Tips

SHORT GAME

CHIPPING

Feet closer than normal iron shot
Hands slightly forward of the ball
Weight towards front foot
Shaft more upright than normal
Prevent the lead arm and wrist bending through the shot
Don’t try and help the ball up in the air
Stand closer to the ball to help the shaft sit upright
Use different clubs for different length chips [try a wedge for short range and maybe a 5 iron for longer chips]
When off the green don’t be frightened to putt or even try a rescue club

For me chipping is not only about the technique its also very much about the visualisation , set up of the shot and feel for the distance of the shot. One of the biggest failings is to get the set up wrong and in the swing to try and lift the ball in the air. Trust the loft of the club , your judgement to distance and try a couple of these tips and I’m sure you’ll have some success. Remember once your technique is solid you have to concentrate on the judgement of distance and to visualise the shot. Never hit the shot until you have a clear picture of what you are trying to do. I think my top 3 tips to remember would be get the ball position correct [slightly back in your stance] , 2 , get the shaft more vertical like a putter to help you get closer and over the ball. This helps use the shoulders rather than the wrists. 3, weight forwards and during the swing keep it forwards and on no account try and lift the ball in the air by scooping your wrists.

PITCHING

Shortened version of full swing
Ball position or under the sternum bone
Don’t scoop or flick the wrists try and feel the hands and wrists pull the club through
Learn what the bounce of your club is and how that affects YOUR shots.
To help the length of swing concentrate on the club accelerating through the shot this will help you to judge the length of the backswing.
Visualise the shot in full this will help you to judge the whole shot and swing better.

For me pitching is a shortened version of the full swing. There is a similar backswing to the full swing ( depending on the length of the shot depends on how much swing ) and there is wrist set in the swing just like a full swing. However like a chip the set up is very key to helping you. I would also ask you the question do you know the lofts of all your wedges and also the bounce on each of the club as this will have a huge affect on how you play your shots. The bounce is the angle between the back edge of the club and the leading edge and a good guide to use would be that if you have high bounce on your wedge it’s good for lush ground, soft ground, and when there’s lots of sand in the bunkers. When you have low bounce on your wedges this is good for when there is hard ground and not much sand in the bunkers.

A lot of pitching is about judging the flight and roll of the ball. A simple proven way of calculating this is as follows. When using a 7/8 iron the ball spends 1 third of its journey in the air and 2 thirds rolling to the flag. When using a 9/pw the ball spends half its journey in the air and half its journey rolling. When using a sand wedge the ball spends 2 thirds of the journey in the air and 1 third rolling and finally using the lob wedge the ball spends 3 quarters of the journey in the air and 1 quarter rolling. It would be good to understand these rules as this will help you visualise the shot better, help you to judge distance better and also when going through this procedure before the shot will give you a much better idea of what club to use. This rule applies for a flat shot from a good lie and when the ground is ok. Add and subtract a bit of the equation for things like uphill and downhill shots, soft and hard ground, slopes on the green, and even the wind. Finally a good rule to follow would be when there’s no obstacle in your way keep the ball low and running and when there is an obstacle in your way then use the wedges to lift the ball over.

With all short game shots commit yourself fully to the shot you choose.

BUNKERS

Understand the bounce of your sand wedge
Know where the club is going to hit the sand so you can judge the pace of your swing
Use the 10 to 12 yard rule don’t be greedy get it in play first
Shuffle feet in the sand to test depth
If you aim left of the target (right handed) make sure you open the face of the club to compensate
Commit yourself to the shot
You can use a pitching wedge or a 9 iron for slightly longer shots if you want.

NOTES FOR A FAIRWAY BUNKER SHOT
Take a club that will clear the front lip of the bunker. Don’t be greedy and leave the ball in the sand.
For this shot hit the ball first not the sand and you can use different clubs other than the sand iron.

Often you hear about the fear this shot brings to people but I think if you follow these pointers you’ll be ok. Be committed to the shot. In my experience over the years I’ve found that most people take a similar swing and the ball tends to come out of the bunker about 10 to 12 yards. This would be a good thing to remember when preparing for your shot because you too can focus on getting your ball out this distance and forget about the flag. I’ve found most people experience the problems in bunkers when they have either a very short delicate shot or longer bunker shot. This is mainly referring to my earlier point about the 10 to 12 yards. What people try to do is to get to delicate or hit to hard and this causes a different swing and tempo which normally results in a ball still in the bunker or sailing over the other side of the green. For most of us not having the time to practice these different circumstances is why I would recommend to focus on a natural length swing and tempo. Learn to get the ball out and when you gain more confidence try the higher risk shots. Also should the flag be in the 10 to 12 yard zone it could work really well for you. Also again to understand the bounce on the club will help you to understand the shot. Lots of sand you need more bounce or to lay the club open. When there’s not much sand use less bounce or keep the club square to the target.

Putting
I’m sure all of you have had the thought when faced with a 6 footer on the 1st and when it slides by the edge you feel its not going to be your day. Likewise it goes in and all of a sudden the holes as big as a bucket for the rest of the round. Putting is a very mentally tough part to the game and something you should definitely recognise when you’re trying to improve your scores, but over the last few years especially with the help of technology and more recently the aid of biomechanics putting has now become a lot more technical especially the set up. I use a system called the TOMI which is a computer system to help improve the roll of the ball. I also film many people when putting so they can see what’s happening a lot better, and also go through reading greens and spend a lot of time on exercises to help people judge pace better. I would also make sure that everyone understands their putter, their set up and how both are going to help improve their stroke and ultimately going to hole more putts.

We see a lot of different styles and grips to putting, I myself use what was dubbed the “Langer grip” used successfully by Bernhard Langer to win the 93 U.S Masters. For me though great putters share a few common traits. Firstly they have a reliable action under all kinds of pressure, secondly they have an excellent pace control to the putt, thirdly they have a great imagination on how they see the putt. Last of all I remember a quote from a former U.S Ryder cup captain Dave Stockton who was renowned as a great putter saying “ I’ve never looked at a putt I couldn’t make” which really shows how much belief they have in holing each putt.
I believe everybody has an in built skill to judge distance ( look at throwing a ball to a target, a pass in football, a drop shot in tennis) so I believe the 1st thing to master in putting is to judge distance so you can get that 1st putt close enough to the hole (affectionately known as the dustbin lid ) and leave a tap in for your 2nd. As you improve your mechanics and your confidence grows you may even find that you hole that 1st putt. Try these exercises to help your putting.

Take 2 balls put them next to each other on the green. Putt the 1st one and watch it roll to a stop, relate that to where it’s finished to the hole and from that hit the second straight away. The idea is that I can’t tell you as nobody can tell you how hard to hit a putt but once you’ve hit a ball towards the hole you can judge how hard YOU hit the putt so with the second putt YOU will have a better understanding on how hard to hit it. When you get more confident try hitting the second putt with your eyes closed this will really help your judgement of distance and test your imagination.
Putt using a golf ball, a tennis ball, a squash ball and a ping pong ball all to the same target. The different weights will help you to judge the ace and distance a lot better. This really helps your brain to recognise the strength you need to hit the ball to the target.
Concentrate on the through stroke not the length of the back stroke. When you throw a ball to someone do you ever watch your back swing of the through? NO you watch the target and concentrate on the through part to the action. This is to help your brain calculate the distance. Do the same with your putting try a few putts to a target and look at the target the whole time not the ball.
If you’re having trouble with the short putts practice with a tennis ball from 3 feet. When you then start to use the golf ball again the hole looks bigger because your brain has got used to trying to fit a tennis ball in the hole.

A FEW POINTS TO REMEMBER

· Understand your putter you’re using
· Make sure your style of stroke fits your putter
· Learn to judge distance better this is key to not 3 PUTTING
· When reading greens look at all areas of the green to judge the slope
· Make sure your set up especially the ball position and weight distribution are consistent