One of the most common culprits is your unhealthy snack when you hit the clubhouse after you make the turn. Did you leave the house without breakfast, then decide to eat a large meal after the ninth hole in order to “make up” for your lack of breakfast? Or did you simply indulge yourself in all the tasty snacks that the clubhouse had to offer?

Let me tell you why an unhealthy or too large a meal at the turn probably caused you to play poorly on the back nine. You probably ingested a large amount of sugar with that meal, either with your soda, the ketchup on your hotdog, the snickers bar or other sugary sweets. This influx of sugar and carbohydrates has given your body’s blood glucose level a huge spike. This will cause the famous Sugar Crash! A sugar crash will cause you to become tired, irritated, and unable to focus. All of which are not conducive to a great round of golf!

So what is the fix? Balance out your meals while on the course and wait until after your round to eat that huge cheeseburger. Spread out your meals on the golf course – try to eat small snacks every three holes to maintain a healthy blood glucose level. Snacks can include bananas, small protein bars, nuts, peanut butter crackers, and plenty of water.

Try that for your next round and see how energized you feel after your round – and see if your score drops too.

This is where a shift needs to be made.

I understand if you can’t get to the club earlier as there are other obligations but if you can, I would recommend splitting up your “warm up” time into 2 parts: 1.) the part where you stretch your body and 2.) the part where you focus on a target and stay confident. This is not a time for dramatic swing changes! Your swing will not change in that period of time and it will only cause harm when you step on the first tee.

Now I know this is starting to sound familiar to some of you. The question now is how I change it.

Step 1 – Show up, if possible, with ample time to warm-up. Ideally, give yourself at least 30 minutes.
Step 2 – Stretch for about 5-10 minutes focusing on your lower body, core, and neck/shoulders. Hit some short pitch shots to warm up the swing.
Step 3 – Work through your bag in even or odd numbers (9, 7, 5, etc.) hitting only a few balls with each club and focusing on your aim and target. Your swing should not be the focus.
Step 4 – End your full swing warm-up with the club you will be hitting on the 1st tee trying to visualize the hole and the shot you would like to hit. If you have never played the course before then simply hit your fairway wood or driver and focus on the target and your pre-shot routine.
Step 5 – Go over to the practice putting green and roll some short and long putts to get a feel for the green speed and break.
Step 6 – Clear your mind and focus on having a fun round and enjoying each shot. There are a lot worse places to be so you have to forget about your “warm-up” whether good or bad and focus on the round ahead and hitting quality shots each and every time.

There will be variations to this program depending on your certain situation and facility and you can change it to fit your personal needs. However, keep in mind that the warm-up is just that, a chance to warm up your body, not a place to re-invent the wheel.

Stay focused and have fun during your next round and you will amazed at the results you can achieve.

How Often?
As a rule of thumb, you should regrip once every year. Regardless of whether you play golf every day or only twice a year, ozone, heat, dirt, and oils are constantly at work breaking down the materials that make up your grips. Granted, frequent play and personal preference may dictate regripping sooner, but normally there’s enough degradation of the material after a year to warrant fresh grips. Keep in mind that grips lose a significant amount of their original feel long before they become hard and glazed over. Because it happens slowly over time, most golfers fail to notice it. That’s important to remember because just a tiny, imperceptible slip at contact will be magnified to many yards by the time the ball reaches its target. Many people find that getting in the routine of regripping every spring as the golf season “officially” begins is the easiest way to remember.

How to Choose the Right Grip
There is no one grip that is right for all golfers; thus grip selection varies widely with individual needs and preferences. A good starting point in selecting grips is to explore the Golf Pride Grip Selector. Once you’ve narrowed your decision check out the grip selection at your local golf retailer or on-course shop, or seek the advice of a professional club-builder.

***The Information and content in this article was provided by www.golfpride.com.

I think the best thing the average player could take away from August this year is to stay in the moment. I think Phil Mickelson lost focus of the overall picture and it very well could have cost him a fourth Green Jacket.

Phil was able to rebound and finish a couple shots out of the playoff but had he stayed in the moment and played the higher percentage shot he could have captured the years first Major. This situation was very similar to the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Phil sliced his tee shot into the tents left of the fairway and preceded to try and play a very low percentage “hero” shot from U.S. Open rough. We all respect how Phil plays the game, and it is tough to question a four time Major winner, but had he managed himself better under tough low percentage shots could his major total have been 10?

When you find yourself in a situation that requires the “hero” shot to succeed – ask yourself “what is on the line”? Making a guaranteed bogey or risking making triple may be the difference in you shooting your lowest round ever. Make sure that the next time you are faced with an improbable situation you way your options against the overall goal of the round.

Preparation begins weeks, if not months ahead of time for the average tour professional. They might play the course in early March just to get reacquainted with tee shots and green complexes. They take notes of any changes and can prepare for shots they might face during tournament week.

Altering their equipment is another major force in preparation for Augusta. Perhaps they add a hybrid, or adjust the loft on their putter. They let the course dictate the clubs in their bag.

When the average player gets to a tournament they are out of their element. They start trying to act like a tour professional – getting there an hour early, hitting lots of golf balls, putting for 30 minutes. They think this is what they “must do” in a tournament.

For your next event try some of these tips:

• Make sure your equipment is ready to go
• Know the golf course, don’t play it blind (you should have an idea of what to expect on every hole)
• If you don’t have a pre-round warm-up let’s get one. I will help you get the most out of your warm-up so you can play your best.

This should be an exciting Masters – and all because each Professional is prepared to play his best.

Take a Sharpie marker and draw a straight line on your golf ball. You have seen PGA Tour Players do this all the time. After you have marked your ball on the green, replace it with the line aligned with your intended putting line.

This will give you a great visual as to how and align your body and putter to the putting line and not the hole.

Now just make your stroke so that you send the ball down the intended putting line and allow it to break into the whole. If you do this correctly you will be able to see the line on your ball stay perfectly straight and not wobble when rolling across the green.

Watch this great video on Brad Faxon (one of the greatest putters of all time) and see how he puts this into practice. Notice how he focuses on the PUTTING LINE and not the HOLE.

If you slice the ball, or “power fade” it – you need to embrace that part of your game on the course. Off the course I would recommend trying to straighten that slice (which will lead to more consistency).

I want you to try this the next time you tee it up – Don’t look at the flags! For all 18 holes I want you to aim towards the left side of the green and fade / slice it back to the center of the green (and vice versa if you draw it).

Guess what will happen. You will have many more putts at birdies and pars and will hit more greens. Being in the middle of the green will mean that you will always have a chance to make a putt.

Try this the next time you play and I promise that you will shoot one of your better scores of the year.

If you are “right-eye” dominant you will see the hole to the right of its true location because you’ll set up with your right eye too far inside the ball and the target line. This will cause you to push your putts to the right and most likely adjust your stroke accordingly (outside to in) to then pull the ball back online.
This means that you can have a perfect read and still miss!

According to Dr. Lawrence Lampert, Vision Specialist and author of the book The Pro’s Edge: Vision Training for Golf,

The proper position for consistent alignment in putting, chipping, and bunker play is to have your eyes directly over the golf ball, square to your target line, with your dominant eye over the back tip of the ball.

Learn which of your eyes is dominant to account for this optical illusion by taking the test below:

1. Hold your arms out in front of you and make a triangle by overlapping the space between index finger and thumb with the same space on your opposite hand. Make a peep sight with the webs of your thumbs, and stare at an object in the distance.
2. Look at an object through the triangle hole made by your hands, preferably something round like a door knob.
3. Focus on the object, not your hands.
4. Now close one of your eyes. If you still see the object with your left eye open you are left eyed. If you still see the object with your right eye open you are right eyed.

Here was the scene:

A playoff between Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley and Bill Haas was tied after the 1st playoff hole (#18). The second playoff hole (#10) was a drivable par 4 (315 yards) with the pin on the back of the green; both Phil & Keegan hit 3 woods short right of the green. Bill hit driver pin high but left of the green. All three players had virtually no shot at the pin, they would of all needed to drop it from Snoopy One (the blimp) to stand a chance of ever holding the green. Here is what happened next –

Phil aimed at the pin and tried the super flop but couldn’t get enough spin on the ball to hold the green. His ball rolled past the pin and off the green into the back bunker.

Keegan Bradley aimed at the pin and hit an awesome bunker shot that had some spin but still couldn’t hold the green. His ball rolled past the pin and onto the fringe.

Bill Haas thought his shot was a little too risky and knew his margin of error was really small (maybe 1 out of 20 getting it up & down). He elected to aim at the front of the green, taking all of the trouble out of play but leaving himself about a 45-foot putt.

Bill went on to make his 45-foot putt and win the tournament.

What is the lesson we can all take from this PGA Tour playoff?

Next time you are faced with a shot that is almost impossible, think like Bill Haas and don’t wait for a miracle – play the percentages and stay within your limits. You can still make birdie or par with your putter.

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Play smart and lower your scores.

I encourage you to go online and take the USGA Rules of Golf Quiz – let me know how you do. This will help me to determine if we need to hold some Rules of Golf classes!

Many people view the rules as a way to hurt their score or detract from the fun, but if you’re a serious golfer you should be viewing the rules as a way to help you score better and enjoy the challenge. Here are a few rules that I bet you didn’t know about.

Q: A player places a club on the ground parallel to the line of play to assist him in aligning his feet properly. Is this permissible?
A. Yes, provided the player removes the club before playing his stroke. Otherwise a breach of Rule 8-2a would occur.

Q. What is the status of stones in bunkers?
A. Stones are by definition loose impediments regardless of their location. Thus, when the ball and the stone lie in or touch the same hazard, the stone may not be removed. However, a Committee may adopt a Local Rule stating that stones in bunkers are movable obstructions. Unless this Local Rule is put into effect by the Committee, players may not remove stones in bunkers without penalty.

Q. Is it a breach of a Rule for a ball to be holed while another ball is at rest in the hole?
A. No. Both balls are holed (see Definition of “Holed”) and there are no penalties incurred by either player. It is a breach of Etiquette for the first player to leave his ball in the hole if the second player has asked him to remove it.