Your stance can help you draw or fade a shot and also help with a low flight off the tee to help take the wind out of the equation.

THE DRAW
First up is the draw, where the ball needs to start on the right of the target and curve to the left all the way to the target point. This is an ideal shot if you are faced with a dogleg left. To get the curve you will need the club face ‘closed’ to the path it is on, and add that right-to-left spin.

For that we aim to the right with the line of our body (feet, hips and shoulders) and swing the club in this direction while keeping the face of the club on the target, so club face is closed to the path of club.

THE FADE
Next up is the fade, where the ball needs to start on the left of our target and curve to the right (dogleg right). To get the curve you will need to club face ‘open’ to the path that’s is on, which should feel left.

This time around, we do the opposite with our body, aligning our feet, hips and shoulders left of the target and swing the club in this direction. Remember to keep the face of the club on the intended target.

LOW FLIGHT
Finally, sometimes you could be faced with a straight approach from the tee, but you are playing into the wind. Here, a low-trajectory flight is perfect to help take most of that wind out of play as a high ball will get caught and stop dead. 

To achieve this, your set up in front the ball needs to be altered. Try to tee up the ball lower than normal, with the ball in the centre of your stance. Try to get a feel for something like a punch and hold your finish half way, keeping your hands, arms and clubhead lower than usual during your finish.

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Lea Pouillard is PGA teaching professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

More golf tips and instruction:
The flight of the ball will dictate how far the ball will roll
How to maximise the distance off the tee
Master your short-game options around the green
Putt in place on the dancefloor
Straight to the point for short-game success
It is never too late to pick up a club for the first time — some tips to get started
Mobility and stability are key links in the chain to golf fitness
The chips are down if the hips are right
Looking for more power? It’s all about kinetic sequence forces
Understand golf’s power chain and how to avoid a weak link in your swing
Why solid putting starts with a sound set-up
Alignment is a fine balancing act to stabilise clubface
Why you are wasting your time on the range
Claude Harmon III’s simple impact drill
How Billy Horschel’s simple backswing move will make you a better ball-striker

The post WATCH: A fade, draw or low flight can get you on the dancefloor when tee shots prove tricky appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here at the Peter Cowen Academy, we see a lot of people treating their short-game move too similar to their long-game move. It is still considered a movement and therefore we never want to restrict somebody, however, it is certainly a quieter movement than that of long game. We often see our clients who struggle with their short game having a lot of drive with their body, and pulling of the club, coming in the downswing as opposed to using the natural forces of the club moving through the ball. 

To do this we want to see the club head moving back more in line with the hands when the shaft of the club reaches parallel to the ground and from there it can work more underneath our hands through the ball with little compromise. However, we often see the club head rolling behind the hands and then golfers using forces within their body, manipulating the club back to the ball, often steepening the club, allowing the hands to get too far in front of the ball and compromising the strike.

With the short game, we would like to keep the movement as simple as possible to the point where we get a nice solid set-up. We let the arms take the club back, the club comes back to the ball (natural forces/weight of the club so there is no pulling on the club) and then the body turning will support the club through to finish. Typically, we will see the body being quieter until after the hit but please make sure it is still a movement through the ball.

To better strike your short-game shots, hit some balls where you swing back and stop, with the shaft parallel to the ground and the club head in line with your hands, using a mirror or camera to give you feedback to make sure you hit this position. Feel the club head starts the downswing first towards the ball and let your chest then take the club through to finish. You should feel your lower body being much quieter than normal. This is very much a technical exercise to build a feeling so I would not do this towards any target to begin with, the focus should be on the movement as opposed to the outcome of the shot. Then you can start to build this feeling into a movement with nice rhythm to take on to the course.

To help control that strike with your short game, look to get the club back more in line with your hands in the backswing, use the natural force of the club to get back to the ball and then use your chest to support the club through to finish.

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Euan Bowden is a PGA teaching professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

More golf tips and instruction:
It is never too late to pick up a club for the first time — some tips to get started
Mobility and stability are key links in the chain to golf fitness
The chips are down if the hips are right
Looking for more power? It’s all about kinetic sequence forces
Understand golf’s power chain and how to avoid a weak link in your swing
Why solid putting starts with a sound set-up
Alignment is a fine balancing act to stabilise clubface
Why you are wasting your time on the range
Claude Harmon III’s simple impact drill
How Billy Horschel’s simple back swing move will make you a better ball-striker

The post WATCH: Straight to the point for short-game success appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, we’re lucky enough to have a new 3D motion plate from Swingcatalyst, a groundbreaking bit of kit which helps us see every little detail of ground interaction.

The technology allows trained users to cross-reference key horizontal, torque and vertical ground forces against averages collected by Swingcatalyst from PGA Tour players.

From there, any amateur looking for more distance – (let’s be honest, who isn’t?) is invited to the Peter Cowen Academy at DCGYC where we can build a fitness programme to help you increase the output of the key ground forces. Here are three of my favourite exercises you can try out with the help of the “what’s that strap”.

1. Lateral Leaps
With the cable machine to your right, place your left arm through the strap with the strap going behind you and over your back. Now get into a single, right leg balance, in golf posture and load into your leg with a shoulder rotation towards the machine. From this position, push off to your left away from the machine and land controlled onto your left leg. This exercises generates both accelerating and de accelerating forces, vital for the golf swing.

2. 180 Vertical Jumps
With the machine to your right, place your left shoulder through the strap with the strap coming across the chest, then rotate anti-clockwise 180 degrees. Now with a big load and rotating to your right, make an explosive 180 degree rotational jump to your left so you finish facing the other way to your starting position, making sure you finish controlled and balanced.

3. Box Jumps
Select a box height that is safe enough for you to jump onto. Then, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your hands placed on your hips, start completing the descending movement of a squat, which is the loading phase of this exercises. Now explode into a vertical jump and land on the box as softly you can. Loud landings should be avoided as much as possible.

Complete each exercise with 10 reps per side, over three sets and with up to 60 seconds rest between each set. Better still, join us at DCGYC and we can set you on the right path to better golf. From the ground up.

— With Kent Gray

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Matthew Brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf-specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

The post WATCH: Add pop to your golf swing appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

In this time poor world in which we live, making the most of your practice time is doubly important. At Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy, one of our main goals is to help those taking lessons cash-in by planning efficient and effective practice regimes.

Structuring your practice sessions starts with at least a five-minute warm-up. My colleague Matthew Brookes has shared plenty of tips on this at golfdigestme.com. Next, focus on technical drills depending on what aspect of your game you are working on with your coach.

When working on the full swing, ensure you change clubs often and the target you’re hitting towards just as regularly to get a feel for all the different shots you’ll encounter out on the course. Even if you are working on short shots, changing targets adds focus and builds up your touch.

Finish every range session with a brief period of reflection. It can be helpful to write this down in a notebook you keep in your golf bag so you can go back and measure your progress. Jot down the swing triggers, feelings and shot patterns during the sessions. They can be shared with your coach to ensure both parties are tracking the player’s progress and are also great to revert to out on the course when you’re not quite in the zone. A reminder of how you were feeling or what you were doing during that amazing range session you planned and executed so well can quickly help you turn around a round that threatens to get out of control. – with Kent Gray

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Lea Pouillard is PGA teaching professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

The post WATCH: Why you are wasting your time on the range appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

1. Food Trucks
Truckers UAE events are a massive draw in the UAE. The great news for golf loving foodies is that they are rolling into Emirates G.C. with a tasty range of home-grown concepts, food trucks and kiosks during their first event of 2021. From dim sum and maki rolls to burgers, pizza and desserts, foodies are in for a treat.

 2. Golf Taster
The LET’s best golfers will make it look pretty easy and for anyone who catches the bug, the team from the Peter Cowen Academy will be on hand to offer free golf taster sessions. Put your swing and putting stroke to the test!

MORE: Get your official Dubai Moonlight Classic ‘Daily News’ FREE here

3. Feel the Beat
The Dubai Moonlight Classic is not just about golf. Chill out to some fab tunes from talented local singer-songwriters Jamie Wrecs and Martyn Crocker and saxophonist Masha Kutskova. Remember your dancing shoes!

4. Family fun
Bring the whole family to the golf! A bouncy castle and plenty of space to run about will keep the kids amused while the grown-ups concentrate on the top-quality golf, entertainment and socialising. 

5. It’s Free!
Entry is free for fans on October 28 and 29 from 4-10pm. Don’t miss out on one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the Dubai social calendar. No registration required.

dubaimoonlightclassic.com

The post Thinking of attending the Dubai Moonlight Classic? Here’s 5 excellent reasons why you must appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Golf in the Middle East is entering its annual sweet spot – when the mercury dips and the big professional tournaments roll into the region as the event season heats up.

Join us as we preview the Saudi Ladies International with an exclusive – and inspirational – chat with Golf Saudi ambassador and reigning Women’s British Open champion Anna Nordqvist.

Enjoy a sneak peek of Yas Acres, the long-anticipated new baby sister for award-winning Yas Links Abu Dhabi. Get the lowdown on the five-month rebuild of the Majlis greens at Emirates Golf Club and catch up with Josh Hill after the Dubai amateur sensation’s busy UK summer campaign.

We find out how Steve Stricker’s Americans won back the Ryder Cup and why Europe should be very afraid. There are even tips from winning Ryder Cuppers Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, along with a deep dive on the golf balls of 2021. Are you playing the right sphere for your game?

All this and much more in the October 2021 edition of Golf Digest Middle East.

The issue is again free to our loyal audience. You can scroll through the ISSUU link provided or download the bumper Octoberber 2021 issue FREE to your favourite device for later. Alternatively, pick up a copy at your favourite club. Whatever option you take, we hope you enjoy the read.

The post Get the October 2021 issue of Golf Digest Middle East FREE today! appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matthew Brookes
A proper grip is fundamental to good golf. Next cab off the rank is a sound set-up which can greatly enhance your ability to move the club correctly throughout the swing.

We regularly see amateurs setting up in the wrong posture with tight hamstrings or a scapula stability issue often to blame. Your pro will be able to quickly identify any physical limitations that are causing you to set-up incorrectly or if you have any trouble with the following routine which will ensure you’re balanced and positioned correctly every time.

Start in a tall standing position, legs locked straight, and then move your feet shoulder width apart (or wider to suit the club you’re hitting such as a driver). Now place the club on your chest and stomach, pulling the club towards the body with your hand. Ensure there is always contact with the body. This connection will help activate the upper back muscles which are very important further down the line in the set-up.

Now relax your knees a fraction, allowing just the slightest bit of bend, before hinging forward from the hip until the club is sticking out between your legs behind you, creating a tail.

The key thing to look for on video or in the mirror when reviewing this movement is for a flat lower back. You must avoid “anterior tilt” of the pelvis, often called a “S posture”. A flat or neutral back helps keep the core engaged in the golf swing, vital for power and consistency.

The pulling of the golf club towards the body noted earlier is very important to help with a better turn in the backswing. It also helps prevent rounding of the upper back, otherwise known as a “C posture”.

Another checkpoint is to draw a line vertically down from the back of the right shoulder joint or allow your club to hang vertically from this position. Check that the line of club passes just in front of the knee cap and into the ball of your foot. This will help make sure your pressure is evenly distributed between the toes and heels.

Follow this simple routine and you’ll be on your way to replicating a stronger and more balanced set-up position again and again.

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Matthew Brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

The post Perfect golf swing set-up and posture appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 23-year-old Englishwoman slipped into Dubai earlier this year with quite the pedigree after accepting a teaching internship at Emirates Golf Club.

COVID-19s problematic spread meant there was a slight delay between her January 3 start and last month’s date with destiny on the Faldo when Jackson’s talent became evident to a wider Middle East audience. Shooting a 67 on The Faldo to become the first woman to win on the UAE PGA Tour, by three strokes no less, certainly is a fun way announce your arrival.

“I had no clue how significant my win was until after I’d finished playing,” said Jackson whose role at Emirates G.C. was teed up by Nick Huby, her coach at the Peter Cowen Academy in Rotherham, with a handy assist by Cowen himself who now has academies across the Dubai Golf network.

“I had a few lessons [to deliver] after the tournament and after the third lesson in the afternoon, I went to check my phone and had over 85 notifications. I was shocked to see how many people had reached out and congratulated me. It was pretty surreal.”

It turns out we shouldn’t be surprised at all by the historic win last month. Jackson’s talent has already taken her all the way to the U.S. to play division 1 golf for the University of Tulsa Oklahoma, to a Faldo junior series title before that and more recently to the 2018 Yorkshire County Championship. Few can lay claim to a course record at the Home of Golf but Jackson has that on her CV too, a giddy waltz around the New Course in 67 strokes, eight-under.

What didn’t surprise Jackson was her ability to compete with the male members of the UAE PGA.

“I don’t think gender matters. I had been prepping for it as I would usually do for a tournament and in the end it’s you against the course. It’s great to see that I can put myself up against the guys.”

Jackson intends playing all the 2020-21 UAE PGA Tour events her work commitments will allow and, all going well, breaking another barrier by making the Pro team for next year’s Dubai Trophy. The pros could do with the help after losing the last five editions of the Ryder Cup-style matches to the EGF’s leading amateurs.

Next up though is a return to the Faldo for the OMEGA Dubai Moonlight Classic. Jackson is “super excited” to take up an invite to represent Motivate Media Group, publishers of Golf Digest Middle East, in the Nov. 4-6 day-night Pro-Am.

“It will be a great week,” said the LPGA Tour teaching apprentice. “I hope to learn from some of the best in the game and connect with some great people. It will be interesting to see how I perform against the tour players and where I can improve as a player.”

You could even call the inside the ropes opportunity at the Ladies European Tour event a dress rehearsal for the real thing.

“I still have aspirations of playing professionally but I get a huge amount of enjoyment growing the game and seeing people fall in love with it like I did,” said Jackson who was introduced to the game by her father at age 11.

“I would love to make my position here more permanent. Dubai is awesome and I can see myself coaching and playing here for a very long time. I could never imagine throwing my coaching shoes in.”

Jackson is working towards an LPGA-sanctioned coaching qualification. When she’s not logged into the online lessons being delivered from LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida, or delivering lessons at Emirates G.C., you’ll find Jackson hard at work on her own game. Even between lessons you’ll likely find her on the range or in the gym.

“I try to practice as much as I can. It’s about finding the time even when you don’t necessarily want to or don’t feel like doing it. I definitely feel like university prepared me for this, in being good with my time and trying to prioritise the right things.”

That discipline paid dividends in the UAE PGA event with Jackson able to claw her way back two over through four holes.

“The best part of my game is probably my driving, I rarely miss a fairway. But I would say I’m very good at grinding through a game. I know even when I’m not hitting it great I can still get it round and score.

“The worst part of my game is probably staying in the moment. Sometimes I tend to get ahead of myself instead of focusing on what I need to do. It’s something I’m constantly working on.”

The post History Lesson: Olivia Jackson hasn’t taken long to make her mark on the UAE golf scene appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Power and accuracy are bedfellows of a good backswing rotation

By Michael Kinloch
If you are struggling for distance or hitting consistently wayward shots, poor rotation could be the cause. This is often triggered in the backswing where many amateurs move away laterally, almost as if they are sliding off the ball.

Check out my latest video for Golf Digest Middle East and we’ll have you moving away from the ball and returning to a powerful impact position in no time. Scroll down afterwards to learn more about the new Toptracer range at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club – just another tool to help you improve your game and enjoy your practice more.

Toptracer Range
At the Peter Cowen Academy at Dubai Creek, we are now fortunate to have Toptracer range at our disposal, the same ball-tracking technology used to track the shots of the world’s best players on TV.

With the help of cameras mounted around the range and 21-inch monitors in each hitting bay, the technology offers amateurs some very useful data during practice sessions. It’s not uncommon to see players improve their ball speed by five miles per hour based on a stronger and more full turn away from the ball, a data point Toptracer monitors on every shot. That’s immensely gratifying for the player and us as teachers, as are the Toptracer Range games and modes suited for all ages and skill levels. The system is amazingly accurate and great fun to use. In virtual golf, you can take on friends over a selection of world-famous courses, challenge them to nearest the pin competitions or longest drive challenges. Serious golfers can use the practice module to hone their skills, keep track of their distances and upload data to their Toptracer profile. It will really add a fun dimension to practicing at the Creek”.

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Michael Kinloch is Head Professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com

The post Combine Dubai Creek’s new Toptracer Range with this rotation drill for more power and accuracy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Jack Woods
Last month we looked at a technical issue many amateurs encounter and a basic drill to correct this common chipping fault. Grab the July 2019 issue for a refresh or search the instruction tab on golfdigestme.com for the piece entitled ‘Fancy footwork to avoid heavy or bladed chips’.

Simply improving technique doesn’t guarantee consistent up and downs once you get out on the course, however. How often have you stood on the practise chipping green before a round and felt really comfortable with your chipping only to find you tense up on the course and can’t knock it close?

A great way to work on this is to create pressure practice scenarios. A simple way to create this pressure is called “Par 18”, a game where you select nine locations around the green with an even mixture of easy, medium and hard shots. From each location you try to get up and down in the fewest number of shots with only one ball and one attempt at each location. Each shot should be given your full attention so remember to follow the routine you use on the course during a normal round. In other words, line up those putts as if you’re playing in the monthly medal.

“Replicate the pressure of a round where the scorecard in your back pocket really counts.”

Each location is a par 2 so the nine holes combined add up to a par 18 challenge, hence the name of the game. It is important that the game is only played once per day and you keep your score each time to replicate the pressure of round where the scorecard in your back pocket really counts. By playing these nine ‘holes’ with the knowledge you can’t simply start again, you begin to create similar pressure levels to those experienced on the course. This way you’ll be better prepared to cope with the tension when it really matters.

Combine this game with the ‘fancy footwork’ tip from last month and watch your up and down stats rise in direct correlation with lower scores.

Jack Woods is a PGA Teaching Professional at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai. For more information, visit dubaigolf.com

The post VIDEO: Play our ‘Par 18’ chipping game to lower your scores appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.