Online Golfer

It has to be my worse nightmare walking up to my ball and finding it in a divot or a footprint (some golfers will do anything to get a break!) as I find it one of the hardest shots to play on the golf course. The method of getting out of such a lie involves good balance and transfer of weight onto the front foot, something that can mean you look a little less than natural as the shot can force you to take a step with your back foot because you get thrown off balance.

To start you need to close off your stance and the club face, line the ball almost center but slightly towards your back foot, now this is part of the trick to getting out, most of your weight needs to be on your front foot. It takes a little practice to get this right but once you have it you will find it is almost a second nature.

To be able to get the ball out of the hole it has come to be in you need to ensure that you get a good steep back swing so hinge the wrists nice and early in the swing almost as though you are lifting the club towards the sky.

The club head should accelerate cleanly and the one word that you need to remember is divot, you need to go under the ball in order to get it out, you have to be careful that you don’t skip the club off the surface as you might clip the top of the ball and plug it further than it already is.

Depending on how the ball was plugged you get different flight pattens if it was only slightly plugged then the ball will come out low and fast so you need to aim at a large target area to ensure that you don’t get into even more trouble. The problem with playing a shot like this is that you have very little control over the ball so it is best to play the percentages.

If you have ever found yourself in the position where you have a tree overhanging your trajectory and you just know if you try and go over the tree you are going to clip that top branch and your ball is going to get dumped in the rough! Well the punch shot is the one of the best ways to avoid taking an extra shot to get around the tree.

Going under the tree is much less of a risk than going over the tree, this is where the punch shot becomes a priceless shot to know. So here are some simple steps to help you get under that overhang:

Depending on the height of the overhang, will depend on the club that you select the lower the hang the bigger club, so a 4 or 5 iron will give you a lower clearance than an 8 or 9 iron. It is however easier to hit an 8 or 9 iron for the punch shot in my opinion.

So with the club you have selected stand and address the ball with the ball closer to the back foot so your hands are in front of the ball and the club face is closed.

Hold your hands further down the shaft than normal and your hands should be over and slightly in front of the ball. By closing the club face will mean that the angle of the club is much reduced.

Your swing is going to be greatly reduced using this method, you will only be using around 75% swing and follow through. You are hitting down on the ball and following through should feel like you have made a solid contact with the ball.

The flight of the ball will be low and it will roll on the fairway a good distance and you will have gone under the overhang. Remember the way to get these right is to practice and make sure you understand the different heights of the different clubs when playing this shot!

In one of my festive rounds I can honestly say was one of the windiest days I have ever played golf in, I have played in water up to my ankles and run for cover in heavy thunderstorms but this was just wind straight off the mountains and through the wind breakers and right into the bones! Now during this time I was still able to get a good distance on my drive and with a few simple changes to your drive so can you.

The steps I take to get a nice low drive that gets a benefit from being sheltered by the tree lined fairways are as follows:

1. Set the ball around half the height that you would normally have it on the tee.
2. Have the ball slightly more central in your stance, so your club face is at a more flat face than normal.
3. Don’t take a massive swing in the hope you will get a better distance.
4. Take plenty of practice swings so your balance is used to the wind and the club speed is smooth all the way through the swing.
5. Make sure that the steady swing speed in your practice swings is taken onto the actual swing all the way through the ball.
6. Finish balanced, your shift in weight will put more of a strain on your front leg so make sure you try hard not to wobble in your finish.

These steps should give you a nice low running shot that will keep you out of the gusting wind.