We have all the seen the fantastically long, but very accurate drives of Tiger Woods. When he hits the ball, it sails through the air and lands smack in the middle of the fairway, some 300 yards away.
The green-eyed monster of envy rises in us as we wonder if we could ever possibly hope to drive like that. Fortunately, long drives are not the be-all-and-end-all of the game of golf.
Enter the short game for without good short game skills, all the long drives are not worth a light.
We call the ’short game’ those shots that get you onto the green from roughly a hundred feet away from the hole, no matter whether it’s from the fairway, a bunker, the rough or a drop zone. It includes all chips, sand shots and pitches.
It is in this middle stage of the game of golf that you get to use the higher numbered clubs, your pitching iron and sand wedge or lob wedge.
You will find practice areas on most golf courses. You really ought to spend some time practising hitting the ball onto the green from various distances. Try to hit the ball into a ten-foot circle in the centre of the green at first. Experiment using your wedges, but remember that what works well for one person, might not work so well for you because your particular swing is an unknown factor in the equasion.
When you can perform this skill fairly consistently, it is about time to start practising how to get out of a sand bunker. Being able to get the ball out of a bunker can really cut your score quite dramatically and it is very frustrating if you can’t do it.
The way to get out of a bunker is to place your feet firmly in the sand with your left foot turned to point towards the hole. Draw an imaginary 4-inch circle around the ball and try to hit the outer edge of that circle with a short, sharp chip.
Try to take up lots of sand with the ball and swing completely through as you normally would. Don’t pull back on your swing at all when or after you have hit the ball. It should spring up gently onto the green and stop dead in its tracks. This doesn’t work very well though unless the sand is quite soft and dry. On harder or compacted surfaces, you might need to avoid actually hitting the sand completely.
However, as in every skill in the game of golf, it is only continual practice that will help you to improve your game.