I came across this video when visiting one of the many golf blogs I drop by. It’s a really amazing story about a 4 yr old kid here in the U.S. who has a tour-quality swing and knows how to score as well. What’s more interesting is that no one taught him anything…he is completely self taught. And did I mention he beat a life-threatening in the process? Truly amazing.

Every golfer misses greens. If you can’t get the ball near the hole (or in it) in this situation, your scores will skyrocket. However, if you can get up and down, you’ll keep those bogeys and double bogeys at bay. It’s called scoring. And the key to scoring is assessing the lie, selecting the right shot, and deciding how hard to hit the ball.

Scoring is what separates players with low golf handicaps from those with high golf handicaps. It’s also what separates Tiger, Phil, and Vijay from the rest of the players on the PGA tour. If you’re serious about improving your game, becoming a scorer is the best—and fastest—way of doing so. Mastering three basic chip shots—the high floater, the mid-trickler, and the low runner—turns you into a scoring machine.

Three Questions
Every chip shot you face causes you to ask the same three questions:

-What type of shot do I hit?
-How hard should I hit it?
-What club do I use?

The answers to these questions depend on several factors—your distance from the pin, your lie, and your confidence in your chipping.

You can chip with any club from a 5-iron to the sand wedge. Just make sure you don’t lob the ball in the air and put backspin on it. A well-stuck chip shot carries for a short distance, hits the ground, and then runs, as I tell students who take my golf lessons. Muscle memory developed from practice and taking practice swings to test the resistance of the grass tells you how hard to hit the shot. The type of shot depends on the lie and the distance from the hole.

The High Softie
The High Softie works well on a green cut close to the pin, as I’ve mentioned in my golf tips. Use it when you are in the rough but near the pin and there’s little room between you and the flag. The ball lands softly on the green, rolls a bit, and then stops. However, if the lie is tight, use your putter. The High Softie is a challenge to hit, so you need to practice it a lot, even with the right golf instruction.

The key to hitting the High Softie is tilting your front shoulder higher than your back shoulder. This adds loft to the club and helps the shot fly higher than normal. Position the ball forward in your stance, allowing you to make maximum use of your wedge’s bounce. It also lessens the chance of mis-hitting. Don’t lean the shaft away from the target. Instead, keep it perpendicular to the ground. And don’t try to lift the ball. Hit down and through, like you always do.

The Mid-Trickler
The Mid-Trickler is a low-risk shot. It’s best used when there’s not much room to the pin, about 20-25 feet, and there’s nothing between you and the hole. It requires a reasonable lie, a lie where there’s some grass under the ball. (Beware of tight lies and hardpan with this shot.) It also requires practice to catch the ball just right. Effectively played, the shot hops once, checks, and then trickles toward the hole.

The key to this shot is distance control. Pick a spot where you want the ball to land, then aim for it. Leave enough room to let the ball run. It’s crucial you don’t add or subtract loft from the club, which reduces or increases distance, respectively. A slight forward lean of the shaft and level shoulders at address allows you to maintain the club’s true loft. Set up with the ball positioned toward the center of your stance.

The Low Runner
The low runner is the shot of choice when there’s more than 25 feet between you and the pin. You can play this shot with almost any lie, including a tight one, when there’s not much grass under the ball. A low-risk shot, you can expect the ball to skid, checkup, and then run toward the hole. Remember, it’s easier to control distance when the ball’s on the ground than in the air, as I’ve written in my golf tips.

The key to the low runner is the tilt of the front shoulder. Position the front shoulder lower than your back shoulder and the ball back in your stance, ensuring forward shaft lean. It reduces the loft on your club and helps you use the leading edge to “pinch” the ball crisply, creating a shallow impact and preventing the ball from climbing up the club. Tilting your shoulder also creates a forward displacement of weight, which aids your technique.

Practice these three shots until you master them. They’ll help you recover for missed greens. They’ll also help you turn yourself into a scoring machine—the key to quickly reducing your golf handicap and achieving your full potential as a golfer.

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.

The golf swing is a circular motion, defined by the arc of the clubhead moving around the body. But there is one straight line found in every swing. And the line is essential to swing consistency and accuracy. That’s your Power Line. Achieve the correct Power Line position and you’re on your way to a high-voltage swing that produces longer, straighter shots and a lower golf handicap.

The two key elements of the Power Line are the delivery and release positions. They corner the Power Line. If you were to draw a line from the correct delivery position to the correct release position, it would be straight. Between the two positions, the clubhead follows a powerful arc through impact to the ideal release position, with the shaft of the club parallel to the target line. This indicates that the club is on plane—essential for solid ball striking.

How critical is your Power Line delivery and release positions? If you get the Power Line positions right, you’re almost certain to swing the clubhead on a powerful arc, resulting in longer, straighter shots. From the proper delivery position, the clubhead can be released by the correct rotation of the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and torso in the proper sequence, maximizing power.

Power Delivery
How do you know when you’ve achieved the proper delivery position? Three signs tell you—your elbow, shaft, and clubhead. From the front, the swing position looks like this: your right elbow is in front of your hip, the club is parallel to the ball’s target line, and the toe of the club is pointed straight up.

The right elbow keys the delivery position. You should almost feel as if your elbow is attached to the front of your hip, as I written in my golf tips. If your arms separate from your body or your elbow gets stuck behind your hip, you’ll have to throw the elbow out and away from your body, hitting short. If your right shoulder gets too low on the downswing or the club gets trapped behind your body, you’ll have to flip your wrists, resulting in inconsistency.

Transition: The Secret Move
The secret to transitioning to the correct Power Line release position is uncocking your wrist downward. If your wrists don’t cock properly, you can’t maximize power. For a powerful swing, you must cock your wrists on the backswing and uncock them through impact, with the lower wrist flattening or bowing just before impact. We call this the full release position.

Two common mistakes inhibit the golfer from transitioning to the release position and short-circuit your power and consistency. Many amateurs try to hold the clubface square past impact, causing the left elbow to go up and away from the body, making the ball go high, right, and short. Other players stop the shoulders from following through, which lets the arm get ahead, causing weak hooks and pulls. The arms, club, and body must all work together.

Unfortunately, many recreational golfers try to recock their wrists early on through the follow through, causing the club to point to the sky—something I see all the time in my golf lessons. The clubhead should actually be below your hands just after impact. They remain slightly below the hands even in the correct Power Line release position.

Power Release
To achieve the correct release position, your arms, club, and body must work in unison. Three signs key this position: the shaft becomes parallel to the target line and should be positioned just under the hands, your right lower forearm should be level with your right hand and in the process of coming over it, and the toe of the club should point up toward the sky. In the correct release position, your arms are level enough to lay a club across them.

Power Drills
Try this drill to help set your delivery position. Take your normal setup position and grip. Turn back to the top of your swing. While at the top slide your right hand half way down the shaft toward the clubhead. Now let your arm drop, with just a little hip turn and shift toward the target. Then, slide your right hand back up to take the normal grip and you’ll have your club in the perfect Power Line delivery position.

This half swing drill sounds simple enough, but it may take some practice to perfect. So work on it before taking it out the course. Be sure to include your body shift and rotation, too, not just the two Power Line positions. But once you’ve mastered the correct Power Line position, you’ll be on your way to producing a high-voltage swing, longer, straight shots, and a lower 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.

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How To Break 80 Newsletter

May 23, 2007

“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
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In this issue we’ll discuss…

1) Greenside Chipping with a Hybrid
2) Mastering the “Pop” Shot
3) Question of the Week - Putting Backspin on the Ball
4) Article - Taping Into Your High-Voltage Power Line
5) Article - How To Become A Scoring Machine

Jack’s Note: Congrats to Zach Johnson on a great win last week. Good to see the not-so-long hitters getting some “W”’s on the tour. Many thanks to those of you who responded with kudos on the Driver DVD…I knew it would be well-received and will help many of your games tremendously. We basically sold them out last week but have a handful left (we had some orders declined in our system) if you’re interested. Go to www.howtobreak80.com/driver.htm

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1) Greenside Chipping with a Hybrid
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The club of choice for a greenside chip is the wedge. But be careful. Using a wedge along the rim of the green can cost you strokes. The wedge can pop the ball up, create too much roll, or make the ball check. In a fluffy lie, it can slip completely under the ball, causing a flubbed shot.

If you want an alternative, try your hybrid. It has few of the negatives of the wedge. The hybrid almost guarantees that the ball will get airborne a few inches and immediately start rolling toward the target. The sooner the ball hits the ground, the easier it is to control.

Here are 5 keys to greenside chipping with a hybrid:

* Use a putting stroke
* Choke down on the club
* Place the ball slightly forward
* Shift your weight slightly forward
* Stroke the chip as you would a putt
Take a putting stance and use a putting stroke. Choke down on the club for better control. And plan for plenty of roll, since the ball will get airborne quickly and start rolling in a hurry. Read the green as you would a putt and don’t forget to play the break.

Using the hybrid for a greenside chip makes sense. The hybrid’s enlarged sweet spot minimizes twisting and distance loss, if you mishit hit the ball or you hit it slightly on the heel or the toe. In addition, the club’s thick sole and low weighting helps brush through the turf with sufficient momentum to prevent a flubbed shot.

While the hybrid tends to be more effective from about 10 yards in, you can chip with it beyond 10 yards with success. With practice and experimentation, chipping with the hybrid will become as natural as chipping with a wedge and just as effective, if not more effective.

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2) Mastering the “Pop” Shot
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You hit a great approach shot, but it hits the green, trickles off, and rolls down an embankment. You’re in a grassy or fluffy lie at the bottom of the embankment, with the green about 5 feet to 20 feet above you. To save par, you must get up and down, so you need to hit a “pop-up” shot that lands softly on the green.

This shot intimates some golfers, but it’s easier than it looks. The keys are setting up properly and taking a flat, baseball-like swing.

Here are 5 tips to making the shot:

1. Set up with the slope
2. Tilt your shoulders in line with the slope
3. Open the clubface
4. Aim 5 feet to 10 feet the right
5. Take a baseball-like swing

Although the lie is level, you still have to contend with the embankment’s slope. Place the front foot above the back foot at address. Tilt your shoulders in line with the slope, aim 5 feet to 10 feet right of the target (or left, if you’re left handed), and lay the clubface wide open.

Now take a flat swing, like you were hitting a baseball. The ball pops almost straight up and lands softly on the green. If you swing along the target line, your club and ball will just bank off the hill, instead of popping up.

You can swing with varying force levels and still have success with this shot. As long as you make square contact, the ball will go almost straight up. The worst that can happen is that it stays in the air longer than expected.

You won’t face this shot often, but knowing how to execute it can help you save par or turn three strokes into two. Find a green with an embankment and practice the shot using the keys mentioned above. With a little bit of effort, you’ll master the shot.

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3) Question of the Week - Putting Backspin on the Ball
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From Randy Phillips

Q. Hi, Jack: I’ve been working on spinning the golf ball for years. Sometimes I’m successful at it, but mostly I’m not. Being able to stop the ball on the green greatly helps my shot-making decisions. Unfortunately, many public golf courses don’t have greens that you can practice on. Do you have any home drills or suggestions for perfecting these shots?

A. You’re right, Randy. Putting backspin on the ball helps your shot-making capabilities. But you need the right conditions to do it. In pool, you hit downward on the bottom half of the cue ball with significant force. Striking the ball at a steep angle and increasing the velocity of the cue stick as it moves toward impact help.

In golf, you do basically the same thing, but you must make clean contact on the lower portion of the ball. The combination of the angle of attack, force of the club, and clean contact puts backspin on the ball. In addition, the course must be dry, the ball must be on the fairway, and the green must be in good shape.

Ideally, you’d like to hit the green about 10 to 15 feet from the pin and stop the ball a few feet from the hole, leaving a short putt. If you put enough backspin on the ball, it takes a bounce or two and stops. But if you don’t put enough backspin on the ball, it’ll roll off the green, especially if the green is slanted or hard-baked.

You need a clean club with some grip left on its face and the right ball. I like using a 9-iron or a pitching wedge. The wedge has a high loft and a large flange, which prevents it from digging into the turf. Keep your head down until your right arm pushes it up. And use a high spin/soft cover ball for pitch-and-stop shots. The high spinning ball carries more than other balls, but it won’t roll far when it hits the ground. It also offers more feel and control.
If you’ve got a golf question you’d like answered, send an email to us at questions@howtobreak80.com and we’ll review it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it but if we do, we’ll make sure to include your name and where you’re from.

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If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros and creating a more reliable and consistent swing, check out: http://www.HowToBreak80.com

Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog

To view this newsletter online, please visit:
http://www.howtobreak80.com/newsletter05232007.html

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Taping Into Your High-Voltage Power Line
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/powerline.html

5) Article - How To Become A Scoring Machine
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/scoringmachine.html

Until next time,
Go Low!

Jack

P.S. Feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to break80ezine@aweber.com

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About the Author
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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 handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.