Short Game......

kid2

kid2

Money List Winner
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
5,173
Location
Ireland
Visit site
I didn't want to thread jack Tigers thread so i decided to start a new one.....And also this is not a dig at Tiger...I'm sure that there are lots of others that do it.....

Is it possible to become too technical with the short game as much as the Golf swing....
I read a lot on here about having partial swings for wedges and having hands going from 3-9 or 2-10 or 4-8 you know the drill.....

And Bob is a big advocate of having a couple of wedges and learning how to use them.....Now i will hold my hand up and say that i carry 3 wedges....PW,UW,SW....but that's it... To be honest i only have the 6 distances...Full shots for each....And i go down the grip so that the swing stays the same and i have 3 more that's it......

Surely we shouldn't need any more.

Is it possible for the average Joe to benefit from being this technical........Most of us don't swing with the same swing speed or tempo on every shot so how on earth if you are thinking about getting your hands at certain positions is it possible to concentrate on the task in hand......

I'm not a bad judge of distance but if i got into that sort of thing then it just would not feel right....
I would think that you'd have to be hitting thousands of balls just to get yardages dialed down for each club....
 
Yes for me. Got to Page 100 of Dave Pelz by which time I couldn't chip or pitch anymore!

I get too technical and my head gets to full of technique and it goes pear-shaped. When a pare (see what I did there?!) it down to simply see the shot and hit it then I execute it more often than not.
 
AmandaJR said:
Yes for me. Got to Page 100 of Dave Pelz by which time I couldn't chip or pitch anymore!

I get too technical and my head gets to full of technique and it goes pear-shaped. When a pare (see what I did there?!) it down to simply see the shot and hit it then I execute it more often than not.
Click to expand...


That's the way i play Pal.......I'm not really a book worm either.....
 
A lot depends on whether you have, or can develop, the feel needed to execute these shots.
If you can't, then the methods described may be the only way.
I think I have enough experience of playing and have developed enough feel to not have to think too much about most shots - let the swing do the job and keep the mind quiet.
Doesn't always work of course.........
 
It's like anything. Some people like to get technical and others just 'feel' it.

How do you alter the distance with a wedge though? Hit harder or softer?
I always thought you keep the swing tempo and speed the same (as in Bob's putting tip video) but vary the backswing and follow through (as well as changing grip position).
If that's the case then in my case it's better to remember how far back a swing to hit a particular distance goes rather than try to judge it by feel every time.
 
think it was in the golf monthly article a month or two when (think) neil went to the new andrew coltart school, and was having issues, coltart advised him to use his feel and not get over technical on distance or technique.
Maybe wrong like!
For me, I spent last year worrying so much about what shot to play around the green or from 50 yards in, I contemplated quitting the game, for the last couple months just tried to play the shot that feels good at the time, so far its going ok, still hit the odd bad one, but a lot more decent ones, long may it continue :)
 
From what I have seen from people who get Pelz right is that it works. My coach says that people think Mickelson is a feel player when actually he has been through the same process. At the moment I can hit 9 o'clock yardages at will on the range and hopefully by the summer will do it for all. Like Region3 I'd like to work on a specific backswing length and know the yardage than 'feel' my way around in the dark. I tried it before but without the coach. Give me till September and I'll tell you whether it works :)
 
I think my short game gremlins are well documented and to be honest I got to the point where the head was so mucked up I could barely get the club back. Had a simple lesson which addressed some glaring address position issues and I'm using Bobs magic stick to just groove a simple motion. If I can set up properly and swing back and through imaging the v-easy between my arms all I want to do is feel the motion and let the club head do the work. Going great in the house so it'll be interesting to try it out tomorrow night
 
For me its a feel thing(I think). Same swing for all wedge shots( Not chips). just lengthen or shorten the length of the swing as needed. Then duff it!
 
If you watch the guys on tour, they all have their yardage books out for these shots.
From them, they'll know the distance to the front of the green, to the flag and to the back.
The majority of them will have 9 yardages for each of their wedges so will have a swing for any shot BECAUSE THEY'VE PRACTICED.


I'm not saying you should do the same, but if you can practice hitting a PW 50 yards that will be a start.
Just say your PW with a half swing holding it at the bottom of the grip goes 50 yards, your 9 iron with THE SAME SET UP may go 60 yds, your GW 40 etc etc
Once you can do that, experiment with the same set up but with a 3/4 swing.
So rather than hitting 1000's of balls, just learn 2 swings and adjust the club accordingly.

How do you know how far you are from the pin?
If your course has 150's start pacing from there and that will give you a yardage to the middle, then guess where the flag is in relation to the middle. :) Then, if you have a yardage for a half swing and a 3/4 swing for all your short clubs, you should have something that will do the job. If your memory is poor, write down the numbers on a piece of paper and tape them to the shafts.

In stroke play, getting up and down from 50 yards has a huge affect on your momentum, and in match play, your opponent will get fed up watching you win or half holes 'because you've done it again'.

Of course, the old phrase rings true....the more you put in the more you'll get out.
 
bobmac said:
Of course, the old phrase rings true....the more you put in the more you'll get out.
Click to expand...

I agree with Bob, I worked out two additional yardages for each of my clubs from my SW to my 8 iron (half and 3/4 swing). I discarded any that overlapped until I had one shot for each distance from 30 yards up to a full gap wedge.

I filled them in on a little spreadsheet, printed it out and learnt them. A month or two later my handicap dropped from 15 to 11.7.
 
bobmac said:
If you watch the guys on tour, they all have their yardage books out for these shots.
From them, they'll know the distance to the front of the green, to the flag and to the back.
The majority of them will have 9 yardages for each of their wedges so will have a swing for any shot BECAUSE THEY'VE PRACTICED.


I'm not saying you should do the same, but if you can practice hitting a PW 50 yards that will be a start.
Just say your PW with a half swing holding it at the bottom of the grip goes 50 yards, your 9 iron with THE SAME SET UP may go 60 yds, your GW 40 etc etc
Once you can do that, experiment with the same set up but with a 3/4 swing.
So rather than hitting 1000's of balls, just learn 2 swings and adjust the club accordingly.

How do you know how far you are from the pin?
If your course has 150's start pacing from there and that will give you a yardage to the middle, then guess where the flag is in relation to the middle. :) Then, if you have a yardage for a half swing and a 3/4 swing for all your short clubs, you should have something that will do the job. If your memory is poor, write down the numbers on a piece of paper and tape them to the shafts.

In stroke play, getting up and down from 50 yards has a huge affect on your momentum, and in match play, your opponent will get fed up watching you win or half holes 'because you've done it again'.

Of course, the old phrase rings true....the more you put in the more you'll get out.
Click to expand...

YES, YES and YES :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orikoru
Short Game Thoughts
4 5 6
Replies
118
Views
4K
Klimski
Klimski
Orikoru
The Tinkerman..
2 3 4
Replies
60
Views
933
kp17
kp17
T
Playing proper golf whilst trying to change your swing
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
timd77
T
H
Are we now entering the 5 wedge era?
3 4 5
Replies
80
Views
3K
Swinglowandslow
S
J
58° Wedge recommendations
2
Replies
21
Views
560
kp17
kp17
Top