Partial Golf Shots and Developing That Magic Touch

One of the great myths in golf is that a player is born with great touch and that it can’t be developed. I don’t believe this and neither should you! When it comes to partial shots and the steep learning curve, no good player has become a decent partial shooter without LOTS of practice and learning.

The Partial Shot Learning Steps

The trajectory on any partial shot, whether it be the three-quarter wedge shot, the half wedge, or other – is determined by three things:

1) Force of the blow.
2) Position of the ball in your set-up.
3) Angle of the clubface at address.

The reason why you want to control the trajectory of the shot could be anything from wanting to keep the ball low into the wind or low because you would like it to land into an upslope on a green and take a hop forward.

You might want to hit the ball high when the hole is sitting on a downslope. In such a situation, a high shot represents you the best opportunity of getting the ball near the hole. The more precise you get with yardage control, the more apparent the situations will become where you’ll want to tweak the trajectory of the shot.

The longer your swing and the faster your club is moving, the higher the ball is going to fly. You can make swings of equal lengths but with different speeds by adjusting the tempo at which you swing. A slightly more upbeat tempo will produce more clubhead speed.

An extreme example of this can be seen in the fabulous flop shots played by Phil Mickelson when on Tour. He makes a long swing but with a slow tempo, thereby adding “soft” height to the shot.

The second trajectory control factor is ball position. This is straightforward: The more forward you put the ball in your stance, the higher and softer it will fly. Move it back in your stance to produce lower, crisper shots.

The clubface element of trajectory is set at address. An open clubface produces a higher, softer shot that won’t run very much. A closed clubface produces lower shots that run more.

Keep your body “quiet”, then “active”. When you play a pitch shot, you’re going to have a certain amount of body turn. The longer the shot, the more your hips and shoulders must turn. The way of thinking of your turn during these partial shots is to think about a “quiet” turn away from the ball, and an “active” turn through the ball.

Golf Swing Tip – The Most Important Swing Checkpoint

There are several key checkpoints you can rehearse as you practice hitting balls, and this is one of the best:

“As your left arm becomes parallel with the ground in the early stages of the backswing, make sure that the wrists are fully hinged, thus setting the club on the perfect plane.”

Check it in a mirror; your hands should be right in front of your chest and the shaft of the club should be at an angle that hits the ground roughly equidistant between the golf ball and your toes. This is perfect plane. From there, you just keep turning your shoulders to complete the backswing.

Keep it together: Feel that the arms swing at the same time as the body turns.

Chin up: Maintain your posture to make room for that shoulder turn, and keep your chin up.

Turning shoulders: Turn your shoulders on a flat plane to complete your swing.

Flexed knee: Maintain the flex in your right knee.

Knees and Hips: Let your left knee work toward the ball as your hips turn.

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