Golf Tips

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ed kageyamaThe Finish Position
By Ed Kageyama, PGA
General Manager, Ka‘anapali Golf Resort

The finish position is standing on your forward foot (left foot for right-handed players) with your hips and shoulders facing (rotated to) the target, arms and shoulders relaxed in front of you. Your back foot should be balanced on the toe—you should almost be able to lift your right foot up and still be balanced. You see many tour players finish in this position.

If you can swing and finish in this position, then you have swung balanced, rotated your body and completed your weigh shift in a relaxed manner.

By focusing on swinging to the finish position, you will have successfully swung on plane, done a proper clubhead release, rotated your body, shifted your weigh, swung effortlessly, remained balanced, etc., etc., etc.

Traditional teaching breaks apart the swing, analyzes it, instructs you to focus on the parts and then try to piece it all back together. That’s a lot to remember in a split second.

By focusing on the finish, I can teach you all of the “parts” while focusing on the whole.

 

Chipping Technique
By Eliot Gouveia, PGA
Head Golf Professional, Elleair Maui Golf Club

One of the biggest differences between average golfers and professionals is their chipping technique. The correct technique gives consistent, clean contact so you can judge how far the ball will go. Usually you can recover from a bad drive or second shot, but a bad chip is almost always a bogey or worse. Here are a few keys:

• On a full swing you have time to make
a weight shift back and through. On short
shots you don’t, so keep your weight on
your forward foot.

•    Set your hands slightly ahead of the ball.

•    Keep your back and forward swings the
same length, and your chipping motion will
be more like a pendulum.

Important: On your downswing, don’t let your left wrist cup. It shouldn’t break until well after the ball is gone. This is a big reason for thin or heavy shots.
Keep these tips in mind and you’ll have more success around the greens.


Relax Before You Putt
By Rick Castillo, PGA
Director of Golf,The King Kamehameha Golf Club

One of the fundamentals of good putting is to clear your mind of negative thoughts and fill it with positive ones. Instead of telling yourself that you have to make a putt, tell yourself that you can make the putt. Here are a few simple steps that you can use to improve your putting.

•    Read your putts properly, taking line, distance,
speed and grain into consideration. Strong winds can
affect your putts.

•    Align your body and aim to your initial line, which
may not be at the hole.

•    Visualize the speed of the ball tracking towards the
hole to promote the right length of your stroke.

•    Just before you putt, take a breath and exhale. This
will relax your muscles and help smooth your stroke.

Everyone, without realizing it, holds their breath just before putting. If you don’t exhale, your body will remain tight and cause a jerky stroke. When you’re under pressure and self-imposed stress, try the steps I suggest above. They will minimize your bad putts and lower your score.

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