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Posts Tagged ‘golf short game’

A common predicament on the golf course places you about 100 yards from the green but an annoying, low hanging tree branch is right in front of you some 10 to 15 yards away, keeping you from hitting your normal 9-iron approach.

Instead of grabbing a saw and shopping the branch down, as we would all like to do, the solution is a shot that will carry no farther than a 9-iron, but start off with the trajectory of a 7-iron.

Either one of these clubs can be used.

The 7-iron can be used so long as you’re choking down on the grip and then hitting the ball as normal as possible. The 9-iron will work just fine as well, which I prefer to use in such a circumstance, so long as swing adjustments are made, as follows:

You have to shut the face of the club, move the ball back toward the middle of the stance, and keep your hands ahead of the ball. The effect is a reduced loft of the iron.

And finally, place all of your weight on the left side and keep it that way throughout the entire swing. The result should be a solid 9-iron shot that takes off low to the ground and shoots right under the tree branch.

Hit em straight (unless the tree is in the way)

Ben

Shhh…

Can you keep a secret?

There is a unique sand shot that could otherwise be a little known secret amongst professional golfers. It was years ago during the British Open when I saw Phil Rogers take a bunker shot I’ve never seen before.

The setup for this secret bunker shot must have the ball located in the sand very near the back bank of the bunker. And the bunker wall must be so steep that you will not be able to draw the club back in your normal fashion.

This particular shot can be attempted hundreds of times without success unless you have the right recipe. Here are the instructions:

1. Simply assume your normal trap-shot stance.

2. Now pick the club straight up, but breaking your arms the same as you would if you were picking up an ax before chopping a piece of wood.

3. Now hit down approximately 2 inches high on the ball with overly strong right-handed action.

There cannot be any follow-through all or else the clubhead will bury itself into the sand. The arc of the shot is up and down instead of back and forth, just like a woodcutter, but your shot will be a success.

Just between you and me…

Hit em straight…

Ben

Pitch Shots During Downhill & Uphill Lies 

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.

There is a unique sand shot that could otherwise be a little known secret amongst professional golfers. It was years ago during the British Open when I saw Phil Rogers take a bunker shot I’ve never seen before.

The setup for this secret bunker shot must have the ball located in the sand very near the back bank of the bunker. And the bunker wall must be so steep that you will not be able to draw the club back in your normal fashion.

This particular shot can be attempted hundreds of times without success unless you have the right recipe. Here are the instructions:

1. Simply assume your normal trap-shot stance.

2. Now pick the club straight up, but breaking your arms the same as you would if you were picking up an ax before chopping a piece of wood.

3. Now hit down approximately 2 inches high on the ball with overly strong right-handed action.

There cannot be any follow-through all or else the clubhead will bury itself into the sand. The arc of the shot is up and down instead of back and forth, just like a woodcutter, but your shot will be a success.

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.