However, I highly recommend at least practicing during a windy day.  That way you will feel a little more confident on the course during those days when you do battle the elements.   I learned a lot about playing in the wind when I lived and taught at Kapalua in Maui.  Those Trade-winds were rough! However, makes for a fun round too!  I have hit some extremely long drives, but then also hit some extremely short ones too! Many people have a tendency to swing faster than their normal swing during windy conditions.  Even during a non-windy day, we all know that’s a train wreck right there, trying to swing faster!  Good, easy tempo is key.  Yes, the ole saying “Swing easy when it’s breezy” is one to use.  Don’t try and swing harder and faster just because it’s windy. 

First determine the direction of the wind, into or downwind.  To do so, pick some grass and throw it in the air.  You always see the tour players and their caddies do it,  so, you should too! But also, look up toward the tops of the trees and see if they are moving around.  Sometimes, you can toss some grass and it doesn’t move, but if you look up, those trees could be moving around quite a bit.  Always look at the flag stick too! See what direction that’s moving, if it is.  And again, look at the tops of the trees around the green. Once the ball gets above the tree line, the ball could be hitting a wall of wind! 

Once you have determined the direction, then determine your club selection.  For ever 10mph of wind, use one extra or less club.  So, if you typically play a 7 iron at 130 yards and you are hitting into a 20 mph wind, use 2 extra clubs.  So, pull out a 5 iron or one of your hybrids. If it’s downwind, then use a 9 iron.  It’s not unusual to use 4 or even 5 extra clubs if you are hitting into some big gusts.  If the wind is moving sideways, then change your alignment to hit into the opposite direction and let the wind move the ball in that direction.  Keep in mind, the more sidespin you have on your ball, slicer or hooker,  the more the wind will take over.  So, you must adjust. 

 When hitting the ball down wind, I recommend having your nice easy tempo swing, with the correct club selection.  If you are using a driver, then “tee it up high and let it fly!”  If into the wind with a driver, then tee slightly lower than normal.  If hitting into the wind, then hit a knock down shot, by intentionally keeping the ball on a lower, flatter trajectory.  I recommend practicing these shots on a regular basis, even without wind.  By practicing these, you will be a better ball striker and help you to keep the handle (grip) forward through impact.  So, determine your club then play the ball back slightly, swing through be having your hands more forward through impact, or in front of the clubhead and have a low finish, like a chip shot. And ALWAYS in balance.  I like to have my students imagine as if they have tree branches in front of them and need to knock the ball out under the branches, without a high finish.

So, next time it’s windy, hit the range and have some fun with it, use different clubs, aim for different targets and hit some knockdowns.  By using these simple steps and applying  them on the practice range first, you will now be prepared and have more confidence on the course.  And more confidence equals playing better and having more fun!

Today I’ll discuss how to hold onto the grip for both the putting and ful- swing motion, for right-handed golfers. Since the full swing requires rotation with the hands and forearms and the putting stroke does not, each motion has a different hold on the grip.

The putting hold is usually the one where most are more comfortable and pick up quickly. There are several different ways to hold onto the putter grip.

However, I suggest starting with the traditional hold first, where your left hand is on top of the grip and the right hand is below the left. Hold onto the putter with the palms facing each other and the thumbs going straight down the grip. This will help make the stroke, straight back and straight through to the target, without any wrist break or movement in the hands and forearms.

Then if you find your putting stroke needs help, experiment with some of the nontraditional holds, where the right hand is higher than the left. Again, the stroke should be straight back and straight through, with no rotation in the hands or forearms and finishing with the club face at the target, not turned.

With the full-swing motion, we want rotation with our hands and forearms. To help with rotation, the hands are on the club differently than with the putter. When producing a full swing, I see many people use the same hold as the putter, in their palms and with the thumbs straight down the grip.

Most people don’t know there is a different hold for the full swing. Since the putter hold is usually more comfortable than the fullswing hold, most go back to their comfort zone and continue to practice bad habits.

There are three different ways to hold onto the grip for a full swing. One is not necessarily better than the other. Find one that is a little more comfortable and stick with it.

One way to hold onto the club is the overlap, where the right pinky overlaps between the left index finger and middle finger.

Another is the interlock, where the left index finger locks in between the right index finger and pinky.

Finally, the 10-finger grip is when all 10 fingers are wrapped around the grip.

With all three different full swing holds, unlike with putting, hold onto the grip in the fingers, not in the palms. Also, the fingers should all be touching — no gaps.

To practice the correct hold, take the club and hold the shaft out in front of you first with your right hand, having the shaft parallel to the ground and the club face square with the sole of the club up to the sky.

Now with your left hand, place the heel pad, the pad near your pinky, not your thumb, on the top part of the grip. If there’s a company logo on the top of the grip, go ahead and cover that with the heel pad of your left hand, giving yourself about a half inch gap from the very top of the grip.

Once the heel pad is on the grip correctly, most people will automatically become uncomfortable. They’re not used to that left hand being turned so much toward their right shoulder. This uncomfortable feeling is because they’ve been holding on with the grip in the palm and the heel pad on the side of the club.

Once the heel pad is on top, your left thumb should now be on the right side of the grip. Another visual is that you should be able to see at least one to two knuckles with your left hand.

If you don’t see any knuckles, the heel pad is not on top of the grip and the hand needs to be turned more toward your right shoulder.

Now the right hand should slide up the shaft and cover your left thumb with the “lifeline” or crease of your right hand. Your right thumb should now be on the left side of the grip.

Notice, neither thumb is straight down the shaft. They are opposite. Left thumb right side, right thumb left side of the grip. Now, lower the club to the ground and take small swings, gradually working into bigger swings.

Because of your new hold, you might start feeling your right hand and forearm cross over your left hand or forearm at the bottom of your circle creating rotation. Continue with this rotation without a ball and then try these swings with a ball. The ball should now go straight or produce a little draw because the club face is now square at impact.

However, if you hold onto the club too tight, which you probably will at first due to the new hold, you will still hit the ball off to the right. A good way to check for your pressure in your hands and forearms is to raise the club head to the sky creating the letter “L” with your arms and shaft.

By creating the “L,” you are hinging your wrists and also applying the correct pressure in your hands. This hinge is a great source of power in your swing.

If you find that your hands are usually sore after playing or practicing, you are probably holding onto the club too tight, making the rotation and hinge more challenging to create. This tight hold could be caused from grips that are slippery and old.

Before you invest in new grips, take a wet towel with soap and water and try to wipe off any oils, especially after this heat. If this doesn’t bring the tackiness back to the grip, it’s time to have it replaced.

So the next time you’re practicing and trying to hit straighter shots, check out how you are holding onto the grip. A little adjustment with your hands, can make a big adjustment on the course.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com.

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Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

professional golf grip

professional golf grip

Do you find that your long irons are very challenging to hit? You know what irons I’m talking about. You carry them around, but hardly ever use them.

These long irons can be anywhere from a 3-iron to a 7-iron. These are the irons you have to hit perfect to get them in the air and go somewhere.

Most likely you don’t have as much confidence putting a long iron in your hands as you would with a wood. Because the wood has a larger club head, you’ll become more confident with your swing, unlike the iron, which looks so thin.

You know you have to hit the iron perfect and then you end up holding on tighter and tighter. And what happens when you hold on too tight? Nothing! You’re too tense.

You need to relax and have confidence with what’s in your hands. When you are loose and feeling comfortable and confident, you produce better swings.

As you know, a large percentage of this game is mental. Do you find that something with a bigger club head, like a wood, and shorter length, like an iron, would be more appealing? If you put a club in your hands that makes you feel comfortable and confident, you’ll probably produce better swings through the ball.

It’s time to make a change and take out those long irons and try a hybrid. A hybrid golf club is a combination of an iron and a wood. The hybrid has the iron loft but the length of the club is typically at least 11⁄4 inches longer than an iron.

The hybrid can be used for other shots besides the full swing. You can use it for putting, fairway bunkers and also out of the rough.

The hybrid has a much wider sole than an iron. Because of the wider sole, the club glides through the grass and also sand, instead of digging.

For putting, do you ever have that shot when your ball is on the edge of the putting surface and you have taller grass behind the ball? There’s a fear of the taller grass catching the club on the back swing and then there’s a jerky-type motion through the ball, resulting in either a very small putt or blasting past the hole.

Try using the hybrid and make a regular putting pendulum motion. Because of the sole, the club will glide through the grass and there is no need to worry about getting caught up or stuck on the back swing.

Try a hybrid out of the rough. Since the club face is shorter than an iron, the grass won’t catch the hybrid as it would with an iron. Just by knowing the club will glide through the thick grass, you’ll produce a confident swing, producing better results.

Once you put a hybrid in your hands, you might notice an increase in distance. That increase in distance comes from swinging the club faster due to confidence.

If you are like most ladies, you lack distance with your irons and you want to hit the ball further. One reason for lacking distance is you need more speed going through the ball to get lift.

A great drill to determine if you have speed in your swing is by turning the club upside down so the grip end is toward the ground. Now, without hitting a ball or the ground, make a full swing.

If you hear a “swoosh” noise near the ground, that’s a sign you do have speed. If you hear the noise, try and swing a little faster, to hear a louder noise.

By just taking practice swings and generating noise, you have speed. The louder the noise, the more speed you have. The more speed you have, the more distance you’ll notice.

Besides making contact low on the ball, speed is a main reason the ball gets in the air. And like most that lack speed, they try and scoop the ball up in the air instead of letting the loft of the club face get the ball airborne.

Now, if you don’t hear that “swoosh” noise, I’m guessing that most of your clubs go the same distance. How boring is that?

OK, so now you’ve determined that you really don’t have a lot of speed going through the ball. So how can you improve your speed?

One way is to work on the “swoosh” drill and start producing some sound. Obviously, getting a little stronger by hitting the gym and lifting weights would help.

But this game is for fun and you weren’t really planning on going to the gym to improve your distance.

Honestly, you might not be able to increase your speed due to various reasons, possibly physical. However, by just changing the setup in your bag, taking the frustrating long irons out and putting a few friendly hybrids in, you just might notice a difference in distance.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com.

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

golf club distance

golf club distance

We all know this game can be frustrating when your swing isn’t working. It’s even more frustrating if the group in front of you has no understanding of pace of play. Being aware of your pace of play can make the game more enjoyable for your group and everyone behind you.

Before teeing off, ask the golf professional what the course pace of play rating is and do your part in maintaining that pace.

Typically an 18-hole golf course should play in around four hours. So, when the round becomes 4½ hours and longer, the mood and probably the game for those you are playing with and behind you will change in a negative way. Keep in mind you are not the only person on the course.

A general rule is to always keep up with the group in front of you. If you are unable to keep up, waive the group behind through. To avoid waiving everyone through, pick your ball up and move to the next hole.

The following are just a few examples of the many ways to help you and your group maintain the pace throughout the entire round.

When starting your round, always have an extra ball, tees and ball markers in your pocket. The extra ball can be used as a provisional ball. If you believe your shot is out of bounds or lost, hit a provisional ball.

Spend just a few minutes searching for your ball. If it is not found, play your provisional ball and move on.

If a practice swing is part of your preshot routine, then, please, only one.

If your ball goes in the water on a par 3, use the drop area instead of making several extra swings to hit your ball over the water.

If there is a wait on a par 3, find a safe area to stand and waive the group behind you to tee off. Once the group behind has completed their tee shots and it’s safe to return to the green, have your group complete the hole.

It’s always good to declare at the beginning of the round that you’d like to play “ready golf.” Try and honor the person with the lowest score on the previous hole to hit first, however, that person might not be ready. So, whoever is ready and not necessarily furthest away, goes first.

Also, while your playing partner is hitting her shot, prepare yourself for your shot. Once it’s your turn, you’re ready to swing.

On the green, begin lining up your putt and reading the break as soon as you reach the green. When it’s your turn to putt, step up and take the stroke.

If you have a passenger in your golf cart, it’s always good to drop your passenger off at their ball first and then drive to your golf ball. Your passenger can hit her shot and then walk to the cart while you are hitting your shot.

For the recreational golfer on the putting green, if your playing partner says your ball is “in the leather” or “it’s a gimme,” then pick your ball up and add one stroke. “In the leather” is the length between the end of your putter shaft and the bottom of the grip, approximately 22 inches.

Also, if your attempt at a putt doesn’t go in but you leave the ball fairly close, tell your partners you will finish. That way you don’t have to waste time remarking your golf ball and waiting for the others to complete the hole.

And after completing a hole, proceed to the next tee immediately. Once at the next tee box, put your clubs in your bag and then write down the scores. Use the appropriate colored tee box based on skill level, not gender. If you are a new golfer and don’t hit the ball very far, play the forward tees.

And if the forward tees are still too long, make your own tee box and play from 150 or 100 yards away from the green. Most people have a tendency to play the tee boxes where the course is too long for them, making the course more challenging and creating a longer and frustrating round for all.

And finally, in the world of technology, keep the cell phone off or on silent mode. Because cell phones have become very annoying to others and yourself, many golf courses have gone to “no cell phones allowed.” If you need the phone, never delay your group if you have a call.

By following these few examples, you’ve been able to “keep the peace by keeping the pace,” making for an enjoyable round for all, including the players behind you.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

learn golf

learn golf

Ladies, do you find that you always hit the ball left or right of your target and, every once in a great while, at your target. You could simply be missing your target consistently because you are lined up wrong. You could have the perfect grip, stance and posture, but if you are lined up 30 yards left or right of your target, you will hit the ball 30 yards left or right of your target.

Alignment is so important! You will even see a caddie of a professional golfer look behind the player to confirm or adjust her if that player is aligned incorrectly.

Once there is a confirmation on correct alignment, the caddie must move away from the player before she swings.

Since most of us don’t have a caddie to stand behind us and confirm our alignment, a quick check is to drop a club at your feet and step back behind the ball. Visualize what your ball would do if you took a swing in that setup. You should be able to see immediately why your ball is going into that particular direction.

When I notice a student is lined up wrong, I ask her what she is trying to line up to the target. I get various answers; some have no idea, some say their shoulders, some hips, some feet and some say clubface.

Ask yourself, does your body go to the target or does the clubface and ball go to the target?

If you line your body to the target, then you should be missing your target. Since our ideal intention is for the ball to go to the target, then we should line our clubface at the target and not our body.

Here are a few tips to help you with your alignment. During your pre shot routine, you should always look behind the golf ball and visualize an imaginary line from the ball to the target.

Because most people have a hard time lining up to something 100 yards and further away, use an intermediate target. Look for something that falls along this imaginary line and only a couple of inches in front of the golf ball. This intermediate target could be a divot, a different shade of grass or even a broken tee that was left on the tee box.

Now, once you have your intermediate target in front of the ball, line your clubface behind the ball to the intermediate target. Once you’ve aligned your clubface to the intermediate target, then look out at the intended target. Your clubface should now be lined correctly.

Build your stance around your clubface with your feet, hips and shoulders. Once you’ve taken your stance, look at the target one last time. Your body should not be at the target but to the left if you’re a right-handed golfer and to the right if you’re a left handed golfer.

If you’ve consistently been lined up incorrectly, it’s very possible your routine of setting up to the ball has been backwards. Before, you probably lined your body first and then your clubface. Your new routine is now clubface at the target first and then set your body.

For those of you that have been lined incorrectly for awhile, this new setup is going to look and feel very strange for you. You must trust having the clubface to your target and swing out to the target.

During your practice sessions or even a warm-up prior to a round, it’s always good to have shafts on the ground for a visual guide, creating a “runway” or “railroad track” effect.

I recommend putting two clubs down on the ground that are parallel to each other. One club should have the grip end pointed left of the target and one club should have grip end pointed right of the target, leaving at least a foot between the two shafts.

Now put a ball between the two shafts. By looking behind the ball, you will notice the ball is in line to the target. Set the clubface up behind the ball and then have your feet, hips and shoulders lined up to the shafts on the ground. You are now aligned correctly to the target.

Now that you are aligned correctly, you need to train your brain to get the correct visual; always look at your target one last time before you swing. You now have the ability to work on the swing.

Since you are lined up correctly, you can’t blame your misdirected shot on your alignment. If your direction is still off and your alignment is good, then it’s time to focus on another fundamental of the game.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

golf alignment

golf alignment

For those ladies working on dropping that handicap, try spending more time on the practice putting green instead of trying to hit the ball farther. By spending a little more time with your putts and following some of my suggestions below, that handicap just might start coming down, even if you don’t achieve the distance you’d love to have.

To become a good putter you obviously need a good putting stroke, but besides that, you must be able to determine the speed and read the green.

First, try and get a general idea of speed. There are various factors that influence speed. What time of day is it? Morning and freshly mown greens tend to play faster than later in the day, shaggy greens.

If you’re in Las Vegas, then most definitely you will play in the wind and, yes, it does matter if you are putting downwind or into the wind. Is the green wet from a possible monsoon or saturated from a maintenance crew trying to save a green?
How about the grain? Are you putting with the shiny blades of grass, making the putt fast, or against, making the putt slow?
Some courses will even give you a Stimpmeter reading for the day, which measures how fast a green is truly rolling. Most professional tour events are around 11 or 12, being fast.

The lower the number, the slower the green.

If you’re not sure about the speed, always make time to roll a few putts before your round to get a feel of just how fast the greens are rolling. We all know, it’s a terrible feeling being on the green in regulation and walk off three- or even four- putting.

Once you’ve taken a general assessment of the speed, now it’s time to determine the break.

Try and ask one of the professionals for some “local knowledge” on their greens. They will let you know if their greens typically break in a certain direction.

Several courses in town might give suggestions of playing the putt away from a mountain, towards the valley or even the Stratosphere. Now if you were playing in Maui, where I came from at Kapalua, we’d tell everyone that all putts break to the channel, between the islands of Lanai and Molokai.

Don’t get caught up or spend too much time on trying to read the green. I find players spend so much time trying to find the break, they completely forget about the speed and end up either hitting the ball too hard and way past the cup, or too soft, never getting the ball close to the hole.

Here are a couple ideas to assist in your green reading: Start reading the green before you are even on the green. This can be done by watching your approach shot but also by watching your playing partner’s approach shot. Once the approach shot hits the green, watch the direction the ball rolls.

Always try and read your putt from looking directly behind the ball.

When you look down your line, try and stand farther away from the ball or if your knees are in good shape, crouch down. If you stand too close, the putt looks flatter and it is more challenging to see breaks.

Visualize the breaking point or the high side of an imaginary putting line. If you have a hard time seeing a line, imagine as if you had a bucket of water and you dumped the water on the green.

Try and visualize where the water would run. That would be the direction of your putt.

Keep in mind that the majority of golfers do not play their break point high enough.

Once you’ve looked directly behind your imaginary putting line, walk around to the opposite direction of your line. You’ll be amazed at how much more visual terrain you will take in from the side view and the opposite direction of the ball.

No matter what, when in doubt and you do have a challenging time determining a break, play the putt straight.

As always, while preparing yourself for your next putt, keep in mind your pace of play. There is nothing worse than watching a group of players in front of you on the green, reading every putt and taking too long to read every putt.

Find the right time to walk around to the other side, without distracting your playing partners. Let your playing partner make his or her stroke and again, watch what your playing partner’s ball does.

Once they made their stroke, head back to your ball, line your clubface to your breaking point, focus on speed and make your confident stroke. Don’t forget about that speed. A ball rolling with a lot of pace is not going to break as much as one rolling more slowly.

A great way to practice your green reading and speed is with the spoke or clock drill. When practicing at your local facility, find a cup that is on a little slope.

Next, put a minimum of four tees around the hole, making a circle, about 12 to 15 feet away from the cup. Practice putting from each tee to the cup.

Now that you’ve given yourself the opportunity to practice these putts, you should start sinking a few more on the links, and see those scores and handicap start to go down.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

golf putt instruction

golf putt instruction

If your set stops at a pitching wedge, you are already making the bunker shot even more challenging.

Do you dread the bunker shot? Well if you’re like most ladies, you do. Here are a few tips to help you become more comfortable when you are in the beach and to reach our No. 1 goal: Get out!

Before I begin with explaining the shot, you must first determine if you have the correct equipment to play the bunker shot. I highly recommend investing in a sand wedge. If your set stops at a pitching wedge, you are already making the bunker shot even more challenging. A sand wedge is designed to glide or slide through the sand. If you use a pitching wedge in the bunker, you’ll dig. Also, if you are hitting out of a green-side bunker, you usually need height on the ball.

Typically, a pitching wedge loft is from 45 to 49 degrees. A sand wedge loft is between 54 and 56 degrees and a lob wedge is 60 degrees. Keep in mind, the rules only allow for 14 clubs in the bag, so you might not be able to carry the lob wedge.

Now that you have a sand wedge, it’s time to practice a green-side bunker, so jump in and let’s “hit the beach.” When I say “hit the beach,” I mean it. When you practice your green-side bunker shot, you need to take some full swings and throw that sand out with your club.

I suggest first to draw two lines in the sand, perpendicular to your feet, playing the first line off of your forward foot, left instep for righty golfers. The second line should be an inch or two behind and parallel to the first line.

Now, focus on hitting the back line while taking a full swing. That back line will be called your hitting/impact line. When you hit the sand I want you to hear a “thud” noise. Don’t just stop your swing when you make the “thud.” Always, accelerate through, throwing the sand out to the target. It is OK to make a mess of the green.

Keep in mind, the sand is what will throw the ball out. So, if the sand doesn’t get out, the ball isn’t getting out either. Also, if you don’t hit the sand, you will hit the ball and most likely that ball is going to sail over the green, possibly into another bunker.

Once you’ve practiced the line drill making good contact with the sand and consistently throwing it out onto the green, repeat the same swing, but with a ball. Place the ball off of your front foot. Before you swing, do not look at the ball. Focus on a spot of sand 1 to 2 inches behind the ball.

Take your full swing, hitting the spot and throwing the sand out onto the green. Complete your swing with your hips at the target.

Keep in mind, if you are playing by the rules, you would incur a 2-stroke penalty if you ground your club in the sand before you make your swing. When you practice, I suggest getting used to having the club above the ball and not on the ground before you swing. You’ll create a bad habit if you ground the club in practice. So visualize and focus on your hitting spot.

The fairway bunker is very different than the green-side bunker. With the green-side bunker, you don’t want to hit the ball, you hit behind the ball, letting the sand throw the ball out, usually producing height and not much distance. With the fairway bunker, you must hit the ball and ideally want distance. I suggest playing the ball in the center of your stance. This will help you to hit all ball and no sand, producing more distance.

Also, club selection is extremely important. I see so many ladies just try and get the ball out by using a sand wedge. Yes, our first goal is to get the ball out, but how about getting some distance too, especially if you are 150 yards away from the green.

So, first analyze your situation. If the lip on the bunker is really high, then maybe the only option is to just get the ball out and not worry about distance. In that case you’d use your sand wedge. But if the lip isn’t very high, pull out a longer iron, maybe a 7-iron, a hybrid or even a 5-wood.

Once you’ve determined the best club for your situation, make a full swing, accelerating through the ball, finishing with your hips at the target. If you hit low on the ball, not taking any sand, you should be pleased with your results.

Now that you have a better understanding of how to produce a bunker shot, the only way to improve these shots is to practice; just taking one swing during your round is not going to help.

Most facilities in town have a green-side bunker to practice out of but not a fairway bunker. My suggestion for practicing a fairway bunker is to take it to the course. I’d recommend calling the golf shop a day prior or even the morning when you want to go out and ask them if they have any slow periods during the day. That’s when you want to go out and practice.

When you are out there practicing, try different clubs. Now is your opportunity to experiment with one of those fairway woods or even a hybrid in the bunker. Or maybe try a downhill fairway bunker shot. Your ball position will be in the back of your stance for a downhill shot.

Hopefully these basic tips will help improve your bunker play, making that shot at the beach enjoyable and no longer dreadful.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

golf bunker shots

golf bunker shots

Most ladies are always looking for ways to improve their distance. One way to increase distance is by swinging the club faster, generating more speed through the ball.

However, if you do not make contact on the center of the club face, you’re wasting your energy trying to swing faster and won’t necessarily increase your distance. If you make contact on the center, you’ll automatically notice an increase in distance. Then, generate more speed, you will truly notice an increase in distance.

That center of the club face is extremely important, we call that the “sweet spot.” I’m sure most of you have hit the sweet spot at least once in your golfing lifetime. You know that shot, you say, wow, that felt great!

It’s so sweet when you hit that sweet spot. You don’t feel anything. Unlike when you hit the bottom of the club or anywhere else on the club face but the center, you feel a vibration that runs up the shaft and into your hands.

It sometimes stings. That vibration is even more intense if you use steel shafts compared to graphite.

There are many factors that can cause you to not hit the sweet spot. One area to focus on is your posture.

It’s important to have a good posture at address, which includes a good setup position. With this posture and setup, you should focus on how far away you stand from the ball and also, your arm extension.

Just by focusing on your setup, you’ll begin to notice consistent contact on the sweet spot and, then, an increase in distance.

Most golfers don’t realize how important posture is when trying to increase their distance. Again, our goal is to find the sweet spot first and then notice more distance.

If we have poor posture, we’ll produce bad swings, making off-center hits, resulting in a loss of distance.

It’s important to start with good posture at address. Two areas to focus on for our posture is our arm extension and also how far away to set up from the ball.

To work your way into a good posture, hold the club out in front of you, parallel to the ground, with both hands.

Make sure the club face is square. Once you have a square club face and the shaft is still out in front of you, now take your grip. Slowly bring the club down to the ground behind the ball, while tilting your hips.

Think of the tilt as though you are producing a slight bow to the ball, but chin up. If you do your bow or tilt at your hips correctly, you will feel as though your tailbone is out.

Now that the club face is behind the ball, centered, we want to hold onto the club with our arms in a triangle without bend in the elbows.

If you have your tilt, the hands and arms should dangle in front of you, creating a natural arm hang, no reaching.

If the club comes down to the ground and your elbows have a bend, then you are too close to the ball and need to back away to create a triangle in the arms and shoulders.

Pressure in your feet should be even or slightly forward, never on your heels. If you have a good posture and setup, you should produce a good swing so that at impact, the arms should be back in the triangle or extended.

In order to increase distance and focus on improving consistent contact on the sweet spot, you must be aware of where you are making contact on the club face. Most people are able to feel where they make contact on the club face.

However, not everyone has the ability to feel that impact. If you are one that can’t feel the impact, then these two drills should help you see where you are making contact.

Once you see where you make contact, then you can make appropriate changes to correct the problem of missing the center of the club face at impact.

A great drill to check your impact area is to create a runway with tees; the ball you are going to hit will be in the center of the runway. The tees are on each side of the ball about an inch away.

Take a swing. If you knocked out or made contact with the tees that are close to you and also made contact on the toe of the club, then you could have either lost your arm extension at address and your arms came close to your body at impact or you could have been standing too far from the ball at address.

If you hit the tees on the outside of the ball and made contact on the heel of the club, then you could have had too much arm extension at impact or you were probably standing too close to the ball at address. Another drill or training aid to determine your impact area is by putting impact tape or baby powder on the club face. Once you take a swing, you will immediately see where you make contact. Take a few swings and see if there’s a pattern of where you consistently make contact.

Again, making contact anywhere other than on the sweet spot or center of the club face, and you’ve lost distance. If you consistently notice a pattern of hitting more on the heel or toe of the club, a simple change of making an adjustment of how far away you are from the ball at address, could correct the problem.

Or just focus on keeping your arms extended through impact could help you find the sweet spot. Once you find that sweet spot, you’ll automatically notice an improvement in your distance and, wow, it feels good too.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com

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distance golf

distance golf

Have you ever evaluated your scorecard after your round? Ask yourself, why did you end up with the number you put down? How many times have you been just off the green, you hit a shot and it took you more than two strokes to get the ball in the hole.

If it’s usually more than two from that spot, then it’s time to really start practicing and focusing on the chip. So many people are always trying to gain more distance. However, is gaining more distance really going to help you drop your scores? By working on your chipping you will start to notice a decline in that score.

What is a chip anyway? A chip shot is when you are just off of the green, can’t use the putter due to the terrain or distance and want to keep the ball fairly low to the ground, to roll up to the hole. In order to produce this type of shot, you need to have the correct fundamentals.

With the setup, I suggest playing the ball off of your back foot, the foot that is farthest away from the target. Have your weight on your forward foot, the foot closest to the target. And place your hands and the shaft slightly at an angle forward, toward the target. The angle has now put the hands in front of the club face.

This is the same angle at impact. The hands should always be in front of the club face at impact. Since the stroke is very similar to our putting stroke in that we maintain a triangle with our arms and shoulders and no hinge with the wrists, I also suggest standing closer to the ball so the shaft becomes more upright. When standing closer, it is OK for your hands to come down a little on the shaft.

This stance will help maintain a pendulum, straight back and through motion, moving the triangle created with our arms and shoulders. And finally, have those feet closer together. No need to have a shoulder-width stance here when our target is so close. Swing the club back and forward, keeping the weight forward and the hands or shaft forward the entire time.

If the shaft is at an angle at impact and your arms have maintained the triangle, you should make contact low on the ball, catching a little grass directly under the ball and maybe slightly in front of the ball, toward the target. If the shaft is straight at impact or even angled back away from the target, you’ll probably miss the grass and make contact on the top of the ball.

Take a few practice swings and try to feel or see the club head going through the grass and out to the target. A good check on your swing is to hold your finishing position. When holding your finish, your arms should be extended out to the target, along with your hips turned to the target and your weight should still be on the front foot.

If your arms are not extended out to the target, that’s a sign that you were more into scooping or trying to lift the ball at impact. Is your weight centered or on your back foot? With either of these finishing positions, you most likely ended up making contact on the top of the ball. This shot usually ends up running across the green, but out of control.

Does this sound familiar? If you do find the correct finish to be challenging, practice the “flamingo” drill. This will train you to keep your weight on your front foot the entire swing. Take your setup and then prior to the swing, move your back foot away but raise your back heel up and your toes into the ground.

You will now have most of your weight on your forward foot, but also be in balance. Try and make pendulum motion swings in this position, like a flamingo, with your hands forward at impact and holding your arms extended out to the target. You should begin to get the correct feel of the swing.

Once you have the setup and swing motion down, it’s important to have a consistent preshot routine. A preshot routine will help to plan the shot by visualizing and also feeling the motion of the swing. To visualize, always look behind the ball and focus on a landing area where the ball will hit, and then focus on how much roll the ball will go to the hole.

When determining how to play the shot, take in any break the green might have. Once the landing area is determined, aim the club face at that spot, which is now your target, not the hole. I suggest one practice swing, especially with these short shots to help determine your feel and how much effort you’ll put into your swing.

When practicing, a good drill to help determine how much effort needs to be put into the swing is by tossing a ball at your landing area first. Then take the club and try and repeat the same effort and tempo.

Club selection for a chip shot can be a personal preference, especially if someone practices this shot. I highly recommend experimenting with a variety of clubs around the green and not just one club for all different distances.

Try practicing with a sand wedge, pitching wedge, 9 iron, 8 iron and even a 7 iron and aim to the same target. You’ll begin to find that for the target that’s close, you might prefer the wedges. And for the targets that are further away, you might prefer the lower-number, less-lofted clubs. Using different clubs will help you control your distance.

By putting just a little more practice time in your chipping and making sure you have the correct setup and motion, you will begin to notice an improvement in your overall round, making the game even more enjoyable.

Kristin Sunderhaft is an independent contractor at the beautiful Anthem CC. She offers a two-students-for-the-price-of-one special, with all private lessons. To schedule a lesson with Sunderhaft, contact her by e-mail at kristin@sundergolf.com

“Like Sundergolf” to find out about great deals for our Facebook friends.

Check out my latest instructional video on our You Tube Channel.

short game in golf

short game in golf