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Short Game - Key to Shooting Lower Golf Scores
By Tony | September 3, 2007
When our students first arrive at the Australian High Performance Golf Academy (AHPGA), I am constantly amazed at the low percentage of time they are able to get the ball up and down from around the green.
How often do you get the ball up and down in two from around the green?
The stats tell us that the worlds best players hit approximately 13 greens per round and get the ball up and down in two from around the green 70 percent of the time and up and down in two from greenside bunkers 60 percent of the time.
This must tell us something!
The ability to get the ball up and down in two from around the green is the key to shooting lower scores more consistently.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Somedays we just don`t strike the ball as well as we would like right? (remember the worlds best don’t hit every green in regulation every day), on these days a solid short game is so critical to our performance, and being able to post a low round on these days keeps us in contention.
Ernie Els is widely regarded as a wonderful ball striker, and for a big powerful man he has great touch around the greens. In his book The Complete Short Game, Ernie says;
“ALTHOUGH TOURNAMENT PROS hit the ball a long way, both off the tee and with the irons, the biggest difference between most amateurs and professionals lies in the short game. In fact the closer the ball is to the green, the wider the gap is between those of us who play golf for a living and those of you who play it for fun.
This surprises a lot of people. They see someone like me- and I`m probably a good example because I`m a big hitter- and they think I make all my scores through power. That`s where they`re wrong. Sure, a good, solid long game is essential. And I admit it certainly helps being able to hit long drives. But around the greens is where the score is made. I can shoot 70 one day and 66 the next and you know what, the quality of my golf from inside 100 yards is probably the only real difference. That`s absolutely true, believe me“.
How To Play High Performance Golf
To play high perfromance golf you MUST have a quality short game. At AHPGA our students train daily on your short games, both on the practice short game area and on course.
You’ll learn to understand how the golf ball will react from various lies, what shot you can play,and what shot is best avoided, ball flight carry versus roll and adjusting the ball position and the shaft lean position at address to produce the desired trajectory.
Make no mistake, if you want to shoot lower scores consistently, spend quality time practicing, learning and developing a GREAT SHORT GAME!
The worlds best players have GREAT SHORT GAMES!! For examples of our teaching methods, have a look at some of Tony’s videos HERE
Topics: General |
September 6th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Encouraging the practice to develope a good short game seems like great advice. Most of us can get the ball to the green with some consistency. The short game is where we seem to be the least consistent.