with you students.

New Taylor-Made Tour Burner Driver

TaylorMade Tour Burner 460 TI Driver - RH Graphite

I got to try this driver last week and to put it mildly I had a little smile on my face. Driving has always been the weak part of my game and at times I do struggle to find the short stuff. Fortunately I do love my wedges, so it all works out in the end.

I hit approximately a dozen balls, so enough that I could get a bit of a feel for it, and enough that I hit a few poor drives and a couple of great ones.

No matter where on the face I hit it, it seemed to go high and straight. It was a pleasant surprise for me. I tend to hit the ball fairly low compared to some golfers, but then again, I am still using a Callaway Great Big Bertha II rather than the brick on a stick Taylor-Made Tour Burner (It does look massive compared to mine, but rather pleasing on the eye, unlike some out there). I was using a 10.5, whereas I carry a 9.5 degree driver and the shaft was a little softer than what I have in my Callaway.

The only downside was that it is fairly hard to shape the ball with it, but I think I could live with that if I hit them long and straight majority of the time and find more fairways.

This is a club that you should think hard about putting in your bag.

If you live in the UK rather than the US please visit the following website:

Range Finders – The Quickest Way to an Accurate Yardage

Is it time to ditch your strokesavers? Well, not quite yet. You still need them to show you where everything is on the hole and to decide how you want to play the hole. However, you can't beat a range finder for getting you a good yardage.

Before you buy a range finder, I recommend that you spend some time on the range and work out how far you hit each club. This will allow you to make better use of the range finder on the course.

Secondly, most golfers don’t play on a flat golf course. To get an accurate reading when faced with an uphill or a downhill shot, you need a range finder with a slope facility, also known as an inclinometer. This takes into account that uphill shots play a little longer and downhill shots pay a little shorter than the actual yardage.

The range finder that I recommend is the
Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 With Slope

They may seem like a luxury item, but when you consider it, the majority of golfers spend more money on a driver that has no guarantee will help their game. Now you will know exactly how far you hit it and what club to use it. This will help you save shots.

If you live in the UK rather than the US, please check out the following website: