Silverknowes Golf Club

To improve your golf game, it's vital that you take golf lessons. Golf is a sport that is almost impossible to learn without some sort of guidance. Luckily, there are golf experts around the country whose job it is to teach golf. By taking golf lessons, you can drastically improve your game in a relatively short amount of time.

Taking golf lessons can be an expensive, time-consuming effort. And like any good or service that will cost money and require time, you should be careful before you buy. Golf can be a really costly game to play and it is reasonable to assume that you have invested a fair amount of money in your equipment - golf clubs, golf bag, golf balls, golf clothing, golf cart etc; - therefore doesn’t it make common sense for you to learn how to use them to their advantage and improve your skills and capabilities?

The Club offers people the chance to join a golf club with no waiting lists and expensive joining fees, and start their Medal playing career. Competitions for all levels of ability are provided across all of our golf courses that will give you the opportunity to achieve an official Scottish Golf Union Handicap. The Club is open to all members of the public and membership runs annually from the 1st April to the 31st March.

Have you ever chipped or putted a ball that had a lump of mud that didn't come off when you hit it? (Figure 9.8.1) If so you know the ball can do some pretty funny things as it rolls to the hole even if you hit the shot properly. Funny but understandable things because golfers accept that the mud would make the ball unbalanced and cause it to roll off-line.

Now imagine what would happen if that same blob of mud or a very small piece of metal were inside the ball just under the cover. This weight (unobserved by the golfer) would unbalance the ball the same way the visible blob of mud did so this ball too would move oddly across the green.

Finally imagine a third ball perfectly round and perfectly balanced except for a very tiny piece of metal inside the ball just off its geometric center (Figure 9.8.2). This "almost-balanced" ball would probably roll almost straight (assuming you putted it straight) on a flat smooth level green. balance ball will roll better than a mud-lump ball but still not precisely straight and true.

If you haven't figured out where I'm going with this let me be as blunt as possible: Very few golf balls today are perfectly balanced. Where and how much off-balance a ball is controls in what direction and how far the ball will roll off-line. Sometimes the amount can be significant.

The first True Roller was eight feet long and very cumbersome but later versions have included laser-aiming attachments refined ball-release mechanisms and a level to ensure that the release ramp is always perfectly vertical and releasing balls in a straight line (Figure 2.6.4). The original intent of the True Roller was to simulate putts near the end of their rolls because the initial release of a ball differed from the initial roll of the putted balls (putts start out slightly lofted and sliding along the grass whereas the ball is already rolling as it leaves the True Roller). However after we tested and calibrated the True Roller to simulate putts we found no essential differences in putting results between balls putted versus those released from the True Roller.

You will see many balls and test results from balls rolled from the True Roller in this book. Remember that the True Roller is simply starting each ball in a given direction at the given speed. And that is what putting is all about.

Look next at the top of Figure 2.6.5 which shows how far the same five balls will roll on an uphill putt (released from the True Roller each with the same energy as before). The uphill putts stop closer together (the distance between the longest and shortest balls is 7.5 feet) indicating that on uphill putts balls tend to roll closer to the same distance. This means the roll of an uphill putt is less sensitive to the length of the stroke than putts on a level surface. The lesson is that even if you don't hit all of your uphill putts the right speed be sure to get them past the hole.

That gives them a chance to go in and the longest ones will probably stop near enough to the hole to leave no-brainers coming back.

Now look at the bottom of Figure 2.6.5 to see how far these same putts roll given the same amount of starting energy on a straight downhill putt. There 's a big difference from the level and uphill putts. Of course each downhill putt rolls farther but more important the spread of distances between balls has increased meaning the roll distance is more sensitive to energy input. Now the distance between the longest and shortest balls is 18 feet. So your downhill stroke has to be about three times more precise than your uphill stroke to stop a putt at the right distance. When putting downhill make a stroke of the wrong speed and you'll have trouble making your next putt.

I'm not saying that understanding putting like this will make you a great putter. But I am saying that understanding nature's rules and where the dangers lie in putting can help you be a better putter. And not understanding what putting is all about will make it even more difficult for you to learn to putt well.

Golf Swing Tips

Please start with the three pictures below. Understand that the point of these pictures is to get your arms and chest connected. You should understand the feeling of "being connected" before you try to incorporate this critical step into your golf swing. If you hold the club straight out in front of you, there will be a triangle formed between your arms and chest. Just focus on keeping the triangle between your arms and chest fixed. Just move your arms with your chest. When your chest stops rotating, your arms also stop. Please see the three pictures below and try it out. Turn to your right, then back around to your left, keeping the triangle between your arms and chest constant at all times.

Golf Lessons

Golf Lessons at Silverknowes Golf Club

Silverknowes Golf Club

Dave Pelz's Putting Bible - golf's least understood skill.

The Long Drive Bible: How You Can Hit the Ball Longer, Straighter, and More Consistently

Golf Swing Tips

The "Simple Golf" Swing: "Golf for the Rest of Us"