Results tagged “Putting”

Director of golf at Canary Wharf's Citybunker Pete Fuller reckons he can take anyone and turn them from a beginner into a confident and competent player. In his regular Wharf column, Learning Golf, the PGA pro passes on his knowledge and skill through a step-by-step guide. This lesson sees the Pro taking the beginner through the stages of Bunker Shots.

During an everyday game of golf, you should always focus on which club is the most appropriate given the specific situation.

There are seldom two identical shots during a golfer's career, however, a golfer is permitted to carry only fourteen clubs in his/her golf bag.

First of all, you as a golfer must learn which clubs go what distances and which clubs will react differently given the location of the ball on the course. Sometimes the ball will be in the rough, sometimes not. Sand comes into play often as does uneven turf.

Perhaps the most important aspect in club selection is to choose the club which will go the appropriate distance. This begs the question, "which club goes what distance". To answer this question is simple, although seldom is the answer what the inquirer expected or even hoped for.

I answer my students when they ask this question as follows:

"I can give 100 golfers the exact same golf club and have them hit a ball. The result will be 100 different distances, some drastically different some very similar.

"The single most important factor in determining a given club's distance is the player swinging it. Therefore, a golfer must take time to learn what clubs go what distances for them. As well, it is important to learn how far each club causes the ball to fly in the air and how far it will role after returning to ground.

"Only then will a golfer know what club is capable of what distance and then apply that knowledge when placed out on the golf course."

The only way you can learn the things that you need to about how far the ball will travel (total distance, flight, roll, etc.) when struck by any particular club is to practice, practice practice. Good luck.

Director of golf at Canary Wharf's Citybunker Pete Fuller reckons he can take anyone and turn them from a beginner into a confident and competent player. In his regular Wharf column, Learning Golf, the PGA pro passes on his knowledge and skill through a step-by-step guide. This lesson sees the Pro taking the beginner through the stages of Bunker Shots.

If you only play the game once a month or perhaps once a week, you probably go to the range… almost never.

Don’t have the time, right?

But do you think you could fit one hour a week into your schedule – maybe one day after work, or a couple half-hours at lunchtime, or an hour before your Saturday round with the guys or girls?

If you consistently put in 60 focused practice minutes a week, I guarantee your scores and handicap will improve over the next few months. Use half the time for hitting full shots, the other 30 minutes for your short game. If you do it at lunch, hit shots one day, chip and putt the next.

On the range, do not spend your time trying to adjust your swing to the latest chapter you read in a golf instruction book. You will only end up more confused, frustrated and inconsistent.

To correct your swing faults, take a lesson or series of lessons from your PGA professional at Citybunker. And plan to put in enough practice time to ingrain what we teach you.

We will set you simple effective routines to practice during your 30 minutes or one-hour slot, then this will help you gain the correct muscle memory and swing technique to play with confidence at the weekend.

If 30 minutes is all you can spare for practice, go with the swing you’ve got.

If your natural shot is a fade or slice, plan for the banana shot shape in your course strategy. Just try to hit the most solid fade/slice you can with every shot. And to do that, the focus of your range time should be on practising your pre-shot routine.

Don’t have a pre-shot routine? That could be a big reason for your erratic play.

A simple pre-shot routine will do three things for you:

- Set up over each shot more consistently.

- Minimize mental distractions and build your confidence for each shot, and...

- Help embed muscle memory for repetitive swings.

Every golfer’s pre-shot routine differs, and the routine may change depending on the specific swing thoughts you’re focusing on.

Regardless of your mechanics, the routine should incorporate a visualisation component – “see� the shot you plan to hit in your mind, visualise the swing you expect to make, and then simply focus on making solid contact with the ball, trusting the result will be close to your plan.

Same for chipping and putting – use the half-hour to practise your routine rather than a dozen different grips, stances, and breathing techniques. If you simply cannot get to a practice green, at least buy a mat and chipping net and work on your routine and short-game feel in the back garden.

Then when you go to the course, use the routine you’ve practised on every single shot. Play with the game you have, make solid contact, and you will invariably hit more shots more crisply, straighter, and longer.

Director of golf at Canary Wharf's Citybunker Pete Fuller reckons he can take anyone and turn them from a beginner into a confident and competent player. In his regular Wharf column, Learning Golf, the PGA pro passes on his knowledge and skill through a step-by-step guide. This lesson sees the Pro taking the beginner through the stages of Bunker Shots.

Many golfers develop bad habits.

They are easily picked-up but not so easily corrected. Video coaching technology enables a player to focus on the areas needed to improve while providing everything needed to analyse and compare all aspects of the golf swing.

Here, The Wharf’s Rob Virtue pays a visit to Citybunker to see if he can break an entrenched swing fault with the help of golf pro Pete Fuller and his video coaching system…

I play OK.

Although I would like to be better, I enjoy my time on the fairway. However, over the years, I have developed an ugly slice and usually spend half my time on the right-hand side of the course looking for my ball.

I had hoped that this hideous slice would correct itself but a recent foray in the undergrowth led me to take drastic action – a session on Citybunker’s video coaching system.

The latest video coaching technology, The Gasp Systems Swing Analysis Software, offers a detailed analysis of a player’s swing. Nothing is missed in fault finding, meaning I would get to the bottom of the cause of my slice.

Within a few minutes in the company of Citybunker’s director of golf Pete Fuller, I had the answer. He told me my problem was down to the stiffness in my knee.

Millisecond by millisecond his computer-video system showed my swing compared to Tiger Woods – a bit unfair but why not aim for the stars? Quite simply the superb software showed what I do wrong next to what Tiger does right, frame by agonising frame.

You might be able to argue against advice but when the world’s best proves the point, that argument is undoubtedly flawed.

My knee’s lack of flexibility was leading to an imbalance. Its stiffness caused my backswing to be off-line and the trajectory of my downswing was causing my slice.

Of course, flexing my knee will not make me the next Tiger. Pete also gave me a few more tips such as keeping my elbows closer together and keeping my back straighter.

Surprisingly my swing still didn’t match up to Tiger’s. But discovering the roots to my decade-long problem and finally being able to confront them is a huge weight off my golfing mind.

n Throughout December and January, Pete is offering a free 15-minute trial session on Citybunker’s video coaching system.

To take up the offer, email videomyswing to pete@citybunker.co.uk

Director of golf at Canary Wharf's Citybunker Pete Fuller reckons he can take anyone and turn them from a beginner into a confident and competent player. In his regular Wharf column, Learning Golf, the PGA pro passes on his knowledge and skill through a step-by-step guide. This lesson sees the Pro taking the beginner through the stages of Bunker Shots.

Director of golf at Canary Wharf's Citybunker Pete Fuller reckons he can take anyone and turn them from a beginner into a confident and competent player. In his Wharf column, Learning Golf, the PGA pro passes on his knowledge through a step-by-step guide. This lesson sees the Pro taking the beginner through the stages of Putting.