Golfing For Novices: Part Four

We have all the seen the bewilderingly long and yet accurate drives of Tiger Woods. When he hits the ball, it flies through the air only to land in the bang middle of the fairway, 300 odd metres away.

The green-eyed monster of envy rises in us as we wonder if we could ever possibly hope to drive like that. Fortunately, long drives are not the be-all-and-end-all of the game of golf.

Enter the short game for without good short game skills, all the long drives are not worth a light.

We call the ‘short game’ those shots that get you onto the green from roughly a hundred feet away from the hole, no matter whether it’s from the fairway, a bunker, the rough or a drop zone. It includes all chips, sand shots and pitches.

In this middle stage of the game, you use the higher numbered clubs, your pitching iron and sand wedge or lob wedge more often.

You will find practice areas on most golf courses. You really must spend some time working on hitting the ball onto the green from various distances. Try to hit a ten-foot circle in the centre of the green at first. Experiment using your wedges, but remember that what works well for one person, might not work so well for you and your particular swing.

When you can perform this skill fairly consistently, it is about time to start practising how to get out of a sand bunker. Being able to get the ball out of a bunker can really cut your score quite dramatically and it is very frustrating if you can’t do it.

The way to get out of a bunker is to place your feet firmly in the sand with your left foot turned to point towards the hole. Draw an imaginary 4-inch circle around the ball and try to hit the outer edge of that circle with a short, sharp chip.

Take lots of sand with your ball and swing through completely. Don’t decelerate at all when or after you hit the ball. It should pop up onto the green and stop. This doesn’t work well though unless the sand is dry, soft and powdery. On hard surfaces, you might need to avoid actually hitting the sand at all.

However, as in every skill in the game of golf, it is only continual practice that will help you to improve your game.

Are you new to golf? We have some great our website at tips for the beginner golfer on our website at Golfing Tips for Beginners

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