Broke 90 for the first time but need some help!!!

[jchase]

So i played a local course haven't played all summer hit the ball off the tee great!!! Driver was battlling some snap hooks but got it straightened out and was SMOKING it the last few holes! The course is 6,700 and 139 slope! So its a pretty tough course! Putting was great no three putts and pace was great no second putts longer than 3 feet. But from just off the green i could not get the ball to stop to save my life!!! What am i not doing? Used everything from low irons to wedges just could not get a ball to check up or even stop. Please help me!! I bet i could save 4 or 5 strokes a round if i could just get it to stop from just off the green! Oh BTW shot an 89!

Joe.

[nututhugame]

Congrats! I am still working on it. My low is 90 which i've shot a few times. Had quite a few 91's and 92's as well. My low 9 is 42. I just have never put two 9's that good together. What is your low 9?

[FATC1TY]

If your not able to get the ball to check up and stop with short pitches then there are two areas to look at.

Clubs and balls.. Are the wedges your using, do they have pretty worn grooves? Or are the grooves pretty deep and clean? Clean grooves, and deep grooves on a wedge will help you alot in adding spin to the ball, which will have it hit and stop, or even hit and back up.

What kind of ball are you playing? A TopFlite, or something premium with a softer cover? The cheaper distances balls aren't made for feel, nor short game. They don't grab the wedges grooves as easy, and don't spin as much. Get a ball like a ProV1, or a Taylormade TP, Bridgestone B330.. any of the premium balls, and give it a try.

Second, would be the shot your trying to do.. Is it just a chip? In which cases, you'll generally WANT some roll out, and would want to land it short and allow the ball to release and roll towards the hole.

If it's a pitch shot, you want to get it high. The higher it goes, the softer it will land and generally won't run out as much. That said, if your in the rough off the green around 10-20 yards, and want to send it right at the hole, and have it stop, you need to make sure to compress the ball, not scoop it. Keep your left wrist stiff, and don't unset your wrists.

You'll compress the ball, get the spin you need and when the ball hits, it'll check up, and stop. With a premium ball, good grooves and a proper strike, I can land a ball and have it stop dead in it's tracks, or back it up.

The biggest help, will be a good wedge, and a soft covered ball. You won't be stopping any cheap hard golf balls on a dime. You'll just have to learn how to play for the roll out.

[zaphod]

Originally Posted by jchase

So i played a local course haven't played all summer hit the ball off the tee great!!! Driver was battlling some snap hooks but got it straightened out and was SMOKING it the last few holes! The course is 6,700 and 139 slope! So its a pretty tough course! Putting was great no three putts and pace was great no second putts longer than 3 feet. But from just off the green i could not get the ball to stop to save my life!!! What am i not doing? Used everything from low irons to wedges just could not get a ball to check up or even stop. Please help me!! I bet i could save 4 or 5 strokes a round if i could just get it to stop from just off the green! Oh BTW shot an 89!

Joe.

You talkin" about chipping???? From rough or fringe or fairway????

Anyway sounds like practice time needed on edge of putting green. Practice with one club for the "feel" and spirit of the shot. 52* or 56* is a good starter. Pick a exact landing spot out on the green and practice hitting that spot noticing the changes in backspin and trajectory with resulting roll out.

Technique always involves having your hands ahead of the ball at contact with NO flipping. Soft hands Pay attention to the lie of the club face edge keeping it level at contact. Tempo is important too. SHORT crisp strokes within your tempo.

You are right. Good chipping should result in more 1 putts.

My recent round I shot a 82 ---9 over with 2 doubles on front 9 and 1 over on the back nine. 32 putts. Difference from front to back was I really concentrated on tempo control on chips. I'm not happy with a round if I'm over 30 putts/18. Putt number for me is related to the quality of my 50 yard to fringe game primarily chips.

[mddubya]

You've gotten some great advice so far. Hit the practice green and work on chipping.

If you can't bring yourself to spend to the money on a premium ball, at least get some good 2 piece ones. Cally Diablo's stop decent, TopFlite D2 Feels or Gamers, Srixon AD333 aren't too expensive and will check up.

And congrats on a new PB !

[jchase]

well i have been playing precept u tri tour, cally hx tour, pro v1, pretty decent balls. Have gotten good about not losing them! And yea it is just off the green. I think i solved some problems today. Went and played nine at a bit of an easier course and shot 5 over. With a double on a tough par 3 and 3 bogey's. Had 4 GIR which is a lot better than usual for me. Just missed 3 birdies!!!

But i think my problem was getting my weight onto my left leg i have a torn acl and meniscus in that knee and i had it give out on my two weeks ago and it has been tender to say the least. But i focused on iron shots and around the greens starting with the weight there and getting a more decending blow. Had 1 bad chip from just off the green. The others were within 10 feet of the pin which i was extremely happy with. Thanks for the advice i will continue to work on it. And try to hole out a few tomorrow playing 18 with some old friends of mine and we got a nice bet riding on it!!!

[halifax_golfer]

you need to be chipping with a wedge to get it to check up (at least I'm pretty sure). The whole point I think of chipping with a 7-8-9ir would be to get the ball to roll out. I'm kinda at a stage where sometimes my balls will check up and stop quicker then other times. It can be frustrating when you think you've hit a nice lookin shot and it just stops in its tracks when you wanted it to release the other 1/4 of the way to the flag.

[FATC1TY]

Try to get most of the weight on your left foot like you said.. If you can't try and keep it atleast level between both feet.

The MOST IMPORTANT THING is to strike the ball with SPEED. Accelerating is key to getting a good strike AND spin. If you slow down.. It's a whole can of worms.

My short game has improved 10-fold due to watching my weight shift, and using a full lower body pivot with acceleration.

[jchase]

yea i think my whole thing was when i was taking my practice swings they were short and sweet. But when i would go at the ball i was taking a longer back stroke and that was throwing everything off. So i focused on keeping it short and sweet the whole time and it worked good. and keeping 70% of my weight on my front foot on all iron shots really helped alot with ball striking yesterday. So i will let you guys know how today goes.