Dave Pelz: “Studying the game”

Earlier this year I had fun attending the Marriott Crown Plaza Colonial PGA TOUR event in Dallas, TX. Mark this tournament as a must-attend next year and experience the BIG PGA TOUR in what really feels like a small-town atmosphere. The course is tight and therefore easy for spectators to walk around. When you attend next year, particularly on the full-field days like Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - you are likely to see the white fenced off Short Game practice area crowded - like this picture.

Dave Pelz at Colonial

Take some time to watch the best golfers in the world practice their short games in this small area. You will see every type of short game shot practiced - and pay attention to how well they execute these shots - watch their shot results. When you give a TOUR Player, like John Senden or Justin Rose - several chances to hit a shot - they aren’t just “Good” - “These guys are Really Great.”

John Senden practicing Pitch

As you take the time to watch these guys practice, you’ll eventually see them practice a high-lofted shot that must land just over a bunker lip and trickle to the pin, and also you’ll see full bunker swings that produce high soft sand shots.

Observe carefully their swing characteristics - large swings that produce soft shots. This is a shot you can learn for your on-course arsenal - in your own backyard.

Imagine yourself inside the white fence at Colonial hitting full cut lob shots - would you have the confidence to execute them there? Or would you fear that your shots would be inconsistant and unpredictable, possibly causing harm to someone standing nearby? Most golfers I see would clearly fall into the inconsistant and unpredictable category. But here is how you can change this.

First - look around your backyard and find a “Safe-Swing area.”

This will be an area where you can safely make a lot of golf swings - full golf swings like this:

Dave Pelz Full Sand Swing

Use some stakes and rope if you need to - because you need to be focused on your golf swing for this practice session without any fear of children or pets walking into your area unseen.

The second thing you need are some almostGOLF balls (www.almostGOLF.com) - these are backyard safe golf balls that have dimples and launch, fade and/or hook like real golf balls. But they fly only about 1/3 the distance of real balls, and when they land - they won’t break a window or dent a car. The balls are made of a soft material, but not spongelike - and are backyard friendly … just what you will need to start practicing large swings and looking for soft and high shot trajectories.

The almostGOLF Ball

almostGOLF Ball tube (holds 24 balls) makes practice easy

Within your safe-swing practice area, you are going to make a 3/4 length backswing and then accelerate to a full finish.

Start by testing your area with a slow-swing radius to make sure you have plenty of clearance in all directions.

Now look at the two pictures below - I am just past impact for both my sand swing and my cut lob swing - and look at how similar the almostGOLF ball reaction is - I have scooted under the ball - With Full Extension - and the loft of the club is doing its job. The ball is coming up quickly and will land softly. My target for this practice session is a bucket placed about 10 yards away.

Just past impact for Sand

Just past impact for Lob

Look how similar these shots look. Of course, with the sand shot, I’ve got the ball forward in my stance and I’m using another backyard tool - the Pelz Bunkerboard (this plus a bucket of sand and you’re ready to perfect your sand game there too). This is the kind of backyard practice - where you can make real golf swings and accelerate through impact - without hurting anybody or breaking anything. Work until you can trust your swing and make good solid contact with the almostGOLF balls.

Until you give yourself enough practice time and groove your cut-lob and sand swings this way however, I wouldn’t want to be across from you trying these shots with real balls in the Colonial short game area. But once you’ve given yourself plenty of backyard time and you trust your swing - this shot will become not only safe, but one of your favorites on the golf course.

Now before I finish, I can already hear the question from you: Pelz, what were you doing hitting sand and cut-lob shots out in the rough to the right of hole #9 at Colonial on Wednesday before the tournament? Your answer: Just filming a short game vignette for my good friends at www.PGATOUR.com. Stay tuned and you’ll see it soon (we shot 7 different vignettes that day).

Until then, good luck tuning up your sand and lob game in your backyard.

And good scoring to you: Dave Pelz

Dave Pelz

Most golfers don’t open their wedge enough before they attempt to blast shots from sand, because they don’t know how far it’s supposed to be opened. That’s about to change.

Body aimed two steps left of target. Clubface aimed slightly right of target

The photograph at right depicts the perfect sand setup. The line through the ball points directly at the flagstick (my target because the green is flat). This is the direction I want the ball to fly. The line across my toes points two steps left of the flagstick. That’s the line for my body alignment and swing path. I don’t swing across the ball to the left, but rather I aim left and swing along my body line. The dashed line shows that I’ve positioned the ball off the instep of my left foot, allowing my natural swing arc to enter the sand behind the ball and bottom out under the ball. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re one up in your match on the 18th hole. Your approach shot found a greenside bunker, but your opponent has opened the door by dropping his approach in the water. All you need to do to win your match is to get out of the sand and into the hole in three shots. Your lie in the sand is good, the flag is tightly guarded (the green slopes down to the flag with water four steps behind the hole), and there’s plenty of green out to the right. Thirty people including your three best friends are watching the final hole of your championship match. Don’t blow it now!

You need go-to shots all the time in golf. Photo by Leonard Kamsler

If you saw last month’s cover story, you know about having go-to shots when you need them: Shots you can pull off successfully at least 90 percent of the time. Go-to shots aren’t the greatest shots you can possibly hit, but the ones just good enough to insure that you win. You need go-to shots all the time in golf, so let’s take a look at your options here. Read the rest of this entry »

I teach three fundamentals for setting up to blast shots from sand.

Photo by Leonard Kamsler

The first is to play the ball opposite the instep of your left foot. This forward position allows your wedge to enter the sand behind the ball as it travels along its natural swing arc.

The second is to grip your wedge with its clubface wide open — rotated clockwise 45 degrees — so the flange “bounces” off the sand.

Lastly, aim a little left of your target to compensate for the open clubface, otherwise you’ll miss to the right. Read the rest of this entry »

Follow the tips below, practice 30 minutes a week and you’ll see lower scores right away. Read the rest of this entry »