How Do I Determine How Good My Lie Is?

When I miss a green, how do I determine how good my lie is and what type of golf shot to play?

Good question that not many people pay attention to. The rule of thumb is to get the ball rolling on the green as soon as possible. With this being said the more grass that is behind your ball, the more you should try to chip it, if distance allows that. If not then you must pitch the golf ball. Even when pitching the golf ball, you must determine how much grass is behind your golf ball. the more that is there, then you need to play it towards the middle of your stance and not to the front of your stance. The ball will come out lower and with less spin. You will need to factor this into your shot to get it close to the hole.

Chipping Help!

Recently I have had trouble with my chipping. I hit most of my chip shots low and the ball will go over the green. It is so bad that I can feel that I am hitting the ball on the bottom of the club face. What can I do?

To improve your chip shot, make sure that you are keeping you shoulders, forearms and the back of your neck relaxed throughout the entire stroke. In addition, make sure you are swinging down at the ball. Set up with 70% (adjust as needed) of your weight on your left foot for a right-handed golfer and place your hands equal to your left hip. By now taking your putting stroke from this position, this will make the shaft come into the ball on a steeper path. Read the article Boot Camp For Chip Shots to make your Short Game better!

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How Do I Stop Chunking My Chip Shots?

I have a single-digit handicap. Unfortunately, I have started chunking a lot of my chip shots. Many times the ball gets half way to the hole and the blade just digs. What can I do to get this to stop?

Being a low handicapper, we will assume that you are keeping a flat left wrist/bent right wrist at impact. Check your set up. Many times better players get away from a proper set up. With opening up and doing this and that, they get out of whack. As you address the ball, make sure your hips and shoulders are level. It is omportant that you feel this throughout the chipping motion. This will shallow out your swing and will cure you of the chunks!

To find informative articles on the full swing, putting or the short game go to Wireless Golf Coach.

Improve Pitching From Around The Green

I need help with pitching the golf ball. I struggle with hitting pitch shots the correct distance from around the green and leave myself long putts. Do you have a drill that I could do to improve my pitching?

Anytime any is having a challenge with distance, it always comes back to if they are making solid contact or not. The first question I would ask you in a lesson is "are you hitting these shots solid?" We would then hit some of these shots and see if the answers match. A great drill to improve this comes from the last book we hi-lighted, The Red Zone Challenge by Rob Akin. With a can of spray paint draw a line on the ground about one foot long. Place your ball on top of the painted line. As you hit balls from this line, are you entering the turf on the line, in front of the line or behind the line? Until we can consistently start our divot on the line it will be difficult to control the distance of your pitch shots. The good news is that this short game drill can be used for your full swing and the work that you do for your pitching will also help your full swing.

Short Game Plan

I am determined to improve my short game this year. I know that I need to improve my short game in order to accomplish my goals. Do you have any suggestions for a quantifiable and formalized plan to improve my short game that will allow me to keep track of my progress?

Great question and you are going about your progress the right way. Most people will come up with a golf improvement plan however they have no way to quantify the results. In the book The Red Zone Challenge, the author, Rob Akin, lays out a formalized plan to improve your short game that is quantifiable. In addition, The Red Zone Challenge, offers different plans determined on the amount of time that you have to dedicate to your improvement on a weekly basis.

Control The Distance With Your Wedges

I have been working on my short game and with the help of this blog have really improved. My question is how can I get even better at further controlling my distances with my partial wedges? I am a single digit handicap and I know that better controlling these distances will help me lower my scores.

Thanks for your question and I am glad you are taking advantage and enoying our blog! I am going to give you two ways to do this. One is from Dave Pelz and the other is from Dr. Joesph Parent.

1. The first way we will discuss to control your distances involves the Dave Pelz method of controlling distance as outlined in his book The Short Game Bible. As you address the pitch shot, imagine a clock around you with twelve o'clock at your head and six o'clock at your feet. With a pitching wedge, sand wedge and lob wedge (if not carried use your nine iron)make a motion from eight o'clock to three o'clock. This would create a distance for each of these irons. Then, do this agin with your motion going form nine o'clock to three o'clock. This should give you a second set of distance numbers. Finally, use these three clubs to make the motion going from ten o'clock to three o'clock to give you a your third set of distances.


2. Dr. Joesph Parent, author of Zen Golf and Zen Putting would have you take the same clubs as mentioned above however, he will give you four different disatance numbers per wedge. For your first set of distances, make a motion that allows your hands to go to your hip pocket on your backswing and through so the shaft is parallel to the ground or the Pelz three o'clock position. For the second set of distances, take your hands equal to your belt. The third set of distances will have your hands equal to your ribs and finally the fourth set of distances will come from taking your hands equal to your shoulder.

Use both the Dave Pelz and Dr. Joesph Parent methods and figure out which method works best for you and your game!

Weighted Practice Club - Short Game

I have a weighted practice club that is a seven iron. Will it help or hurt me if I chip with this weighted practice club?

Great question! This is a great idea to help your chipping. Using a weighted practice club will help you get the club through impact if you are sticking the club in the ground. In addition, if you are topping your chips the extra weight will assit you getting the golf club back down to the golf ball.

For other articles on a Weighted Practice Club, Chipping Lessons or Full Swing Instruction go to http://www.virtualgolfswing.com/

Where Do I Land A Chip Shot Or A Pitch Shot?

When I have a lot of green to work with, I have a difficult time trying to figure out where to land a chip shot or pitch shot on the green. Do you have any suggestions?

Many people struggle with this situation but this will make it easier. Stand directly behind the golf ball and simply act like you are under-handing a golf ball to the hole. Imagine that you are under-handing balls at different trajectories and you will feel and see which one is correct and this will give you the spot to land the golf ball for your chip shot.

For other articles on the short game, go to VGS Golf.

At VGS Golf find golf instruction articles written on topis such as Full Swing, Golf Club Fitting, Golf Fitness, Mental Game, Putting, Short Game, Golf Equipment, Ladies Golf, Junior Golf as well as various topics that you would hear in a 19th Hole.

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How Do I Keep My Chips On The Green?

I need help with keeping my chip shots on the green. Most of the time when I chip the ball, it comes out low like a rocket and goes over the green. I am a new golfer and do not know how to make this stop. What do I need to do?

We have good news for you!!! You can quickly fix some short game fundamentals of your address position and you will see immediate results. You currently are hitting the ball on the very bottom of the club face from trying to hit up on the ball. We will put you into a short game setup position that will help you in hitting down on the ball and in turn you will hit the ball more around the fourth groove form the bottom of the club and not "the literal bottom" of the club.

First, do not take an open stance. Stay square. Second, your chip shot ball position should be back in your stance. This means behind the center of your feet. Third, place more weight on your left side than your right side. You will need to play with this as it might be 60% for some and 80% for others. Finally, you will need to make sure that your hands are ahead of the ball as you look down at address. This address position will probably feel funny to you as you are not used being in this position. From here. use your putting stroke to move the ball towards the target. It is important to keep your weight on your left side, have your hands ahead of the ball at impact and to hold your finish for a count of three.

As you watch the pros on TV, you can see these fundamentals in action. In addition, you can read Boot Camp For Chip Shots at VGS Golf.

At VGS Golf find golf instruction articles written on topis such as Full Swing, Golf Club Fitting, Golf Fitness, Mental Game, Putting, Short Game, Golf Equipment, Ladies Golf, Junior Golf as well as various topics that you would hear in a 19th Hole.

In addition VGS Golf offers golf products in the following categories:Full Swing Golf Training Aids, Golf Art, Golf Books, Golf Equipment, Golf Gifts, Golf Greeting Cards, Golf Instruction CD, Golf Instruction DVD, Golf Picture Frames, Ladies Golf, Putting Golf Training Aids, Wine and Golf as well as a VGS Golf Blog and a Wireless Golf Coach - Question And Answer Golf Blog

Can I Get Help With My Chipping?

I keep hitting behind the ball when I try to chip the golf ball. Not only is it embarrassing, but then I am looking at the same shot again. How can I fix this problem with my chipping?

Typically this occurs when you are trying to help the ball up in the air. Remember, you want to strike a chip with your putting stroke. Read the two articles below, boot camp for chip shots and chipping lessons to help you improve your chipping and improve your short game.

http://www.virtualgolfswing.com/boot-camp-for-chip-shots-a-184.html
http://www.virtualgolfswing.com/chipping-lessons-a-247.html

At VGS Golf find golf instruction articles written on topis such as Full Swing, Golf Club Fitting, Golf Fitness, Mental Game, Putting, Short Game, Golf Equipment, Ladies Golf, Junior Golf as well as various topics that you would hear in a 19th Hole.

In addition VGS Golf offers golf products in the following categories:Full Swing Golf Training Aids, Golf Art, Golf Books, Golf Equipment, Golf Gifts, Golf Greeting Cards, Golf Instruction CD, Golf Instruction DVD, Golf Picture Frames, Ladies Golf, Putting Golf Training Aids, Wine and Golf as well as a VGS Golf Blog and a Wireless Golf Coach - Question And Answer Golf Blog

How Do I Properly Hit A Chips Shot?

I have recently had A LOT of trouble with my chipping. I hit most of my chip shots low and the go over the green. It is so bad that I can feel that I am hitting the ball on the bottom of the club face. What can I do?

Well keep your chin up and keep smiling as I have three suggestions for you!!!

1. During a chipshot, make sure that you are keeping you shoulders, forearms and the back of your neck relaxed throughout the entire stroke.
2. To make sure you are swinging down at the ball, set up with 70% (adjust as needed) of your weight on your left foot for a right-handed golfer and place your hands equal to your left hip. By now taking your putting stroke from this position, this will make the shaft come into the ball on a steeper path.
3. Read the article Boot Camp For Chip Shots

Let us know how this helps!!!

At VGS Golf find golf instruction articles written on topis such as Full Swing, Golf Club Fitting, Golf Fitness, Mental Game, Putting, Short Game, Golf Equipment, Ladies Golf, Junior Golf as well as various topics that you would hear in a 19th Hole.

In addition VGS Golf offers golf products in the following categories:Full Swing Golf Training Aids, Golf Art, Golf Books, Golf Equipment, Golf Gifts, Golf Greeting Cards, Golf Instruction CD, Golf Instruction DVD, Golf Picture Frames, Ladies Golf, Putting Golf Training Aids, Wine and Golf as well as a VGS Golf Blog and a Wireless Golf Coach - Question And Answer Golf Blog