Getting backspin can be effective on some shots but simply having a solid short game is essential to score well. Want to work on your game from 100 yards in?
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A pitch shot with spin that backs up a little on the green is fun to watch. However, the spinning shot by the player in this video is ridiculous! Getting backspin can be effective on some shots but simply having a solid short game is essential to score well. Want to work on your game from 100 yards in? Pitching - Chipping - Sand - Putting Contact MasterGolf
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One of the ways to lower your golf score is to make putts. That is, have fewer putts. A goal to have is no more than two putts per hole and hopefully a few one putts. Yes, that would be sweet! There are a number of things you can do to be a really good putter including reading the greens well, distance control, and effective putting technique. In this MasterBlog I am going to discuss an additional thing you can do to help sink a few more putts - Using the ball putt line to aim the putt. I often see golfers not using the ball putt line and often not making the putt. Here's how to use the ball putt line and your putter:
With that putt line process you just might see a lot more putts roll into the hole! You set up for a shot, address the ball, look at your target and adjust your stance to aim your body at the target -- you make the swing and the shot goes to the right (for right handed golfer). What happened!?!? A number of variables can push the ball right but in this case the culprit was a faulty aim process. The Problem: If you aim when you are setup addressing the ball you will be using your body line to point at the target. This means that the ball line will be pointing right of the target and therefore the shot will often miss to the right (Figure-1). The Fix: When aiming you should stand behind the ball about 6 to 8 feet, pick your target and then choose an intermediate target (blade of grass, twig, etc.) about 3 to 5 feet in front of your ball. Move to your setup position, align the clubhead to the intermediate target and then align your feet and body parallel to the ball / clubhead line (Figure-2). This way the ball line is aimed at the target. Voila -- an on target ball strike! Want help with aiming, alignment and ball striking? Contact MasterGolf You are 100 yards out for your approach shot to the green and are ready to let it fly. You take your swing and the ball pulls left (for a right hander) into the bunker next to the green....darn!!! Happens to all us and far too often. How to get rid of the iron pull shot? The pulled shot can be due to a number of factors and is commonly the result of the club/arms getting too far ahead of the body. In the words of famed golfer Johnny Miller leaving the lead shoulder back can cause it. See more about this from Johnny himself in this two minute video. A number of factors can contribute to the dreaded slice. Most notably, these factors create an open clubface to the swing path causing the sliced ball flight. One of those factors is cupping the lead wrist at the top of the backswing (the left wrist for right handers, see Figure-1). A cupped lead wrist can open the clubface which is difficult to square up at the bottom of the swing. For most swings, a flat lead wrist is desired to help achieve square contact with the ball for added distance and accuracy (Figure-2).
Want help with your swing including a video analysis? Contact MasterGolf. A downhill lie can be a little tricky. The ball usually tends to fly lower than normal because of the slope angle and can be struck a little thin. It also tends to fly a bit to the right for a right handed golfer. With a couple of adjustments you can gain more accuracy and consistency with this touchy situation. The Adjustments:
Practice this technique for downhill lies and see your consistency with these shots rise! There are a number of difficult lies on a golf course, some of them are around the green and especially this time of year when there is dormant grass that forms multi-directional blades of dry grass creating tough tight lie situations. What are your options? Tough Situation: Let's say your ball is about 10 feet off the green in dormant grass with a tight lie. The pin is about 4 paces (~12 ft.) on to the green. If it was nice turf you would probably pull out a wedge and chip it on. However, in this difficult situation making perfect contact on the ball with a wedge is paramount but is now a low percentage shot due to the tough tight lie. Therefore, choosing an alternate option that can provide a better chance for making good contact with the ball is needed. The Answer: Pull out that putter or a hybrid. One of those will give a high percentage chance for good ball contact and a roll on to the putting surface. Practice chipping from off the green with the putter and the hybrid so you can guage distance control. You just might find that one of those two options will get you on to the green for a chance to one putt when you are faced with a difficult tight lie situation. Sandra Gal is an LPGA golf pro that hails from Germany but graduated from the University of Florida. In her spare time she posts on social media and the golf shot in this post looks a bit dangerous but also was an amazing hit. I am sure her accomplice was happy that she is a great golfer. See the golf shot in action here. If you are familiar with the players on the LPGA you know the names Nelly Korda and her sister Jessica. Nelly began her career in 2016 and is already ranked 3rd in the world. This blog post isn't to review her career but to highlight a fun shot she made in what appears to be her home living room. After watching it I thought for sure some windows were going to be broken. See the shot here. Enjoy! Ahhh the dreaded slice. Having a fade can be an acceptable shot for many golfers but the slice, where the ball moves severely from left to right for a right hander (Figure-1) is a source of extreme frustration. What can be done to correct this menacing ball flight? Plenty! A slice can be due to a number of contributing factors including grip, stance, posture, alignment, weight transfer and other items but is most notoriously due to an open club face and 'out to in' swing path where the club face angle is open to the swing path. Several of these items can leave the club face open at impact. Having the club face square at impact is preferable. One of the key contributors to a square club face is the grip. Let's take a closer look at the proper grip. The Grip: A proper golf grip for a right hander is shown in Figure-2. This grip is considered slightly strong. That is, the Vs that are formed by the thumb and index finger on each hand point right of the chin towards the right shoulder (Yellow arrows). It is preferred by many golfers to assist in achieving a straight or draw ball flight. One way to check that the hands are in the slightly strong position is this: after taking the grip with the left hand look down and adjust the rotation of the hand until you can see the first two finger knuckles (Green 2 in the image). Then add the right hand so that the Vs formed by the thumb and index finger on each hand are parallel and so that they point right of the chin towards the right shoulder (Yellow arrows). Check your grip and make it slightly strong! Want help curing that dreaded slice? Contact MasterGolf |
MasterBLOGBruce MasterI am a golf enthusiast and am happy to share golf news, tips, techniques and other tidbits in this golf blog about this fun, challenging and sometimes maddening game! Archives
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