Back in 2007, Aaron Baddeley was on the short list of elite Australians set to take over the PGA Tour. He had won his first PGA Tour title in 2006, edging Jim Furyk at Harbour Town, and followed that up with another win in 2007. He found himself in the hunt at the U.S. Open that same year before a final round 80 dropped him out of contention.

Still, it looked like Baddeley would be around for a while.

And then golf decided to do what golf does, and pushed Baddeley out of the limelight. He had only three top-10s in 2008. Just two in 2009. This season has been more of the same, with few missed cuts but few high finishes. Just a bunch of 50th and 70th place finishes.

That is until this week, back at Harbour Town, the site of his first win. Bads as they call him is again battling with Furyk, and is again doing what you need to do to compete at the Verizon Heritage; make a ton of pars and very few mistakes.

If he wins, it will again boost him to the top of an Australian list that has since grown in size to include names like Michael Sim , Jason Day , and Mathew Goggin.

He could do what guys like Adam Scott and Robert Allenby have struggled to do the last few years; take home a trophy.

It will all lie with his ball-striking, which has been suspect at best this season. If he can hit fairways on Sunday, and find a few greens, he will have a shot to leave town with another plaid jacket.

Some might ask “why would I want to spin the ball back?”.  Spinning the ball back is great for when the pin is at the front of the green and just in front of the green is a sandtrap? You will have an advantage if you can spin the ball back to where it is closer to the pin and your opponents can’t.

Putting backspin on the ball is one of the  hardest to master. To be able to apply backspin and watch the ball draw back on the green requires proper technique, the right ball, the right conditions and practice.

Below are some factors that will help you to put backspin using your wedges and short irons.

1. The first thing you should consider is your golf ball. If you normally play high compression balls, chances are you do not have enough spin to back up the ball. You should be using a soft covered ball, it will give you the spin you require to draw the ball back. Hard covered balls are good for distance but you will not get the spin you need. There is one problem when using a soft covered ball and that is if you have a tendency to slice or hook the ball. Because of the soft cover you will spin the ball more creating greater slices and hooks. That is something you need to consider.
2. The short iron or wedge needs to be clean from dirt or grass and need to be in good shape. If the groves are worn, you should consider replacing the wedge or have the grooves sharpened. A top player would struggle to generate spin and have the ball backup with dirty or worn grooves.
3. Spinning the ball back requires the ball to be resting in a clean lie on the fairway with short grass. You should not expect to get much spin if the ball is in the rough or fairways with long grass.
4. The green has to be firm not too hard and not too soft. If the green is very hard chances are you will not get any backspin and if the green is too soft you will most likely plug.
5. You should try adding backspin to your ball when there is no wind or you are hitting into the wind. This should be when the ball will travel it’s highest and you will most likely get maximum backspin. When you have the wind behind you chances are the ball will be propelled forward after landing.

Now that you know the conditions required and that type of ball to use to apply backspin, we will look at the golf swing. This is the hardest part.

1. You should have your feet closer together then your normal swing
2. The ball position should be center or slightly back of center, say one ball.
3. Use a 56-60 degree wedge to practice, it is easier to spin the ball with these high lofted clubs.
4. You will need to swing your club on a steep swing plane.
5. Try to hit the back of the ball first and then the turf, taking a shallow divot.

Remember when you play a shot where you are trying to spin the ball back, you have to land past the flag on your approach shots.

Below are a couple of videos that will help you with putting backspin on your golf ball.

I hope this helps golf fix helps your game.

Will this be a new Tiger?

Frank Thomas is the inventor of the graphite shaft. Frank has served 26 years as technical director of the United States Golf Association (USGA), he also directed the development of the Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN).

Hope your Christmas is fine in every way,

And that all of next year will be happy and gay.

May your swing be on line, your ball perfect lay,

Whether eighteen or nine, May you play every day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here is how it works. Place a ball on the ground and  place your putter behind the ball. Now place two tees in the ground, the first at the toe of the putter and the second tee at the heel of the putter. Make sure the gate you are making is wide enough for the putter to pass through, giving yourself around 1/2″ on each side of the putter.

Now start putting the ball. The idea is to accelerate through the ball, making contact with the ball in the center or the putter face.  If you find that your putter hits the inside tee, you are contacting the ball with the toe of the putter, if you are hitting the outside tee, you are contacting the ball with the heel of the putter  In both cases you are not making contact with the center of the putter face, which will lead to inconsistent shots.

Here is a video where Hank Haney is demonstrating the Gate Drill using a training aid from Eyeline Golf.

Work on this drill and I’m sure your putting will improve.

Here is what happened:

First,  we are hitting up on the ball instead of hitting down. The shot where we hit behind the ball (chunked), we tried to get the club under the ball to get the ball in the air. When the clubhead hits the ground first, all the speed of your clubhead (the power) is absorbed by the ground, leaving nothing for when it hits the ball, resulting in shorter than expected distance.

The skull is again caused by hiting up on the ball and in this case, because of the chunked ball. On this shot we tried to miss the ground and the leading edge of the clubhead hit the ball above the equator. This sends a low shot that rockets past the cup.

Golf Fix It :

The key to better chipping is to hit down on the ball. We want to strike the ball first and then the ground just forward of the ball. We also need to remember to accelerate through the ball at impact, this acceleration through impact gives us better distance control and we will strike the ground after crisp contact with the ball.

Here is a video that will help you with your chips around the green. There is a practice drill that will help you get the feel of making solid contact with the ball by striking down on the ball first and ground second.

Practice this drill and I’m sure that you will be striking better chips and lowering your score.

To practice having your putts  come to rest in the safety zone, place a club or flag stick 3 feet past the cup. Start with 6 foot putts and move back 2 feet when you have 3 putts ( you can set the amount of putts to what ever you like) come to  rest in the safety zone. If the ball does not pass the cup or the ball passes your safety zone, start over again. With practice you will confidence in your putting. You will start making more putts from outside of 6 foot and you will have fewer 3 putts.

Below is a golf tip video of Hank Haney demonstrating how to practice lag putting.

With practice I know this will help your putting and lower your score.

Excerpt from:
Reaction Mixed To Woods News