Tony’s Short Game Improvement Tip Series #3 - Putting

Putting

Here's the Cleveland Golf Tip of the Week. At the Dewsweepers Golf School and on the Dewsweepersgolfshow.com website it’s always a topic, “How can I improve my scoring and short game?”

Over the last few weeks we have covered chipping and pitching. We are going take you through how to improve your putting today.

First I advocate using the line on your ball to help get you lined up. Use the writing or a line to point at the intended target. This will help you get more consistent with your aim and get the ball started m ore on line. You will also become better at green reading as you begin to aim more consistently. Many people struggle with green reading because they aim themselves inconsistently and all over the place.

With your grip we want the putter to be place in the palm of your hands so that we deactivate the wrists. We want to reduce wrist action in the putting stroke.

Have the v between your thumb and index finger come off the shaft of your putter at a 45 degree angle. This will allow your elbows tow rest comfortably against your ribcage. Now bend over from the waist keeping your elbows against your rib cage and move the putter back and thru equal distances back and thru. We want to avoid short strokes that accelerate the putter to the ball.

Learn to swing the putter with the rocking of your shoulders. Your lead shoulder or left shoulder for a right handed player should feel as if it goes down than up.

Keep a steady head and try and hold your finish this will help you finish your stroke and make more solid contact with your putts.
Try this setup and stroke keys and see if you don’t start making more putts and shooting lower scores.

Tony’s Short Game Improvement Tip Series #2 - Pitching

Pitching

At the Dewsweepers Golf School and on the Dewsweepersgolfshow.com website it's always a topic, "How to improve my short game and scoring"

Last week we talked about the importance of the chip and run and the fundamentals required hit the shot effectively. We discussed the need for a proper set up and to finish with a flat left wrist and bent right wrist.

Well when we go to pitching we are going to build on what we did last week. We alter our set up slightly. Our feet will move slightly wider because we are going to make a bigger pivot motion to provide the extra power needed for this shot. I like to see your feet inside shoulder width.

Ball position now moves closer to your left foot and falls directly underneath the logo on your golf shirt or a ball or so width inside your left or lead foot.

Move the club back with your trunk and allow your wrist to hinge properly. Often time I see golfers trying to hit pitch shots without any wrist hinge. The wrist hinge is critical in order to hit down on the ball properly and make solid contact.

Let the size and speed of your pivot dictate how far you are going to hit the shot. Make sure you make a big enough backswing. Too often golfers make short backswings and try and accelerate the club with their hands in order to give the ball enough power to get to the target.

Make sure you swing the shaft of the club down and left going through the ball.
This will help get you out of the habit of swinging up and trying to scoop the ball in the air.

While swinging the shaft down to the left keep those educated hands we worked on last week. Keep your left wrist flat and right wrist bent.

Applying these principles to what we have done last week will help you pitch the ball more effectively and consistently. You will control your distances better and get more up and downs and shoot lower scores.

Tony’s Short Game Improvement Tip Series #1 - Chipping

At the Dewsweepers Golf School and on the Dewsweepersgolfshow.com website it's always a topic, "How can I improve my short game?" Well this week I am going to begin a 3 week series on how to improve your short game and lower your scores.

Chipping

Start with your wedges. Often times I find that players don’t have the right tool in their tool box. Make sure you have wedges with the right loft and bounce for your type of conditions and stroke.

Chipping is the first stroke we are going to look at. The basic chip and run shot is the bread and butter of your short game. It is essential to be able to perform this correctly. Here are the essentials to properly playing a chip and run shot.

First is set up: Since the stroke we are making is a small pivot motion we will not need a very big stance to support this motion. For chip and run shots start with your feet very close together and square to slightly open.

Place the ball position inside your rear foot. One thing I don’t like to see is feet that are angled toward the target or a ball position that is behind your stance.

Now move the club with your pivot motion but allow the club to swing more up and down. We want the path of the club to be high to low. Most Dewsweepers that struggle chipping swing the club low to high in an effort to scoop the ball.

Educated hands: allow the club the bump the ground in front of the ball and finish with your left or lead wrist flat and right or rear wrist bent. This will help insure solid contact and a ball that starts on line.

Make sure you finish with your hips open to the target and your chest or the buttons on your shirt as I like to say past the target. If you learn to use this setup and chipping motion you will on your way to better chips and more up and downs and I can bet your scores will end up much lower.