The following steps will help you get set up to play this shot, along with a simple exercise to nail it to perfection.

The set-up

• Place the left hand (if right-handed) towards the top of the grip and the right hand below. Left-handed golfers would normally have the right hand on top of the club and the left below. You can hold lower on the grip

• Stand with feet together and create a ‘Y’ shape with the arms and the club as shown

• Hold the club at waist height, horizontal to the ground.

• Bow to the ball, which will be achieved by bending from the waist.

• Create a little flex in your knees, this will allow you to move the body when swinging the club

• Take a small step with each foot so the ball is centred.

The swing

Get a feel for moving the club, this will be bigger than it is when chipping, just as it would be if you were to underarm throw the ball, a longer distance will require your swing to also get bigger

• Explore getting the arms and the club to move past your waist on the backswing

• A visual of creating an ‘L’ shape with the arms and the club shaft can be quite useful

• You’ll notice that you’ll start using your wrists for this to work

• Swing the club back toward the ground making sure to make contact with the ground with the club brushing the mat or grass where the ball would be 

• Keep the club moving forward Finish the movement when the hands reach waist-high on the target side

Bread and butter

The low point is the bottom of the swing where the club changes from a downward direction to an upward direction. This is where we want the club to make contact to the ball. A great way to help with this is to use the ‘bounce angle’.

The bounce angle is the angle between the front and back of the club ‘sole’. We want to use this correctly in order to create more forgiveness as we discover pitching. If the sharper ‘leading edge’ of the club was to make contact with the ground before the ball, it would dig into the ground causing ‘heavy’ contact resulting in large loss of distance. A little like using the knife blade to spread butter across bread, the knife would dig in and tear the bread.

If you can create a low point with the club shaft more vertical, instead of leaning towards the target we can ‘activate’ the bounce as this then becomes the part of the sole that interacts with the ground when you hit the ball. Going back to the bread and butter analogy, the butter is spread across the bread with the flat wide part of the knife thus eliminating digging. This all ensures a larger area for the low point and you gaining confidence in making vital contact to the ground at or even before the ball.

The exercise

Place a golf tee in the ground where the ball would lie. Now swing the club to a length which would be longer than a chip shot. From here you will try and strike the tee in the ground and then finish the swing to a similar length to the backswing.

To control distance, we can shorten the swing for shorter carry distances and lengthen the swing for longer carry distances. We can also adjust the distance and the flight of the ball by simply using different clubs.

Experiment with the clubs such as the 9-iron or sand wedge and explore how the higher lofts need bigger swings and lower shots require smaller swings, you will get good at finding out which provides easier and better contact, get good at those as a base line and then start explore the other options.

Conor Thornton is a member of the PGA Professionals team at Golf Saudi-managed Riyadh Golf Club

The post How to get it right from those tricky spots around the green appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Conor Thornton

Putting is the simplest of all the shots in golf. Being good with the putter doesn’t require as much physical prowess or technical ability as it does to be as good a ball striker as the best players in the world.

With some understanding of the key elements of start direction and distance control — and a little bit of practice -— pretty much anybody has a realistic opportunity to achieve a high level of competency, maybe even close to some of the best in the world in this one element of the game. 

In my role as PGA Professional at Riyadh Golf Club, I will help you unpack two easy-to-set-up drills that you can use anywhere — at home, in the office  (if the boss isn’t looking) or at your local course — in order to help you get started off the right way or further improve and enhance your skills on the dance floor.

Try out these simple exercises for yourself and discover the basic putting skills for yourself. To develop even further, visit the PGA Professional at your local golf course.

Finding Your Hold

The hold you have on the putter grip has a huge bearing on how you control the direction the club face points at impact, this is the biggest factor that will determine your ability to send the ball in your chosen direction. 

There is no one particular way to hold the grip as there are many proven ways that successful players do it, the key is finding the right one for you. 

Exercise: Gate Drill
The ‘gate drill’ is designed to help you discover which grip is best for you and also develop clubface awareness. Experiment with different grips and see which provides better control of the clubface direction at impact and therefore more accurate start direction of the ball. To set the drill up, you will need objects such as tees, balls or bottles to create a gate that you can send the ball through. 

Start by placing the objects a foot or so apart. Take approximately three steps away from the objects to find a starting position. 

The task now is to strike the ball and direct it into the gate, by repeating this you will become more aware of how the hands and wrist movement influence the putter face direction at impact. 

As you continue you can level it up by making the gate smaller or further away, you get to be in control!

Developing Distance Control

The speed the putter head moves at impact is the main factor to govern distance. Two of the ways to adjust speed are: rhythm and length of swing. In an ideal situation, you would discover your consistent rhythm and then control the speed of the putter by creating different lengths of swing.

Exercise: Ladder Drill
The ‘ladder drill’ is designed to create an environment for you to become aware of swing sizes and the distance they make the ball travel. 

To set the drill up, like the gate drill, use objects as a reference point to create a ladder effect with levelled steps. 

Place the objects at a distance apart that you feel comfortable, there is no right or wrong, you can alter to find something achievable or shrink to make the task more challenging. 

Starting one step back, putt the ball and try and get it into the first part of the ladder, from there try to get the next ball into the following part of the ladder and so on. You can experiment with bigger and smaller swings moving the ball into different sections of the ladder. 

You can create your own scoring system where perhaps you don’t move to the next level of the ladder until a you get a ball into the section you aimed for. Or for an extra challenge restart from the beginning if you miss one.

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Conor Thornton is a member of the PGA Professionals team at Golf Saudi-managed Riyadh Golf Club

More golf tips and instruction:
It is never too late to pick up a club for the first time — some tips to get started
Straight to the point for short-game success
Mobility and stability are key links in the chain to golf fitness
The chips are down if the hips are right
Looking for more power? It’s all about kinetic sequence forces
Understand golf’s power chain and how to avoid a weak link in your swing
Why solid putting starts with a sound set-up
Alignment is a fine balancing act to stabilise clubface
Why you are wasting your time on the range
Claude Harmon III’s simple impact drill
How Billy Horschel’s simple back swing move will make you a better ball-striker

The post WATCH: Putt in place on the dancefloor appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.