Yip Proof Chip Shot

A student recently came to me with a problem with very short chips from around the green. He almost yipped these shots and needed a solution. He was ok as long as he could putt but when there was more fringe to negotiate and get the ball over he was scared and without a shot that would work.

Here is what we did.

We took his 8 or 9 iron and let him grip the club exactly like his putter which he did by placing in the palms of his hands. This grip helped take the wrist action out of the shots. We had both thumbs come off of the grip of his iron at a 45 degree angle.

From here he simply made his normal putting stroke with no hinge in his wrists. this simple stroke allowed the club to pop the ball up over the fringe and then tumble towards the hole like a putt.

Quit Hanging Back

Dewsweeper writes in that they are having trouble with hanging back on their back foot and hit it weak to the right and that they never take a divot do I have any suggestions.
Of course we have some help. This is quite common and something we see all the time.

Here is the visual I use frequently when helping students fight the hang back.

We have all been told to keep our head down and still. What results is usually a pivot that stops and stalls and a head and body which goes back and never turns through to the front foot.

I ask students to visualize Annika or David Duval and have the release their head and eyes before the ball is struck. We will also hold a shaft up next to a students right side of their head. On the down swing they try and make their head go forwards from the shaft towards the target.

lastly we have students hold their finish with both knees touching. If you can go through this process you can quit hanging back, make a divot and add some power to your game.

A Dewsweeper writes in that he is having trouble with the club coming in too steep from the outside wants to know if we have a tip to help him visualize and practice the right path of the downswing. This dewsweeper feels he has trouble with where the club is supposed to go from
the top of back swing and doesn't understand whats supposed to start the down swing.

If path is from the outside make sure first that your face is square. An open club face is often the culprit of a poor and outside down swing path.

Now let's make sure you have proper sequence from the top of the back swing.
At the start of down swing pressure changes from the right heel to left foot. At this time the left knee goes back to where it was at the address position. The key to getting the club on plane is for the arms to fall/ lower club down the plane at this time.

Next the hips pull the chest and then the chest pulls arms and club through the impact zone and turns completely to the finish!
Visual to practice: put a noodle from pool on shaft directly on target line at angle of shaft at address slightly out of reach of club during back swing
Feel club swing up noodle going back and try and make it go down or even under coming down

Dont Get Stuck!

A Dewsweeper writes in that they have been told they get stuck during their down swing and that causes inconsistencies. He would like to know if we can we offer any help.

Usually a player gets stuck when on or during their backswing the right elbow(righthanded player) gets too far behind them. By this we mean from the down line view the elbow would be back behind the back of the playerback not over right hip and in front of pivot as I would prefer.

I like to have students see the distance the elbows are apart at address and maintain that distance through whole swing. This is a great visual that really seems to stick with students. If they can keep the elbost the same distance apart back and through they usually keep everything in front of them and improve their ball striking.

Here is an additional practice technique we use. Take a nerf ball or small soccer ball and put between elbows and hit slow shots this will help keep arms in front of you and eliminate becoming stuck!