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The Secret To Having The Best Lie

When you have the opportunity for a perfect lie, why give yourself a mediocre one? I ask this question to myself every time I’m on the golf course and I see golfers, some good and some bad, hitting a tee shot on a par-3 hole without ever teeing up the ball.

These golfers just drop the ball and then roll it around with the end of their club until they

Hit Short When Playing Through A Long Course

Getting yourself ready to play through a golf course that is considerably longer or shorter than your usual one presents certain problems in shot adjustment.

For example, if you normally use a driver and short irons on your own 6,500 yard golf course, you cannot expect to hit drivers and long irons on a 7,000 yard course and score well without preparation.

Adjust Your Game

If you are getting ready for a course that is much longer than your own, you should adjust your game. Instead of hitting a drive and wedge on the 350 yard hole, hit a five iron off the tee and then another long iron to the green.

The primary reason for this is not to give you practice swinging a long iron. You can get that on a practice tee. The purpose is to become accustomed to hitting into the green from a considerable distance so that the long course you are headed for does not mentally defeat you before you start.

Bunker Shots: How To Explode Your Way Out Of The Bunker

The two most important things to keep in mind when exploding from the sand are:

1. That the swing should be a normal one.
2. That the the grip should be choked down somewhat at address.

Too many people climb into the sand trap already paralyzed by fear and suddenly start doing things with their swing that they would never think of doing on the fairway. They stab or they dip or they lurch, and they leave the ball in the sand more often than they get it out.

How To Explode

The explosion is much the same as any other shot, only your aiming point changes since you are trying to hit a spot in the sand some 1 to 3 inches behind the ball instead of the ball itself.

1. Begin by picking the spot

The tricky part about hitting a pitch shot from a downhill lie is hitting the ball with the clubhead before it strikes the ground behind the ball. Make no mistake, this is indeed a tough shot!

When you come upon a downhill lie, put most of your weight on your front side at address and keep it there throughout the swing. Because the hillside tilts you to your front, you naturally de-loft the angle of the clubface. The ball will come off the club flying lower and perhaps longer, so you may want to take a more lofted club or shorten your backswing accordingly.

For uphill lies, you want to let the clubhead follow the ground contour, just as you do with a downhill lie. Because the ball lies on an uphill slope, the angle effectively increases the loft of the club, causing the ball to fly higher and shorter after impact. Choose a longer club than you would normally use and also lengthen your backswing to account for the lost yardage.

The angle of the hill, depending upon its steepness, also affects your balance by forcing your weight onto your backside and perhaps causing you to pull up or even fall back out of the shot. Guard against this by keeping your weight on your front foot and keeping the ball in the middle of your stance.

A Simple Step-By-Step Plan To Making The Perfect Chip Shot

Today’s article will help you to decide which club is best
for hitting a chip shot, goals and expectations, and finally,
how to hit the best chip you can.

Choosing The Right Club

There is no hard and fast rule on choosing the right club
when a chip shot is needed to clear the ball.

However, you must decide by assessing the circumstances of
the terrain and how you need the ball to travel.
For example, If you are very close to the hole, then you
won’t need much loft.

The 7-iron and 8-iron are the most popular clubs used when
golfers need to make a chip shot. Their clubfaces are less
lofted, which gives them more accuracy as chipping tools.
Personally, if I had to choose between the two, the 7-iron
is my favorite for these type of shots. Unless you have another
preference, you should also work with a 7-iron to improve your
chipping shots. And by practicing with the same club, you
can master your technique.

Have Confidence In Your Chip Shot With Positive Expectations

Before we get into how to make a chip shot step-by-step, I just
wanted to briefly mention the importance of having positive goals
and expectations before setting up for your swing.

This not only goes for chip shots, but for every shot made on
the golf course. Visualizing in your mind what you want to
accomplish with your chip is vital to success.

What is an acceptable result? What are your expectations?

Your goal should be to chip your ball onto the green every time,
without fail.

You may not make it when you want to, but having self-confidence
and the mental picture of success will not only increase your
chances of hitting the ball correctly, it also calms you down
physically and lowers your blood pressure (which can have a very
positive effect on your swing).

How To Chip The Ball

Learning how to chip the ball properly is not rocket science,
yet it does take practice and technique to get it right every time.
The following steps help break down a chip shot for better understanding:

1. Grab your club, preferably a 7-iron, and stand up close to the target line.

2. Keeping your weight in the center of your stance, open up your front
foot and the shoulders toward the target. You should literally be facing the hole.

3. Take a light, yet solid grip on the club.

4. Look at the green and select the ideal spot in which you want
the ball to land.

5. Take a brief moment and visualize your swing making perfect
impact with the ball, and having it land in that exact same spot.

6. Keeping your wrists firm, draw the club back and keep it low
to the ground. Your turn should be rotated by the shoulders, keeping
your legs and lower body out of the swing and as still as possible.

7. Now swing your club back along the target line, then downswing
through the ball.

8. Once you make contact with the ball, keep your form solid and
watch the ball hit the exact spot you aimed for, and rolling ever
so slowly toward the hole.

9. Now practice your chip shot over and over, and in various terrain
settings on the course.

Chip Shot - The Perfect Time To Make A Chip Shot

The United States Golf Association updates annually the official Rules of Golf, which contains hundreds of game rules and regulations that keep game enjoyably challenging.

One of the regulations, called the “Greens In Regulation” (GIR), states that you must hit the ball onto the green in a specific number of shots as determined by the par rule of that particular hole.

On a par-3, for example, you have one shot in order to get the ball on the green. Par-4 holes give you two shots to reach the green. And par-5 holes mean that you have three shots designated.

Hitting the ball onto the green within these regulations is standard procedure for the professional golfer. However, for us regular players, it is a lofty goal just to make the green in the prescribed number of shots, and on every hole. Your ball may end up just off the green, a foot away, on the collar, or in the rough near the green. So close, but yet so far!

This Is When The Chip Shot Comes In Handy

A chip shot is very similar to the pitch shot, except that the ball does not go as far into the air. It may travel just a few feet when a chip shot is made. The ball simply chips its way up and onto another area of the course within a short distance.

While this shot may not seem like a major technique to use on the golf course, having the skill to successfully make a chip shot when you need to is very important. It will save you unwanted strokes and will prevent you from missing the green when playing by the rules.

A chip shot can best be described with the following characteristics:

1. There is very little loft when a ball chipped.

2. When the ball is hit with a chip shot, it pops right into the air, but with a very tight arc, moving it practically straight up.

3. When the ball is hit, impact actually produces a “chipping sound”

4. Chip shots cause the ball to travel over 80%PRCTG% of its mobility on the ground, the initial 20%PRCTG% is spent from the blast off into the air.

Chip Shot Setup Rules

It is an oversimplification to say that bad chipping always stems from a bad set up. But it is certainly true to say that a lot of golfers make life extremely difficult for themselves by neglecting this important aspect of the chip shot.

The correct setup for 99%PRCTG% of all chip shots can be expressed in one simple sentence:

“Ball back, hands and weight forward”

This promotes a shape of swing that makes the clubhead approach the ball on a slightly descending angle of attack, leading to crisp ball-turf contact.

Club Choice

The setup and the simple swing required to hit neat chip shots can be applied to different clubs. When you need to play a chip to carry some rough or a bunker between you and the flag, go with lots of loft, such as a wedge.

If a low-running chip shot is required, go with less loft such as a 7 iron or the 8 iron. The swing stays the same. All you have to do is make sure that in your setup, the ball is back and your hands and weight are forward, and that your hands lead the clubhead into the ball.

Chipping Away - Don’t Forget To Turn Your Body

Your average chip shot uses a somewhat short swing, however, this does not mean that the rest of your body does not have to work as a fluid unit.

Most often, poor contact is the result of the body not turning as the arms come down in the swing. This usually results in the clubhead overtaking the hands.

From this point on, make it a practice to bring your chest and back in perfect harmony with the swing of the arms. Not only does this give great momentum to your swing, but it also keeps the club moving in the proper angle of attack.

Notes:

1) The head only comes up long after the ball is on its way.

2) Hands, arms, and torso should work as a unit, turning together.

3) Grip pressure remains soft for maximum feel.

4) Adopt a narrow stance with flexed knees.

5) The clubhead stays low to the ground through impact and rises only at the end of the swing.

How To Fix A Poor Pitch Shot Setup

Poor quality pitching often stems from a poor setup, something that is easy to fix but overlooked by many golfers.

Even veteran players seem to forget the obvious little tweaks that need to be made as they get better at the game - basics, basics, basics!

Here are four steps to a better set-up and more successful pitching action:

1) Make sure that your feet are only slightly apart, and that your shoulders are square.

2) Choke down on the grip. This will give you maximum feel and better clubhead control as you swing.

3) Put the ball back in your stance and hold your hands forward.

4) Keep your chin up. This simple move tends to lead to a better posture, with the spine angle more erect, and it gives you space under your chin to turn your left shoulder. Try to feel as though you are almost looking down your nose at the golf ball.

The Proper Open Set-Up For The Sand Wedge

In order for you to utilize the bounce effect of the sand wedge, you must adhere to a couple of simple setup rules that will affect the shape of the swing.

1) The stance must be open. That is, the feet aligned to the left of the target.

2) The clubface must be open. That is, aimed to the right of the target.

Forming The Grip: It is hugely important that you open the clubface and then form your grip. If you do it the other way around, the clubface will tend to return to square at impact, completely ruining the shot

Flexed Knees: Knees are flexed at address and should stay that way during the swing.

Hands Alignment: The hands can be slightly ahead of, or even level with the golf ball for a regular greenside bunker shot.

Weight Distribution: The weight should favor the front foot, but only slightly.

Clubface: You can afford to open the clubface on a sand wedge more than you realize.