Golf Tip of the Month

By Justin Blazer

The Golf Swing

Short game shots are a miniature of your full swing!!

Pitching and Chipping:

  1. Make the smallest possible swing
  2. Land ball on green as soon as possible
  3. Allow for maximum roll to the hole

Ankle high swing – Knee high swing – Hip high swing – Shoulder high swing.

Arms swing the club for height of swing, hands hold the club for security and feel of the clubhead and the wrists hinge going back and unhinge going down on the ball for a crisp, solid contact. The swing will be balanced on both sides of the ball, knee to knee, hip to hip etc. for a constant effort and swing motion. Face ball straight on with the front foot dropped back from the target line slightly, weight will be 50/50 on the balls of the feet, hold down on the bottom of the grip for feel and control, feel yourself in a comfortable sitting position with your arms extended. Aim clubface at desired line, ball in the middle of the stance with extended but soft arms, body will be parallel to the target line feeling slightly open with the front foot back from the ball. Swing and hinge club away from ball to the desired height, then swing, unhinge down on the ball in the forward swing for solid contact and lift on the ball due to the clubface loft.

Keys to Work on:

  1. Feel and use your dominant hand and arm
  2. Learn to hit down on the ball to create lift and spin
  3. Body faces the ball during the swing
  4. Know and picture the position of the clubhead the entire swing
  5. Take a perfect practice swing of the swing you will hit the ball with
  6. Execute the swing and shot to get the ball to the hole
  7. Work on solid contact
  8. Learn to use different lofted clubs
  9. Keep the ball close to the ground unless you go over an obstacle and need backspin
  10. Learn to hit these shots with square, open and closed clubfaces to produce different types of shots when needed
  11. You can never spend too much time on the short game!

Learn to create a miniature of your full swing in your short game shots, keeping the same mental approach throughout your swing. Specialty shots are great, but stay consistent in your technique as often as you can, so, routine, feel and physical movements can repeat on each shot!!!!