Ti-G Indoor Golf Program - Dates TBA

"Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented."  Arnold Palmer

Swing Tip #1 for 2012 - Short Game - 100 yards and in - How much do you know about the mechanics of chipping, pitching and bunker play? Tip #1 will evaluate your chipping knowledge and skills. Have fun and take the quiz:

Winter golf tip #1. CHIPPING

 The better your short game is, the less pressure you put on all other aspects of your game. If you know you can get it up and down most of the time, you will hit better shots since you will not be preoccupied  about missing the green and you know you still can make par or bogie.

Answer the questions below to rate your short game knowledge, where you can improve and what you need to practice

How many times does your short game cost you strokes?

1.       Once per round, Twice, 30%, 55%, 75%, More

2.        

How do you feel about your short game?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy, Horrible, Sucks

2.   

How is your game from 50 to 100 yards?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy, Horrible, I feel like a banana in a bag of monkeys

2.      

How is your game from 10 yards to 50 yards?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy, Horrible, The club feels like a live snake in my hands

2.     s

How is your bunker game?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy, Horrible, I feel like i stepped in quick sand and will never get our

2.      

How is your flop or high pitch shot?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy, Horrible, Don's stand in my line beyond the pin

2.       

How is your chip and run shot?

1.       Great, Good, OK, Lousy Horrible or Leslie Nielson

2.     

Let’s take a look and see if there are things you can do to improve

The Basics:

Hit the ball then the ground - Every time

Minimize motion – Keep your head steady – Without tension

Swaying or sliding your hips is a short game killer

Hands must be ahead of the club head at impact with the ball and ground

Maintain a solid base – Preferably with most weight on your left foot – Without tension

Set up correctly - Butt back, hands ahead of ball, proper spine angle – Ball position

Maintaining balance is critical at address, at the top of your backswing and through impact

Rhythm and pace is the key to feel, distance control and minimal tension

Variables:

Grip – Can be weaker for softer shots, stronger for bump and run type shots

Bend from the waist like you would for a normal iron shot on chip shots and full shots

Bend more from the knees – Flop shots, bunker shots

Hit the ground 1 inch behind the ball for most bunker and closer on flop shots (Many great short game players try to contact the ball first on all pitch or flop shots unless the ball is buried in tall grass. You must hit the ground immediately after contact in this situation)

Chipping tips in detail

Consistency with chipping

1.       You MUST be able to hit the ground in the same place

every time and you must hit the ball first then the ground.

 If you can accomplish these two things more often next season,

you will experience better results.

 – Exceptions – Bunkers and some flop shots when the

ball is in deep rough. Still though, hitting the ground at a point you

choose is critical.

If you do not contact the ball first then the ground every time on full shots played from off the ground, chipping and most pitch shots, you will get an inconsistent result. Just the fact that more grass will get between the ball and blade is enough to skew results. Practice is frustrating if the ball won’t go a similar distance twice in a row with what you felt was the same swing.  This is the main reasons many golfers do not spend enough time practicing their short game.

Practice Drill 1- If you do not make consistent contact with the ball/ground: Start here.

Draw a line on the ground. Take swings until you can hit that line every time. Swing as short or long as you need to for consistency. Find out when your swing breaks down and you start to hit behind or in front of that line based on the length of arm swing, wrist set, etc.

Find ONE motion and length that gives you the best results. Mainly chipping, you do not need to follow through very far once the club makes contact with the ground, the ball is gone. Let the air out of your arms – relax, breathe, lower your shoulders at address.

Once you can hit that line, put balls down just to the right of the line and see how many times you can hit the ball then the line/ground and take notice on how far the ball flies with your most lofted club first. It is much easier to change the club to more or less loft to get the distance you want rather than making your swing longer, quicker, etc. once you find the swing length and speed that works for you.

Practice Drill 2: If you are having trouble hitting the line consistently no matter what you do you are most likely SLIDING. Put a chair against your right leg with the chair back against your hip/butt and as far behind you as you can to avoid hitting it on your backswing to identify sliding. –SLIDING means you are shifting your weight to the right without turning (especially your hips) and your whole body moves right going back then back to the left on your forward swing.

You will immediately notice if you slide since you will bump or move the chair. The chair drill will help you to understand staying “quiet with your lower body” and the proper motion your shoulders must move/rotate to maintain relation to your center and spine angle set at address.

If you are a “slider” you will also notice that with proper shoulder rotation as opposed to moving your whole body left and right, the club comes up away from the ball steeper. You can work more on your rhythm once you minimize slide.

2. How to hit the ball first then the ground every time –

First, your swing center must be stable meaning you cannot move back and forth from your left to your right then back to the left. Your swing center is a point in your body that is just below your breast bone in the front and mid way to your spine in back – right in the middle of your torso. That’s the place you feel indigestion or tension when you have to hit the shots you don’t like so use that spot to your advantage.

With any left or right movement you are complicating a very simple, slow, short motion. I compare moving your swing center to loading too many clothes onto one side of your washing machine during the rinse cycle. The machine will bounce around. You too will struggle to return the club head back to the ball then ground consistently.

PRACTICE DRILL. Put an old shaft/a yard stick under your arm pits. Put your hands on opposite shoulders and rotate your shoulders while keeping your hips and lower body quiet (USE THE CHAIR DRILL WILL HELP) so you can see how your shoulders move in relation to your spine and hips. If the club shaft levels out to the ground you are standing up changing your spine angle. This means you have changed how you set your body at address. The club shaft should point to a spot about 1 foot or so outside the ball at maximum shoulder rotation or when you rotate to a point the shaft reaches where the ball is – a lot shorter for chip shots but taking a full rotation in this drill will identify if you are standing up.

If you are forcing your turn or begin to level out to the ground it is an indication you are not very flexible in this area, you do not understand how to rotate your shoulders properly. Identifying your rotational limitations is a major consideration of all golf swings.

 If you try to over rotate when you take a back swing, your shots will be inconsistent and you will tend to be an “Arms” swinger and are not using your body properly which contributes to forcing shots and lack lf rhythm. Rotate your shoulders consistently and with little effort. Then put a club in your hands and notice where the club is with minimal arm swing. I am sure you will find your back swing is much shorter than you expect. It is also the most powerful position for you although you may think it is way short. This is where wrist hinge becomes another consideration we will talk about in later lessons that adds tremendous distance with little effort. Proper body rotation, especially shoulders is a critical aspect of every swing.

You can become deadly from 100 yards if you turn to a point your shoulders can move comfortably without forcing them or pulling your right shoulder back to get more turn or separating your arms by pulling your shoulders using your right hand, elbow and arm. You don’t need to hit it hard from within 100 yards. Take a club you can reach easily. Work on the shortest arm swing length and smoothest rhythm. You will start getting positive results that you know you can.

1.       Maintain your weight on your left foot predominantly on chips. If you shift weight to the right foot on your back swing, your swing center will move right. You must step to the left to get back to where you started. This makes it difficult to hit the ball then the ground consistently especially on uneven lies. Most times you are just of a green you are on an upslope, downs slope or side slope. Uneven lies are already a challenge since the ball will go higher, lower, spin left or spin to the right. You really never change your swing to adapt but you will begin to “read your lie” and make the necessary aim adjustments once you have one effective swing. You will lose if you try and fight the shot. Your set up, club used or ball position may change slightly but your mechanics along with hitting the ball then the ground remains the same.  

2.       Feel as though your lower body from your belt buckle to your feet are in a barrel of cement.  I don’t mean you should get tight or lock your body since this will create tension in the swing but maintain a point of weight and consistent weight on your left foot throughout the swing while keeping lower body motion to a minimum. Practice Drill: Take the club back to where you would for a chip shot and stop. Can you maintain your balance while holding that position? If you struggle to maintain your balance, check your set up with your stance, bend from the waist and if your rear is back enough to allow your shoulders to turn on plane at the end of your takeaway. MOST CHIPPING ERRORS START WITH POOR ADDRESS AND SET UP. Most full swing errors are also caused from poor set up positions and balance.

3.       Maintain the distance between your elbows. This is very important also. If your arms widen as you take the club back, usually your right arm is taking the club back rather than equally or both, you will lose your guide. I feel as though my right elbow is riding along my belly throughout the stroke and I set my right elbow in front of me almost in line with my belt buckle. All right, my belly is probably big enough to maintain that connection but if your right elbow gets too far to the right or behind you, it will be difficult to return the club back to where you started.

4.       In either method for chipping, arms swing or wrist set, your shoulders do most of the work going back. Your lower body does little in the back swing but it is important to allow your hips to rotate through ball contact (A little on short shots, a lot on pitch or chip and run shots). Without turning your shoulders and especially not turning your hips through contact, something must continue the stroke. On most short chip shots the ball is already gone when contact with the ground is made properly after ball contact so facing the target with your belt buckle is less important. On longer shots or pitch shots the club will flip if you do not rotate your hips. (Flipping means the club passes your hands through impact causing the scoop or lift and will cause an overactive right hand, right arm hit at the ball. Flipping also causes the fat shot, bladed shot, etc…) NOT turning through causes a quick hit at the ball.

5.       Finishing with the body through impact helps distance control. The more you finish your body with rotation, the further the ball will travel if your hands are ahead of the club head at impact and the club head NEVER passes your hands even when you’ve finished your swing.

Use the Wrists – Or not to use the wrists just off the green on a normal chip shot?

Many players who struggle with chipping think that you do not use your wrists during your back swing chipping. Many great short game players use mostly wrist hinge going back and little arm swing chipping. Most of the time players will minimize wrist hinge motion when hitting a low runner using a putting stroke method with a 7 iron or even  5 wood. In either method, your hands must be ahead of the ball at impact.

On just about every chip shot you must hit the ground after impact so the angle of approach the club head travels to the ball must be steep enough  – emphasizing the fact that your shoulders must rotate around your swing center so the club goes back steep enough to come back down steep enough. The loft of the club will get the ball into the air.

Another big mistake I see players make is taking the club back too low to the ground, which is ok if you are using a 7 iron or 5 wood using a putting motion, then trying to scoop the ball up into the air. This is caused by hitting too many fat chips, chubs or laying the sod over the ball where the ball goes 2 feet. A low takeaway also causes the dreaded bladed shot, thin shot or bullet where the ball goes shooting across the green and you are further away than where you started. This feeds on itself. You think you must try to take the club back lower and lower to try to get under the ball.

If you make these statements or do these things below, you do not understand the physics of how the ball reacts when the club strikes the ball then the ground. Please see me so I can help you with your game and help you understand a couple of simple rules so you can practice with prosperity:

I didn’t get under that one enough

I didn’t scoop it up enough

Or you:

Finish on your right side/foot

The club head passes well beyond your hands when you finish

Your arms get wider going back

You chunk it or blade it regularly

You get quick or chop at the ball

You get tight in your backswing

You regularly do not feel confident when chipping or pitching the ball