Category: Full Swing

How a Golf Tee can Improve your Practice

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

Are you sometimes frustrated on the range, hitting ball after ball and nothing is going well. Stop for a minute and grab a tee. Put it in the ground at its highest point and hit the ball. It will probably feel amazing. Hit another one. Get that confidence up. Then push the tee down a little bit. Hit another shot. Keep going. If you are hitting better off the tee, the tee is allowing you to make minor mistakes. These mistakes could be you have a little less tension in your shoulders bringing your club up a bit. You are collapsing your front arm a bit or you are picking up your posture. The tee is showing you that you are doing a lot of things well but there are some minor issues you will need to work on to get the tee down to the ground. But sitting on the range beating bad shots is not helping. A tee could help solve some of these problems and change your ball flight immediately.

Now, I don’t want you to consistently depend on the golf tee. It is a practice drill. Keep pushing the tee down when you make a shot. When you get down to a little bit, try hitting the ball off the grass. You might need to go back and forth between tee and ground but you are making progress and building your confidence this way. We all need some assistance sometimes, don’t feel like it’s a “cheating”, it is a tool to help you.

2025 Women’s Workshops

Abby Welch Golf2 Comments

Thank you all for your patience! I have officially posted my 2025 dates for our Women’s Workshops:

Workshop’s schedule:

First Day
9:00am-12pm: Rotations on the driving range (short game)
12pm-1:00pm: Lunch
Aternoon tee times: 9 Hole playing with instructor (Par 3 Scramble)
4:00pm: Happy Hour at Learning Center

Second Day
9am-12:00pm: Rotations on the driving range
12:00pm-1:00pm: Lunch
Afternoon Tee Times: 9 hole playing lessons with Instructor (Friendly Tournament)
6:30pm: 4 Course Wine Tasting Dinner for all Students (included)

**Accommodations not included.

Dates:

WINTER WORKSHOPS

February 23 & 24 for Beginner Golfers

February 28 & March 1 for Intermediate Golfers

SPRING WORKSHOPS

New Date* May 18 & 19 for Beginners & Intermediate Golfers

FALL WORKSHOPS:

New Date*. September 7 & 8 Beginners & Intermediate Golfers

November 2 & 3 for Beginner Golfers

November 7 & 8 for Intermediate Golfers

Please email if you would like to book your next workshop with us in 2025!

Improve Solid Contact

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

Welcome Summertime!!!! After a wonderful spring, I thought I would give a tip to help make better contact with your golf ball. People talk about compressing the ball. What does that mean? Compressing means to hit the sweet spot of the club with the ball and hitting into the ball not around or up on the ball. To do this, you need to stay through the ball longer. The way to do this is to extend your arms and shoulders through the shot, maintaining proper posture, as well as turning your hips. Sounds like a lot at one time. That is why it takes practice!

There are various ways to practice this such as tossing a ball, the wall drill etc. But I thought I would give you another option as well. I am hoping you can find some sand to use (beach, bunker, kids play set 🙂 ). Draw a line to your target and practice swinging the sand. First, can you take sand, then can you take enough sand, and lastly can you take the sand straight through to your target. The more sand you hit straight the better the compression of the ball will be!

Check out the full video!

Length of Backswing Check

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

Happy February! January flew by of course but I am trying to stay on top of my tips for you this year. Therefore, here is your new blog for February 2024!

Let’s talk about something you all can do during those wintry days inside or outside! All you need is a bungee cord. Don’t worry if you don’t have one I am sure you can find something around the house such as a tension band, string, or even an alignment stick might work. Next step, find somewhere were you can tie each end to something such as columns, trees, etc. You are trying to make a line. Check out the video below to assist you. Next, pick which shot you want to practice: Full swing, pitching at 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 etc., or chipping. Place your string at the level you want to your backswing to stop. Place your body in the appropriate line to take that back swing. You might have to move around for the different lengths of swing so the club hits the cord. Then start your practice. Try not to hit the cord. When you are swinging start to feel the appropriate muscles you are using to ensure this type of backswing. These feelings should be more in your shoulders, core, and legs. Not your elbows and wrists.

Once you find this amazing space to practice it is an easy setup every time! Plus it can be used to practice various shots. It’s a win for your entire game!

Ugh, I hit the ground before the ball!

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

Don’t worry about hitting the ground. That is why we have a Superintendent. His job is to fix the grass that you hit. If you didn’t hit the grass, he wouldn’t have a job…..and yes he needs a job. But I wouldn’t be a descent instructor if I didn’t teach you how to hit the ball then the grass!

Usually, the reason you hit the ground before the ball is that you have NOT moved forward towards the ball ENOUGH on your down swing. Now, we should know that on our downswing our hips should move first, then our shoulders, then our hands, then the club. But if the club hits the ground first, then your motion is not in the right order. Such as the opposite order: hands, shoulders, and possibly even no hip turn. Or possibly you have the right timing but you haven’t moved your hips enough forward when swinging through. Therefore the ground gets in the way.

Here is a video to watch that includes a great drill. I would explain the drill but the video really shows you exactly what to do. If you do not have an alignment stick, you can use your club too!

Beginner Golf Clubs?

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

What clubs does a beginner golf club need to start with? Well this is a hard question for many reasons.

First Question: Should the student buy a set of golf clubs? I always compare this to a gym membership. If I purchase a gym membership will this entice me to go more. Probably yes, but there is always the gym membership that we use for the first month and then it just sits there. Golf clubs could be the same way. But, the good thing about golf clubs is you can use them for at least a couple years if not more. In the end if you are able to buy a set, I believe you should. I feel like it is a bit of a waste to keep renting clubs over and over again. Plus, it is a great feeling to learn to hit with your own clubs.

Second Question: What clubs should the student buy? As always, I believe a budget is where most people should begin. There are some fabulous golf clubs out there but you will definitely pay for them. If you are willing to pay for them, that is great and you can. But as a beginner is that the correct way to go? I believe beginners should start with a good set to get them started. I suggest walking into a golf store (leaving your wallet in the car) and looking around. Try some clubs. What do you feel? What do you like? What is being offered? Do you have an opinion?

My Opinion: Usually there are sets of clubs which include 12 clubs that are prepackaged. These are great for beginners. It gives you everything you need all in one box! Now, stick with golf brands such as Callaway, Ping, Taylor Made etc. This is the best choice in my opinion. It is the happy medium. You get plenty of clubs to use, descent technology, and a fairly affordable price. As a beginner, the students doesn’t know what a great club is compared to a good club. Which is fine. It will take a year or two to determine this. Therefore this is why the prepackaged sets are a great beginning to your golf game!

Complete Power Connection in Your Swing

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

My students are asking how to gain more distance in their golf swings. First, maximum power comes from your hips and your shoulders. But your hips have to be connected with your shoulders and the club long enough to get this maximum power. What does that connection feel like? How long through impact must this connection stay? Here is a drill you can practice to help you understand if your swing is making this happen:

First take a ball and any club (preferably an iron to begin). Set up to the golf ball. DO NOT TAKE A BACK SWING. Start with your hips first to push the ball forward a bit. Then extend your shoulders to the target making the club face push the ball forward. If you stay connected the ball will go forward towards your target. Stay connected to see how far you need to move your body to keep the ball on your target line. If you do not stay connected the club face will twist which will make the ball go in the wrong direction. If this happens you lost your connection. Really focus on keeping your hips, shoulders, and club together as one unit. The feeling should be strong in your core instead of your forearms and wrists.

How did it go? Could you feel stronger moving through you shot? How long did you have to stay connected? The strength of your core is staying connected through impact and is keeping connected to your target. Welcome to maximum power!

Check out my video to see how I practiced this drill!

Golf Books….

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

There are so many books on golf: instruction, mental, biographies, history, etc. What books should we read? My answer is read anything! I took a picture of my top 3 books. Of course two are mental because it is my favorite topic of golf to read. It really does help me not freak out on the golf course. Plus, I received Annika’s book a very long time ago. It is a great picture book about the pure basics of golf. Before I had a child, I left it out on my coffee table and everybody loved to take a peak! I am hoping for the book to make it back to the coffee table, I believe the kids are getting old enough now that the book will be safe from those sticky, nasty fingers…hahaha!

Some other favorites are Bob Rotella’s Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, any of Vision 54 books by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, The Match and The Greatest Game Every Played by Mark Frost.

I would love to hear about what golf books you like to read or suggest! Email me, Facebook, Instagram etc. I think we would all love to hear all the great books out there!

Grip Pressure

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

This is one of the hardest parts of golf to teach. We all want to strangle the club to death to make sure the club does what we want it to do. Unfortunately, this actually does the exact opposite affect. When we hold the club too tight we make the club shaft stiffer and the club doesn’t do what it is suppose to do. It is very similar to playing a tambourine. Yes, a tambourine! It is the music instrument that when you hold it and shake it it plays music through the vibration. But if you hold the tambourine too tight it doesn’t have the vibration and the music is not very nice. The club itself has to have some wiggle to create lag to create the power the club provides. When you grip it too tight, the club can not lag and can not create power.

So instead of us asking ourselves are we gripping the club too tight. Grab a tube of toothpaste, take the cap off, and point it down at the ground with your golf grip and stance. Swing! Did any toothpaste come out? If it did, when did it come out? At the top of your swing? Impact? How can you fix it. Instead of gripping tight, try to put that pressure somewhere else…..shoulders….hips….etc.

Check out the video and see if I showed good grip pressure or not!

What we can learn by watching the Pros!

Abby Welch GolfLeave a comment

Do you like to watch golf on TV? I am not a huge fan, but my husband is! He watches the tournaments every week. He will call me into the room when they slow a golfers swing down…..this is my favorite part! They are truly amazing at what they do when they swing a golf club. When they slow it down on TV it actually gives all of us a chance to really see the different parts of the golf swing.

First I look at their setup: Posture is nice and straight, knees slightly bent, front arm straight.

Next is the backswing: How they use their front shoulder to take the club back on plane, with their front arm straight and back arm relaxed, the toe of the club pointing up.

The Top of the Swing: They rarely over swing, the front arm staying straight, shoulder under chin, body so strong and coiled

Now the Downswing: The HIP TURN IS CRAZY! They start their hips first and then their arms just follow allowing gravity to take over.

Impact: The clubface is square, the hips are moving towards the target, and the front arm is still straight!

Past Impact: The CLUB IS STILL EXTENDING to the Target, the arms are still straight, the hips are still turning!

The Finish: Look at how high the arms are finishing above their head!

THESE PROFESSIONALS ARE AMAZING!

Now we are not professionals, but if we are going to look at or mimic anyone it should be the people that make the big bucks in this game. We can learn a lot from them!/