Top Tips For Low Scores

FAULTS AND FIXES

FAULT:
Setting up for power, not finesse

FIX:
Set up for finesse

How do you know you’re setting up for power?

Upper body tilts away from the target.
Trail shoulder noticeably lower than the lead shoulder.
Spine is tilted away from the target.
Chest square.
Head and eyeline behind the ball.
Hands rotated counterclockwise on the grip, V’s pointing to right shoulder.
Effect on contact: Fat and thinned shots.

Here’s what to check and how it should look and feel.

Shoulders level.
Chest and eyeline pointing in front of the ball.
Feet narrow.
Head positioned in the middle of the body.
Trail hand rotated clockwise, V pointing to chin.

Pro’s Tip: putter grip on your wedge

Create a training club by removing the grip from an old wedge and replacing it with a flat front putter grip.
Set the thumb of your trail hand flat against the top of the grip so that it points straight down the handle.
Setting the trail hand “on top” like this encourages you to “stack” your body over the ball at address, with your chest open to the target so that the low point moves in front of the ball.
One of my favourite practice methods is to hit shots using my trail arm only. Hitting solid shots this way, without too much mechanical thinking, automatically creates the correct sequence and release in your swing.

FAULT:
Moving your energy away from the target in the backswing.

FIX

How do you know you do this?

You feel your weight shifting slightly to your back foot.
Upper body and head moving away from the target, weight on the back foot.
Effect on contact: thin shots and hitting the ground before the ball.

Upper body and head moving towards the pin.
Weight on the front foot.
Head and eyeline in front of the ball.

PRO’S TIP: SHADOW DRILL

Step 1 – Push an alignment stick into the ground, with the sun on your back, cast your shadow so that your head falls over the stick.

Step 2 – Using the stick as a reference, take the club back whilst looking at your shadow, if it moves behind the stick, your energy has moved away from the target. Repeat until your head moves slightly in front of the alignment stick.

Step 3 – On the downswing, keep your shadow in the same place or even move it closer to the target.

PRACTICE FOR SUCCESS

10 x 10 Game

Using 10 balls, select a simple 10 yard short game shot, so easy that you could think about holing it.

Play all ten shots and use this scoring method to play a game: hole one to halve, hole two or more to win, and if you don’t hole one you lose.
Repeat this game using a variety of clubs so you can find your favourite club to chip with, especially under pressure.
This game fosters the correct focus for using your wedge game to make birdies.
For comparison, the ratio of Adam Schenk, the leading PGA Tour Player in 2022/2023, in getting up and down from inside 10 yards of the green, was 97%.

LEAPFROG

Set your practice station at least 5-10 yards from the edge of the green.
Mark a spot on the green approximately 15-20 yards from where you’re going to pitch from.
On your first shot, wedge a ball just barely onto the putting surface. On your next shot, attempt to hit your ball just past the first one. Hit a third ball past the second and continue “leapfrogging” to see how many balls you can get in order without going past your mark.
This game develops touch and feel around the green. Working on distance control games like this will build on your understanding and awareness of how the ball reacts on the firmness of Hoylake’s greens. Your goal is to score a personal best every time you play.

THREE UP AND DOWN

Win your way off the practice green.

With a wedge and your putter, get three random shots up and down in a row and leave the practice green on a high. This type of “real game” practice sets you up to deal confidently with the pressure situations that occur out on the links.
Simulating pressure through this style of training focuses your attention on scoring, and will get your juices flowing when it comes down to the all important final putt to complete the challenge.