A common problem for golfers is the correct use of the fairway wood. Many amateur players try to lift the ball into the air rather than let the loft of the club do it.

Tip one; let the club do it’s job. Engineers and very clever people design these clubs to perform a set of particular actions, getting the golf ball airborne is one of them.

Fairway woods are incredibly useful clubs performing a variety of tasks from the obvious like hitting the ball from the fairway to driving off the tee, from getting you out of the cabbage to chipping from the edge of the green.

Learn to swing your fairway wood and you will have a useful ally in your golf game.

For this article we shall concentrate on the most common aspect of the fairway wood and that is the second shot from the fairway into, and hopefully onto, the green.

Visualise this; the club will sweep the ball from the turf without taking a divot. A slight bruising of the grass is all that you want, the club face will connect with the ball at the bottom of its arc, the lofted face will cause the ball to rise into the air and fly down the fairway.

Set up to the ball in the manner of your driver with a stance slightly wider than your shoulders, this gives you a firm basis for your swing. Your spine will will be tilted slightly to the right to accomodate the fact that your right hand is lower down on the club.

The ball is played from just inside your left heel and so your sternum or breastbone will be behind the ball by a couple of inches.You can check this initial positioning in a mirror at home so it becomes natural on the course.

To begin the swing take the club back close to the ground. Practice the move by placing another ball a few inches behind your target ball and pushing it away with your club head. The swing arc is wide and fairly shallow and tempo is all important. Start practising at half speed to achieve the right technique.

The down swing will return low and wide, the club head will brush the grass and be fully at the bottom of its arc when it impacts the ball. Remember, no divots. If you are taking a divot it means the club is striking the ball on the downward direction, this will cause it to pop up violently losing forward momentum or you will scud it into the ground. Neither of which is desirable.

Develop a sense of hitting the ball down the fairway, not up into the air. After impact allow your arms to extend through the shot along the target line. This should help keep the club square at impact meaning a straighter, more accurate shot.

As mentioned earlier in the article tempo or timing is crucial to consistency with the fairway wood so practice sweeping the grass without the pressure of hitting a ball and even hum a little tune which helps you swing rythmically. It can become the most natural of movements. Good luck and good golf to you.



By: Norman Stanley

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Watch the pros on Tour and notice how in-control they look at the finish position of the their golf swing. Why? Because they are!

They are in perfect balance. Even the pro who might look a little crooked at the end of the swing has a balanced swing. Vijay, who is slightly bent to the side at the finish position of his driver, is still in perfect balance.

How often do you think an amateur practices or even thinks about his or her finish position? Probably never. I would surmise that once contact has been made with the golf ball, most amateurs thoughts shift to the ball flight rather than where our body is finishing the swing.

Why is the finish position so important to a successful golf swing? And beyond that being in a balanced finishing position?

The finish position is directly related to two very important concepts involved in the golf swing. Number one is swing plane and clubhead is number two.

The swing plane is defined as the path on which the golf club should travel upon during the swing.

A quick review of the swing plane tells us that beginning with the address position, into the backswing, onto to the downswing, into impact, to follow through, and completing with the finish position, the golf club is intended to travel on a specific arch. This arch is a result of the biomechanics of the golf swing sequencing properly. In other words, everything working with the correct timing.

Think of the club traveling in a circle during the swing.

This imaginary circle is your swing plane and it dissects your back shoulder on the backswing and transition phases of the swing.

Returns to the same position as you started at impact with the ball, and dissects your front shoulder during the follow through into the finish position.

If the golfer maintains the clubhead on this path during the swing this is an indication that the mechanics of the swing are being performed properly.

What does a balanced finishing position have to do with the swing plane?

A balanced finishing position is yet another indicator that, number one, the golf club is following the correct swing plane, and number two, the golfer is performing the mechanics of the swing in the correct sequencing with proper timing.

Secondly, the finish position is directly related to what is referred to as feeling the clubhead.

Ask any Tour player they will tell you that they can feel the clubhead at any moment during the swing.

Completing the swing in a balanced finish position requires you to be tension free and feeling the club head through the entire swing.

Now the bigger question is, how does the amateur golfer get to a balance finish position?

Easier said than done. To develop feel in the swing, maintain the proper swing path, and develop a balanced finish position requires mastering three principles.

Principle number one is proper swing mechanics. In order to develop feel and correct swing path requires the golfer to develop the correct mechanics of the swing.

Not only do you need to learn the different fundamentals of the swing, you need to train yourself to put these fundamental in proper sequence.

Principle number two is the body. The body swings the club. Your body must have the flexibility, balance capabilities, strength, endurance, and power to perform the mechanics of the swing.

If the body is unable to take the club on the proper swing plane because of a lack of flexibility or lacks the power to develop clubhead speed. The ability to maintain a proper swing path, and finish in a balanced position will be compromised.

Principle number three is practice. In order to develop the proper swing plane, create feel for the club, master the mechanics of the swing, and develop a body to support the swing, you must practice the swing and train the body. Over time this will result in the development of components of a proper golf swing.

The amateur will often leave out one of the three principles. If the golfer does not practice, train the body, or develop swing mechanics, it is unlikely ou will keep the clubhead on the correct swing plane.

Bottom line, a balanced finish position is a very good indicator that particular swing was efficient. It also should tell you that your body is flexible, strong, and powerful.

By: Sean Cochran

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We as golfers have heard the term swing plane many times during our golfing careers. But do we really know the definition of it and the bearing upon our golf swing?

Recently, I had a conversation with Dean Reinmuth (top 30 teaching pro ranked by Golf Digest) and I think he described swing plane the best. Dean suggests to think of the swing plane as an imaginary circle. The imaginary circle that represents the swing plane is set at an angle. It is the path on which it is necessary for the club to travel in order to execute the swing correctly.

Beginning at address, the clubhead and shaft should be positioned at the bottom of the swing plane. During takeaway into the backswing and at the transition point of the swing, the clubhead and shaft are to remain on the swing plane. These three phases of the swing represent the club traveling up the swing plane to top of it. Keep in mind the visual of the circle and the shaft of the club dissecting the shoulder during these phases of the swing.

Once the transition is complete, the downswing begins and the clubhead is moving down the swing plane. The path on which the club is traveling down should be the same as on the backswing.

Continuing on with the swing plane, the club is to travel to again the bottom of the swing plane for impact with the golf ball. Once impact has occurred with the golf ball the follow-through of the swing occurs, and it is still necessary for the club to travel upon the correct swing plane. This assures that you are releasing the golf club correctly.

The swing plane on the follow through is essentially a mirror image of it on the backswing. The golf club, again, must travel up an imaginary circle that dissects your front shoulder up into the finish position.

What does the swing plane represent?

The swing plane represents the path on which your golf club should travel upon during the swing.

Why is it so important for the golf club to travel upon the swing plane?

The golf club must travel upon the correct swing path in order to impact the golf ball correctly. Impacting the golf ball correctly provides the greatest possibility of delivering powerful, accurate, and consistent shots on the course of play.

Oftentimes the golf club does not travel upon the correct swing plane. What happens in such instances?

The path of the club becomes and outside to in move resulting in a slice, or an inside to out swing plane resulting in a hook. Overall, the clubs not traveling on the correct swing plane results in poor shots.

Now that we know what a proper swing plane is within the golf swing and we can visually create a picture of it, how do we develop the proper swing plane?

This is the hard part, and there are no secrets about it. Referring back to my conversation with Dean Reinmuth, he suggests that it is a process of creating feel for the proper swing plane. Creating feel is a process of knowing where the clubhead is on the swing plane. This allows you to know where your golf club is in regards to the proper swing plane required of the golf swing.

How do you go about creating feel within your golf swing?

It is a process of understanding the mechanics of swing and developing the proper swing mechanics within your golf swing.

This allows you to know what the golf club should be doing, where it should be during each phase of the swing, and when it is not where it should be when you are swinging the golf club.

Overall, it becomes a process of recognition. Recognition of what is the right and the wrong movements/positions within the golf swing. Once feel is developed within your swing, I would definitely say you are close to mastering the golf swing.

This does require time and effort on your part. But if you are willing to put in the time and effort, rewards on the course will be well documented.

By: Sean Cochran

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All golfers have one thing in common. They cannot play without golf balls. Skill level or experience has nothing to do with this one no-brainer. However, it is not about whether or not one needs golf balls it is a question of which golf balls to choose.

The answer is not universal and, generally, depends on the golfer’s preferences and tastes. It is about what how much the golfer wants to spend and his or her expectations from the ball. Expectations can change depending on whether you just golf on the weekend or golf all the time.

Some golfers play with only one certain brand of golf balls. There are no expectations to such golfers. Cost is not a factor. They golf with this ball or do not golf at all. Yes, this may be an extreme case, but the reality of it is that some people find this within the norm. Golf is virtually on grounds equal to food and water, or at least it seems, and they appear to take golf stuff to the extreme.

Now, for a more common sense approach to choosing a golf ball, let’s start with the new golfer. The beginner golfer should forget what he or she has heard about types of golf balls. Disregard the various reviews and recommendations as to what ball goes farther and such. At first, playing good golf is not about the ball quality but about getting out there and playing.

First of all, beginner golfers lose many golf balls at first. At this stage, price should come before quality when choosing a golf ball. The “been around” balls are a good choice for beginner golfers. These balls are sold in bulk and are considered recycled balls, as they have already been to the golf course once. They were lost by others, found and now sold at approximately fifty to a bag. They are a good starting place for beginner golfers.

Typically, these used golf balls are not brand name golf balls. Does it really matter at this point? Not really. The beginner golfer is more focused on learning the skill necessary to play the game of golf. He or she is learning not only how to hit the ball but how to hit it straight and out of the woods and water. Since dozens or even hundreds of balls will be lost, it is more logical for the beginner golfer to purchase used balls in bulk and at a lower price.

As the golfer improves, he or she can gradually transition to a better quality ball. However, it is still important to consider the price of the ball in correlation to skill level. Avoid rushing out to the local golfing store and purchase the most expensive ball on the market.

Generally, golfers improve as they play more. He or she can experiment with the variety of brands of balls as his or her skill level increases. Soon, he or she will find which ball is best for them while they are on the course.

By: Ray L. Walberg

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Whether you are a golf veteran or a newbie who just setting you foot on the golf course, you must follow the rules. In fact, good golf ethics not only help you appreciate the game bit also serve as a respect to both the game and other people who are playing the game. Below are some general rules of golf that golfers must know.

1) Before starting the games, make sure to have enough tees and golf ball to ensure that you can finish the game to the last.

2) Before attempting every shot, make sure there is no one near to the target and no one around when you perform your swing.

3) Never play fast just to finish the games

Keeping pace is a necessary part of the golf games. You need to maintain the appropriate speed in the golf course when swinging each time. Never go too fast just to finish the games faster.

4) You only allow to spend 5 minutes to look for the lost ball.

5) Master your golf fundamental – Grip, stance, posture

These are “must skills” to master before you have a consistent swing that helps you to stand up to 18 holes. If you get one of the basics wrong, it will compromise your points. For example, if your grip method is wrong, you will find it hard to drive your ball to the desired direction. Besides the grip method, the posture indicates your swing path and swing plane. If your posture is wrong, your path will be out of position and you’ll probably get a poor shot distance.

6) The most important for a beginner golfer to learn how to swing a golf club.

This is the first step to enjoy the game and see the consistent improvement in you. Without mastering the golf swing, you’ll never master golf. Nowadays there are many quality video that teaches you how to perform your golf swing with the correct grip instruction, posture, and stance. It is the easiest way to master the swing with tips and simple step by step instructions which can be watched again and again.

Golf is a unique game that is played by people of all ages, you can play alone or in the group at different level social group. Most importantly, it is also a healthy sport which you can enjoy and keep your body fit and flexible. If you are new to golf, you will never quit after you master the basic rules and the golf swing.

By: Eason Chan

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Ball position golf swing is one of the first things that beginner golfers should work on, but many experienced golfers may also find some ball position golf swing tips useful, especially if they have been having some golf swing trouble. The right golf set up position means proper ball position golf swing.

Ball position golf swing determines if you will make solid contact with the golf ball, and a wrong ball position golf swing will result in awkward shots. Master this golf swing basic and it may be all you need to avoid hitting those slices, hooks, or fat shots.

Follow these 5 simple ball position golf swing tips to improve your shots or if you just want to brush up on the golf swing essentials.

1. The right ball position is different for each club, and you need to pay close attention to this. You don’t want to be hitting your long irons with the same ball position as your wedges.

2. The correct ball position for a driver is near your outside foot. This is your left foot if you are a right-handed golfer, and right foot for left-handed golfers. Keeping this ball position will allow you to strike the ball on the upswing and get the most distance in your shots.

3. Your middle irons should have a ball position equal to about one or one and a half ball lengths from the center of your stance. The divot you take in this ball position should be a little bit more shallow than with your short irons.

4. Your short irons and wedges, including the sand wedge, pitching wedge, nine iron, and eight iron, need to have a ball position near the center of your stance. These golf clubs must be swung at the steepest angle since they are the shortest. To test and see if you have the correct ball position for your short irons and wedges, make sure you are taking a divot that is directly in front of the golf ball, not behind it.

5. Lastly, long irons and woods should have a ball position a little closer to the middle of your stance than the ball position for the driver.

Learn these ball position golf swing basics, and youll be playing with more confidence and lowering your score significantly.



By: Staffan Moritz

About the Author:

You wanna a solid golf swing? You wanna hit the ball straighter and farther?

The Medicus Driver has been picked as the best golf swing trainer of 2008.

It has helped millions of golfers and can help you too.

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Medicus Driver



Mediocre golf swing

Just a few minutes of your time

Step 1:

Purchase or somehow acquire a Medicus Dual Hinged Driver.

Step 2:

Watch instructional video that comes with the Medicus Driver.

Step 3:

Set up in front of the golf ball and grip the club just like you would any other driver. To benefit, you must begin your backswing in a smooth and controlled fashion, otherwise the hinge on the shaft will break away.

Step 4:

Once you have a smooth takeaway and have mastered that step, you must have an appropriate amount of forearm rotation so that the tip of the club head is pointing toward the sky with the face of the club pointing away from you. Failure to do this will result in breaking of the shaft at a hinge.

Step 5:

At the top of the backswing, it is important that you begin in the proper swing plane. If you swing “over the top”, the hinge will break and you will identify another flaw in your golf swing with the Medicus Dual Hinged Driver. This “over the top” flaw will lead to an out-to-in swing path through the contact area which is a leading cause of slices.

Step 6:

Finally, make sure that your weight is properly situated on your leading leg and that you have shifted your weight down the swing path or the club will break.

Step 7:

Use the Medicus Driver to hit golf balls on the range once you have mastered your swing and can swing the club without breaking either of the dual hinges.

Step 8:

Enjoy your improved golf swing and better scores!

Make sure you buy the Medicus Golf Clubs from the Medicus Golf site, you’ll get FREE shipping and it will ship within 24 hours.

If you decide to buy any of the Medicus Golf Clubs on Ebay or Craigslist – BUYER BEWARE!!

You may not get the bonuses and shipping time could take forever.

Also, if you have order issues with any of these non Medicus Golf Sites, are you confident they will be resolved in a timely manner??…

Something to think about…

Play well.

John Lynch



By: John Lynch

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Pulls are a common occurrence for most golfers. We occasionally reach back for a little extra and find our ball headed left toward who knows what rather than the intended target. If this is a frequent experience for you then you must either struggle to score well or you’re an expert at getting out of trouble.

Did you know that a pull and slice are related? That is to say that they are the result of the same fundamental golf swing flaw. With so many of us suffering with this issue the golf industry continues to develop technologies and techniques for its cure. The often cited “over the top” or an “outside to inside” swing path.

So the solution is very similar to that which fixes a slice. The golfer needs to develop an inside approach to the golf ball. While there are several suggestions and techniques to make this happen, I’ve found that they only serve to confuse most of us even more so than we might already be.

Our hope here is to simply to clear up the confusion and provide you with the easiest (for most) way to correct a pull swing fault.

To correct the flaw it helps to understand the cause. While there are a few different causes the most common is that the club head approaches the ball from outside the intended target line with the club face closed to that same line.

The cure will seem counter intuitive to keeping the ball from going left but I promise it will work to create an inside to outside swing path. And that swing path will prevent the pull. Give it a try sometime on the range if you doubt it will work just to test my point.

How to cure a pull

Set up with your body aligned slightly closed to the target line. That means dropping your back foot away from the target line an inch or two.

Close the club face a bit. Rotate the club face a bit toward the inside of the line.

Strengthen your grip. Rotate the hands away from the target just a bit.

Make a full shoulder turn. Turn the shoulders as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Drop the hands from the top. Once you’ve completed the backswing your next move should be to bump you hips forward slightly and drop the hands straight down toward the ground.

As the swing continues to flow smoothly the upper body turn will bring the club back from the inside to meet the ball on a square swing path.

There you have it. Practice this until it becomes a normal part of your golf swing. Whether you are dealing with a slice or a pull these swing tips will work to help correct it in no time.

By: Wayne Hudler

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It is true that most PGA Tour players will tell you that the most important golf fundamental is the golf swing alignment. But I don’t know why, when it comes to most amateurs, they just look over the golf swing alignment. Maybe no one told them, but here it is. Now you no longer have that excuse because I am going to tell you about it.

Golf swing alignment is considered the main fundamental for each and every golf shot. Sure you can hit the golf ball far but what good is it if its 30 yards away from where it’s suppose to be? This is where your swing alignment comes into play. Even if you think that you have mastered every aspect of golf like grip, stance, and swing and you don’t see your score going down anymore. Ah ha! You have found your problem. Here are some simple things you can follow to overcome this hurdle and to see if your golf swing alignment is correct.

The first thing you want to do is setup your golf shot like you always do. Then place a tee right behind each of your heels then push both of the tees all the way in. Now that you have that setup, move away from your setup and place a club shaft over both of the tees so that you make a straight line. Once you have that, go behind your golf ball and look down your target line to see if it matches what you thought.

By doing this exercise you will know exactly where you are aligning your feet. If they align, then good job you were doing it the right way. If it doesn’t, then here is a way to fix this. You can move the tees so that the alignment is straight and then the next time you setup you will have to make sure that your tees are touching the back of your heels. Another way you can check to see if your golf swing alignment is correct is by assuming your address position. Then remove your left hand, if you’re a right-handed golfer, from your golf club and point to a spot that’s 10 yards to the left of your target. Keep track of where your fingers and arm is pointing and compare it with your hips and shoulders. If you’re aligned, then it should feel like they are creating a straight line. However, if you think that they are pointing to the left, then you will end up hitting a hook or a push and if you’re pointing to the right then you are going to hit a slice or a pull.

If you noticed that your golf swing alignment was off, then your new position will feel odd to you. You may feel like your pointing in the wrong direction, but trust me, your not. It will only take a mater of time for you to get used to your new position and you will see the difference in your score. In order to continue to improve your game you have to regularly check your alignment since it’s very easy to misalign yourself without knowing it. And now since you know how to check it, you have no excuse for not checking it. Your golf swing will improve dramatically and you will hit near your target, which will help you lower, your score. For more tips and steps to improve your golf swing and for free stuff please visit Sean Matthews’s blog.

By: Sean Matthews

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One of the most common faults you will see with beginner and amateur golfers is that they will try to hit the ball by swinging their arms at it, usually too quickly. This comes from a desire to hit the ball as far as possible without concentrating on how to generate power correctly. Your body weighs much more than your hands and arms and so to impart maximum force on the golf ball we must involve the body in our swings.

Think about your own swing, are your hands and arms driving the swing or are they being led along by the ‘turn’ of the torso? We need to engender the latter and for this there are many useful drills, one of which we will have a look at now. Hold an iron at either end and position it behind your back so it rests square across your shoulder blades. Now take up your normal posture as if you are addressing the ball. You are now in a position where your hands and arms are locked by the golf club resting behind your back. Now you can try turning your upper body to develop a feel for it should drive the swing. Don’t make any forced actions with your lower body though as this will turn naturally due to your flexibility.

Now that you have a feel for a correct rotation and coil in the back swing we have to consider the downswing as well. Similar to the backswing, swinging down with your hands and arms will result in a weak, inaccurate shot. With the downswing, the lower body makes the first action and moves into the ball, followed by the upper body and lastly the hands and arms. Think about the action of a tennis player hitting a forearm shot. He doesn’t just swing his arms at the ball; it is a full body action with the body leading the attack of the shot.

Watch any beginner playing golf and you will most likely see a lifting and lower of their spine angle. This is a common problem with beginners but if you watch your angle in the mirror while trying this drill you will notice it stays much more consistent. This means more distance, more accuracy and more shots off your handicap.

By: Lewis Freeman

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