Golf Tips - Using a Clock to Help You Score Better
With the digital age upon us and young people using the cell phone to tell time, this concept may be obsolete in a few years. In the meantime use these ideas to help your golf game.
Aiming Point:
Draw a clock dial around the perimeter of the ball. Place the ball where the six is exactly in the back of the ball and twelve is facing the target. For maximum compression of the ball you must, hit the ball on the seven. That is the back inside portion of the golf ball.
Hit the ball on the seven not the six. The clubface also must be faced slightly to the right at impact. The ball is on the clubface about one four thousandth of a second. During this time it is programmed as to how it flies. As the ball rides on the club the face rotates. It closes. The ball leaves the club when the face squares. Hit the ball at the seven on the clock dial with a downward blow.
Much has been written lately about compressing the golf ball. Golf balls are made to bounce. Drop a ball from shoulder height onto any hard surface and watch it come back almost too full height. A golf ball is much livelier than a baseball or basketball. This bounce is what enables the ball to fly so far. In order to utilize the bounce built into the ball, you must compress it. You can only compress it if you hit the ball at the seven on the clock dial with a downward blow.
Aim and Alignment:
Imagine a clock lying on its back on the ground. The target is at the twelve. The golf ball is in the middle of the clock.
Start with the club. You must aim the club face exactly at the twelve. Imagine a line running from the ball to the target. This is the target line. Place the club head behind the ball with the sole (bottom) of the club perpendicular to this target line.
Next set your feet. The back of your heels should be parallel to the target line. The right foot should be aimed straight at the target line. The left foot should be turned out slightly.
Now align the shoulders. A line running across your shoulders should be aimed at the eleven on the dial. Many golfers mistakenly aim this line at the twelve. This is a closed position and causes many swing errors. Insure that your shoulders are aimed at eleven on the clock dial.
Finally, when you swing, feel as if you are swinging toward the one on the dial. This will give you the inside out impact that is most desirable. Your club will not actually swing to one. There is a difference between feel and real. When you feel as if you are swinging toward the one the club head actually swings down the target line.
Pitching:
This method is listed in Dave Pelz’s wonderful “Short Game Bible”. Imagine you are standing in a clock. The golf ball is on the ground at six on the dial. Your chest is the middle of the dial. The twelve is directly above your head.
With all of your wedges figure out how far the ball flies when you swing back to 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. These should be finesse swings. That is, no hit.
Concern yourself with your left arm. Practice without a club in your hands. Place your right arm behind your back. Teach yourself the feeling of swinging your left arm until it points to 7:30. Then practice swinging your left arm to 9:00. This 9:00 is when your left arm is parallel to the ground. Then finally all the way back to 10:30. 10:30 is the top of a full swing. If you swing past this point you are over swinging.
Now practice with both hands. Grip the club and set up. Feet fairly close together with your weight distributed equally between your feet. Do not concern yourself with the wrists. Let the centrifugal force handle the wrist action. Practice swinging your left arm to 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30. Then swing through. Hold your balance.
Develop four shots, 7:30 finesse, 9:00 finesse, 10:30 finesse, and 10:30 power. A finesse swing is done without a hit. It is a smooth graceful motion. A power swing employs a hitting action through the ball.
Now that you have the technique you can start to measure. See the chart. Learn how far you hit each wedge with each time. If you have four wedges you will develop 16 yardages that you can easily hit the golf ball.
When you are playing you can determine your yardage and pick the club and time that will get you there.
Putting Clock Drill:
On the practice putting green, use six golf balls. Start from three feet out. The hole is the center of the clock. Place a ball at the two, four, six, eight, ten, and twelve positions on the dial. Now go around the clock and make each putt. If you miss one, start over.
By practicing your short putts this way you will have to take into account the subtle slopes and breaks of each ball. Each putt will be slightly different.
Once you become good at the three foot putts, do the same drill from four, five and six feet out.
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