Short Game Secrets
Every single golfer who has played this wonderful game is looking for the ‘secret’ to golf to enable them to be a great player.
No one asks if there is a secret they just convince themselves that there is one and pursue it endlessly.
Well I have some good news for your there IS a secret to playing good golf the bad news is that there is MORE than one, many in fact.
Do want to know something daft?
Well these aren’t really secrets because you already know what they are because they could simply be called the ‘truths of the game’ according to a US expert called Dave Pelz.
For those who do not know him he is the short game wizard and guru to the USA tour stars including the incredible Phil Mickelson.
If these techniques work for him then you then this article should now start to get your attention.
I will attempt to briefly explain the five secrets to a better short game as taught by Dave Pelz, namely:
The secret of feedback
If you can’t receive and analyse feedback from your shots and correlate them both consciously and subconsciously with your actions and learn from these experiences then you will not improve.
Intelligent Practise
Never hit a few buckets of ball for the sake of it this is exercise not practise.
It is essential that you work at a slower rate than normal, think about every shot, go through your pre-shot routine as if playing a shot on the course and ensure that you take your proper address position for every shot
Alignment
Never practise any golf shot without adopting your correct address and alignment position because even a good swing will result in the ball going in the wrong direction and moreover your subconscious will actually try to hit the ball at the target and corrections will be made during your swing.
You will never groove or learn a good swing on this basis so at all time during practice use a club on the ground (aimed parallel to the target line) to assist you with the alignment learning process.
Trajectory
Never turn away after a golf shot just because it has gone in the wrong direction because you can still learn something from the shot in particular the trajectory.
After each practise shot ask yourself was the shot on target? was it the correct distance? was the trajectory correct? if not why not? was the trajectory the same as the last shot?
These thoughts will help you on the golf course and therefore it is important to check the height and character of each shot’s trajectory.
The Finish
Before you play any shot your must visualise it in your minds eye so that you make the perfect motion.
You can only achieve this from experience and seeing and feeling how different swings cause the ball to react in different ways.
You can’t learn this from watching other people, reading books or watching videos.
One method used to assist this process is to ‘hold your finish after each practise shot because it causes kinesthetic awareness.
All you have to do is to complete the follow through position of the swing, without moving so that you have the feel of the swing as the ball lands.
Holding the finish position will help the mind to correlate the swing and feel needed to play a certain short to obtain certain results.
You should try these techniques for yourself but regardless you should always remember that bad practise is worse than no practise at all.