A lot of recreational players think they need to get the club under the ball to hit soft and high short-game shots. Not true. The secret is to get the club down to the ground. That’s your mission.
It starts with a solid setup, where you’re bent forward from your hips, with your arms hanging straight down. Because of the way your arms hang at address, your trail elbow naturally folds as you swing the club back. So… in order to get the clubhead back to where it started, you must straighten your trail arm as you swing into impact. Arm straightens, club gets all the way to the ground and — presto! — the ball “climbs” the clubface, giving you the shot height you need to land the ball softly on the green.
A good way to feel this is to make a mock backswing while holding a ball in your trail hand, then throw it to the ground at about the spot it’d be in your regular address position (above right). To do it successfully, you need to fully extend that trail arm.
Nixing two common mistakes makes it easy. For starters, bend more from your hips to lower your club to the ground and relax your knees, otherwise your arms won’t hang correctly.
Second, avoid trying to lift the ball into the air, either by contracting your arms or “scooping” with your wrists. Once you realize that contacting the ground is priority No. 1, the better your short game will be.
Kellie Stenzel is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher who teaches at the Palm Beach Par 3 and The Boca Raton in Fla.
