Biggest Short Golf Game Faults Fixed | Golf Monthly
In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by tour coach Liam James to offer some simple guidance on how to escape bunkers and chip it closer!
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - One of the fastest ways to improve your game this year
00:08 might well be to concentrate on the short game.
00:11 Now we've teamed up with Ping
00:12 and we're here at the London Club
00:13 to offer you some really helpful pointers
00:16 about how to improve, starting, Liam, with bunker play.
00:19 Now I guess the issue that a lot of people will have
00:22 is that they either are in danger
00:24 of fitting the ball into the face
00:25 or fatting it and leaving it in the bunker.
00:27 So how do you get more consistent
00:28 with the amount of sands you take?
00:29 - Yeah, so the most inconsistent thing
00:31 that you see in the bunker really
00:32 is obviously where the club is striking the ground.
00:34 So as you've just mentioned there,
00:36 some players trying to help the golf ball out of the bunker,
00:39 hitting the sand in the wrong place,
00:41 and then obviously that fearful thin
00:43 that goes through the back of the green.
00:44 But we've got a simple drill for you here basically
00:46 that just enables you to obviously make sure
00:50 that when you're practicing back home
00:52 and you're practicing in the bunker,
00:53 you are entering the sand in the right place every time.
00:55 So it's just a simple line here in the sand.
00:58 And there's a couple of basic things
00:59 that we're gonna do in your setup
01:00 just to enable you to ensure
01:03 that we're gonna hit that ground in the right place.
01:04 - Okay, so tell us about that setup then.
01:07 What do you need to do to make sure
01:09 that you're in the right place before you start?
01:10 - So again, just a little common thing
01:12 that we start to see quite a bit of
01:13 is that when a player's set up here,
01:16 obviously the first thing that we generally see
01:18 is the golf ball gets a little bit
01:20 too far back in their stance.
01:21 So this line that I've got here on the ground,
01:24 I'm just gonna make sure that
01:25 that's just inside my left heel in the setup.
01:27 And then obviously when I've got now
01:29 into my address position,
01:30 I'm just gonna place a little bit more of my weight
01:32 onto my left side.
01:34 So I've got about 70 to 80% of my weight
01:36 on this left side now.
01:38 And as I'm just having a few practice swings,
01:40 all I'm gonna ensure is that
01:42 I'm just gonna strike that line
01:43 in the same place every single time.
01:46 - I guess the temptation, Liam, for people
01:49 when they're hitting a bunker shot,
01:51 but any sort of chip shot,
01:53 is to kind of lean back on it a bit
01:54 and feel like you're helping the ball up in the air.
01:56 It can feel like the most natural thing to do,
01:58 but actually that can hurt you, right?
01:59 - Absolutely, and that's where you've just got to trust
02:02 the fact that you've got plenty of loft
02:03 in your hands in the first place.
02:04 I mean, we've got 56 degrees of loft here,
02:07 so there's no need for me to try and add
02:08 any more loft at any given point.
02:10 But there's just a little bit of a trusting in there
02:12 to make sure that you're set up
02:13 in the right place first of all.
02:15 But 80% of this really is your setup.
02:17 If we get that right,
02:18 the rest of it is a lot more straightforward.
02:20 - Okay, Liam, so talk us through the drill.
02:22 - Okay, so basic drill, obviously,
02:24 I've drawn the line in the sand here.
02:25 So all that we're going to do really
02:27 when we set ourself up in the practice now,
02:28 two or three practice swings
02:30 before we go ahead and hit the ball.
02:32 And I'm just going to make sure that this golf ball
02:34 is just positioned inside of my left foot here, okay?
02:37 And now I'm going to place around 70% of my weight
02:39 onto that front side, as I mentioned.
02:41 And I'm just going to have a few practice swings,
02:43 making sure that I'm hitting the sand in the right place.
02:47 Okay, the big thing to watch out for when you're doing this
02:50 is obviously making sure we're not seeing the club
02:52 enter the sand too far behind that line,
02:55 because that will refer to what we spoke about.
02:57 So, should I give it a go?
02:58 - Give it a go, yeah, let's see.
02:59 - Okay, so plenty of loft on the golf club,
03:03 but in address there, ball's just inside my left foot.
03:05 I've got a little bit of weight on that left side.
03:08 - Perfect.
03:11 - And then off we go.
03:11 - Lovely, and if you can do that,
03:13 then you should be able to kind of eradicate
03:15 some of those really poor shots
03:16 that might be costing you in the bunker.
03:18 Okay, so we're moving on to chipping now.
03:20 And Liam, I guess for whatever level of golfer you are,
03:24 getting consistently the distance right is the key,
03:28 isn't it?
03:28 So, how do you go about training that?
03:31 How can you practice for that?
03:32 - Absolutely, so, I mean, there's first of all,
03:34 a couple of things that you can do,
03:35 just generally basics in your setup
03:37 that offer you a little bit more control
03:40 kind of when you're hitting a chip shot.
03:41 So, often we see a lot of amateurs hitting golf shots
03:44 with their hands right at the top of the grip here.
03:47 Now, the club's actually at its heaviest
03:49 when you're holding all the way up here.
03:51 So, to gain yourself a little bit more control
03:53 and again, help you gauge the distance a little bit better,
03:56 the first thing to do is just grip down
03:58 the golf club a little bit.
03:59 So, you can see my hands are almost covering
04:01 the golf rod there on that grip.
04:02 So, now the second thing that I've got set out here
04:06 for when you're practicing is there's just a towel
04:09 on the green there.
04:10 So, that's my ideal landing area for this shot.
04:13 So, to refer that to your distance control,
04:15 all that we're gonna do now
04:16 is just have a few different practice swings.
04:19 And the only thing that I'm trying to do here
04:21 is just have a relevant practice swing
04:23 of how hard I'm trying to hit that.
04:25 Often we see a lot of golfers
04:27 have very irrelevant practice swings
04:29 where they might be swinging back too far
04:30 or they not even have a practice swing at all.
04:32 - Yes, so you're really trying to gain a feel for distance
04:36 just by looking at the towel
04:37 and then feeling the lumps that swing.
04:39 - So, just eyes on the towel,
04:40 a few different practice swings there,
04:42 just keeping my eyes on there
04:44 and just trying to gauge if I'm taking that golf club
04:46 far enough back in order to land it where I want.
04:48 - And when you're out on a golf course then,
04:50 are you trying to,
04:51 how much attention are you paying to your landing spot
04:53 when you're on the golf course?
04:54 Is that just as important there?
04:56 - 100%.
04:57 Identifying that landing area, first of all,
04:59 is a really important part
05:00 and often some think a lot of golfers don't do.
05:02 So, it's worth just taking a little look,
05:04 having a little walk around before you hit the chip shot
05:07 and just trying to identify yourself
05:08 an area where you'd like to land the golf ball
05:10 in order for it to release back down to the pin.
05:13 - Okay, then let's give it a go.
05:14 - Okay.
05:15 So, I'm gonna make sure that, as I mentioned,
05:17 I'm just covering the logo on the bottom of my grip there.
05:20 I'm gonna have two or three practice swings,
05:22 just keeping my eye on that landing area,
05:24 just trying to replicate the swing that I need.
05:28 I'm gonna get in there and give it a hit.
05:30 - Very good.
05:35 It's these sorts of drills that if you can use them,
05:37 it stops you getting too technical,
05:39 stops you thinking too much,
05:40 but should help improve your feel
05:42 and that could make a big difference to your scores.
05:45 (silence)
05:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]