fitness friday
No time for the gym? Then use these 4 'cheats' to hit some of the hardest shots in golf
Ideally, you'd spend a good amount of time in the gym to not only keep in shape and prevent injuries but also to train to be able to physically hit the toughest shots. You've got to be strong enough to advance the ball out of deep rough. You've got to be stable enough to hit a 40-yard greenside bunker shot. You've got to be flexible enough to flush a 4-iron off tightly mown grass.
Or do you?
We'll let you in on a little secret. Even if you're physicality is somewhat lacking, there are "cheats" that can help you pull off some of the harder shots without needing to lift dumbbells or attend pilates classes. Consider these Band-Aids for your game until you can find the time (and the willingness) to incorporate some golf exercises into your weekly schedule.
1. Flushing a long iron or fairway wood off a tight lie
Luke Walker/WME IMG
If you want to hit the longer clubs in your bag powerfully, you can't make a short, tight swing, says Golf Digest Teaching Professional Josh Zander. You have to give these clubs time to shallow their approach into the ball and square up with the target, so that means making a healthy backswing. For some golfers, physical restrictions limit their ability to do that, but you can take a cheat from players like Bubba Watson to make a full turn off the ball. Just like Bubba, let your left heel come off the ground and your left knee dive in toward the ball. It's a move he's famous for, but it's also something Jack Nicklaus did in his prime. It really frees up your body and likely will give you what feels like the longest backswing of your life. Just remember that you have to plant that heel again as you start the downswing.
2. Hitting a long greenside-bunker shot
Dom Furore
It takes a lot of strength and speed to swing a sand or lob wedge through the sand with enough force to get the ball to the hole when you're 30, 40 or even 50 yards away. It also takes a good bit of lower-body stability to make sure your club enters the sand in the right spot. It's like stopping a squat halfway down and holding it perfectly still while you try to chop wood. Good luck.
Instead of doing all of that, David Leadbetter, one of Golf Digest's Legends of Golf Instruction, says ditch the high-lofted wedge and hit basically the same shot with a pitching wedge or 9-iron. "You don't have to swing harder to get the ball to the hole," he says. "Just remember that the design of these clubs differs slightly from a lob or sand wedge. They don’t skim through the sand as easily, so you have to compensate at address by opening the clubface a few degrees and then taking your grip.
"Also, a couple more points: (1) Strike the sand a touch closer to the ball, perhaps an inch away. (2) Make certain you have a full backswing and a full finish—no quitting at impact!"
3. Hooking it around a tree
Putting a big slice on the ball is easy for most golfers. They just have to make their normal swing. But getting a ball to hook, especially out of the rough, requires some fairly good hand and forearm strength to close the clubface through impact. But there's another way to get the ball curving right-to-left, says Grayson Zacker, one of Golf Digest's Best Teachers in Florida.
"Feel like you hold your back to the target longer in the downswing. This will keep your upper body behind the ball, create room for you to swing down from inside the target line, and leave more time to close the face."
This is actually a great tip to learn how to hit a draw if you tend to slice, Zacker says, but it also works wonders for making that big sweeping hook swing and getting out of jail like Tiger Woods demonstrated for us here. It also helps to set up with the clubface pointing at where you want the ball to end up. You set up with your body aligned on the start path and your clubface where you want it to finish.
4. Getting it on the green from the rough
When the ball is sitting down in grass and you've got to do more than just get it back in the fairway, it certainly helps to have the strength of Bryson DeChambeau or the ball-striking ability of Scottie Scheffler. But if you steal a cheat from legendary iron player Sergio Garcia, you'll have a lot more success from these lies.
"Coming down, the only thought I've ever used is one my dad taught me: Feel like you're pulling a chain down with both hands," Garcia says. "That keeps you from releasing the club early. Let the clubhead lag behind and then whip it through."
The thought of pulling the butt end of the club down toward the ball steepens the angle of attack, reducing the amount of grass that could interfere with the shot. It also keeps you from rising up out of your golf posture in an effort to help the ball up, which is a common amateur mistake, he says.
It also doesn't hurt to bring some more mass into the shot such as hybrid or fairway wood like Sergio is doing here. You'll need a longer club than you would from the same distance in the fairway because your swing speed will be slower through the grass.
