Bobby Eldridge Golf

There is one thing about the game of golf: score cards don’t lie.  Ok I will agree with you on one point.  I have played a number of rounds in my life where I hit the ball very well, putted great and got nothing out of the round. 

On the other hand there have been many rounds where I couldn’t find the golf course.  I was lucky no one got hurt.  However at the end of the day when I added up the score card I was very pleased with the number. 

You have to keep in mind that golf is NOT one round.  It is a lifetime experience.  The only way you are going to improve is to continue to punch holes in your score card and find out what part of your game needs work.  That does not happen in one round of golf.

I know you are wondering where you should start.  There are a couple of stats that jump out at me.  Start with the driver.  You have to track every tee shot.  Keep a blank score card in your pocket and after every tee shot record whether you hit the fairway or missed to the left or right. 

The next statistic that will help you lower your score is did you short side your approach shot?  It doesn’t matter if it is the first, second, third or even fourth shot of the hole.  Did you short side yourself?  The definition of short siding is when you leave your approach shot in a position where you don’t have any green to work with. 

Everytime you prepare to approach a green you have to ask yourself the 10 million dollar question.  What side is the short side?  The safe side might leave you with a 30 yard pitch shot with nothing but a tiny fringe and then the putting green in front of you.  The short side might leave you with a 7 yard LOB shot over a bunker with a 12 foot lip and a slope running straight down hill to the hole.  You do the math.  It doesn’t take many of those a day to ruin a good round of golf.

Lastly, grade your attitude before you tee off, when you make the turn and when you walk off of the golf course.  It is a great stat to keep track of.  If you can maintain an upbeat and fun attitude your scores will reflect it.  I have gone on record for years as saying that I haven’t found a more enjoyable place to spend four hours than a golf course-when I am playing well and having fun.  On the other hand it is the most miserable place to be for four hours when you are struggling and not having fun.

Remember, if you use them correctly, score cards don’t lie.

Tags: Chipping, Driver, Fairway woods/Hybrids, Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Green Side Bunkers, LOB Wedge, Pitching, Putting, Short game, Solid Iron Shots, Trouble Shots by admin
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What is the purepose of taking a golf lesson?  I am sure most golfers (professionals included) would respond with a simple answer or two.  “I want to improve” or “I want to stop topping, slicing, hooking, or shanking the ball.” 

My response would be a little bit different.  First, I want to learn what I am doing wrong, then I want someone explain it to me, and lastly I want them to tell me how to fix it so I can correct my mistake.  I want to become my OWN BEST TEACHER!

I am sure teaching golf has given me this tool to use off of the golf course as well.  Without even knowing it I apply it to my everyday life.  It doesn’t matter what sport or hobby I become involved in, I want to be my own best teacher. 

I taught a physicologist a number of years ago and I asked if his patients ever became dependent of him.  He said if they did that would be his vault.  He said that he was there to give them tools to help them move past their problems.  I thought that was such a great way to explain golf instruction. 

When you hit a fat wedge shot you should know exactly why you did it.  It should not be a guessing game.  That is what practice facilties are used for.  Find out what your mistakes are on the driving range, work on them so you understand why they happen and then apply your correction to fix the problem. 

If you do that you will soon become your own best teacher.

Tags: Golf Instruction by admin
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I know many of you love to use practice drills that will enable you to FEEL the correct way of making a change.  I have used this drill not only for my teaching but I have also used it myself over the years.  

Keep one thing in mind.  When you hit a shot to the right you either hit the ground behind it OR you catch the ball on the upswing and hit it thin or topped.  The reason you hit it thin is because the golf club is traveling too far from the INSIDE and is headed OUTSIDE. 

When you swing the golf club on an arc it travels from INSIDE to SQUARE (at impact) back to the INSIDE on the follow through.  The other thing you have to keep in mind is the flatter the club face the less divot you will have.  When you hit a thin 4 iron (it hurts) you will never see a divot unless you hit the ground behind the ball. 

Now, on to the drill.  Grab a 7 iron and lay two straight edges on the ground, (one for the target and one for your body line).  Lay a towel on the ground about 12 inches behind the ball. When you swing the club back make sure you miss the towel in the backswing and in the downswing. 

Another way to think of it is the golf club has to swing UP in the backswing and DOWN in the downswing.  When you hit it thin you swing to much UP in the downswing.  Start with a 9 iron and progress through your set of clubs.

Tags: Bunker Shots, Chipping, Fairway woods/Hybrids, Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Green Side Bunkers, Hybrids, LOB Wedge, Perfect Golf Swing Drills, Pitching, Short game, Solid Iron Shots, Trouble Shots, Wedges by admin
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Stop hitting the ground behind your iron shots.

When it comes to hitting iron shots off of the ground there is one mishit that is a killer.  Hitting the ground behind the golf ball is one of the most no-nothing shot in golf.   They are painful physically and emotionally.  The sting you get when you clunk the ground with a five can be felt three days later.  I know… enough already let’s get on with the lesson on how to correct the mishit.

First I want to explain why you do it and then I am going to tell you how to correct it.  When you swing a golf club away from the golf ball you have to swing it back and up on an arc.  If you swing the golf club too much outside in the backswing it will return too steep in the downswing.  When the golf club arrives too steep in the downswing you will contact the top of the ball or hit a fat shot to the left.  THIS IS NOT YOUR MISTAKE. 

Your mistake is quite the opposite.  You swing the golf club too much from the inside in the downswing.  Your club is what we refer to as being inside the path heading to the outside.  The golf club is swinging too close to you in the downswing and after it makes contact with the ground it swings too much away from you.  That is where the term in-to-out comes from.

Now it’s time for the correction. 

#1 Check your ball position.  Often times when golfers hit the ground behind the golf ball they address the ball too far back in there stance.  One of the ways to make contact is to swing the club from the inside too much.  It is kind of a double edge sword. 

#2 Make sure your shoulders are not aimed miles to the right.  The club has a tendency to swing along your shoulder line.

#3 This is the best kept secret in the world.  The golf club not only swings back on an arc behind the ball it also must swing around on an arc after contact.  After the club makes contact it can either swing too much to the right (your mistake), too straight towards the hole or left of the hole on an arc around you.

#4 The next time out I have a great remedy for you.  As you address the golf ball, aim it at the target.  The next time you look up-look left of the target (bunker left of the green).  Your aimed at the target but you are looking left of the target and THINKING left.  After impact make sure the clubhead swings around on an arc and not out to the right.

Join me tomorrow with some more backspin secrets.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Solid Iron Shots by admin
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Secrets to Backspin

Secret #9 

Today I am going to spend some time on course management and how that relates to backspin.  The pin placement plays a huge roll in whether or not you want to hit a spinning shot or not.

You have to be sure there is plenty of room in front of the pin as well as behind the pin.  If you are attempting a spinning shot that takes two hops stops and either stops or backs up 10 feet, you have to make sure you have room on both sides of the pin for error.

If you a shot that you think is spinning and it doesn’t, you can wind up over the back of the green in a bunker, water or poor lie.  On the other hand if you hit a spinner and it spins too much you can wind up in a pond in front of the green.  Some of the greens today have false fronts and it does not take much for a ball to back up and roll all the way off of the front of the green.

Another thing to keep in mind is how you stand in the match you are playing.  Maybe you don’t have to risk a spinning shot.  A shot that lands in the center of the green softly and rolls a few feet might get the job done.  You can take a high risk backspin shot out of the equation. 

I want to touch on one more idea.  How you are hitting the ball on that particular day is paramount.  If you are making solid contact, then go for it.  See if you can pull it off.  However if you are not making solid contact the backspin shot becomes a very risky shot. 

These are a couple of things to think about when you are trying to decide if you want to hit a shot that has some backspin on it.  As you know by now there are some other factors that come into play from time to time when you are trying to decide what shot to hit.  Make sure you consider the ones in today’s blog.

Feel free to join my tomorrow for a lesson on how to stop double hitting your wedge shots.  If you want to contact me just hit the Contact Bobby tab above.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Pitching, Solid Iron Shots, Wedges by admin
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THIS IS HOW TO LET IT GO!!!

The lesson today is titled “Releasing the Golf Club in the Downswing”.  I was tempted to call it “You CAN NOT Release the Golf Club in the Downswing unless you are in the Correct Position at the top of the Backswing”.   I thought it was a bit long.

I know many of you have struggled over the years with releasing the golf club.  Furthermore I know how frustrated you are reading all of the articles that have been written on the subject.  The problem is simple.  You can not release the golf club if you are not on the correct plane at the top of the backswing. 

If you are not on plane and you do release it you will swing the club either into the ground or on the top of the golf ball.  The lesson I am going to share with you today is going to explain how you can release the golf club into the BACK of the golf ball.

Most of you don’t have to worry about turning too much in the backswing.  However if you do turn too much in the backswing when you release the club in the downswing you will swing over the top of the ball.

Let me tell you exactly how you can teach yourself the correct way to turn in the backswing.  If you are lucky enough to have a small slope on your practice facility you are in business.  I will give you a visual of what the slope should look like and how to use it.  When you address the golf ball on the slope it should be above your feet.  The ideal lie would be where the golf ball was between your ankles and your knees.  DO NOT USE A SLOPE THAT IS BELOW YOUR FEET. 

Once you have addressed the golf ball make sure you sit back on your heels slightly.  From this lie you will develop the feel of turning in the backswing.  As soon as you start the golf club back the right shoulder will turn out of the way and your arms will swing up.  This is what we refer to as staying on plane in the backswing. 

The first 25 shots will feel odd; you might top a few or hit the ground behind some of them.  Give it time and you will begin to see the results. 

If you don’t have a slope to hit from I have another idea.  Address the golf ball and then lift the club head off of the ground three or four inches.  From this position you can simple turn and swing the arms up. 

Isn’t it funny that I haven’t mentioned the release very much?  The reason is simple.  If you get yourself in the correct position at the top of the backswing most of the time the release happens naturally.   

Don’t forget if you have any questions feel free to contact me by opening the Contact Bobby tab.  Come back tomorrow and I will have the continuation lesson on backspin.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Driver, Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Solid Iron Shots by admin
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Secrets to Backspin

Secret #6-#7-#8 

From the beginning the next three steps may not appear to be related.  However by the time you finish this blog you will see how they tie together.  When you combine the firmness of a green, how windy the conditions are and if you used a tee or not they will make sense.

Putting green surfaces have to be the most inconsistent part of the playing conditions in golf.  I am referring to how firm or soft they are.  Obviously if it pours the night before you play they are going to be pretty consistent.  On the other hand if it hasn’t rained in a month and the greens have to depend on the watering system to keep them alive they begin to live up to their own uniqueness.    

For example, if a green faces the sun at high noon versus a green that sits in the trees and faces the west you are going to see a big difference in the two.  This will play a huge roll in whether or not you can spin a ball on the green facing the noon sun.  Usually a green that sits in the trees and faces the west is going to get less sun light to dry it out.  As a matter of fact this is where it gets a bit complicated.  The green might be softer but it won’t grow as much grass so it is faster than most of the other greens. 

On a hot and dry day the greens are going to firm up and they will not accept a spinning golf shot.  When the golf ball lands on a dry green there is not enough traction to grab the ball and help it spin backwards.  The ball will take one big hop forward, lose its backspin and then roll to the back of the green. 

Now let’s move on to windy conditions.  Wind plays two rolls that affect backspin.  The windier the conditions the dryer the greens become.  The combination of a hot and windy day can play havoc on the greens.  The greens not only become bone dry they also become crispy to putt on.  The putting surface is mowed so low that once they dry out it makes scoring very difficult. 

The second role the wind plays in backspin is the impact it has on the golf ball.  If you are hitting a shot into the wind it exaggerates the spin on the golf ball.  (As long as we are at it I might as well tell you this.  It not only affects the backspin it has a tremendous affect on sidespin.   Any shot that has left to right or right to left curve on it will get out of control quickly in windy conditions.)  The key to hitting shots into the wind is simple.  The HARDER you hit it the more it will spin backwards.  If you really go after a pitching wedge into the wind (the higher it will fly-more backspin) not necessarily further.  Keep this in mind.  If you have a shot into the wind you might be better off using one club more so it won’t spin backwards as much.

Hitting shots downwind is pretty straight forward (no pun intended).  There are two things you can’t do to a golf ball downwind.  #1 You can create much backspin.  #2 You can’t curve the ball left to right or right to left very much.  You can try all you want but you are not going to back up a golf ball downwind. UNLESS…the green is soaking wet or you are VERY, VERY talented.

Let’s move on to a teed up shot.  If you tee the golf ball up just right, you can create a spinning iron shot.  If it is teed to high it will be more of a dead shot.  For the golf ball to spin you have to catch the ball in the center of the clubface, if you catch it to high there isn’t enough force to create backspin.  If you tee it just above the grass the club head will hit the ball clean and you won’t have any grass between the ball and clubface. 

At the beginning I told you secrets #6-#7-#8 are tied together.  Any combination can result in a ball with backspin.  However if you tee up a ball on a par three, into the wind doesn’t always result in backspin when it lands on a hard green.

Join me tomorrow for a lesson on releasing the club in the downswing.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Solid Iron Shots, Wedges by admin
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Secrets to Backspin

Secret #4-#5 

The next two secrets pertain to the conditions you are faced with.  Although they go hand in hand I want to keep them separate for the time being.  Not all greens are flat.  Not in Kansas, West Texas or Arizona.  Some have more slopes than others and there is one thing you have to keep in mind. MOST greens are designed with drainage in mind and most greens drain towards the front of the green.   

The nature of our sport is that greens have to accept shots that are hit to it.  In other words our game would be much more difficult if the greens were built high in the front and they sloped away from you (low in the back).  Ninety-five percent of all greens are low in the front and high in the back. 

That in itself is one of the 16 reasons you see shots on TV back up on the green.  With that being said you have to remember this:  the entire green isn’t always low in the front and high in the back.  Some greens have areas where they are designed to fall towards the back part of the green.  Sometimes you will see one ball land and stop and the very next shot will land three feet away from the first shot and back up off of the green. 

Some putting surfaces have so much undulation in them that two inches can make the difference between a shot that takes one hop and spins back off of the green or one hop and jumps over the back part of the green.  Most of the time were happy when our ball ends up anywhere on the green.  The tour professionals play at such a high level they have the ability to land a ball within a two or three foot area.

Let’s move on to the next secret, the speed of the greens.  This one is not rocket science.  If a golf ball lands on a green that is mowed really low 7-8.5 on the Stimpmeter, the golf ball is going to spin backwards more than if it lands on a green that is 4.5 on the Stimpmeter.  (The Stimpmeter is a device used to measure the speed of golf course putting surfaces.  During the U.S. Open the greens can run 10.5 on the meter.  I don’t care if Seve, Lee Trevino or Tiger hit a shot into a green that 4.5 it is NOT going to spin backwards. 

We have a long way to go for you to wrap your arms around the whole spin picture but at least you can start figuring out what happens when you hit a shot and it doesn’t spin backwards 20 feet.  Five down and 11 to go.

Come back tomorrow and I will have a lesson on why you hit thin BUNKER shots.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Pitching, Solid Iron Shots, Wedges by admin
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m excited to announce my new Golf Swing Lessons Download site over at igolffixes.com. I recommend you take a look at my new Pulling Putts Module in the new Golf Putting section of the site.

START MAKING THOSE 3-FOOTERS

I am going to give you a lesson today that you are not going to forget for a very long time. When people come to me with their putting woes I always ask them one question, if they think putting is a game of distance or direction? Ninety-nine golfers out of a hundred have answered…direction.

By now you probably know I disagree 100%. I believe putting should have been called TOUCH. If I believe so strongly about this then why would I write a BLOG on STOP Pulling Short Putts. It’s simple. The one thing amateur golfers do not do is work on their putting touch.

There are only three things you have to work on to get this right. #1. I don’t care how good your touch is, if you don’t aim the putter where you want the golf ball to go you are never going to make it. The first step is to make sure you are aimed correctly. #2. You not only have to have the putter face aimed in the correct direction you also have to have your feet, knees, hips and shoulders aimed parallel to your target line. Most of the time when you pull your short putts-your shoulders are aimed LEFT of the hole. #3. Now here is the best kept secret in golf. After you are all set up and ready to swing the putter straight back-take a look down at the tips of both shoes. All you have to do is swing the putter parallel to your toe line.

Yes, you are correct. If your toe line is not aimed parallel to the hole it won’t work. However, it won’t take long before you will learn how to aim your toes parallel.

It will take about two or three rounds of golf and you will begin to fill the cup up with those three footers.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Come back tomorrow and I will have a lesson on how to stop hitting your irons fat.

Don’t forget: SWING THE PUTTER STRAIGHT BACK-PARALLEL TO YOUR TOE LINE.

Tags: Golf Instruction, Putting by admin
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Secrets to Backspin

Secret #3

Now let’s spend some time on the conditions that the tour players are faced with when they approach the green with their iron shots.

Unless you have walked the fairways of a professional tour event you cannot believe how tight they are mowed.  All kidding aside they are in much better condition than the greens I grew up on.  Of course that was 40ish years ago but I am serious.  I will take it a step further. 

The fairways they play on are better than most of the greens we putt on today.  Let me tell you why this aspect of backspin is important to understand. 

When you contact a golf ball the ball rolls up the face of the golf club you are using and the dimples of the golf ball dig into the grooves of the golf club.  This action puts backspin on the golf ball.  The dimples not only dig into the club face but the dimples are also there to make the golf ball fly up.  That combination is great when a ball lands on the green.  BACKSPIN!!!

Now let me carry on about the length they mow the fairways.  At the moment of impact if there is any grass between the golf ball and clubface the grass fills in the grooves of the iron.  Do you get it?  The golf ball will not dig into the clubface.  If the golf ball doesn’t dig into the clubface the golf ball will not spin backwards as it leaves the club head. 

If this takes place the tour players will have a flyer shot.  A flyer is a shot that comes out HOT.  It acts more like a knuckle ball and it is out of control.  NO BACKSPIN!!!

Here lies (no pun intended) the problem you and I are faced with.  It’s a double edged sword.  It takes a tremendous amount of ability to swing the golf club into the back of the golf ball on a tight lie.  I mean it is really difficult.  The fairways that most of us play on have a little cushion so our golf ball sits up and not flat on the ground.  The tighter the lie the more backspin (if the contact is correct).  The fluffier the lie the more chance you will catch a flyer. 

It is a deadly combination for most amateur golfers.  Tight lie=can’t make perfect contact.  Fluffy lie=no backspin.

Remember even tour players find it difficult to hit a spinning shot out of the rough.

Come back tomorrow and I will give you a lesson on how to stop pulling your three foot putts.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Full Swing, Golf Instruction, Short game, Wedges by admin
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