Make sure you tee the ball up nice and high with your driver, a low tee will get the ball out of the bottom of the club and produce more backspin which will reduce distance. If teeing the ball high results in ‘popping’ the ball up then you are hitting too much on the down of the swing. Tee it up high and try swing UP through the ball.
Many golfers have a ‘favourite’ club that they do all their chipping with, short or long. Not saying this doesn’t work but you are just making it harder than it needs to be.
Use all your clubs when chipping, land the ball just on the green and pick the club depending on how far it has to roll.
The longer the club the longer the roll, its that simple.
Its quite difficult to know exactly what areas are costing you when you are playing a round. Taking your statistics allow you to see what areas are problems over a long period of time rather than just “having a bad chipping day”.
Record your putts, fairways hit, greens hit, up and downs, sand saves and put them into a spread sheet. After a few months you will be able to see what is actually the problem.
Most blow out holes come from poor choices rather than a hole heap of bad shots. We tend to try and push the boundaries when we get in trouble rather than getting back into play.
Take your medicine. When you are in trouble simply get your ball back into play the safest way possible. Trying to go for the hero shot may pay off but more than likely will get you into more trouble making your score sky rocket.
If you take the club back quickly it will throw all your rhythm out causing you to miss time the shot.
Make sure you take the club back nice and slow, feel yourself winding up the backswing just like a archer on a bow and arrow. This will give you a nice coil which will create more club head speed and stronger contact.
Can you identify your ball clearly? If your ball is a Titleist 1 and it comes close to someone else’s Titleist 1 how do you know which one is yours?
If you can’t identify your ball then you are penalised.
Save all the trouble by marking your ball with a vivid marker, your intials or a spot or whatever design allows you to identify your ball.
If your struggling to keep the ball on line check that your club face is square at address. Our eyes can play tricks on us looking down and its easy to think the club face is square but it may be slightly out.
Hold the club up in front of your chest, you should be able to see the leading edge of the clubface and it should be vertical to the sky. If its vertical then the club face is square at address, if its not pointing directly to the sky then it is not square.
A crucial part of the golf swing in gaining more power is to maintain a wide arc throughout the swing. The distance between your hands and your sternum at address must be maintained throughout the swing, if this distance shortens the club will come down steeply on the ball rather than getting the full force through the middle of the ball.
Try keep your lead arm nice and straight and your hands away from your chest to make a wide arc.
Its really easy to fall into a bad frame of mind when hitting golf shots and focus on your swing rather than the target.
Leave the mechanics to the practice range and focus purely on the target. Your body will be freed up and you will be able to make a relaxed rhythmic swing.
On shots just off the green where the lie is difficult i.e. sitting down in the grass or up against the first cut of fringe or rough, trying to chip the ball with a lofted club can be almost impossible especially trying to get any control on the distance.
Try using your fairway wood. Play it like a putter and ‘putt’ the ball toward the hole. The ball will pop out of the poor lie and should start rolling. You don’t need to whack it out just give it a little less effort than you would if you were putting from the same distance. This is a far safer way to play the shot.
