525 Yard Par 4 at Raven, Yep Par 4

A few years back I got one of the greatest short game tips from Dave Pelz. His book the “Short Game Bible” is the classic for golf short game instruction. Dave and almost every “professional” in the world recommends that we know our distance to the flag. This is important so that we can know which club to select and how long to make our back swing to get to the pin. As you watch the professional golfers you will notice that ideally they want to put themselves in a position where they can come into the green with a full swing of the club. The reality is that as weekend warriors we seldom achieve that ideal.

Often we are faced with situations where that full swing will get us in big trouble even with a super high lofted club. This is where short game practice is critically important if we want to improve our short game. On most driving ranges there is a short game practice area, that is marked with some of the distances to the pin. Those distances are usually from the practice tee to the practice green, but what about when you practice from 40 yards out or 25 or you name it. Typically these distances are not marked. The reason you need to know these distances is so that you can develop repeatable short swings with different clubs to give yourself an arsenal of strokes for your memory banks to repeat.

When I first heard this idea, I literally took a 100 foot tape measure out to the course on a very slow day so that I could measure the distance to the pin and see what it looked like. After a few holes I was able to tell when I was 50 yards out or what ever yardage in round terms. You can do the same at a practice facility so that you will begin to know what 100, 75, 50, 25, 15 yards look like. Very quickly you will get correct the feel for your short distances.

Study and Learn Your Distances

Now that you have the feel for it, you need to develop a swing to match your judging distance. Most of the “professionals” will teach some variation of this method. Basically it is this. For each of the wedges you carry and even your 7,8,9 do you know how far they will travel with a quarter or a half or three quarter swing? This is something you might have to take a while to find out but when you know it, the information is very valuable to you.

Armed with the knowledge of how far a ball will travel you can begin making some good decisions when you are close to the green. More in a moment, but first a couple of caveats.

You will find all kinds of opinion on alignment.  Arnold Palmer said to stand open, others will say straight. The open alignment is probably better to keep your body from blocking the shot.  Next, most of the “professionals” agree that for short shots the hands should lead the club-face. This means that you set up with the ball closer to the back of your stance and you hands will be in front of your target-side leg.  (left leg for the right-handed)  With your weight favoring your target side you will then hit through the ball and finish high for the typical pitch shot. This setup will also tend to de-loft the club meaning that the angle of the face (being more upright) will now act like the next lower club number which means more distance.

Now. Imagine you are a clock! Okay?

Your head is 12:00, Your feet are 6:00 your target side is 1-5 and your back swing side is 7-11. What you want to know is; how far does a 7:30-8:00 o’clock swing travel for each of your wedges ( I carry 4) . Next, the same information for a 9 o’clock swing. Finally, the same information for an 11:00 o’clock swing. You will discover that some of the different wedges will travel the same distance for different swings but once you are finished you have 12 to 16 shots in your bag that you are confident to make and you know the distances each will go. For those shots that go the same distance there will be a big difference in loft.

Build Your Arsenal

For instance a 60 degree lob wedge may travel 25 yards with an 11:00 o’clock swing, while a 48 degree pitching wedge may travel the same distance with an 8:00 o’clock swing. However, the difference of course is loft which gets the lob over the bunker to a close pin and stops versus the pitching wedge which will roll 10 feet after it lands on the green.

When you are armed with all these shots in your golf bag your short game gets to a new level in a hurry. The great thing is that you only really have to learn 3 repeatable swings to have 16 in your arsenal.

Hit them straight and seldom!

Bobby Eldrige put out his Pitching and Chipping video a few years back. I have used it to dramatically improve my short game it is the same system that I have described above.

Visit his page at Purepoint.com

Technorati Tags: golf short game instruction, golf short game practice, Golf Short Game Tips

Golf training is a never ending pursuit for the golfer who has been bitten by the allure of golf.  As golfers there is always something more to learn and improve upon.  When you spend time on the range you find yourself wondering what this or that shot would look like on the course. When you are on the course you only get one chance to make your best golf swing for that particular hole.  The goal is to find a way to take your best golf swing onto the course every time you go.

As you think about your round of golf coming up tomorrow.  What are you planning for tonight? Do you know you can go online and get all your questions answered ?  Do you have a routine for when you arrive at the course?   If you are like me, you like to arrive at least an hour early and hit some balls to warm up. Then head for the practice green and get a feel for the speed and break of your putts.   If there is time, you go over to the practice chipping green and work on your short chips as well.  With any luck you will be able to demonstrate your best golf swing on the tee box.

This game has so many aspects to it.  On the tee box you want to hit the ball as far as you can;  then you get to the green and try to slow your shot from  deep rough to a close pin. Of course the putting green can be a whole different story.  I played last year for the first time on “rolled greens”, after the morning cut they bring in a heavy roller and mash the grain down.  Wow, if you hit the ball too firm and miss you are easily 12 feet beyond. If you gently tap it the ball literally moves like a snake back and forth.   I felt lucky to get away with a two putt on most of those holes and three was my average.

Score Card From Lakota Canyon Colorado; Yes those are real piles of rock along the right hand side

One of the joys of golf is getting to play different courses. Each course is unique and each will have some things that are deliberately designed to frustrate the casual golfer.   So, how do you maintain your handicap when you go to these different courses for a one time experience?   In most cases you are not quite sure of what to expect.

Having sound fundamental skills is essential to enjoying the game.   When you get into trouble, the ability to recover is critical.

That's me in the sand, 100 yards out at Bear Dance

I know the professionals play a different course every week,  but you and I  probably play a different course 5 to 10 times a year with most of our time spent on our home course.

Tracy Reed spent over 20 years analyzing the golf swing.  He put together Golf Swing Control and released it as a book to selected few.   A client convinced him to put together a golf training video, which was released in 2008.   (That video completely turned my game around)  On his Blog he has an 18 minute slow motion critique of Tiger Woods golf swing; which is the best explanation of the complete process of a golf swing you will ever see.

As with all things on the internet links tend to change or go away over time.  I had previously mentioned a golf blog membership on these pages that offered instruction in all aspects of the golf game.  That site the ultimate golf society has closed their doors, oh well.  There are many more that you can find and join if you want.   The bottom line is that you want to have your fundamentals in place.

There is no substitute for a good setup routine.  Develop one and use it on every swing,  don’t allow your game to get rushed and ignore the setup for every shot that you take.  Spend enough time on the driving range and establish the distances that all the clubs in your bag will travel.  Know that! When you do it speeds up your decision making in your setup.

For your wedges, you also want to know the distances of an 8, 9 or 11 o’clock back-swing for your 60°lob,  56°sand 48°pitching wedges.  I understand that ball travel is relative to the contour of the green, but the important part is to know how far it travels in the air before it lands.  When you are armed with this knowledge you can be very accurate around the green.   Essentially you will have 12 shots  that you own and can pull out of your bag to get close to the pin any time you need them.  I don’t have to tell you that a 3 foot putt is one hundred percent more make-able than a 15 footer.

His book is $25 and yes that is an affiliate link, I will maybe make a $1.46 if you buy through that link, or you can simply go to your favorite book seller to get it.  The bottom line is that it is the single best instruction I have ever read on the short game.  His clinics will run you a mere $500 for a 4 day session if you can find one in your area.   If you are a more visual learner the PurepointGolf   Short-Game Championship Series is fantastic for giving you a visual demonstration of what you need to know around the green to be effective.  I own both, and have benefited immensely from them.

From there on out it is simply play and practice to improve your game.

Technorati Tags: best golf swing, Dave Pelz, golf setup routine, golf training, golf training video, Short Game Bible, Tracy Reed

For many years in my golf experience, my golf game was terribly inconsistent.  I would go out one day and shoot a pretty good game on one day and come back the next with a horrible performance. I have heard that same lament from countless other golfers.

One answer from a dear friend when asked was; “Depends on who shows up at the course that day.” Nice answer, but it is a lame excuse for my poor performance when I know that I am capable of doing much better. Especially when, on the day before, I executed that same shot so perfectly.

My search for consistency has been partially satisfied by developing a repeatable setup routine.  I had heard and read that all the professional golfers used a golf routine but watching them it was hard to distinguish what they were doing.

What is involved in a golf routine? How do you develop a good golf routine? The answer is mostly a matter of deciding to learn how to focus.  I am sure you are  impressed with your favorite professional as you watch on Sunday afternoon and he seems to just calmly go about his game in spite of the hundreds of people around.  That is a demonstration of the power of having a routine.  If you watch closely you will notice that they will repeat certain subtle behaviors over and over.

With a golf routine your focus is on going through a mental check-list of things that you will do every time you take a golf shot.  The focus keeps you from deviating from that pattern until it becomes an unconscious habit.  A good golf routine will include:

• Course Management; knowing the lay-out of each hole and having a strategy for playing that hole.  Know when it is best for your game to lay up or to go for it.
• Assess the lie of your ball;  making the proper club selection is critical .  Maybe your 7 iron would be a better choice to get out of that deep rough, even though it will not go as far as you need.
• Knowing your limits; if your ball is in a difficult position the best way forward may be a backward or sideways shot.  What are the percentages of hitting through a 3 foot opening in the trees 20 feet away versus a sideways shot back to the fairway. It may cost a stroke but a ricochet could cost you several.
• Develop a consistent setup routine; for addressing the golf ball; once you have developed that routine then do not deviate from it at all.
• Focus on the next shot; when you make the shot it is finished; getting the ball up and in the hole is the only thing that matters.

• Do not dwell on any bad shot you may have; this is a game wrecker and cause for most of the inconsistency that a casual golfer will experience.

I pay particular attention to my actual setup.  By forcing myself to go through the same routine every time I eliminate the assumption that my grip is correct and actually look down and check it.   By verifying the line of my intermediary target with my long range target I force myself to visualize my shot going straight down the middle.  When I set up behind the ball and check my posture, knee bend, back alignment and head I am at the very least giving myself a chance to repeat a reasonable if not excellent swing.

Give it a try.  If you don’t already use a good golf routine, I think you will surprise yourself at how much better you suddenly have become.

Technorati Tags: consistent golf swing, golf mental tips, Golf Routine, golf swing sequence