IS your Putter The Correct Length?

The length of your putter is important for more than just your comfort. If the putter is too long or too short the head will not sit properly on the ground.

A putter that is too long will sit with the toe up. Consequently, a putter that is too short will be toe down. If the putter is not sitting flat on the ground than it is not pointing directly at the intended target. I’ve seen many golfers miss 5 footers simply because their toe is up by several degrees pointing the face left of their intended target (right hand golfers).

angry when you miss a fairway?

We golfers are far too critical of ourselves. We create unrealistic expectations like hitting every fairway when we’re more likely to hit less than half.

If you managed to hit 60% of fairways that would make you a more accurate driver of the ball than: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, and Scottie Scheffler to name a few (based on YTD 2022 season)

Putting that kind of pressure on yourself will increase your anxiety over the ball which will contribute to missing more fairways. Don’t stress over the outcome, the best in the world miss fairways too. Relax and put a good swing on it. Find it and do it again.

Does Rain Affect Shot Distance??

Rain increases the level of humidity creating thicker air for the ball to travel through and will therefore negatively impact your carry distance.

Rain is also often an indicator of the temperature lowering which also moves the air molecules closer together further affecting your distance.

Can you calculate an exact number? No, but you can factor that into your decision making when working out your shot selection. If you’ve played golf in Sydney in the last two months you certainly need to be!

stop 3 putting

If you’re reflecting back on your round and seeing too many 3 putts, this drill is for you!

Using your putter and tees, create a semi circle around the hole starting from the front edge of the cup (will be roughly 1 meter as 35” is standard putter length). Pace off a 10 meter length putt and place a tee down, large steps will establish roughly that distance and it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Now your set up and ready to putt! To complete the drill you must hit 20 consecutive putts that finish either in the hole or semi circle. Miss one? Start over. As you get further and further into the drill, closer to completion, the pressure will build to mimic what you feel on the course.

If you’re finding it too difficult you can benchmark yourself. For example, if in your first attempt you get 13 out of 20. The next time you must continue until you get 14 or more. You will eventually work your way up to 20/20.

missing 10 footers?

How often do you get mad at yourself for missing a 10 foot putt? It might surprise you that the average PGA Tour make percentage from this distance is 40%. The best players in the world miss the majority of these putts and yet the average golfer will beat themselves up for the same miss. Give yourself a break! 

Scroll down to the pressure putting drill to help make more of these on the course but don’t expect to make them all!

USing slope

Sometimes putting away from a hole will give you the best opportunity to score. If you play greens with lots of slope you can be presented with tricky pin positions that can quickly turn a birdie putt into a bogey finish. Consider using the contours to give you an easier two putt.

In this scenario, I could putt the ball straight at the cup but risk going off the green. I was fortunate to bump up against the fringe but still have a lengthy attempt for a save. I could’ve made my 2nd putt easier by putting away from the hole and using the slope to settle my ball closer. My odds of making the 1st putt were perhaps diminished but it makes for a much easier 2 putt.

Center Strike

Hitting the centre of the club face is crucial in making more putts.

The ball will launch off the target line if the strike is in the heel or toe. You’ll also vary your energy transfer which will make your distance control highly inconsistent.

If you struggle with this, try placing blue tack on your face leaving only enough room for the ball to hit cleanly. Great at home drill to strike better putts!

Balance

Can you finish your swing balanced? Doesn't sound that necessary if it happens after impact?

If you can't finish in a balanced position it says to me that you have major flaws in your swing that lead you to finish unbalanced. It is at the very least an indicator of larger issues that need to be sorted. If you can't balance and hold the position for 3 seconds conformably, look at booking in with you local PGA pro to identify the underlying issues.

Pressure putting

Let me guess, you make all your putts on the putting green but miss everything on the course? Especially short putts?

Your putting green practice is missing a crucial factor, PRESSURE. On the course, with your playing partners watching and a score in your mind, you feel it. That’s the difference from the practice green.

Apply some pressure with this drill. Complete a putt from every distance (3, 4, 5…10 feet) using only 3 balls. If you miss, that ball is out and you now have only 2 balls in play. Miss 3 times and restart. Do not allow yourself to leave the practice area until you complete the drill. This is where the pressure comes from. Set up is easy with tees to indicate location and pace it off by moving heel to toe.

spin from fairway vs rough

Using the same club from the same distance doesn’t necessarily mean the ball will react the same when it hits the green. The lie is crucial and must be taken into account.

On this video you’ll see the first ball hit from the fairway stops quickly on the green while the second ball, only a pace to my left, releases upon impact. The ball from the fairway makes clean contact with the grooves on my wedge and as a result generates significant spin. In the rough, some grass gets between the face of my wedge and the ball taking some spin away. Since it’s spinning less when it lands on the green, it releases rather than quickly pulling up.

This applies to all your clubs and needs to be accounted for when making your club and shot selection.

flop shot

There are a few key factors in hitting a flop shot but one in particular that I think is overlooked.

Most golfers know they need to use their highest lofted club, often a 60 degree wedge. They also know the club face needs to be open, nearly sitting flat on the ground to add as much loft as possible. To counter that open face we stand with our feet open to the target. I can picture everyone nodding along so far but here’s where the tendency to go wrong is…

You MUST place extra weight into your lead side so you strike down on the ball. The tricky part about a flop shot is that the image you have in your mind is to hit it high. That image can lead golfers to swing up to try and lift the ball in the air. The ball will no doubt skull/knife/insert golf jargon for terrible shot here.

If you’re going to take this shot on, get that weight forward to get that steep angle of attack and hit down on it.

green reading routine

All too often I watch players walk up behind their ball, give it a quick read, and hit the putt. There are 2 easy additions to make to that routine that will significantly improve your chances of getting the read correct.

Reading the putt from behind the ball is a good start. Once you have an impression walk to the other side of the hole to see what the putt looks like from that angle. We can often see less, more, or sometimes a completely difference breaking putt. It also offers a better impression of up vs downhill to help with your speed.

To get your read from the other side of the hole, walk the low side to get a better impression of the slope through the roll (low side is the direction the putt is breaking…left to right putt walk the right side)

Maintaining pace of play when we’re doing this is very important but get used to taking a moment to do this while your playing partners prepare their shots. You’ll also keep better pace if you’re 1 or 2 putting every green instead of 3!!

long bunker vs short bunker shots

In this particular video my set up for the short vs long bunker shot doesn't change. What changes are the width of my swing and my understanding of how the ball will react once it hits the green.

To control the distance of these bunker shots I'm using the width of my swing. Shorter shot means a shorter back swing and through swing. Longer shot requires longer back swing and through swing. I use a 1:1 ratio between back and through swings so that I don't decelerate or accelerate through the course of the swing.

The shorter shot with less back swing means I will spin the ball less so it will release more towards the target. The longer swing will create more backspin as I've generated more speed so I'm aware that my intention is to carry this ball much farther up the green to my target as it will stop quickly.

hand position at set up

My students often ask me if their hands are too far away from their body or too close. Although it may not immediately seem like it, this is a posture related question. Let me explain...

Assuming you have correct posture from your knees, hips, and upper thoracic, your hands should hang naturally out in front of your body. Wherever they naturally hang is where you should hold the club in relation to your body. Once you've tried it, if you still feel that this doesn't seem natural for you, you may need to work on your posture.

spinning full shots

To get a ball to stop on a green, golfers mistakenly focus on height to help when really backspin is what will stop the ball. Spin is a factor of speed and loft. As we increase club head speed we increase spin. The more loft we introduce we once again add spin.

In this video I’m hitting uphill into the 9th hole at The Ridge. It can be a tricky green to hold as it’s narrow and up hill (hitting up hill means my ball will hit the green on a more severe landing angle). I’m on the max range for my 60° wedge but could hit a comfortable 56°. It would be reasonable to hit the 56° to make sure I get there however if I do I take away loft and I can’t hit with full speed. My ball will likely go bouncing off the back due to lack of spin. So I chose the 60° and hit it hard to generate spin and carry it up as close to the pin as possible for a quick stop.

Hit up on Driver

Hitting up through impact with a driver is crucial. Unless you’re creating tour level club head speed, an upward strike with your driver is necessary to maximise your carry and roll potential. Hitting down (negative attack) will generate too much backspin.

If you’re struggling to create that “positive attack” try the drill in this video. Place an alignment rod on an angle in front of your tee’d up ball. When first attempting it perhaps start cautiously with a small angle rather what you see in the video. With a little practice you’ll be able to create that positive attack and created better launch conditions for longer carries and more roll.

using bounce

The bounce angle on your wedge is the angle from the leading edge of your club to the back edge. Engaging the bounce will make good shots great and bad shots playable.

One big mistake golfers make is to play the ball off their back foot and lean the club forward. That takes all your bounce away and affectively sharpens the leading edge of your club. Unless you make a perfect stroke, you’ll be chunking that or knifing it through the green. By letting the club sit as I have in this video I can engage the bounce and don’t need a perfect strike. By knowing this, I have much less anxiety over these short chips shots and, more often than not, make great contact. And when I don’t, I’m still putting.

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Fixing a slice

Hitting a slice has several components but the root cause is an over the top club path. For right handed golfers, that means that at impact your club is travelling left of your target across the ball.

I’ve placed the ball on the tee with the line on the inside and I’m going to purposely try to hit that corner rather than the back of the ball (note the I’m a left handed golfer). By focusing on the inside corner/line I’ll send my club on the correct path and take the slice out of my swing.

putting

When practicing your putting, particularly before a round of golf, it is important to randomise your practice. If you drop 5 balls and strike putt after putt from that location to one hole you’re just going through the motions. There is a time for block practice such as this but this isn’t it. Scatter those balls around the hole at various distances forcing yourself to hit a variety of breaking and sloping putts. This is what you’ll face on the course in a few minutes time, best you get a feel for the conditions and make adjustments as you’ll be doing for the next four hours.

Junior Golfers

One of the most important aspects in developing junior golfers is speed. Muscles need to learn to react quickly and the optimal time to do that is while we’re growing. During that time muscles are tight, this is our window to train them. Swinging the club as hard as possible is paramount.

It is more important to train the body to react quickly than it is to hit targets at this stage. We’ll straighten things out later in development. Juniors need to be more like Jacob here and give it everything they have!

PUTTING

Putting inside 5 feet can often be a cause of anxiety and frustration.

Use the flagstick to your advantage from inside 5 feet and try to actively hit the pin. If you miss the pin it’s far more likely the ball goes in the side. Small targets equal small misses.

You’ll make more putts doing this and from that distance it’s highly unlikely the ball will bounce out off the flagstick.

If you prefer taking the flagstick out, as I do, identify a small mark on the back of the cup, blade of grass, or anything distinguishable to narrow your focus in a similar fashion to the flagstick.

TOE DOWN CHIP

In a bad lie you can get the toe of the wedge down by having the club shaft stand very upright. From there simply strike down on the ball and the toe will dig the ball out. The ball will release as it won’t spin very much but you’ll escape that scenario.

BUNKER

There are lots of aspects to hitting a good bunker shot but one of the biggest mistakes we see is deceleration through the ball.

Sand will deaden the club as you swing through and any hint of deceleration will nearly stop your club all together and leave you in the bunker. Swing aggressively through to get out.

SPINNING PITCH

One of the most sought after and trickiest shots in golf, the “two hop and stop” pitch shot requires precision.

Clean contact with the ball is key as any grass between the club face and ball will reduce spin. Using your highest lofted wedge and striking the ball with speed will increase the spin rates.

Understand that a 5 meter chip shot will not see much spin as it will not be hit very hard. With practice, you should be able to hit that two hop and stop shot from 20+ meters as it requires more speed.

LANDING POINT PITCH

Getting the ball to finish near the hole is all about picking and hitting the correct landing point.

On this 40m pitch I’ve picked a spot 10m short and 2m left of the hole to allow for break.

It won’t always work out this well but you’ll sure have a better chance at knocking it close if you pick your target carefully.