How to Hit a Punch Shot Out of the Trees
And when to just chip out instead
Titleist Vokey SM10 Review: What the Data Says
High-spin wedge with multiple grinds and data to support the price
How-To
Step-by-step drills and fixes you can take straight to the range or the course.
How to Hit a Fairway Wood Off the Ground
You can smash a 3-wood off a tee. Put the same club on the turf and the ball comes out low and hot, or skims off the top of
How to Set Ball Position for Every Club
Ball position isn't a single spot you set once and reuse for every club in the bag. It moves, club to club, because the goal never changes: get
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Gogogo Sport Vpro GS03 Review: A Budget Laser
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Latest how-to's
Browse all how-to's
How to Stop Hooking the Golf Ball
Why you hook the golf ball and how to fix it: grip, face, path, and ball position causes, plus no-device drills that work on the range.
How to Clean Your Golf Clubs
A dirty groove face costs you spin before you even make a bad swing. Golf Digest's March 2026 testing found that a dirty groove face alone causes a 45% spin drop versus a clean one, and that gap shows up most on wedge shots from wet or sandy
How to Know Your Real Iron Distances (No Launch Monitor)
Most golfers don't actually know their iron distances. They know their best one. Ask a 15 handicapper how far their 7-iron goes and you'll get the number from the one flush shot they remember from three summers ago, not the number they'd actually
How to Play Golf in Cold Weather
1. Layer and club up: layer with a moisture-wicking base and a stretch mid-layer, keep two or three balls warm in a pocket, take one more club than your summer number, and make a full swing instead of steering it. 2. Distance loss: cold air costs a driver
Which Tees Should You Actually Play?
* Most amateurs play too far back. Comparing self-reported skill to national driving-distance data shows a big gap between where most golfers tee it up and where the numbers say they belong. * Find your real number first. Average your last 5 to 10 rounds of drives, not your one
More how-to's
How to Warm Up for Golf With No Range Access
You pull into the lot ten minutes before your tee time. There's no range, or the range closed at dusk, or you're playing a muni that never had one. The only real estate between you and the first tee is a stretch of cart path and
How to Decide: Putt or Chip From Just Off the Green
Most short-game advice teaches the stroke. This is the framework for the decision that comes before it: whether to putt or chip in the first place, and the three checks that tell you which one is right. * Default to putt when the ground lets you. A putt has a
How to Build a Consistent Putting Stroke
A consistent putting stroke isn't one specific technique. It's a setup, grip, path, and tempo that repeat the same way under pressure as they do on the practice green. Tour pros putt in a wide range of styles, arc strokes and near-straight ones, strong grips
How to Hit a Flop Shot
A flop shot clears trouble and stops fast when you're short-sided. Here's how to hit one without blading it or chunking it into the ground.
How to Stop Coming Over the Top
The downswing drills that fix your transition, whether it's costing you slices, pulls, or fat and thin contact. If you're slicing the ball, start with the face, not the path. Two pieces already on this site, How to Fix a Golf Slice and Why Your Driver
How to Get Out of a Fairway Bunker
A greenside bunker shot and a fairway bunker shot share a name and almost nothing else. This is the recovery skill for the moment avoidance already failed, the ball found the sand anyway, and the only decision left is how to get it back into play without making the hole worse.
How to Hit Out of the Rough
The lie decides the shot, not a blanket rule. How to read a rough lie and pick the fix that actually matches it.
How to Find Your Tightest Link
Three quick self-screens for thoracic, hip, and ankle mobility that show exactly where you're restricted, and the swing fault each one is already causing.
How to Stop Shanking: Why It Happens and How to Fix It
A shank is a specific, fixable contact fault, not a curse. Here's what causes it, where teachers disagree, and seven drills that fix it.
How to Play a Par 3: A Smart Strategy for Every Handicap
A par 3 tee shot is the approach shot. Here's how to pick the right club, aim at the smart target, and play your miss by handicap.
How to Play a Par 5: A Strategy for Every Handicap
Learn how to play a par 5 the smart way: when to go for the green in two, when to lay up, and how to pick your numbers by handicap.
How to Hit More Fairways With Your Driver
* Accuracy is one lever, not the master key. Research from Mark Broadie puts the tee shot at roughly 28 percent of the scoring gap between a 90-shooter and an 80-shooter, but distance matters more than accuracy for most recreational players, and fairway-hit rate barely moves across handicap
The golf newsletter that cuts the hype
Data-backed reviews and advice that works. No brand spin.
Frequently asked questions
What is a launch monitor?
A launch monitor is a device that measures the physics of your golf swing and ball flight, including club head speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, and carry distance. It gives you accurate, objective data about your game instead of estimates.
Do I need a launch monitor to improve?
No, but having one makes your practice more efficient. Without data, you are guessing whether a swing change is working. With a launch monitor, you can see exactly what changed and whether it moved in the right direction.
How does Launch Point Golf review equipment?
James Whitfield synthesizes published data from independent testing labs (MyGolfSpy robot testing, Golf Digest equipment labs), verified club fitter and instructor assessments, and long-term ownership reports. He does not run his own launch monitor sessions. Every performance claim is attributed to a named source with a date.