100 Yards and In

As I mentioned in the previous post, I feel more comfortable with my golf swing, except for the shoulder pain, than I have in a very long time. However, I have been focusing primarily on my short game the past several weeks. At lunch, I often go to Seneca and putt, hit bunker shots and work around the green. Squaring the club face and having my hands slightly ahead at address has not only helped my long game, but makes my pitching and chipping much more consistent. Instead of my arms trying to control the face angle, it frees me up to simply take the club back and through with a solid downward strike.

I applied this same logic to my putting. Using a straight board, I discovered my putter was also open at address. I have squared the club face and moved my hands ever so slightly ahead of the ball at address. This has given me a much more solid, consistent strike on the ball allowing for more consistency in my distance control. Squaring the club face also puts me in a position where I feel the putter face is easier to control back and through, taking the uneasiness out of shorter putts. I feel if I miss a putt now, it is due to a bad read and not a bad strike, push or pull. My misses are much closer, and that is worth a lot.