"9 TIPS BY AIDEEN ROGERS"
BUNKER SHOTS
BUNKER SHOTS BY AIDEEN ROGERS
GREENSIDE BUNKER SHOT A bunker shot beside the green should be played with a S.W. sand wedge. This will encourage high loft on the ball in order to prepare you for the most difficult of bunker shots. Technique:- Open the clubface and then take your grip (this must be done outside the bunker), the face of the club should look like it’s aiming to the right. Then take your stance into the bunker aiming your feet left of the target line and the ball position towards your left foot. Shuffle your feet into the sand in order to feel secure and this will also bring you lower in the set up. Place a little more weight on your left side and hands forward of the ball. (i.e. cover the view of your left knee) Now you don’t hit the ball in this shot, you hit the sand and that’s what brings the ball out! Imagine a fried egg, the ball being the yolk and the white is the surrounding, don’t hit the yolk hit the white!
The swing goes:- up, down and through.
Imagine you have an axe in your hands and a block of wood down at the ball, swing up and down to chop the wood, then swing through. "The lighter you hold the club the better" A) Plugged In the Sand Technique:- This shot is easier than we suspect. Hold the club normal (i.e. straight), ball position centre, feet straight and hands forward. The swing hard into the white of the egg again, don’t try to scoop the ball out it won’t work.
When the ball does come out, it comes out low and fast so please be aware of this!
B) On the upslope Technique:- Always lean with the slope and swing with the slope! That means swing down and up the slope, keep looking to the white of the egg.
This shot is going to come out quiet high so do allow for that.
C) On the down slope Technique:- Always lean with the slope and swing with the slope! That means swing up and down the slope (like the chopping action again), keep looking to the white of the egg. This shot is going to come out quiet low so do allow for that. Don’t try this if the lip of the bunker is very high, you might be better to cut your losses and hit out to the side! D) When the ball is in the bunker and you must stand out of the bunker. Technique:- Take your stance over the ball and bend your knees down until you meet the level of the ball, keep looking at the white of the egg, hold your knees steady throughout this swing trust it. The ball position for this shot is left of centre. FAIRWAY BUNKER SHOT This is used when your ball is a long way from the green and you still need a full shot. Technique:- Select a club you think you should use depending on the height of the lip of the bunker and the lie of the ball. Hold the club short on the grip because in this case you do not want to take any sand with the shot at all, it is important to try to pick the ball off the top of the sand as cleanly as possible. Hold your legs straight during the swing in order to prevent any contact with the sand. Swing the club as normal as possible for a full shot. Ideal club selection is a 7 iron.
"The trick here is to avoid any contact with the sand what so ever!"
Enjoy your golf!
GRIP FOR A LONG SHOT
Grip (based on a right handed golfer) Let your left hand/arm hang down and naturally take the club within your fingers. Your left thumb goes to the centre or right of centre. Lift your club up at eye level & place Your right hand on. Hook your middle 3 fingers on the grip and your thumb and first finger pull together as if you’re pulling a trigger. The little finger is advised to mix at the back. "Hold the club as tight/light as you would shake hands with somebody OR on a scale of one to ten (1 Being the lightest and 10 being the tightest), between 4 & 5 is advised".
GOLF POSTURE
A Good Golf Posture
"Which will help your all round general health for golf and help towards a good golf swing."
Standing up straight hold your hands behind your back, grasp them together and stretch them as far down your backside as possible. Angle over, let your LEFT ARM hang down (as a right handed player) straight and ever so slightly unlock your knees maintaining the angle you have created over the ball. Your right hand will then meet your left hand, and that’s it your ready to go. Remember your weight should be across the ball/Arc of your two feet and you are now totally in balance of the area between the ball and your feet. i.e.: "READY TO GO"
One really good thing to think about is "feel like a duck" over the ball.
PUTTING
PUTTING BASED ON A RIGHT HANDED GOLFER
In putting the aim of the game is obviously to get the ball in the hole.
But I believe that the most important thing is pace/speed.
(More than two putts per green is disappointing, more than three is a mortal sin)
If the speed of your putt is correct you will benefit in two ways.
- Your next putt will be close enough in order to get the next one in.
- The hole becomes 5 times its size if the ball is rolling at the right pace. i.e.:
A) Left of centre, b) right of centre, c) left edge, d) right edge, e) the back door.
Technique:- There are two Grip techniques recommended by Aideen.
- Grip the putter as normal but with the grip on the club up the middle of the palm of your left hand in order to lock the left wrist into place then place the right hand on.
- Or you may grip the putter with your left hand down the bottom of the putter grip and your right hand on top, making sure the left wrist and inside of the left arm hugs against the putter grip.
Either of these grips are suitable, but the main reason for these grips are to avoid any flicking action in the stroke and replace with a rocking action i.e. the left arm/wrist and the putter move as one.
The putting stance should be approximately shoulder width, but in windy weather a little wider. The ball position should be left of centre of the stance as this will encourage a nice smooth roll on the ball.
Place the putter head flat on the ground and in the direction of the line you want to go on. Any lines or markings on the putter will help you line up to your target and also meet the centre of the ball.
The putting stroke should go back and through along the intended line of fire, as you would if you wanted to pot a ball in snooker or throw a dart to a dart board.
The putting stroke should move with rhythm back and through and like a pendulum, I like to think it’s like a TICK TOCK on a clock.
Very importantly during the stroke we must not ever move our legs, so lock your legs straight in order to keep them quiet.
A good general all round tip is to keep your left wrist firm throughout the putting action as this really helps to keep the ball on line.
This is how to control your different speeds and lengths of a putt.
5 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about a ½ a foot each side, very slow and controlled rhythm.
10 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about ¾ of a foot each side, very slow and controlled rhythm.
15 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about ¾ of a foot each side, with a slightly faster controlled rhythm.
20 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about a foot each side, with a slow controlled rhythm.
25 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about a foot each side, with a faster controlled rhythm.
30 ft putt:- back and through (tick – tock) about a foot and ½ each side, with a faster controlled rhythm. And so on.
Never swing any longer than approximately 2 feet on each side as you will start to lose balance after this.
A very good tip for getting up to the hole with a very long putt or from off the green coming in with a putter is to grip the putter really tight (as this will firm up the putter head) and make a fast hard stroke from there.
Remember you DRIVE FOR SHOW but you PUTT FOR DOUGH!!
CHIPPING
Based on a right handed golfer
CHIP & RUN
To chip and run a ball onto a green we use a 7iron or 6 iron, the loft of a 7/6 iron will lift the shot about two feet off the ground (no higher) and run towards the hole.
This shot is played when your ball is off the green no further than 30 yards from the hole with a lot of green to work with.
i.e.: when the flag is at the back of the green and you have flat ground in front of you.
Your ball should land ¼ of the way on to the green and run another ¾’s.
Technique:- Hold the club like a putter (the left hand bellow the right hand grip is NOT recommended for this shot)and set up to the ball exactly like a putter.
Take your stance and your ball position the same as above.
Swing the club as you are taking a very long putt, taking it back straight and through straight, it is also a very good idea to finish with the club head pointing right out to the target, this will help with your direction.
The club will brush the grass as you swing through and this is what creates the lift on the ball.
Tick tock like the clock, keeping a good rhythm the whole way through.
CHIP SHOT
To chip a ball on to the green we can use a Pitching Wedge or a Sand Wedge.
This is used when the flag is toward the front part of the green and/or your have to play a shot up and over an obstacle, i.e. a bunker/bank or over a tree.
The pitching wedge will lift the ball up in the air and when it lands it bounces twice and rolls a little.
(This all of course depends on the speed and conditions of the green)
Technique:- The exact same way as the 7iron except for.
The difference between this shot and the 7 iron chip and run shot is that your ball position moves to the centre of your stance and your hands go forward of the ball so that when you look down your hands block out the view of your left knee.
