The post How to hit a chip shot that stops on command, according to an LPGA pro appeared first on Golf.

The post How to hit a chip shot that stops on command, according to an LPGA pro appeared first on Golf.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, led the PGA Tour in GIR percentage last season, and he missed nearly 28 percent of his greens. On the LPGA Tour, Ally Ewing leads the pack, and 23 percent of the time, she’s left scrambling.

Short Game

All that’s to say, you’ll have to rely on your short game a good bit in any given round, so knowing how to hit a variety of shots comes in handy.

One of the most useful shots? A chip shot that stops on command. And for help with that shot, I enlisted the help of a pro: Emily Kristine Pedersen.

Check out the video above or read below for three tips she gave me on hitting a chip shot that stops on command.

1. Start with the setup

Before even thinking about hitting this shot, you need to set yourself up with the correct tools. That means choosing the right club, getting the ball position correct and having the clubface in the right position.

Pedersen recommended using a 60-degree wedge for this shot and putting the ball a bit forward in the stance. Then, she suggested I open up the face to expose the bounce of the club.

“If you hit it into the ground with a shut face, it’s gonna go way too low,” she said. “If you open it and go steep into the ground, it’s going to get some height anyways.”

2. Focus on clean contact

To maximize spin on this shot, it’s important to try to nip the ball clean off the turf. The more ball-first contact you can create, the more spin you’ll generate. But even if you don’t get the cleanest contact, the bounce of the club will keep you from chunking the shot.

“It’s going to get some spin anyways,” she said. “That’s why I open the face.”

3. Turn through

The final key for this shot is making sure you turn through with your body. Don’t rely solely on your hands or your arms or you’ll get inconsistent contact. Turn your body as you hit the shot, using your big muscles in the process, and you’ll generate consistent results.

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The post Pros Teaching Joes: How to hit flop shots that launch high and land softly appeared first on Golf.

The post Pros Teaching Joes: How to hit flop shots that launch high and land softly appeared first on Golf.

Those qualities are particularly useful when players are faced with one of the most daunting asks in golf: a flop shot over a scary hazard. Other tips can also help, which is why I was thrilled to recently get a flop-shot lesson from Bronte herself. With all the great advice she gave me, you might say she laid down the Law. (I wouldn’t say that, but you might.)

Anyway, to the lesson!

Site: The par-3 course at Hamilton Farm GC, in Gladstone, N.J.

Conditions: Overcast, comfortable, light breeze

Lie: Juicy rough

Shot: 20 yards all carry over a sprawling bunker to a short-side pin

My nerves: On edge!

Golf is best played with minimal thought, especially when executing specialty shots around the green. Fill your brain with a list of dos and don’ts as you stand over the ball and you’re destined for a chunk, top, blade, maybe even an outright whiff. That in mind, Bronte gave me four simple keys:  

1. Let loft be your friend

First things first: your club choice. Bronte typically employs her 60-degree wedge — after all, the goal is to get your ball up quickly and land it softly, and no club in your bag is better equipped for those tasks. For shots that require even more lift, further open the face of your wedge at address.

“I angle the shaft backward to ensure I’ll get the loft I need to get the ball to stop quickly,” Bronte says, adding that she also likes to play the ball in the back of her stance.

2. Quiet your body — and your swing

Don’t dip or scoop or try to lift the ball into the air. You want to keep your core relatively still — and, again, let your club do the work. Excess movement can lead to crummy contact. So can inconsistent clubhead speed. “The speed on your takeaway and follow-through should be the same,” Bronte says. “You don’t want any deceleration or acceleration.”

Ah, yes, dreaded decel! You must commit to the shot or you’re liable to hit the ball 2 yards instead of 20. Which leads us to…

3. Don’t leave the ball short

The last thing you want to face after one flop shot is another flop shot. So don’t get too cute, and make sure you get the ball to the green. Even a long bending putt is more than likely a better option than having to replay the nervy shot you should hit — or tried to hit.  

4. Read your lie

Not all lies are created equal. For example, a 20-yard flop shot off the fairway might well require a shorter takeaway/less speed than a 20-yard flop shot from the rough. “Certain lies prevent you from playing certain shots,” Bronte says. “In deeper rough, you can be more aggressive than on a tight lie.”

For much more from Bronte, check out the video above.

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The post Pros Teaching Joes: How to hit flop shots that launch high and land softly appeared first on Golf.

The post Pros Teaching Joes: How to hit flop shots that launch high and land softly appeared first on Golf.

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The post Danielle Kang gave me a putting lesson — here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf.

The post Danielle Kang gave me a putting lesson — here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf.

Luckily, I met up with Danielle Kang in San Diego last summer for a putting lesson. (Imagine a better coach than the most recent winner on the LPGA Tour!) My usual routine around the greens consists of walking up to my putt, looking at the hole with confusion and just going for it — a Hail Mary putt, if you will. So I needed a full lesson on the greens. Reading, analyzing, stroke, speed, all of it. If you’re anything like me, I’m sure her tips can help you, too. Check it out in the video below.

First, Kang taught me how she reads slope. She took me behind the hole and had me check out how steep the slope was, because that’ll impact break the most. After that, we looked about a yard or so away from the hole on both sides. This part matters a lot! It’s the last break that will determine the final few rolls at the end of the putt.

By this point, I had already done much more to prepare for a putt than I ever had before. But the work wasn’t over yet. Our pro had me consider how I’ll get the ball to the last yard or so before the hole. Then, we stepped behind the putt and matched the break to my start line. We lined up my ball to the apex of the break (something I admittedly had never thought much about), and took a few practice putts while looking at the hole.

One thing that Kang made sure to highlight is the fact that you can’t try to control the speed at this point. You’ve studied the putt, and now it’s all about feel and execution. After that, Kang turned her attention to my actual putting stroke. There was a LOT of room for improvement here. I tend to accelerate through the ball instead of just letting the putterhead do its job, so she pulled out her phone to show me the metronome app that she uses to help her tempo. I was unfamiliar with this, and it has taken some practice, but putting to the beat of the metronome has really helped me smooth out my tempo. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…

Danielle earned her sixth LPGA title on Sunday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, so it’s safe to say this method works. I can’t wait for my next work trip to show my pals how much I’ve improved. Try it out for yourself! And if you’re looking for more tips from Danielle, click here.

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The post Pros Teaching Joes: How long-drive champ Kyle Berkshire helped me gain 8 yards in two swings appeared first on Golf.

The post Pros Teaching Joes: How long-drive champ Kyle Berkshire helped me gain 8 yards in two swings appeared first on Golf.

It’s also something that is actually achievable if you go about it the right way. And no, it doesn’t always require months of excruciating work in the gym (thank goodness!). Back in November, I had the chance to experience first-hand how simple it is to add yards to your drives, thanks to an on-the-spot lesson from reigning World Long Drive champ Kyle Berkshire.

My driver is my favorite club in the bag. Hitting the fairway is generally my forte, but my distance is less than stellar. A good drive for me usually travels around 200 yards. But with Kyle’s guidance, with one swing, I gained four mph, and on my second, I posted an additional eight yards of distance. Amazing! Here’s a breakdown of how he helped me max out my drives, without changing my swing.

How to gain yards without changing your swing

Step 1: Create as much speed as possible

Speed means distance, and, as a general rule, the more speed you create, the more distance you’ll generate. But how do you create more speed? Berkshire says it’s all about displacing your weight from your starting point, and returning that weight with more momentum and power through the ball. Berkshire’s recommendation for me was to try to shift my weight more to my trail side on the backswing, which should help me turn more and deliver more power (and speed!) through impact.

For me, that meant “stacking” my weight over my right knee on the backswing and trying to make sure the entirety of my body was behind the ball at impact.

I’m not a very technical person, especially when it comes to the golf swing, so the feeling I tried to create on my practice swing was one of additional extension on the backswing — almost like an extra gear of wind-up — and a deeper shoulder turn.

The swing felt strong — and it was! Right off the bat, I gained four mph in ball speed. Huzzah! But Berkshire wasn’t done with me yet.

Step 2: Learn to unload your wrists

The immediate ball-speed gain was nice, but Berkshire felt like we could do better. The next step? Unloading the wrists in the final third of the swing before impact, which Berkshire says is the biggest point of speed amplification in his swing. The more extreme the angle, the greater the unload, and therefore, the greater the distance.

One thing to keep in mind, Berkshire said, is that the wrist angle is not just something you can aspire to create. It’s reactive to the work you put in to the first part of your backswing: your coil, turn and stacking.

Obviously, I would never come close to the wrist angle Berkshire achieves on his longest drives, but even a minor improvement would make a big difference for me.

When Berkshire put me on the spot to hit one more drive, I was nervous — I didn’t think I could top the first drive I hit. But keeping his guidance in mind, lo and behold, my second swing was even better. Eight more yards of carry! For a player like me, that’s a whole club! It can mean the difference between being in range on a par-5 or not, or hitting an iron as opposed to a fairway wood on a par-4.

In short, my time with Berkshire was eye-opening and inspiring. And it sure feels good to be a new member of the bomb squad.

To add more pop to your swing, get a driver fitting from the experts at 8AM Golf affiliate True Spec Golf.

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