Trouble Shots – Part III
The old statement that we drive for show but putt for dough may not be exactly true for all standards of golfer but for sure how you play from 60 yards in to the pin determines how well or badly you score on the golf course.
How many times have you seen people hit the ball all over the place only to finish with a better score than you because they could chip and putt?
Alternatively how damaging is it to hit the ball out of the middle of the club the entire round only to miss-hit shots on and around the green?
The mental impact of this type of play is significant on your level of confidence and it puts stress on your long game as you feel that you MUST hits fairways and greens.
There are normally basic reasons for poor shot making in and around the greens and below are a number of techniques that you can employ to eliminate or reduce poor shots of this type:
Fluffed Chip
This is usually caused by quitting on the shot and can usually be eliminated by ensuring that your hand are ahead of the ball at address and to keep them that way through the swing and ‘feel’ as if the grip keeps moving forward through impact and beyond.
The Thin
This finger stinging shot is cause by the leading edge of the club making contact too high up the ball and is usually cause by the player ‘scooping’ at the ball and again can be corrected by ensuring that the hands stay ahead of the club head through impact with a slight descending blow therefore squeezing the ball between clubface and turf.
Duffed Bunker Shot
This is again usually cause by quitting on the shot and taking too much sand.
The aim is to lift the ball out of the bunker on a wedge of sand with the clubface not actually making contact with the ball.
One good practise drill is to draw two parallel lines in front of and behind the practise balls approx 4” apart and when you swing down at the ball try to enter the sand with the club head on the line behind the ball and exit the sand at the point where the line is in front of the ball.
When you play on the course you should simply ‘imagine’ the lines in your mind and attempt to enter and exit the sand at these points.
Duffed 60-yard Bunker Shot
Without doubt this is probably one of the hardest shots in golf because the amount of sand that you take with the ball is minimal and the club head is travelling at a faster speed.
When you are faced with this type of shot on the course step out of the bunker and take a couple of practise swings then re-enter the bunker and attempt to repeat the practise swing for real.
To assist the process you should put slightly more weight on your front foot to encourage a steeper angle of attack to obtain a ball then sand strike.
There will be significant advantages to your golf game if you can improve this area of your game BUT it requires practise and sometimes you will have to sacrifice playing time for practise time.