At age 70 I have read and been told to shorten my backswing to about 3/4. I tried it with limited success but when I go back to a full swing I hit it farther and straighter. Is the shortened backswing really better for older golfers?
Thanx-Richard

Hi Richard,
There must have been a reason that someone told you to shorten your backswing. If you are hitting it farther and straighter with a longer backswing, and your ball striking is just as good, then you have no reason to shorten it. The same idea may work for one person but may not work for everyone because we are all built differently. Maybe the person who told you this was afraid you might develop back pain if you swing too hard, but if you have no back pain, go ahead and enjoy your extra distance and accuracy. Just because your backswing is longer does not mean you are swinging any harder, so as long as you are not straining, your longer swing should be OK for you.
Joe

Joe,
One of my biggest problems is controlling my swing tempo. My practice swing is picture perfect with a "Controlled " tempo. However when I place a ball in front of me, forget it I'm completely out of control. And if I slow down there is not much improvement. I think too much about this . Help
jerry

Hi Jerry,
Sometimes we ingrain a swing thought that gets in the way. Instead of Tempo, I would recommend finding a different swing thought or “key”, and there are many to choose from. Just pick them one at a time because you cannot think of too many things while swinging. How about the word “Control”? And while you are swinging, you can think of exactly what it is that you want to “Control”, for example, Control the downswing inside-out, or Control my weight shift properly, or Control the extension of my follow-thru. Find one that works best for you, and let us all know how it is going.
Joe

Thanks for the email about shanking. I have the other dreaded problem - I duff too many shots, most of which hit the ground 3-6 inches behind the ball. I lose distance, and sometime injure my shoulder. I've tried positive steps -- just as adjusting my balance towards the heel, but it's temporary. I figure it's primarily a balance issue, and have tried ways and means to correct this. sometimes it works, usually I revert. On bad days, I duff my drives as well, and then all hell breaks lose (the hooks come into play). I'm 5'10 165lbs. I use Titleist 690.cb irons with flighted rifle 5.5 shafts and player's midsize softies. my 7-iron goes 160-170 yards. My average drive goes 260-275yds. Recently, I've also had a pull problem where shots go 30 yards left from where I'm aiming. Then during the Sony open weekend, I watched Paul Azinger begin his grip with his right hand, then insert his left hand later. I tried that and to some degree, I've managed to get the ball to go within 15-yards less-left. however, sometimes it goes 15-yards right and that usually spells big trouble. When I started duffing (which then leads to hooks) and pulling shots, I've been incurring an average of 6-8 penalty shots per 9-holes. most painful. Can you help?
best regards,
dc

Hello DC,
Since I have never seen your swing, I can only suggest a few things. First of all, you have plenty of power, so you can afford to shorten your swing until you get rid of the duffing. Keep your head steady and your leading arm comfortably straight. If you allow that arm to bend, that may contribute to poor ball striking. Your observation of Paul Azinger’s grip is interesting, I do that also. Which grip do you use, interlock, overlap, or ten-finger grip? You may be able to cure your hook by experimenting with a different grip. I have seen too many people struggle with the interlock, which they insist is the best just because Tiger and Jack use it. I have tried all 3, and for me the best is the ten-finger, although I have used the overlap for most of my life. Have a contest on the practice range, one grip type against another, and see which one wins.
Joe

Joe,
I have a terrible habit of trying to swing too hard, swinging from the top. Because of this I never get my weight to shift.
Ed Ellstrom

Hello Ed,
As a drill, start at the top of your backswing to get a feel for your best power position. Then move your lower body first to start your downswing. When you finish, all your weight should be on your front foot. Using a mat with a permanent rubber tee, see if you can strike the tee every time using this drill. Once you are able to do this drill comfortably every time, then find a backswing that lets you arrive at this same “drill” position at the top of your backswing, and let the same drill take over. Be a smooth swinger, not a home run hitter. The ball will go just as far, maybe farther.
Joe

Joe,
At the outset I would like to say that your letters and tips have helped me in improving my game a lot. Thank you so much. I now wish to ask you a few clarifications. 1. Can a player use an iron to putt or putter is mandatory. 2. What is the correct size of the flag on the flagstick and what flag should be used so that it is visible from a distance and does not merge with the background. 3. How does one play iron shots from rain wet fairways. I always muff the shot. Should one use one more or less club depending on the distance to the pin. Thanks. Vikram.

Hello Vikram,
Sure, you can use an iron to putt, there is no rule that says you have to use a putter. There are stories about pros getting angry and breaking their putters, and they had to finish their rounds putting with an iron. Flag colors are not normally selected according to the background. Many courses are using red, white, or blue flags to indicate whether the hole is placed at the front part of the green (red), or the middle of the green (white), or the back of the green (blue). This should help your club selections by adjusting one or two clubs accordingly. I have never seen specifications for exact flag sizes, but most flags I have seen are about 18-20 inches wide and about 12-14 inches high. On shots from wet fairways, remember the casual water rule. If your stance causes water to rise up around your shoes, you can get a free drop to drier ground no closer to the hole. Otherwise, play the shot like a fairway bunker shot, choke up on the club to compensate for your feet sinking into the ground and play the ball a little further back in your stance to help avoid hitting it fat, and use one more club than normal.
Joe

Hi my name is Ian and I am a 7 handicap. I was just wondering how I would hit a chip shot with spin so it can stop close to the pin. Normally i just try to get the trajectory higher but sometimes the lie makes that very difficult to do. Any advice you could give would be extremly helpful. Thanks
Ian

Hello Ian,
Unless you are playing on very soft greens, I would not worry about trying to put spin on a chip shot, just allow for a certain amount of roll. Even on pitch shots or flop shots, unless the ball hits a soft spot on the green, it is not going to stop, because you can’t put a lot of backspin on any shot that is less than a full shot. You can only expect the ball to stop at distances where a full swing is required, because it is the force of the full swing that imparts the most backspin. You may have noticed the pros on TV can get their chips to “check up” and roll slowly to the hole, but remember they are playing on the best of conditions. If you try that in firmer conditions, the ball may or may not check up, and if it doesn’t, then it will skid and end up too far past the hole. If you want to try that anyway, make sure to clean the grooves on your clubface with a small wire brush (every time), and hit more sharply down at the ball to impart more backspin.
Joe

Joe,
I have worked on my driving for the past 3 or 4 months and I can basically hit 95% of my tee shots straight with good distance using 80% effort. What seems to be creeping in, within the last few weeks, is the tendency to create topspin on the ball with the effect of losing height and distance. I don't notice any change in my set up and it is driving me nuts. Any ideas?
Regards
Dave

Hi Dave,
Topspin with the driver is usually caused when the ball position is too far forward. If you prefer not to change that ball position, you will have to use a more downward stroke to prevent topspin. You may have heard that topspin produces more roll, but I do not like that idea because, as you said, the loss of hang time will cause loss of distance. Of course, too much hang time results in ‘ballooning’, but there is a happy medium. In your case, ballooning is not a problem, so the downward stroke should give you some backspin instead of topspin, which will result in more hang time. Have you changed drivers recently? If so, maybe your new driver does not have enough loft for your swing. If your drives are too low, why fight it? Just try a driver with more loft.
Joe

Joe,
I'm currently playing Mixed pennants, my partner plays off five and I
play off twelve, he is continually telling me I reverse pivot. I don't
want to sound stupid in asking what that is.... so I'll ask you, what's
a reverse pivot.
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Your question is not stupid, in fact it is a very important question. Just to make you feel better, I am going to also sound stupid by asking you what is a Mixed pennant (now we are even)? A reverse pivot is an improper weight shift which is the opposite direction from the proper shift. The proper shift on the downswing is to transfer your lower body weight from the back foot to the front foot, finishing with all your weight on your front foot, and the only part of your back foot that touches the ground is your toe. The reverse pivot does just the opposite, you finish with all your weight on the back foot, and this is a bad thing that you need to correct.
Joe

Joe,
When I begin to feel really good off the tee with 3 or 4 well placed and consistent drives the dreaded pull happens. It is well struck and travel straight , but usually in the deep left rough or woods. How can I maintain that drive down the middle of the fairway drive? This pull to the left really causes me doubt and my whole game goes to crap. Tom Bolko

Hi Tom,
You are not alone, many people have this occasional problem, even the pros on TV. Nobody hits the fairway every time. If you miss it badly, you can attribute this to a momentary lack of concentration. Since you have already hit a couple of good shots in a row, you might feel there is no further need to concentrate as much. You can’t wait to see where the shot goes, so you might cut short your follow thru, and without proper extension down the target line, the tendency is to pull. Try concentrating on completing a full follow-thru down the target line and let me know if that helps.
Joe

Joe,
I' ve been golfing for 5 years and still trying to find the proper ball for my ability. At the age of 52, with a handicap of 18, and above average swing speed, I've used 2 and 3 piece balls with 36 to 67 compressions. My questions are: Can compression ever be too low ? What is a good compression ? Is there a good combination of multi - layer / compression ?
Wayne

Hello Wayne,
The worst that can happen if you use a ball having too-low compression is that you lose a few yards on your shots, but that may be counteracted by allowing better feel for the short game. So the net result, in my opinion, is that your handicap will probably not be affected much by your ball selection. However, if you really want to find a ball that maximizes your distance, find a facility that has a computerized hitting bay and try hitting balls having different construction and different compression, and view the computerized results, and then you will have a better idea. If you want to lower your handicap, you must look beyond the long game. The type of ball does not really matter if you have inconsistent ball striking. It is nice to seek every advantage you can find, but in my opinion, the handicap seldom gets lower unless you work more on the short game than the long game.
Joe

(see www.geocities.com/golfwithjoey)

Joe – I live in Pennsylvania and last week I was out in my back yard in the snow. I had my seven iron and I drew a line in the snow and took easy swings to see if I was hitting it fat or thin. I always hit the ground before the line. This tells me I am hitting it fat on the golf course. I even tried to slow my swing down and also to keep turning my body thru the shot and still hit it fat. Any tips as to what I can do to hit it crisp?
Tom

Hello Tom,
You made no mention of whether or not you also hit a lot of fat shots on the course last year. If you did not, don’t worry about your snow drill. There is a possibility that you are not really hitting it fat, the snow may be cratering outward when you strike it. Also remember that the top of the snow is higher than the ground on a flat lie That kind of reminds me about Chi Chi Rodriguez chunking one while giving a demo, and then joking that this happened because the ground there was higher than the ground in Puerto Rico where he came from. Also remember that hand-eye coordination is a factor. When you are swinging at a ball, you are not looking at the ground like you were when you were trying to hit the snow, instead you are swinging at an object that you are seeing above the ground. You are not trying to hit the top of that object, you are trying to hit the lower half of that object. Your hand-eye coordination has trained you to swing a little lower than the top of the object that you are looking at. That being said, if you really did have a lot of fat shots last year, try a more aggressive forward weight shift to start your downswing.
Joe

Joe,
I have lost considerable amount of distance on my shots, particularly the drive. I am only averaging 180 yards on the drive. There was a time that I was getting 220-240. I cannot figure it out.
‘r.dowe

Hello r.dowe,
Is this a sudden thing, how long ago were you hitting 220-240? Are you using the same clubs or a different set? Assuming this is with the same set of clubs, loss of distance can be caused by several things, among them “casting” or hitting from the top, or reverse-pivot instead of proper weight shift on the downswing. Trying a wider swing arc may also help.

Joe,
Perhaps you can help me with this question. Why can I hit my 3 wood
consistently further than my Driver, even when both go fairly straight?
Thanking you
Regards
Lance Evans.

Hello Lance,
If both clubs are not from the same matched set, that might be part of the answer, but let’s assume they are from the same set. Distance is a result of clubhead speed and launch angle. If your driver shots are too low you have less hang time, so the extra loft of the 3-wood will give you more hang time and more distance. Use the driver when you are against the wind and use the 3-wood when you are with the wind. Also consider trying a driver that has more loft.
Joe

(see www.geocities.com/golfwithjoey)

Joe,
Here's a topic I would like to see addressed, Ball placement in the stance. I was always taught to move the ball forward from center in my stance for the driver and longer clubs but I've never hit those clubs consistently well. Then I read a book by a teaching pro who suggests hitting all normal shots with the club head in the center of the stance for all clubs. The concept here is that keeping the swing the same for all clubs (just vary the swing plane) eliminates one complexity of the game and simply makes more sense. I tried it and found it to work better for me but when I mention it to most experienced players, they disagree but can't tell me why you should hit a driver off your left foot instead of more in the middle.
Ray Salinas

Hello Ray,
This topic, like many others, will be debated forever. There is such a thing called “conventional” teaching, which is to vary the ball position depending on which club is being used. However, how many of us really have a conventional body, with hundreds of conventional muscles and bones with the same conventional ranges of motions working together to perform a conventional golf swing, and a conventional amount of hand-eye coordination and athleticism? Consider conventional methods as a starting point, and make adjustments from there.

Most instructors will recommend the types of things that work for them personally, of course, because they have first hand proof that it works, and that logic is OK but it is not always conventional. This is why you will always hear different opinions from one instructor to another. However, let’s face it, we are all uniquely built individuals, so what works for any one of us, may not work as well for everyone else. There is no single way that is best for everyone.

If you need a little support, fear not, the Body Golf tapes also recommend the center ball position, just like you, so maybe you are already a step ahead of others. There are many good golfers who use center ball position, and there are many other good golfers who use variable ball positions. You may even be surprised to find that a different set of clubs will perform better or worse with either of these ball position philosophies, depending on how well your clubs have been fitted to your swing.

I prefer to keep it simple. Find out where your natural swing produces a divot. If you are swinging well, that should be a consistent spot, place the ball just behind that spot so that you will strike the ball just before your divot begins. If you are not swinging well, and you cannot find a consistent spot where your divot begins, your lower body weight shift needs to get more consistent. The Body Golf tapes will show you how.
Joe

Joe,
Here's one for ya. In my quest to become a better golfer I am making
progress in most areas except getting a divot in front of my iron shots. It
seems no matter what I try as far as putting the ball back in my stance I
Chunk it! And the further back I put it leads to a reverse pivot and I know
thats not right. I can do it for short chips but when I try it for long
swings I am like the Chocolate(Chunky)! Am I forever just going to be
satisfied with being a sweeper of the ball? Rich K

Hello Rich,
You are focusing too much on ball position. I would recommend a more aggressive weight shift onto your front foot to start your downswing. The Body Golf tapes have drills for this like the toe drag and the step thru. Another thing that "sweepers" do is called the "chicken wing" where the front elbow bends outward right after impact, preventing the downward blow that you need to take a divot. If the chicken wing is your problem, keep your elbows together as you follow thru in an extended outward direction. If you can do this, you should have no trouble hitting down and taking a divot, even with a ball position that is more forward.
Joe

Quick question. I use a distance ball, Maxfli Noodle, because it seems to
really reduce my slice and I get nice straight drives. However, I miss the
spin around the greens. Is there a way to get spin from my wedges with a
distance ball? Maxfli makes a Noodle spin ball, but every time I experiment
with a ball that promotes spin, my slice comes back.
Jeff

Hi Jeff,
It makes sense that a ball designed for spin will increase a slice if you are not contacting the ball squarely. I have to assume you are a low handicapper who plays only plush courses, because most average golfers play in firmer conditions where it is harder to appreciate the advantage of a spin ball around the greens. If you happen to be playing on firm conditions, use the distance ball because the spin ball may not work anyway in firm conditions. If conditions do favor the spin ball, you can reduce your slice by using a little bit stronger grip (I assume you know what that means, if not, the V's formed by your thumbs and forefinger point more toward your back shoulder).
Joe

Joe,
The older I get, the more inconsistent my ball striking becomes. What can I do about this?
Alan

Hello Alan,
This is a common thing for most folks, including myself. In our younger years, our hand-eye coordination was better and our bones and muscles were more limber so they performed more consistently and they did not get tired as quickly. People who exercise regularly will have a better chance to keep those bones and muscles near peak performance, but the enthusiasm to keep exercising sometimes goes away. Golf gives you no guarantees, but it stands to reason that if you are enthusiastic enough to seek better ball striking, maybe you could convince yourself that the extra exercising is worthwhile. There is an excellent “Executive Fitness” video on the thinkandreachpar web site which addresses the proper muscles without exerting yourself.

However, let’s say you are already exercising, and better ball striking is your main goal. The first thing to do is to clear your mind about needing to get maximum distance. Then consider the idea that the further your backswing goes, the more trouble you might get into. Watch the Champions Tour, guys like Dana Quigley, Allen Doyle, Jim Thorpe. They do not take a full swing, but they win a lot. An older guy named Moe Norman has been called one of the best ball strikers who ever lived, and he also has a very short backswing. So the next time you go to the range, start with a half backswing and see what happens. Forget about losing distance, just focus on contacting the ball cleanly every time. You might even be surprised to see that the ball still goes far enough, and in some cases just as far because you are no longer “hitting from the top” or “casting”. Once you get a feel for consistent ball contact with the half backswing, then you can lengthen it ever so slightly, and if you continue to get good results, lengthen it a little bit more until your ball striking starts to suffer, and then you will have a better feel for how far back is too far back.
Joe

Joe,
I hit a driver Straight 95% of the time and 5% off the time I push my drive, I can always hit a fade when the hole calls for it but I cannot Draw the ball. I have a son who is a Professional Golfer he says point your feet and your hips where you want it to start, and you driver face at where you want it to finish. I must manipulate my hands subconsciencely I always hit it straight. Would an offset driver where the face is 4% closed help me to draw the ball. Kindest Regards
Norm


Hello Norm,
Wow, 95% straight with a driver? You must be really good! Not very many golfers can hit any club straight 95% of the time, much less the driver. Are you sure you want to tinker with this? Mark Calcavecchia has taken away all the dangers on the left side of the course by refusing to hit a hook, and you might be better off doing the same.

The reason is that once you change your hand action to hit a hook, now you have to worry about the varying amounts of hook, and there also is a possibility that you will lose the ability to hit the ball straight anymore.

Nevertheless, if you really want to hook, go ahead and get the driver with the closed face, and listen to your son's advice along with one more thing which has to do with your hand action.

Your current hand action at impact is very good, right down the target line to hit the ball so consistently straight. That is possibly why you cannot hook even when you try to because this hand action comes so naturally to you. In order to hook, your hands have to be rolling over at impact which may be unnatural to you. Some people prefer to think of rolling the forearms instead, but now you have to worry about how much to roll the hands or the forearms. This may take a lot of practice to avoid wild shots or mis-hits.

Again I am concerned that you might lose the motor muscle memory that gives you good natural hand action and control that you already have. Try this on the range, but also keep trying to hit straight shots on demand so you don't lose your 95% accuracy when you need it.

Joe

Joe, is it safe to assume that the best instructors are also the best players? Greg

Hi Greg,
It stands to reason that any instructor must also be a pretty good player, but the instructor must also have good communication skills. I have seen cases where good players who happened to be blessed with a lot of natural ability cannot understand why students who are not so physically blessed cannot execute the same motions as the good player to whom this comes so naturally. Not everyone has the same degree of hand-eye coordination and athleticism. I would recommend choosing an instructor who became a good player by starting out as a hacker and has had to go thru the pains of learning from their own mistakes and how they had to correct them. Watch out for instructions that get too complicated. You cannot possibly be thinking of too many different moves during a swing.

Another idea to avoid is the one that says all golfers must swing the same way. That is not reasonable. We are not robots, we are all uniquely different human beings, with different body structures and hinges with differing ranges of motion, different degrees of hand-eye coordination and athleticism. Some people think instructors must always be better than their students, but if that were true, then Butch Harmon must be better than Tiger Woods, right? The best instructors are those who have good communication skills and are able to convey the right ideas to the right person.
Joe

Joe,
Some of Ben Hogan’s information says to hit the ball lower and your scores will improve, and I think that is working for me. However, my driver now hits the ball so low that my 3-wood gets more distance because it has more hang time. However, the face of the 3-wood is not very tall, so I sometimes hit popups. I have tried other drivers, but I seem to get the same result.
Joey

Hi Joey,
Guess what, we have something in common besides having the same name, I hit most drivers too low also. It is hard to argue with anything Ben Hogan has said. I agree with his statement that trying to hit the ball lower is a good thing because it makes you hit down at the ball more steeply, which improves consistency in ball striking. Therefore, the only drivers I can hit farther than my 3-wood are those with maximum loft, like 12 degrees, but they are hard to find. So I did the next best thing, which is to find a 3-wood with the biggest available head with the tallest clubface (to avoid popups), and now my tee shots are much better thanks to the 15 degree loft. The mind is a powerful thing. Just because you see a number 3 on the club, you might think you are giving up distance because you are not using a driver. Instead, just think of a tall-faced jumbo 3-wood as a mislabeled driver with a little extra loft.

Speaking of Ben Hogan, I read somewhere that he as such a perfectionist that he once had a dream of getting an ace on the first hole, and then the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. He had a score of 17 after 17 holes. On the 18th hole his shot sailed right at the flag, bounced once, and then lipped out. He said “When I woke up I was mad as hell�.