Pitch Shot from Greenside Rough

25 11 2011

What if I told you that you did not have to be perfect to hit a shot out of greenside rough?  You would then approach the shot with confidence.  Remember Tom Watson’s famous shot on the 71st hole of the 1982 U.S. Open?  Bruce Edwards, his caddie, said “Get it close” to which Watson responded “I’m going to hole it!”  And so he did.  Obviously Watson did it under the utmost pressure as he was battling Nicklaus for the victory and he was tied with Jack at the time.

The truth is that although these shots appear challenging, they are not that difficult.  I teach a forgiving short game technique on these shots where you slide the bounce of the club under the ball.  If you maintain constant loft on the club, the bounce will slide along the grass fro 10-12 inches providing a huge margin of error.  Take a practice swing and you will see the length of the brush mark.

Next time you get this shot, follow these steps:

1)    Take a lofted club like a lob wedge or sand wedge

2)    Play the ball forward in your stance

3)    Weaken your grip which will help keep the clubface open

4)    Firm up your wrists to keep the club from twisting in the grass

5)    Hit behind the ball

6)    Make a big swing

Distance control will come through practice.  Your confidence will grow as you increase your repetitions. Give yourself different lies and targets to simulate real golf conditions.  You have the forgiveness built in to the club and technique.  Go do it!

Josh Zander


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Handling Pressure

23 08 2010

September seems to be a popular month for Member-Guest tournaments and Club Championships.  I am getting a lot of frantic calls from students who need a tune up as they feel pressure to perform.  Of course, you would like to play well in your club championship and you don’t want to play poorly at your buddy’s member-guest.  You may not be invited back!!

While your swing may need a tweak or two, the real question is how to deal with pressure.  The first thing to understand is that pressure in 100% self imposed.  The golf ball has no idea if you are on the first tee of a tournament or if you are out for a casual Sunday round.  From my point of view, pressure can be summed up in one thought: What will they think of me?  I’ve got news for you.  Your friend will still like you even if you don’t hit a good shot.  Your competitors will still respect you as long as you observe good etiquette and handle yourself well.  The truth is that your friends are probably worried about what you think of them.  Don’t worry about what others think and you are well on your way to diffusing the pressure.

Instead of stressing about your swing breaking down because of the pressure, learn how to handle pressure.  First, know that the worst thing that can happen to you if you hit a bad shot is … NOTHING.  Johnny Miller is known for calling people out when they “choke” under pressure.  Decision making gets clouded and swings get tight under pressure which is a formula for disaster.  Next time you feel pressure, take a deep breath.  Inhale deeply through your nose and say the words “alert mind”.  Then exhale through your mouth and say “calm body”.  If a negative thought comes into your head, let it cycle through and get back to the task at hand.  Get back to your calming breaths and enjoy yourself.

Never let that little white ball tell you how to feel!  You are in charge and make a decision to enjoy yourself regardless of how you play.  If so, you just may be hoisting that winner’s trophy.  If not, you will still be okay.  In my book, you have won if you have enjoyed the experience.


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Controlling Your Emotions, the Key to Mental Toughness

28 05 2010

We all know that mental toughness is part of what makes a good golfer.  When you look at any great athlete at an elite level, their mental toughness is awesome.  Nobody personifies this better than Tiger Woods.  All you need to do is look at how well he performs under pressure and how he is still able to finish in the top ten when he has a bad week.  I could write a novel on mental toughness and many sports psychologists have.  I want to focus on one small but crucial part, how to react after hitting a shot.  Some sports psychologists call this a post shot routine.

We cannot escape the fact that we all hit bad shots.  Ben Hogan, one of the best ball-strikers of all time, stated that he could count on one hand the number of shots he hit exactly the way he wanted during a round of golf.  The rest of the shots were misses.  Since most of us can’t hit it as well as Ben, we need to understand how to react when we hit a bad one.  I am going to give you a formula for playing your best golf but before I do, you need to promise yourself that you will do it before you read on.  Did you promise?!!!

Here is the formula:

1) Fall in love with the shot at hand (this will keep you in the present)

2) Emotionalize (celebrate) the shot if it is good

3) If the shot is bad, simply observe it and DO NOT SHOW ANY EMOTION

4) Replay the shot in your mind the way you wanted it to be and emotionalize that shot

The formula is simple but not easy to do.  Most of us are accustomed to getting upset if we hit a bad shot. In other words, we are emotionalizing the bad shots.  Emotions help us store memories in our brain so why would you ever want to store bad shots.  If you only emotionalize good shots, you will be storing those shots in your brain which will fill you with confidence.  Have you ever reached the tee of a hole that is your nemesis and you have no confidence?  The reason is that you have stored those memories when you emotionalized a bad shot there in the past.   Have you ever reached a tee where you remember hitting a great shot?  You stored that the same way, through emotion.

So start celebrating your good shots.  Pump your fist like Tiger or rattle your saber like Chi Chi Rodriguez!  Find your own way to celebrate.  Remember, you can’t always control the result of your shot but you can control your emotional reaction.  If you follow this formula, you will play the best golf of your life.


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Categories : game improvement, golf, golf instruction, mental game


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