Low Shots Trim Handicap

By Jack Moorehouse

Golf is all about making decisions. Making good decisions cuts strokes from your score. Making bad decisions adds strokes to your score. Make enough bad decisions during a round and your score—and maybe your golf handicap—balloons, golf lessons and golf tips notwithstanding.

Among the toughest short game challenges in golf is deciding when to hit go high and when to go low, when to hit a high arching pitch shot that hits the green and sticks and when to hit a low trajectory shot that runs along the ground's contours and rolls onto the green. For golfers serious about shaving strokes off their golf handicaps, waging a ground campaign has its advantages.

Benefits of Keeping It Low
Admittedly, hitting a high approach shot is fun. It also has its advantages. It builds self -confidence and takes pressure off your putting. Anytime you do that, you win. But few weekend golfers hit a high shot with consistency and accuracy. Difficult to master, a high shot isn't always practical either, like on a windy day. It's also risky. You could find yourself in a heap of trouble, if you mis-hit the shot.

Keeping the ball low, on the other had, is an effective approach shot strategy, used by many players with low golf handicaps. It's an all around safer shot and its ideal for when it's windy and/or the ground is hard and not conducive to using a lofted club. It's also easier to learn and master than hitting a high arching approach shot. And it takes much of the risk out of the short game.

When To Use The Ground Game
But to use this strategy to your advantage, you must know when to wage a ground campaign and when not to, as I tell students who attend my golf instruction sessions. Below are some situations that encourage the ground game strategy.

Close To Green
You need to be fairly close to the green to hit a low running shot. You don't want to try it from 150 yards out unless your have to. There's just too much ground between yourself and the pin for this strategy to work. Keeping the ball low is an option from about 30 yards and in.

No Impediments
Make sure there are no "major impediments" between you and the green. By impediments we mean bunkers, streams, or thick tuffs of grass. The existence of obstacles between you and the green automatically eliminates this option.

Flag To Back Of Green
Ideally, you want the flag toward the back of the green. The closer the hole is to the back of the green, the better. That gives you some running room for your ball. It's hard to be precise with this shot when the ball is too close to the front of the green. Many players with low golf handicaps avoid this shot if the flag is too close to the front of the green.

Interference From Trees And Bushes
Keeping it low is wise when under a tree or large bush that doesn't allow for a full swing, or when the branches of a tree may interfere with your swing. In these cases you may not have any choice. Keeping it low is also wise when you're behind a tree or bush and you're not comfortable trying to go over the top

Dealing With Wind
Keeping the ball low is a preferred approach on windy days or when the hole itself has a lot of wind. Some holes because of their placement are windier than others. The wind plays havoc with balls hit too high. The wind can blow your ball to the right or the left, knock it down or carry it forward. Whatever the case, you lose some control of the ball.

Keeping the ball low is a safer, more effective shot in high winds than hitting a high approach shot. A low shot can bore through the wind and hold its line much better than a high arching shot. Keeping it low is also an option from about 30 yards and in, when there are no impediments between you and the green, and when you're under a tree or bush, preventing you from taking a full swing.

Even if you can't reach the green with a low running shot, it may still be an option if you're looking to lay-up for an approach shot over water or just to put the ball back in play on the fairway. Keeping it low takes a great deal of risk out of your short-game strategy. Anything that takes risk out of your short game usually takes pressure off your putting and that can't help but improve your golf handicap.

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.