| Breaking
90: Building Precision
The
basic rule for chipping is, the worse your lie, the farther
back in your stance you
need to play the ball and the more
loft you have to use.
If you're a bogey golfer, you probably average one really
good shot per hole--a drive in the fairway, an approach
onto the green, a good chip or a good putt. Now you want
to develop more precision. Someone who shoots in the
80s keeps it in play and is much better around the green.
Let the lie determine your stance on greenside shots
The basic rule for chipping is, the worse your lie, the
farther back in your stance you need to play the ball
and the more loft you have to use.
For each of the shots shown above, I've got the same distance
to the flag. But for the shot on the left, my ball and
club are tangled in deep grass. I'm using my sand wedge,
and I'm playing the ball well behind my back foot, so I
can bring the club down on the ball without having to drag
it through a lot of grass. I need the sole of the sand
wedge to help me slide through the grass and the loft to
get it up.
My lie is perfect for the shot on the right. I can chip
with a 7-iron, playing the ball nearer my front heel. The
ball should hop over the fringe and roll like a putt when
it lands on the green.
The basics of bunker shots
You'll encounter three basic lies in a greenside bunker--hardpan
(the ball sitting on top of hard sand), the fried egg
(the ball half-buried in its own crater) and a straightforward,
good lie.
To play from hardpan, you don't want to expose too much
of the sand wedge's flange--if you do, the club will bounce
and you'll skull it over the green. Keep the clubface square,
and hit from a slightly open stance. Use the leading edge
to dig.
From a buried lie, you need even more digging, so close
the face. Put more weight onto your left foot and attack
the ball from a steep angle.
For a standard bunker shot, use the sand wedge the way
it was designed. Open the clubface so it can skid through
the sand and blast the ball out. Your stance should be
open, and you should play the ball off your left instep.
Ease grip for flexibility
A relaxed grip helps the wrists hinge well on the backswing.
If you were holding a tube of toothpaste, you wouldn't
be squeezing hard enough to squirt any out.
How would you toss the ball?
When trying to decide what club to use around the green,
imagine how you would throw the ball up there by hand
to get it close. Then pick the club that matches that
ball flight.
Don't try to be a hero
On high-risk shots-- like trying to hit through a small
gap in the trees--the most you can save is one shot,
but you create the possibility of losing two shots or
more. Play it safe.
Golf
Digest April 2001
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