Short Game Thoughts

[rulie]

Good players have a very short memory.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

More rubbish today. On Tuesday I went down to the club and did a good 30+ minutes chipping practice, seemed to be finding something that was working. Back on the course this morning, and when it counts my brain just takes over and does something completely different.

Yippy knife through the back on the second hole. Decent chip on the third. On the sixth I had a grassy lie and swiped completely under the ball with 60 - switched to 50 and knifed it miles beyond the hole. Seventh hole I fat a 50 yard pitch short of the green. On the tenth I clipped a nice one but it flew a bit too far. Eleventh, a glorious up and down pitching from the rough on the left. Thirteenth, another duffed pitch. On the seventeenth I hit a superb chip off a slightly downslope, landing it in the perfect spot to release just past the flag, leaving me a nice uphill 5-footer I made for par.

A proper mixed bag, but every time I mess one up my confidence goes back in the bin and I feel like I'm going to yip the next one. Don't think it's any coincidence that the best shot came at the end when there was no remaining chance of a good score so no pressure on. How do you make yourself forget all the bad ones when you need to produce something??

First point is whilst you did a good 30+ minutes overall that’s not enough to bed in all the changes and build your confidence, it’s a good start but it’s just that a start. You need to continue to do that week on week for it to become second nature and not having to actually think about the shot.

Secondly winter golf isn’t the be all and end all, you need to allow yourself to accept there’s gonna be some crap and that sometimes bad shots happen. After a crap shot take a quick positive practice swing of what you meant to do to reinforce the correct feels and move on.

Thirdly as Rulie says above someone with a good short game has a short memory. Put the club in the bag and focus on the next shot, that last one really doesn’t matter it’s in the past. The more you beat yourself up the more bad shots you will hit as you’re literally talking yourself into it.

Lastly that’s gonna be £60 for the lesson

 

[Orikoru]

First point is whilst you did a good 30+ minutes overall that’s not enough to bed in all the changes and build your confidence, it’s a good start but it’s just that a start. You need to continue to do that week on week for it to become second nature and not having to actually think about the shot.

Secondly winter golf isn’t the be all and end all, you need to allow yourself to accept there’s gonna be some crap and that sometimes bad shots happen. After a crap shot take a quick positive practice swing of what you meant to do to reinforce the correct feels and move on.

Thirdly as Rulie says above someone with a good short game has a short memory. Put the club in the bag and focus on the next shot, that last one really doesn’t matter it’s in the past. The more you beat yourself up the more bad shots you will hit as you’re literally talking yourself into it.

Lastly that’s gonna be £60 for the lesson

Yeah I will be looking to do that every Tuesday when the weather is decent enough. But I intended to highlight the difference in mental state - I often find that in practicing my chipping and putting are pretty decent anyway, they just crash and burn in the real round as soon as there's the slightest bit of jeopardy.

Yeah, I'm trying to write off the bad lies, but again it's difficult mentally when you get to the next bad lie and you're expecting the duff to happen again so you can't swing with any confidence. Obviously just hoping I'll be getting towards a better place with it by the time the weather gets better.

 

[Burnsey]

I've always nipped the ball off the ground around the green to reasonable success, but at a recent wedge fitting it was suggested to 'attack' the ball more and take a divot (of sorts). Against every delicate thought in my head, after a bad start, I think I have got it and the difference has been how much closer to the hole it am getting.

Nothing ground breaking, not even a lesson, just a tip, but it really is working - pace of swing is key and it felt waaaaaaay too heavy/quick at forst, but the best way I can describe it, is I'm letting the loft do its job.

 

[r0wly86]

When I did GCSE PE, we did a section on the yips.

Fascinating stuff. When it goes right, sporting action is done almost entirely by the subconscious, the yips happen when out conscious mind takes over, trying to consciously control our movements, then they become less coordinated and out of sync

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Yeah I will be looking to do that every Tuesday when the weather is decent enough. But I intended to highlight the difference in mental state - I often find that in practicing my chipping and putting are pretty decent anyway, they just crash and burn in the real round as soon as there's the slightest bit of jeopardy.

Yeah, I'm trying to write off the bad lies, but again it's difficult mentally when you get to the next bad lie and you're expecting the duff to happen again so you can't swing with any confidence. Obviously just hoping I'll be getting towards a better place with it by the time the weather gets better.

Thing with this is you need to keep drilling it until it becomes 2nd nature, the biggest issue you have by the sounds of it is your brain.

 

[Orikoru]

Thing with this is you need to keep drilling it until it becomes 2nd nature, the biggest issue you have by the sounds of it is your brain.

Agreed, I said the same thing to a fellow player on the course on Saturday. It's just sheer persistence needed now, once I've hit about 500 chips on the practice ground I might get to a place where I'm not cacking my pants on the course.

 

[Hobbit]

Yeah I will be looking to do that every Tuesday when the weather is decent enough. But I intended to highlight the difference in mental state - I often find that in practicing my chipping and putting are pretty decent anyway, they just crash and burn in the real round as soon as there's the slightest bit of jeopardy.

Yeah, I'm trying to write off the bad lies, but again it's difficult mentally when you get to the next bad lie and you're expecting the duff to happen again so you can't swing with any confidence. Obviously just hoping I'll be getting towards a better place with it by the time the weather gets better.

Routine, a process, is the key till it becomes auto pilot. We’ve all been there at some point, some worse than others, but if you put bullet points (stages) in your routine it will help.

 

[Burnsey]

The biggest 'shock' in my short game will be moving back to fairway from mats

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Agreed, I said the same thing to a fellow player on the course on Saturday. It's just sheer persistence needed now, once I've hit about 500 chips on the practice ground I might get to a place where I'm not cacking my pants on the course.

Routine, a process, is the key till it becomes auto pilot. We’ve all been there at some point, some worse than others, but if you put bullet points (stages) in your routine it will help.

What Hobbit said!.. When you're practicing don't just work on technique, step away from each shot and build a PSR for short game that you repeat every single time even on the course. Build a point in that routine that switches off thought and just becomes execution. The more you build a routine the less you'll think about the actual shot element.

 

[Orikoru]

What Hobbit said!.. When you're practicing don't just work on technique, step away from each shot and build a PSR for short game that you repeat every single time even on the course. Build a point in that routine that switches off thought and just becomes execution. The more you build a routine the less you'll think about the actual shot element.

Yeah, I think the more chips I hit the more I can shift focus away from what I'm doing and more towards the target and where I'm trying to land it.

 

[Wilson]

Not the easiest when you've only got 30 mins, but try and do some practice where you are focused on technique, and then some where you are focused on outcomes - I always start by doing the drills I have been given, and then move to hitting different shots to different targets, trying to make it automatic as mentioned above.

 

[Junior]

Im in the camp now of just finding something that works.

At the minute , unless it’s a high shot to a tight pin, I’m playing everything with a 50 degree wedge. Middle back in a narrow stance with slight shaft lean. Seems to be working.

 

[Hobbit]

Im in the camp now of just finding something that works.

At the minute , unless it’s a high shot to a tight pin, I’m playing everything with a 50 degree wedge. Middle back in a narrow stance with slight shaft lean. Seems to be working.

Pretty much how I used to play it. To a large extent the length of my swing was always similar. For longer shots I changed the club. I used anything from a 52* up to an 8 iron, keeping the swing the same. It worked well for me.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Been working on learning to hit 'thrown' chips from up to maybe 20yds from green using my 54° wedge. This is not a shot I have ever had as most of my close-in short game was bump-and-run, and so I could struggle when short-sided by a bunker, or much uncertainty and so guesswork required due to undulating apron or green.

'Learn to throw the ball over the uncertainty' said my coach. And so for then last 3-4 months I've been using it whenever I have the opportunity - even when my old faithful b-a-r shot would be my best option...and I'm getting there. And as others have indicated - as well as learning the shot I'm building as PSR for it as that will enable me to hit with confidence rather than worry when over the ball.