Brad Hauer
Teaching for 25 years, Brad has gained extensive knowledge from some of the best golf instructors in the country. Featured on the Golf Channel as a guest instructor, Brad has appeared on the Golf Channel’s “Golf Academy Live” six times. In addition, he has produced several one and five minute “golf solutions” for the 24-hour golf network.
Brad’s notable students include tennis great, Ivan Lendl and NBA superstar Penny Hardaway. He takes great joy improving the golf game of players with varying skill levels from the high handicapper to the elite player.
Brad is currently the Director of Golf at Hammock Beach Resort, home of the Ocean Course and the Conservatory Golf Course. The Ocean Course boasts more holes on the ocean than any other golf course in Florida and the Conservatory is currently ranked as the longest and hardest course in Florida. For more information on private and group golf instruction in with Brad visit bradhauergolf.com.
Are you struggling with your chip shots? Are you finding yourself hitting way behind the ball or sculling the ball over the green? These miss hits can totally destroy your confidence and cause your frustration levels to rise. There is an easy fix and it can be corrected with just a few of the following key tips.
First, we must identify and understand the problem and the reason why this happens. These miss hits are a result of improper positioning with your weight and improper positions your head and spine. To better clarify, please refer to the following photos and you will be able to see what an incorrect and correct position would be at set up and at the impact position. The incorrect photo shows a set up with my weight favoring the right side of my body with the spine and head tilted back to the right. This position will increase your chances to hit behind the ball or to come up and catch the middle of the ball with the club head resulting in a sculled shot.
Does your plan of hitting an extra long drive backfire more than succeed? Usually when we’re trying to get a little more distance out of our drives we end up creating more tension in our swing, resulting in slower clubhead speed and less distance.
If you find this to be the case in your golf swing, try the following tips.
First, try producing less pressure and tension in your grip. Gripping the club too tightly will cause your forearms and shoulders to become restricted, thus resulting in a shorter turn in the backswing. The grip pressure is similar to taking a banana, peeling it, and gripping the banana without putting any fingerprints on it. When done properly, you will feel more relaxed in your arms when gripping the club in your set up.
Are you looking to make a bigger shoulder turn in your backswing? If so, try this drill next time you are on the practice range.
Simply take your backswing and stop, as illustrated in the first picture. Once you have stopped, take a look behind yourself. As you rotate your head to the right to look behind yourself, your shoulder turn will increase significantly. Notice how much my shoulder turn increased once I looked behind myself. Do this several times in your practice swings and you will be amazed at the increase in your shoulder turn.
I’m often asked how to hit a down hill shot, especially after our members play the Conservatory. As you know, the Conservatory can be very challenging with the down hill, up hill, and side hill lies. For today’s tip, let’s get started with how to hit a down hill shot on the golf course, which I believe gives people the most trouble.
Posture and stance are very key to the success of this shot. Our overall goal is to make your body feel LEVEL to the slope of the ground throughout the whole swing, even beginning in the set up. First, take a little wider stance so that you can keep your balance easier. Next, feel the overall weight of your body positioned more towards the front leg. You will have the sensation that you are slightly open to your target. In regards to club selection, choose a club that is one less, so in other words, if the shot requires a 7 iron, hit an 8 iron. The downward nature of the slope will automatically take off loft of the club you select. The shaft of the club should feel as if it is leaning forward.
The month of January has been unseasonably cold with temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s. Playing golf in these temperatures can be miserable if you’re not dressed properly. On the other hand, if you are dressed properly, playing in the cooler weather can be quite enjoyable and you will also have an upper hand on your opponents. Here are a couple of suggestions that I have for battling the cold weather on the golf course.
- Stocking cap - Simple enough, but I have found that keeping you’re head warm will help keep your entire body warmer.
- Compression Shirt - This is a relatively new piece of clothing in the market place, but a compression shirt is a skin tight shirt that helps block any cold winds of the day and allows for you to stay warmer and swing away without that bulky clothes feeling.
- Turtle neck shirt - I like to place a turtle neck shirt over my compression shirt for added protection of my neck area.
- Rain Pants - I have found through years that if your lower body stays warm, the rest of your body will stay warm as well. In addition, I feel more stable and grounded in my swing when I where the rain pants.
Losing a lot of distance lately?
More than likely you’re losing your posture somewhere during the backswing. You could be straightening up in your knees or standing up in your waist. Either way, losing your posture will translate into losing power.
If you feel like you’re losing your posture, try to have the sensation of slightly bowing to your right knee as your body is turning during the entire length of your backswing. The proper sensation will have you feel like your belly button is going to make a slight motion to the top part of your right knee.
Try this drill before you hit balls on the range to get a better feel for this power move. First, put your hands on your hips (1st photo), and then simply bend from the waist to your right knee. (2nd photo). This drill will help you get the feeling of maintaining the proper powerful position that is required to add more distance to your shots.
Have you ever wondered how far you should stand away from the golf ball before you hit your golf shot?
To find the correct distance from the ball, I like doing the “hand span” test. Simply take your stance, make sure the sole of the club is sitting flush to the ground, with the toe and the heel of the golf club are level. Make a slight “hand span” and place between the butt of the club and your body, where the pinky of your right hand is placed near the butt of the club and your thumb is near your body. Your goal is to be a “hand span” away from the butt of the club after taking your address position.
This is a great, simple little measure to consistently get you to stand the proper distance from the ball, which in turn will promote better balance and weight shift throughout the swing.
You may snicker at the title of this tip as a buried lie shot the bunker can be intimidating and just getting out could seem impossible. I would like to show you a technique to not only hit the shot, but to be able to hit the shot with some height to it so that you can clear a high lip if necessary.
The reality of it all is that this is really a pretty easy shot, if you understand the proper technique. In fact, most of our fear is a result of a lack of knowledge. If we have the proper knowledge on how to execute, our confidence increases. So let’s increase your knowledge and confidence so that you have a positive attitude in approaching this shot.
The secret to hitting great golf shots is to develop a consistent and proper impact position. Being in the proper impact position will greatly enhance our ability to hit solid golf shots. All my lessons are geared to get our students in the proper impact position. If you look at all the PGA Tour players, they may all have different backswings and different finishes, but they do have one thing in common: a consistent proper impact position.
Here are the characteristics of a proper impact position:
- Head position is in the correct position, just slightly behind the ball.
- Left arm and the shaft of the club form a line
- The back of the left wrist and knuckles feels “down and through” the shot
- Your weight is shifting properly to the left foot.
Having the ability to hit more consistent short wedge shots will lower your score significantly. The 30 to 50 yard wedge shot falls right into our scoring zone area and is crucial to execute for scoring well. This shot is typically challenging for the mid to high handicappers because the swing required is 1/2 to 3/4 of our regular swing, which becomes difficult to gauge.
So, if you find yourself hitting this shot too far, fat, short or if you feel like you’re totaling guessing as to the distance of this shot try the tip below the next time you’re practicing.
