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Post date: May 17, 2018 5:12:10 PM
Butch Harmon’s Playing Lessons by Butch Harmon with John Andrisan
Pitching, Chipping and Bunker Shots
On long chips, select a low-lofted iron and play the ball right of center of a narrow stance. A short, arms dominated swing will get the ball off and running. Even with a long iron, it is still possible to impart backspin on the ball and get it to stop at the hole. A good chip leaves us with a very makeable putt.
To hit short bunker shots over a high lip play the ball up in your stance, open the clubface a little more than usual for a bunker shot, make the left-hand grip a little weaker, cock the club up steeply on the backswing and slap the sand with the right hand on the downswing, taking very little follow-through. The ball will pop right up, landing softly just over the lip and on the green.
To play a short shot off of cushioned grass use the following technique:
Take an open stance.
Open the clubface wide and set it down behind the ball.
Swing the club back on an upright arc by exaggerating the hinging action of the hips.
Swing down hitting a spot just behind the ball. This allows the ball to loft high and roll gently once it lands.
From 40 yards out, on a tight fairway, hitting to an unguarded green play a pitch and run. Play the ball back slightly in an open stance, so the hands are positioned in front of the ball. Keeping the lower body perfectly still, swing the club back so the shaft is parallel to the ground. Allow the shoulders to rotate freely and the right wrist to hinge slightly. On the downswing rotate the hip counterclockwise and release the right wrist to hinge slightly which allow us to accelerate the club. Concentrate on keeping the club low through impact so that the ball is swept off the turf. The ball will fly low bounce onto the green and trickle to the hole.
Chipping. Develop a wide range of shots. Learn new shots every day. The best club to use when the ball sits down in the second cuto of fringe grass is a 3-wood which allows for a slower, shorter, level stroke that’s easy to employ. The shape of the clubhead lets it slide through the grass and produce solid contact. Feel like you are putting. Position the ball in the middle of an open stance, with hands in line with the clubface. Keep the wrists quiet and control the stroke with the arms and shoulders (just like a putt), so the club stays level as it swings back and through. The 14 or 15 degrees of loft built into the clubface allow the ball to launch softly over the fringe grass so that it runs quietly to within three feet of the hole.
In a sand trap with a slight downhill lie, with the ball very close to the back lip, set the shoulders along the level of the slope, open the blade more, and swing down the slope a trifle harder than usual, making sure to hit the sand, not the ball.
Any shot that calls for the ultimate in touch should be putted instead of chipped.
Don’t baby the wedges. Line up slightly open toward the target, with the ball virtually centered in a narrow stance. Take the swing that the distance requires. Release the clubhead freely through the ball as with a normal iron shot, naturally.
Play greenside sand shots with the clubface laid wide open. This allows the club to skim through the sand, so the ball is lifted up softly by the blast. Using the flange of the sand wedge correctly is particularly important in soft and deep sand.
Putting
On approach putts, pick an interim target along the line (a light spot of grass, etc), then set the the putter face square to it to allow the ball to track to the high side of the hole. On breaking putts decide on the high point of the arc of the putt, then choose a spot directly between the the ball and that point to aim at. This gets the putt started on line and increases its chance of falling into the ‘side door,’ on the high side.
On putts of 20 feet or more concentrate on the speed first and the line second. Work to make putts carry the right speed consistently to simultaneously increase our percentage of one putts made and decrease our percentage of 3 putts made.
Bunker: When the ball is sitting down in a regular buried lie with around 30 feet of green to work with, set the pitching wedge clubface square to the target, and employ a short hit-and-hold action.
Bunker: On a ‘fried-egg’ lie in the sand with limited green to work with, select a sand wedge:
Lay the clubface wide open, setting it behind the ’white’ of the imaginary egg.
Make an extra wristy three quarter backswing.
Blast out the white by digging the club deelply into the sand, about three inches behind the ball.
Follow through fully.
Chipping:
Think of the hands, arms, wrists, and shoulders as one connected triangle.
Keep the rest of the body practically perfectly still and swing the club back in one piece, letting the imaginary triangle control the action.
Quiet both the hands and wrists. Let the loft of the club lift the ball in the air. Don’t even try to help the ball up.
Only on longer chips is it necessary to add a tiny bit of wrist action to the strike to promote an added feel for distance.
To hit the green almost every time and land the ball close to the cup more frequently, learn to play basic pitch shots in the 50 to 75 yard range with the lob and sand wedges (never scooping the ball up.)
A 35 yard shot over a bunker requires an extra high super-cut shot to stop near the hole. How to do it:
Select the lob wedge.
Position the ball forward in the stance, opposite the left instep.
Align the body about ten feet left of the hole, while aiming the lead edge of the club slightly right of the flag.
Make a slow, smooth, long backswing appropriate for the length of the shot at hand, making sure to keep the head steady.
Swing the club down along the body line, making sure to accelerate the arms through impact. Feel as if the clubface is slicing underneath the ball with the right hand. The outside in path plus the open clubface gives the ball a high, soft flight.
On a downhill lie 60 yards out, use the sand wedge rather than a three-quarter pitching wedge.
Align the body slightly left of the flag, with the club’s leading edge square to the hole.
Play the ball off the center of the stance with the hands about two inches in front of the ball.
Try to make solid downward contact, never try to lift a sand wedge pitch. Let the higher lof of the sand-wedge supply the lift. Make a crisp, aggressive, three quarter swing and keep the head still.
On an uphill lie in the bunker and a relatively long shot, it is not necessary to open the clubface as much but still finish the swing after impact. Always follow through on sand shots, particularly when the ball is a fairly long distance from the hole. Accelerate the arms in the hitting area and swing up into a high finish.
A lob wedge is the best choice for going over a bunker and stopping the ball short. Employ a wristy backswing to enhance feel, plus allow the club to be dropped down sharply into the grass behind the ball and pop it softly into the air.
On a steep uphill lie with little green to work with play a lob shot. Select a lofted wedge and play the ball off the left instep. To encourage a freer arm swing, assume an open stance. Make a short wristless backswing. On the downswing, swing up the slope, keeping the clubface facing the sky through impact.
Whenever the ball is resting in water so that it is only half-submerged, it is a playable shot because the ball can be judged accurately. Make sure you can take a reasonable stance, and that there are no objects such as rocks in the way of your downswing. Address the ball with the sand iron. Hover the sole of the club an inch or two above the water, touching the water costs a penalty stroke. Play the shot as if it were a partially buried bunker shot. Hold the face open and let the leading edge cut through the water and get under the ball, but don’t lay it way open or the chance of sculling the ball increases. Play the ball just ahead of center. Keep the weight favoring the left side. Swing the club up with the arms, keeping the head very still. Then pull the club into the water on a steep angle, aiming for a spot about 2 inches behind the ball. Swing the club with just a little more force as water provides more resistance than sand.
If in order to get the ball close, you’d have to hit a high, soft bunker shot that lands high on the left fringe, close to a second bunker and let it trickle down to the hole, in other words a world-class shot, don’t try it. Instead, forget the hole and make it the the goal to pop the ball out over the lip, and let the ball roll so that it finishes in the fat of the green. Open the blade, pick a spot two to three inches behind the ball, keep the head steady and just pop the ball out with a short swing.
To lob the ball over the rough and fringe line, hit a lob. Aline the sand or lob wedge toward the spot where we want it to land, 4-5 feet left of the direct line of the hole. The stance should be narrow and open. Make a slow wristy backswing so that the clubhead moves up quickly and returns fairly steeply down onto the ball. Keep the head still until well beyond impact.
To prevent hitting pitch shots short of the hole, focus on the top of the flag. This helps to fly the ball all the way to the hole.
For greenside ‘flop’ shots, ground the club an inch or two behind the ball to measure how the ball is sitting in the grass. Sometimes, it sits up more than we think. The tendency will be to cut under it, so it is necessary to apply a little more force in the swing than if the ball is sitting down. By soling the wedge, we get a better idea where the base of the ball is.
On a 35 yard bunker shot, align oh the body and the clubhead more squarely to the target. Than for a shorter sand shot. This helps swing the sand wedge along the target line, with the clubface less lofted, so that the same amount of swing fore will produce a shot that comes out lower and longer. Focus on a spot one to two inches behind the ball and swing down and through the sand firmly. Never try to pick the ball cleanly out of sand, as that’s an extremely risky shot. On even longer bunker shots of over 50 yards, try hitting a pitching wedge or even a 9-iron, opening the blade just slightly and making a normal swing. A tough one for anybody, the tendency is to try to scoop the ball out. Play this shot pretty much as if it were off the fairway. But get a feel first for the length and tempo of the swing needed by taking a few practice swings in the grass outside the bunker.
If really serious about improving, sacrifice some playing time for some practice time, and hit some chips and pitches at the course or in the backyard.
In hitting a short shot from the rough behind the green, with the ball sitting up try the following technique:
Play the ball off the left heel, in an open stance.
Set the hands slightly behind the ball, with the clubface in a slightly open position.
Make a compact backswing almost entirely with the arms.
Swing through, accelerating the arms and trying to keep the clubface pointing toward the sky through impact. Actions like these will allow the to float all the way to the hole so that it sits down practically immediately after hitting the green.
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