Golf Swing Basics – My Story

Posted on May 29, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

Hey KC here,

If you’re looking to learn golf swing basics in order to improve your golf, then I’m glad you’ve found this website and I strongly suggest you keep reading…

Because this is my uncensored story on how I learned to play better golf:  the goods, the bads, and the uglies as well as all of the things I tried that didn’t work and finally the one source of help that allowed me to hit cleaner, longer, and straighter shots MUCH more consistently by implementing simple golf swing basics.

Click here to see what finally helped me greatly improve my golf game.

I started golfing 7 years ago (or so) because a few of my close friends and relatives golfed regularly and they would invite me out with them.  Even though I was awful, I would always have a great time so I kept going.  I never received a bit of instruction and didn’t know any golf swing basics; but still was able to improve little by little.  After a while, the golf swing basicsproblem I found was I would be hitting good drives one day but my approach shots (irons) were terrible.  The next time my drives would be bad but my short game was really good.  Or on the days that I was actually hitting good drives and approach shots, my putting was horrendous.  I was never able to consistently hit any one shot really well.

Lack of Golf Swing Basics = Trouble

Then one year I struggled with every area of my game almost every round.  I started shanking (miss-hitting) the ball with regularity and wasn’t able to put 2 or 3 good (or even decent) shots together in a row, ever.  This of course caused a massive spike in my scores as well as my frustration.  I knew I had to learn and implement some golf swing basics.

I tried going to the range every day and hitting a bucket of balls.  Sometimes I’d see some real promise but then it all disappeared like magic the moment I stepped out onto the course.  I started seeking “expert” advice and golf tips from dozens of books and manuals as well as golf magazines.  I would get all excited about a tip or golf swing technique that I found in my reading about golf swing basics only to find myself more confused and frustrated than ever when I tried to implement it at the range.

Just by chance one day a friend of mine referred me to a guide called The Simple Golf Swing, and boy am I glad he did.  This particular guide was by far the most simply laid out and easy to understand book on how to swing a golf club that I had ever read.  It lays out several golf swing basics that anybody can learn very quickly.  After just several minutes of reading I put it down to head to the range so I could practice some of the golf drills and implement some of the golfing tips the guide provided.  I’ve got to tell you that I was completely blown away at how quickly I noticed MASSIVE improvements.

Click here to visit The Simple Golf Swing official website.

Within 10 days – remember, this was the HORRIBLE year in my golf game – I was hitting the ball cleanly again and much to my amazement and satisfaction I was hitting the ball farther than I was before.  By the end of the year I was hitting better shots more consistently than ever.  I had built my swing on certain golf swing basics and it was showing on the golf course.

Some of the better players I would go with started complimenting me on my “good golf swing”; even better than that is I started beating them when we would go, to the point that they stopped inviting me to go with them (I had only met those guys through my friends anyway).  By the end of that year (that started off so terribly) I played and scored the best rounds that I had ever played.  This is all thanks to just a handful of golf swing basics.  I have not struggled with consistency since – its been 3 or 4 years.

I do want to warn you in advance that some of the drills and techniques from the guide made me feel pretty awkward at first.  However, the awkwardness would usually be completely gone by the end of one round or practice session.

All in all, The Simple Golf Swing by David Nevogt is bar none the best and most simplistic guide that I’ve found on golf swing basics, particularly if you are looking to improve your golf swing and your golf game.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found my story useful.

KC

Click here to visit The Simple Golf Swing official website.

 

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About David Nevogt and The Simple Golf Swing

Posted on May 28, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

David Nevogt is the author of The Simple Golf Swing, which is in my opinion the best guide hands down for learning golf swing basics. He didn’t start playing golf until he was in college and like most people who take up golf was pretty bad in the beginning. He gradually worked his way up to where he is now with a 6 handicap. David is a very analytical person, and as such he started really analyzing golf swing techniques thoroughly in order to understand exactly what makes the ball go far and straight.

David Nevogt found that by properly focusing on and changing just a few key small movements in a golf swing, people were very quickly able to hit much cleaner, straighter, and longer golf shots. Most importantly is that those who made these small and simple changes were able to hit better shots and play better golf on a very consistent basis.

The Simple Golf Swing is different than most golf books and magazines out there that provide golfing tips meant to improve your golf swing by giving you informational overload with dozens of tips and complex movements that leave the reader frustrated and confused at the driving range, or worse yet on the golf course. In fact this book is designed to completely eliminate any and all confusion and frustration you might be experiencing in your golf game. It accomplishes this by getting rid of the unnecessarily complicated hoopla that typically accompanies golf swing tips and teaches (as mentioned earlier) a few key small movements toned down so simplistically that the average person can easily understand and quickly implement what is taught.

David’s book effectively puts your body in the correct positions mechanically throughout the golf swing and with just a little bit of practice, you will easily develop a proper golf swing that will dramatically improve your golf game.

More than 220,000 golfers over the years have learned to play better golf thanks to The Simple Golf Swing. David’s purpose with the book is to teach the masses (you) simple golf swing basics and to help them not only get to a level of golf that they are happy playing at, but to get to that level quickly and easily.

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Golf Swing Basics – How to Get Out of Bunkers

Posted on May 28, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

One of the most important golf swing basics that is most overlooked is learning how to hit out of bunkers.  Bunker shots are a part of nearly every round of golf you will participate in whether you are a pro or a complete beginner.  The mistake many people make is they take the golf swing tips they have learned and implemented for their iron shots and try to utilize those when hitting out of a bunker.  The golf swings used for a 155 yard approach shot and a 15 yard pitch or chip are as different as the swing you should use when hitting out of a bunker.

Getting in the Proper Mind Set

Very few if any golfers get flustered or nervous when hitting a 20-30 yard approach shot from the fairway or the rough, yet when faced with an approach from a bunker at the same or even a smaller difference they immediately write it off as something they can’t do.  This mindset makes failure almost inevitable.  You must train yourself to feel just as comfortable getting into the sand as you are when hitting just another approach from the fairway.  This will come by focusing on controlling your thoughts once you’ve hit into a bunker and when hitting out of a one as well as by learning certain golf instructions that with a bit of practice will have you viewing a bunker shot as just another shot.  Just as there were certain golf tips for beginners you sought out for your drives and iron shots when you first started golfing, there are certain golf swing mechanics you must learn in order to have a proper golf swing for maximum results in the sand.

9 Golf Swing Tips for Hitting Out of a Bunker

  1. Choke down on your club – your right pointer finger should rest at about an inch from the grip’s bottom.  By choking down you will have a bit better “feel” necessary for successful bunker shots.
  2. Stand with your feet a bit closer together and play the ball a few inches further in relation to your stance.  Narrowing your stance and standing a bit behind the ball will help give you more control as well as more lift with your shot.
  3. Dig your feet into the sand and get relaxed and comfortable.
  4. Throughout the swing make sure you keep your body completely still with NO hip rotation.
  5. Start and end your swing using only your arms and use a vertical swing.  At the top of the swing point the butt of your grip at the ball.  Steep is better here!
  6. At the top of your swing your left arm (if you are right handed) should be fully extended and parallel to the ground.
  7. Start your downswing at the sand focusing on hitting about 1 inch behind the ball.  DO NOT focus on hitting the ball as you normally would.  By hitting an inch behind the ball in the sand will ensure that you get out every time.
  8. Follow the ball as it leaves the sand with your arms and your body.
  9. A steep angle swing is key here but don’t swing too hard.  You do not want to blast the ball out of the sand but rather we are advancing it out of the sand.

A Drill You Can Practice to Quickly Improve Your Bunker Play

Take your P wedge, S wedge, and L wedge (if you have a lob wedge) into a practice bunker.  Note that the sand wedge isn’t necessarily the club that will yield the best results when hitting out of the sand.  Hit a few shots with each club and pay close attention to the difference in feel and the way the ball exits the bunker with each club.  Remember to swing steep and to hit 1 inch behind the ball with each swing.  Make a mark 1 inch behind the ball when first practicing this technique.  Whichever club yields the best results and feels the best throughout the shot is the club you should use for most of your bunker shots.  You can also practice steep swings anytime throughout the day at home or at the office and focus on a steep swing and pointing the butt of the grip at the imaginary ball.

Just as with every shot you practice, remember that you are not likely to achieve the best golf swing.  Pros practice for several hours each and every day and have been doing so since they were children and still they have minor problems and glitches with their swings.  Focus on simply achieving a better golf swing by changing one thing at a time and your results will blow you away.  Just master and focus on the golf swing basics, never getting too complicated to see the best and fastest results.

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A Crucial Golf Swing Tip – Keep Your Back Straight

Posted on March 24, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

When looking at golf swing basics you have those things that the majority of golfers do incorrectly. You also have those things that affect your golf swing much more than some of the other basics. Anytime you have one of the basics to a good golf swing fall under both categories you should pay extra close attention and focus on that thing until you’ve mastered it. Maintaining a straight back (spine) throughout the entire swing is something that drastically affects your golf game and the majority of golfers don’t do it.

The spine is the axis of your entire swing. Think about the axis of the earth. If the axis were to adjust even the tiniest bit life on earth would literally end. The same way the axis of the earth affects the life found thereon, the axis of your spine affects how well you strike the ball, the distance of your shots, whether the ball goes straight or not, accuracy, etc. The ONLY way to realize and maintain any sort of consistency in all of these areas is to keep your spine/back straight through the entire swing. The reason is that it would be impossible to bend your back the exact same way and to the exact same degree stroke, after stroke, after stroke, and therefore it would be impossible to maintain any sort of consistency.

A straight back is crucial to a proper golf swing and as stated earlier the majority of golfers don’t do it. A golfer must bend in order to strike the ball. This is where the confusion lies. Whether it’s because most golfers never learn it or because they’ve forgotten it or they just ignore it (I suspect that it’s a combination of all 3) I’m not sure, but here is a HUGE golf swing tip: the bend occurs 100% at the hips and 0% in the back. Just this tip alone will allow you to quickly and massively improve your golf game.

Golf is a game of consistency. Power is good and trick shots are cool, but understanding golf swing basics means understanding that ultimately the player who hits the ball straight with the most consistency is going to play better golf by far than those who don’t.

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Golf Swing Basics – Setup is Key

Posted on March 24, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

For some reason when the majority of people are learning golf swing basics they completely skip or ignore one of the most crucial parts of their golf swing: The setup. The setup in golf is referring to your stance, or how you approach your golf ball and how you setup your body for the swing. For example where you line the ball up in relation to your feet, how bent your wrists, knees, and back are, etc. If there is one thing you can do today to instantly improve your golf and your consistency it is to start using the EXACT same setup on every stroke.

In David Nevogt’s The Simple Golf Swing – a fantastic guide filled with golf drills and golfing tips that can greatly help the beginner and the seasoned golfer alike – he teaches THE most simple golf swing, and in particular the most simple setup I have ever read or heard before.

First you must realize that you will most likely never perform the perfect golf swing. Pros devote hours every single day (and have since they were little children), month after month, for years developing the perfect golf swing. First of all, how many out there are willing to put in the thousands of hours it takes to accomplish this? Secondly and perhaps more importantly, all pros have a good golf swing yet their swings vary from player to player. This is because golf swings can be as complicated as you want them to be and therefore can tailor specifically to each golfer’s style, body type, flexibility, strength, etc. This means that there is no such thing as a perfect golf swing because a swing that works perfectly for one pro may simply not be the best fit for another pro.

There are however specific, very simple steps you can follow (incidentally, all pros follow these simple steps) that are guaranteed to have you hitting farther and straighter more consistently than you ever have before. Remember that to learn golf swing basics, it all starts with the setup. David teaches an extremely simple setup that anybody can master in minutes. This means that right now you can be approaching your golf swing the exact same every single stroke you take. It doesn’t matter how much you know about how to swing a golf club if you are standing too close or too far from the ball or if your stance is horrible, especially if these things change from stroke to stroke.

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What is a Golf Handicap and How Do You Determine Yours?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

You don’t have to golf very many times before you will hear somebody talk about a golf handicap.  You may have even heard the term in movies or on TV.  Golf is one of the few sports where players of vastly different abilities and proficiency can play together and all involved can still have a great time.  This article will explain what a golf handicap is and how it is measured.

What is a golf handicap?

A golf handicap index is basically a number that indicates how many strokes above or below par somebody can play based on past rounds of golf they have played.  It is a score given to amateur players that is indicative of their abilities based on which tees they play off of and the scores they got from those tees.  This allows beginners and not so seasoned players to not only play with but also compete with better, more experienced players.  The lower the golf handicap a player has the better that player’s ability is respective to players with higher handicaps.

How to determine a golf handicap

A golf handicap is determined by a formula that takes into account several factors such as scores achieved in past rounds and how difficult the courses those rounds were played on.  You must have played and accurately scored at least 5 rounds, and no more than your last 20 golf round scores can be used to determine a golf handicap.  In each round the course you played on should have a course rating and a slope rating.  The formula is as follows:  handicap differential = (your round score – course rating) x 113 / (slope rating).  Again, the course and slope rating are provided by each golf course assuming they have one.   With 5 or 6 rounds played and accurately scored, the lowest differential is used as your handicap.  With 11 or 12 rounds played the average of the lowest 4 differentials are used.  With 20 rounds played the average of the lowest 10 differentials are used.  The average of your handicap differentials make up what is called your handicap index.

Different handicaps for different courses

Once you have a handicap index, this number is then used to determine a course handicap, which differs from course to course.  As stated each course has a course rating and a slope rating.  A course handicap is a formula which goes as follows:  course handicap = handicap index x slope rating / 113.  Round this number to its nearest whole number and you have the course handicap.  This number (course handicap) is to be deducted from the gross score (total score you shot in a round) to get your net score.  Players compare their net scores and generally the lowest net score wins the round.  It is important to note that the course rating and slope rating will differ depending on which tee boxes you play from.

Conclusion

Determining a handicap can seem like a daunting and confusing matter.  With a bit of time and experience it really becomes second nature.  However, if you don’t ever intend on participating in competitions or tournaments then it is suggested that you ignore handicapping all together.  If you are out there just to have fun and maybe see improvements little by little in your game then you don’t ever need to worry about it.  If you want to compete with your buddies and others that you golf with, particularly if they are better than you, then you will find that a golf handicap will serve you well.

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Golf For Beginners – Where to Begin

Posted on March 15, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

Trying to figure out golf for beginners can seem like a very confusing and frustrating matter.  You will find a thousand people willing to teach you a thousand different things from what clubs to buy and where to tips and advice on exactly how to swing a golf club.  This article will discuss some of the very basics to help you get your feet wet in the sport of golf and help you quickly advance from the “golf for beginners” stage.

K.I.S.S.

As I’m sure you’ve seen this acronym many times before, it almost never fails.  K.I.S.S. stands for “keep it simple stupid”.  This means that any time something you have read or somebody tells you feels complicated or confusing, ignore it.  If it is complicated and confusing before you have even tested it out, rest assured that it will only equate to great frustration out on the course.  From what clubs to buy and where to the mechanics of your golf swing, keeping it simple will always make your life easier and your experiences on the golf course more enjoyable.  This is an invaluable tip on golf for beginners:  keep it simple stupid.

Be Careful Who You Listen To

There are literally hundreds of sources providing advice and tips on golfing and everybody loves sharing tips on golf for beginners.  This means that you will come across many golfers that will give you differing advice on the best way to do this or that because they will have gotten their information from completely different sources.  A great rule of thumb with regards to who to listen to and take advice from and who not to comes in 2 parts:  1.  If the player does not or cannot do what they preach, do NOT listen to them.  2.  Only take advice into consideration from players that play at a level you would like to reach.  If you don’t want to play like them, don’t do what they say.  Notice that even if you would like to play like the player giving you the advice, you are still only to CONSIDER their advice, not necessarily follow it.

Golf Swing Basics – Start With the Basics and Return to the Basics

It is crucial to start with an idea of the basic and simple fundamentals of a golf swing.  This way no matter what other tweaks or changes you try to implement – by the way, very few tweaks or changes are ever suggested if you have a good fundamental foundation to your swing – you can always go back to the simple fundamental swing you started with, which you will do most of the time.  At some point you are going to notice little things creep into your game such as a slice or hook, inaccuracy, etc.  When these things begin to occur regularly, you should always focus on returning to those basic fundamentals you started with.  It is always easier to play golf for beginners who learn a simple and fundamental golf swing from the very beginning.

Conclusion

Remember to K.I.S.S., or keep it simple stupid.  Be careful whose advice you listen to and follow.  Only consider tips from golfers whose game you would like to imitate.  Golf is nothing more than a game of fundamentals and golf for beginners should have even more emphasis placed on those crucial fundamentals.  Finally, if you are not enjoying your time on the golf course, follow these guidelines more closely or find a different activity to spend your time doing.

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Learn How to Hit a Golf Ball Cleanly and Consistently

Posted on March 2, 2011 by KC Leave a comment

So many people that play (or try to play) golf do not know how to hit a golf ball, especially cleanly and consistently.  This is due in large part to many bad habits that are abundant on the golf course that new golfers and beginner golfers alike inadvertently pick up.  The bad news is you probably have picked up one or two of these bad habits without even knowing it.  The good news is all you have to do is point your attention to the bad habit and easily change it.  While most bad habits in life are tough to get rid of, these habits are easy to escape and easy to replace with good habits.  Master these and you will know how to hit a golf ball better than the majority of the golfers out there on the course with you.

Play How You Practice

It is commonly preached in sports that you will play how you practice, i.e. practice hard and well and you will play hard and well.  This is not what meant here.  Just about every golfer will take one or more practice swings on nearly every shot.  An extremely common and very dangerous thing that golfers do is they will do two or three quick and effortless practice swings, then step up to the ball and use a slow and effort-filled swing.  If you truly want to get the most out of your practice swings and for them to be effective at all you must pretend on every practice swing you take that you are taking a real shot and hitting a ball.  Do everything you can to ensure that there is no difference between the practice swing and the actual swing you use for your shot.  This is one of the easiest things you can do to effectively learn how to hit a golf ball better.

Use the Same Approach Every Time

This tip is perhaps the most important in knowing how to hit a golf ball.  This isn’t talking about an approach shot to a green; this is referring to how you approach your shot.  Create a simple system to ensure that you approach the ball and use the same stance each time you take a shot.  With golf consistency is key and a consistent stance is vital to hitting consistent shots.  Figure out a way to use your club as a measuring device to make sure you are standing the same distance away from the ball on every drive.  Figure out a way to make sure your feet are the same distance apart from each other on every drive.  Make sure the ball is lined up in the same spot with relation to your feet with every drive.  It is suggested that you simply line up with the ball lined up directly in the middle of your feet.  If you prefer the ball a bit forward or a bit behind the center of your stance, find a way to make sure that it is the same distance forward or behind each and every time.

Same Tee Height

The more you study and learn about golf and how to hit a golf ball, the more and more you will realize that it all boils down to consistency.  Even if you have an ugly swing, if you are able to swing the club, ugly though it may be, the same every time you will hit the ball better and with more consistency.  Along those lines, when you are hitting from the tee boxes, you must ensure that the tees are placed at the same height each and every time.  It will of course differ from driver to wood to iron, but with each of those clubs you must hit the ball at the same time every time in order to hit the ball consistently well.  You can either mark the tees yourself, purchased pre-marked tees, or purchase permanent height tees.  Either way the ball must be the same distance off the ground every time.

Watch the Ball

This one is self explanatory, but that doesn’t make it any less important.  In fact, this one IS the most important of all in learning how to hit a golf ball, more so even than use the same approach every time.  Start at the earliest point in your golfing career to remind yourself immediately before EVERY single shot (including putting) to watch the ball.  Just do it, and do it every time.

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