Winter Months - Keep Up With the Basics!

Trust me, even the best players in the world struggle during the winter months because they don’t play as much golf and it gets so cold out its hard to stay loose. I don’t want your expectations to lower when you play in the winter, but it is important to not get too upset when you are not exactly on your game when it is 40 degrees outside!

When you play in the cold, focus on the basics, Grip, Stance, Posture, Alignment, and Tempo. Then, make the best swing you can and accept the results. Don’t get caught up in technical stuff this time of year.

During January and February, I will be doing weekly blog posts on things you can do at home to keep your basics tip-top! Keep logging in to jakespottgolfinstruction.blogspot.com to keep up! Stay warm!

Keep Stats - Now and Later

Your golf season is over. I'm sorry, it happens to most of us. This time of year is a great time to sit down and analyze your season. Looking back on how you played this year can be very helpful to the future of your game. Below are some things I want you to think about.

How well did I play this year?

What was the best part of my game?

What was my season highlight?

What was my low point?

Very basic questions, right? The above questions are great to think about, but there is one more I want you to ask yourself. Have I kept detailed statistics to see how I really did? I can almost guarantee that most of you do not keep detailed statistics throughout your golf season.

Statistics can be instrumental in helping you improve and possibly find the positives in your golf game. The PGA Tour players have the benefit of having someone else do this for them and tell them where their strengths and weaknesses are. Until you become that good, you need to do them yourself. Below are BASIC statistics I want you to commit to compiling in 2012.

Front 9 scoring
Back 9 scoring
Total scoring
Fairways
Greens
Putts
Sand saves
Par saves
Eagles, Birdies, Pars, Bogeys, Doubles, Etc.
1 putts, 2 putts, 3 putts
Par 3 scoring, par 4 scoring, par 5 scoring

Seems like a lot, I know, but these are the essential stats that can help you get better. If you are really crazy about stats, keep track of right and left shots (tee shots, iron shots, putts), penalty strokes, par breakers, etc. Go to pgatour.com and look at all the amazing stats that are computable to help your game. You can also find all kinds of applications for your phone on your respective carrier's website. Make a commitment to keep stats next year. It can only help!

Chipping for Distance

It can become difficult simplify

shots around the green because you run into so many different kinds of shots of
varying distances. To help me keep distances simple, I use different parts of
my body to gage how far to take the club back, and how far to swing the club
forward. I will also vary the clubs I use to help with these distances. I use
my knees, belt, and shoulders as references while focusing on maintaining consistent
speed for all shots.

I will also think about the phrases “just past” or “just
short” to give me even more distance variations. For example, a 30-yard shot (pictured)
would be a sand wedge and a “just above my belt to just above my belt” swing.
Practice this technique for more consistent distance control around the greens.

Goal Orientated Practice

I have seen more players in the last 3 years that come into the golf shop and say "can I have 4 tokens or 4 bags of balls?" 30 minuets later, "can I get 2 more tokens or bags of balls?" My point is, too many players are hitting balls; just to hit balls. This kind of rapid fire practice would be like practicing running a mile without timing it. How do you know you got better? I would love to see more golfers set goals for themselves when they enter a practice session. Things like...

Get alignment down,

Develop a routine,

Lighten grip pressure,

Shorten swing,

Increase shoulder turn,

Hit 10 balls inside 10 feet of a flag...etc.

I read an article once that said Vijay Singh took 1 min to hit 2 golf balls when he practiced. That's 30 seconds per shot. So if my math is correct, a typical small bag of range balls is 30 balls. It should take a player at least 15-25 min to hit 3o shots on the range. Think about what you doing when you are hitting balls, get rid of "aimless" practice and develop goal orientated practice to help you get better.

Some Mental Thoughts on Putting

Putting sometimes can be more mental than physical. Whenever I find myself in a putting slump I refer back to Dr. Bob Rotella's books. I have read all of Dr. Bob's books and strongly recommend them to any golfer looking to improve mentally. Just for fun, I want to give you my top 10 of Rotella's Rules for Putting from his book Putting out of Your Mind.

1. The putting game is the place to look if you want to gain a competitive advantage.


2. You need to Love putting.


3. There is nothing worse than dwelling on the putts you've missed.


4. To gain control, you must give up control.


5. Putt to make it.


6. More often then not, anger is the enemy of focus.


7. You already have touch. You have to believe in it and use it.


8. If you think the putter you are using will help you, it probably will.


9. There is no perfect way to roll the ball.


10. Practice in ways that build confidence.

Set up Tall and Balanced

I am finding more and more students that get set up in a “squatty” stance. Players get into this stance because they feel more stable. Weight gets back on the heels, legs feel strong, and they feel powerful. However, most of these squatty players end up standing up during the swing and dropping down on the downswing leading to all kinds of inconsistent shots. When the weight stays back on the heels it also becomes very difficult to properly swing through the shot.

I want students to focus on three things; 1) Stand up tall with the lower body, 2) Get the weight on the balls of the feet, 3) Bend the upper body at the hips to get down to the ball. This setup will prevent any up and down movement in the swing. I also find that it is the best setup to ensure proper rotation around the spine. Work at getting taller in the legs, weight on the balls of the feet, and bend at hips for solid shots.

Tee it Forward!

If you have been paying attention to golf on television recently, you might have seen information about the USGA and PGA’s new initiative called Tee it Forward. This program was designed to find you an 18-hole yardage that is matched up with your driving distance. The Tee it Forward strategy will allow players to hit the same club into greens that PGA Tour players do. Below you will find a chart that helps you understand what tees you might be best suited to play from.

I recommend this program to ANY golfer that wants to enjoy their round more. When I teach beginners, I always tell them to try to hit a tee shot, make an attempt at the next shot, and if it doesn’t go as planned, pick it up and put it on the green. Unless you play in a golf group that battles it out for a couple of bucks, pick a spot to tee off from that will allow you to enjoy your round. Remember, Tee it Forward, Play Faster, and Have More Fun!!!

TEE IT FORWARD
Guidelines for Selecting Tees
Driver Distance Recommended
18 Hole Yardages
275 6,700 - 6,900
250 6,200 - 6,400
225 5,800 - 6,000
200 5,200 - 5,400
175 4,400 - 4,600
150 3,500 - 3,700
125 2,800 - 3,000
100 2,100 - 2,300

Balance Like Rory

Like most of you, I watched the US Open in amazement as Rory McIlroy dominated the tournament. I was very happy for him to rebound after what happened at the Masters. I have been watching Rory for a while and have been very impressed with his attitude and his game. One thing I love about his golf swing is how he maintains his balance throughout his swing. If you watched the telecast, the announcers talked about how much emphasis his golf coach put on balance during his swing. It reminded me about what I teach all of my junior golfers; I don't care how hard they swing as long as they maintain their balance. If a player stays balanced, swing plane and contact will fall into place.

I like two different drills to work on balance. One is to put your feet close together and hit balls for a while. If you don't maintain your balance you will fall over every time. Another drill is to go to any retail store and buy a pool "floaty" and stand on it (without hitting balls) while you make some swings. Both of these drills will help you stay balanced like Rory.

Changes!

I'm sorry I have not been keeping up as much lately. I have been in a transition between leaving Wynlakes Golf and Country Club in Montgomery, AL to my new home Glenrochie Country Club in Abingdon, VA. I want to thank all of my Wynlakes members for all of their support while I made this big decision. It was very hard to leave and I will miss all of you. Every member at Glenrochie has been awesome to meet! It has been a fantastic first week on the job and I look forward to getting to know everyone very soon.

Please stay tuned for future golf tips!

Jake

The Putting T-Bar

My General Manager Brent Krause, PGA purchased a new training aid for use at Wynlakes recently. I took it out on our putting green and found that it is one of the best putting training aids in golf! The T-Bar consists of light weight metal that attaches to your putter through the use of clamps.

Right away, I found myself in the exact setup that I try to teach all my students; forearms down the putter shaft, shoulders parallel left of the target, hands even with the ball, hands under shoulders, eyes over the ball.

During the stroke it is so easy to feel your shoulders move the stroke. If you are a player that over uses your hands this is a perfect tool for you to eliminate that movement and use your big muscles to make the stroke.

Watch The T-Bar in action!



After using the The Putting T-Bar, I quickly started hitting more solid putts that held a tight roll on the green. I recommend this training aid to any player and will be using it in all of my putting lessons.

If you would like to more information on The Putting T-Bar or would like to purchase, please visit http://www.wrightputtingdynamics.com/!

High Adrenaline - Shorter Club!

I really like Luke Donald, in fact he is one of my favorite golfers and is having one of the best years of his career. But I want to talk about his decision making on his last few holes on Sunday at the Heritage Classic. Luke found himself in-between clubs on the 2nd and 3rd hole of the playoff against Brandt Snedeker. He made the decision to take the longer club and swing easy or "take a bit off" and I believe it cost him the tournament hitting both shots short of his target.

Most of the time I would tell all my players to do the exact same thing - take more club. However in Luke's situation, he needed to take the short club and go after it. Instead, he took a longer club and swung too easy leaving both shots in the front bunker. In playoff atmosphere your adrenaline is much higher than in the middle of a round. Its easy to find a little extra strength when the adrenaline is high. If you find yourself in a high adrenaline moment and you are in between clubs, take the shorter club and make the best swing you can!

TIGER on 18!

I hope most of you were able to see the shot that Tiger hit on the 18th hole Friday that set up a birdie and a great round of 66. His drive went a little right off the tee and in order for him to get a good look at birdie it required a high left to right shot that landed softly. Tough task for any player and Tiger pulled it off to perfection.

In order to hit this shot you need to line up your feet, hips, and shoulders on the line that the ball will start on. Next, your club face should be pointed directly at the spot you wish to land the shot. This will make the club face appear open to your stance. The crucial element of playing this shot to perfection will be making sure you swing along your feet while holding the club face open. This out-to-in swing path will produce the proper spin to get you right next to the pin! Please keep in mind that should be practiced before put into play!

Pictures from golfweek.com and foxsports.com.

Comebacks!!!

Thursday at Augusta brings so much excitement for all that play. We might compare it to gearing up for our club championships, golf trips, or big money games. It is very easy to get too excited and make a few mistakes early. What separates the good players is that when they get amped up and make a few mistakes, they find a way to get back into their round. Today we saw several players get off to shaky starts only to find it and salvage a good round. Examples were:

Ricky Fowler +2 thru 14 - shot 70 Amateur Peter Uihlein +2 thru 14 - shot 72

Johnathan Vegas +3 thur 12 - shot 72

Anthony Kim +3 thru 12 - shot 73

Gary Woodland +3 thru 12 - shot 69

Luke Donald +3 thru 13 - shot 72

All of these players kept their focus and found a way to keep themselves in the golf tournament. Keep in mind that there is always a chance that you can get back into your round unless you give up on it. Some of the most rewarding rounds are ones that you make a big comeback and make something out of nothing!

Practice Rounds

Most of the participants of the Masters have arrived on property for the week. Tiger and Phil skipped Monday, but should be on the course early today. Some players have played the course a few times in the last week or so and are gearing up their game for Thursday. No matter what, all of these players find tremendous value in playing practice rounds.

I have seen it a million times... "I went out in my practice round and shot a great score! Then in the tournament I played horrible." Heck, its happened to me. The players at Augusta are not worried about what they are shooting in the practice rounds. Most of the players are out there trying to figure out what line to hit off the tee, where to miss it around the greens, and they are charting the greens for possible pin placements. Every player I have heard in an interview has been saying that on Monday the course was not playing like it will during the tournament. These guys have anticipate what the course will play like. That is why most people believe that it is almost impossible to win at Augusta during the first trip.

My recommendation during a practice round is to have a good time, learn the course, and not put to much importance on what you shoot. Take note from the guys at the Masters and learn where the best misses are, find out what clubs to hit off tees, and take a look at the greens to get a feel for the speed. Always remember the 5 P's... Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance!

Masters Week!

For some it starts the golf season, others see it as the second weekend in April when the flowers start to bloom, my friends up north find it to be re-energizing after a long winter. For me, it is the greatest week of the year. The historical, mythical, beautiful, Augusta National comes alive for all to see, only to reward those on top of their game and punish the players that just might not have it.

From now until the end of the Masters, please come back to this blog for analysis from the Tournament on topics that might pertain to your game!

MASTERS PREPARATION

Most of you have events throughout the year that you have to make preparations for. All week on the Golf Channel experts have been discussing the preparation decisions that the participants of the Masters have been making. Some take the week off and practice, some are playing in Houston this week, other players decide to have practice rounds at Augusta. I think it is very important that you develop ways that you get ready for competitions.

I find it interesting when a student comes to me a few days from an event and wants me to get him ready for a tournament. The fact is, it takes more than a few days to get your golf games in shape to be in competition form. Dr. Bob Rotella, a leading Sports Physiologist says there are two frame of minds for practice: Training Mentality and Trusting Mentality. In the days leading up to your tournaments you need to work starting in Training Mentality which focuses on working on swing techniques. As you get closer to the event, you need to decrease your Training Mentality and move to Trusting Mentality where you simply trust the training you have put in and react to your situations.

Lets say a player has a member-guest tournament in a two weeks. I would love it if he goes out onto the course and plays around of golf with friends. Following the round, he should take a moment to analyze what went well and what might not have gone the way he wanted. That is when you call your golf professional and seek out some additional help in the Training Mentality. If the instructor is good, he will address your issues and give you a plan to work on each part of the game working up to the event.

One week out, the player needs to be finished with instruction. This is when he truly needs to work towards Trusting Mentality and focus at least 15 min on each of the three parts of the game (full swing, chipping, putting) for every practice session. These 45 min practice sessions are highly realistic for the busy working person. Schedule them as much as you can on the days up to your challenge. Make sure that when you enter the practice round or the tournament, you are focused on trusting what you have. Don't continue to work on something your pro said you should work on, just TRUST IT.

Practice After Lessons

I recently read an article called "Are Golf Lessons Worth the Price?" This article mentioned every aspect of getting a lesson starting with selecting the golf professional and finishing with follow up. One key point I took from this reading was in regards to practice. Bobby Ryatt who wrote the article says that the student needs to ask the golf professional how much practice time they need in between lessons. I think this is a great question!

Most of my students do not practice enough between lessons. I have to be honest, it is a disservice to and your golf instructor if you do not practice after a lesson. From the students point of view, he or she needs to take time to work on the new swing keys that came from the last lesson to help make them permanent. If you are paying $75 for a one hour lesson and you arrive to your next lesson without any practice of these keys, the instructor will have to reinforce lesson 1. That reinforcement aids you in losing most of the $ value of your second lesson. That same problem exists from the instructor's point of view. The teacher has hopes that you will have practiced everything from lesson one in order to introduce new keys in the second lesson.

I recommend that students take at least 2 days to practice after each lesson before they even consider seeing me again. It helps even more if they can make it out to the golf course and play following those two days of practice. I love it when students come to me with questions regarding issues with what they have practiced or played after our last lesson. I do understand that many of you work and practice becomes difficult to schedule around life. But do yourself a favor and work on the keys that your golf professional gives you before you schedule another lesson so that you are making your "golf lessons worth the price."

Wynlakes Titleist Teaching Center

Recently at Wynlakes we made an addition to our teaching facility by adding a pop-up tent to provide a learning center on the range for students. Thanks to our friends at Titleist, this tent will be used as a safe haven for teaching, demo days, and club fittings. In addition to the tent, we have added a teaching module that allows us to quickly put your swing on video to be analyzed. In the near future we plan to add seating and more shade to accommodate students. Please come out and visit!

Flat Right Thumb - Putting

I was approached recently by a member that was struggling from 5 feet and in on the green. He had the tendency to either shut the face down, or wipe it wide open at impact. The cause of this fault was movement of the hands right before impact that would change the face angle of his putter.

The thought we had to fix this problem was to focus on keeping his right thumb on an imaginary flat surface(like the ruler in the picture above). If the thumb stays flat on the paddle of the grip and it moves on the flat surface the putter face will stay square through the ball at impact. Practice this and you will hear more putts hit the bottom of the hole!

In Between Clubs - Grip Down

I'm finding that when the average golfer gets stuck in between clubs they ease up on the longer club. These players end up pulling the shot or not committing to the shot and they don't finish their swing. I love to watch Geoff Ogilvy swing in this situation. His tempo and rhythm is always the same on every shot. So how can Geoff swing the club the same every time even when he is in between clubs? He simply chokes down on the golf club.

There are two factors that separate the clubs distance in your bag. Length and loft. If you choke down one inch on a club it should produce about half-a-club less than normal. After you shorten the golf club make your normal swing and you will find that the ball will fly with more control and just a bit shorter.

Yellow - Red - GREEN!

I have spoke with a few players lately that are struggling either taking the club back or following through. Some players take it back very quickly and decelerate into the ball while others struggle with taking it back slowly only to swing way too fast through the ball. In either scenario, they player has is sequencing off.

I want players to think of a stop light when they make the swing. The the takeaway begins with a smooth "yellow light" pace. At the top of the swing, imagine a "red light" that gets you a small pause at the top aligning everything for the down swing. Finally, you need to think "green light" on the way down. Always keep in mind you will get a ticket for running a red light, speeding through a green light, and you will miss your tee time if you don't get through the intersection on a yellow light.

Roll it at the Hole!

I believe that every human is born with some sort of "feel" or "touch." When players come to me complaining of 3 and 4 putts, my first thought is that their speed is off. Putting is not very different than rolling a ball to a target. When I teach juniors and beginners, I have them grab a golf ball and toss it at the hole. Then I have them stand in a putting posture and toss it "sideways" a the hole. The motion your hand makes in this position is no different when you have a putter in your hands.

The picture on the right shows Kim Kardashian playing bocce ball with family(picture from http://www.life.com/). If Kim can roll this ball successfully in high heels than you can have enough feel and touch to roll a ball close enough to the hole to get down in 2.


Drill:
-Grab two golf balls and gently toss them at a hole from 30 or so feet
-Throw them again standing in your putting posture
-Grab your putter with your throwing hand and practice rolling the ball with one hand and the putter
-Finally put your second hand on the putter and imagine rolling the ball at the hole.

Note how when Natalie Gulbis used to putt split handed her right hand looks almost identical to a person that would roll a ball from a sideways position. Keep your normal grip but focus on a good "roll."

Hybrid Chip

Golfers in all parts of the country will experience wet conditions from time to time. For us in the south, winters bring thin, dormant grass that has wet soil beneath it creating an unpredictable tight surface. Some of the hardest shots under these conditions around the greens. I have found that if there is no deep grass or obstacles in front of you, using a hybrid or fairway wood is the least risky play. The way that hybrids are constructed allows a player to use a putt/chip stroke to just get the ball lifted above the grass and will produce a predictable rolling shot that will surely not get you in trouble. More often than not, it will get you close to the hole.

How:

- Use your highest lofted hybrid or fairway wood

- Use your basic chip setup

- Grip to the bottom of the grip

- Make a chip/putt stroke

- Keep your hands ahead

Most of you will find that this shot will take off much faster than a putt or chip. But with practice this will become a go-to shot under tight or wet conditions.

D-Plane in a Nutshell!

This is a tip from one of my good friends Matt Sheppard, PGA - Dixie Section Assistant Player of the Year.

When you are practicing, make sure you understand what is happening to cause the ball to do what it is doing. Only solid shots will give you the ability to correctly analyze what happened.

Face will determine initial starting direction and club path will determine curve. If the path of the club is moving left, and the club face is pointed right, the ball will curve right. Opposite for shots curving left. If the ball is curving in a way that you don't like, adjust the face angle at impact so it matches the direction of the swing path so the ball flies straight. This may be straight right or straight left, but try and make the ball go straight first before you try to make it go toward your target.

After you can make the ball fly straight, then you can try and change the path so the ball will fly straight toward the target.

High Soft Sand Shots

I know we have all be in the situation; we went for the tucked pin only to get ourselves “short sided” in a bunker. Our hopes and dreams of an easy birdie have changed to grinding out a par. I am here to tell you to not worry about these short bunker shots. I like players to focus on making a “V” with their swing. Set up open to the target, open the clubface, swing back and up abruptly and down and forward like a “V” hitting 1 inch behind the ball. This sharp angle of attack will produce a high, soft, spinning shot that will get you sandies every time!

Left Wrist - Target!

What does the left hand tell us about the club face? Think about it for a second.... If your club face is square to your target and you have a decent left hand grip, shouldn't the club face be square at impact if your the back of your left hand faces the target? Look at Hunter Mahan's left hand in the picture. It is facing the target perfectly.

I like to have students think about returning their left hand the best they can to the address position. More specifically, I would love it if the student could get their wrist as flat as Hunter does in the picture.

To further illustrate my point look at the picture to the right and see how this golfer at impact on the left has the back of his left wrist facing the target and on the right look what happens when that wrist is going to the right. Where is the club face going? Slice city my friends. Work on getting that left wrist pointing at your target at impact to hit more solid straight shots.

FootJoy DryJoy Tour Review

FootJoy DryJoy Tour hit the market in early January 2011. $170.00

FootJoy Says:
The DryJoy Tour blends traditional upper styling with cutting-edge, next generation Stability PODS technology. They boast innovative TPU-infused mid sole/out sole components engineered to offer enhanced platform stability while maintaining the comfort and flexibility that players count on. They are available in 8 different styles.

Jake Says:
These shoes are absolutely amazing! I have been a traditionalist when it comes to shoes wearing mostly FootJoy Classics and their new Icon model, but I thought I would give this new shoe a chance. When I first put them on I could not help but notice how comfortable and stable they felt. After practicing and playing in them a few times my opinion only grew stronger. They are remarkably comfortable and the new PODS technology gives you extreme stability while still being able to maneuver the foot throughout the swing. They are also very attractive making them look very close to its more expensive Icon model.

I would recommend these shoes to ANYONE! They have the classic look and feel that will make the traditional player very happy without sacrificing performance. The DryJoy Tour also gives the player that is looking for extreme comfort for walking an excellent shoe. The only downside I can think of is that they do not come in very "wild" models for those of us that like to be trendy. Otherwise, great price and great quality!

Dunn's Towel

I learned this drill from one of my students Jeff Dunn. We were talking about leaving putts short and Jeff mentioned the drill he worked on to make sure the ball got passed the hole, but not too far past the hole that he left a challenging putt.

If you take a small towel (typical size golf clubs put in carts) and place it one putter head behind the hole it becomes the perfect "make zone" that you should leave the ball if you miss. Your number 1 goal is to make the putt, but if it misses, make sure that it stays on the towel. Place 3 balls at 3 feet, 6 feet, and 9 feet and work on getting your speed right!

Blink! Think Without Thinking

I recently finished a book titled "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. This book is about what Gladwell calls rapid cognition - the kind of thinking that happens in the blink of an eye. He believes that we can develop a thought or feeling in under two seconds and that thought (whether we like it or not) has a significance on our feelings, attitudes, and reactions to situations.

I love this book because for years, I have tried to tell myself and students that playing good golf is the art of being able to "think without thinking." Our minds are constantly corrupted by negative thoughts like "there is water right" or "don't hit it in the sand." There may have been times that we have been in between clubs and thought too long and hard about which one to hit. How many times have we had a good round going only to start thinking about score and before we know it, the good round is gone?

Even Dr. Bob Rotella preaches that students to "stay in the moment" and not overcloud their thoughts. When you find yourself in those situations try to think without thinking. What I mean by that is let your ability take control of the situation and allow yourself to hit the shot you have practiced over and over. It doesn't hurt to tell yourself to "just play the game" and don't forget to Blink!

3-Speed Line Drill

If you struggle with the speed and direction this is one of the best drills to improve both. I learned of this drill from Dr. Bob Rotella in his book "Putting Out of Your Mind." Find a 5-7 foot putt with some break. Try to make the putt using three different speeds.

In the picture to the right, I want the ball on the yellow line to fall in the hole on the last rotation, the red line I try to use standard speed, and for the final putt on the white line, I try to drive it in the back of the hole with some pace.

If you practice this drill, you will find your confidence from all lengths will improve dramatically. You will also see more lines and making more putts in the center of the hole!

72 Degree Rule

This time of year I am often reminded of the 72 degree rule for the distance a golf ball travels in relation to air temperature. Because cold air is more dense than warm air, a golf ball will not travel as far in cold temperatures. I teach players to use the temperature of 72 degrees as a mark for the optimal temperature for distance.

For a player that hits his drives 250 yards, it can be said that he will lose 1 yard for every degree under 72. But if it is 52 degrees, there is not a trickle down through all of the clubs. For instance, using the 52 degree example and you have a 9 iron in your hand the shot most likely will not be reduced by 20 yards like it might with your driver.

As the temperature increases over 72, the law of diminishing returns can come into effect. The ball will not necessarily travel farther in high temperatures. Especially in humid conditions the air becomes thicker and thus restricts the distance a ball travels.

For cool temperatures use these general recommendations:

Driver: -1 yard every degree under 72

6-iron: -1/2 yard for every degree under 72

PW: -1 yard for every 5 degrees under 72

Example:

Temperature 42 degrees - 240 yard drive - 160 yard 6-iron - 120 yard PW

Your ball will travel:

Driver: 210 yards

6-iron: 145 yards

PW: 114 yards

Don't be upset if you only hit a 200 yard drive when its 45 degrees and the wind is blowing in your face!

Titleist 910 Driver Review

The 2011 Titleist 910 series drivers hit the market in mid-November 2010.

$399.99

Titleist says:

Longer - face insert creates 15% larger maximum ball speed area.

Better fit - Sure Fit Tour (SFT) hosel technology allows you to set loft and lie independently to optimize ball flight.

Traditional Looks - Pear shaped profile with rich black finish.

Improved sound and feel - Acoustically engineered for hot, solid sound and feel.

Precision Manufacturing - Tighter tolerance for loft, lie and face angle specs.

The 910 comes in two different models the 460cc 910D2 and 445cc D3. The D2 is claimed to have longer distance with more control and offers 4 stock shafts to choose from. The 910D3 has longer distance with low spin and also has 4 shaft options. Both drivers have a full line of custom options as well.

Jake says:

The first moment I put my hands on this club I noticed how attractive it was. The new black finish makes these drivers look dangerous. I tested both clubs and found that they are more attractive, better sounding and more technologically advanced than previous Titleist models. The SFT technology is amazing. I won't go as fart to say that you will pick up 20 yards if you purchase this driver, but when the settings of the driver are changed you might notice a significant increase in yards from the standard setting. Players are able to adjust loft, lie and face angle to produce their desired ball flight.

I recommend these drivers to any player with the following recommendations:

910D2 - Anyone that wants to launch it high and get more yardage off miss hits. If you are a higher handicapper, this driver can be useful but you may find that it doesn't have the "pop" feeling that other drivers have.

910D3 - Better players that have very high spin rates may want to go this direction. The deeper face produces a lower, less spinning shot and gives the player more workability off the face.

Bermuda Grain

If you live in the South you might already be familiar with Bermuda grain, if you are from the North you might have no idea what grain is. But for those of us that play on it everyday or will be on a winter vacation south, you need to have an understanding of grain. Grain can make what looks like a straight putt break 6 inches or it can make a basic 10 foot put feel like you have to hit it off the green to get it to the hole. Below is information to help you understand grain.

Grain reading can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. There are several factors that can determine the direction Bermuda grass grows, but the two I want you to be familiar with are the color of the grass (light and dark green) and uphill and downhill.

Light and Dark
If you look at the picture above you will see a typical Bermuda green. Please look at the difference in the shades of green throughout the surface. To the left, there is a very dark green area from the picture taker's vantage point, that would be into the grain. The front part of the green where you see light green will be down grain.

In general...
Light green = down grain, fast, and possibly downhill
Dark green = into grain, slow, and possibly uphill

Uphill and downhill
As a basic principle, grass grows in the direction of slope. This is because the water drains down slopes, pulling the blades of grass with the water.

In general...
Uphill putt = most likely into grain and slow
Downhill putt = most likely down grain and fast

Around the hole
When you are putting from 25 feet the first 20 feet the grain will have little effect on the putt. but the last 5 feet (when the ball starts to slow down) the grain will have much more effect on "pulling" the ball with the direction of the grain. The picture to the right shows the direction of the grass around the cup. Two things to remember around the hole:

Sharp edge of cup = high side of the hole or fast side
Jagged edge of cup = low side of the hole or slow side

It is important to pay attention to the grain around the hole because, lets say, you are putting from the lower left corner of the picture, your putt (even though it might look straight) will break to the right. If you are putting from the upper left corner, it should be very fast down grain with little break.

All of this may be a lot of information to handle, but at first just pay attention to the light and dark shades to help you with speed. When you get more confident, dive into cross grain around the hole to help you make more short-range putts.