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Short game: Committing to a shot, when does it occur

I walk and commit to my club pretty much as soon as I can see my ball as I walk toward it. Occasionally I have to change wedges when I get to the ball and see my lie, but that's not typical. Committing to the shot is not really my problem right now, but lack of short game specific practice like ever. After today's round, I finally realized that I need to devote more of my range practice in their short game area.
 
With the PM grind on the way, any shot greenside will be dealt with by that club. Unless I'm buried in a bunker, 100% committed to getting up and down in one shot with PM grind the moment I start driving/waking up to the green.


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On the practice green.
 
Tadashi70 said:
When do you commit to a particular shot around the green? Is as you exit the cart? Once you are standing over the shot? Or do you hit and hope?

If you walk, I feel you have an advantage over the golfer that rides. You can see the ball as you approach and make an educated assessment of the situation as you get closer the green complex. Riders really have to wait until they get green side to see the complex and what shot will be required.

I wonder though, when you step from the cart, are you grabbing one club or a couple? Do you know what shot your going to play before you even get over it? I tend to see things from the cart and I know pretty much what I need to do to get it close. But sometimes as I get closer I see a better way to play the shot. I may a scoring chance if I can get the ball on the right line. This all happen in a matter of seconds. I don't think I am every pot committed until I am standing over the shot and getting ready to execute.

What do you do?
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1- I walk.
2- I get up to the ball, grab a club that I would be comfortable with considering the distance and the distance alone.
3- I stand behind the ball. Try to see the line, think about where to land it. If I need another club to land there I switch.
4- I get up to the ball, stand close to it and to 1-2 practice swings, I it feels right I step up and hit it.
5- If it doesn't feel right I change 1 club up or down, do 2-3 practice swings, commit and hit.

I've left out my procedure a bit, but this is pretty much it, I've been quite good the last couple weeks and I'm sticking to it. No more pushcart, no buggies (we call them handicarts for a reason), walk-and-carry is awesome.
 
Nice thread Freddie. I have 2 wedges in the bag a 54 and a 58 and 98% of the time I can get up and down with the 54, I commit to the shot after I've checked the lie, found a landing spot or area, and am focused, that's usually when I stand over it.
 
If it's in the fairway or rough, I usually judge the shot while walking up to it. First spotting the ball, then looking ahead to find a possible line or hazards.

Around the green, for the most part it's not until I reach the ball and look where the pin is located.

Either which way, this year I've come to learn the importance of picking a shot and trusting it. We only learn by mistakes and knowing you've pulled off a particular shot before.
 
I walk so am assessing the shot for about 100 yards if the ball is visible to me. Have a good idea what kind of shot I nedd to hit by the time I reach my ball. When I ride, I will assess ball position and pin position when I get out of the cart and grab the 2 or 3 clubs that I think I may need to hit the shot.
 
I am now riding 100% of the time so I have to watch the green as I approach and anyone who has played with me will attest, I always grab the club I think I will chip with plus the one above and lower in loft. If I am feeling somewhat confused as I approach it will be the 2 clubs above and below. I will chip with anything from the 4H to the LW.

I actually commit to the shot when I reach the ball and visualize the shot that gets me rolling quickest to the hole. I had much rather play the ball low anytime I can.
 
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Most of the time I take just 2 clubs with me to the green. My 54* and my putter. If I'm unsure of what I'm facing I'll take 3 wedges - 58*, 54* and 50* and assess once I get to the ball.

As far as commitment - I commit to a certain shot before I even start my practice swings. I look it over and decide if the shot is going to be bump and run, mid or high chip. Once I pick the type of shot, I'm committed. I rarely think about landing the ball on a certain spot and think more about the length of swing necessary to get the ball to end up ideally in a 3 foot circle around the hole during my practice swings. Most chips I take 2 practice swings, for something more dicey it might be as many as 6.
 
I try to always get a look at the ball and situation before I take a club. I will agree with Panda here and when I walk I am much better at doing this consistently during a round.
 
I have been working on using just one club around the greens. So club choice is a given , just need to decide on shot choice, which starts when I start surveying the situation.
 
I try not to decide until I get to my ball, I will try to see how it's laying as I drive up to the green but usually I will take a couple of wedges with me.
 
So I walk most of my rounds. When I see the ball I start thinking about the shot I am going to hit. When I pull the club I am committed to the shot I have chosen to hit. My last thought before I swing is commit to the shot
 
I make a quick judgement depending on distance and lie and then once I get to the ball I find the landing area that fits my eye and setup stance accordingly. Then usually one or two quick practice swings and take the shot. I noticed if I am overly repetitive with practice swings and second guessing myself I make a poor attempt more often than when I just trust the shot and make as few adjustments as possible prior to taking the shot.
 
Weather walking or riding I try to read the green and where my ball ended up as I approach.

I will always grab my 60, occasionally 52 for standard greenside shots, and rarely my PW. I try to keep it simple with club choice and using different ball positions to get the desired shot.

I don't commit till I'm standing behind the ball and have seen the undulations/slope between me and the pin.


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I almost always take a couple clubs usually aw, pw and maybe an 8 for a bump and run. Unless I can see clearly from the cart why type of shot I need to play. I also practice different types of shots (high, low, flops, etc) with different wedges so that if I ever forget to take a club I'm not running back to the cart.

Once I'm over the ball and asses the lie, the green, etc and I what kind of room I have to work with, then I can decide what type of shot to play.




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I'm walking the course 99.9% of my rounds, so I'm doing my first assessment of the options while walking towards my ball, but I don't pull the trigger on what to do before I've actually seen my lie up close. I also look at potential influences on the shots I'm thinking of: soft/wet spots on the course, other disturbances of the grass, sprinklers, uphill/downhill.

I rarely ride, but when I do I usually grab multiple clubs when I walk up to my ball to avoid wanting to play a shot but having to walk back to the cart to get the right club.
 
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