breaking 100

3-6-9 Chipping Drill

/ The Grateful Golfer / 10 Comments

Today was practice day.  I stole 30 minutes to quickly practice my chipping. As many of you know, I use the 3-6-9 chipping drill to sharpen my skills and focus my practice time. I always practice with the intent of learning or honing something. Today was no different.

Lately, my chipping is chunky! For some reason, my club is striking the round about an inch behind the ball. This failure to execute results in my wedge pouncing off the ground (when dry) or digging in (when wet). Regardless, the ball comes up extremely short and as a result it is costing me unwanted strokes. So, today’s practice round was time devoted to figuring out why.

After about six balls, the answer was obvious; my lower body was too active, which resulted in my flexing my knees during short chips. This in-turn, caused my club to hit the ground behind the ball and as a result….chunk!

Recognizing this error, I immediately adjust my chipping style and poof….problem fixed. After about 5 minutes, I was seeing definite improvement in my chipping.

In the first image, I was 25 yards from the flag using my 52 degree wedge. The result was very good with 4 out of 6 balls were within 6 feet and 3 of those were within 3 feet. (the stars are where the tees are)

52 Degree Chips

The second image, I was 25 yards from the flag using my 60 degree wedge. The result was okay with 2 out of 6 balls were within 6 feet and 1 of those were within 3 feet.  All balls were within 9 feet.

56 Degree Chips

I found that the 52 degree wedge was easier to control because of the lower ball flight. It had less bounce on the green and released further and consistently. With the 60 degree wedge, I could not control the direction of the bounce when the ball hit the green. Additionally, I had to be more aggressive hitting the ball to reach the hole which made it more difficult to control.

Additionally, I realized four other things that I will take forward and practice the next time I hit the links.  They are:

  • Keep more weight on my front foot;
  • Keep my hands ahead of the ball on contact;
  • Keep my right elbow (trail elbow) tucked near my side; and
  • Most importantly for me – quiet lower body when chipping within 25 yards.

The 3-6-9 chipping drill enable me go gauge my success immediately on every chip. This made adjusting very easy. Ultimately, my goal is to be within 3 feet every time or at least within 6 feet. These are make-able putts more often than not.

Practice chipping, or any golf skill for that matter, is the practical aspect of playing golf. Research is great, watching videos is fine and listening to the experts important; however if we do not take the theoretical aspects of golf and covert it to the practical aspects then we are really limiting our potential to lower our scores! In case you are wondering, my GAF was high today!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Golf Attitude Factor – GAF

/ The Grateful Golfer / 10 Comments

GAF is a new golfing term I developed today on the golf course! My Golf Attitude Factor was on a sliding scale today! I started out as a 10 – dropped to a 3 – and finished as a 6! For those who are staring at the screen with a puzzled look, please let me explain!

Unfortunately, I have not swung a club in a week because of work! I hate it when life gets in the way – especially work! However, all amateurs must bare that cross! So, this morning as I approached the first tee box I was a 10 on the GAF and was looking forward to an excellent time on the links. I was playing with my usual group and their light-hearted approach to golf always make me smile!

As my game progressed, my GAF dropped to a 3! I actually chipped over the a green today….twice! I drove the ball fairly well, but my short game was reminiscent of 20 years ago, but that is life when I do not play for a week or so. My scoring was the worst to date and I was frustrated on every shot….and I mean every shot! Until….

Fixing a SwingOn the 13 hole, I stopped; yes just stopped; I changed my thoughts and changed my game. (Norman Vincent Peale) How this happened was actually very easy and as I look at it after the fact, obvious. My first step was to putt everything out! I know, most of you are saying that I should be doing that anyway, but when frustration kicks in, I have a tendency to stop following my proven successful routine!

Routine is my saviour on the golf course. I score my best when I follow my routine without exception. To help make sure my success, I have to do the following things:

After realizing that my game was not what was expected, I focused on what makes my game better – and hopefully great. After focusing on success, but GAF raised from 3 to 6!

6 is a good GAF considering how I played today. I was happy with my game, thoroughly enjoyed the company, and finished strong. In the future, I am going use the GAF to keep me focused and understand that my steady state should be at least a seven!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

 

 

Putting for Success

/ The Grateful Golfer / 15 Comments

This year’s goal to be a scratch golfer is going very well. I maintained a good fitness program, educated myself on the finer points of breaking 100. 90, and 80, and I am starting to implement some new techniques to help build consistency and confidence in my golf swing.

My first major change is how I line up putts. Many golfers already use this technique, but until recently, I was a “feel” putter. Additionally, I would use a mark on the green about 1-2 feet in front of my ball as my alignment point for my putting line. Having a fair amount of success, I never felt the need to change – until this year.

So, after a fair bit of research, I decided to use “the line on line” putting technique. I drew a black line on my ball and decided to use that as my alignment guide.  I would read the green; pick my putting line; then match up the line on the ball with my putting line. It does take a bit of practice to align everything, but once you have the technique down, the process simplifies putting tremendously.

Putting for success

With both lines in sync, I was able to focus on squaring my putter (putter face perpendicular to the line on the ball) and making solid contact with my back 6 forward 12 putting rule. Additionally, I am able to concentrate on speed and as a result I sink more putts and my misses’ end up closer to the hole.  Overall, I am already saving strokes and as a result my season is starting off on a high note.

The main point I learned from this new technique is that my earlier putting style resulted in a closed putter head on alignment. I realized that I was setting up with a closed putter head all because the visual queues to my new alignment style caused me think. After figuring out the disconnect, I realized why I struggled with putting the past couple years.

Now that this epiphany has resulted in a positive change, I can hardly wait to see what my next round brings. Identifying a need for change through analysis was not easy, but once I decided that I required a different approach to my putting the process took care of itself. You can make changes to lower your score as well, the first step is to choose.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Chipping to Break 100

/ The Grateful Golfer / 7 Comments

Golf is a crazy game! On Tuesday I shot 78 with bogies on the last three holes – with two 3 putts! Thursday, I shot 76 with 2 birdies and two pars on the last 4 holes! I felt exactly the same, played almost the same way and scored two strokes better. As I think back to my round, and I know most of you analyse your last round of golf, I was wondered what the difference was between the two rounds. My conclusion is that It all came down to chipping.

I have talked about practicing my 3-6-9 chipping drill before and suggest that it will help anyone break 100. The most important aspect of the drill is just to practice and develop a solid go-to stroke that will help build consistency. As I played today, I realized that chipping is as important as putting to score low.

I could go on about how to hold your hands or how to grip the club or where to align or, or, or. As your skill develops, there will be time for improving and refining your chipping touch. The trick to breaking 100 is to build a consistent chipping technique. The video below outlines a repeatable process that will benefit all players trying to break 100.

The clock drill is very good for using the same swing for multiple shots. It helps develop consistency and improves your chance of lowering your score. Give it a try; let me know how it works.

I am a grateful golfer!  See you on the links!

Chipping or Putting From the Fringe

/ The Grateful Golfer / 23 Comments

A while back, the commentators of the The Masters caught my attention. This may not seem that odd, but it actually made the stop and think about the answer. The whole premise was about putting or chipping from the fringe. I have discussed this before and personally I prefer to chip, but that does not seem to be the case any more.

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Image 1 – 2 feet to green

The commentator said younger players prefer to putt and older players prefer to chip. He never really suggested that either was better, but did indicate a change in way fringe play was being conducted. He said that if the ball is 5 yards off the green younger players are putting if they are on the fringe or in the fairway.

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Image 2 – 6 feet from green

I would suggest that the courses are manicured better than our local course and this may attribute to the change. However, 5 yards off the green would be extremely difficult to judge the speed and how the ball will exit the fringe grass. Personally, chipping would be the safer shot from 5 yards, but the young pros do not see it that way.

I really do not have an answer to this question – anyone want to weigh in? Would you putt or chip Images 1 or 2?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!