Improve pitching and chipping without technique (The 3 Rs)

Here are 3 strategy tips to save more shots around the green, now the time has come to go out and practise on fine tuning your short game. Be careful before investing time in improving your technique it is important to do the following first.


The first key is to understand the tactical and strategy side of the game first throughout your short game, as there is the chance to save many shots through this theme. Not knowing or understanding this will make the learning process in improving technique more difficult. Here I will show you 3 tactical and strategic tips that will dramatically improve your wedge game.

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Assess the situation
We often see players looking at the target after they have addressed the ball, which obviously makes sense. But this is one of the main problems why players make poor decisions around the green Compared with the photos shown here, from the ball to the flag is a difficult high pitch shot to produce. But when we assess the situation more clearly there is actually a lot of room to work with resulting into a simple pitch shot to play.

Rehearse
 Wedge strategy
The golden rule here is to land the ball as early as possible on the green. Due to having a target that is closer to you is easier to hit than a target further away.

Only golfers that have extremely good ball contact should allow the ball to fly further. Through the good ball contact the ball will spin and roll out less towards the flag.

When selecting the correct club it is important to assess break and roll direction to locate the exact landing zone.
Now to the hole you must mentally prepare on rehearsing and concentrate on the right ball flight and length which is advantageous to playing the correct shot.

React

The Lie of the Ball

Tour players use the 70% rule. This is where you should only attempt the shot to play when you’re sure you can reproduce the shot 7 times out of 10.

One important decision factor is the lie of the ball; here you can finally decide which shot is possible. Depending on how the ball lies you can attempt a lob/flop or pitch shot, or even by a bad lie be prepared to except the shot going beyond the flag.

There are 4 different lies that you many come across

- Bare lie, no lob possible try using a high lofted club with little bounce.

- Good lie, a lob and pitch shot is possible only when you reproduce it 7 times out of 10.

- Ball in deep grass, a lob shot is difficult to play, try using a lofted club with a higher bounce.

- Ball sitting up in rough, a lob shot is unwise in case of getting too much underneath it and dropping it short. Try using a wedge with a less lofted face.