Many kids in school are on spring break at this time of year. Some go on vacation with their families while others use the extra time to work on becoming better athletes in their respective sports. One such student came to me to work on his short game, as it had been giving him some problems as of late.
I watched him hit about five or six pitch shots before I said a word. I first wanted to see how he was setting up to the ball and if he was being consistent. The reason for this is because even if he was lined up incorrectly, I wanted to make sure he was at least repeating his setup technique because setup determines the motion with every club in the bag. His setup process looked good, but his alignment needed some work.
As you can see in the video, I'm able to open my stance to the target line when hitting pitch shots. This was something he hadn't been trying and was causing him to get stuck. He was also way too close to the ball, which was causing his brain to automatically try and fight through the swing at impact.
I think this is a really good lesson for even the best players. If you feel more confident hitting a 6 or 7 iron into a green compared to a wedge, then there's a problem. We all want to become short game wizards, so shots within 100 yards are extremely important.
Keep it vertical,
The Surge!
Don Trahan
PGA Master Professional
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Comments
How should your weight be
How should your weight be distributed on your feet for these short (50 yards on in) shots at address?ÃÂ Should you pre-load heavy right, keep it more centered, or more on the left foot?
He most certainly has, and it
He most certainly has, and it's not quite over yet! How about Freddy though.
I would think that would
I would think that would depend on the trajectory you want for the ball flight. The more you want it to come in low and run, the more you shift your weight to the forward (left) side. For a higher, softer-landing pitch, you move your weight to the back (right) side. A bit of practice will show you the difference you get.
Yep. It works for some, not
Yep. It works for some, not for others. That's why each of us needs to get out and practice the short game to find the techniques that work best for us. The one most important element, though, is the insistence that the face of the club be square to the target for every shot. I think we're all agreed on that. (Curmudgeon fishing)
I think it depends. If you
I think it depends. If you open the club face, you have to open the shoulders, but there are often times pitching and chipping, just as with putting, where you may want to open the stance with the lower body, but keep the shoulders (and club face) square.
Watched some of the coverage
Watched some of the coverage online (love the live video from Amen Corner). Freddy was fabulous.ÃÂ
Watched some of the Par 3 coverage on Wednesday, too, and it was great to have them show Jack Fleck hit a shot to 3 feet on one of the holes. For those who don't know him, he's the (now 90 year old) winner of the 1955 US Open (defeating Ben Hogan in a playoff). And no relation to me, despite the last name. :)
That's what I meant by it
That's what I meant by it being the first time Surge and I are on a totally different page about short game. To each his own but I would never open my stance unless I intended on opening my club face. It would be like putting with an open stance. That can certainly be done also but I would refuse to believe it is as accurate. When extra loft is required on a chip or pitch the open stance is an evil that I have no choice but to do but if a square club face will suffice for the shot there is no reason to not have the same perfect alignment we all want on a putt.
P.S. I would NEVER, EVER open my stance while putting. (But that's just me).
Do you have a rule of thumb
Do you have a rule of thumb on how much sand to take on bundker shots?
It's not just you. I feel the
It's not just you. I feel the same. The fewer angles the better. I see no advantage to adding an angle between the feet and shoulder when I am attempting a straight square faced club shot. In my opinion, the shorter the chip, the more critical to have Everything squared off parallel, unless I am attempting some type of a flop shot and need an open face.
I have a friend who does putt with an open stance body, but I must be totally square for my shoulder only pendulum type stroke to have any line control.
I do not understand the need to add unnecessary angles.ÃÂ
Robert,It's been a while
Robert,
It's been a while since I've blogged, but I recall that you like to work the ball on the majority of shots.ÃÂ I probably work it more than I have to, mainly when approaching from the left or the right.ÃÂ I'm a little closed coming in from the left and a little open when I approach from the right.ÃÂ Prior to watching Surge's video last night (which I had to view several times) my shoulders would be lined up with my stance.ÃÂ Out of curiosity todayÃÂ I squared my shoulders to the target line,ÃÂ on all shots, short, approach and tee, and struck the ball very well.ÃÂ I did have one shot where the ball was above my feet which caused me to aim right, but I was coming in from the left so I wanted to open...ÃÂ needless to say, not a very good result.ÃÂ What is your approach regarding your shoulder alignment?
Hugh
It's a very individual thing.
It's a very individual thing. The way Surge teaches it, and the way Jack Moore in the Putting Secrets video and Kenny Knox in the Short Game video show the shots are almost always with a slightly open stance. It happens that's also the way I learned the short game. I've tried putting with various degrees of openness of my feet, but I've never been completely comfortable all squared off. For me, it tends to lead to more pulled putts as my body tries to rotate to let me see where the ball is going. If the stance is slightly open, I can see all the way down the line with a normal rocking stroke.
ÃÂ Any bites?
ÃÂ Any bites?
Hi Jim,If you get the Kenny
Hi Jim,
If you get the Kenny Knox videos you'll see he demos most of the shots with weight left or on that forward foot. It's interesting if you watch the whole thing and his conversation with Surge. So again, we don't always preload right. For me, keeping my lower body as still as possible is key along with that steady head. This is the only way I can be likely to strike ball first and get the crisp clean contact I need. Other than that I'm learning to let the loft of the club do the work for me as I just let my arms pendulum back and through. I have forced myself to learn how to use my more lofted 53 and 58 degree clubs and it is beginning to pay off. Getting those shorter shots dialed in as to distance and roll is an interesting challenge.
As Robert says, it depends on the trajectory and goals
ÃÂ of the shot but there is flexibility as far as loadingÃÂ right, left or evenly.
Of course this is even more evident with the driver and windy conditions.
Take exactly as much sand as
Take exactly as much sand as you need to get the trajectory and distance you need. If you're just all over the map, you may want to try imagining the ball sitting on George Washington's face on a $1 bill and you want to enter the sand at one edge of the bill and exit at the other. Once you're used to the ball flight you get from that, you can practice adjustments to do what I half-jokingly said in my first sentence.
Hey Surge I see that your
Hey Surge I see that your right shoulder is alot lower than your left at set up, is that a result of the position of the right arm in the master set up position? I have trouble getting that nice straight left arm right down the shaftÃÂ to the ground like you do in your master set right before you take the club away.
There is more than one way to
There is more than one way to skin a rabbit but having the feet completely parallel to the target line is THE most important part of my putting stroke. For some people I would say that having the putter face square to the line is THE most important thing because they are so bad at it but for some reason that's easy for me.
Mike is struggling big time right now with getting the putter face square. It's like he just can't see it. On the job there were always guys that couldn't "see" a right angle but it was just always something I could do.
Not so far.ÃÂ
Not so far.ÃÂ
Hmmm. I feel like I am in a
Hmmm. I feel like I am in a weird parallel universe tonight.
The right shoulder pretty much has to be below the left shoulder because the right hand is reaching down several inches below the left hand on the club, the right arm is supposed to be lower than the left, and we are pre-loaded heavy right.
"That nice straight arm down the shaft to the ground" is totally confusing to me. The left arm is straight but it is pretty much vertical. The shaft, however is not vertical and is running at an angle. The shorter the club the closer it is to vertical and matching the left arm and the longer the club the bigger the differential in the line of the left arm and the line of the shaft.
On the video itself:
First time for me that I am on a totally different page from Surge on anything to do with the short game.
For me there is only one reason to open the stance on short shots and that is if I need to add more loft. If I need to add loft by opening the club face, and my stance, there is no way to have the shoulders square. All that does is take the loft back to a normal loft or point the club face well right of target so there would be no reason to ever open the stance to begin with. If I need nothing but normal loft for the shot at hand my shoulders are square and my foot alignment is parallel left. If I need to add loft my foot alignment is open bringing the open club face back to facing the target and (by necessity) my shoulders must match that open alignment.
Ironic,Tiger just hit the
Ironic,
Tiger just hit the shot Surge talked about NOT doing. Aimed clubface of wedge well right and body well left. He was short sided and needed to flop it over a trap on 17. Ball shot up well right and fell into the bunker. Opps!
As surge said, the odds are slim of hitting that shot square- even for the best of players. Tiger has had a really bad day today.
Riverside Golf Center in
Riverside Golf Center in Columbia, South Carolina, is designing a short game training course based on Surge's philosophies. The course will have holes form 40 yards to 100 yards. We are developing this short game course to provide our students with the opportunity to work on the most important scoring shots in golf. Everyone knows that that 75% of most golfers scores occur within 100 yards of the green. Our new short game training course will fulfill that need. Adding this short game training to the training and experience of our Swing Surgeon Trained Staff, and you have a winning combination
I was having trouble squaring
I was having trouble squaring my putter face for a while. I took a magic marker and drew a series of lines on the top of it. One directly above the center of gravity of the putter, two 1/4 ball width either side of that, and two about 1.5" outside of those toward the ends of the putter. Now I can get a good visual of square.
This was a fantastic lesson.
This was a fantastic lesson. Made perfect sense. One of the best. Thanks Surge.
I know it works for some, and
I know it works for some, and perhaps even most. It just does not work out well for me. I rarely play anything with a knowing open stance, even my green side bunker shots are played with square alignment and using the Alien Wedge. With the Alien, there's no need for open face or body, just stick it into the sand behind the ball and it pops right out. It works nicely with the rule of, The fewer angles the better.