Conquer The Perimeter For A Better Golf Handicap

By Jack Moorehouse

The perimeter around the green is the single most important area in golf. Players who have solid games from there always score better than those who don't. Unfortunately, many golfers with high golf handicaps don't practice their perimeter skills. Chipping a few balls before playing isn't practicing. Neither is taking golf lessons or reading golf tips. If you want to improve your perimeter game, you must take practice seriously.

Weekend golfers don't usually practice much because it's work. It's also boring. Using drills when practicing changes these feeling. It's also a good way to improve. Not only do drills sharpen your skills efficiently. They're also are fun to do—especially if you do them with a friend. Using drills also gets you to practice longer. More practice helps you groove the proper swing and tempo.

Let' look at drills for three common greenside scenarios. Practicing them will help you turn three strokes into two next time you play:

The Basic Chip
The basic chip is easy to execute. It's ideal when you have a lot of green to work with. It's also a frequent perimeter scenario, one that teachers often cover in golf instruction sessions. Your setup for this shot is key. Play the ball in the middle of your feet, your shoulders square, hands in front of the ball, and feet slightly open. Place about 60 percent of your weight on your front foot, which encourages a downward blow. Use a light grip pressure and a wedge you like. Some use a 56-degree wedge.

Drill: Place two balls about a driver's length apart. Place your bag (or another obstacle) behind the back ball. Now drop a ball in the middle of these balls and take your chipping stance. Give yourself a good lie. Later, you can vary your lie. Now, chip the ball. If you swing back to the ball/bag and forward to the front ball, you should fly the ball about seven yards. To hit it less than seven yards, separate the two balls with a shorter club. Practice this drill until you can get it close on command.

The Choke Down
No two courses are alike. You don't need golf lessons to realize that. Golf courses vary in the conditions of the fairways and tee boxes, and the speed of the greens. They also vary in the texture of their bunkers. The choke down shot is perfect for firm or wet bunkers. Play the ball forward from a normal bunker stance, with about 70 percent of your weight on your front foot. The key here is not releasing the club through impact. So keep your wrists firm so the club head doesn't release.

Drill: A good way to ingrain this "no-release" feeling is to grip the club well down on the shaft. First, find a practice bunker and setup as you would for a normal bunker shot. Now, go almost down to the hosel. Leave about six inches between your hands and the hosel. Now take a swing. Make sure the club's shaft doesn't hit your body. This drill helps groove the feeling of keeping your wrists firm through impact.

A Tight Lie
Tight lies around the perimeter are killers. Since they come up frequently around the perimeter, perfecting this shot helps cut your golf handicap significantly. The key is to keep your swing on plane. Set up with a square stance and square shoulders. Play the ball in the center of your stance. And grip the club normally. Again, shift 70 percent of your weight on your front foot to help produce a downward blow.

Drill: Place two stand bags on the target line—one in front of you and one in back of you. Both bags are angled so the clubs are pointing toward you. When in position, they both rest at a about 45-degree angle, perfect for creating the ideal angle of attack for a good swing plane. On the backswing, you want the clubshaft parallel to the back bag. On the follow through, you want the shaft parrellel to the front bag. This is called being on plane.

The trick to improving your golf handicap is conquering the green's perimeter. Good players almost always have solid perimeter games. Good perimeter game turns three shots into two time and time again, as I've written in my golf tips. Use the three drills above to make practice fun and interesting. They'll sharpen your short game skills and help you master key perimeter shots.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.