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This Week In Golf - by Kevin Ferrarotti, Owner of the Premier Golf Academy

WHAT A WEEKEND!!

A NEW MASTER IN AUGUSTA

At the start of last week, the names of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijah Singh, and Ernie Els topped the list of favorites at the Masters. At the end of the week, the names of Jerry Kelly, Stuart Appelby, and Zach Johnson stood on top, and when the dust settled on an amazing week of golf, it was Zach Johnson shooting a final round 69 to win his 1st career major tournament.

Though Tiger Woods looked early on as if he was pulling away, it was Johnson who looked like the master of the course, on what proved to be an extremely difficult week of golf. Johnson finished with a final score of +1, the highest winning score at Augusta in over 60 years.

This Week's Golf Tip - by Kevin Ferrarotti, Owner of the Premier Golf Academy

PROPER PRACTICE

Knowing how to approach each shot, and aligning our body with a square clubface, neutral grip, and balanced approach is developed with only thing: practice. Being able to practice efficiently and effectively is the key to keeping your body healthy and free from injury, but most importantly, your swing mechanics in check and in tune. Follow these tips for an injury-free and flawless golf swing:

1) Your body is the engine of your golf swing, and just like an engine in

a car, the engine must be finely tuned in order for everything to work properly. One way to accomplish this while practicing is to begin your practice session by not immediately hitting golf balls, but by stretching your golf muscles. Many times a bad golf swing is the result of tightness in your “golf muscles”. Take at least five minutes prior to hitting balls, and work on stretching your back, arms, and legs, which helps to further increase your flexibility and maintain your “engine”. A great warm-up for this tip is to take your driver or fairway wood and rest it on your shoulders. Holding onto the club, slowly make a deliberate back swing, holding it at the peak stretch, and then finish by making a deliberate follow through. Then repeat.

2) Now that you are ready to hit balls, start by practicing chip and pitch shots, slowly moving up to a mid-iron, and finally to shots off of the tee. This not only helps work on your overall game, but also keep in mind that your swing is the same swing for every club, the only thing that changes is the length of the arc and width of the stance. If you can develop good tempo and hit solid chip shots, you can carry that over into each of the other clubs.

3) It is not advantageous to your golf game if you spend the whole time hitting your driver. This is simply because you do not play on a course with just your driver. Try spending an equal amount of time on both your irons and woods, and finish your session with either some on-course scenarios, or some chip or pitch shots.

ASK THE GOLF PRO

No matter what I do I always hit the ball right. it starts out straight but ends up right no matter what I do to change it. I feel like I am doing the right thing but I am not sure. I know it could be a number of things, but what are the biggest reasons for this.

Your problem is one that is not all that uncommon.

A shot that starts straight and fades to the right is indicative of a good swing path, but an open club head at impact. That means you are doing at least something good -- your swing path is right in line. What a probable reason why your clubface is open at impact typically starts with your set-up. Assure that before you take the club back, the clubface is square to the target. Then, as you take the club back, work on keeping your club head outside of your hands. Meaning, at hip high, the clubface is pointing slightly downward, and your club head is slightly outside of your hands. Complete your back swing without over hinging your wrists at the top, and then simply release your club head down and through impact. Never try too hard. Easier said than done, I understand, but the more tension you create by gripping the club or not making a good rotation, the harder it is to be consistent.

I hope this helps. Feel free to write us back anytime!