The Situation:  You have a good lie in the fairway roughly 70 yards from the green, but you can’t make a full swing and that never seems to work out well for you.The Solution:  Before your next round, hit practice balls using a full swing with your pitching wedge.  Picture the clock’s face tilted on the same plane as your swing (your chest at the center).  Weing your hands to 10:00 in your backswing and 12:00 in your finish.  Determine the distance on clean hits with your 10-to-12 swing.  With this swing as your base, switch clubs and swing lengths to match the distance at hand.

For more info on this technique check out Golf Magazine, September 2008, Ted Sheftic.

The Fault:  You try to correct your outside-in swing by dropping your eyes to the inside of the ball.  When you do that, the top of your head tilts to the right, and your swing follows it in the form of a push.The Fix:  Next time you’re on the range, try this drill.  Lay down two clubs parallel to the target line, the first along your feet and the second outside the ball, creating a track with the ball in the middle.  Then make your swing while keeping the brim of your cap in line with the outer club.  This will keep your head on your swing path.  You’ll stay balanced and be a better ball-striker.

For more info on this article check out Golf Magazine, September 2008, Rod Lidenberg.

The Fault:  You catch your long irons thin.  This is costing you distance and shot-stopping spin.

Why It’s Happening:  You’re hanging back on your right side, causing the club to hit up on the ball.

How to Fix It:  In order to compress the ball and get the full distance and spin potential out of the club in your hands, you need to be on your left side at impact.

For more info on the “stack and stretch” method check out Golf Magazine, September 2008, Todd Sones.

Overlay your “miss” pattern on the green to dial-in the right target.  How to pick the right spot:  Make a goalpost with your fingers and peer through it to the green.  The distance between your fingers is the average mid-iron dispersion pattern for a mid-handicapped golfer.  (Make the goalpost narrower if you’re a single-digit handicapper and wider if you’re a novice or high-handicapper.)  MOve the goalpost around the green until you find the spot that combines the largest area of the putting surface with the least number of hazards.  This area may be several yards from the pin, but making the center of your goalpost your landing spot means you’ll stay out of trouble and, minus a 3-putt, card par at worst.

More info on this article can be found in Golf Magazine, September 2008, Dom DiJulia.

The secret to long drives is in your right hip and knee.  The more your right knee and hip line up at impact, the farther you’ll hit the ball.  This arrangement automatically delivers the club with the shaft leaning slightly toward the target - not away from it like it does when you release the club too early - and optimizes your launch conditions.

From the top of your backswing, think about driving your right knee and right hip as a single piece.  Make a few slow-motion swings to ingrain the feel.  Focus on returning your trailing knee and hip to impact together and you’ll reduce spin and add yards.

More info on this article can be found in Golf Magazine, September 2008, Dave Phillips.

Pick a Club to Chip, One easy step to discover the trajectory of all your clubs:

What club should I use?  You know to use a more lofted club if you want to hit a chip shot that carries more in the air, and a lower-lofted club to get the ball rolling earlier, but the key to being a good chipper is to know which trajectory will give you the proper amount of carry and roll to reach the hole for a given situation.  Here’s an easy way to figure out the trajectory of a chip with any club.  Lay the club along the ground with the clubface up and the shaft pointing toward your target.  Now step down on the clubface until the back of the club is flat against the ground.  The angle that the shaft rises to is the trajectory of the shots you’ll produce with that club.

This info was taken from Golf Magazine, September 2008, Shawn Humphries.

Here are 4 shot options to choose from at different risk levels to hit the ball out of the sand:Option 1 - High Risk:  Blast at the pin.  The pros usually blast shots out hight and soft, stopping within 10 feet of the hole, even from a downslope.  But with the water lurking in the background, why go at this pin if you don’t need to?

Option 2 - Mid Risk:  Blast to the middle.  You should play this shot out to the right, to the fat part of the green (even if the lie is perfect).  It’s silly to play at this flagstick and risk a penalty, especially when all you need is a bogey.

Option 3 - Safe:  Clean Chip.  If blasting from the sand is a weakness in your game, picking the ball cleanly off the sand with a 7-iron chip shot is a good option when the bunker lip is low.  There’s plenty of room for this shot here.

Option 4 - Ultra Safe:  The Putt-Out.  The safest escape from a shallow bunker is to putt the ball out.  You’ll rarely catch it fat, and with a little practice you’ll escape every time.  The question is, can you get down in two more strokes?

This info was taken from Golf Magazine, September 2008, Dave Pelz.

This information was taken from the Golf Digest Magazine Statistics:  http://www.golfdigest.com/rankings/courses/greatest/2007/100greatestcourses_gd200705

Stay hydrated – Just think, you are out on the golf course for hours at a time in the sun.  If you aren’t hydrated, or haven’t eaten anything all day, your golf game will suffer and you risk becoming tired and weak throughout the game.

Stretch and Warm up – Do a few practice swings, stretch your arms, and get your muscles working.  This will decrease your chances of injury and just help your golf game performance.  It is also good to stretch as you go along the course. 

Keep your energy going – After playing an 18 hole course, you could easily be worn out and very hungry.  Try eating healthy snacks along the way including fruit, nuts, and anything with protein.  This will keep your energy level up throughout the 3 or 4 hours you spend on the course.

Keep these important tips in mind to ensure your golf game is the best it can be, the rest is up to you and practice!