CHIP INKS - PGA TEACHING PROFESSIONAL
614-832-6170
“Practice with a Purpose”
Eliminate your 3-putts
Here is a simple drill that will
help encourage an accelerating stroke when putting. Go ahead
and setup about 5-10 feet away from the hole or target, place a headcover or range bucket about
a foot behind your putter head.
The headcover or range
bucket will get in the way of
your backswing. This will
automatically force you to
keep the backswing short
without hitting the object
and encourages the proper
acceleration into the ball.
Finally, when you feel confident from this range, move back to
20-30 feet (move your object
back a few inches for each 5
feet in distance). This will
help your speed control and is
the key to eliminate 3-putts!
How many putts did
you have during
your last round?
Contact Chip today to schedule your lesson at
614-832-6170 or chip1pgapro@pga.com
Towel drill
Use a towel tucked under your
arms while hitting pitch shots
to help keep your arms in sync
and connected with your body.
This will help you achieve a
more consistent and on
plane swing.
Take a caddie towel and place
it under each of your arms so
it’s stretched across your chest.
Make a short swing with
your club about waist high.
If your arms separate from
your body on the takeaway,
then the towel will drop to
the ground.
The goal is to get to the point where the towel is secure and
your club is parallel to the
ground at your waist on the backswing. If you can do this consistently and swing through
to a waist high finish without dropping the towel, then
you have achieved the proper
arm connection from the body.
Feet Together drill
While keeping your feet
together, practice hitting balls
with the ball teed up with a
7 or 8 iron. Your feet should
be touching or within 2 or 3
inches of each other. Swing
slowly at first, concentrating
on making solid contact with
the ball. Remember to
think about maintaining your tempo, rhythm and balance
while practicing this drill.
Once you can hit consistently
good shots, work on hitting the
ball off the grass. You may be surprised how far you can hit the ball with your feet together as
you groove your swing.
This drill will help promote good balance, rhythm and tempo for
your regular swing. It's a great
drill to do every practice session
as a warm-up or even before
each round of golf.
Contact Chip today to schedule your lesson at
614-832-6170 or chip1pgapro@pga.com
Contact Chip today at
614-832-6170 or
email at
Chip1pgapro@pga.com
Contact Chip today to schedule your lesson at
614-832-6170 or chip1pgapro@pga.com
Short game practice
If you have 30 minutes to
practice your golf game, then
at least half of your time
should be spent on the
putting and chipping green.
With most amateurs, between
40 - 50% of their score comes
from putting and chipping.
So why are so many people
still on the driving range
hitting there driver and irons
more than 50% of the time
while practicing their game?
Spending additional time on
your short game is one of
the fastest way to start
shooting lower scores!
Contact Chip TODAY for
your next short game lesson!
Contact Chip today to schedule your lesson at
614-832-6170 or chip1pgapro@pga.com
Copyright © 2012,Golf Lessons By Chip. All rights reserved.
Practice Drills and Tips
Shorten your swing
The next time you are at
the range, shorten your
swing while keeping a full
wrist cock and shoulder turn.
You should see a dramatic
increase in your distance,
accuracy and consistency.
The average player can
really benefit from a shortened
and compact backswing. This
will help to increase the
total stability and balance of
your golf swing. With fewer
moving parts, the swing
becomes a lot simpler to
perform. A long backswing
tends to force you to lift your
front heel off the ground.
Then you will have to replace it
on the downswing, causing your contact and accuracy to be
effected during your swing.
(Cont)....
Shorten your swing
(Cont)
...In addition, a longer
backswing tends to force your
body weight to creep to the
outside of your back foot,
which decreases the stability
of your lower body and
increases the chances of an unwanted hip and leg slide.
When working on making a
more compact swing,
have a friend let you know
at what point your club is
actually stopping on the
backswing. It’s rarely where
you think it is!
Practice shortening your swing
with a short iron and focus
on keeping a consistent tempo.
I often see my students rush
their downswing when they
try to do this drill.
Use your putting stroke
when Chipping
The next time you are at the
range or on the course, try using your putting stroke while you
are chipping around the green.
When chipping, your stroke
is identical in length and style
as a putt to the same target.
In a proper chipping setup,
the ball will be positioned
slightly further back in your
stance, which will allow for a
descending blow. This will lift
the ball over the long grass and
start it rolling like a putt as
soon as it hits the green.
The only difference between
the two strokes, is the ball
position, the chipping stroke
is identical to a putt.
Swing tip to remember :)
Practice like you play
How often do you practice
putting like you play on
the course? The next time you
go to the putting green while practicing or before your
round, take one golf ball with
you...and only ONE GOLF BALL!
When you are out on the course
you don't get two or three
chances from the exact same spot or hole. So why would you
practice using two or three
golf balls then?
Use only ONE ball and keep
trying until you can make it consistently with the fewest
strokes possible.
A great way to practice with the rest of your short game too!
#SwingTip of the week
Contact Chip today to schedule your lesson at
614-832-6170 or chip1pgapro@pga.com