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The best way to approach the situation of being trapped by a tree, so to speak, is to put yourself into a trance.

Every golfer tends to miss a high percentage of shots that are in serious trouble, such as one where a tree limb is totally preventing a full backswing. And all too often, the reason for a mess is not the awkward lie, but rather a failure to be able to concentrate on the execution.

 Switch Your Thoughts 

You start to think about the tree instead of hitting the ball. What you should do for any such shot as this is to take your position over the ball and try a tentative backswing. Once you have established how far back you can take the club, repeat the restricted swing over and over until you feel comfortable enough to make the swing within your restricted zone.

Once you have done this, put yourself into a trance and forget about the obstacle. Put all your concentration into striking the ball as firmly and properly as possible. Even if your club hits the tree on the backswing, you are now prepared for this and your new-found concentration will help you to complete the shot.

Golf becomes easier whenever you can eliminate any variables that pertain to the swing, yet the classic methods of teaching involved some very complex changes and ball positioning.

The “fat shot” means that a golfer is hitting the ground behind the ball instead of the ball itself. This can be a very frustrating habit that takes its toll on your scorecard, not to mention your ego!

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this problem.

The issue is typically nothing more than your head (yes, your head, not the club head) changing its plane during the swing, which in turn changes the plane of the swing itself. This happens from either dipping your head before impact or allowing your head to sway to the right during the backswing.

The cure is obviously to keep a steady head throughout the entire swing. If hitting fat is a frequent mistake you make, try taking some practice shots and have a partner pay close attention to your head to see if it is dipping or swaying.

 If it is dipping, then just stop. If your head is swaying, you can help yourself by pushing down hard against the inside of the right foot during the backswing, thus preventing any tendency to shift your head to the right

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.

Of all of the miss/hit shots in golf, the shank is probably the most dreadful. The shank happens when you make contact with the ball using the hosel of the club. One of the main causes of the shank is standing too close to the ball at address as it crowds you. The second reason for a shank is shifting your weight forward on your left foot before making impact, causing the hosel of the club to hit the ball.

The key is to set up evenly, and when you hold your club, be sure that there is just over a fist’s length of space between the end of the grip and your body.

Creating consistent shots in golf is a must. What happens with a lot of players is that, as you look from down the line, the golf club has a tendency to get too vertical on the downswing. It leads to taking too much turf, steep divots, and a ball spinning off to the right.  All of this is influenced by your setup. For example, if you have too much bend in the upper body, and the arms are extended far away from the body, there is a lot of tilt. This causes the golf club to get too vertical on the backswing, which will also create the steepness in the downswing, sticking the club into the ground, and the arms tend to reverse rotate.  So by standing taller at address and getting the end of the golf club pouring more toward your belt buckle, that will put you in an ideal position from address. However, this doesn’t mean that your swing will get more rounded to produce a consistent shot, so a simple drill can help. The 15, 10, 5 Drill First take a practice shot with the ball 15 inches above the ground. By swinging so high you have a nice rounded swing, almost like a baseball swing, and after swinging through, it allows you to square up the clubface. Next move to 10 inches above the ground, around and through, then 5, around and through, then on the tee, making sure the end of the golf club is pointed at your belt buckle.

When you hit a “thin” shot in golf, your clubhead is typically making contact with the ball above its equator line. This type of shot is not only embarrassing, but it sends the ball flying off with the loft of only a few feet, if that much.

The type of club you use has an effect on the thin shot made.

For example, a thin shot that is hit with a long iron, middle iron, or wood, will travel at a far less distance than a ball that is properly hit. On the other hand, a thin shot hit with
a short iron or wedge will travel farther than normal after the ball hits the ground and continues to roll.

Thin Shots Can Be A Good Thing

Not all thin shots are considered to be a disaster, especially if hitting from the tee or fairway.  The ball might not travel as far as you would like but it will still advance towards the hole. 

However, if you are facing a situation in which you must clear an area of water or a bunker, for example, then a thin shot is not going to do the trick. The ball will drop right inside the hazard and your game will be ruined.

Ouch, That Hurt! 

A thin shot hit with enough power can also cause some physical pain and discomfort. The club vibrates when this type of shot is made, causing irritation in the hands and wrists.  This is especially true if the shaft of your club is made of steel. You can relate this pain to a mild electrical shock.

How To Prevent The Thin Shot

The thin shot is the exact opposite of the fat shot, obviously, so that means that in most cases, the bottom of your swing happens to be too far forward. Other golfers end up hitting a thin shot because they raise their body just before making impact with the
ball. A third reason why you may be hitting thin shots is due to trying to scoop up the ball into the air by using an iron. To prevent hitting thin shots, you must make a conscious effort to keep your spine straight during the swing. However, avoid
straightening your knees or torso when initiating the downswing.

Next, you should try to place the ball in different positions at address. Work with your clubs and do some testing.  For example, if you have a problem with hitting thin shots using your driver, make an adjustment by teeing the ball up an inch or two back
within your stance.  This will help the clubhead make contact with the ball sooner, which can fix the problem.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

It is inevitable that some of your shots will not go as planned and end up landing in an area which makes it quite difficult to hit the ball out of.

Ahhh - the joy of golf

A good player with a positive attitude will enjoy getting themselves out of trouble when making an unsuccessful shot that lands in the rough or some other messy area.

It’s called recovery and if you can become great at recovery shots, you will be one step ahead of the rest of the pack to being a better golfer.

The Rough

Some of the most difficult shots you can make will be from the rough, which is typically made up of tall, unkempt grass.  Many times your ball will go right to the bottom of the grass which makes it practically invisible.

(I HATE it when that happens )
 
When you make your swing, the thick, tall grass can snag your clubhead as it comes down to the ball. This may also make your shot go far left or far right, instead of the
intended direction.  When landing in the rough, you might as well face the possibility that you will score high on that particular hole.

Working Your Way Out Of The Short Rough

Although not a desired area for your ball to land in, the short rough is definitely a much easier recovery shot than the standard rough, as described above. The short rough
has grass that is generally up to 2 inches or so and height.

Decent contact with your ball should be easy to make. Choose a club that gives you more loft so that your ball has extra airtime and roll.

Your goal is to get as much loft as possible when coming out of the rough. All you want to do is make sure that the ball is back in the play zone.  Yes, you may end up far short of
the hole when the ball hits the fairway, but a least you’ll be able to shoot for the green successfully.

Working Your Way Out Of The Medium Rough

Working your way out of medium rough areas are much the same as making shots from any other length of grass.

However, there are a few tweaks that you can make in your shot which can make a big difference when working your way out of the rough.

If the zone has grass that is medium in length, as compared to the short and long rough, attempt to hit the ball with a descending blow as opposed to a sweeping movement. 

You can achieve this by allowing for a steeper swing arc. This way, your club will hit the least amount of grass on the way to the ball.

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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

Golf takes time and practice, especially when you are just starting out with the sport and are frustrated by common flawed shots, like the annoying slice or the dreaded
hook, which essentially causes the ball to veer off severely left or right, instead of straight towards the intended target.

Then there is the “shank”…YIKES   >:-0

The shank has got to be one of the most embarrassing shots a golf player can make. 

(I should know, because I have certainly made my share of them…)

Look at it this way, hitting a shank is worse than missing a one or two-foot putt.

This is one experience that you want to avoid at all costs!

What Causes The Shank?

You create a shank whenever you hit the golf ball with the “hosel” portion of the club, instead of the actual club face. When the ball hits the hosel, which is a thin and round surface, it is sent sharply to the left, or right, and hardly becomes airborne, traveling at the most 25 to 35 yards.

If you are shanking the ball  too often on the golf course, the odds are very good that you are probably extending (pushing) the club out and away from the body on the downswing portion. 

Or you may be coming into the ball with a severe outside-in movement, which causes the hosel to come forward and hit the ball before the clubface can reach it.

In order to fix this problem, the first thing to do is be sure that your swing path is coming from the inside. By practicing this adjustment in your swing, the toe of the club will lead the hosel and your swing will come inside and out, producing a properly released clubhead, and the end result is a shankless shot.

Try This Practice Drill

You can easily train yourself to avoid hitting a shank with this simple, two-step drill:

1. Using 2 tees, place one into the ground where your ball would be placed. Take the second one and place it approximately 2 inches outside of the first tee.

2. Now you simply swing and aim for the first tee. Keep your swing easy and try to hit the first tee on target while completely missing the outside tee.

If you are hitting both tees then you are pushing the club out and away from you. Keep on practicing until you are only hitting the first tee at each shot, thereby eliminating the shank with consecutive in-to-out swing paths.
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Hit ‘em straight

Ben

The location in which you place the golf ball in your stance will depend almost entirely upon the type of club you are going to use. 

For example, when making a shot with the driver, you will typically play the ball off your left heel. 

When using a fairway wood, it is generally required that the ball be moved over about 1 inch to the right. When using long irons, the ball will be roughly in the same position, but
just a tad bit behind that. Middle irons will typically have the ball placed an inch or so towards the left of mid-stance.

And lastly, wedges and a short irons should be played from the center point of your stance.

Where To Place The Ball

As a beginner, golfers should concentrate on the basics and learn to initiate contact with the ball as best possible, and for every shot made. Once you have achieved repetitive
contact each time you make your swing, you can start to experiment by varying the positions of the ball.

Doing so will inevitably change the flight path of the ball, however, this is often necessary when you are playing a hole that has you facing unusual circumstances.

Let’s look at an example: By moving the ball an inch or two to the right while using a short iron, you will be required to come into the contact zone on a bit of a steeper angle.
The result will be a lower shot, which is necessary when playing the ball into fierce winds.

If you move the ball to the left side of your address position, a higher shot will be produced, which is required if you must shoot the ball over a tall bush or tree. Another way to induce a higher ball flight is to tee the ball up a little higher when
preparing to drive it. Teeing the ball lower will of course cause the ball to travel closer to the ground.

A Little Practice Goes A Long Way

You heard it before: Practice makes perfect! 

This is especially true when experimenting with ball position.
Whenever you are on the practice range, spend time adjusting your tees and making shots to find out what the results are. Significant changes can be made with the slightest
placement of the tee.

Professional golf players understand this and regardless of your skill level, you should also take the time needed to work on these exercises. You never know what type of shot
you will be required to make on the course. Having the knowledge ahead of time to know what adjustments you can make to get yourself out of a sticky situation is the mark of a great golf player.
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Hit ‘em straight

Ben