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.
How can you not become jealous as you wonder if you could ever dare to hope to drive like that? It is consoling to know, that long drives are not crucial to 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.
It is in this middle stage of the game of golf that you get to use the higher numbered clubs, your pitching iron and sand wedge or lob wedge.
Most golf courses have practice areas as well as a driving range. You should spend some time working on hitting the ball onto the green from different distances. Aim for a ten-foot circle in the center of the green at first. Experiment using your wedges, but what works for someone else, might not work for you and your particular swing.
After you have got into the habit of being able to perform this skill consistently, it’s time to start practising in a sand bunker. Being able to get the ball out of a bunker can cut your score dramatically.
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.
Kick up lots of sand with the ball and swing completely through as normal. Don’t slow down the swing at all when or after you hit the ball. It should jump up onto the green and stop almost dead. This doesn’t work very well though unless the sand is soft and dry. On hard, compacted surfaces, you might need to avoid actually hitting the sand all together.
However, as in all aspects of the game of golf, only practice will help you to improve your score.
