Nancy’s Tips

Nancy Scranton is a Humana spokeswoman and LPGA professional. In addition to being a three-time LPGA champion, Nancy is a devoted wife and mother of twin toddlers.

Nancy's Tip 1 - Grip it light and swing it slow

Something I always share with my amateur playing partners during pro-ams is "Grip it light and swing it slow.” More often than not, they have pretty good success with this advice. Gripping the club too tightly and swinging too quickly can lead to a lot of tension in the hands and forearms. Tension restricts your opportunity to make a full body turn to generate the power so you can hit the ball straight and long.

Nancy's Tip 2 - Tee shots

If your tee shots are consistently shaped in a left-to-right pattern, you should always tee your ball up on the right side of the teeing ground. By doing this, it effectively makes the fairway twice as wide. Consequently, if your tee shots regularly travel right-to-left, try teeing it up on the left side of the teeing ground.

Nancy's Tip 3 - Green-side bunkers

If you have trouble getting out of green-side bunkers, try this in a practice bunker. Put three footprints in the bunker with your toes facing the hole. Place a ball in the center of the third footprint. Open your stance and open your club face, then hit the first footprint out of the sand. The goal is to make the footprint completely disappear from the sand. Repeat this with the second footprint. When you do this again with the third footprint, the ball will float out and land on the green all by itself. Remember, you never have to hit the ball when you are in a green-side bunker…just hit the sand!

Nancy's Tip 4 - Etiquette

Beginners to golf should get their hands on a copy of the Rules of Golf. You don't have to read it cover to cover, but you should certainly familiarize yourself with how the game is played and the etiquette of the game. Golfers aren’t concerned about the ability of beginners – that’s why we have the handicap system. But they will be impressed if beginners have a good understanding of the etiquette of the game.

Nancy's Tip 5 - Accelerate the putter head

Making putts is an important part of the game. Consistently accelerating the putter head through the ball creates the correct combination of speed and line, which is the key to making putts. I practice the following drill to achieve this consistent acceleration. Place several balls about two feet from the hole. Place your putter head behind each ball and attempt to make each putt without a backstroke. In other words, accelerate the putter head toward the hole.

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