Bobby Eldridge Golf

STOP PULLING THE SHORT ONES

It never seems to fail.  You drive it right down the middle of the fairway on the first hole, hit a beautiful second 25 feet past the hole and then you roll your first putt three feet past the hole.  It NEVER fails.  You seem to always have those dreaded three footers staring you in the eyes in the first hole or two.  Or, the match is all square on the 18th green and again, here comes yet another three footer.

Let me give you a piece of advice my mother gave me 100 years ago.  Hun-”those little guys are not going away”.  She used to say to me “I had to make them, the golfers before me had to make them, your going to have to make them and long after your gone, golfers are still going to have to make them”.

Many years ago I decided I was going to figure out a way to not only make more of those three footers myself, I was going to figure out how you can make them also.  Of course my dad thought he had the best answer on three footers “hit it closer to the hole so you never have one”.  Of course he never broke 100 a day in his life.

Let’s take a minute and figure out the different ways you can miss a short putt.  Left, right, long or short.  Period.  That is it, there is no other way to miss a short putt.  If you come up with one that I have missed, please let me know.  Over the next three days I am going to cover one miss at a time.  Today we are going to work on eliminating the pull.

The most common three-foot miss in putting is a pull.  The most common reason golfers pull their short putts is the shoulder alignment at address.  If your shoulders are aimed left at address the putter head has a tendency to follow your shoulder line in the backswing (outside the correct path) and follow your shoulders in the downswing (inside the correct path).  At impact the clubface will arrive left of the hole and you will pull the putt.  Correction:  Your feet, knees, hips and SHOULDERS must aim parallel to your target line.  Have a friend aim your shoulders for you (make sure it is a friend and make sure they aim them parallel to your feet line.  You have just cured pulling your putts.

Join me tomorrow for the lesson on pushing your putts.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Putting, Short game by admin
No Comments »

YOU WILL NEVER DOUBLE HIT YOUR WEDGE SHOTS AGAIN…

It happens when you least expect it.  You can have an open pitch into the green and bam, it happens.  THE DREADED DOUBLE HIT.  For those of you that don’t know what we are talking about I suggest you stop reading this blog and come back tomorrow when I give a lesson on HOW TO MAKE MORE THREE FOOT PUTTS.

If you want to stick around I have to explain to you what a double hit wedge shot is.  After you make contact with the golf ball you hit it again while it is in the air.

I am going to explain exactly what happens, why and how to fix it. 

The reason you double hit a wedge shot is because the club head slides to shallow along the ground underneath the golf ball.  While the club head is sliding underneath the golf ball there is a second problem going on.  The club head is moving to slow.  Upon impact the golf ball rolls across the face of the golf club and the club head continues to glide along the ground (slowly).  At this exact moment the golf ball leaves the clubface (slowly) and begins to arc in the air.  Unfortunately at this instant the club head catches up with the golf ball and strikes the golf ball again. 

The main reason you double hit your wedge shots is the angle of the swing is too shallow at impact.  The club head has to enter into the back of the golf ball on more vertical angle.  When it arrives at the bottom of the golf ball on a steep angle the golf ball jumps off club face.  The jumping versus sliding propels the golf ball away from the face.  The clubface cannot catch up with the ball at this moment and you will never double hit the ball.

The combination of the shallow angle and the clubface moving too slowly is setting you up for a double hit every time.  I am going to give you your lesson right now and you will never ever, ever, double hit another wedge shot.

#1.        Place the golf ball in the center of your stance.

#2.        Place 75% of your weight on your left foot.

#3.        Make sure the grip of the golf club is across from your belt buckle.

#4.        When you swing the club back: DO NOT SLIDE YOUR WEIGHT BACK TO THE RIGHT. 

#5.        Keep 75% of your weight on your left side during the entire swing.         

#6.        Swing the leading edge of the golf club into the ground. CHOP in the downswing.

#7.        The number one pitching secret in golf:  FOLLOW THROUGH LOW…CHOP IN THE DOWNSWING.

As a side note if you double hit a shot you have to count one stroke for the first hit, one stroke for the second hit and yet another stroke for hitting a moving ball.  One shot equals three strokes.  You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Come back tomorrow for a lesson on you can start making more THREE FOOT PUTTS…

Don’t hesitate to contact me by hitting the CONTACT BOBBY tab above.

Golfingly yours,

Bobby

Tags: Pitching, Short game, Wedges by admin
No Comments »

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
No Comments »