Golf Practice Blog

In his interview May 24 with Doug Milne following his record-setting 19-under-par Byron Nelson win, Rory Sabbatini came right out of the gate citing his putting as a big reason for the Byron Nelson win:

DOUG MILNE: We’d like to welcome the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship winner Rory Sabbatini to the interview room. Wonderful final round, 6-under 64, clearly got the job done. With the win you move inside the Top 10 in FedExCup points, to No. 7 specifically, and your 64 today was the second lowest score by any winner, so you’ve got to feel obviously good for a lot of reasons. Just a few comments on where we are now.

RORY SABBATINI: Yeah, you know, obviously I knew I just needed to get off to a good start today, just hit a couple good shots, give myself a couple good looks at birdies and try and just let the round develop. You know, I managed to get off to a good start, putting the ball in the fairway, putting it on the greens and giving myself some looks at it, and then obviously things developed pretty well. It was evident again today that my putter was still on form and my short game was still performing well.

You know, I was absolutely ecstatic to get things rolling. Obviously I saw some low scores out there, and I knew I was going to have to go out there and play well in order to maintain my position.

You can read the rest of Sabbatini’s interview at PGATour.com, but what you really should be doing is figuring out what Rory does to build his putting game.

Fellow South-African Ernie Els has lent his name to the Rockroller developed by Jim Flood. The Rockroller literally helps you develop a rock-solid feel in your putting by physically extending your putter into your upper arms. After a hour practicing with the Rockroller , you will actually feel like your upper body is connected to your putter, giving you a solid and repeatable putting stroke. 

Watch the Rockroller in action here!

If you’ve been keeping up with the PGA Tour, or if you’re just one of those funny-picture junkies that surfs sports blooper photos, then you should have seen this scene last Saturday:

But just what do you do in this situation? Before you jump to conclusions…no, the answer is not to choke up on the grip and shorten your backswing to hit just behind the ball.

According to SportingNews.com:

By the time Jason Dufner reached the scene, all the fans had shuffled out of the immediate area except Miranda Cooper, who was still sitting in her folding chair, ball in her lap and her hands covering her face in embarrassment.

“You’ve got to play it where it lays,” PGA Tour rules official Tony Wallin jokingly told Dufner.

Wallin then put a marker under Cooper’s chair. She got up and Dufner got to drop the ball in that spot without penalty.

He reached the green, and then three putted for bogey. Dufner recovered to shoot 71 and was at 7-under.

Fortunately most of us don’t have to worry about a gallery watching our every move. Honestly, there are many times that a few people will start to watch me play, then promptly head for the hills so they don’t catch my case of the shanks, yips, chili dips, and whatever other golf affliction I seemed to have brought to the course with me.

But in the instance that you do play a tournament where official rules of golf are strictly adhered to, you’re going to want to know what to do in these tricky situations. Visit PracticeRange.com today for your copy of the 2008-2009 Decisions on the Rules of Golf.

PracticeRange.com also offers a full assortment of handy pocket guides to keep in your golf bag.

Yesterday I posted a brief article about pitching versus chipping. Today I’ll share with you a tip my dad taught me when I was first learning the game.

It isn’t his original idea - though my dad is pretty sharp. His pro always advocated “keep it in the tub”. In case that’s just a silly thing to say that no one has ever heard of, the “tub” is roughly a 3-foot circle around the hole. If you are on the green and far from the hole, or getting ready to pitch or chip on, just try to hit the ball hard enough to get into the “tub” and not roll out. This will alleviate the stress of focusing on the right amount of roll to get into the cup.

With the reduced stress, you can focus on your line and the breaks on the green. It is a lot easier to gauge how hard to hit the ball when you have a 3-foot diameter circle to hit to rather than a 3-inch diameter circle. Still aim for the cup (obviously), but know that if you are at least in the tub, you’ll have a lot easier time getting off the green in two. As I said yesterday, it’s really hard to get rid of those clever three-putt nicknames your oh-so-smart golfing buddies can come up with.

PracticeRange.com offers the perfect package for golf beginners. The Beginners Golf Training Package includes everything you need to get started on your practice routine for every shot on the course. Included in the package (now on sale!) are:

1. Ernie Els Rockroller – Click here to see it in action!
2. Swing Assist
3. Izzo Foot Wedge
4. Impact Ball
5. From Beginner To Winner on DVD by David Leadbetter

If you’re new to the game of golf, you’ll hear that phrase a lot…”fairways and greens”. Yes the drive is important, but if you can’t get some control in your approach and put the golf ball in the hole, you’ll go from golf-beginner to golf club-seller-on-ebay before June.

In his post “Stroke Savers” at www.FindaLesson.com, Daniel Drier explains the difference between chipping and pitching:
Most golfers do not use the chip shot very often around the greens. The harder shot is the pitch shot, which is used more often. What is the difference between the two shots?The pitch shot, simply explained, is a shot used around the green when you must get the ball up in the air over a bunker or up to an elevated green. The ball must get high in the air, so when it lands on the green, it will not have much roll. The pitch shot = a lot of height, a little roll.The chip shot, however, is just the opposite and should be used whenever possible. The chip shot has very little height, lands on the edge of the green and rolls to the hole. The chip shot = a little height, a lot of roll. Why use the chip shot? It is easier to roll a golf ball to the hole rather than try to fly the ball near to the hole and stop it.Again for those who missed it, pitch = lots of height, little roll; chip = little height, lot of roll. You can read the rest of his advice here, but once you get onto the green, you’re going to want to get in the hole quickly to avoid your new nickname of “trifecta”, “triple threat”, “three-peat”, or any other clever puns your foursome can think up.

PracticeRange.com offers the perfect package for golf beginners. The Beginners Golf Training Package includes everything you need to get started on your practice routine for every shot on the course. Included in the package (now on sale!) are:

1. Ernie Els Rockroller
2. Swing Assist
3. Izzo Foot Wedge
4. Impact Ball
5. From Beginner To Winner on DVD by David Leadbetter

By RODNEY PAGE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007
TampaBay.com

Alyssa Serino is eight-years-old, but she already has a room full of medals and trophies from various junior golf tournaments. She quickly figured out that the first place trophies are much bigger than the others, so she is going to try to win more of those. But perhaps the best prize she has won so far is a remote control dog she aptly named “Robot Dog.”“I was playing with my Grandpa Tony Serino and I said if I beat you on this hole then you have to buy me a toy at the store,” Alyssa said. “And he said if he wins then I have to give him one of my Bridgestone golf balls. I beat him so I got to go to the store.”

Browse our full line of Junior Golf Products at PracticeRange.com!

I am a 7 handicap, and never shanked my chip shots for 35 years until I moved to Arizona.  Now once or more a round I will be chipping, usually with a little length or where I have to swing a little harder than normal, sometimes from very tight lies, often with a 60 degree wedge and the ball squirts low and right, usually resulting in a lost shot or two.  I have tried chipping from my heals, using a lighter grip pressure, trying to stay dead still, but nothing seems to work for very long.  Do you have any advice?

It’s never fun to have shanks pop up in your round and they really do hurt the score.  This is a hard one to diagnose without watching you do it.  However a couple of things come to mind:

You may want to try a different wedge.  Your 60 degree wedge might have too much bounce for the tight Arizona lies.  It’s possible that the heel is digging in and the face is coming open, causing the shank. Take a look at the Momentus Short Game Wizard.  They offer several different lofted wedges, the club itself uses similar technology to the training clubs and they are USGA approved.

Another thought I have is maybe you are bringing the club inside too much on your backswing, causing you to come too far from the inside and hitting the hosel at impact.  A very good training aid for chipping is the Chip-N-Pitch chipping trainer.

I hope this helps a little.  If not, I would suggest a short game lessong from a PGA/LPGA professional.  You can locate one in your area at www.findalesson.com.

Elaine Crosby is a 19-year veteran of the LPGA Tour and a member of the Women’s Senior Golf Tour.  If you have a question for Elaine, please email us at mailto:info@practicerange.com?subject=Ask the Pro.

I am a male about 5′7″ to 5′8″ in height, and I want to know if it is ok for me to use a ladies golf set, or a set of clubs cut for women’s length, because I feel that the men’s length golf sets are a bit longer and more uncomfortable for my height.

I am a 5-8″ LPGA golfer and I use men’s length clubs. I use a regular shaft in my irons, but a softer or sometimes called “senior” shaft in my driver. The problem you may encounter with women’s clubs is the shaft. It will be very flexible and may be hard to control if you have any power. Most high-level women use men’s clubs for that reason. Alternately you may consider using a men’s club, with a softer shaft, then cut it down a bit. Women’s clubs sometime have higher lofts which may create a loss of distance for you.

My final suggestion is to stay with men’s-length clubs but choke down if they feel a little long.

Hope this helps, and thanks for visiting PracticeRange.com!

Elaine Crosby is a 19-year veteran of the LPGA Tour and a member of the Women’s Senior Golf Tour.