Ohio Golf Journal May 2018

Ten-Ball Drill to improve Chipping: 3IMPLY GRAB GOLF BALLS OUT OF YOUR BAG AND PLACE THEM OFF THE GREEN #HIP ALL TEN TO A PARTICULAR CUP on the practice green. .EXT PUTT ALL TEN INTO THE HOLE AND KEEP A RECORD OF HOW MANY YOU MAKE &OR EASIER CHIPS OF YARDS KEEP REPEATING THE DRILL UNTIL YOU CAN MAKE AT LEAST OUT OF UP AND DOWN EVERY TIME &OR LONGER OR MORE DIFÚCULT CHIPS WITH MORE SLOPE INVOLVED REDUCE THE ACCEPTABLE RATE TO 4HE NEXT TIME YOU ARE FACED WITH A CHIP SHOT ON THE COURSE IT WILL SEEM MUCH EASIER BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY PRACTICED IT AND WILL BE MORE CONÚDENT 7HEN ANYONE ASKS ME THE QUICKEST METHOD TO LOWER THEIR GOLF SCORES ) IMMEDIATELY ANSWER “Improve your short game.” 4HIS MAY SEEM LIKE AN OLD CLICHÁm BUT IT IS TRUE 4HE NEXT TIME YOU GO TO A driving range count the number OF PLAYERS HITTING WEDGES TO A NEARBY TARGET VERSUS THE MACHO MEN TRYING TO HIT THEIR DRIVER YARDS “Chicks Dig the Long Ball, but Chipping Lowers your Scores.” !NOTHER QUESTION OFTEN ASKED “How can I reduce three putts?” Once again, it is the same answer, “Learn to chip better.” !MATEUR GOLFERS ARE LUCKY TO HIT SIX GREENS IN REGULATION OVER THE COURSE OF AN HOLE ROUND 4HAT LEAVES CHANCES to get up and down to save par. )F YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL ON ONLY OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY REDUCE YOUR TOTAL SCORE BY SIX SHOTS 'O BACK OVER YOUR LAST ROUND AND COUNT HOW MANY CHIPS AND PUTTS IT TOOK YOU DURING the round. Then consider THE POSSIBILITY THAT IMPROVED chipping around the greens WOULD HAVE ON YOUR PAR SAVES AND THREE PUTT AVOIDANCE The nice thing about improving YOUR SHORT GAME ANYONE CAN do it. You don’t have to be A SUPER ATHLETE TO IMPROVE SHOTS UNDER YARDS PLUS IT DOESNmT COST AN ARM AND A LEG -OST GOLF COURSES OR PRACTICE FACILITIES HAVE A SHORT GAME PRACTICE AREA AND CHARGE LITTLE or nothing to use them. 4HE ACT OF CHIPPING A GOLF BALL IS SIMPLY A SMALL PART OF THE OVERALL GOLF SWING "ELIEVE IT OR NOT CHIPPING WILL HELP TO UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF THE PROPER CLUBFACE AT IMPACT AND WILL HELP YOUR FULL SWINGS AS WELL 4HE NEXT TIME YOU SET ASIDE TIME FOR PRACTICE DONmT JUST REACH FOR THE "IG $OG 3PEND A MINIMUM OF MINUTES PER week practicing chipping and PUTTING )T WOULD BE BETTER IF THAT AMOUNT OF TIME WERE SPENT ON EACH SEPARATELY BUT A MINIMUM OF MINUTES EVERY WEEK WILL DO WONDERS FOR YOUR SCORES 0LUS IT WILL INCREASE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE GAME ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET UP AND DOWN FOR THE PAR YOU NEED TO TAKE A COUPLE OF BUCKS FROM YOUR BUDDY GOLF TIP: IMPROVE YOUR SHORT GAME By: Fred Altvater O h i o G o lf J ou rn a l