THE BEST COMPETITORS HAVE THE BEST SHORT GAMES

Did you know that your can chip with any club? Wedge...3-Iron...Even three wood!

 

The further away you are from the pin, the lower the loft you will need. You must get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. Here's how:

1. Feet about a foot apart

2. Weight on the forward foot

3. Back knee pointing at the target, with almost no weight on the back foot.

This will put your hands ahead of the ball. Take the club back with your shoulders. No wrist break, hands lead the clubhead on the downswing. No wrist break. Let the clubhead do the work.

 

 

 Try this only if your ball is sitting up on a clean lie"

You're in a bunker.

The ball is sitting up. There's a two foot bank 10 feet ahead of your ball. The green is 10 feet above you. But the big problem is, you're about 75 yards from the green.

What do you do?

First, eliminate the conventional, open-faced, blast shot from consideration. You'll have to take too hard a swing and almost no sand to come close to the green. Take the least bit of sand and you'll hit the ball only about 10 or 20 yards. Pick the ball clean and you'll skull it maybe to the putting surface, or more likely, way over the green.

Instead, try one of two methods:

1. Play the punch shot.
Using a pitching wedge or a nine-iron, position the ball back in your stance, opposite the right foot. Close the clubface slightly. On the backswing, break the wrists early, picking up the clubhead sharply. On the downswing, keep the wrists cocked and make sure you hit the back of the ball first, and then keep the clubhead driving into the sand. Keep your head steady. Your objective will not be to get under the ball, but rather to rap the back of the ball - just as though you're punching the ball under a low-hanging tree branch. You will swing with less force than you ordinarily would from that distance, because the shot will come out low and running.

2. Play a pick shot.
Using the pitching wedge, play the ball in the middle of your stance. Keeping the head very steady, take a firm swing and pick the ball cleanly off the top of the sand. Is it dangerous? You bet it is. Take the least bit of sand and you won't get halfway to the green; skull the ball and you'll either hit the lip of the bunker or sail it over the green. But it's worth a try.

The key factor in both methods though, is to KEEP THE HEAD STEADY until the ball is on it's way. There should be some body movement in either technique, but the head must not bob up or down nor move to either side during the swing.

Most people don't have a chance to practice this shot. But if you can find a place to experiment with it, the more confident you will be when you encounter one of these testers.

Top 10 Wedge Tips

   1. Wedges are precision scoring clubs, swing with maximum 70% of effort.

   2. Keep arms free, very soft and relaxed. Keep your chest turned away from the target during the wedge swing and let arms flow through the shot. Your shoulders will automatically line up to the target and your arms will follow the shoulder line right on target.

   3. For greenside bunker shots, open the clubface and imagine throwing sand with your left arm all the way to the pin. The ball will float out, that’s all you have to do. It’s the arm swing only, slow and easy, same tempo back, same tempo through.

   4. On all wedge shots, use a soft and semi-loose grip and just let the club flow through, do not try to guide it, just let it happen.

   5. When shooting from the rough, the deeper the rough the firmer the grip must be. If the rough is 1" high, play the ball back in the stance 1-2" from normal position. If the rough is 2" high, play the ball back 2-3" from normal. If the rough is 3" high, play the ball back 3-4".

   6. Align your shoulders with the slope for all shots.

   7. If the ball is sitting up 0", play the ball 0 to 1" back in stance. A ball sitting up increases the loft of the wedge, if sitting up 1", play the ball back 1".

   8. For tight lies, and/or ball from a divot, play the ball 2-3" back towards the right foot from normal. This allows a steeper downswing and compresses the ball quicker.

   9. The softer your arms are in the wedge swing, the more you’ll "spank" the ball and become a better wedge player.

  10. Keep your right foot planted firmly on the ground on all shots when playing the wedges. Only after impact does the right foot want to come up slightly. The wedge swing is an arm and upper torso swing only. Never ever force the swing. Just let the arms flow softly.