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Top Ten
Questions Golfers Ask |
| Cindy
Miller has given countless lessons, but across the board
certain questions just keep coming up. Maybe it's because
everyone who plays the game eventually wonders the same
thing: Will I Ever Get Any Better?! While the
answer to that one may only be found in your own personal
quest, Cindy can certainly help you answer these. Click on
the question to shoot her an e-mail for more insight! |
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#10. |
What was it like being on the Big Break III?
Having the
opportunity to be on The Big Break III and Big Break VII
Reunion were two of the best experiences of my life. The
reason I signed up for Big Break in the first place was to
test myself to see if I could execute a golf shot under the
gun, with ten cameras staring at me and about 50 crew
members watching, realizing that up to 70 million people
would watch the results. My goal was to win a tournament on
The Legends Tour. I learned a lot about myself, my golf
game, and other people. After competing in Big Break III, I
finished 2nd on the 2005 Legends Tour Money List
and 2nd in the 2005 Hy-Vee Classic. I did not
fold coming down the stretch. Being on the Big Break helped
me learn to handle the heat.
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#9. |
How can I improve my game from inside 100 yards?
The number one
answer would be…….yup, PRACTICE! Get comfortable with which
club you use, how big your golf swing will be and where you
will grip the club for each distance. Try to see what you
need to do to fly the golf ball 10 yards, 20 yards, 30
yards, 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards and so forth. Check
out this
video that will help you decide when to pitch it and when to chip
it.
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#8. |
How do I hit a fairway wood in the air off the ground?
For the golf ball to go
up, the club must go down. Brush the grass. Be sure you are
playing the golf ball inside your front foot (left foot for
right handed players, right foot for left handed players).
Relax your arms and make some practice swings allowing the
club head to brush the grass, not digging. If your arms are
too tight, you will not allow the club head to reach the
bottom of the arc.
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#7. |
How can I concentrate when people are watching me?
One of the lessons
we must learn is to always concentrate on the task at hand.
If you are about to hit a golf shot and that little voice in
your head is reminding you at everyone is watching, you are
not thinking about the golf shot you are about to
make. Another thing to remember is that most people really
don’t care about you.They are concerned about making a fool
of themselves.
Take a lesson from the Pros. Legends Tour
Professional Lori West explains the importance of staying
with your
routine.
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#6. |
How do you know which club to hit where?
Answer part one of this question, would be to become
consistent with your ball striking first. Once you are able
to hit the golf ball with some sort of consistency, you will
be able to make a chart of your distances. My husband,
Allen and I have gone to a high school football field
before, (when they aren’t playing a game of course). Allen
would walk off 100 yards and tell me to hit my pitching
wedge. I would hit at least 10 balls. He would write down
the average distance the golf ball FLEW. We would go
through each club so that I had a chart of my distances.
Do not calculate how far a golf ball goes with the ending
distance, always, how far it carries in the air.
Here are some sample distances that average men and women
hit the golf ball. At least it is a starting point, if you
don’t know where you fall in.
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Club |
Men |
Women |
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Driver |
200-300 yards |
150-220
yards |
| 3
Wood |
190-270 yards |
140-200 yards |
| 5
Wood |
180-240 yards |
130-190 yards |
| 3
Hybrid (iron) |
170-220 yards |
125- 180
yards |
| 4
Hybrid (iron) |
160-210 yards |
120-170
yards |
| 5
Hybrid (iron) |
150-200 yards |
115- 160 yards |
| 6
Hybrid (iron) |
140-190 yards |
110-150 yards |
| 7
Iron |
130-175 yards |
100-150 yards |
| 8
Iron |
120-160 yards |
90-140 yards |
| 9
Iron |
110-150 yards |
80-130 yards |
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Pitching Wedge |
100-140 yards |
70-120 yards |
| Gap
Wedge |
90-120 yards |
60-110 yards |
| Sand
Wedge |
80-110 yards |
50 -110 yards |
| Lob
Wedge |
70-100 yards |
40-100 yards |
Needless to say, the longest yardages per club here are for
above average men and women players. Not everyone is born
with the ability to hit the golf ball far.
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#5. |
How can I tell well-meaning friends to keep their advice to
themselves?
I believe
the more knowledge you can obtain about your own golf swing
and game, the less “The Committee of They” can interfere
with you. When someone offers you advice I would smile, be
polite and tell them you appreciate them trying to help you,
but you are currently working on your golf game with a
Professional and trying to implement what they have told
you. When there are too many voices in your head, you get
confused.
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#4. |
How do I fix my slice?
 The
golf ball goes to the right because the club face does not
return at impact where it was at address. A golf ball that
travels from left to right has spin on it moving from across
the line.
Club Swings across the line
Target Line
For the golf ball to go
straight, the club face must come from inside the target
line and square up at impact. Any time the face is open, the
golf ball will go to the right. Relax your hands, wrists and
arms, and allow the clubface to swing. If you do this the
face will naturally open on the back swing and square up on
the down swing.
Video
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#3. |
How do I get the ball in the air?
For the golf ball to go up, the club head must go down.
When “The Committee of They” tell you to keep your eye on
the ball, you usually look at the top of the golf ball. If
you are a decent athlete, you will hit what you look
at. Then you wonder why you hit the top of the
ball. Ready? You were looking at the top of the ball! Look
at the grass before the golf ball. Try to brush the grass
before the ball and the golf ball will go up in the air.
Video
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#2. |
How do I hit it farther?
Yardage...Oh yes, more
length. I want to become long before I die. If anyone has
tried to hit it longer, it is me. I have tried clubs too
long for me, too light for me, I work out, practice and
stretch. If there is something I could do to gain 20 more
yards, I would be doing it. Club head speed, strength, and
flexibility help you to hit the golf balls farther. I call
it a controlled kill. The reason I call it controlled is
that when you try to kill it, we both know the golf ball
only goes shorter.
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#1. |
How do I get more consistent?
What a great
question. When I look up the word consistent in the
thesaurus, I find these other words: reliable, steady,
dependable, constant, regular, coherent, and uniform. In
Cindy terms, that would mean, doing what you want to do with
the golf club on purpose every time you swing. Would you
agree? I personally don’t know anyone who walks the face of
the earth who would be able to achieve that quest. I do,
however know tons of people who enjoy playing the game of
golf who are on the constant search for consistency. I
believe that first one must become aware of what they are
currently doing when they swing. Next would be to have a
good idea, picture, feel, for what they would like to do
when they swing. Last would be to practice that motion,
sequence of thought, movement, and ritual until they are
able to do it on purpose whether they are hitting balls by
themselves on the driving range, or approaching the green on
the 18th hole in the club championship. Needless to say, the
continual quest to consistency is an ongoing process - one
we all will be practicing until we die! |
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