| In that glorious battle between you and the golf | | | | it. My favourite club is my trusty seven iron and |
| course designer there are certain weapons you need | | | | having used it for a few seasons I now have a |
| in your armoury. The obvious ones are a set of golf | | | | pretty good idea of the back swing needed to get |
| clubs and a golf ball and you are set to engage the | | | | the ball where I want it. |
| enemy, the bumps and hollows of the fairway, the | | | | The Chip Shot |
| three inch rough and the sneaky pin positions. | | | | From a few feet off the green or even on the |
| However a set of clubs and as many balls as you can | | | | putting surface a good chip shot can be a par saver, |
| carry are not enough to win this battle consistently | | | | allowing you to roll the ball close if not in to the hole. |
| so a few tricks of your own are required and this is | | | | This shot could be described as a jumpy putt as the |
| where you will find them. | | | | motion is the same and the idea is to get the ball |
| The lob shot. | | | | rolling not flying. This is, like all these shots a feel shot |
| Arguably the hardest shot in the whole golf game | | | | and preparation and practice are required. To play the |
| the lob shot is fraught with danger but can reward | | | | chip shot stand slightly open to the target and place |
| you with close to the pin birdie opportunities or even | | | | the ball to the rear of your stance, keep the wrists |
| up and down par saves. Practice is required as a miss | | | | firm and putt. The trick is to select a club which will |
| hit will leave the ball in exactly the same place or | | | | give you a short flight and the roll you need to get |
| sixty yards over the green. Set up slightly open to | | | | to the pin. Practice will allow you to gauge this for |
| the target with the ball slightly forward in your | | | | your swing but as a rough rule of thumb a nine iron |
| stance and the club a little open, take a three quarter | | | | will fly approximately as far as it will roll and as you |
| swing and accelerate through the ball fast, the | | | | go up the cubs the ratio will change so a seven iron |
| combination of speed and open club face will pop the | | | | will roll about one and a half times as far as it flies. |
| ball high into the air with gallons of backspin so it will | | | | The Greenside Bunker Shot |
| land softly and stop or even roll backwards a little. | | | | The evil course designers like to protect the hallowed |
| The Pitch Shot. | | | | greens with these nasty, horrible sand traps knowing |
| The shot from sixty to seventy five yards out which | | | | that for the amateur player and pros as well they |
| can float your ball to the green and roll up to the pin. | | | | can wreck a scorecard in seconds but you can leave |
| You can use any wedge for this shot but usually a | | | | your partners in the beach as you fly softly to the |
| pitching wedge or sand iron would be selected. This is | | | | pin with a bit of practice. To play a bunker shot first |
| a wristy shot with not much arm or body movement. | | | | and foremost dig your feet in, this gives you a solid |
| Set up with the lower body open but the shoulders | | | | base and allows you to get a feel for the sand, set |
| and club face square to the target. Take the club | | | | up open to the pin with an open club face, aim a little |
| back fairly steeply keeping it on plane and only | | | | left of target and use your arms and wrists for a |
| around three quarters of the way back, i.e. you arms | | | | wide swing, keeping a firm grip on the club, and |
| should reach a point at where they are parallel to the | | | | accelerating all the way to a high finish. You have to |
| ground, the down swing is a mirror of the back swing | | | | imagine the ball is the yolk of a fried egg and you |
| and will finish at about three quarters of maximum so | | | | want to slice it off the surface so the club will enter |
| the club shaft will be pointing straight up. | | | | the sand slightly before the ball. The bounce of the |
| The Bump and Run | | | | sand wedge will cause the club head to glide through |
| A shot played mostly on links courses where there | | | | the sand creating a wave upon which the ball will ride |
| may be a lot of wind but you can utilise it anywhere | | | | and fly softly out. Do not wimp out on this shot as |
| to keep the ball low beneath the breeze or where | | | | anything less than full commitment will leave you in |
| you want to just run it up to the green. A low shot | | | | the bunker |
| is usually safer than a high, lofted shot for most | | | | You will have noticed all these shots are in the short |
| amateurs and the bump and run is a low risk shot. | | | | game area and the reason for that is because that is |
| Use any club for this from a putter to a five iron. To | | | | where most of your strokes are played and wasted. |
| play the shot set up square to the target line, place | | | | Drive for show, putt for dough as the saying goes |
| the ball back in your stance and swing in a putting | | | | but the short game is vital to maintaining a healthy |
| motion with little to no body motion. The length of | | | | score card. Practice these five shots and see your |
| back swing will affect the distance the ball travels so | | | | handicap tumble, leave the driving range to the |
| practice with a few different clubs to get a feel for | | | | muscle heads and play the golf of winners. |