Hitting Chip Shots from a Tight Lie

Friday, December 27, 2013

Hitting chip shots from a tight lie is difficult shot. If you hit behind it, the clubhead will either dig into the ground causing you to hit it fat or bounce back causing top shots. On the regular lie with some grass underneath the ball, the clubhead will slide a little even if you hit it a bit behind the ball. But from a tight lie, that won't happen so often. So you need to make sure you catch the ball first. It becomes even more important to hit it on the descending blow from this lie.

 

There are some important tips when hitting this shot.

1. Make sure you accelerate through impact
2. Keep your hands forward at impact
3. Try not to lift the ball up in the air. Keep your clubhead low to the ground after impact
4. Grip down on a club for more control
5. Play the ball slightly back of center

If the situation allows you, use less lofted club such as 9 iron or 8 iron and roll the ball toward the hole. Phil Mickelson said when he hits it from a tight lie, he tries to keep his hands ahead of the clubhead throughout the swing. This will also help you hit it with a descending blow. So you might want to try that. By gripping down on a club, you need to stand closer to the ball. That means your club shaft will be more vertical than usual. So grip down and stand closer to the ball. And try to feel like you are hitting it toward the toe of the clubface. This will help you catch the ball clean.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/chip-shot-tight-lie.htm

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How to Hit 40-50 Yard Pitch Shots

Thursday, December 26, 2013

40 to 50 yard shots are probably one of the most difficult shots to hit for amateurs. From this distance, it's too far to chip it but too close to hit full wedge shots. So lots of golfers either hit it fat or top it. This will cause fear of this shot next time you face this type of shot. But you don't have to fear it anymore. There are few ways to hit this shot successfully.

1. Take half swing

If you were asked to hit it with 40% of your clubhead spped, it becomes difficult to catch the ball all the sudden. So the important point when hitting this shot is to use more than 60% of your clubhead speed. But if you swing your sand wedge with 60% of your power, you will probably hit it over the green from 40 yards. So you should cut your backswing short. Take a half swing. Lots of golfers make mistake when taking a half swing. They cut their backswing short and try to swing easy. As a result, they decelerate through impact and chunk the ball or top it. If you cut your backswing short, that's enough to reduce distance. So don't hesitate to accelerate through impact. Swing with more than 60% of your clubhead speed. By cutting your backswing short, your ball won't fly so far. Hitting it with more than 60% of your clubhead speed is the key to hit this shot.

2. Grip down on the club

You can also grip down on your sand wedge. By gripping down on the club, you can reduce your distance but don't have shorten your swing. The advantage of this method is that you can swing as usual. In practice, start gripping down about 2 inches and see how far it goes. Next, swing with 60% of your power and see how far it goes, again. You can adjust distance by how much you grip down and how fast you swing the club. But you may not want to swing with less than 60% of your power because if you swing easy, you tend to decelerate through impact.

 

3. Open the Clubface

Third method is to use open clubface. Before you grip the club, open the clubface a little and then grip the club. This will add more loft on your club. When you set up, open your shoulders and feet until your clubface will face toward target. Swing along your feet. You will hit a high shot with this set up. You need to practice and see how much you should open your clubface for 40 yard shot or 50 yard shot.

 

Other Points to Check

You can use any of those 3 methods above. Here are other key points to check when hitting this shot with any of those methods.

1. Put the ball in the middle of your stance
2. Accelerate through impact
3. Don't use wide stance. Use narrower stance than a regular sand wedge
4. Hit it on a descending blow
5. Don't try to scoop the ball. Trust your loft

When you practice swing, swing as if that's the real shot. When you set up to hit the shot, swing as if it is a practice swing. Practice swing is a real swing. Real swing is  a practice swing. If you keep this in your mind, you will hit it well even under pressure.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/40yard-pitch.htm

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How to Hit a 30 yard Pitch Shot

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The hard thing about is that you often have to make less than a full swing. So lots of golfers tend to hit it fat or top it. There are few reasibs why we tend to hit it far or top it with less than a full swing.

• Decelerate through impact by trying to control distance
• Worrying about the result and lacking concentration to hit the ball

So more than a half of the causes are psychological problems rather than technical mistakes.

 

How to Overcome Psychological Problems

I think there are two things you can do.

1. Decide the length of your backswing before you hit it
2. Instead of worrying about the outcome, focus of the shot at hand. Just focus on catching the ball solid

Players tend to take bigger backswing and then decelerate through impact on a shot like a 30 yard pitch shot. So when you take a practice swing, try to decide how much you take the club back to hit the shot. You should work harder on your practice swings than a real shot. Players start to hesitate when they are hitting shots from distance such as 30 yard pitch because they are thinking they have to get the ball close to the hole. So they are focusing more on the outcome.

 

But when you are hitting a 7-iron with a full swing, you probably won't hesitate so often by worrying about the outcome of the shot. That is because your espectation isn't so high. You know that you can't be perfect from that distance. So instead of trying to control the outcome, you should focus on the process such as hitting the ball solit. As a result, you will likely to hit a good shot.

 

But once you start to control the outcome by thinking that you have to get it close to the pin or get the ball close enough for a birdie, you will soon start hitting bad shots. All we can do is to focus on the things at hand. And that is the best way to handle any shot in golf.

 

The Technical Key Points

Now, let's talk about how to hit a 30 yard picth shot. There are 5 key points.

1. Put the ball in the center of little right of center
2. Take a narrow stance. Your feet should be width of your shoulders or less.
3. Don't forget to turn your shoulders and hips on the backswing
4. On the downswing, unwind your shoulders and hips. Avoid hitting the ball with your arms alone.
5. Your finish should be low and short

Tiger Woods said the same thing about the last 3 key points. He tried to turn his shoulders and hips instead of swinging with his arms alone. The common mistake is to try to lift the ball in the air. But you will hit it fat or top it if you do so. So to avoid this mistake, try to keep your finish low and short.

 

Use the Bounce on Your Sand Wedge to Fix Fat Shot

The shots from 30 yards to 50 yards can be very difficult for lots of amateurs because you can't take a full swing. Lots of players decelerate through impact to adjust clubhead speed to control distance. But this can lead to a fat shot.

 

From 30 to 50 yards, players often use a sand wedge. If you hit a fat shot, that means the leading edge of the sand wedge dug into the ground. To avoid this, you want to slide the sole of your sand wedge under the ball through impact. To hit the shot like this, you can use the bounce on your sand wedge.

 

Here are 3 keys to hit shots using your bounce.

1. Take a narrow stance
2. Grip down on the club
3. Don't lean your shaft too much toward the target

If you set your hands too far forward, you will kill your bounce. So the shaft should be slightly leaning toward the target. But you don't want to lean the shaft too much. When you swing your club, try to slide the sole of your sand wedge through the grass as you hit the ball. The bounce on your sand wedge will prevent the leading edge to dig into the ground and let it slide under the ball.

 

However, if you use this technique from a tight lie, the sand wedge will bounce off hard ground and cause lots of top shots.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/30yard-pitch.htm

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CHio without Wrist Hinge to Stop Topping or Fat Shots

We have talked about various ways to chip the ball. However, what works for me might not work for you, so I would like to show you all different kinds of chip shots to help you fix your problems. In general, players usually use wrist hinge to hit the chip shot. By hinging your wrists, you can generate the clubhead speed and put the backspin on the ball. But if you hinge your wrists on the backswing, you are going to unhinge them on the way down. Some players make mistakes when they try to unhinge their wrists on the downswing and hit it far or top the ball.

 

Steve Stricker who became No. 2 on the world ranking at one time uses what he calls "dead-hands" chipping. He takes wrist hinge out of the chipping shots. Here is how he hits his chip shots.

• Take a narrow stance
• Put more weight on your front foot
• Lean the shaft a bit toward the target
• Don't use wrist hinge at all during the swing

Try to take the club back with your shoulders and arms. Your hands are just holding onto the grip and stay quite throughout the swing. When you don't use your wrist hinge, you won't put much backspin on your chip shots. But you might be more consistent without the wrist hinge. If you hit fat shots or top it often, you might want to try Stricker's chipping style.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/chip-wrist-hinge.htm

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How to Stop Chunking or Topping the Chip Shots

Lots golfers have problems with chunking or topping the short approach shots around the greens. When chipping to the closer pin, you tend to decelerate at impact trying to control distance. That is one of the most common of fat shots or topping. My father was a low handicapper. He won lots of amateur tournaments when I was a kid. He used to bring home TV, golf clubs and so on as a prize. He was and still is a great driver of the ball. He used to hit it so straight. But he had a problem with short approach shots around the greens. He was chunking or topping it once in a while. That used to bother him a lot.

 

Easy as Hitting a Putt

There are ways to fix that problem. To stop chunking or topping it, we are going to use the toe of the clubface today.

 

Take your sand wedge or pitching the wedge.

• Grip down a few inches
• Stand closer to the ball

If you set it up like this, it will get the clubhead up on its toe. The heel should not touch the ground. Try to brush the grass back and through as if you are hitting a long putt. After a couple of practice swing, try to hit the ball. When you try to hit it, make sure you hit the ball on the toe side of the face. These changes will make it easier to control distance and avoid topping or chunking.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/stop-chunking.htm

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The 5 Ways to Hit the Pitch Shot Over Water

Lots of golfers hate to hit the pitch shot over water. Even with the full shot, you rather not to hit this shot. But sometimes you are faced with shots that require half swing. Let me tell you how to master this shot.

 

1. Focus on Your Target, not the water

When faced with the shot over water, most people first look at the water. And then, they actually hit it into it. But if you ask the pros, they will tell you the first thing they look at is their target, which is the spot of the green.

 

You tend to hit it to the spot that your mind is focused before the shot. So if you look at the lake, you hit it to the lake. But if  you focus on your target, it becomes easier to hit it to that spot instead of the water.

 

2. Keep Turning Through the Shot

 The easiest mistake when hitting this shot is to stop turning as the result of fear or lack of confidence. When you stop turning and start hitting it with your hands, you start hitting it fat or thin. So keep turning your body though the shot.

 

3. Hit Down on the ball

Try to hit down on the ball. Lots of players try to lift the ball over the water with scooping motion. But that will result in fat shot or topped shot. If you want to hit it high, you need to let the loft do the job hit down on the ball. Make sure to hit through the ball, not at it.

 

4. Grip Down on the Club

It's easier to hit shots with full swing over water instead of hitting it with half swing. So grip down on the club to control distance.

 

5. 3 Practice Swings

Player's often take backswing that is too big for the shot and then decelerate on the downswing to adjust the distance. But this will lead to fat shots and top shots.

 

Here is a good way to get the feel for the distance. I want you to take 3 practice swings.

• Take a practice swing and hit the imaginary ball of the green (into the water)
• Take a practice swing and hit the imaginary ball over the green
• Take a practice swing and hit it to the spot you want the ball to land

Players usually take practice swings before the shot but don't often think about the length of the swing. So next time, try taking 3 pracrice swings. This will give you much better sense of distance.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/pitch-over-water.htm

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The Cause and Cure for Golf's Double Hit

Have you ever hit the ball twice or double-hit from the rough? The double hits can occur from the rough, bunkers or fairways. But most of the time, it occurs from the rough. According to the rule, if you strike the ball twice or more, you must count the stroke and add one stroke penalty.

You may think double hits are amateurs' mistake, but it can happen to top tour pros as well. On this page, I'll explain what is causing double hits and how you can cure it.

What's Causing it?

The double hits can occur from the rough more often than anywhere else on the golf course. The direct cause of it is the clubhead catching up with the ball after impact.

Here are the reasons why this happens.

1. Hitting under the ball. If this happens, the ball will go higher than normal, and the clubhead has a chance to catch up withe ball.
2. Catching lots of grass between the ball and the clubface. In this case, the grass will act like a cushion and absord some of the impact shock. The ball will leave the clubface much slower than normal after impact. If this happens, the clubhead has a chance to catch up with the ball after hitting the ball.
3. Hitting against the grain. When hitting the chip shot against the grain, the clubface tends to open and cause a double hit.
4. Trying to scoop the ball. If you try to scoop or try to hit up on the ball in order to get the ball airborne, you will likely to hit the ball twice.

How to Cure it

If you use a sand wedge and double hit the ball often, try using pitching wedge. The important point is not to scoop the ball. Feel like you are going to hit a bump and run. To do that, you want to put little more weight on your front foot at address. When you strike the ball, feel like you are hitting the ball with a descending blow. You want to make sure that you don't catch too much grass between the clubface and the ball. Hitting with a descending blow will help you do that.

 

Against the Grain

When hitting the chip shot against the grain (the grass is going in the opposite direction from the target), you tend to experience the double hit once in a while. Jack Nicklaus who won four U.S. Opens did so well the deep rough around the greens.

 

Here are Jack's keys hitting chip shot against the grain.

1. Close the face at address
2. Grip the club little more firmly

In this situation, you want to make sure you grip the club little more firmly because the clubface tends to open as it contacts the grass. Closing the clubface a little will help you not to open the clubface at impact as well. To avoid the double hit, you don't want to take a long follow through. Feel like you stop at impact and forget about taking your follow through.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/short-game/double-hits.htm

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