Posts Tagged ‘short game’

How to Shoot 67

May 22nd, 2010

Here’s a picture of Jordan Spieth’s scorecard from today (Saturday, May 22, 2010):

Jordan Spieth's Stats for Saturday

Jordan Spieth's Stats for Saturday

Does this ball striking look familiar?  I see this type of ball striking stats in my own game and the game of some of my junior and tournament golfers.  The stat I don’t see often, with this type of ball striking, is the 24 putts needed.  This clearly shows how well he either, chipped/pitched and/or putted.  How many of you are capable of shooting 67 when hitting 4 fairways and 9 greens?

How many of you are disciplined enough to spend time away from the range and focus on your short game even after a day like this? All the time and preparation that wedge play and putting takes, shows it’s true benefits on days like this.  To be able to score well on our off days is the sign of a golfer that can win a four day tournament.

This is powerful reminder of where your practice needs to be focused at the higher levels.

As a reminder, this is from a high school golfer.  Youngest to have chance to win a PGA Tour event in a long time.

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Posted in Putting, Tournament Golf

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How to Make More Birdies

April 27th, 2010

I get this question often. How do I make more birdies? I wrote a blog post a while ago called Make More Birdies!!!! that talked about getting comfortable knowing that you need to make at least 5 birdies a round to be tournament competitive.  However, that post didn’t give any advice on how to do it.  Let’s address a common problem I see for very good golfers.

I see too many golfers trying to make birdie with their irons.  By that, I mean they are trying to stuff it in every chance they get so they skip over the putt part of making the birdie.  I think Jason Sutton wrote a nice post about red, yellow and green light pins.  Here’s a link to his article.  This post talks about how player’s will aim at every flag.  As a player improves, there needs to be a point when they determine for themselves which opportunities to try and take advantage of.   There also needs to be a point where they determine where is the best place on the green to be putting from.

Players need to learn that the best rounds come from making birdies with the putter and not the iron.  Clearly, having an iron game that will allow you to hit specific places on the green is important but more attention needs to be paid to sinking more putts from the easy locations on the green even if they are a little farther away.  Where to putt from is at least as important to birdie making as distance from the hole.  I’ve seen many player’s miss 3 footers from the wrong side of the hole and ended up in a far worse situation than someone 10 feet from the hole but on the right side.  Learn how to read the green from the fairway so you can choose a proper landing position.  This will not only give your putter a chance to shine, it will also help prevent bogies.  Many times, 3 putt bogies are due to poor iron play location and not necessarily poor putting.

Clearly, the par 5′s will provide the best chances for birdies.  Good driving and wedge play become very important for making birdies here.

Just remember that you will more often shoot lower scores by making birdies with the putter vs. the irons.

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Posted in Mental Game, Tournament Golf

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Jerry Tucker Short Game Test

December 8th, 2009

I had a couple requests asking for a way to evaluate the short game.  Here is a test that does just that.   It is called the Jerry Tucker Short Game Test. 

First, we start with wedge play.

The player will hit 5 shots from each of 5 distances; 30yds, 45yds, 60yds, 75yds and 90yds.  The shots should be hit from good fairway lies.  For the 30 and 40yd shot the player is trying to land the ball within a 6′ diameter circle and a 9′ diameter circle for 60, 75 and 90yd shots.  This is landing distance only with the flagstick in the middle of the circle.  The instructor will estimate and write down the distance from the stick the ball landed.  There is a possible 25 possible points with 1 point given for each shot landing in the zone.   The instructor will also determine the average distance from the hole for all 25 shots to create the Average Putt length(40 feet is the highest distance to be used for distance from stick).  The points will be converted into a handicap which is averaged with the Average Putt length handicap to come up with the wedge play handicap.

For example: a zero handicap would be 13 points with an average of 8.5 feet Average Putt length.

 

Next is sand play.  5 shots from 3 distances this time and the flag should be place on the outer edge of the circle.  Smooth level lie should be used when conducting this test.  The three distances are 20 feet to a 4 foot diameter circle, 40 feet to a 6 foot diameter circle and 60 feet to an 8 foot diameter circle.  Remember, flag should be on outer edge of circle farthest from player.

Possible 15 points  with 1 point counting for each shot landing  in the zone(not ending in the zone).  Keep track of points and Average Putt length as described in the wedge play section(30 feet is the highest distance to be used for distance from stick).  The points will be converted into a handicap which is averaged with the Average Putt length handicap to come up with the sand play handicap.

For example: a zero handicap would be 9 points with a 6 foot Average Putt length.

 

Pitching is next.  Drop 5 balls 50 feet from one of the holes giving them at least 20 feet of green to work with and another 5 balls to a hole 75 feet away with at least 25 feet of green to work with.  Ask them to play the ball as it lies and 1 point is awarded for each shot ending within 5 feet of the hole for the 50 footer and 7.5 feet for the 75 footer.  Keep track of points and compute Average Putt length for all 10 shots(30 feet is the highest distance to be used for distance from stick).  Handicap determined as above.  Points handicap averaged with Average Putt length handicap.

For example: a zero handicap is 7 points and an Average Putt length of 6.5 feet.

 

Chipping.  Place 5 balls at 40 feet and 60 feet in various but good lies.  Use a 9 iron for the 40 footer and a 7 iron for the 60 footer.  1 point is awarded for shots ending within 4 feet for the 40 footer and 6 feet for the 60 footer.  Keep track of points and compute Average Putt length for all 10 shots(30 feet is the highest distance to be used for distance from stick).  Handicap determined as above.  Points handicap averaged with Average Putt length handicap.

For example: a zero handicap will score 8 points with an Average Putt length of 3 feet 3 inches.

 

Trouble Shots.  Try to select 5 short trouble shots with these recommendations.  1) 20 footer up against the fringe, 2) 40 footer off a bare lie, 3) 20 footer in a clumpy lie, 4) 40 footer from very heavy grass and 5) 75 footer opposite handed or backhanded as if up against a tree.  Points are awarded for shots that end within 15% of the total distance for first 4 shots and 20% of the total distance for the 75 footer.  Keep track of points and compute Average Putt length for all 5 shots(30 feet is the highest distance to be used for distance from stick).  Handicap determined as above.  Points handicap averaged with Average Putt length handicap.

For example: a zero handicap will score 3 points with an Average Putt length of 5.5 feet.

 

Short Putting.  4 putts from each of 5 lengths at the points of the compass on a slightly breaking pin position.  The lengths are 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 feet.  1 point is awarded for each putt holed.  Add up points for made putts out of a possible 20.

For example: a zero handicap scores 15 points.

 

Long Putting.  5 putts from 20 feet. 1 point is awarded for each putt made or comes to rest in the 17 inch safety zone.  Meduim difficulty putt.  Safety zone defined as a half circle with a 17 inch radius located on the far side of the hole.  Typical Pelz zone.   5 putts from 40 feet.  Difficult putt either downhill or sidehill within 3 feet of hole in any direction.  Lastly, 5 putts from 60 feet.  Level or slightly uphill within 3 feel of hole in any direction.  1 point is awarded for all putts made or ending within the zones.

For example:  a zero handicap scores 10 points.

Add up the total number of points and compute the toal Average Putt length from all the iron shots.  These numbers are converted to a handicap and averaged to get the players Short Game Handicap.  I won’t be posting the conversion chart but if anyone takes the test on their own and sends me the results, I’ll be happy to compute your handicap for you.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions.

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Posted in Practicing, Teaching Techniques

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Short Game Practice Tips

September 16th, 2009
Many good junior golfers struggle with being real precise with 80-30 shots. It’s a shot that you need to practice to know because it will be much less than a full swing.

My facility does not have a great area to practice this shot. I think it is very common with most practice facilities. They have a putting green, chipping green, bunker and range tee but not a designated area you can hit 30-80 yard shots into a real green.

I have to use my imagination to create an environment for player’s practicing this area. Really, all you need is a rangefinder and a little imagination. Usually, I will either set up a beach towel or a GolfRing at a particular distance out into the range.

You need to make sure you have something you can see hit so you can tell if the distance is correct. During a lesson, I actually stand out there and shout out the distance the ball went so they can get a feel for the distance.

Once the trackman arrives, I will be using it to work on this area. Trackman has a feature that will speak out loud the distance the ball flew. It uses the speaker on the laptop to voice the data it picks up. This will be a much more precise way to practice these shots.

Without this device, you will have to use towels or sheets or something like it. This is a dig it out of the dirt type of practice. You need to punch the clock and put the time in. I would say about 80% of your practice time should be spent on similar shots like this and the rest of the short game.

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Posted in Practicing, Teaching Techniques

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Bunker Tips

August 27th, 2009
There are a few things to be aware of when dealing with the sand.

1) How your ball is sitting in the sand.

2) The type of sand.

3) The depth of the sand.

4) How you want the ball to react.

As with most shots in golf, the lie determines your options. This is very true in the bunker. Bad lies leave you very few options and good lies give you many more.

The type of sand has to do with texture and size of the particles. Fine sand reacts very differently than coarse sand. Coarse sand will make the ball come out more easily so be aware of that.

The depth of the sand is determined by your feet. As you “dig” in to take your stance, you’ll get a good idea of how much sand you are dealing with. Less sand requires more dig in the strike, and more sand requires more skim in the strike. Check here for how bounce effects how the sand wedge works.
The closer to the ball you enter the sand without hitting the ball the more spin you will get. The further away from the ball you enter the sand the more roll you will get assuming it was shallow enough to get the ball out.

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Posted in Practicing, Teaching Techniques

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