Jack Moorehouse

Professional golfers practice harder that most fans think. It's what makes them so good. They practice so hard because the know that no matter how much physical talent they have they know that practice is the best way of improving their games.

Teaching your child to play golf doesn't have to be a dogfight. On the contrary, it can be a fun-filled, enjoyable experience, if you approach it with the right mindset. The key to teaching your child to play golf is letting her call the shots.

You don't have to be a pro to know you can have a disastrous hole anytime anywhere. It could be on a long par 5 or a short par 3, or on a par 4 with a lake in it. It doesn't matter. All it takes is one bad shot and you're done for. Whatever it is, it throws you off your game, causing trouble and costing you strokes.

Stroke play is the most popular format in competitive golf. It's used in all PGA Tournaments, except in specific situations, like the Ryder Cup. The goal in stroke play is shooting the lowest score. In stroke play your focus is more on the course than your opponents. So it's hard to apply pressure on your opponent in stroke play, even for players with low golf handicaps.

More and more pro golfers are switching to customer graphite shafts in their drivers. At last count, more than 90 percent of them use a custom graphite shaft in this club. Even players long known for with steel-shafted drivers have succumbed to this trend. And where the tour goes, so inevitably goes the consumer.

Everybody wants to hit it longer and straighter, too. But the two don't always go together, as I tell students taking my golf lessons. Those of us who hit them longer don't always hit them straighter. And those of us who hit them straighter don't always hit them longer. Wouldn't it be great if you could do both? It would undoubtedly chop strokes from your golf handicap.

Are you aggressive or conservative on the golf course? Do you go for it all the time or do you tend to lay up in certain situations? If you don't know what type of player you are—and the advantages and disadvantages that come with that type of play—you should find out.

The sand wedge gets no respect. Many weekend golfers use it just for getting out of greenside bunkers. That's because it's hard to hit from the fairway. Even veteran golfers sometimes have problems hitting it from the fairway.

Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Whoever first said that never played golf. In golf, consistency is the key to a low golf handicap—the game's holy grail It's impossible to achieve a low golf handicap without developing consistency, golf lessons and golf tips not withstanding.

While playing in my Friday foursome the other day, one member of the group pulled out his hybrid and said, "I still don't know what to use this club for." If you're one of those players that has a hybrid but never uses it, you may want to rethink think that strategy