A Winning Short Game Strategy To Help You Beat All Opponents

Gamesmanship

Nothing frustrates or demoralizes your opponent more than repeatedly getting up and down from off the greens. If you are getting the ball in the hole in two shots from all over the course, your opponent will feel that no matter how good he hits the ball tee to green, he has no chance of beating you. In fact, many matchplay games come down to who chips and putts better on the day.

Here are a few tips you can implement to develop a winning short game strategy:

Play along the ground

The closer you can land the ball to your feet, the better. This is not always possible if you have bunkers and water in the way, but if you can land a chip shot or bunker shot close to your feet and run it like a putt, you have much more chance of holing the shot.

Learn the basic chip

Move your hands down the club and grip the club close the shaft, play the ball off your right toe, lean the hands ahead of the ball, and rock your shoulders to play the chip. This is the shot that you will play 90% of the time when you miss a green.

Hear the ball going in the hole

The best putting advice is "hit and listen". You simply hit your putt, keep your head still and listen for the sound of the ball rattling the back of the cup. This will help you let go of the outcome and focus on hitting a good putt and forget about the hole.

A light touch

Relax your hands on the club. Let the club hang from your shoulders and let the clubhead collect the ball on the way through the downswing. This will ensure solid contact every time. Don't strangle the club, but don't let it fall out of your fingers either.

Put an extra wedge in your bag

Carry four wedges: a pitching wedge (around 49 degrees), a sand wedge (around 56 degrees), a lob wedge (60 degrees) and an extra lob wedge (64 degrees). To make sure that you stay within the rules of the game, take your 2-iron or 5-wood out of the bag and replace it with an extra wedge. This is a smart move because you will use your wedge much more often than a long club.