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515-232-9862
THE LOB SHOT vs. THE CHIP SHOT
Tip provided by:
United States Golf Teachers Federation
Tip written by: Bob Wyatt, USGTF memberA common rule of thumb when around the green usually dictates getting the ball rolling as soon as possible, creating a low risk approach shot. This thinking is fine for middle to high handicappers, but not in all cases would I give this advice to the better player.
I was confronted with a good example just the other day -- I'm just off the green with an uphill lie, the pin is on the second tier of a two-tier green. The slope to the second tier was very steep, making it very difficult to determine how hard to hit a chip shot.
Experimenting, I tried the chip shot approach three times. Twice the ball started up the slope but, lacking enough speed, came back to the base of the hill. I then simply lofted the shot to the second tier, and it landed softly and stopped within a few feet of the initial landing area.
Your imagination can often prove to be your greatest ally!
Remember: As with any short game shot, it is most important to rehearse any new approach.
HOW IMPORTANT IS PUTTING TO A BETTER GAME?
Tip provided by:
Myrtle Beach Golf School / Peter AndersonThe average player is said to take 2/3rds of his total shots from less than 100 feet from the hole. With this in mind it's clear that you can't score well without putting at least adequately.
The "art" of putting, although no more easily perfected than the other parts of your game, has certain characteristics which make it the ideal discipline with which to both start & finish every practice session. In fact, putting can be practiced without ever leaving your house, and you should hold every expectation that this "carpet" practice will pay dividends to your golf game. I know dozens of top professionals who spend hundreds of hours practice putting on carpets to either improve,or maintain, their putting stroke.
It's generally accepted that you're a bad putter only if you use more than the allotted 36 putts per round, but better players actually use about 32 putts per round. This then should be your goal. A goal which you should continually be monitoring and striving for.
... or a little more eloquently stated, "A putting stroke is a true swing, and should be made up of the same components as your full swing;" is recommended advise in much of the instructional writing through the years.
Percy Boomer, in his classic book "On Learning Golf" made a comparison when he stated that, "Anyone with a proper concept of the golf swing, who then applies those same concepts to the putt, will surely become a superb putter."
Johnny Miller apparently concurred when in 1977, he blamed the loss of his full swing on the fact that he had made changes in his putting stroke a couple of years earlier, which eventually disrupted his rhythm on all shots.
If you can accept these statements, you can utilize the fact that your putter swing is small, slow moving, and largely without muscular effort, to better enable yourself to grasp the concepts, and mechanics, which are equally important to all golf swings
