From just short of the green, when the run-up or the tiny, delicate pitch is called for, the body movement is nil.  The club is moved solely by the hands and arms.  That is why, as I stated in the chapter on the backswing, the swing with ALL golf clubs is set in motion with the hands and arms alone.  As the golf swing, the same basic swing remember, lengthens for the long shots as more power is required, so the body comes into the operation AFTER the initial movement of the arms, hands and club-head straight back from the ball.

  The left heel in the shorter shots barely leaves the ground.  Again the nearer you get to the green, say from seventy yards down, the foot-action decreases to the point where the left heel remains grounded throughout the stroke.

  But note this carefully.  Your feet and legs, like the hands, continue to remain active.  Just because the action is reduced they should not be regarded merely as stilts.

  Except for those very small shots there must still be a limited amount of give in the knees in the backswing and a proportion of lateral movement by the lower part of the body in the downswing.  And see that it is all kept smooth and unhurried.

  Also ensure that you move into the follow-through in the manner already prescribed for the full shots, keeping the hands active and the arms extended. Don't allow yourself to quit on the shot simply because the ball has but a short distance to travel.

  Delicacy of touch and smooth timing are required for these vitally important pitch shots, pitch-and-runs and run-ups.

  One of the finest pitchers in Britain when on his game is Harry Weetman, the rugged strong man who lashes into the ball so fiercely in the long shots.  Weetman may be erratic with the woods but he is an artist with a wonderful "feel" of the shot when it comes to pitching and putting, and laying the ball right up close from a bunker.  Ken Bousfield too, has a superb short game.  His secret lies in the slow even tempo which he maintains under the severest pressure.

  If you took a golf ball in your hand and tossed it up on to the green from, say, twenty or thirty yards, you would make a simple, effortless movement.  There would be no sharp jerk such as a small child with no familiar feel imparts to the action when he first attempts to throw a ball.  The adult, whether he plays golf or not, instinctively knows better.

  You as a golfer will apply the same simple principles to the tossing of a golf ball on to the green from the face of a lofted club instead of from the hands.  The main difference in depositing the ball on to the green with a golf club is that you need the control which is derived from the correct left arm action.

Instant Golf Slice Cure

Destroy your Golf Slice within Minutes!

<< Previous    1...   2  3  [4]  5  6  ...9    Next >>