Shotmaking
Chip from the sand, control trajectory and enhance your shotmaking ability. Uncover the secret of golf shot making with advice from the pros.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 Chip From The Sand Part of being a skillful player is “reading” the situation, choosing the right shot and then being able to execute that particular play. Taking into account all your options is important, but most golfers never consider the versatility the game allows. For example, when faced with a bunker shot, most golfers think “blast.” But in some situations, thinking “chip” may produce the better result. |
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 No Backswing, No Problem Bad lies are one thing, but there’s nothing worse than a situation where your backswing is completely restricted. The feeling of helplessness can be pretty disheartening. For most golfers, the only play is to chip back into the fairway—a momentum-breaker that’s not going to help you if your goal is to shoot low numbers. But take a closer look—you may be able to knock it near or even on the green if you know this savvy technique. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 Control Trajectory A key element to becoming a better player is learning to create different ballflight trajectories on command. It’s this aspect of your play that will allow you to effectively tackle a variety of situations ranging from lob pitches to knockdowns to recovery shots. Here are six “factors of flight” to help you learn to throw it high or keep it low. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 Curve On Command If you want to take your scores even lower, you’ve got to be able to control the spin on your golf ball, and that means being able to curve it when you want to. This skill is called “working” the ball, and it takes practice. But most low-handicappers don’t rehearse this part of their game correctly—they’ll hit 20 draws in a row, then hit a bunch of fades. This practice sequence doesn’t realistically represent what you’ll face on the course. In golf, you only get one chance, not 20. That’s why I recommend the Diamond Drill. The Diamond teaches you how to work the ball “on demand” using the geometry of the setup. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 Drive Off The Deck Growing up in Oklahoma, my golfing buddies and I had more than our fair share of wind to deal with on the course. As a PGA professional on the island of Maui, I still rely on different techniques to cheat the breeze and set up more scoring opportunities. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 Lesson In LinksControl your trajectory for better scoring Any golfer worth his salt dreams of trying his hand on a true links golf course. Turnberry, Kingsbarns, Royal Dornoch, even Carnoustie—they all present challenges that inland courses, protected from the elements, simply can’t muster. The soft fairways that prevent errant drives from running into the rough don’t exist. Spongy, well-watered greens that receive approaches of all kinds just aren’t there. It’s a whole different style of play that favors putting over pitching and low, authoritative punch shots over high, spinning floaters. Above all, links golf demands imagination. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 The Dead Shot When playing golf, there are some days that no matter what you try, you can’t get your upper and lower body to work in sync. On these days, you’ll find that the hips trail too far behind the shoulders, and the shoulders trail too far behind the arms and hands. The Dead Shot is an effective drill I use with my students to promote balance, timing and synchronization from the takeaway through the finish. |
Monday, March 5, 2007 Putt It Out Sometimes the best way to get out of a bunker is to not hit the ball at all. Try putting it instead. Like all shots from the bunker, you must first assess the situation and determine if the putter is the right choice. |
Friday, March 2, 2007 High Hopes You’ll discover the need to hit over an obstacle—tree, fence, even a scoreboard—during the course of an everyday round. And while amateurs fear the shot, pros know that only a few setup adjustments can fuel success. |
Friday, February 16, 2007 Conquer ObstaclesTake the high route over what?s between you and your target Many golfers have difficulty in hitting a high-trajectory shot when they have to. A reason for this inability is a ball position that’s too far back in the stance. This makes varying the trajectory of your shots nearly impossible. |
Friday, February 16, 2007 Conquer Hardpan Regardless of where you play, you’ll eventually face a tough pitch off
hardpan. This is a dicey situation, as ultra-tight lies such as hardpan
make it easy for the clubhead to bounce off the turf and into the top
half of the golf ball, skulling it over the green. The key for pitches
off hardpan is to make sure the clubhead does anything but bounce off
the turf. Knowing how to accomplish this will save you strokes
not only in this situation, but in dozens of others that involve tight lies. |
