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Short Game Shape Up - JB Goes To Work

blugold said:
How have you been attacking those?
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To me it is no different than any other shot. Its about finding your balance point and staying down on the ball.
Careful not to try to "help" the ball up and just let the club do the work. I use a tighter grip to keep the club head straight through thicker grass and look at ball position depending on what I need the ball to do.
 
That downhill lie chip has got to be the hardest shot in the world to me. Especially in I'm close to the hole.
 
I really need to do something like you are JB, I just wish there was good practice facilities around here. Your short game sounds like it is coming around really nicely and your game should be in great shape entering 2012. My short game is horrendous, so I'm going to take your tips and start some work of my own when the facilities open back up.
 
Damaikis said:
I really need to do something like you are JB, I just wish there was good practice facilities around here. Your short game sounds like it is coming around really nicely and your game should be in great shape entering 2012. My short game is horrendous, so I'm going to take your tips and start some work of my own when the facilities open back up.
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I must agree. JB is a few (lot) of steps ahead of most of us. I am in the basement trying to figure out how I can get ahead start on the season. I can putt and chip indoors but can not work the sand. Just have to wait.

JB keep up the good work.
 
crazygolfnut said:
I must agree. JB is a few (lot) of steps ahead of most of us. I am in the basement trying to figure out how I can get ahead start on the season. I can putt and chip indoors but can not work the sand. Just have to wait.

JB keep up the good work.
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I do a lot of my putting work in doors on our putting green and find it really helps me. Keep us updated on how its working for you.
 
JB said:
I do a lot of my putting work in doors on our putting green and find it really helps me. Keep us updated on how its working for you.
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I do this a ton during the winter. I feel that I'm a pretty good putter because of all the putting I do indoors during the winter. It helps pass the time and I get much needed putting practice....win/win!

Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using Tapatalk
 
love the tee drill might be time to bust that back out. gonna have to adjust it for indoors soon. really wanna work on my stroke this winter.
 
Just got back from the practice range and spent the day working on long chips. The ones where you might be just off the green in the rough, but have about 100 feet or more to get it to the hole. Over the last year or so during my short game "fall apart", I noticed that I have been leaving most of these short, by as much as 15 feet. Had 50 balls and the goal was to get every single ball to the hole and leave them all with in 8 feet past the flag.

To accomplish this, I decided that the shot should be hit about half way there and run out the rest of the way. Using a 50* wedge for this shot seemed to be my choice club as I tried it with a few others and liked the trajectory I was getting. For a shot like this, where I want to hit it and let it run out, I use a pretty simple method that has been discussed numerous times and shown in video by Andy Mollerud on the home page. Ball at the inside of the back foot, weight slightly forward and just use almost a putting stroke as I dont break my wrists.

While I did not get my goal of all inside of 8 feet, I did get 44 out of 50 inside of it. And I got 49 out of 50 past the hole which was important for me. The shot being done today was as mentioned just in the fluffy stuff off the green and it was 110 feet to the pin on a pretty flat surface area. All in all, I was pretty happy with the results and the short game is starting to really come together.
 
Good stuff JB impressive that all but one were past the hole. I tend to leave this short also. Been putting a imaginary hole behind the one I'm aiming for and aim for the one past now has helped me even more so with my putting. Got out today for some short game work after working on my swing on the range. It's amazing how fast you lose your touch when you don't keep up with your chipping and putting. Been great reading how your getting your short game swagger back!
 
Spent the day hitting wedges from 100 yards on the nose with normal swings. Dropped 36 balls and before I took any swing, made sure ball position and alignment were properly set. I noticed on the course recently, that when I double check, it has helped me. I like the ball slightly in front of center, about a ball length. Then the key for me is to make sure my alignment is not slightly left. Its something I have done for years and my miss being a pull usually, it does not help things.

From there, its swing away and I use my 50 degree wedge for this although it is my 105 yard club. I got all 36 balls on the green and 15 of them were with in 12 feet. 12 others were with in 18 feet. And the last 9 were with in 25 feet. Not a great day by any means, but the reps do help and I noticed my issue was the same each time I was missing.

All in all, another solid day of practice for me and something I have needed to do for a while.
 
Just caught up, nice work JB! This will pay dividends in the end.
Question, what percentage of the balls you hit today were long? I only ask due to the club you were using.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Just caught up, nice work JB! This will pay dividends in the end.
Question, what percentage of the balls you hit today were long? I only ask due to the club you were using.
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Only 3 balls went long and were still on the green. However there was a little bit of wind in my face during the testing.
 
JB said:
Only 3 balls went long and were still on the green. However there was a little bit of wind in my face during the testing.
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Thank you sir! I'll be trying the chipping stroke you spoke of from your work on the 30th, seems like it could be effective
 
JB, I'm embarking on a similar quest for 2012. My goal is to improve my sub-100 yd game to the point I'm confident in hitting the green (and close to the pin) 100% of the time. Just ordered some new Eidolon wedges, the journey starts when these arrive later this week!
 
I have failed to locate the chipping video on the home page, can someone help?
 
Spent some more time on bunker shots today. It was rather chilly, so I kept it brief, however was able to hit 28 balls from the greenside bunker and immediately noticed how much that previous practice session paid off. The sand was rather packed in (which I like) and working on the same routine I used previously in this thread, the results were quite good. I set a goal of 25 of the 28 inside of 10 feet and while I did not obtain that goal, I was not off by a lot.
 
JB said:
Spent some more time on bunker shots today. It was rather chilly, so I kept it brief, however was able to hit 28 balls from the greenside bunker and immediately noticed how much that previous practice session paid off. The sand was rather packed in (which I like) and working on the same routine I used previously in this thread, the results were quite good. I set a goal of 25 of the 28 inside of 10 feet and while I did not obtain that goal, I was not off by a lot.
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Which wedge do you use out of the sand? 54*? 58*? I imagine it's whichever has more bounce...
 
felit0 said:
Which wedge do you use out of the sand? 54*? 58*? I imagine it's whichever has more bounce...
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Sorry, just saw your question. For me it depends what the bunker looks like and how much distance I have in the shot. I use both quite a bit.
 
I have skimmed this thread before - but just now decided to go back and read everything start to finish. Just to start off, thank you JB for taking the time to share all of this with us. And kudos for putting in the time and effort to improve your game.

I honestly think this right here embodies what THP is all about - and is exactly why I love it here. JB decides to make the effort and improve his game while also deciding to write about it. People here read it and get attached/connected to the progress. Excitement, hard work, and dedication is passed throughout those in the community that read it as they genuinely enjoy seeing others make progress. We all attempt to relate the work JB is putting in to our own games. We follow along, take from it what we beleive will help us improve, and all join in as we all become better and more educated golfers.

Honestly - what is better than that? This place is full of great people that share the same passion for golf that I do. I know for a fact that I am becoming better for just having spent a few months on here - and is it due to threads like this that make all the difference to me.

Best of luck JB with your continued Short Game Shape Up. I will be following closely.
 
Went out this morning and worked on one shot only and that is the 50 yard shot to the green. However to do this, I used 3 different wedges and 3 different shots.
The half swing with the 58* wedge.
The pitch with the 54* wedge.
The punch with the 50* wedge.

Gauging which shot would be the best for me, I found the half swing and the pitch to be the most reliable and the punch shot giving me a few issues. Some might ask what the difference between the shots are and here is a brief breakdown.
Half swing is basically a normal golf shot, in which I only take it back half way and put just enough on it for the appropriate distance. Some struggle with this shot because deceleration with a high lofted club leads to mistakes and happens all too frequently.
The Punch shot that I do from this distance offers virtually no follow through and impact is deep and has some decent loft (compared to pitching).
The pitch shot is my normal pitch shot from greenside is more of a bump and run but with a higher lofted club to get it to the green before releasing.

The goal here is to minimize mistakes when I am either short of the green on my approach, or go a little too far when playing to my number (which is 75 yards many times).
 
JB - How much do you experiment with clubhead release? I hope that isn't too vague of a question.
 
blugold said:
JB - How much do you experiment with clubhead release? I hope that isn't too vague of a question.
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It depends on the shot, but I don't experiment too much with what comes naturally for me in terms of where my release is.
 
If you're trying to hit a higher pitch, do you release the club head or try to maintain an open face?
 
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