IN THE HOLE! Golf

Improving your Grip – Before most golfers even step foot on the tee box, they already have their grip set. This being first and foremost, we need to ensure proper hand placement to achieve desired results.

The Basics of Forming a Correct Grip (for a right-handed golfer)
While holding the club off the ground, waist-high, in front of you, with your left hand, and checking to see that the clubface is square to your target-line, set the grip-handle under the heel-pad of that left hand. As you close your left hand, your left thumb should be right of center on the grip-handle (in a 1:00 position). You should see two or three knuckles on the back of your hand, which should be aimed between your target and the sky. The club should feel secure in your fingers, and you should feel the left-hand pressure of your grip in the last three fingers.
Now bring your right hand to the handshake-position. Your right palm should be parallel to the leading edge of the clubface. As you close your right-hand, your right thumb should be left of center on the grip-handle (in an 11:00 position). Your left thumb should fit comfortably in the valley between the base of your right thumb and the heel-pad on your right hand. You should feel the right-hand pressure of your grip in the middle and ring fingers of your right hand.
Try to maintain a firm but light grip-pressure throughout your swing—“as if you’re holding a baby bird,” as Sam Snead once said.

Weak Grip/Strong Grip
A grip that is too weak is one in which the grip-handle of the club is placed too much in the palm of the glove-hand, rather than in the fingers. Such a weak grip causes a slice—that big banana ball—especially with a driver and the longer irons. Your grip is too weak if you see but one knuckle (or none at all) on the back of your glove-hand (the left hand for right-handed players) when you’re addressing the ball, or when the V formed by your thumb and index finger on that hand points to your chin, rather than toward your rear shoulder. By contrast, your grip is too strong if you see four knuckles on your glove-hand, and when the palm of your non-glove hand faces upward. Such a strong grip often causes a bad hook, or a shot that flies low and left. You have too strong a grip if either of the V’s on your hands points outside your rear shoulder.

By: Bob Burns, PGA Master Professional, 2007 WI Section PGA Teacher of the Year, Top 50 Instructor and inventor of the No Bananas driver. www.bobburnsgolf.com

Bernhard Langer used a Rife Two Bar Hybrid Mallet to win on the Toshiba Classic on the 7th playoff hole, defeating Jay Haas. Langer’s win was the 6th, in less than a year, for Rife Putters dating back to Denis Watson’s win at The PGA Senior Championship. Rife was also once again the # 1 putter in play beating the nearest competitor 20 to 17, and 5 of the top ten players at the Toshiba had a Rife Putter in the bag as well.

The Rife TwoBar Hybrid Mallet is a combination of elements taken from the 2007 Golf Magazine “Mallet of the Year” Rife Island Series Barbados, and the ground breaking, technology inspired original Rife TwoBar putter. By blending the best features of each of these putters, Rife has created the first Hybrid putter.

Affordable Pocket Sized Golf GPS

The size of the new iGolf Neo GPS is incredible, it is tiny. At only 2.5 oz., it is currently the smallest golf gps on the market. But don’t be fooled by the size, it is a full featured golf gps and the screen size and font is clearly readable. The font on the screen of the iGolf Neo GPS is actually the same size or slightly larger than that on the iGolf GPS Caddie II. Priced at $149.95, the Neo is also very affordable. To compare all the features of various golf gps systems, don’t forget to visit our “compare golf gps systems” page.

With the PGA Merchandise show about 5 weeks behind us, we’ve seen many new release for 2008 already introduced and several more on the way. Continue to check our blog for the latest introductions. One notable new release is the updated Clicgear 2.0 Push Cart. The Clicgear shook things up last year with its innovative compact design. Now it is even easier to fold and unfold and several new accessories will be launched in the coming months. Check out the video we have posted to see just how easy it is to fold and unfold the Clicgear. If you have been concerned about the size of a push cart and if it will fit in the back of your car, you definitely need to check out the Clicgear 2.0.