Golf's Short Game For Dummies E-Book

Michael Patrick Shiels

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 425

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Easy-to-grasp techniques for improving the short game About 70 percent of the shots in a round of golf are taken 75 yards from the pin or closer, making the short game the most significant factor in a golfer's score. This practical guide shows readers how to shave strokes off their game by improving their pitching, chipping, bunker play, and putting. Golfers will find expert tips on choosing the right wedges, putters, and balls, as well as illustrated step-by-step instructions on swings used in short-game shots. They'll also find information on how to beat bunkers and other hazards and how to play various lies-in deep rough, from the fairway, uphill, side-hill, and off bare ground. There's also a section on stretches, exercises, and drills to improve techniques, as well as tips on reading greens for accurate putting. Michael Patrick Sheils (Birmingham, MI) is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America. He has written four books, and his articles and columns have appeared in worldwide magazines and newspapers. Michael Kernicki (Miami Beach, FL) has been a PGA member for 27 years and is currently the Head Professional at the historic Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach.

Leseprobe

Golf's Short Game For Dummies

by Michael Patrick Shiels with Michael Kernicki

Golf’s Short Game For Dummies®

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2005920298

ISBN: 0-7645-6920-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

1B/RV/QV/QX/IN

About the Authors

Michael Patrick Shiels: Michael Patrick Shiels displayed his woeful short game at courses around the world while maintaining his career as an international golf and travel writer. That is, until writing this book, during which his handicap improved five strokes.

Golf’s Short Game For Dummies is his fifth book. The Los Angeles Times called his Good Bounces & Bad Lies, written with Emmy Award-winning golf announcer Ben Wright, “perhaps the best sports book ever,” and a Washington Times review sardonically compared Shiels and Wright to Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Shiels’ first book, a biography of famed Detroit radio host J.P. McCarthy, was a regional bestseller that received praise from Jack Nicklaus, Larry King, and Frank Sinatra, Jr. Shiels also penned Works of Art: The Golf Course Designs of Arthur Hills.

His travel articles have appeared in publications such as Golf Magazine,Travel + Leisure Golf, www.pgatour.com, Sports Illustrated, Northwest World Traveler Magazine, Bermuda Royal Gazette, and the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and he’s written scripts for The Golf Channel and ESPN. Shiels has traveled the world — from Thailand to the Middle East to his beloved ancestral Republic of Ireland in search of rich stories to tell. You can contact Michael at [email protected].

Michael Kernicki: A PGA member for over 25 years, Michael Kernicki has spent most of his career as a Head Golf Professional and General Manager at some of America’s finest golf clubs. He was twice named Golf Professional of the Year by the Michigan PGA and has received other PGA awards. Kernicki has served as a member of the PGA of America National Board of Directors and on the Rules of Golf Committee, where he has administered the rules at 13 PGA Championships.

Noted for his knowledge of the golf swing, he has instructed at Teaching and Playing workshops around the country and has authored several articles about the golf swing and the short game.

Today Michael is the Head Golf Professional at one of the nation’s most prominent country clubs, Indian Creek Country Club in Miami Beach, Florida. As a daily routine, Michael teaches the short game and the golf swing in the most simple and logical manner. His primary objective is for his students to enjoy the game while they improve and make golf a game for a lifetime.

Dedication

Michael Patrick Shiels: To my eight-year-old son Harrison Ambrose Shiels, a giant-hearted little boy who, at the age of two, aced his first-ever hole of mini-golf at Pirate Golf on International Drive in Orlando.

Michael Kernicki: To my father, Walter Kernicki, for the tools you provided for golf and life.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Thank you to Stacy Kennedy, the For Dummies acquisitions editor who envisioned the flight plan and got “Short Game” off the ground. Project editor Mike Baker was the architect with the shot clock, and copy editor Josh Dials put the finesse in our swings. Kennedy, Baker, and Dials are a “Wiley” bunch indeed! Photojournalist Ginny Dixon staged and shot the action at the famed Indian Creek County Club in Miami Beach, and you can see more of her work at www.ginnydixonphotos.com. Finally, thanks to the legendary PGA professional Dick Stewart, who has long lorded over Kalamazoo Country Club, for serving as technical consultant.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Mike Baker

Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy

Copy Editor: Josh Dials

Technical Reviewer: Dick Stewart

Senior Permissions Editor: Carmen Krikorian

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Assistants: Hanna Scott, Nadine Bell

Cover Photos: ©David Madison/ Getty Images/Stone

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Emily Wichlinski

Layout and Graphics: Barry Offringa, Jacque Roth, Heather Ryan, Amanda Spagnuolo

Special Art: Ginny Dixon

Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer, Carl Pierce, TECHBOOKS Production Services

Indexer: Aptara

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Brice Gosnell, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Walking the Short Game

Chapter 1: Sharpening Your Approach

Approaching the Short Game Statistically

Approaching the Short Game Athletically

Giving Yourself the Best Shot

Making Practice a Priority

Avoiding Common Misfires

Chapter 2: Discerning the Short Game Certainties

Recognizing the Peril and the Opportunity

Viewing the Variables: Terrain and Conditions

Understanding Your Options

Weighing Your Goals and Expectations

Playing in the Subconscious

Zeroing In On the Target Line

Grasping the Importance of Feel

Obeying the Captain: Allowing Your Front Hand to Lead

Centering on Ball Position

Chapter 3: Gearing Up for the Short Game

Going Short-Game Clubbing

Sorting Through the Short Sticks

Calling All Putters Great and Small

Finding the Putter That Fits You

Caring for Your Putter

Part II : The Long and Short of It: Short Game Technique

Chapter 4: Chipping Off the Ol’ Block

Discovering the Chip

Choosing the Chip over the Putt

Picking Your Chipping Tool

Chipping Goals and Expectations

Mapping Out a Chip-Shot Strategy

Hitting a Chip Shot

Too Close for Comfort: Paul Runyan’s Greenside Chip Trick

Chapter 5: Pitch, Pitch, Pitch

Distinguishing the Pitch Shot

Covering Distance and Avoiding Hazards

Pitching Club Preference

Pitching Goals and Expectations

Planning Your Pitch-Shot Strategy

Hitting a Pitch Shot

Pitching a Fit over Additional Complications

Chapter 6: Climbing Bunker Hill

Setting Your Bunker Goals and Expectations

Avoiding an Explosion

Hitting a Bunker Shot

Executing Bunker Shots from Troubled Lies

Chapter 7: Putting Your Best Foot Forward

Tossing Your Putting Prejudice Aside

Recognizing the Importance of Putting Skills

Putting Goals and Expectations

Rolling with the Fundamentals

Reading the Break of the Greens

Part III : Short Game Strategies

Chapter 8: Waging (and Wedging) a Ground Campaign

Gaining an Advantage by Keeping the Ball Low

Pitching and Running

Discovering the Famed Texas Wedge

Holding the Green

Pulling the Pin . . . or Leaving It In?

Chapter 9: Selecting Putting Strategies and Remedies

Becoming a Great Putter

Settling on a Style

Watching Your Speed

Conquering Speedy Breaks

Defeating the Yips and Other Putting Maladies

Chapter 10: Taking an Unconventional Approach

Chipping with a 3-Wood

Putting from Bunkers

Putting without a Putter

Playing from a Cart Path

Bellying the Wedge

Splishing After You Splash

Hitting Lefty (or Righty)

Rehearsing the Unconventional

Chapter 11: Flipping to Flop

Focusing On the Flop Shot

Choosing to Hit a Flop Shot

Playing a Flop Shot

Deciding Against the Flop Shot

Chapter 12: Keeping Your Head in the Game

Regrouping When the Wheels Come Off

Weathering the Heat of the Moment

Practicing Visualization

Staying Positive with Self Talk

Dispelling the Clouds of Doubt

Pacing Your Swing with a Phrase

Part IV : Short Cuts to the Short Game

Chapter 13: Warming Up to the Short Game

Limbering Up Before You Play or Practice

Practicing Like You Play

Preparing before a Round

Chapter 14: The Games People Play

Pitching for Dollars

“Horse-ing” Around

Bingo, Bango, Bongo (Jingles)

Snake

Eight in a Row

First to Make Five

Chapter 15: Tricks and Treats: Techniques and Tools to Improve Your Game

Riding the Range

Practicing in the Sand and on the Green

Improving at Home

Chapter 16: Learning from the Stars

Feeling like Seve Ballesteros

Escaping (Not Sleeping in) Bunkers like Gary Player

Living Hard and Playing Soft like John Daly

Scrambling like Lee Trevino

Putting like Ben Crenshaw

Finishing like Annika Sorenstam

Yipping like Johnny Miller

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 17: Ten Simple Secrets of Short-Shot Success

Play in the Subconscious

Be Aware of the Clubface

Swing Along the Target Line

Maintain Consistent Speed

Salute the Lead Hand as the Captain

Let the Ball Get in the Way

Follow Through

Keep Realistic Expectations

Roll the Ball on the Ground

Recognize that Every Putt is Straight

Chapter 18: Ten Ways You Can Practice Off the Course

Putt on Your Carpet

Watch Golf on Television

Get Attached to Your Wedge

Chip into the Drapes

Bulk Up

Visualize Good Shots

Review Your Scorecard

Clean Up Your Act

Play Other Sports and Games

Read This Book When Necessary

Chapter 19: Ten of the Greatest Short Shots Ever

Tway at the PGA

Mize at the Masters

Hail Hale!

Rocca Rocks the British Open

The Million-Dollar Ace

Watson Plunders Pebble

Leonard Lets Loose

Lanny Lands the Cup

One Small Shot for Mankind

Payne’s Putts at Pinehurst

Chapter 20: Ten Great Short Game Golf Courses

The Old Course at St. Andrews: Fife, Scotland

Pinehurst #2: Pinehurst, North Carolina

Stadium Course, TPC at Sawgrass: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Ballybunion Old Course: County Kerry, Ireland

Threetops at Treetops Resort: Gaylord, Michigan

Strategic Fox, Fox Hills Golf Club: Plymouth, Michigan

Indian Creek Country Club: Miami Beach, Florida

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort: Charleston, South Carolina

Augusta National Golf Club: Augusta, Georgia

Club de Golf Valderrama: San Roque, Cadiz, Spain

Introduction

If we mention the term professional golfer to you, what image immediately comes to mind? Most likely you envision Tiger Woods taking a vicious swipe at the ball or Greg Norman bravely sweeping through the ball with his blonde locks flowing out from under his hat. You probably think of strong Tour players hitting big, booming drives that soar through the sky like guided missiles.