How To Play A Chip Shot – The Professional Way (2)
By Foursome | May 28, 2009
Place Your Weight On The Left Side
Another thing that helps create a descending blow is having your weight on your left leg. The best way to do this is just to feel like you are leaning slightly toward your target. Any time you think about weight and its placement, it follows naturally to wonder how much of your weight we’re talking about.
Obviously, we don’t want you leaning so far toward the target that you feel you’re going to fall over. When you have your setup correct, you should feel like you have about sixty percent of so of your weight leaning toward the target.
Choke Down On The Club
In the game of baseball they call it “choking up” on the bat, maybe because the bat is pointing toward the sky and you have to slide your hands up to shorten the bat. But in golf, we refer to it as “choking down”, since the club is pointing down and what you are wanting to do is effectively shorten the club.
You want to do this because when you shorten the club you make it easier to control. You should choke down enough to the point that you feel you have your putter in your hands. By doing this you are gaining more control and you’re not losing anything, since there is no concern with generating power with this shot. Read the rest of this entry »
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How To Play A Chip Shot – The Professional Way (1)
By Foursome | May 28, 2009
Open Up Your Lower Body
Usually when you hear about opening your stance it’s a reference to your entire alignment. With a chip shot, however, that’s not the case. This shot is used with such a short swing that you couldn’t possibly affect the “shape” of the ball flight, which is the normal reason for opening your stance.
In this case, we simply want to help you feel more comfortable over the ball and make it easier to get the club moving in the manner you want. So here’s what we want you to do:
1) We want you to pick a target and set the lead edge of the club square to the target.
2) Next, step in and set your body square just like any other shot: shoulders, hips and feet parallel to the target line.
3) Now open your feet and hips ever so slightly – aim them a little left of the target line. Keep your shoulders parallel to the target line and the clubface square to the target. Read the rest of this entry »
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Course Management: Tips To Help You Take Your Golf Game More Seriously
By Foursome | April 28, 2009
Course management is the skill of thinking your way around the golf course and in the most effective manner possible. The world’s best players, in addition to possessing excellent technique, are also top level tacticians, mastering highly effective strategies and squeezing every last drop of potential out of a round by playing to their strengths.
The following tips will help you not only help with your personal course management on the golf course, but can knock several strokes off your handicap literally overnight.
Arrive To The Golf Course Relaxed By Driving Slowly
Ideally you should arrive at the golf course in a total and complete relaxed state of mind. Take some time before leaving the house by getting up early so that you can leave early.
A leisurely drive to the course can do more wonders for your game than most golfers realize. Without this extra time, a calm drive can easily turn into a frustrated and anxious experience with just a little bit of traffic.
Many of the world’s top golfers have made comments that they even have a routine that keeps them positive before heading out to the golf course – soft music, sitting in silence before driving, and leaving early – even before practice sessions.
In addition, this habit of getting up early and driving calm and relaxed to the course will also get you there early. Always strive to arrive at the course at least 30 minutes before tee time so that you have time to check in at the pro shop, get changed, and warm up thoroughly so that the first tee is hit in a relaxed manner. Read the rest of this entry »
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Chipping From Off The Green: The Classic Biter Shot
By Foursome | April 22, 2009
The “Biter” is a classic chip shot that is the shot you want to play when you have “very little green to work with”, as they say on golf sporting commentaries.
What that means is that there is very little room between the edge of the green and the hole on the side where your ball rests and your typical chip shot will not be enough to get the results you are after.
Instead, you must use a little bit of strategy and imagination to get the shot cleared. From using an unlikely club to changing up your swing stance, the following set up will help you master this scenario on the course.
The Best Club Choice
Play this shot with a sand wedge or, if you carry one and the distance is appropriate, a lob wedge. The lob wedge is a weird club. If you have one, you should spend some time figuring how far you can hit it with various lengths of swing.
We say “weird” because sometimes it’s hard to believe you can make such a long swing and produce such a short shot. Another thing that makes the lob wedge somewhat awkward is that poor players often try to hit it too far.
You have to know your maximum comfortable distance with this club – the distance of shot you can play without overswinging – or you’re going to produce a lot of frustrating results. Read the rest of this entry »
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4 Most Common Chip Shot Mistakes (And How To Fix Them)
By Foursome | April 22, 2009
Poor results on the golf course don’t just happen on their own. When you skull a chip shot that goes running across the green, or stub a shot, it usually happens for one of the following reasons, and knowing them will help you avoid them:
Standing Too Far Away From the Ball
If you get your body too far away from the ball you have to stick your arms out toward the ball. Any time you feel you are extending your arms “out” toward the ball, you’re in trouble. This is going to create tension and you don’t want that.
Tension will block you from feeling the weight of the clubhead, and having a good sense of the clubhead is vital to having good touch on your chip shots.
Another reason you don’t want to stand too far away from the ball is that the second you move the clubhead it will swing immediately to the inside and off the target line. When you are chipping you want the club to move straight back and through along the target line.
When the club moves inside (or outside) the target line, you’re going to have trouble making clean contact and keeping the shot on line.
Using A Club With Too Much Loft
A chip shot is a running shot. Everything you do in your setup is designed to push the ball forward at a low trajectory. If you consistently come up short of your target, try using less-lofted clubs. Read the rest of this entry »
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