When a student I'm teaching hits a bad shot, I always ask the same question: "What were you thinking of there?" The amount of stuff that comes back is mind-boggling, from mechanical positions to mental cues to what could go wrong. If you hit a decent shot when you're thinking about 16 things, you just got very lucky. Here I'm going to give you one thing to focus on for each of the basic short-game shots: pitch, chip, sand and putt. This key is not a cure-all for everyone, but it's the one move that will help the most golfers.
Gimme One Thing
May 2009
On pitch shots, many golfers try to help the ball into the air. To do this, they drop the right shoulder and flip the hands through impact, which leads to hitting behind the ball. To make good contact on pitch shots, concentrate on turning your left shoulder more level on the through-swing.
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Instead of opening the clubface to hit it high, lean the shaft back at address by pointing the grip end of the club at your belly button. (For more loft, you could even angle it to your right hip.)
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Better players tend to have stronger grips, with the left hand rotated farther away from the target. But for a lofted pitch, a weaker grip works better. Try taking your setup, then putting the back of your left hand against your left thigh and taking your grip again.
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To hit a high pitch, the clubhead should swing past your hands through the ball. That passing action adds more loft to the face. A good swing thought: Point the knuckles of your right hand down just after impact.
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For more than a decade, Golf Digest, the PGA of America and Golf Channel have been teaming up to present PGA Free Lesson Month. To set up your free 10-minute lesson from a PGA/LPGA professional during the month of May, consult the list of participating teachers at PlayGolfAmerica.com.
Ranked 12th on Golf Digest's list of America's 50 Greatest Teachers, Hall is the director of instruction at Ibis Golf & Country Club in West Palm Beach. He is the 2008 PGA Teacher of the Year.
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