In this issue we'll discuss...

1) Hitting Crisp, Clean Irons From Soggy Lies
2) Drop It Close From Every Bunker Lie
3) Question of the Week - Adjusting To “Real” Fairways
4) Article - Hybrids To The Rescue
5) Article - Playing Smart Saves Strokes
1) Hitting Crisp, Clean Irons From Soggy Lies

Few things in golf beat playing when the conditions are perfect. But you can’t always do that. Sometimes, you have to play when things are less than perfect. In fact, most times you play things will probably be less than perfect. Often, it’s nature’s fault, like when it rains heavily the night before. Heavy rains can leave fairways soft and soggy the next day, making it hard to hit crisp, clean iron shots and costing you strokes. But you can hit good irons from soggy lies by adjusting your stance and swing.

Here are seven keys to hitting irons from soggy lies:

1. Take a bunker set up
2. Choke down on the club an inch
3. Position the ball in the center
4. Stand taller over the ball
5. Hover the club above the ground
6. Line up the leading edge
7. Hit the back of the ball

You need to treat shots off wet turf as if you were hitting from a fairway bunker. That means you must make ball first contact. It also means you must compensate for you feet sinking into the soft ground, lowering your swing arc.

To do that, take a bunker stance, grip down an inch on the club, and position the ball in the center of your stance (or slightly forward for longer irons and hybrids). In addition, stand taller to the ball by bending less at the hips. Standing taller lets you hover your club above the ball and line up the leading edge with the ball’s equator.

As you swing, aim for a spot an inch in front of the ball. You want to hit the back of the ball and drive your club down and into it at that spot. A good swing thought to keep in mind is to picture your clubhead and back knee reaching the ball at the same time.

Making ball first contact and offsetting a lower swing arc produces crisp, clean irons on soft, soggy turf. But remember, you can take relief without penalty from casual water (outside a hazard), but the water must be visible before or after taking your stance.
2) Drop It Close From Every Bunker Lie

Your feet are the key to blasting it close from every bunker lie. Since you can’t ground your club in a bunker, it’s not always easy to tell what kind of sand you’re in by sight. But your feet can tell you what kind of sand you’re dealing by how far you sink in the sand. Is it fluffy, hard, or something in between? Knowing the type of sand you’re dealing with can help you hit it close.

Below are six keys to making bunker shots:

1. Play the ball just inside your front heel
2. Keep your hands directly above the ball
3. Dig your feet in for balance
4. Distribute your weight evenly
5. Choke down on the club to compensate
6. Match your swing to the depth of the sand

If you use the wrong swing in the wrong sand, you’ll either leave it in the bunker or blast it over the other side of the green. Either way, it costs you strokes. Instead, let your feet tell you the type of sand you’re dealing with, use your normal bunker shot setup, and adjust your swing accordingly.

If you’re sitting on top of thin sand, there’s less sand your club can extract, so the ball comes out “hotter” than normal. Swing from hip-high to hip-high in your finish. This gives you about 10 yards in the air with 2 yards of roll with your sand wedge.

If you’re sitting in fluffy sand, there’s more sand to extract. Your club tends to stick in this type of sand. Hitting a good explosion shot here means taking a large divot using a fast swing. Swing three-quarters back and make a complete follow through. This gives you about 10 yards in the air and 2 yards of roll with your sand wedge.

Ultimately, you want to get out of the bunker in one. But to blast it close use your feet to tell the type of sand you’re in. Once you know that, lengthen or shorten your swing to match its speed to the sand’s depth.
3) Question of the Week - Adjusting To “Real” Fairways

Q. Hi, Jack. I started playing golf on a very hard surface, where the "fairway" was a few tufts of grass on some rock-hard ground! Bottom line, there was no chance of taking a divot, so I learned to pick-up (scoop?) the ball off the hard surface. Years later, I can afford to play on real fairways. However, I still pick up the ball. How can I change my swing to hitting down on the ball and taking a divot?

Thanks,

Gregg de Wet

A. Thanks for the question, Gregg. You’re right in likening your swing to scooping because that’s essentially what you’re doing. Scoopers are trying to help the ball in the air. They set up with their weight on their back foot, their front shoulder very low, and their back arm bent to an extreme on middle- and long-iron shots. To hit the ball, scoopers must then spin out and fall backward, hitting up on the ball rather than down.

To cure scooping, move the ball back a bit toward the middle of your stance. Lower your front-shoulder just enough to allow you to turn it under your chin and aim it parallel to the target line. Distribute your weight evenly. And make a smooth transition from the top of the backswing to the forward swing. Make a full, balanced finish. These changes encourage a descending blow.

To groove these adjustments, stick a tee in the ground where you would normally place the ball. In this case it would be slightly back a bit from your front heel. Now place a second tee in the ground a few inches in front of the first tee where you would create a divot if you were to swing down on the ball. When you swing, try to pick the tee from the ground. To do that, you’re going to have to use a descending blow, not a scoop motion. Done often, this drill helps eliminate a scooping motion.

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.
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

Here are some of my recent articles:

4) Article - Hybrids To The Rescue
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/hybrids-to-the-rescue.php

5) Article - Playing Smart Saves Strokes
http://www.howtobreak80.com/articles/playing-smart-save-strokes.php

Until next time,

Go Low!

Jack

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About the Author

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.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Golf Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.