Short Game Practice at THE FALDO INSTITUTE Round 2

Short Game Practice at THE FALDO INSTITUTE 

Round 2

Today was a day where I translate all of what I have taken in in the last two days into structuring my practice session around my weak links that I found in the tournaments the last two days. Three main things that I had on my plate were: controlling trajectory with the wedges, distance control with putting, and tempo on chip shots. 

Controlling Trajectory: This is so important when playing at this level, if you can't control trajectory on your wedges you can't control spin or distance. I work on this using many different drills and really getting a vision in my head of what I want the shot to look like and what I want the ball to do once it hits the green. Envisioning the shot helps your body to remember and your mind to recall this activity when you need it on the course. It is very very very very very important to visualize your shots. The guys on tour all do it so it is a habit that you should try to work into your practice sessions and time on the golf course. 

Distance Control with putting: I had a tough time gauging distance yesterday on my mid-length putts and my lag putts. It is important that when working on your putting you understand the roles that your hands play in putting. Your right hand is your speed hand that controls distance and your left hand is your control hand that controls face rotation. An ideal grip has your palms opposing each other so that your hands fight each other. My practice session consisted of a lot of switching one-handed putting from left to right. I wanted to develop the feel in both hand of what their roles are. 60% of the practice was done with the right hand to really work on distance. It is important to have balance so I finished the other 40% up with the left hand. 

Tempo on Chipping: I was struggling yesterday with having soft hand and hitting delicate chips. I put in a lot of work hitting close to 1000 chips today with 58*-8i really working on tempo and keeping my hands soft. I make a square out of four golf balls that I have to land the ball in and go through to get to the hole. This helps with focusing on a specific spot and not the hole. This also helps with visualization and shot recreation. 

Looks like I am going to be at it again tomorrow to do some more fine tuning. I only hit a few golf balls on the range as my swing feels solid and I am not going to try and change things before a tournament on Sunday and Monday. I just hit balls keeping rhythm and smooth tempo. Tempo is so important for me and my swing. I really work hard on keeping things silky smooth and not rushing the swing. My range work was focused solely on tempo and checking my yardages to make sure I am sharp for the tournament. Is important to not reinvent the wheel while playing a lot of tournaments in a row, keep it simple, and stick to the basics. 5 keys things I check every time I hit a shot (grip, stance, posture, ball position, and alignment). Keep those all in check and you are in a great position to make a good golf swing. Until next time hit them long and straight.