The Golf Academy

Golf tips, instruction, and commentary for any golfer looking to improve.

Golf Courses are Getting Longer: Here’s Why

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On September 24, 2019

In Golf Discussions

Perhaps you just crushed the ball off the tee on your favorite par 5. As you line up your approach shot, you squint to see that the green is slightly further away than you once remembered.

You’re not alone. Golfers at every level are noticing courses have increased in distance, and nobody has it worse than those on the PGA Tour.

Why Are Courses Getting Longer?

Managers of golf courses are making these adjustments to account for the increase in average distance off the tee. In less than 20 years, the average drive distance on the PGA tour has increased by over 22 yards. But what is causing this increase?

Well, things like clubhead/face technology, shaft Technology, ball Improvements, player athleticism, and swing feedback training have all contributed to more distance.

As for how this will affect golf, for most casual players, the changes will not be too drastic. It’s unlikely that your home course is going to be reconstructing new greens just to extend the overall length. Where you may see some changes is on the tee box, but, if it makes you feel any better, studies have shown that distance is not as closely correlated to higher scores as much as difficulty factors like narrow fairways, small greens, and foliage.

In conclusion, yes, courses are getting longer. Will this affect your score by more than 1 or 2 strokes? Probably not. If you’d like to learn a little bit more about the changing course length epidemic, check out the infographic below by At The Tee!

How Golf Course Length Has Changed Over the Years

 

Executive Golf Courses: What They Are and Why You Should Play There

By

On July 31, 2019

In Golf Discussions

Head out to the local course around your house or watch a round of golf and you’ll quickly notice something about the courses; they’re all par 72.

But what about other courses with shorter holes and lower pars. These junior sized courses are called “executive courses” and that’s what we’re going to talk about this time on 6 Minutes With Sully.

What is an Executive Course?

As we mentioned above, executive courses have a lower par than a full, regulation course. While this is usually due to an increase in par 3 holes during the round it is still possible to have par 4’s and 5’s on executive courses.

executive course.jpg

This scorecard is from Dixie Red Hills, an executive course in St. George, Utah.

Par for an executive course is usually between 30-34 for nine holes. Three par three’s, five par four’s, and a par five would be one semi-common layout for an executive course.

If you’re wondering where the name comes from, the term “executive course” is actually from corporate America. Executives love to play golf but busy schedules make playing a two and a half hour round out of the question. 

To fix this problem, golf course architects started designing shorter, quicker courses that busy players could whip through in an hour and a half; something much more manageable for a lunch break or an evening after work.

What’s so Great About Executive Courses Anyways

While you might not be interested in running into company executives on the golf course, there are other benefits to playing an executive course.

First, as we mentioned above, it simply takes less time to play a round on an executive course.

Where you might spend five hours playing eighteen holes normally, you could cut that down to around three just by playing an executive course. This, of course, depends on the crowds, size of the course, etc.

Along with short round times, executive courses are also great for beginning golfers.

You might be hesitant to bring a new golfer on a regulation course, after all, they’re expensive, crowded, and time-consuming if you’re playing partner isn’t on top of their game.

However, with an executive course, the shorter holes and lower cost should help keep your new playing partner from getting too frustrated as they learn the game.

Finally, executive courses are a great place to practice and hone your skills.

Many of these courses can be found in cities or other densely populated areas. If this is the case, oftentimes an executive course will have a driving range or putting green attached to it.

This allows you to warm up and work on your swing at the range and then apply what you just practiced during an actual round; something that really is the best of both worlds.

Wrap-Up

I’m not going to lie if promises of cheaper, faster, more enjoyable rounds of golf wasn’t enough to sell you on trying an executive course I’m not sure what will.

They may not be as widely known as their larger relatives, but if you know where to look there are amazing short courses all around us looking for golfers to come out and play.

So next time you’re looking to squeeze in nine after work, skip the two and a half hour grind and go check out your local executive course instead. I know you won’t regret it.

Jumbo Grip Putters: How Switching Can Help You Score Around the Green

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On March 30, 2019

In Golf Discussions, Product Reviews

We’ve all seen them, putter grips so big they can barely fit in the holes in your golf bag. While it might be a newer phenomenon around the game of golf, jumbo gripped putters have taken off in popularity over the past five years.

So what are these jumbo grip putters and why are they so popular around the green?

What are Jumbo Grip Putters?

This might not come as a surprise, but jumbo grip putters are simply that; putters with much wider diameter grips that a traditional “pistol” gripped putter.

Specifically, jumbo gripped putters typically have grips widths between 1.4 – 1.75 inches in diameter.

In comparison, a traditional putter has a grip width between 1.0 – 1.2 inches. This makes jumbo grips almost 40-75% thicker than your average putter grip.

Additionally, many traditional putter grips have a taper which is designed to make the grip skinnier as you get further away from the top of the club. Jumbo grips often do not have a dramatic taper and stay roughly the same width throughout the entire grip.

standard putter grip

Above is a standard putter grip. Notice how thin the grip is and how it tapers off towards the width of the putter shaft.

Why Use a Jumbo Grip?

It’s great to know all of the differences between a traditional putter grip and a jumbo one, but you might be wondering; why do people use these monstrous things?

This answer, again, is also quite simple; jumbo gripped putters help golfers score better. And here’s why.

Use of Large Muscle Groups

Many golfers that struggle with putting have problems with the mechanics of their swing, not reading the green.

This problem can be seen in the rotation of a golfer’s hands at impact; something that traditional putter grips do not help correct.

Twitchy or inconsistent wrists can result in a misalignment of your clubhead as it hits the ball. This puts the ball on a different path than the one you had wanted, and ultimately, results in missed putts.

In comparison, jumbo putter grips can help a golfer’s accuracy by increasing the diameter of the putter grip.

This increase in size forces a golfer to use the larger muscle groups in their shoulders and arms when they hit the ball. These muscle groups move less dramatically than a golfer’s wrists do, which results in higher levels of accuracy around the green.

Re-Alignment of Shoulders

Another common problem golfer’s face with their putting technique is shoulder alignment.

In an ideal world, your shoulders would be completely square at setup and impact of the ball. This promotes consistent ball striking and results in good distance control.

In reality, many golfers have a dominant right hand which results in a misaligned shoulder angle. This makes solid ball striking more difficult and results in poor putting.

While this problem can be solved by switching to a left-hand-low or cross grip putting style, increasing the size of your grip is also helpful for many golfers.

With a wider grip, it is possible to putt with your thumbs next to each other during the stroke. This alignment readjusts your shoulder tilt and encourages sound putting technique.

Wrap-Up

Although they have increased in popularity, jumbo putter grips might not be for everyone. A majority of golfers still do not use them, but that margin is shrinking every day.

I, myself, actually switched over to a jumbo grip this offseason and I have really enjoyed the change so far. Only time will tell if it pays off in lower scores during the year.

If you’re interested in checking out a jumbo putter grip as well, I would recommend the Winn Golf Jumbo Excel putter grip; it’s the one I am using right now.

Another great idea is to head over to your local sporting store and try out a few of the different jumbo grips they have for sale. Many of them will vary in size and weight but trying out a variety of different grips might help you find the one that’s best for you.

With that said, thank you for joining me on another 6 Minutes With Sully. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s topic and learned something about golf’s hottest new grip.

How to get Backspin on Your Ball: Attacking the Pin like a Pro

By

On March 4, 2019

In Golf Science, Golf Tips

We’ve all seen it; a pro golfer flies their approach shot 15-20 feet past the cup only to spin the ball all the way back. While we might only see this on television, in reality, getting backspin on your approach shots is something that any golfer can do with a little technique and some practice.

So, let’s spend today talking about how you can add backspin into your approach game repertoire.

How Does Backspin Even Work?

Backspin has mistified golfers for years by turning very bad shots into nearly perfect ones around the green. So how does this “magic” happen?

In the past, we’ve talked about what causes hooks or slices, however, backspin is a little different.

Where hooks and slices impact your ball’s flight in the air, backspin has to do with what happens to your ball after it lands on the ground. Thankfully, backspin is much easier to understand.

Backspin truly boils down to the spin your swing puts on the ball. After contact is made with the ball, your shot flies through the air spinning backward; in the same way, a basketball shot spins through the air on its way to the hoop.

After your shot lands, this backspin (if it’s powerful enough) will cancel out the balls forward motion and even roll the ball back towards you.

How to Get Backspin on Your Shot

So, with all of the physics behind us, let’s use this basic understanding of golf physics to figure out how we can get backspin on our shots around the green.

Since we just talked about how the backspin from your swing results in backspin when the ball lands, all of our tips will focus on putting the most spin on our approach shot without jeopardizing our distance or accuracy.

Stance

First, let’s talk about the setup. While you would normally stand with the ball in the middle of your stance for an average iron shot, we are going to move the ball back in our stance slightly for this shot.

By moving the ball back in our stance, we force our bodies to take a steeper swing arc during our stroke. This steeper swing arc will result in higher levels of compression on the ball and improved backspin on your shots.

Club Selection

With our stance properly aligned, let’s talk about club selection.

To be most successful spinning the ball back, focus on using the higher lofted clubs in your bag.

Intuitively this should make sense. In order to get backspin, we need to stop the forward movement of the ball and still have some spin left to bring the ball back. By using a lower lofted iron such as a five or six iron we are hitting much flatter, further shots.

This results in more forward momentum and less backspin once the ball lands on the green.

To fix this problem, start practicing with high lofted clubs; I would recommend mastering your backspin with a lob wedge or a sand wedge before you move to 9 or 8 irons.

The Swing

Our final piece of advice for improving your backspin has to do with your swing.

Now, while you absolutely should not be changing your swing dramatically to get more backspin out of your shots, there are a few adjustments you can make to get the most out of your current swing.

First, we need to talk about the angle of your hands. While our setup from above has placed our hands slightly in front of the ball, resist the temptation to amplify this effect my pushing your hands forward, as you would in a bump and run chip.

This can result in a very flat shot which, again, produces too much forward momentum and prevents our shot from spinning back towards the cup once it lands.

Instead, let your hands hang neutral as you normally would. This results in a ‘slightly’ closed clubface from our stance but a very strong grip through contact; something that will translate into higher levels of consistency on your swing and increased levels of spin on the ball.

In addition to neutral hands, focus on placing slightly more weight on your front foot during your setup. This extra weight will help facilitate your weight transfer and ensures that you attack the ball on contact.

One great way to make sure this is happening is to look at the divot your swing leaves after contact. If your divot is in front of the ball’s previous location then you know you properly transferred your weight during the shot.

By doing so, you ensure the club touches the ball before it touches the ground at contact. This will help you put the most spin on your shot while also minimizing errors with your shot’s consistency that can result from hitting the ground first during contact.

What Next?

Now that we’ve laid out information on your stance, club selection, and swing you should be all set to hit the range and try out your newly discovered shot.

While it might not happen overnight, a few weeks of consistent practice and a little bit of experimentation should be all you need to start working on some beautiful, high loft, backspinning shots.

And before you know it, you’ll be attacking the pin just like the pros do on TV.

Left Hand Low: Why the Future of Putting is Cross-Handed

By

On February 3, 2019

In Golf Discussions, Golf Tips

For many golfers, putting is the first part of the game they learned. If you look back at years of mini-golfing as a child it’s easy to see that the technique associated with putting has been ingrained in many of us from an extremely young age.

Here’s the problem with that, however; it’s all wrong.

You see, hitting a putt is not as simple as swinging a baseball bat or a tennis racket. To be a successful putter you need precision, which is something these other sports don’t require as dramatically. So how are we supposed to get the precision needed to score better on the green?

It’s simple, we need to start putting cross-handed.

What is Left-Hand-Low Putting?

Left-hand-low or cross-handed putting is one of golf’s lesser known secrets. Recently made popular by Jordan Speith, this putting method has actually been around for decades. In fact, Jack Nicklaus once said that if he had to teach someone how to putt from scratch, he would start them off cross-handed.

left hand low putting.jpg

For the right-handed golfer, the cross-handed grip is shown above.

So what is cross-hand putting anyways?

Put simply enough, cross-hand putting is simply a reversal in the order of your hands when you grip your club. This led to the phrase “left-hand-low” as right-handed golfers who adopted this technique placed their left hand underneath their right. This can be seen in the picture to the right.

While the set up might seem easy enough, golfer’s such as Jordan Speith, Billy Horschel, and Kevin Chappell have all won tournaments using cross-handed grips in the past few years.

So what is it about putting cross-handed that makes this technique so powerful?

Benefits of Cross-Handed Putting

Let’s be honest, nobody would ever switch up their tried and true putting grip for no reason, right? So there must be something that makes cross-handed putting so powerful.

Well, here are the two reasons you should consider switching to cross-handed putting:

  • taking your dominant hand out of control will make you more accurate
  • switching your hands will align your shoulders and improve your ball-striking

Improved Accuracy

The first area of improvement driven by cross-handed putting is your accuracy. Traditionally, the dominant right hand (for righty golfers) has caused accuracy problems for golfers.

When you strike a putt, the lower of your two hands drives the action in your stroke. While this is very useful for full swings, as your dominant hand is stronger, it is not helpful for shots that require more precision.

By placing your left hand on the bottom of your grip, you are placing this hand in a dominant position. This, in turn, leads to a putt that resembles more of a pull instead of a push and will help prevent unwanted wrist movement at impact.

Shoulder Alignment

In addition to improving the accuracy of your putts, putting cross-handed can also improve your ball striking on the green. How? Well, it all has to do with how your shoulders are aligned.

When you putt “normally”, or with your right hand on the bottom, many golfers have a tendency to favor their right shoulder over their left.

Normally, this shoulder lean is a helpful part of your game. This helps you sweep the ball off of the tee and squeeze every ounce of distance out of your swing. Unfortunately, doing this on the green causes poor contact and, as a result, poor distance control on your putts.

However, by switching to a left-hand-low grip, your body will naturally square up your shoulders. This helps balance the backswing with the fore swing and produces a more pendulum-like stroke; something that is great for distance control and improved touch around the green.

Recap

While switching to a cross-handed putting grip won’t immediately improve your game, I personally believe that the benefits of improved accuracy and ball-striking are worth the practice time required to make the change.

After all, that’s exactly what made me switch to a left-hand-low grip two years ago. Something that has paid dividends for me ever since.

Cross-handed putting might not be right for everybody, but it was right for me. And given the esteemed company that has also switched over to cross-handed putting, there’s no doubt in my mind that left-hand-low is here to stay.

 

 

 

 

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