Short Game

Short-Shot Checklist

Whether it’s your third shot on a long par-5 or your approach on a short par-4, the full-swing wedge—be it with your gap, sand or pitching iron—is a critical play. All good players accept the short-range shot as a relatively easy opportunity to get up and down for birdies and pars, and do so with the regularity average golfers get up and down from just off the green. The reason: practice. Good players know that the full-swing wedge is a very common play and plan their practice skills accordingly. To better your full-wedge skills, keep the following 10 swing keys in mind during your next range session. You’ll soon be knocking it stiff like the best wedge players in the world.
1 Open It Up
While your driver swing and wedge swing should take the same amount of time to complete (tempo, tempo), don’t fail to understand that a wedge swing is slower and, therefore, doesn’t need a ton of lower-body action to power the club into impact. Watch any good wedge player and you’ll see him or her keep everything below the knees fairly quiet. That being said, you can’t execute a sound wedge swing without opening up your hips to your target on the downswing. So how do you open up if you’re meant to keep the lower body still? At address, gently pull the front foot back so they’re a bit open to the target. With the hips preset in this open position, all that’s left to do is power the club back and through with the arms and shoulders.

2 Hug The Ball
When hitting a full wedge, keep one thing in mind: You’re not hitting your driver or 4-iron. It’s a relatively slow swing that emphasizes control over power. Furthermore, it’s mostly an upper-body-dominated motion requiring little, if any, lower-body movement. Your setup should reflect these truths.

For starters, hug the ball at address. Your wedges are the shortest clubs in your bag, so naturally you should stand closer to the ball. Also, it’s a good idea to keep your right elbow close to your right side, which further emphasizes the need to hug the ball. Allow your arms to dangle from the shoulders and grip the club from there, with your hands just in front of your zipper. At the very least, let the lie of the wedge (the steepest of any club in the bag) dictate the placement of your hands, which naturally will be closer to your body.

3 Hinge At The Ball
If there’s one thing recreational players could do to better their wedge swings, it’d be to hit down and through, taking a nice big divot after the ball just like the pros on TV. Most amateurs tend to sweep, scoop or, worse yet, lift the ball into the air, forgetting the old golf adage You’ve got to hit down to hit up. Yes, your clubhead must descend into the ball, break the turf, then continue into the release and followthrough. While many factors go into correctly hitting down and through, one of the most important is wrist hinge. If you fail to hinge, you’ll sweep the floor. Here’s what I tell my students: hinge at the ball. By that I mean start your wrist bend as you take the club away with your left shoulder and arms working as a single unit. If you wait until the midpoint of your backswing, you may never hinge at all. Get it going immediately and you’ll have a better chance of compressing the ball as you should.

4 Keep The Club Out In Front
This is a big one. When taking away the club, never, ever let it get behind your right hip. If it does become trapped, there’s just not enough time or speed in the wedge swing to reroute the club back on plane, as there sometimes is with a long iron or driver swing. If you whip the club to the inside, it’s likely it will stay there—expect a lot of pushes, fat shots and results short and right of your target.

The key to a successful short-shot takeaway is to use your right elbow as your guide. As mentioned earlier, set up to the ball with your right elbow close to your right side—at the very least, inside your left. As you take away the club, that right elbow shouldn’t move either forward or closer to your hip, just straight back, away from the target until it naturally hinges. The key is to push the club away from the ball with your left shoulder, moving in unison with your arms. It’s an easy move that keeps the club on plane and in position to arrive at the ball on the proper path. You know you’ve done it correctly when the shaft remains in front of your body all the way to the top. If it’s not in front, it likely will be behind, and that’s not what you want.

5 Take Control
If there’s one thing for certain in golf, it’s that you rarely face the same exact shot twice in a round. The full-swing wedge shot we’re discussing here could be 100 yards, or 70, or maybe 77 yards. Furthermore, you should never find yourself adding speed, or applying the brakes, to any swing to dictate how far you hit the golf ball. Shot distance with your short clubs—for all clubs, really—is dictated by the length of your backswing, not speed or tempo. Remember, tempo is a constant in golf; backswing length isn’t. It’s, therefore, critical that you spend time and, for each wedge in your set, know how far you hit with 50%, 75% and 100% backswing lengths. There’s nothing wrong with taking notes. Make an inventory of shot distances with varying backswing lengths. For instance, I hit a 50% sand wedge 60 yards. It’s also the same distance as my 75% lob shot. See? Now I have options and, more important, I have the means to hit the golf ball the exact distance the shot requires.

6 Stay Grounded
Okay, this one’s simple: keep your feet on the ground. Sounds straightforward, but you’d be amazed by how many people actually lift their left foot on the backswing and rise up on the toe of their right on the downswing. Remember, we’re talking about the wedge swing—that smooth, controlled, relatively slow motion where accuracy reigns supreme. Instead of toe dancing, keep your feet grounded and focus on the movement of weight in your feet rather than movement of the feet themselves. Feel your weight move to the right foot on the backswing (toward the heel), evenly to the middle of each foot on the downswing, then toward the heel of the left foot postimpact. Stay grounded! Doing so will also help you hit down and through like you should. Your right foot shouldn’t lose contact with the ground until the force of your swing naturally pulls it up.

7 Let Your Head Ride
One of the major mistakes recreational players commit when hitting wedge shots is lifting the head as the club approaches impact. While lifting the head isn’t that big of a crime, the fact that it brings your left shoulder up and out is. No matter how hard you try, you can’t keep your left shoulder in position if you lift your head.

As your right shoulder swings underneath your chin, allow your head to rotate along with it. This move facilitates shifting weight to the left side, helps keep the spine angle intact and better allows the right shoulder to move toward the target. As the ball sails away, you should be able to track its flight with your right eye looking firmly down the target line.

8 Shake Hands
In golf, you shake hands like a gentleman—you don’t high-five. What this means is that postimpact, your hands remain low and securely above the target line so that you could shake hands with an imaginary person to your left. Notice when you shake hands, how your right shoulder turns under the chin and how the spine maintains its bend. Compare that to high-fiving, where the hands move from impact to above the shoulders almost immediately. This fault tends to negate weight shift and, more damaging, hinders the ability to hit down and through the ball. Keep your hands low!

9 Remember Your Rights
The most important move in the downswing is to move your right shoulder toward the target and under your chin. If you keep it behind the chin (away from the target), you’ll create either an early release or an ugly-looking scoop motion. Be careful not to simply turn your shoulders—this easily can lead to pulls. The right shoulder turns, but it turns down the target line. Guess what’s in the way? Your chin. Now you get the idea.

10 Pose For The Camera
A good finish and a good swing go hand in hand, which is why I suggest you make a few practice swings before each shot with a focus not on mechanics, but on moving your body into a comfortable finish. Make a practice swing, then pose for the camera and recall how nice the picture looked when you start the real thing. Sounds elementary, but thinking finish first can—and will—have a positive effect on your technique.

Fifty-year instruction veteran Marshall Smith teaches out of Peoria Ridge GC in northeastern Oklahoma.
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Awkward Lies

If only we could tee up every golf shot. We’d always have perfect lies, where no grass or trees or sand could get in the way of making clean contact with the ball. Of course, that isn’t the case. Between the tee and green, we have to surrender to the course and play the ball as it lies. That means adjusting to a number of challenging circumstances, such as plugged bunker shots and awkward stances. For this story, I’ve concentrated my efforts on just those types of lies–the ones you get where you look to your playing partners, throw your arms in the air and say anybody have any suggestions? Take time to practice these shots, and you won’t wonder what to do the next time you’re faced with an awkward lie._Ê

Downhill Lie This shot is probably the toughest to tackle, as you not only have to contend with the slope, but with the edge of the bunker as well. The first thing I do is adopt a stance that creates balance. As you can see, I’ve done that by placing my right foot outside the bunker. Secondly, notice that I’m playing the ball back in my stance with my shoulders tilting downward to match the slope. From here, it’s all about finding and feeling the angle of attack to help me clear the lip and get the club safely into the sand behind the ball. To get the job done, I’ve adopted a fairly abrupt, upright motion.

Ball Below Feet A key point to remember when the ball is below your feet is that your posture requires quite a bit of bend from the hips to ensure that you get down to the ball. Instead of a rounded swing (like when the ball is above your feet), think of your swing going more up and down, like a Ferris wheel. Another key point is to remain committed, stay in your posture through impact and finish your swing!

Ball Above Feet When the ball’s above your feet, it’s imperative that you create a swing that follows the contour of the bunker. Stand a little taller, and grip down slightly on the club’s handle. Then make a swing that’s relatively shallow and rounded, not upright. Since a ball above your feet will tend to produce a shot that flies left after contact, make the necessary alignment adjustment, and aim more to the right._Ê_Ê_Ê
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Plugged Lie Escaping from a plugged lie requires keeping your clubface square (the only time you’ll do so when hitting out of the bunker). With most of the ball beneath the surface of the sand, you’ll need to get some dig out of your impact, so play the ball in the center of your stance and adopt a severely upright swing, picking the clubhead up quickly, then chopping into the sand and exploding the ball out and onto the green. Since most of your force is downward, don’t try to swing into a traditional, full finish. Instead, leave the clubhead in the sand with an abbreviated followthrough. This shot will come out low and void of any spin, so plan accordingly.

Uphill Lie When confronted with an uphill lie, play the ball forward in your stance, much like you would a standard bunker shot. The key point, however, for uphill lies is to get your swing and shoulders to match the slope of the bunker. The ball will come out high and short, so a little more speed is necessary to fly the ball the correct distance. In addition, be careful that you find solid footing, as the upward slope will tend to push your body away from the target and lead to bladed shots.

Jeff Ritter is the Director of Instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz. To learn more about his teaching and to read some of his other tips, visit www.jeffrittergolf.com._Ê

Master The Mid-Range Lob

They don’t keep stats for it on the PGA Tour, but all pros excel at hitting the mid-range lob. It’s played with your highest-lofted club (usually a lob wedge) from around 30 yards, and it’s one of those shots that, if you pull it off to save par or make birdie, can energize the rest of your round.

Since you’re already a good player, you know it’s easier to judge a rolling ball than it is to judge a high, flying one, but there are some situations (over bunkers, water or when the pin is on a tier or on the front edge of the green, etc.) when you have to play a mid-range lob to get to your target. If you want to go low, you’ve got to be an expert at this shot.

Setup
The first thing to note about the setup is that the clubface points directly at the target while your body aligns itself left of the target. As you assume this setup, make sure that the Big Three (shoulders, hips and feet) all point in the same direction so they’ll work together during the swing.

The ball should be played well forward–opposite the arch of your front foot–with the butt end of your golf club pointing toward your body’s mid-line. This avoids the mistake of setting the hands ahead of the ball, a move that de-lofts the clubface by creating too much shaft angle.

The Swing
The mid-range lob requires an upper-body rotation much the same as your regular swing except that you cut way back on the speed of your turn. As you start your swing, cock your wrists early and aggressively while rotating your hips and your shoulders. Once you create the angle between your target arm and the clubshaft, your wrists and arms should feel locked and in place. Allow your chest to swivel, but keep your lower-body action to a minimum. The key here is to make sure your target arm swings along your toe line. If you allow your front arm to mirror your hip line, the club will swing too far inside and get buried behind you.

As you swing back to the ball, combine body rotation with quiet hands and forearms that, unlike they do in a full-swing shot, don’t roll over. Your goal is to hit the ball using a dead-arm motion, where the toe of the clubhead never turns over the heel. In other words, allow your lead arm to fold, but not rotate. This is another key to keep the face from shutting down.

Leg Work
One of the things that makes this shot so tough for most golfers is the leg action. Most either freeze their legs, causing them to slap at the ball, or shake like Elvis and slide all over the place. To play this shot correctly, the legs must remain quiet going back, but active coming down, as the back knee kicks toward the target. It’s this passive-then-active leg action that makes players like Tom Watson and Tiger Woods so good at the mid-range lob.

Here’s another thing to keep track of: Your right knee should kick inward along your toe line on the downswing by allowing your back foot to come up onto its inner rim. If your knee moves up and away from your toe line, you’ll ruin the shot. You can check to see that you don’t have trotter knee (named for the high-stepping racehorse) by taking your stance and laying down a club along your toe line. Now make a practice swing and stop just before impact–your back knee should be pointing along the same line as the shaft.

The Finish
The finish to the mid-range lob should feature such a full rotation of your chest that it faces well left of the target. Also, your forearms still haven’t crossed over even though your left arm is fully folded at the elbow. A good check for the proper finish is to look at your clubface–if it was a mirror, you’d see your reflection. Practice the feeling of the finish to the mid-range lob by posing with your right hand under the left and the butt of the club pointing away from the target so the clubshaft is almost parallel to the ground. When you’re ready for the real thing, simply swing to this position, and the chances are good that you’ll execute the mid-range lob correctly.

Use the mid-range lob when a low-running shot just won’t do. You’ll also find that the shot is perfect for ultra-fast greens when judging how far your ball will roll once it lands is most difficult. Hit it high, land it soft, then make the putt.

PGA Professional Dr. T. J. Tomasi is one of the most widely published authorities on the golf swing and is recognized as one of the top 100 teachers in America.

Hear Your Chips

I’m sure you’re familiar with the famous Sam Snead tip, Hear your putts. To ensure that he didn’t come out of his putts too early, the Slammer held fast in his putting posture until he hopefully heard the ball rattle the bottom of the cup.

When a golfer rises out of the stance prematurely while putting, he or she invariably ruins the path of the stroke. Hear your putts has always been one of my favorite quick tips, and I recently discovered an additional use for this sage advice to help golfers save strokes during the chipping motion.

I see too many golfers rise up and out of the posture too early while chipping. Coming out of your posture too early while chipping will not only destroy the path of your swing, but will increase the likelihood of hitting the chip thin, sending the ball scurrying to the other side of the green.

Hear your chips. By that, I mean remain in your chipping posture until you hear the ball land on the green. If you can tune your ear into the sound of the ball hitting the putting surface, you’ll recognize the thump sound the ball makes as it finishes its downward arc and strikes the ground. If you wait for this sound, you’ll guarantee staying with the shot well through impact.

PGA teaching professional Barry Goldstein is the director of golf at Polar Shot Golf Center in Johnson City, N.Y. He also instructs at Inverrary Golf Club in Lauderhill, Fla.

Stroke Your Chips

The chipping and putting motions are linear in nature. By that, I mean the face remains square to the target line throughout, never opening or closing like it does with full swings from the fairway and the tee. Moreover, the path of the stroke shouldn’t deviate from the target line. Realizing these facts can save a lot of amateur golfers a lot of headaches around the green, where the majority of less-than-skilled players chip the ball with a full-swing technique and leave themselves with a lengthy putt.

The best advice is to treat your chipping technique as a true linear motion. In other words, strive to keep the clubface square from the takeaway to the finish and to swing the club along the target line.

Create a true linear motion when chipping by holding your wedge in the same manner as you would hold your putter. Take your grip with your fingers under the handle, with your thumbs running directly down the top of the shaft. Take a few chipping strokes and notice how the putting-style grip facilitates a swing that travels linearly along the target line.

Next, position your body over the ball and assume the same stance as you do when putting, with your eyes directly over the golf ball. To execute a true linear chipping stroke, simply rock your shoulders and sweep the clubhead back and then through the ball. Notice how very little, if at all, the clubface opens or closes. Make a few practice swings and soon you’ll turn your chipping motion into a simple, linear movement of the club that will make those delicate pitch shots easier to control.

Debbie Steinbach is a former LPGA Tour player and creator of the Venus Golf instruction programs for women. For more information, visit www.venusgolf.com.

Pitch Perfectly

Of course, only dedicated practice can help you become a better short-game player, but if you master the key elements of pitching and chipping, you’ll discover an immediate improvement in your scores.

One element is to address the golf ball with a slightly open stance in relation to your intended target line and position the golf ball off of your front heel. Keep your weight on your heels for balance and your hands even with the ball (no need to forward-press). The takeaway should be in one piece, with the shoulders, arms, hands and clubhead moving together for the first 18 inches of the backswing. Your wrists should hinge soon after this point.

During the downswing, it’s essential that you move your back knee toward the front knee as you transfer your weight to the right side (for right-handed golfers). At impact, your weight should be distributed evenly to both sides. The mental image of two cymbals placed on the inside of both knees clanging at the point of contact is one that helps many of my students attain a solid pitch impact position.

Another element to a successful pitch is distance control. The length of the swing determines the distance (longer backswings for longer pitches and shorter backswing for shorter pitches). Avoid making a long backswing for a short pitch, this will cause you to decelerate on the downswing. Instead, take a shot. Many students ask how to spin the golf ball when pitching. As mentioned before, by taking a shorter backswing and then increasing the speed of the trailing hand, along with the movement of the back knee into the shot, more spin will be imparted. A good lie in the fairway will allow for your best chance for spin. With some practice, you’ll learn when you can and can’t execute this type of shot.

PGA professional Scott Schneider is the V.P. of operations for the Ken Venturi Golf Academy. To find an academy near you, visit_Êwww.gotogolfschool.com.

Buried, Not Dead

There aren’t many shots that touring professionals fear, but if you had to choose one, the buried lie bunker shot would probably take the cake. It’s a shot even more feared among amateurs who have no idea how to approach it, let alone how the ball will react off the clubface and once it hits the green. I’ve always believed that a buried lie isn’t a cause for despair, but rather an opportunity to demonstrate your short-game prowess. With some adjustments to the normal bunker setup, you can accomplish the goal of getting out of the bunker and onto the green every time.

Begin by choosing the most lofted club in your bag, which for most is a sand or lob wedge. Set up to the ball with a slightly open stance and with your feet worked into the sand an inch or so for stability. The stance should be narrow (feet shoulder width apart) and your weight should favor the front leg. This helps you hit the ball sharply with a steep blow. Play the ball slightly forward of the middle of your stance and choke down on the shaft to compensate for digging into the sand with your feet.

Sounds like a normal bunker shot so far, right? The difference with a buried lie, however, is that if you open the clubface too much, you actually can hurt your chances of getting the ball out of the sand. Here’s why: When you open the face too much, you add what’s called effective bounce to the sole, thus making it difficult to sweep underneath the ball in order to get it airborne. With an open face angle, you’ll catch the top part of the ball, essentially killing any chance at an easy recovery._Ê

The correct way to address a buried lie in the bunker is with a square or even a slightly closed clubface (relative to the target). What this does is reduce the clubhead’s bounce angle, helping you use the sand between the clubhead and ball to lift the ball up and out. Plan on striking the sand at least two inches behind the golf ball with a steep and accelerating blow. Remember, the club doesn’t need to come into direct contact with the ball. Instead, the digging action of the clubhead as it moves underneath the ball will force the sand to push the ball up and onto the green. Since you’ll be hitting the sand well behind the ball, be sure to swing harder than you normally would if the ball was sitting up. Hold the face square for as long as possible through impact and expect an abbreviated followthrough. You’ll find that the ball will come out of the bunker lower with less backspin, causing the ball to roll forward upon impact with the green.

As you can see in the photo, I’ve not only held the clubface square through impact, I’ve clearly hit the sand before the ball. You can see this by the clump of sand that’s ahead of the ball in the air. Experiment with what face angle, either square or slightly closed, works best for you. Remember to keep the face square and hit down into the sand before the ball with more force than usual. In no time, the buried lie will be no more feared than a regular bunker shot.

PGA teaching professional John O’Leary III is the director of instruction at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy (APGA), located at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. At the APGA, game improvement is directly related to the fundamentals that Arnold Palmer learned from his father, which were instrumental to his success. For more information, visit www.apga.com.

Grip Weak For Strong Lobs

Few shots on the golf course are more satisfying than a well-executed flop shot. Unfortunately, unless you’re Phil Mickelson, the risk is probably not worth the reward. There’s very little margin for error. With the wrong lie, you can swing the club under the ball without advancing it. And, with such a big swing, you’re liable to hit an 80-yard screamer if you catch it thin.

Here’s an alternative technique to try the next time you need a wedge shot to fly high and land softly. Weaken your left-hand grip (for right-handers), turning your hand under the club so that your left palm faces more toward the sky. With your left hand in this weakened position, the clubface will remain open through the hitting zone and your shot will be shorter and fly higher than normal and land like a butterfly with sore feet.

Experiment with this shot on the range. You’ll quickly learn that the more you turn your left hand under the club, the higher and softer (and shorter) the resulting shot will be. This is a versatile technique that you can use on greenside chips as well as full wedges from the fairway or light rough. It’s especially effective for softening slippery downhill chips or on touchy pitch shots where you have little green to work with.

Matt Swanson is the director of instruction at Matt Swanson’s School of Golf in Houston.

Here’s The Pitch

Golfers who are confused about the amount of body action normally associated with a pitch shot can learn from the simple mental image of pitching horseshoes. During this underhanded motion, the arms and body work together in response to the target. The body parts don’t need to be consciously controlled; rather they should react naturally to the command of pitching the horseshoe based on what the eyes see as a target._Ê

When pitching the ball onto the front edge of the green, imagine the landing area as the stake in a game of horseshoes. To execute the shot, use an underhanded pitching motion like you would to throw a ringer around the stake. By simply allowing your body to respond naturally to the target, your distance control and accuracy are sure to improve.

Rick DePamphilis, a PGA Master professional, has published over 50 instruction articles in eight different publications in his career. He’s currently director of instruction at Sun ‘N Air Golf Learning Center in Danvers, Mass.

Hip To Be Square

90 Degrees Makes It Right
The following pre-putt alignment routine is one that I developed with Patrick Burke and teach to each of my students. Its success has been so dramatic that many have adapted it to the full swing. It’s easy to learn and remember as long as you think in right angles.

The first step is to not get lazy when reading the putt. When you crouch down or stand behind the ball to determine your target line, do so with your feet together to keep you from opening or closing your body lines and distorting your view of straight.

Once you’ve determined the line, walk to a point roughly three feet behind the ball so that if you drew a line from it through where your ball lay, it would intersect the target line at a right angle. This step establishes the 90-degree angle that’s so crucial to successful alignment. Now, simply walk toward the ball and take your stance, again keeping your feet, shoulders and putterface square to your line.

After you’ve taken your stance, rotate (don’t lift) your head toward your target to verify your alignment. Any adjustment greater than a slight shuffle should necessitate starting the routine again from the beginning.

If you find difficulty in achieving a square setup with this routine, augment your practice with three cardboard slats. The slats serve as guides to ensure that your right angles are in place before you begin your stroke. One slat should point from the ball to your target; the second should point along the same line but in the opposite direction (away from the target); and the third should point toward you and form right angles with the other two slats. The Wright Angles of Alignment is a tool I’ve developed for putting alignment practice that sets these lines and angles automatically.

Practice the above mentioned alignment routine with the Wright Angles of Alignment or cardboard slats to verify or guide you into a square setup. After a while, the routine will become instinctual and you’ll reinforce in your mind’s eye what square not only looks like, but feels like, too. The guides should also be used to develop the most reliable of putting strokes–one that travels straight back and straight through along the intended line.

Final Thoughts
Developing a straight, natural putting line and squaring your body lines and putterface at address aren’t the only determinants of a successful putt. In perfecting your putting game, focus on these four key fundamentals.

Grip: Research shows that if you grip the putter too strongly or too weakly, you’ll aim the putterface right and left of your target, respectively, even if you perceive your putterface as being square at address. Strive for neutrality.

Forward-Press: If you forward-press, be certain that your hands remain neutral (that is, under your shoulders).

Finish Position: Your finish position will tell you a lot about your stroke. If your finish position is down the line and square, you’ll find a lot more of your putts tracking toward your target. If your finish position is down the line, but your putterface is either open or closed, expect less-than-spectacular results; likewise if your finish is inside or outside the target line.

Ball Position: Where the ball is played in your stance affects your ability to properly align your shoulders. Playing the ball too far forward will force you to open your shoulders at address. Conversely, if the ball is played too far back, your shoulders will be aligned closed to the target line.

Remember, it’s hip to be square. Be neutral and balanced. If you must favor a particular weight distribution, make it one that features more of your weight placed over your front foot. This will ensure a stroke that continues down the target line after contact with the ball is made.

PGA professional Dr. David F. Wright is founder of the Wright Balance Golf Academy. For more information, visit www.wrightbalance.com.