How to Use the Bounce on Your Wedges
Bounce is the angle on the sole of a wedge that stops the leading edge digging into the ground. Many golfers fight their bounce by leaning the shaft forward and digging, which causes fat and chunked…
Topic
Short game
48 articles tagged “short game”.
Playing from the Collar: When Your Ball Rests Against the Rough
It's one of the trickiest little shots in golf: your ball has rolled to the edge of the green and stopped against the collar, the band of longer grass around the fringe. A normal putt will snag in…
Open and Closed Stances in Golf: When to Use Each
Your stance alignment, square, open or closed, influences your swing path, how freely you turn and the shape of your shots. Most golfers use a square stance for full shots, but open and closed…
Flagstick In or Out When Putting? What You Need to Know
Since the rules changed to allow golfers to putt with the flagstick in the hole without penalty, golfers have debated whether it helps. Some always leave it in; others always take it out. The answer…
Should You Use a Line on Your Golf Ball? Pros, Cons and How To
Many golfers draw a line on their golf ball and use it to aim putts and tee shots. Others find the line distracting and prefer to aim without it. There's no right answer, but there are good and bad…
Putting Stroke: Arc vs Straight Back and Through
Golfers putt in different ways. Some swing the putter on a gentle arc, opening slightly on the way back and closing on the way through. Others keep the putter face square to the line, moving it…
How to Hole More Short Putts: Technique, Routine and Drills
Short putts, from about three to six feet, are where many rounds are won and lost. Professionals hole most of them; club golfers often miss one or two a round, and every miss costs a full shot. The…
Putting on Fast and Slow Greens: How to Adjust Your Pace
Every course has different greens, and the same greens change with the weather and the time of day. A putt that rolls perfectly on your home course can race six feet past on slick tournament greens…
Difficult Bunker Shots: Plugged Lies, Slopes and Long Shots
A standard splash shot from a good lie in a greenside bunker is very learnable. The trouble starts when the ball plugs in the face, sits on a downslope, rests in wet, compacted sand or is 40 yards…
Golf Practice Games: Fun Drills That Lower Your Scores
Most golfers practise the same way: a bucket of balls, the same club, the same target, over and over. It feels productive, but it rarely transfers to the course, where every shot is different and…
How to Score Without Distance: Beating Longer Hitters
Golf often looks like a power game. Long drives get the attention, and modern golf has rewarded distance. But scores are made by the total number of strokes, not the length of your drives. Shorter…
The Putting Yips: What They Are and How to Beat Them
You stand over a three-foot putt. You have holed thousands like it. And then, just as you start the stroke, your hands twitch, the putter jerks and the ball misses the hole by a foot. If that sounds…