Golfing for Beginners: Part 4
We have all the seen the fantastically long, but very accurate drives of Tiger Woods. When he hits the ball, it sails through the air and lands smack in the middle of the fairway, some 300 yards 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.
This where the “short game” comes in because without reasonable short game skills, those great long drives will have been wasted.
The “short game” is made up of those shots that get you onto the green from no more than about a hundred feet out, whether it’s from the fairway, a bunker, the rough or a drop zone. It includes chips, sand shots and pitches.
In this middle stage of the game, you use the higher numbered clubs, your pitching iron and sand wedge or lob wedge more often.
You will find practice areas on most golf courses. You really ought to spend some time practising hitting the ball onto the green from various distances. Try to hit the ball into a ten-foot circle in the centre of the green at first. Experiment using your wedges, but remember that what works well for one person, might not work so well for you because your particular swing is an unknown factor in the equation.
After you get accustomed to performing this drill consistently, it’s time to start practising in a sand trap. Knowing how to get the ball out of a trap will cut your score dramatically.
The way to do it is to plant your feet firmly in the sand with your left foot turned to face the hole. See an imaginary 4-inch circle around the ball and try to hit the outer edge of that circle.
Try to take up lots of sand with the ball and swing completely through as you normally would. Don’t pull back on your swing at all when or after you have hit the ball. It should spring up gently onto the green and stop dead in its tracks. This doesn’t work very well though unless the sand is quite soft and dry. On harder or compacted surfaces, you might need to avoid actually hitting the sand completely.
However, as in every skill in the game of golf, it is only continual practice that will help you to improve your game.