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Golf might be a lot easier if there was no wind in no slopes, but it will also be a pretty
dull game. The natural challenges it offers, are a big part of it's appeal.
But to fully meet the, you have to know a lot more than one basic golf shot.
So let's look at what really separates the men from the boys in this game.
Controlling the flight of the ball
.
The most frequently hit shot in golf is the slicer fade.
It may surprise you to know, for the greatest part of my professional career,
my favorite shot was the fade.
Why did I hit a fade most of my career?
Well, first of all, the straight shot is not only the hardest shot to hit in the game of golf,
but the only time it'll go at the target is when you hit it.
Otherwise, it's going to be moving away from the target with a hook or a slice.
So let's understand that to play a fade, you aim the ball to the left of the target,
you're going to be moving the ball to the target,
just like with a hook, you move the ball to the target.
Now, to hit a fade, all that I do is instead of having the club face square at address,
I open the club face slightly at address, and then I aim slightly to the left of the target.
This will move the ball down the left side of the fairway and back in.
I can do it the same with a driver.
I aim down the left side of the fairway and move it in,
or hitting into a green to the left side of the green, moving into the hole.
And here we are.
Down to the left, slightly open club face, and make a normal swing.
Should produce a nice little left-to-right fade.
Now, how much do you open the club face?
Well, that's a matter of personal preference,
and the only way you can find out is for you to get on the practice tee
and experiment a little bit for yourself.
The average golfer tries to aim the ball down the center of the fairway.
At that point, knowing he is a slicer, he tries to swing out over the ball
and tries to guide the ball into the fairway, thus losing power and direction, like this.
He'll hit a big old slice or he'll pull the ball, he'll do anything,
but he won't hit it very far and he won't hit it very straight.
Now, really, I don't mind a fellow being slightly outside.
If he's going to play a little slice, that doesn't bother me too much.
But let's aim down the left side of the fairway, like this,
and the fellow feels like he has to swing a little bit to the inside to control the golf ball.
So let's just open the club face slightly, aim down the left side of the fairway,
try to swing from the inside so we'll retain our power
and our slightly left-to-right shot for direction.
He's going to have more power, he's going to have better direction.
Now, let's remember, to retain your power,
you want to use the same swing for all golf shots, including the fade.
Let's just aim the ball to the left and have a slightly open club face
to give you the tendency to fade the ball.
How much you fade it is a matter of experiment, which only you will learn by practice.
If you want a little more distance and still control the golf ball,
you should learn how to play a draw.
To hit a draw, I think you should first understand what produces a draw.
A draw is produced not by coming into the ball with a square club face,
but by coming into the ball with a closed club face,
turned in at impact.
Now, I don't want to change my golf swing to play a draw.
What I want to do is make exactly the same golf swing that I've made
with every other golf shot, but by the turning of the club face in,
I will take loft off the club and produce a little extra distance,
produce a spin that will make the ball go to the left,
and to compensate for that, I aim slightly to the right of the target.
And depending how much I want to draw the ball is how much I aim to the right of the target
and how far I turn the club face in.
Well, what should that do?
Well, as you look down the line of the target, that should make the ball go left.
So let's aim to the right of the target to compensate for the closed club face.
Now, all I want to do from there is make a complete golf swing.
And this is what should happen.
Not bad.
How does the average golfer go about hitting a draw?
Well, he's been taught to, first of all, move his left hand over here,
move his right hand under here, okay?
Now, he's going to close his stance, he's going to bring his right foot back.
Well, now he's got to take the club to the inside, which he pulls it back in here,
and then he's got to make sure as he goes through the ball,
he's got to roll his wrists over to close the club face,
and it looks something like this.
Oh, boy, wasn't that a nice pretty little draw.
Let me see you do it again.
Well, obviously he can, because he has too many inconsistencies
and he hasn't used his basic golf swing in the one that he's used to.
To play a draw properly, when you're on the practice range,
let's say you decide to close your club face a little bit
and you aim a little bit to the right of the target,
and it produces a 5-yard draw.
Fine.
We'll close a little bit more and see if it produces a 10-yard draw.
Now, you'll notice that when you close the club face
and aim to the right of the target,
you'll also get a little bit more distance out of the shot.
So if you're playing a 5-iron distance,
many times you can play that with a 6-iron
because it produces more distance,
or if you have a 4-iron shot, you can take the 5-iron
and get the extra distance that you need,
and it should look something like this.
Aim slightly to the right of the target,
close the club face slightly, and make a normal swing.
I hope a draw helps your golf game.
Hitting the ball high is really not that difficult to do.
If you understand the principles,
it can really be a lot of fun.
I think probably the most enjoyable
and satisfying shot I can play in golf
is when I'm behind a tree or an obstacle in trouble
and I'm able to get the ball up quickly
and fly it to the green, particularly with a long iron.
I have here a 1-iron in my hand,
and let me show you how I go about hitting the ball up in the air.
First of all, I'm going to use the same golf swing
that I use with every other golf club.
Let's just take that as a given.
Secondly, I'm going to open the club face
to put loft on the club.
You say, well, that's going to make the ball slice.
It is if I place it off my left heel.
If I move the ball up in my stance,
then the club will come square later in the swing.
Also, by moving it up in my stance,
I'll catch it a little bit more on the upswing,
which will allow me to stay behind the ball
and should throw the ball up in the air.
Let me show you.
Well, you might say that that will also make the ball go shorter.
Well, it does.
So when you're hitting up over an obstacle,
you probably need one more club to play that high shot.
But also remember, when you're playing downwind
is the other reason you're going to play a high shot
to stop the ball quickly on the green
so that the wind will compensate
and give you the extra distance you need
and the high shot will stop the ball quickly.
Most average golfers think to hit a high shot
that you must remain behind the ball
and also help it into the air by a good full release.
Well, they're absolutely right.
But the way they do it
is that they leave the ball at the same place in their stance.
They get behind the ball by going back to the right foot
and then staying there
and releasing from the top of the swing, which is casting.
Something like this.
Of course, they always finish the swing.
Well, obviously, what's happened there
is that the average golfer has lost power
because he stayed behind the ball too long.
He stayed on his right foot.
He's casted his swing because he didn't move to his left side.
What he should have done
was move the ball up in his stance,
open his club face slightly.
This keeps him behind the ball by moving the ball up.
It also puts the loft on the club to get it up in the air.
He was right. He must release it.
But he moves the left side so he gets his power too.
Something like this.
You can do that too.
Just give it a little bit of a try.
When playing in the wind,
it really makes the game a lot more fun
if you understand why and how to play low shots.
The obvious reason
that people like to hit low shots in the wind
is that they want to keep the ball down out of the wind
so they can keep control of it.
Well, there are two kinds of wind shots.
First, and the one that's probably most commonly played,
is the one where a fellow moves the ball back in his stance
and closes the club face.
Now, what does that do?
Well, number one, by moving the ball back in the stance,
it means we're going to get a little bit more on the downswing.
Number two, we've closed the club face
that takes loft off the golf club,
which means we should hit it further into the wind.
And three, it's a good position to be in
because we come square a little earlier in the swing.
It should produce a shot that looks something like this.
Now, the second method of hitting a ball low
comes from taking exactly the same swing
that you'd normally take with any other shot.
All you do is reduce the length of the golf club
and take a longer club,
meaning if you have an eight-iron shot,
maybe take a six-iron and go down the shaft
four or five inches
and do exactly the same thing you would with any other golf shot.
What does this do?
Well, having less loft will keep it lower,
the shorter shaft will make it go shorter,
and you're not really hitting the ball quite as hard
because you don't have as long a shaft
and you're going to produce less spin,
which will throw the ball or keep the ball lower in the air.
So here we are.
Right here, normal swing.
Both are very useful.
The average golfer, not enough club in his hand
and hits it too hard in the wind.
What does it do?
The ball goes out low, shoots up in the air,
ends up 20 yards short of the target.
Well, what he really wanted to do
was use a combination of the two things I just talked about.
There are two lessons.
One, you move the ball back in your stance,
close the club face.
Two, go down on the shaft.
If you have a long-iron shot,
let's say a one- or a two-iron,
and you move the ball back in your stance,
you're not going to put a lot of spin on the ball,
so you don't have to worry about shooting up in the air.
And by closing the club face, you're going to put a slight draw on it,
which will also help keep the ball down.
As the shot gets shorter,
the club lengths should vary.
In other words, if I've got a five-iron shot,
I should be using a three- or four-iron going down the shaft.
As I go to an eight-iron, I need a six-iron to go down the shaft.
As I get up to the nine- or the wedge,
I take even a seven- or an eight-iron and go way down the shaft
to take the spin off the golf ball and be able to control it.
I've got a six-iron here,
and we'll play an eight-iron distance shot.
And when you do that,
you're going to have a lot more fun playing the wind
because you're going to control the golf ball.
You know, golf isn't always played from tees and level eyes.
Sometimes we get an uphill eye,
and that can be a lot of trouble.
Let me show you how I play it.
An uphill eye can be a very awkward shot.
So to try and play the shot,
I try to make sure that I do as many things
with my body and the club and my swing
that will simulate being on a level eye.
First of all, being on an uphill eye
will put more loft on the golf club.
So if I've got a seven-iron shot,
why not play it with a five-iron
and just make it seven-iron length?
Now all of a sudden I've got the right length
and the right loft for the distance I want to go.
Secondly, I really try to use the same golf swing,
and I want to place the ball
pretty much the same place in the stance.
But I'm going to try to shift my weight
so that I can make the things happen at the right time,
meaning if I move my hips a little bit forward,
that sets the weight a little bit more towards my left foot
and making it easier for me to get off my right foot.
I'm going to keep the weight and my hips up there a little bit.
To help that, I'm also going to take the angle of my body
and try to get it perpendicular to the slope.
So that sets myself here with my hips up here,
which should allow me to come fairly level into the ball.
Okay, let's see what happens.
Worked all right there.
...
The average golfer tries to play an uphill shot
in one of two ways.
Usually he will try to make sure that he gets the ball first.
He tries to get his weight up on his left foot,
which is way up here on his left side,
and what he does is he just drives the club into the ground
and the ball never really gets up or goes anywhere.
The second method that the average golfer tries,
he says, well, I want to make sure I get the ball up off the hill,
so he gets his weight way back on his right foot
so he stays well behind the ball,
and then he stays right there, and he hits it from there,
and what does he do?
He hits it straight up in the air and doesn't get any power.
Obviously, the combination of the two is what we're trying to get to.
He wants to get his weight forward
so he can get his weight to his left side.
We do that by shifting our weight to our left side here.
We want to get behind the ball so we swing level the hill
by changing our body angle.
So let's do that again.
Hips forward, body angle back,
swing the length of the hill with a club
that will simulate the distance you're trying to go.
Instead of a 7-iron, let's use a 5-iron
and choke it down to a 7-iron length.
We then are free to play the shot.
I hope that helps you play a few uphill shots
the next time you're on the course.
For most people, the downhill eye is the most difficult
and awkward shot that they play in the game of golf.
Let me show you how I play it.
The downhill shot is a difficult and awkward shot
for a variety of reasons.
The main reason being is that you're going to have a shot
where you're going to be reducing the loft off the golf club,
meaning you're going to have to take a shorter club
to play the shot, and you don't have the luxury
of being able to lengthen the golf club.
So what do you do?
Well, you try to create as many things as possible
to be able to compensate for that factor
and still get the ball into the air.
First of all, I'm going to try to make my body angle
fit the hillside.
I'm going to try to move my hips back
and most of my weight back to my right foot at the address.
What does this do?
Well, by putting my body angle perpendicular to the hill,
I'll then be able to swing as normal as possible
and on the line of the hill.
My hips being back will keep me from getting my weight
too fast to my left side and not allowing for a full release.
The other compensation is that I'm going to put slightly
more loft on the golf club by opening the golf club face
and then aiming to the left of the target
to compensate for that fade.
It should look something like this.
Huh.
I know this is a complicated lesson,
but the problem in playing a downhill shot
is to get the ball in the air.
The average golfer will try two ways
of getting the ball in the air.
One, he tries to get behind it.
And what happens?
Well, he hits about eight inches behind it.
The second thing he tries to do, he says,
well, he says, I don't want to hit behind it.
I want to make sure I get the ball first.
So he leans all his weight down on his left foot
and then he hits it.
Yeah, he might catch the ball solidly,
but he drives it right into the ground.
He doesn't get any elevation.
He can't get a result out of the shot.
So let me review a little bit of the things
we're going to try to do to get the ball in the air.
And that's the important thing on a downhill shot.
One, we're going to open the club face slightly.
That puts more loft on the club.
We're going to take more club than you might normally
want to compensate for the downhill lie.
We're going to open our stance slightly
to allow us to play a slight fade
because of the open club face.
I'm going to get our body angle perpendicular to the hill,
and we're going to get the majority of our weight
centered back so we don't get to the left foot too fast.
So let's watch that again.
Here we are left, open club face, body angle,
and a normal swing.
I hope that helps you the next time
you get in this awkward position.
The side hill lie with a ball above your feet.
A lot of people have trouble with it
simply because they don't understand it.
Let me explain it to you.
When the ball is above the feet in a golf shot,
the angle of the plane must change to conform
with the side of the hill.
What I mean by that is if your normal plane
would be here for a level lie,
that would put the toe of the club
into the side of the hill.
So you really must conform the sole of the club
to the side of the hill and swing on that plane.
To do that, you need a slightly more erect body angle
and you need to try and keep your head
as still as possible.
To do that, the natural tendency is to fall
back down the hill because you're on the side of it.
It's to keep more weight on your toes.
And also, the club as it swings will produce
a natural hook because the club face
will be coming in at a different angle
and will naturally throw the ball off
of the flat side hill lie to the left.
So we aim to the right of the target to compensate.
Everything else is the same.
Ball to the right of the target,
slightly more erect, weight slightly on my toes,
and a normal swing.
Hopefully we'll get the right results.
When the average golfer is confronted
with a side hill lie, the ball above his feet,
he'll generally make one of two mistakes.
The first common mistake is he'll try to play it
as though he were on a level surface or a flat lie.
And what happens, he'll get the toe of the club
caught into the hillside, something like that,
and the ball might go anywhere.
Now, the second fellow, he understands
that he might get the toe of the club
caught in the hillside, so he stands
a little bit more erect to compensate for that.
But as he stands more erect, he forgets
a little bit about his balance,
and all of a sudden, he's standing there
and hitting it like this.
He falls right back down the hillside.
Well, I'll tell you what,
a combination of those two
is what you're looking for.
You're looking to keep your weight into the hillside.
You're looking to keep a slightly more erect posture
to be able to fit the plane of the swing
to the side of the hill.
And remember that because you're on the side
of the hill, the ball will probably hook,
so you need to aim slightly to the right
of the target to allow for the hook.
Then you just go ahead
and make a normal golf swing.
Try it my way.
The side hill lie with a ball below your feet
is one of the most difficult shots
in the game of golf.
Let me show you why and what to do about it.
First of all, if I were playing a shot
with a ball above my feet,
I could take the club and allow the sole of the club
to fit the contour of the hill by moving up the hill.
But with the ball below my feet,
as I move the club up the hill
to let the sole fit the contour of the hill,
all of a sudden, there's a point
where I can only go so far,
and the heel then gets in the way.
So what I try to do to compensate for this
is I try to keep as much weight as I possibly can
on my heels and my middle body back as far as I can.
This allows me to keep from falling down the hill.
It also allows me to keep my head steady,
which is going to have a natural tendency
to fall out over the hill.
And it allows me to bend my upper body
to help fit the contour of the hill a little easier.
Now, as I bend over,
I also find that if I look down at the club,
the angle of the face of the club
is going to want to come in at such an angle
as to produce a slice.
So I should aim to the left of the target
and just allow it naturally to happen.
This is where I get the extra help that I've needed
in that by moving around on the hill,
I'll be able to come up the hill
with my swing a little bit more,
and this will allow me to avoid,
as much as possible,
catching the heel of the club in the ground.
So here's what it looks like.
Weight back on the heels, bend over at the body,
aim to the left of the target,
keeping my weight back on my heels,
keeping my head steady,
and then a normal golf swing.
Weight back on the heels, bend over at the body,
aim to the left of the target,
and then a normal golf swing.
Produces a little fade,
and hopefully goes somewhere near the target.
MUSIC
When the average golfer plays
a side-hill lie with a ball below his feet,
he generally finds himself losing his balance
and hitting the heel of the club into the ground,
and the result is a bad shot,
something like this.
What I try to do is to fight
all the natural tendencies
and maintain good balance.
I do that by keeping the weight on my heels,
bending over from the waist,
and trying as hard as I can to keep my head still.
I aim to the left of the target
to allow for the natural tendency
for the ball to slice,
and then I try to swing normally.
I hope that helps you with one of the most difficult shots
in the game of golf.
Practicing, it's a waste of time,
unless you know how to practice
or why you are doing it.
I practice for three different reasons.
The first is to warm up for a golf round.
I might hit 15, 20, 25 shots,
starting with a pitching wedge
representing a short club,
the short iron with the 8-iron,
the middle iron, 5-iron, long iron, a 2-iron,
and probably a driver,
and then finish off with a few pitch shots.
Now, the average golfer,
he finishes work at 4 o'clock,
he goes to the golf course.
Buddies are saying,
come on, let's get to the first tee.
What does he do?
He rushes to the first tee,
he picks up a club,
he hits it down the fairway,
and he chases it around 9 hills of golf.
What does he hit?
Maybe 15, 20, 25 shots in 9 hills of golf.
He's all warmed up,
and then he goes in and has a drink.
Well, obviously, it only takes about 5 minutes
to warm up for a round of golf,
so it doesn't take very long
to go out there and just hit those few shots,
and I think that's very, very important
to understand what kind of swing
you're going to use that day.
Second method is when I'm not sure what I'm doing
or I'm having a fault in my swing,
then I go out and I start off
trying to figure out what that fault is,
but I start off with the basic fundamentals.
I start with my grip, I start with my stance,
I start with my posture, my ball position.
9 chances out of 10,
it's a basic fundamental that has caused my problems.
Not something I'm really doing in my swing.
My swing is not really going to change.
The third method of practicing
is when I'm trying to really groove
a certain thing in my swing
and make sure that what I'm doing is right.
Now, I do this a lot after I play a round of golf,
whether I've played good or bad,
but particularly even if I'm playing well,
I go out and I'll hit a few shots
making sure that I understand
that what I'm doing is right,
and I understand why I'm doing it.
And I don't go out there and hit 500 balls.
I might go out and hit 15 shots,
I might go out and hit 50 shots,
I might hit 5 shots.
When I understand it,
I've practiced with a purpose
and I get away from it.
Have you ever seen that guy in the practice tee?
I'm sure you probably have.
Well, he's getting exercise, not practice.
And when I go to the practice tee,
I want to try to accomplish something.
I want to practice with a purpose.
And when I say practice with a purpose,
I want to practice as though I'm playing a shot
on a golf course.
After all, that's where I'm going to use the shot.
So let's think about how we're going to practice.
Well, how are we going to approach a ball?
I approach the ball from the rear.
I come up to it.
I've picked out a spot in front of me.
I line up down the line of the target.
I take my time
and make a nice, smooth swing
and try to remain on balance.
Now, I'm accomplishing something here,
whether I'm warming up for the round,
whether I'm correcting a fault,
or whether I'm grooving my swing.
I'm trying to accomplish something when I practice.
Well, there we are.
Golf My Way.
This marvelous game has given me tremendous enjoyment
and fulfillment in my life,
and it's always a pleasure to try to help other people
get more fun and satisfaction from it.
I hope you've enjoyed the show,
and the very best of luck to you
in all your golfing endeavors.
If Jack Nicklaus on the control shots
helps you enjoy golf more,
we're sure you'll get even greater satisfaction
and fun from the game
after viewing the complete versions
of Jack's worldwide best-selling
Golf My Way videos.
Golf My Way 1.
Hitting the shots.
Over two hours of easy-to-grasp
club-swinging and ball-striking instruction
by the man voted the greatest golfer of the century.
Included are
the key pre-swing basics.
Gripping the club.
Aiming the body.
And positioning the ball correctly.
Just inside the left heel.
Jack's seven career-long
full-swing fundamentals.
Covering the head.
Foot action.
The takeaway.
The backswing.
The downswing.
The follow-through.
And, most exciting of all,
how to generate maximum power.
Let me show you the elements in my swing
that I use to hit a ball
at great distance.
More than 20 minutes of Jack Nicklaus
demonstrating and highlighting
the key moves of the golf swing
in super slow motion
from every conceivable angle.
Always remember that you can get distance
only from club head speed,
never from body force.
So go ahead and really use that club head.
Playing the driver.
The five iron.
And the pitching wedge.
The world's greatest ever golfer
on the arts of wedge play.
On pitching.
On chipping.
And on beating those sand bunkers.
Some wonderful advice
on the part of the game
that counts for between 40 and 50 percent
of your scores.
Getting the ball in the hole with a putter.
And, finally,
a fascinating discussion between
the golden bear and the man
who taught him most of what he knows about golf technique,
the legendary instructor
Jack Grout, on the easiest
and best ways to keep learning
and improving at the game.
Then, be sure to capitalize
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by learning what Nicklaus calls
the other half of golf
with the new, award-winning,
two-hour, 16-minute video
Golf My Way 2, Playing the Game.
The second half of the game
is managing yourself
and the golf course.
Says Jack,
becoming the best golfer you're capable of being
requires learning to use your ball striking
and shot-making skills
to bring in the lowest possible score
time and time again.
I call that game management
and that's what my second video
is all about.
Here's the Golf My Way 2 lineup.
First, as a refresher
on shot-making,
an easy-to-grasp review of the key
swing techniques.
Then, after some tips about
preparing correctly for a round of golf,
right to the meat.
Six highly practical
lessons on the shot that so often
sets up success or failure,
driving the ball,
approach play, or
the keys to hitting green after
green after green in regulation
numbers.
Sure and simple strategies
for saving par were better
from all those challenging places
around the greens.
How to reduce your score
the easiest way of all
by making more putts.
We complain a lot
about golf's testing situations
and troubles.
How to beat every golfer's
number one enemy, wind.
Recovering from high or heavy
grass and other rough
lies.
And finally, completing a total of
60 concise, simple, self-contained
lessons by golf's all-time
master, how to get the most
out of your practice time.
That's the spot I'm focusing on.
That's the spot I'm looking at.
Boom. I hit it right in that spot.
The complete versions of
Golf My Way 1, Hitting the Shots,
and Golf My Way 2, Playing the Game
are available now at your local
video stores and other fine
websites.
Thank you.
Thank you.