Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
This week the Royal Golf Club's PGA Teaching Professional, Chris Kelby, gives tips on tackling tricky shots
YOU don't always use the pitching wedge or sand wedge for chipping. In my opinion golfers don't tend to experiment enough when close in. Your short game will improve when you are able to use a variety of clubs around the greens.
Make a commitment to practice around the greens, hitting different points from all kind of lies - this helps mimic the variety of on-course conditions you face.
Most players when they do practice tend to make life easy for themselves, sitting the ball up on a perfect lie and in turn making the shot much simpler. This is fine when learning a new technique from scratch, but becomes lees than realistic when put into terms of actually playing a round of golf. How many perfect lies do you get out there? Less than 50 per cent I'll hazard a guess, so practice the same way!
A round of golf throws up all manner of greenside stances and lies. Make your practice random and varied by throwing the balls down rather than placing them nicely on the perfect spot.
At the same time vary the club to see what works best. You wouldn't play tennis with only one shot, you need lots to be an accomplished player and the same applies to golf.
Around the green you've got a huge range of shots at your disposal depending on the location of the flag, the quality of the lie and how brave you are feeling.
Next time you practice, try the following and see what works best:
Choose a sand wedge, a 9 iron and a 7 iron. The three shots that you should attempt are a high flyer, a mid range pitch and a low running chip.
But the short game is about touch and creativity, so it's important to add some flair to your practice. Experiment by trying to recreate all three flights with each club. Add height to a 7 iron by opening the face to add loft, moving the ball forward and adding wrist action. Hit a low runner with a sand wedge by moving the ball back and toeing in the face to send it lower.
If nothing else you will learn more about how the clubs work and at the same time improve your touch and feel around the greens, which is vital to improving your short game and your score.
