cut your handicap in half
Some shots are a luxury. These are necessities:
1. The Knockdown: Hands lead the way
Many players execute the 80-yard knockdown shot by playing the ball well back in their stance, effectively decreasing the loft of the club. I believe in selecting a club with the right amount of loft to begin with, and then making a simpler, more normal swing.
Play the ball just a shade back of center in your stance. Choose your least-lofted wedge (50 degrees in my case; you may want to use a pitching wedge). Through impact, keep your hands well ahead of the ball and extend your arms on the follow-through. This is a sure way to keep your ball flight down.
2. The 40-yard Tweener: Shorten swing, then accelerate quickly
Among better players, the 40-yard shot is the toughest there is to play consistently well. You’re too close to the green to apply much backspin, yet too far away to lob the ball in as you would on a simple pitch. Needless to say, poorer players struggle from 40 yards, too.
The solution: Choose your most lofted wedge and play the ball in the center of your stance. Make a short backswing but cock your wrists as far as they’ll go. Now, really attack the ball. Hit down firmly. The ball will start dead on line, provided you swing the clubhead straight down the target line through impact. Even the divot’s on line here.
With practice, you’ll find the aggressive swing rarely produces too much distance, thanks to the shortness of the swing and the loft of your wedge.
3. The Mini Flop: Think ‘fat and firm’
The greenside pitch with little green to work with is also one of the toughest shots. To play it, take your 60-degree wedge, lay the blade open, and aim for a spot about two inches behind the ball. Make a very handsy swing, deliberately hitting the ball fat while accelerating firmly through impact. This is the best way to make the ball come out high and land soft.
4. The Skip and Check: Drive the ball down
Another tough shot is an uphill pitch to a hole cut close to the edge of the green. Most amateurs try to run the ball up the bank with a middle iron, or they try a risky lob shot. Either way, it’s difficult to get the ball close.
Try this: Select your most lofted wedge and play the ball off the toe of your back foot. Make a steep, handsy backswing. Hit down sharply on the back of the ball, keeping your hands well forward until the ball is gone. You’ll find that the ball comes out low due to the ball-back position, but it will have plenty of spin due to the loft of the clubface. The ball will hit the bank, hop onto the green and check up.
5. The Fried-egg Floater: You want the club to dig, not bounce
The flange on the bottom of your sand wedge is invaluable on routine bunker shots, because it prevents the clubhead from digging too deep into the sand. But there is one case where you want the clubhead to dig: the fried-egg lie, with the ball sitting down. You need the clubhead to penetrate the sand deep enough to get the ball out, while maintaining enough clubface loft to get some height.
Choose your most lofted wedge (like an L-wedge, which most likely has the least amount of deep-flange “bounce”). Position the ball forward in your stance, lean toward the target and aim for the “white” of the egg. Make the same steep, handsy, short-armed backswing I’ve demonstrated earlier, then hit down and through the shot firmly, with lots of acceleration.
