THE ULTIMATE SHORT - GAME GUIDE

The key shots you need to get up-and-down more often

Your short game is the glue that holds all your rounds together and helps you to make your best scores. On the days when your long game isn’t on, a good short game will help you scramble a decent score. And when your long game is firing, a razor-sharp performance on and around the greens will get you shooting well under your handicap. There can be even greater emphasis on this part of your game for handicap golfers, too. A club golfer could be using their wedge game 14 or 15 times a round, so improving this part of your game will save you a lot of shots.

For all wedge shots, it’s important to understand the bounce, which is the back of the clubhead. If the bounce is the part of the club that makes contact with the ground, you can get away with a lot more than when the leading edge impacts the turf first. The ability to hit the turf and not dig is essential for being a good short-game player.

Pitching

The secret to consistent and accurate pitching is getting your set-up right to create the optimum attack angle through impact. The ball position is all about managing the low point of your swing, so you impact the ball at the correct time. You want the low point just after the ball. The low point is directly below the lead shoulder, so the ball position should be a couple of inches before that. This is a little further forward than you might be used to and results in much shallower divots or just grazing the turf. Stand square to your target with a square-to-very-slightly open clubface. You should have a narrower stance because there isn’t a big weight shift compared with a full swing – you want stability from the lower half – with your weight 60% to 70% on your left side (for right-handers).