Tell me your secrets to get <=60y from the green to near the pin

Shoe Lace · #1 07-29-2007, 02:48 PM

I'm a beginner (played 9 or 18 holes about 12 times, no lessons as of yet) and this part of the game is demolishing me.

I simply cannot figure it out. It's causing me to shoot 95-115s when I think I could be consistently shooting a heck of a lot better.

I understand golf theory on paper (I know what effects where my ball goes but I don't know how to actually fix it).

A typical hole for me goes like this: 400y par 4

I drive it about 220-240y. It will either go in the fairway leaving me with a nice shot to the green or I'll be off somewhere in the rough or in the woods (hopefully it's playable!).

Cool now I'm about 170y to the hole. I'll use a 3i/4i hybrid here and most of the time I'll be near the green if I don't have a severe mis-hit.

The problem is when I'm about 20-60y away from the green itself. I either hit the ball like a retard (it goes less than 10y because I swung too soft) or I end up hitting it too hard and runs off the green leaving me with another chip.

I am not good enough to consistently hit the green on my approach shots, so I'm left with these type of chips on pretty much every hole.

It's now getting to the point where it's annoying me. I believe I hit a new phase in my game. From "super newbie who has fun 100% of the time" to "wtf I got a 6 on a par 4 that should have been a near-guaranteed par".

Help? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

duvvard · #2 07-29-2007, 03:42 PM

accelerate thru the ball, really all there is to it. Sounds simple, but 80% of golfers fail to do it...

black knight · #3 07-29-2007, 03:55 PM

Yup, you have to just PRACTICE at the range of learning how far back to swing (that's how you adjust distance), and have an accelerating follow through LONGER than your backswing.

Pelz has a great book on the topic.

Shoe Lace · #4 07-29-2007, 04:13 PM

Hmm I guess do lack the follow through on non-full swings. Playing back some shots in my head I think I am stopping when I make contact with the ball giving it a "chip hack" effect rather than a controlled swing.

This coupled with a very slow tempo makes the ball go no where but then when I speed up my tempo and do the same thing it flies very low, very fast, and rolls forever.

My ball rarely takes a high flight path when I use my SW from these ranges. It's almost always a line drive+roll. However a near-full swing results in the ball going high and rolling not so much (haven't figured out how to make it stop on a dime but I don't care about that yet).

ClubChamp04 · #5 07-29-2007, 04:42 PM

You can't just pick up this game and start sticking them from 50-60-70 yards. These shots are all feel and until you pratice a ton you will never be consistent with those shots. Make sure you are hitting down on the ball and not trying to lift it in the air though, thats a good starting point.

ClubChamp04 · #6 07-29-2007, 04:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
and have an accelerating follow through LONGER than your backswing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree with this btw.

Shoe Lace · #7 07-29-2007, 05:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You can't just pick up this game and start sticking them from 50-60-70 yards. These shots are all feel and until you pratice a ton you will never be consistent with those shots. Make sure you are hitting down on the ball and not trying to lift it in the air though, thats a good starting point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting that you mentioned the lifting thing. I've been consciously doing this for sure at times. In my head I think "well if I need to hit it a total of 20y let's swing slow and sort of lift it". Result? I take 5 steps forward and get ready to shoot again usually mumbling profanities to myself.

guids · #8 07-29-2007, 05:05 PM

OP, I feel your pain, Im pretty much int the same spot, my irons and drivers are actually pretty good, but get me ten feet off the green and in the rough, or on the fairway, and I completly [censored] things up, I either wormburn the ball over and across the green, or hit the ball about 2 feet. I just got pelz shortgame bible, and have started working everything he says to do. Its only been a week, but there has been some improvement, in that at least now, I can pretty much consistently get the abll in the air and flying most of the time. I def recommend pelz book, a big back yard, and some laundry baskets.

TripleH68 · #9 07-29-2007, 05:12 PM

You have to just let the club do the work on these shots. Easy tempo and swing through the ball, much like you would stroke the cue ball when you want to hit a draw.

Consider choking down on a wedge to help you get a feel for distance.

ClubChamp04 · #10 07-29-2007, 05:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and have an accelerating follow through LONGER than your backswing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree with this btw.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I take this back [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] The reason I said it was b/c I hit a lot of low spinners from this distance and thought my follow through was shorter than the backswing, it's not. I think you would have to make a conscious effort to have a shorter follow through if you are accelerating through the ball properly.