Just a Chip Off the Old Block

How many of you have heard the phrase "chip off the old block?"  Do you actually know what it means?  When I looked it up online I found that it meant a person who resembles his father or acts the same as his father.  This seemed rather funny to me because I am acting as my father practicing my golf game so much.  I guess if the shoe fits, I should wear it :).

This week I focused a little on my short game.  I thought this meant I could practice both chipping and putting.  Wrong!  It took me a while to get the hang of chipping so we'll save putting for a later entry.  The good thing about chipping is you can really practice anywhere.  Most golf courses have a putting and chipping practice green that you can use.  The best part is it's free to practice there. Another great place you can easily practice is in your own backyard.  You could even grab a bucket and make it fun to try to get it into the target.  When I practiced, I used a 56 degree wedge otherwise known as a sand wedge.  Here are a few things I learned to help me when chipping...

1.  Always keep an open stance towards the pin/hole.  What I mean by this is that you will have your feet slightly facing outward.  It helps to keep your knees bent, your weight on your front foot and a closer distance to the ball.  I should probably have an even closer stance than I do below.

2.  NEVER bend your wrists! This was a BIG problem for me as I kept flicking them.  One solution to help is to roll over your lower hand, in my case it was my right, to help lock my left wrist.  Hopefully you can see what I mean in the picture below.  I found this link helpful to give me a few more pointers. 

3.  Play the ball as it lies.  You never know where your ball may land when actually playing so you should practice from several locations and distances.  You should also include shots from both short grass and tall grass.  I practiced from all sides of the pins aiming for different ones on different shots.   


Here is an example of how I spread out the balls.

 

Hopefully these few tips that I learned will improve your short game too!  As I stated earlier, I will be focusing on putting for my next entry.  Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for drills to get me started? 

Teeing Up for a Date at the Driving Range

     Yesterday, July 9th, was my boyfriend's birthday.  Could you imagine where he might want to go to celebrate?  You got it.  The golf course!  He played a round with two of his friends but then wanted me to meet him at the range after.  I've had a few experiences playing 9 holes just to get an idea of what it is like but I knew I need to work on the fundamentals and then make them a habit by practice.  I was excited to meet him and really try out different techniques to improve my swing.   While at the range I worked on three things.  These are all easy things you could do too if you are practicing on your own.

               1. Aim-  I laid a club down between myself and the ball to help me aim for the correct flag.  If any of you have been to a driving range before you know there are several spots you can swing from and several flags that you can aim at. In case you want a better definition, click on the link you see above.  When I picked a flag I then aligned my club up with it.  If you try this out be aware of the other club. You want to make sure it is in a position where you won't hit it with the club you are currently swinging with.

Here is how I used the club in between to help me aim.

               2. Stance-  It really helped when Alex told me I needed to keep my feet closer together (about shoulders width).  He gave me another helpful tip that I should feel like I am reaching to sit on a stool.  That made me feel like I was on top of the ball and on more on my toes.  Another thing I had to tweak was where I hold the club.  I was placing it in the middle of my legs but Alex told me it should be closer to my left knee.
               3. Follow Through- I wasn't swinging all the way and when I was I gave it my all thinking I would
slam that sucker.  I did my best when I slowed down my swing and followed through with my belly facing my target. Below is a video of me working on this...sorry that you have to tilt your head to watch it.  Any idea how to flip it?

                       

     Recording myself made me think of school.  In my masters program we recorded our speeches to self reflect and see areas we could improve on.  When teaching I have recorded lessons to reflect upon as well.  This was a good learning experience for me to see what I could work on next.  On my next visit I would like to work on not bouncing when I hit the ball and trying not to hit it off the toe of the club.  The toe is the tip and that's what made my ball go right instead of straight.  

     Before I went to the range yesterday, I thought to myself as a teacher I would encourage my students to go to the library and checkout several books to learn the basics of golf off the course.  I then thought, that's pretty good advice and I should do that for myself.  I love reading children's books so I got a mix of both adult and kids books to look at.  Sometimes I feel like I learn more in children's books because it is very cut

Here are some of the books I selected to read.

and dry, easy information to process.  They cut out a lot of unnecessary details adult books dive deeper into.  I also picked up a DVD in case I need a change up from reading.  I will have to let you know if any of them are worth while as I read and watch the DVD.  I wasn't really sure if there were any popular or reputable authors.  Does anyone have a good book they love or find helpful in the learning process?