We're all going to have to guess how to hit a real trouble shot. That is, until somebody builds a driving range with trees, bushes, really slow players in front of you and a beer cart girl who has no idea of the dire
KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, July 2, 2009 12:00 am
We're all going to have to guess how to hit a real trouble shot.
That is, until somebody builds a driving range with trees, bushes, really slow players in front of you and a beer cart girl who has no idea of the direction you're hitting.
"Actually, you can get that kind of practice with some imagination," said Rick Reynoldson, pro at Crooked Creek Golf Course.
"You develop a punch shot with a lot of different clubs," he said. "The punch shot can become one of the most versatile shots in the bag - for wind, for a shot that needs to stay low, for a shot in a bad lie.
"Play the ball back in your stance, take a half to three-quarters swing and hit down on the ball," Reynoldson said. "By the time you hit a bucket of balls with the different clubs, you'll have a good idea of the trajectory and the distance you get from the punch 4-iron to the wedge."
Brad Neunaber, pro at Beatrice Country Club, added: "You probably aren't going to come up with the 30-yard hook around a tree without some practice prior to the shot. The pros, like David Duval's shot in the Open, Tiger's shots out of trouble, all come from work.
"And remember, if you can just get out of trouble without getting into more trouble, you can keep your rhythm, maybe take a bogey and get back on track with the next shot.
"You know a bad hole doesn't have to lead to another bad hole or a bad round."
Control of the trajectory and the distance with a half swing of your 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-iron can give you so many more weapons, said Brian Kuta, pro at Iron Horse in Ashland.
"We're talking about adding hundreds of variations to your game with different swings and different touches with 14 different clubs," he said.
"The sand wedge from 80 yards and in is not always the right answer. You might have to stay under a branch and the wedge goes too high.
"So choking down on a 4-iron, placing the ball back in your stance and putting a half swing might give you a better answer," he said.
Other trouble tips: It couldn't hurt for a right-handed player to hit a couple of shots left-handed with a wedge (toe of the club pointing down, putter-like swing) and it might not do any harm to practice a restricted-swing shot a few times, too.
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.