Increasing Your Handicap by 5-7 Strokes.

 If you want to increase your Northern home course handicap by 5-7 strokes, head south for about 12-15 rounds of golf in the middle of the winter months of January-February-March. It is not your swing, it is the grass – no - not the kind you smoke – but Bermuda grass.

In the South (Florida), essentially every golf course uses some form of Bermuda grass. In the North we are used to bent grass, bluegrass and fescue.

Bermuda grass is used in some form on the tee boxes, fairways, and rough, especially around the greens in all southern courses. The difference in grass in the rough and around the greens in the south, is the tangly, gnarly, thick, fluffy, club twisting – Bermuda grass.

These differences require certain considerations and alterations in technique for successful shots. Let’s take a look at different shots:

Full shots from the rough: You hit a drive and get into the first or second cut of rough, and it is Bermuda grass. The structure of this grass is that is much thicker per inch of height than most other grasses. This means that 2 inches of Bermuda grass plays as tough as 4 inches of northern fescue. Make these adjustments: Take one club more than normal. If you think it is a 7 iron, take a 6 iron. Why? Because the thickness of the Bermuda grass. Grip the club a tighter than normal. The thickness and the gnarliness of Bermuda grass twists the club head as you swing, so you must grip tighter than normal to power through the shot. Deliver a steeper descending blow to the golf ball, and make sure you hit as much of the ball as you can first. Sometimes it makes sense to play a punch/cut or fade shot out of the Bermuda grass rough. If you are in the thick stuff and your ball is sitting down in Bermuda grass, take you medicine and get in the best position in the fairway to get up and down for a good score. Don’t be a hero.

Shorter shots from the rough: Same principles apply as longer shots from the rough. A slightly descending blow, a compact swing, an acceleration through the shot is needed. If the Bermuda grass leaves your ball sitting high in the rough – floating, - then you must take a few practice swings and sweep the ball out of the rough, use a less lofted club if the shot allows. If you go under the ball you most likely will come up short. If you can find an area to practice this shot before the round it will save you a few strokes, but each shot is unique and the Bermuda grass is a worthy challenge in the short game rough. Keep firm wrists and concentrate to make ball first contact.

Shots from the fairway: If you plan and manage to keep your ball in the fairway, it is most important, at all costs, to hit the ball before you hit the turf in Bermuda grass. Because of the Bermuda grass root structure, a fat shot is more devastating than with other grasses. A fat shot will be fatter, and this holds true around the greens also. The key is you must “hit it solid”, ball first then turf. Make sure you spend some time practicing before your round in the Bermuda grass, fairways and rough.

This will pay off in big ways and save you at least a handful of shots per round. The IronSolid training aid promotes a ball first impact which is critical when play on Bermuda grass fairways or rough. So if you want to keep your Northern handicap in tact, make sure you practice with the IronSolid before you play in Southern Bermuda grass conditions.

Hit It Solid! IronSolid.  BUY THE IRONSOLID HERE: http://www.ironsolid.com/apps/webstore/

Folks, it's cold!  Not only here in Western Pennsylvania but all over most of the country.  Exciting things are in store for the IronSolid this year.  A major branding anouncement will take place in the spring time, but more importantly the training device is special.  Why is it special?  The IronSolid is the best training device in the world for teaching a recreational golfer to hit quality iron shots just like the touring pros.  Don't doubt it, try it.  

If you have difficulty hitting down on the golf ball with your irons or hybrid clubs when the ball is on the turf (and you can't improve your lie) then you need the IronSolid in your training arsenal.

I have lowered the price of the IronSolid to $19.95 in anticipation of the major launch in 2014.

Al Gore and global warming? Please.   

I am a student of the Stack and Tilt golf swing.  In fact the first fundamental of the S&T is a "hiting the ground in the same place every time."  This is what the IronSolid training device trains and promotes.  What is interesting without even knowing the other two S&T fundamentals (power to play the course and matching the clubface to the swing path to control shot direction) using the IronSolid aids in helping the golfer achieve these two also. We call that a bonus benefit. 

Keep in mind the IronSolid was designed to train you to hit the ball first then the ground, S&T fundamental number one!

Here is a great video by Darren Hopwood explaining the Stack and Tilt.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRi1pO4Um88&list=PLBE929828E36690AE

Hit the ball then the ground, top players are consistent, they have this fundamental dialed in at all times.  There are a few things your body must do, you will have your weight forward and hands forward at impact.  How you get there is personal style and preference but all top level ball strikers exhibit both of these when hitting an iron shot.  Weight on the front side and hands ahead of club face at impact.  Jim Furyk gets there a little differntely than Tiger Woods, but the both get there at impact.

Buy The IronSolid Here: http://www.ironsolid.com/apps/webstore/ and Hit It Solid!

 

Time.  A resource that we all wished we could have more, ecspecially when it comes to our golf game and the necessary skill development needed to play to our potential.  This past year has been chaotic and very hectic for me, and my golf performance suffered.  In season end review I started out playing really well, had a consistent practice plan and worked on the area's of my game that were costing me the most strokes.  As spring turned into summer my life completely turn upside down and all practice was set aside.  My rounds of golf, when I could find the time, were lace up the shoes and hit a few balls on the practice range and then head to the #1 tee box, hoping I could find my swing during the round.

This approach was causing some very inconsistent play.  It is very tough to "fix" a swing during the round.  Do to time restrictions and playing a lot of resort golf this year I came up with a very simple but effective practice routine that ended up paying huge divedends at the end of the season with some excellent rounds of golf in early October.

Here is the approach.  What you need is the IronSolid training device an one alignment stick from Izzo Golf.  I limit my time to 15 minutes of hitting shots at the range and 5 minutes of putting before teeing off.

The set up is simple, point the alignment stick down range at a spcific target.  Line up the IronSolid so that the edge away from you is parallel to the alignment stick.  Place the practice ball the distance in front of the IronSolid for the desired shot.

In this photo I am hitting a gap wedge so I am making sure that I hit down on the ball.  Hit the practice ball, check your divot and then slide the IronSolid down the alignment stick and repeat.  

This simple set up provides you with immediate feedback on alignment, direction of your swing path and your divot shape and depth. I can instantly make any type of adjustments to make sure I am making crisp solid contact.  I work my way through my gap wedge, 8-iron, 6-iron and 4-iron. Using the same set up and approach.  

I will adjust the practice ball accordingly in front of the IronSolid, but there have been times when I can hit my 4-iron with the same set up as my gap wedge without hitting the IronSolid.  

I will also hit my 3-wood and driver off to the side, then step in and hit an iron shot in the set up simulating the way you play a golf hole.  I have actually simulated playing the entire front nine in this type of practice routine in 15 minutes.  Only thing missing was the putting and sand shots.

Here is the beauty of this type of practice, it helps you dial in your iron skills very quickly.  It really helps build confidence with your set up and alignment.  Once you start making solid contact and hitting iron shots crisp, you are ready to take it to the course and test your skill.

Try this simple but effective practice routine and watch your greens in regulation go up and your scores go down.

Hit it Solid, IronSolid!

BUY THE IRONSOLID HERE 

http://www.ironsolid.com/apps/webstore/products/show/829959

Where has all the patience gone in this world? Smart phones, Texting,Twitter, Social Media, Reality TV, people are geared towards instant and immediate response. Everyone wants it NOW!

The process or the journey to get your golf swing tuned is 99% of the fun in golf.   When I play the game it is the test of my practice sessions, the feed back is my score.  More importantly I chart my rounds, if you are not charting your rounds you should be.  The information is invaluable.  Where do you lose your strokes when you take the test?

Lately I have worked extremely hard on my short game, my wedge play and my putting.  My scores have reflected that practice. Double bogeys or worse are becoming very rare on my score card now a days, birdies more frequent.  My sand play isn't the greatest and sometimes shoots me in the foot, but I know that.  Putting is takes practice, which is going well for me.

Is there a quick fix in the golf swing?  Yes it is called PATIENCE.  Let's face it, I am in the training aid business with the IronSolid product.  I invested the time in the research and the investment to patent the product and go to production.  Why? I want to give something back to the recreational golfer, because that is what I am.  I am YOU, the mid to high handi-capper. Can professionals and low handi-cappers use the IronSolid, absolutely but that is not the golfer that the IronSolid is intended for, it is the once a week golfer that struggles with iron play, particularly ball striking skills, and has little time to practice.

Patience is what inspired me to come up with a training aid to help my iron play.  I took a golf lesson (once), I dropped 30 bucks for a 30 minute lesson with a teaching pro, what was I taught?  Grip, stance, alignment.  Not once did that teaching pro explain to me what differentiated the professional from the recreational golfer, and it wasn't the fact that I am bigger and stronger than 95% of the touring professionals and I can not hit a 5 iron 205 yards. I was patient and I did grip, stance, an alignment for 12 years (bought 3 new sets of game improvement irons), my game didn't improve, in fact it got worse.

Once I was educated on what actually takes place (the physics) when the best players on this planet hit an iron shot then the light bulb went off, for me.  The drill I used to train me to hit down on the golf ball with an iron led to the development of the IronSolid. The drill was sound, I was not, and taking that drill to the practice range was embarassing.  There is no quick fix to the golf swing.  Patience was the quick fix.

Here is my point, if you play recreational golf and want to improve your iron play, the key is patience.  Be patient, make sure you are practicing intelligently, if you are losing shots from the tee box, then get that driver out and find that groove.  My research points towards iron shots being the number one place most recreational golfers lose shots.  So I practice irons the majority of the time. Short game is the number one area, wedges.  You don't need a full swing to play those shots so any golfer can get skilled in that area. But have the patience to practice, don't complain about your score if all you are doing is taking the test and never studying for it, and then wondering why you are not improving. 

The season is winding down, three more months of play up here in Western PA.  The quick fix for iron play is the IronSolid. The question is do you have the PATIENCE?

Hit it Solid. IronSolid! Buy the IronSolid Here

http://www.ironsolid.com/apps/webstore/

Tour Striker golf training club review, this iron training device is getting a lot of publicity. The premise of the Tour Striker is very similar to the IronSolid training device, promote a descending blow when hitting an iron shot.

Here is my review and the differences that are obvious between the IronSolid and Tour Striker.

http://www.tourstriker.com

http://www.ironsolid.com/whyusetheironsolid.htm

Both devices are training the same concept, promote muscle memory for the correct solid contact with a golf ball with an iron or a hybrid club.

The points of difference are:

#1 cost, the Tour Striker costs $99.99/$129.99 and the IronSolid costs $29.99, less than a dozen of quality golf balls.

#2 the Tour Striker comes in several iron sizes, i.e. 8 iron, 7 iron, Wedge and also comes in a Pro Model, which one do you choose? You use your own clubs with the IronSolid training device.

#3 the length loft and lie of the Tour Striker is not easily custom fitted for your particular golf swing and is an additional cost, because you are using your own clubs (and if they are fitted properly) this is not a problem with the IronSolid training device.

#4 you can use the IronSolid with any iron or hybrid from any lie, even out of the sand, with your own set of clubs, with the Tour Striker you have to buy multiple clubs to accomplish the same thing.

#5 you can store the IronSolid in your golf bag after your pre round practice session, if you use the Tour Striker you will have to remove it from your bag before teeing off so that you keep yourself at the 14 club limit, otherwise you will incur penality.

One of the main advantages of the IronSolid training device is the simplicity and the rate of skill development in a very short time. The IronSolid helps promote the correct angle of attack that has been precisely measured with high speed video cameras of tour player swings, within one practice session you will begin improving the quality of the contact with your irons.

I believe the Tour Striker is an excellent idea and product, what the training device promotes is exactly what the IronSolid device accomplishes, the difference being, cost and simplicity, and with the IronSolid you are using your own set of clubs.

Hit it Solid!

Hitting Solid Iron Shots Lead to Personal Best Score

From an IronSolid customer and a golfer I spoke with about his iron play.  A few minor adjustments to his approach had him hitting down and through the ball with his irons consistently.  Increased distance with less effort and better control resulted.  

This leads to the following e-mail.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Received-On: 06-03-2013 08:38

Subject: Check this out.  

Al,

Your swing changes finally all clicked in for me last night.  Check it out.  This is on the Nemours course at Dupont.  Effortless iron shots all landing on the green.  First time I ever cracked 80.  78!  The feeling was awesome.

Thanks!

John

This is why the IronSolid was invented and made available to the golfing public.  Nothing brings me greater satisfaction than receiving these success stories.

Hit It Solid!

IronSolid

Simple Practice Routine Using the IronSolid

Living in the Ohio Valley during the winter months pretty much takes the golf club out of your hands for 5 months of the year. I am fortunate enough that I have a SwingBox at my disposal so when I get the urge I can go into my man cave and hit a small bucket of golf balls.

Although this is a good distraction the anticipation of hitting an iron shot off the practice turf at the range in the early spring is still like Christmas morning to me every year. This year my first round of golf was played at the Dye Club in North Myrtle Beach, SC.

The Dye Club has tremendous practice facilities and is one of the best golf courses on the eastern seaboard. I have set up a simple but effective practice routine using the IronSolid and a directional stick. The set up is simple, point the directional stick down range towards your intended target, set the IronSolid next to the directional stick, make sure the edge away from you is parallel with the directional stick. Place a range ball 4-5 ball lengths in front of the IronSolid, set up perpendicular to the directional stick to make sure you are checking your alignment with each shot and hit about 15-20 shots down range with an 9 or 8 iron, concentrating on solid contact.

The goal is to hit the ball then the turf, do not contact the IronSolid on the take away or the down swing. I work my way from the top of the directional stick to the bottom, checking my divots for direction and depth. It is very simple to move the IronSolid down this line. By aligning the IronSolid’s edge parallel to the directional stick I get a visual cue to make sure my swing path is inside the ball, the closest edge of the IronSolid provides a nice swing path guideline from inside the golf ball along the 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock path line.

Like most recreational golfers I have a tendency to cut across the ball from the outside in when I am not hitting my irons solid. This drill eliminates that action quickly. The feedback that is provided by the IronSolid helps me dial in my angle of attack and the swing path that I desire.  In a very short time I am hitting solid, crisp iron shots.  I can immediately take that to the course and I will enjoy my round by hitting more greens in regulation.

Try this out when you hit the practice range, I think you will find it beneficial.

Hit It Solid! IronSolid.

Buy The IronSolid here:

http://www.ironsolid.com/apps/webstore/