As promised, here are three SECRETS — REVEALED drawn from over 1.2 million lessons given and counting. | SECRET # 73, SHORT GAME | Bump the Earth with Your Sole: Eliminate Bladed Wedges Andy Hilts, GolfTEC Headquarters National Director of Instruction REASON SECRET IS REVEALED: To eliminate the huge mistakes around the green with solidly struck wedges. CHANGE RECOMMENDED: With a wedge set-up slightly open, just brushing the club head through the grass is not enough to ensure the leading edge of the wedge will be deep enough to avoid blading the ball across the green. The sole of the club underneath the leading edge is called the bounce. When the ball sits down in the grass that bounce needs to bump the ground and not just brush the grass in order to get the ball to pop up in the air. OTHER FACTORS: Timing the bump of the earth with the contact of the ball is vital to hitting crisp wedges. Hitting the earth first or not hitting it at all will certainly make for very poor results. As you take practice swings make sure to pick a spot to bump the sole of the wedge and bump that spot several times as you are taking your practice swings. RESULTS TO ANTICIPATE: When the sole of a wedge properly bumps the ground and ball at the same time you will see the ball pop up in the air quickly and stop on the green quickly. Not only will you see shots closer to the pin, you will eliminate the bladed shots over the green and the chunks when the ball only dribbles a foot. COMMON FALSE STARTS: Students are afraid to hit the ground at all due to repeated shots hit behind the ball. With the club face slightly open at address and the sole of the club bumping the ground the bounce will do just that….bounce the club off the ground and not dig into it. | SECRET #64, SHORT GAME | Know How to Tell Lies to Play Better Golf Steve Atherton, GolfTEC VP of Instruction and PGA Master Professional in Instruction REASON SECRET IS REVEALED: When selecting which type of shot to play around the green, most amateur players take into consideration only the length of the shot and the obstacles between them and the hole. In reality, the most important factor in deciding which club to choose and which type of shot to hit is the lie. CHANGE RECOMMENDED: Before you play any short game shot, take a close look at how the ball is sitting in the grass. Sometimes the lie will dictate that your safest and best shot will be a play that simply gets the ball onto the green. If the lie is really good then you can attempt to hit a shot that ends up close to the hole. If you have a poor lie and you try to hit a shot that is too aggressive you will likely end up making a bigger number than if you had played it safe. OTHER FACTORS: Here are a few things to look for when selecting which type of shot to play. If the lie is tight, meaning the ball is sitting on fairly firm ground with little grass under it, you are likely to hit the shot fat or thin. In this case, using a club with less bounce is best, and switching to a club with lower loft (PW or 9-iron instead of sand wedge) can help you make solid contact. If there is a lot of grass on the back side of the ball laying toward the hole, it is going to be almost impossible to put much spin on the shot, so play a shot with a lob or sand wedge and open up the clubface to hit the ball higher and softer. You may also have to swing a bit harder to cut through the grass. If the ball is sitting up in high grass, it is not a good idea to use a lob wedge as you will likely go under the ball and leave it short. If the ball is sitting down in thick rough, open the face of a lob or sand wedge, put your weight towards the target and swing vertically up and down aggressively behind the ball to pop it out without grabbing too much grass. In heavy rough, you should also keep a firm hold on the grip to prevent the clubface from shutting down as the grass wraps around the hosel. RESULTS TO ANTICIPATE: Examining the lie closely before selecting a club and shot shape will help you make better contact and minimize big numbers from trying shots that won’t work for a given situation. If your golf course has a short game area, I would suggest practicing from a variety of lies and situations to see how the ball reacts. Take ten balls or so and toss them onto the ground in both the fairway and the rough and play every shot as it lies. You will find that you can have shots from two spots that are a foot apart on the golf course, and each shot could require a completely different type of shot because of the lie. | SECRET #82, SHORT GAME | Pitching Wedge Around the Green Is Not Your Only Option Chris Dillinger, Director of Teaching Quality REASON SECRET IS REVEALED: Most amateur golfers struggle getting up and down around the green because they get caught up in using the same club for every shot. This can lead to problems because a pitching wedge is not always the best choice around the green. Experimenting with different clubs can lead to more consistency and reduced scores. CHANGE RECOMMENDED: Experiment with different clubs around the green. Go to any PGA tour event and you will see players trying out a wide variety of shots from around the green using different kinds of clubs. The majority of the time if you have a lot of green to work with you are better off getting the shot on the ground early and letting it roll to the hole as opposed to trying to fly it to the hole. This is the primary reason that tour pros have figured out that they do not need to use only higher lofted clubs for these shots. Using a fairway wood or hybrid around the green gets the ball up in the air just slightly and then allows the ball to roll to the hole. This shot can be a great alternative to a wedge where distance control is very difficult. You will also find that you can get creative with other clubs around the green as well. It is possible to hit a putter out of a bunker as long as the lip of the bunker is very small and the ball will be able to roll over the edge of the bunker freely. Simply hit the ball like you were hitting a regular putt and it should roll over the lip of the bunker. This can eliminate some of the guess work of bunker shots as long as the conditions are right. OTHER FACTORS: Remember that when you are playing shots like these that you still have to take into consideration the outside variables which occur around the green. If the ground is very wet you might want to move to a higher lofted club because you lose some of the ability to control roll of the ball when the ground is very wet. Also you have to take into consideration the original uses for that club that you are hitting. Fairway woods are designed to hit the ball long distances so you will have to practice and get the right feel of the shot before you try it out on your next round. The same applies with trying to hit a shot out of a bunker with a putter — you will have to really practice and get the shot down before you try it on the course. RESULTS TO ANTICIPATE: By experimenting with other clubs around the green you will find other ways of getting the ball up and down more consistently. Making yourself more efficient around the green will allow you to shoot better scores and ultimately become a better golfer. |
