Golf can be an easy game - Chapter13 UNUSUAL SHOTS IN GOLF

Side hill shots

From a position on a side hill, where the player's foot position is lower than the spot where the ball lies, there will always be a tendency for an extremely flat swing. A hook shot will naturally result from this situation. If it is practical to utilize a hook effect, by all means allow for it, and play the shot naturally.

However, if a hooked shot would put the player in trouble, then he can and must offset the hook effect by consciously setting his club in an open position. The final result will neither be a slice nor a hook, but a straight shot.

If the player is standing on ground that is higher than the ball, there will always be a tendency to slice. If it is practical to utilize a slice effect, by all means play the shot naturally and allow for the slice.

Again, however, if the slice will put the player in trouble, then the player must offset the slice effect by setting or cocking his club into a closed position. The result will not be a hook, but a perfectly straight shot because of the downhill effect.

In such side hill shots there always must be the basic footwork, the body action and the specific club positioning. But because the player is on a side hill and the stance is more or less insecure, it is advisable to utilize a stronger club if the lie permits it. Then the player can use a shorter swing with which there is no danger of losing one's balance and thereby missing the shot completely.

Up and down hill lies

Where the ball is on a downhill lie, it is helpful if the ball is not played directly opposite the left heel. A stance should be taken where the ball is opposite a point nearer the center of the body.

Playing the ball back, nearer the point opposite the right foot, is an automatic method of contacting the ball on the downswing. This will actually make the ball climb or rise more in its flight.

Curiously, uphill lies should also be played from this same back near center position—the reason being that from such a position there is a difficulty of reshifting weight back to the left foot. So the more effective contact point is suggested.

Trouble shots—sandtraps, grassy lies, cuppy lies, shots into the wind, chip shots.

The above five categories of shots are listed under this heading because there is one simple remedy which will help the player in all the above circumstances.

Early in this book, it was emphatically stated that in all shots the ball should be played at a point opposite the inside part of the left heel. As you recall, the reason for so doing is that on the backswing the weight is shifted to the right foot; but in order for the player to make the downswing and follow through the weight must be re-shifted to the left foot. At impact the weight is on the left foot, consequently the swing centers opposite that point, which is where the ball should be played.

However, when the ball is in a cuppy lie, or when it is deep in the grass, it becomes necessary to lower the contact point. This can be accomplished by moving the ball back—playing at a point opposite the right heel if the situation requires it. In other words, the deeper the ball is embedded, the further back opposite the right heel it must be played with the club in a slightly closed position.

Naturally, the further back it is played the more lofted the club must be, and it is this exception to the rule that the ball must be played opposite the left heel, that has given rise to that fallacious theory that each club must be played from a different position. That is all tommyrot— every club from driver to wedge should be played opposite the left heel—the natural contact point in the correct swing.

But when you get into trouble and you have to dig the ball out, then the ball must be played back. Use a club that is practical for the point to which the ball is positioned between your feet.

So if you have a cuppy lie, play it back, nearer the right foot, and it will be amazing how readily a spoon shot can be picked off a hard surface, how readily a ball will come out of deep grass or how easily it will come out of a cuppy lie.

Shots into the wind

Using a straightfaced iron in this same manner (back off the right foot) will produce a low, powerful shot. This technique has often been referred to as being a push shot, one that only expert golfers can execute. But if you are topping the ball or failing to pick it up on fairway lies, just move the ball back towards your right heel and your troubles may disappear.

Sandtrap shots

If the ball is not buried in the sand and if it is not necessary to loft the ball sharply, there is no more reliable shot than the one just described. By playing the ball back opposite the right foot, a clean contact can be made with the ball—actually the ball will be on its way before the club encounters the sand. It is a reliable way of getting out of a sandtrap.

However, if it is necessary to raise the ball quickly, then instead of playing the ball opposite the right heel with the club in a closed position, it becomes necessary to play the ball opposite the left heel with the club in an open position. Be sure to keep the club in this open position throughout the swing.

With this technique it will be possible to actually fluff the ball out of the sand and drop it onto the green with no more roll than an Easter egg.

Gene Sarazen, winner of the U. S. Open, the P.G.A., the British Open and the Masters Championship, once played a course with extremely hard fairways and many bad lies. He deliberately aimed for the sandtraps around the greens, so that he could "explode" the ball next to the cup with a definite control.

Chip shots

On the short shots just off the edge of the green it is absolutely essential that this technique of playing the ball back opposite the right heel be employed. It will insure getting under the ball properly—it will avoid contacting the ball with the edge of the club and skating the ball across the green as if it were a scared rabbit.

But chip shots are easy to play if the player understands

( a) that the body action provides the power and then (b) the hands are free to determine direction and/or stop effect from an open face club position, or roll or run effect from a closed face club position. In other words, we come again face to face with the importance of how the club is cocked or set for the shot.

Of course, on chip shots, a player may use a lofted club such as a #9 iron to automatically put a stop on the ball, or the player may use a #4 or even a #3 iron, to automatically put a roll on the ball.

However, there is a certain extra control that can be added to these shots if the player is properly trained in the matter of deliberately playing the club open when a sharp stop is necessary on a chip shot. Again, if a roll or run shot is desired this can be easily accomplished if the player has the ability to set or cock the club into a closed position as the shot is being played.

From a practical standpoint, the best way to play chip shots is to always play them with a closed face position of the club. Use a club that will drop the ball on the smooth putting surface, and then have it run or roll up to the cup.

To facilitate this pitch and run effect, it will be helpful to play the ball off the right foot instead of opposite the left heel.