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GOLF DOCTOR

The three hardest shots to execute in golf may just surprise you

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Over the many years of golf experiences, I have come to the conclusion that there are three specific golf shots which higher handicap golfers find the most difficult. When I posed this issue to one of my teaching pro friends he said, “That’s simple; they are the shot out of a cactus, hitting a submerged ball and the 6 iron through tree branches that are 90 percent air.” Cute.

Also, I have asked lots of golfers of all abilities to tell me which are the hardest shots, and I have gotten all sorts of replies. “Any shot where I have to think,” one said. “A shot from deep rough,” another responded. “Long lag putts,” someone offered. “It’s my mental game,” said a fellow who has been playing golf for 30 years, adding that, “I can’t stand the first tee shot with everybody watching because it’s unnerving.”

And one golfing friend surprised me with this: “I don’t know about the hardest shots, but the easiest for me are the Mulligan, the Shapiro (do-over) and the conceded putt.”

Seriously, everyone has their Achilles’ heel golf shot, but there are a few that most everyday golfers can relate to as being the most challenging: (1) the long sand shot from a fairway bunker; (2) the half wedge shot from inside of 60 yards to the green; and (3) the fairway wood or long iron shot from a downhill lie, as you might hit as the second shot on a par 5 hole.

Let’s take first: the long sand bunker shot. For most normal long bunker shots, the idea is to hit a crisp shot with a full swing, taking very little sand. This is vastly different than an explosion shot from a greenside bunker, where you are lifting the ball out by blasting the sand underneath it. The very top priority of any shot from a penalty area, like a bunker, is to get the ball out and in the direction of the target. If there is a raised bunker face in front of your ball, be sure to take enough of a lofted club to elevate the ball over the bunker lip and “take your medicine” without compounding the error by leaving the ball in the bunker. For the mostly flat fairway bunker shot, be sure to take plenty of club, contact the ball before any sand and trust the club to do the work.

Short game guru Dave Pelz says that, based on his extensive research with high-handicap golfers, the half-wedge shot is absolutely the hardest shot for regular folks to hit consistently well. This fact is partly due to existing swing flaws and partly due to a misunderstanding of the technique required. Golf teachers agree that the secret to the short wedge is acceleration. The mistake that many players make is that they “quit” on the shot (i.e. decelerate), sensing that they have taken too much swing or too much club. For most, golfers a 60-yard shot to the green requires a sand wedge or a lob wedge. It’s a “feel” type shot that must be hit with what amounts to a full swing that is downsized or abbreviated, struck with a descending blow and a certain amount of weight shift. Practice on the range is needed to ease your comfort level on the course.

Thirdly, let’s take the case of the second shot on a par-5 hole, in which the situation calls for a “lay-up” shot that is short of a pond or other looming penalty area. Inexperienced golfers as well as higher handicap golfers all seem to struggle with long fairway shots, mainly because they instinctively think they have to hit the ball a long way, or they fail to focus fully on the shot in the same manner as they would a shot to the green. A lay-up shot demands precise accuracy for direction and controlled distance. Usually, a long fairway shot on a

par-5 is the second shot and it is a position shot. Your priority is positioning your ball so that your approach to the green is one in which you can hit your favorite iron. Hybrid clubs are the club du jour for these lay-up shots. When you have a slightly downhill lie simply align your body along the down-slope so that your swing is now more level. Swing along the slope, “chasing” your follow-through along the downward angle. To play all the hard shots well, the late Julius Boros said, “Swing easy and play hard.”

Charlie Blanchard is a licensed sports psychologist specializing in sports and leadership. Contact him at docblanchard71@gmail.com.

Charlie Blanchard

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