Tips and techniques

Following are Chris' tips and techniques to help you improve your golf game:

Get a Grip video	Mechanical analysis
Take Aim video	Sand play
Compression	The golf grip
Don't break down	Traffic light system
Keeping the angle constant	Turning and transferring balance

Compression

The most important thing that you can do during the golf swing is create compression. It is compression that causes a downward motion of the club head to make a golf ball lift into the air. You have to hit down on the ball to make it rise in the air. So what is compression. The best way to think of compression is brushing the grass under the ball when striking it. This ensures that you hit the ball first, and the ground then "squeezes" the ball up the face of the club, thus causing compression.

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Don't break down

Breaking down is the main reason for miss-hits around the green. This means that your hands flip the club head through and break-down the angle created by your arms and the club shaft created at address.

The best way to hit a clean chip shot is to keep the angle created by your arms, the hinge of the following wrist and the golf club constant while swinging through the brush area.

Practice

Make practice swings while looking at your angles. How well are you maintaining the leading wrist alignment with the club shaft and the trailing wrist angle? Is the club face still square, and on the target line?

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Keeping the angle constant

In chipping, keeping the angle of your leading wrist aligned with the golf club shaft constant through hitting the ball will help keep the club face low to the ground. Keeping the club low to the ground creates compression to move the ball. The alignment of the wrist and club shaft keeps the club face square and your shot going in the intended direction.

Weight transfer during chips

At address, your weight is unevenly balanced with 60% of your weight on the leading foot and 40% on the back foot. There is a small transfer during the back swing that is hardly noticeable.

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Mechanical analysis

Click here to view Chris Eastman's Mechanical Analysis: How to Drive the Golf Ball 300 Yards.

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Sand play

Sometimes the sand can be a frightening experience, but the following simple rules will help your ball fly out of the bunkers easier.

1. Create a designated brush area – just like strokes played off of the grass, the sand has a brush area of it’s own. The brush area is the foot print that the stroke leaves while striking the ball. In the sand, this brush area helps the sand compress the ball and lift it out of the bunker.
2. Your body alignment and swing path should be open, facing to the left if you're right-handed (right if you're left-handed), to the target line. The target line is the direction you would swing if you were in the fairway aiming a the pin. An open club face, actually pointing along the target line, but open to the current address position, will counter the open body position and the ball will fly out of the sand on the designated target line.
3. When swinging, the heal of the club face will actually lead the club into the sand when you swing along your address alignment. The bounce of the club will then slide through the sand to complete the swing, sending both sand and your ball out of the bunker.

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The golf grip

The hands are as important in the golf swing as they are to the steering wheel when driving a car. The proper grip will make it easier to keep the club face square and the ball traveling towards your intended target.

A Good Grip

A good grip is one in which the palms of the hands face each other, and work together with the face of the golf club.

The golf club’s grip rests diagonally across the palm of the left hand, and rests mainly in the fingers of the right hand to control feel.

	In this picture you see the club handle extending from the inside second knuckle of the index finger of the left hand and extending through the first knuckle of the pinky finger. Your fingers would then roll up around the club. Your last three fingers will hold the club and your thumb will come down on top of the handle.
The club will rest on the second knuckle joints of your right hand and these fingers will hold the club. You will know that you have the grip right if you can lift your index finger off the club and not feel like you would loose any control.
	When you grip the club and your thumb rests on top of the shaft, if you look down and can only see one knuckle on your hand, this is a neutral grip. This grip is typically used by low handicap, better players.
When you can see two to three knuckles, you have a strong grip. This grip enables the hinging of the wrists and squaring the club face and is highly recommended for new players and High handicap (greater than 10) players.

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Traffic light system

In golf you are faced with the decision of when to shoot for the target or when to play it safe. Using a traffic light metaphor can assist in the decision process. The lights indicate: Green for go for it, Yellow for caution, Red for danger all around.

• The Red Light is flashing when trouble, bunkers, water, out of bounds, is located in more than 75% of your vision to the target. In this case, steer away from trouble even if you have to lay up with a short shot. It’s better to have a good shot to the target than no shot.
• The Yellow Light is flashing when caution is needed, or 50% of your vision includes trouble. Be aggressive, but play down the safe side of the fairway, sensibly aggressive.
• The Green Light is flashing when there is less than 25% trouble around, and you can go for it, no holding back.

During a normal round you can expect that half of the round will be played with the yellow light flashing. This is sensible golf that says, be aggressive but, let’s stay away from trouble. Twenty percent will be a Green light and the rest Red, and you have to put some of your ego aside to keep your score down. Play smart and you will score well.

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Turning and transferring balance

As you mover further away from the target the turning and transferring of your balance in the golf swing becomes more important. On the tee box you would typically use a full swing at the ball, as you proceed down the fairway and get closer to the green, many of your shots will use less than a full swing, with less weight transfer.

Back swing

In the back swing, transfer your balance in the direction you are turning. Your balance will be transferred from evenly on your feet to more on your back foot.

Forward Swing

In the forward swing shift your balance back to even and then through to the direction of your turn, onto our forward foot. Your conscious effort is to transfer from you back foot to you forward foot. Focusing on transferring balance from back foot to forward will help the swing to accelerate from the start of the down swing through to the finish.

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