Ernie Els Quotes

For a 7-iron, you never want the ball to be closer to your left heel than just slightly ahead of the mid-point of your stance. That's especially true if you're a tall player, like me.

Your woods, irons and wedges are built with specific lengths and lie angles, which demand that you stand to the ball a little differently for each one. The secret is to know which elements of your address position remain constant, and which ones you have to tweak to match the club in your hand.

With shorter clubs, your ball position should be just back of middle, to really promote hitting the ball first on a downward strike.

I typically opt for a fade when I'm hitting into greens. It's just an easier shot to control.

My short game's not that good. It just becomes a matter of getting that weight moving.

For me, it's the 5- to 7-yard cut with any club. I can choke down on it a little bit, hit it different heights, but that's the shot I'm always going to go to.

Golf is basically about geometry and your ability to gauge how things are, the terrain, the distances, and exerting the right amount of swing and force.

Check the card before you play. If you have a couple of long par 3s, put an extra hybrid in your bag. You'll be glad you did.

I always loved hitting a low fade to a back-right pin with the wind howling from the right. Not many guys could get it close in that situation, because they kept it low by just putting the ball back in their stance. You see, playing the ball back turns you into a one-trick pony - you can only hit hooks.

My first years on tour, I tried to be super professional by considering the yardages to every feature and hazard. Over time my caddie and I noticed I play better when we keep it simple. Think about the distance you want the ball to fly, and only that number.

If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up.

When you're hitting a fairway wood, you've got a lot of real estate to cover to get to your target. Your first instinct is probably to give it a little more power because you're worried about coming up short.

Jack Nicklaus liked to curve the ball by opening or closing the clubface at address. I never felt I was good enough to do it his way. I didn't like changing my swing path, either, which some guys do. There's only one really reliable way to curve the ball: Change your hand position at address.

Ball position is everything in iron play. If you aren't careful about it, you can create some major problems in your game just by getting an inch or two off.

I almost never hit a shot all out, and I make a conscious effort to swing my long clubs just as I do my wedges. Keep this in mind when hitting your fairway woods.

I love watching Anthony Kim play, but I'm not a fan of the way he grips down a good two inches on his full-swing shots. Choking down lightens the club's swing weight and effectively makes the shaft stiffer. It also makes it difficult to hit the ball high enough for all situations.

Jack Nicklaus liked to curve the ball by opening or closing the clubface at address. I never felt I was good enough to do it his way. I didn't like changing my swing path, either, which some guys do.

Some players like to change clubs around the green to hit high or low shots. I play all of my short-game shots with my 54-degree sand wedge and change my ball position to hit it higher or lower. I think it's easier to learn one club than four.

For amateur golfers, I think one of the biggest mistakes is to model their play on professionals.

I'm going to have wedge when guys are going have a 6-iron, plain and simple.

I think I've always used a lower-lofted 3-wood, and I've been able to get the ball up. And, for me, I love having the versatility of it in the fairway, as well as off the tee.

I've got a good game plan... keep things simple with my golf swing.

Certainly, if you can't manage your game, you can't play tournament golf. You continually have to ask yourself what club to play, where to aim it, whether to accept a safe par or to try to go for a birdie. You can't play every hole the same way. I never could.

I can hit a lot of drivers, be aggressive, and attack from the fairway.

My iron game. I get into trouble a lot with my driver, so I tend to hit 3-wood off the tee.