The Chip and Run Shot

The Chip and Run Shot is used when you are fairly close to the green and you need to chip the ball in the air to clear the grass between you and the green. Then, land the ball on the green and let it roll the majority of the way to the hole like a putt.

It is a low shot with minimum air time and maximum ground time. The technique use to hit this shot resembles that of your putting stroke. In fact, you can think of this shot as "a putt with a flying start".

A good rule of thumb for this shot is to land the ball on the green 1/3 of the way to the hole in the air, and let the ball roll 2/3 of the way on the green to the hole. The technique for this shot is the same whether the pin is on the front, middle or back portion of the green. The only thing you will do differently is to change the club that you use.

Remember it is usually best, if at all possible, to land the ball on the green and not short of the green where it might get hung up in the grass and stop. You want your worst miss with this shot to end up somewhere on the putting surface. Of course, your best shots will either go into the hole or cozy themselves up to the pin where you can one-putt!

A good general starting place for club selection is this: if the pin is close to you and there is not much green to let the ball roll, use your sand wedge to execute this shot. If the pin is more in the middle of the green and you have some green to work with, use your 9 iron. And if the pin is at the far end of the green and you have a lot of green between you and the pin, use a 7 iron.

Now for the technique / mechanics to hit this shot:

1. Choke down on the club or in other words, move your hands down to the very end of the grip. This will make the club shorter and allow you to have more feel and control of the shot.

2. Place the ball back in your stance so that it is positioned off of the inside of your back foot (the right foot for a right handed golfer). Don't place the ball any further back in your stance than this. And if you ever what to hit a shot that flies a little higher and does not roll quite as far, just move the ball placement slightly more towards the center of your stance. The width of your stance will be small with your heels around 8" apart.

3. Stand fairly close when you address the ball. A good rule of thumb is to stand three club heads away from the ball in relation to the toe of your right shoe.

4. Set your hands forward towards your left foot. Notice when you do this, your weight tends to move to your left foot. That's just where it should go and remain there during this shot. Do not shift your weight on this shot. Simply start with your weight on your left foot and leave it there for the entire shot. The end of the grip will point to the left of your left hip. Make sure the club face is aimed at your target at address. Sometimes when you move your hands forward, the club face will want to aim right of your target. Do not allow it to do this. Aim the club face where you want the ball to go.!

5. You are not trying to hit the ball very far in the air so you will not have to take a very big back swing or follow-through. If you think of your body like the face of a clock. Imagine your head is 12:00 and your feet are at the 6:00 position. Your back swing for this shot will only need to go back to around the 7:00 position. The follow-through should be the same length as your back swing so you should swing through to the 5:00 position on your clock. Hold your follow-through position for three seconds on each shot.

6. Now, take the club back by turning your shoulders and keep your hands from getting involved. Keep your hands "quiet" and move the club back and through by turning your shoulders back and through. Your hands should stay slightly ahead of the club head as the club goes back and keep the hands leading coming through. Notice if your hands stay quiet or if they try to "flip" and hit at the ball.

7. Take lots of practice swings with a nice relaxed grip, brushing the grass as you come through each time. Hold your follow-through for three seconds.

8. The tempo for this shot is 1-2-3. As you say 1 and 2 take your back swing and on three your downswing and hold your follow-through. So the back swing will be slower (two counts) and the downswing will be slightly accelerated but smooth. All motion should come from the shoulders and the hands should stay quiet. Your weight should remain on your left foot.

9. Now before you hit every shot, step behind the ball in line with your target. Visualize the shot you want to hit. Picture it flying up in the air and landing 1/3 of the way to the hole and rolling the rest of the way. Now picture the ball dropping into the cup!

10. After you visualize the shot, take one practice swing to relax and feel the smooth tempo you will use.

11. Address the ball and trust it. Clear your mind from the mechanics when a ball is in front of you. Swing and enjoy!

 

Creating Power in Your Swing, Step #1: Good Posture

A powerful swing starts with a good set-up position at address.

Good posture allows your shoulders, core and hips to coil in the back swing. The coiling of your body puts your muscles on stretch, much like a rubber band being pulled and stretched. When you let the rubber band snap back, it creates energy, force and power.

Anyone want some of that power and energy in your golf swing? Lets start with good fundamentals. Number one is posture.

Correct posture allows you to turn around your spine and keep your spine at the correct tilt throughout the swing.

In golf, we can't stand straight up and down with our spine in a vertical position like we use for walking. The reason is, the ball is in front of us and it is also on the ground. So we have to tilt our spine towards the ball, keeping the back straight and bending from the hips. The feeling is like you are sticking your "butt" out. Nobody said golf was a dainty sport!

The mistake I often see is the spine is not tilted from the hips causing the back to be rounded instead of straight.

Ok, now let your arms hang straight down from your shoulder sockets. By the way, this is how far you hands should away from your body when you grip the club. Try not to reach your hands out too much further from your body than this.

You should feel the weight on the balls of your feet. This is a very athletic "ready position". You should not feel your weight on your heels or your toes.

Knees should be soft and only slightly flexed. If you flex your knees too much, you will drop your butt down into more of a sitting position and lift your spine up and out of the correct posture.

Keep your neck in line with your spine vs. dropping your chin down towards your chest. Maintain a nice straight spine from the top of your head all the way down to your tailbone. Dropping your chin towards your chest restricts your shoulder turn on your back swing. Keep your chin up and your shoulders will be able to turn freely under your chin, back and through.

Topping the ball will result if your spine pulls away from the ball and straightens either during the back swing or the downswing.

If you hit a lot of topped, thin or weak shots to the right you need to make sure you have good posture when you address the ball. You also need to make sure that you maintain that posture during the back swing and through swing into your finish position.

Check your finish position to see if you maintained good posture throughout your swing. When you finish your swing, hold your position and notice where your right shoulder is (for a right handed golfer). If your right shoulder is slightly lower than your left shoulder and your hands are high, you maintained your posture. On the other hand, if your right shoulder is higher than your left shoulder, you pulled up somewhere during your swing and probably topped the ball or hit it thin and out to the right of your target with a slice.

Here is a good drill to make sure you are in good posture:

1. Take out an iron from your bag.
2. Stand tall with your feet about shoulder width apart.
3. Hold the grip end of the club with your right hand and put it on your back in line with your spine.
4. Rest your right hand on the back of your head as you hold the club on your back.
5. Hold down towards the head end of the club with your left hand and rest the shaft and your hand about at your tail bone on your back.
6. Keeping your back straight and the club touching both your head and your tailbone, bend over into your golf posture by bending from your hips.
7. Make sure that the club does not come away from your tailbone. If it does, you are rounding your back vs. keeping your back straight.
8. Soften your knees and slightly flex them.
9. Feel the weight on the balls of your feet.
10. Now maintain that posture and bring the club down in front of you and take your normal grip.
11. If you have a mirror or window or sliding glass door that will allow you to see you reflection, see what good posture looks like.
12. If you can see yourself in a good posture position and feel it at the same time it is very helpful.

On the course, try to stay relaxed and "feel" the correct posture position as you address the ball.

Keep practicing until you don't have to think a lot about getting into good posture. The goal is for your set-up to be automatic, comfortable and correct each time so that you can focus your full attention on the target.

 

Distance Control on Putts and Putting Tips

Distance control on putts is accomplished by the length of your backstroke. Easier said than done. It can be difficult to tell where to stop the backstroke and begin the forward stroke. If this is a problem for you and you find that you tend to leave many of your putts long, short or an inconsistent combination of both, try this:

The correct way to execute the putting stroke is with a smooth tempo back and through. The speed of the stroke must be consistent vs. decelerating through the ball or having to really accelerate and smash it!

To accomplish this, on a short putt of 3 to 4 feet, place your feet together. When you take your putter back, only take it back until the putter is across from the toe of your right shoe (for a right handed golfer). Then make a smooth stroke through the ball and hold your finish position listening for the ball to drop into the cup.

Your follow through will be longer than your backstroke on shorter putts. In golf (putting included), always follow through!

The biggest cause of missing short putts is moving your head. By staying down in your posture, keeping your head still and listening for your ball to drop, you will make more of these testers! A good drill to keep your body and your head still when putting is to putt a few with your eyes closed. You won't be tempted to peek and you will be more aware of any excessive head or body movement with your eyes closed!

Next, try a longer putt of 10 feet. This time, take your stance with your feet spread only 6 to 8 " apart. Now on your backstroke again only take the putter back as far as the toe of your right shoe. Then make a smooth stroke forward through the ball and hold your follow through at least 3 seconds. Notice if your follow through is straight down your target line. If it is not, take several strokes and follow through straight vs. pulling the putter to the left or pushing it to the right.

The speed of the greens will dictate how big of a backstroke you will need so you will have to experiment a little with the width of your stance as the putts get longer. The great thing about this drill is that it will teach you to feel the amount of backstroke you need for various length putts and help you develop a smooth tempo. You will always putt better if you visit the practice putting green before you tee off. This gives you a feel for the speed of the greens and helps establish good tempo for the day. You'll be surprised how that good tempo with your putter tends to transfer to all of your clubs!

Now try a putt of 20 feet. Studies have shown that the average length of a golfers first putt is 20 feet. Now place your feet approximately 12" apart. Again just take the putter back until it is across from the toe of your right shoe. Maintain a good smooth tempo through the ball and follow through.

Also, remember to establish a good pre-shot routine before each putt. Many players tell me that they don't have time to do all of this without slowing down play. Actually if you work on it, you won't slow down play at all. In fact you will play faster in the long run because you will be a better putter and make more putts. Much of your pre-shot routine can be done before it's even your turn to putt. Just make sure you stay still and quiet while others are putting and you don't walk or stand on their line or in their line of vision.

Here is my pre-shot routine for putting:

First, I always mark my ball when I get on the green and fix my ball mark and any others in the area. I clean off my ball and wait for my turn to put the ball back down. I watch the players who putt before me to get an idea of how their ball is breaking and the speed of the green. I also am noticing the lay of the green and the lay of the land around the green to help determine the break and if it is uphill, downhill or side hill. I feel the green with my feet when I walk.

When it's my turn I stand directly behind the ball mark, put my ball down, and read the break of your putt. When reading break, look at the lay of the land around the green to determine how the putt will break. I try to imagine if I threw a bucket of water onto the green, how it would run off. That's how the ball will roll also. I visualize the ball rolling along that line and into the cup on every putt that I hit.

Then, without stepping on my playing partners line(s), I walk to what I think is the low side of the putt. From here, you will get a better feel on the true break of the putt. I align the line I put on my ball, or the wording on the ball, on the line I want to start the ball rolling. Now I pick up my ball marker and at this point I've decided on the line for my aim.

I take one practice stroke to stay loose and get a feel for the length of swing I need. When I approach the putt, I align the putter face and ball to my target and down my target line (I do not align my feet to the target). I set my feet parallel to the target line. I get comfortable over the ball but don't stand over it too long and over think it. Now I put a confident stroke on the ball and let it roll. Remembering to stay down and don't look up to see if I've made it. Listen for it to drop!

My goal for putts per round is 30 putts for 18 holes. I keep track when I mark down my score for the hole, I always write down the number of putts above it. This gives me good feedback at the end of the round and tells me where my practice time needs to be spent.

 

Improve Your Sand Shots

The sand can strike fear into the player that is not used to getting out of the bunker and onto the green successfully. Before you attempt your sand shot, do you imagine your ball staying in the bunker or worse yet, sailing way over the green? If you have "sand-o-phobia", try these simple tips to improve your bunker play. In addition, it is important to practice this shot until your success and confidence level allows you to relax and let your sand wedge blast the ball out.

What's that, you don't own a sand wedge? Ah ha! The first necessary step is to get a sand wedge. Turn it over and look at the sole or bottom of the club. Notice the sole of the sand wedge is a little wider versus the soles of your other irons. This sole is called the flange and it helps the club slide through the sand, sending your ball and the sand under it onto the green.

First, in the practice bunker at your course, dig your feet slightly into the sand so you don't slip around when you swing. Then bend you knees a little more than normal in your set-up. Without a ball take some practice swings in the bunker and hit some sand out, landing the sand on the green at the same spot that you want the ball to land. You will notice that you have to follow through and turn your hips to the target in order to accomplish this.

Next, throw down a tee in the bunker and try to hit the tee out and onto the green, again landing the tee and the sand it is sitting on where you would want your ball to land. When you feel comfortable with these drills, put a ball down. Without worrying about the ball, again concentrate on throwing the sand out onto the green where you want your ball to land.

Remember, when you are playing on the golf course, the rules of golf don't allow you to touch the sand with your club until you are actually taking your swing, so no practice swings in the bunker during the round. And finally, please rake the bunker after you hit your shot, leaving the rake outside of the bunker parallel to the fairway when you are done.