Free Golf Tips Online Archives

Shots from the Rough

When faced with a shot from the rough, use your head to think your way out of trouble. The best rule to follow is to play it safe and choose the shot that offers the best recovery with the minimum risk of leaving yourself in an even more difficult situation.

Trying an almost impossible recovery shot seldom succeeds and a double or triple bogey usually follows. Treat the rough with the respect it deserves, striving to incorporate the following general tips into your recovery strategy.

Use a more lofted club to get maximum loft quickly. 'Pop' the ball out of heavy or high rough. If you are a mid to high handicapper, choose the 5 wood over a long iron. There is less tendency for the clubhead to get caught up in the grass.

Choke down on the club 1" to 2". Open your stance slightly. Take the club up more abruptly than a regular shot with the wrists breaking early.

In heavy rough, open the clubface slightly. Grass can wrap around the hosel and close the clubface.

In light rough, take a more upright swing and hit down and through the ball.

Uneven Lies

Most rounds of golf will produce abnormal lies. Handling these situations is not that difficult if you approach your shot with a positive mental attitude and adjust your swing accordingly.

Uphill lie. Take a normal stance, standing perpendicular to the slope. Take the club back parallel to the slope and swing easily. Balls hit from uphill lies tend to hook. Aim right to compensate.

Downhill lies. This is the most difficult lie to hit from. Stand perpendicular to the slope and play the ball back in your stance. Follow the slope on the backswing and stay down through the impact zone. Don’t lift your head!

Ball above the feet. Choke down on the club. Play for a hook. Ball below the feet. Bend the knees and waist and stay down through the shot. Play for a slice.

Buried Balls / Buried Lies in Greenside Bunkers

When you plug a ball into a bunker so deep you can only see the top, you are in trouble. Any questions about that?

Take your normal address position for a bunker shot - Keep your stance open, and play the ball forward in your stance.

Now, close the face of the wedge. Make it look like a two or three iron!! Now, swing with conviction (but don't lose your form. Keep your natural swing, but be aggressive). Don't forget to follow through!!!

Remember from previous lessons: You still want to hit the ball as if it were on a pancake, or sprinkler head (obviously, imagining this).

Hit the front of the pancake (in other words, hit behind the ball about 2 inches). Thickness of the sand matters: If relatively loose, hit about 2 inches behind. Relatively hard, hit closer to an inch behind.

And if you fail, get the ball, step on it and pound it in the sand, and try again!!

Remember, most of us practice on the course!! (Just don't hold up play).

Hard Ground/Divot Holes/Pine Needles

When hitting from difficult lies, try not to let yourself get 'psyched' up over the prospect of a poor shot.

Instead, take a three-quarter backswing for maximum control and make the following swing adjustments.

On hardpan, play the ball farther back in your stance.

Play a normal 'hardpan' shot making sure to hit down into the ball.

Keep your hands ahead of the ball at the address position and be sure to hit down into the ball.

Hit down into the ball when the ball is centered in a divot.

Depending on where your ball is in the divot you should do one of the following:

1. Either firm up your grip and close your clubface a little to prevent the edge of the divot from opening the toe at impact.

or-

2. Firm up your grip and open the clubface slightly to prevent the divot from catching the heel and closing the face at impact.

Tip of The Week

Open Green (no perils in front, i.e bunkers, waters, large rough, etc), and about 20 to 70 yards out? Use an eight iron!! Choke down, place the ball 2 inches in front of your back heel, take a backswing like a putt, and swing.

DO NOT BREAK YOUR WRISTS!

Keep your head down. Your backswing will determine the length the ball goes. As accurate as a putt, and much safer than lofting the ball. This is guaranteed to save you three strokes a round!