Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
No matter how solid your ball hits, you will inevitably miss the greens when it comes to rules. From there, the difference between par and bogey (or worse) is a neat short game.
If you watch the pros every weekend, you’ll notice that these ups and downs seem routine. On the PGA Tour last season, players saved par after a missed green at an average clip of 58.5 percent. They may not be completely automatic, but going up and down six out of ten attempts is quite useful.
You may also notice that the shots they use to escape trouble are rarely flashy. High flops and bad spinners are only used when absolutely necessary. Usually they opt for the safe, boring stock chip shot.
Recreational golfers would be wise to take a page out of their book and master this rudimentary shot. Unfortunately, when most of them attempt this shot, they are wildly inconsistent.
1 move to repair your chipping
Your stock chip shot shouldn’t be flashy. It must be fundamentally sound and reliable. That means eliminating unnecessary moving parts.
“I try to keep my wrists level,” says GOLF Top 100 teacher Mike Dickson. “I don’t want to have wrist problems during the backswing.”
Where recreational players tend to get it wrong is that when they get a wedge in their hands, they like to cock their wrists on the backswing and release on the downswing. This is a great way to create speed on full shots, but hitting a short chip usually causes problems.
Instead of using the wrists to create speed, try using your big muscles instead. Rotate back and through with your core and try to keep your wrists still throughout the movement.
“I tend to see my hips as the controlling factor in this,” says Dickson. “I don’t really use my hands to move the club. It’s more my pelvis.”
When you start using your core to control your club on these chip shots, you’ll find it much easier to control your distance, low point, and consistency. Give it a try and you’ll be getting up and down more often in no time.
Short game gets ghost holes
They sound scarier than they are, believe us. The SGG Ghost Holes can be used to improve your performance both on and off the greens. Each of the haunted holes (sold in packs of 3) is the exact dimensions of a regular golf hole. There is one thing that sets these ghost holes apart from other practice cups. They are made of sturdy yet flexible PVC and are so thin that a golf ball can roll over them seamlessly, but they will not blow away. The edges are flat, allowing you to aim without affecting the roll of the ball. This makes them perfect options for distance control drills with the putter and as landing spot targets for shots around the greens. Many players also like to use them during practice rounds and place them where they think the holes will be placed during the event so that they can practice the putts they will face.
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