How To Clean Your Golf Clubs
By Robert Partain

The off season is a great time for cleaning your clubs and doing other repairs and maintenance on your equipment. It’s also a great time to take inventory of what you have, what you don’t have and what you’ll probably need to replace for next season.

When it comes to cleaning your clubs, you have two basic choices. Have someone else do it for you, say, the pro shop–or, do it yourself. While there are a lot of things I recommend that the pro shop do, cleaning my clubs is something I like to do myself. Not only does make me feel good afterwards–newly cleaned clubs look great–but it also gives me some quiet time to inspect my clubs slowly and closely, which is something I totally overlook during playing season.

If you want to clean your clubs yourself, grab a few things and get to work. You’ll need a bucket, some clean clothes, a tooth brush or something similiar, some mild dishwater soap and some elbow grease.

For your irons:

Important Tip: Do NOT submerge your club heads into the bucket of water above the ferrules!!!

For newer golfers, the ferrules are those black rings where the club meets the shaft.

Okay, here we go. Put some warm water into the bucket, along with a dab of soap. Don’t use very hot water. Hot water can loosen your ferrules. Also, you only need enough water to cover the heads of your irons…not the ferrules!

Put your irons, club face down, into the bucket and let them sit for a bit. When you’re ready, take one out and using the old toothbrush, give the grooves a nice washing. Technically, cleaning the grooves is the most important part of the whole cleaning process. You need and want those grooves to be clean so they can do what they need to do when they impact the ball.

After you get the grooves cleaned out, run your brush over the sole of the club and get rid of any dirt or debris that might be hanging on there. Once you’ve finished this step, you’ll need to rinse the heads with clean water. A garden hose works well for this.

Use your clean cloth to wipe and dry the club heads. Make sure they are dry. You can also run your cloth up the shaft to wipe it down to. Do not put your clubs back into the bag wet.

For your Woods:

Never submerge persimmon woods into water! Many people suggest that you never submerge metal woods into water either. Doing this tends to fade their shine, or so I’ve been told.

My advice, and what I do, is simply use a wet cloth on my persimmon woods to wipe them down and then I immediately dry them off. I use the same old toothbrush I used on the irons to clean out the grooves on my woods (and, again, this is the real reason you’re cleaning in the first place) and then I wipe them down again.

Cleaning your grips:

Unless you have a unique set of grips, the following works pretty well. If you have special grips, do what the vendor suggests for cleaning them. For the rest of us–

Put some warm water in sink and add some dishsoap. You’re going to need suds (and lots of ‘em) so give the soap bottle a good squeeze. When you have a small mountain of suds, turn off the water. Dampen a cloth and wringe it out. Then get some suds on the cloth. Use the cloth and suds to wipe away any dirt, oil, etc from the grip. Turn the water on, hold the grip under the water to rinse, then dry the grip off. Do your clubs one at a time and make sure they are dry before putting them back into the bag.

If you find a really hard place to clean, try some Windex on it. Wipe and rinse as before.

This is also a great time to check the worthiness of your grips. If you have some (or all) that have seen better days, think about replacing them before the season opens.

 
By Butch Harmon
Photos by Dom Furore
November 2009

One complaint I hear a lot from golfers is that they have no power with their irons. Their approach shots balloon weakly to the right and fall short.

That high-right miss comes from trying to help the ball in the air — exactly what many people think they have to do. Their instincts are to hang back on the right foot and scoop the ball. The left wrist bends backward or cups, which adds loft, turning an 8-iron, for example, into a 9-iron or wedge. And there’s that weak shot they hate.

To be a good iron player, you must hit down and through the ball without trying to help it up. Here are two good swing thoughts: (1) Keep everything moving forward through impact — your weight, your hands and arms, the grip end of the club; (2) hit with the back of your left hand facing the target. Feel as if you’re backhanding the ball at impact. You’ll deliver the club with the correct loft, so an 8-iron behaves like an 8-iron, and you’ll hit more greens.

If you’re just beginning to play golf, keep in mind that you may discover that this
game is not for you. So you should start out with rental clubs at a driving range.
Most driving ranges have rental clubs. Go out and hit balls with these clubs. If
you still want to play golf after hitting a few balls, then buy your own clubs.

Try this on for size
Today, club fitting is big business. Tour pros and average amateur golfers
have access to the same club fitting technology and information. It’s impor-
tant for all golfers — male and female — to use the right equipment for their
body types and physical conditions. For instance, many manufacturers of golf
clubs specialize in creating clubs for women that have softer shafts, which
are lighter and more flexible.
Here are some factors every golfer should consider:
The grip: Determine how thick the grip on your clubs should be. Grips
that are too thin encourage too much hand action in your swing; grips
that are too thick restrict your hands too much. Generally, the proper-
sized grip should allow the middle and ring fingers on your left hand to
barely touch the pad of your thumb when you hold the club. If your fin-
gers don’t touch your thumb, the grip is too big; if your fingers dig into
the pad, the grip is too thin.

The shaft: Consider your height, build, and strength when you choose a
club. If you’re really tall, you need longer (and probably stiffer) shafts.
What does your swing sound like? If your swing makes a loud swish
noise and the shaft is bending like a long cast from a fly-fishing rod at
the top of your swing, you need a very strong shaft. If your swing makes
no noise and you could hang laundry on your shaft at the top of your
swing, you need a regular shaft. Anybody in between needs a medium-
stiff to stiff shaft.

Loft: Then there’s your typical ball flight. If you slice, for example, you can
get clubs with less loft — or perhaps offset heads — to help alleviate that
common problem. For more information about slicing, see Chapter 11.
The clubhead: Consider the size of the clubhead. Today, you can get
standard, midsize, and oversize heads on your clubs. I recommend you
use bigger clubheads for your early days of playing golf. Bigger club-
heads are more forgiving and can help psychologically, too. With some
of today’s jumbo clubheads, your swing thought may well be, “With this
thing, how could I miss?”

The irons: Advanced players choose irons that are perfectly suited to
their swings. Forged, muscle-backed irons are for good players who hit
the ball on the clubface precisely. Cavity-backed irons are for players
who hit the ball all over the clubface.
The bigger the clubface, the more room for error — hence the bigger-
headed metal woods that are popular today for all you wild swingers out
there.

All the beginners at first feel frustrated playing this game. Really, looking at golf professionals we think, why, it’s so simple. I will learn to do it without big efforts’. But when you start, you understand that the game is rather complicated. This article is mainly devoted to the beginners, who need some good golf tips.

The First Experience

It may make you really upset. You are disappointed in your score, your putts are done badly, to put it mildly. You start to think you will never learn bunker play. Little by little, your mood is worsening, you lose sense of humor and, finally, you become so irritated that you want to swear out loud. Some mates who play with you may try to explain to you what is better to do. But such golf tips are not professional, and sometimes they are mutually contradictory. So, rely on yourself and start with following…

Some Golf Tips for the Beginners..

So, what to start with? No doubt, you need some good quality instruction at first. You should look for several instructors and talk to them. That is necessary, for you shouldn’t choose the first instructor you find, because his teaching style may not match your style of learning. That is why you need an opportunity to decide between two or more variants.

The next thing is attending series of lessons. One or two studies will not help. You need to practice under the direction of the instructor as long as possible. If you can’t afford it for this or that reason you may resort to self-education with the use of DVD’s and books, which also offer some useful golf tips. Nowadays there is also plenty information on how to learn to play golf on the Internet.

Appropriate equipment is also sufficient. First of all, it applies to the set of golf clubs you hit the ball with. You need different types of clubs for definite purposes during the game. The clubs should be qualitative and solid. It must be said, that a set of brand new clubs costs a lot, so you may buy some used clubs for the first time.

You should pay more attention to your pitching, putting and chipping than to the driver. And finally, you should have a mental game plan. It is important to realize that golf is a game where you should limit the amount of bad shots and enjoy the good ones.

In conclusion it should be said that following golf tips you are given will help you to determine your own counsel on how to play better. You will learn what you manage to do sumptuously and what your weak points are. You will be no more frustrated for you will know what exactly you should work on.

How to swing your irons?
Bombing one off the tee is sexy. There’s nothing like seeing a shot take off straight down the fairway, hang up in the air for what seems like an eternity, and hit the ground some 300 yards away. It’s a beautiful sight. But what good is a 300-yard drive if you can’t hit an accurate approach shot? It’s no good. Accurate approach shots lead to shorter putts, better scores, and lower golf handicaps.

The key to hitting accurate approach shots is executing the fundamentals during your iron swing—setup, takeaway, backswing/downswing, impact, and finish. How you execute the fundamentals during these phases determine how well you hit an iron. Some professionals that give golf instruction sessions include the transition from backswing to downswing as a separate phase. Making a smooth transition from your backswing to your downswing is critical. But in the interest of space, we’ve included it as part of the backswing.

Setup
There’s no reason not to start with a good setup. Flex at the knees, stand firmly on the balls of your feet, bend from your hips not your back, adopt a straight (but not rigid) back, and balance your weight evenly over both feet. Think “rock and roll” to remind you that feet serve as a rock through your backswing and roll through your downswing. And don’t overlook ball position. It’s never farther back than your sternum or farther forward than your left armpit.

Takeaway
It’s critical that you make a good takeaway. Watch golfers who have low golf handicaps. Most will have good takeaways. Some teachers use the 2-8-12-rule in their golf lessons. During the first two inches of your takeaway, take the club straight back. From the second inch to the eighth inch, take the club back some more, but don’t break your wrists. This is a natural continuation of your takeaway. From the eighth inch to the twelfth inch, start breaking your wrist. At this point, the club should be parallel to the ground and the target line. In the rough, you’ll need a slightly steeper takeaway.

Backswing
Shifting your weight to your back foot is crucial in your backswing. It enables you to make a good coil and prevents you from making a reverse pivot. So keep until your weight shifts to your back foot. Keep your hands away from your body. At the top of the swing, a straight left arm is ideal but a slightly bent elbow is also acceptable. Your head should be behind the ball.

Make a smooth transition to the downswing. From this position, you’re ready to turn toward the target. Allow your hands to drop underneath your head as you begin shifting toward your front foot. The club should be directly over your rear shoulder. You should be approaching the ball with a descending blow.

Impact
This is the moment of truth. Good golfers know that at impact they need to achieve a “stacked” position to make solid contact. This position includes a full release of the wrists, a straight left arm (right for left-handers), most of your weight transferred to the front foot, and your hips open. Contrary to popular belief, the impact position isn’t the same as the setup position. With longer irons, allow for a slower wrist cock. This widens your swing and provides the flatter arc these clubs require.

Finish
Your finish tells you a lot about what’s going on during your swing. The correct finish ends with the bodyweight primarily on the front foot, the club behind you, and your head, chest, and belt buckle facing the target. You also should be balanced and able to hold that position indefinitely. From your finish position, you can tell two things: (1) if the majority of your weight has successfully shifted to your front foot, and (2) if your body has fully rotated without excessive sliding through the downswing, which will produce mis-hits.

Driving the ball is indeed sexy. But it’s only one phase of golf. If you’re serious about improving, you must master your irons, too. A 300-yard drive is worthless if you don’t follow up with an accurate approach shot. Use the golf tips we’ve provided above to hone your iron swing. It will help you hit more greens in regulation and chop strokes off your golf handicap.

By David Leadbetter
Photo By Stephen Szurlej

Think of your 8-iron, 9-iron and pitching wedge as pure accuracy clubs. If you want to hit the ball close consistently with these short irons, grip down about an inch. In most situations, you don’t want your short irons to fly too high and balloon — typically a result of overswinging and trying to hit them too hard. This makes it difficult to control their carry distance, particularly in windy conditions.

Gripping down not only helps you make a compact swing, it allows you to better control the trajectory — you want your short irons to pierce the air. Be sure you can see a piece of the butt end of the grip (right), and focus on swinging through smoothly.

How To Beat A Slice
The first move down is where to look

 
By Butch Harmon
Photos by Dom Furore
December 2009

Slicers tend to start the downswing with the upper body, making an aggressive move with the right arm and shoulder. Players who draw the ball start down by shifting the lower body toward the target, with the upper body following.

When the lower body starts first, the arms drop to the inside and the wrists stay hinged (left). This sets up a powerful in-to-out swing through impact and a draw. The slicer never gives the arms a chance to stay to the inside: The right arm and shoulder “throw” the club outward, which pulls the body into the back foot and unhinges the wrists (right). From there, the golf club will swing out to in, usually producing a weak slice.

How can you fix your first move down? First, practice shifting to your front side. Focus on replanting your left heel, or pushing off your right instep. You’ve got to get your weight moving toward the target. And here’s a good swing thought to control your upper body: Keep your right shoulder down and quiet as you change directions. Get those two moves right, and your slice is in big trouble.

Everyone knows golf originated in Scotland, right?
Welllllllll … yes and no.

It’s definitely true that golf as we know it emerged in Scotland. The Scots were playing golf in its very basic form – take a club, swing it at a ball, move ball from starting point to finishing hole in as few strokes as possible – by at least the mid-15th Century.

Actually, the earliest known reference to golf comes from King James II of Scotland, who, in 1457, issued a ban on the playing of golf and football (soccer). Those games, James complained, were keeping his archers from their practice.

James III in 1471 and James IV in 1491 each re-issued the ban on golf.

But the game continued to develop in Scotland over the decades and centuries, until 1744 when the first-known rules of golf were put down in writing in Edinburgh. Golf as it was then played would be easily recognized by any modern golfer.

But can it be said that the Scots “invented” golf? Not quite, because there’s strong evidence that the Scots were influenced themselves by even earlier versions of games that were similar in nature.

Here’s what the USGA Museum says about the issue: “While many Scots firmly maintain that golf evolved from a family of stick-and-ball games widely practiced throughout the British Isles during the Middle Ages, considerable evidence suggests that the game derived from stick-and-ball games that were played in France, Germany and the Low Countries.”

Part of that evidence is the etymology of the word “golf” itself. “Golf” derives from the Old Scots terms “golve” or “goff,” which themselves evolved from the medieval Dutch term “kolf.”

The medieval Dutch term “kolf” meant “club,” and the Dutch were playing games (mostly on ice) at least by the 14th Century in which balls were struck by sticks that were curved at the bottom until they were moved from Point A to Point B. Sounds a lot like hockey, doesn’t it? Except that it sort of sounds like golf, too (except for that ice part).

The Dutch and Scots were trading partners, and the fact that the word “golf” evolved after being transported by the Dutch to the Scots lends credence to the idea that the game itself may have been adapted by the Scots from the earlier Dutch game.

Something else that lends credence to that idea: Although the Scots played their game on parkland (rather than ice), they (or least some of them) were using balls they acquired in trade from … Holland.

And the Dutch game wasn’t the only similar game of the Middle Ages. Going back even farther, the Romans brought their own stick-and-ball game into the British Isles.

So does that mean that the Dutch (or someone else other than that Scots) invented golf? No, it means that golf grew out of games that were played in different parts of Europe.

But we’re not trying to deny the Scots their place in golf history. The Scots made a singular improvement to all the games that came before: They dug a hole in the ground, and made getting the ball into that hole the object of the game.

As we said at the beginning, for golf as we know it, we definitely have the Scots to thank.