Firestyle Magazine spring 2016 2016 | Page 18

SPORT gOlF TIps In this new series of golfing tips, Gary Kilmister PGA professional and coach at Porthmadog Golf Club passes on some hints and tips to improve your enjoyment of the game. Gary Kilmister is a PGA professional and head coach at Porthmadog Golf Club, he can be contacted at Porthmadog Club on 01766 514214 The club welcomes players and society’s to the wonderful Welsh coastal course that is a challenge to all players whatever their handicap. HOW TO IMPROVE yOuR HOLINg OuT The best putters we see all have one thing in common stability. That’s because excessive wrist or body movement makes it tough to putt with a stable stroke. To ensure you put with your shoulders and not your arms and wrists. TRy THIS: Place a towel tightly under your arms and hit a few short putts, if the towel falls to the ground your body and arms have become disconnected. By keeping it there as you putt you activate your shoulders and core for a more stable consistent putting action. MAkE SuRE yOuR gRIPS ARE NOT SLIPPy AND WORN The more rounds you play, the quicker your grips will wear, and similar to a tyre with low tread it’s important you address this before your performance suffers. Don’t let it get to the stage where you’re literally losing your grip and producing mishits; even before this point you’re probably losing yardage without even knowing it. Grip wear happens slowly o ver time and most of you will probably fail to notice it until you come into contact with a new grip and feel the difference. If you soldier on, any tiny slips at contact will be magnified by many yards by the time your ball lands, which could cost you handfuls of shots each round. HOW OFTEN SHOuLD yOu RE-gRIP On average, we recommend you should re-grip once a year, but if your grips start to look shiny or feel smooth, its time to visit your golf professional who can fix them in a very short time. 18 19