Improve Golf Game By Playing The Odds
A golf course is not a gambling casino, but some golfers use it that way. The trick to being a good gambler is to know the odds and play the odds that give you the best chance of winning. This applies to golf as well as any other gamble you take. This applies to all parts of the game, but none so much as your short game. This is where people become unglued.
Here are a few simple rules to help with the decision as to which club to use and will afford you the least risk.
When you are slightly off the green and you have a level surface on your path to the cup, you should use your putter.
If there is a probability that the ball will bounce, don't take a chance. Take a low loft iron and play a chip and run. The idea here is to lift the ball just enough so that it will clear the fringe and land on the green very low and allow it to run. If you give it too much loft it will die and not run. You will have to practice this, so that you get a feel for how hard to stroke the shot. This is an important part of your game. Mastering the chip and run can seriously improve your score.
If it isn't practical to use a putter or a low level iron, that is if you feel that you are too far of the green or you are hitting either uphill or downhill you should use a wedge.
A word of caution here - The wedge is not the easiest iron to control. Unless you are an experienced golfer the odds grow when the wedge is used.
The problem with most golfers is that they only practice driving and this is natural, because it's more fun. You can go out to a driving range and just whale away. The short game gets ignored until we run in to the problems of roughs, sand traps and approach shots. This is where the score of the average golfer begins to soar.
The art of putting back spin on the ball. The pitch and run. Punching a three iron out of the rough. To the average golfer these are all foreign terms. But to be a good golfer you must practice the whole game, especially the shots that give you the most problems.
You can see the pros out practicing over and over a shot that gave them trouble during their round. Practice makes perfect is true in any field in which you wish to excel but, in golf it is especially true. Yet we make the same mistakes over and over and do nothing but complain.
When you practice a certain shot be very observant of the stance you used, the grip and the length of the swing. If the shot turns out good, do it again the same way and keep on doing it until it becomes almost automatic.
I realize this is a lot of work and can become tedious. Practicing a shot over and over is not fun, but the fun will come when you are on the course and all that tedious practice starts to pay off. When other golfers slap you on the back and say "Great shot, man" all that hard work is worth while. Constant practice with all clubs in difference circumstances is necessary to improve golf swing.
Here are a few simple rules to help with the decision as to which club to use and will afford you the least risk.
When you are slightly off the green and you have a level surface on your path to the cup, you should use your putter.
If there is a probability that the ball will bounce, don't take a chance. Take a low loft iron and play a chip and run. The idea here is to lift the ball just enough so that it will clear the fringe and land on the green very low and allow it to run. If you give it too much loft it will die and not run. You will have to practice this, so that you get a feel for how hard to stroke the shot. This is an important part of your game. Mastering the chip and run can seriously improve your score.
If it isn't practical to use a putter or a low level iron, that is if you feel that you are too far of the green or you are hitting either uphill or downhill you should use a wedge.
A word of caution here - The wedge is not the easiest iron to control. Unless you are an experienced golfer the odds grow when the wedge is used.
The problem with most golfers is that they only practice driving and this is natural, because it's more fun. You can go out to a driving range and just whale away. The short game gets ignored until we run in to the problems of roughs, sand traps and approach shots. This is where the score of the average golfer begins to soar.
The art of putting back spin on the ball. The pitch and run. Punching a three iron out of the rough. To the average golfer these are all foreign terms. But to be a good golfer you must practice the whole game, especially the shots that give you the most problems.
You can see the pros out practicing over and over a shot that gave them trouble during their round. Practice makes perfect is true in any field in which you wish to excel but, in golf it is especially true. Yet we make the same mistakes over and over and do nothing but complain.
When you practice a certain shot be very observant of the stance you used, the grip and the length of the swing. If the shot turns out good, do it again the same way and keep on doing it until it becomes almost automatic.
I realize this is a lot of work and can become tedious. Practicing a shot over and over is not fun, but the fun will come when you are on the course and all that tedious practice starts to pay off. When other golfers slap you on the back and say "Great shot, man" all that hard work is worth while. Constant practice with all clubs in difference circumstances is necessary to improve golf swing.
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