Do you have trouble with consistency around the greens? Try this drill from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Josh Zander to fix your woes.
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Everyone misses greens. It’s a simple fact of life — death, taxes and missing greens.
On the PGA Tour, where the best ball strikers in the world compete on a weekly basis, the average percentage of greens in regulation sits around 65 percent each year. That means the average pro is missing six(!) greens per round. But that doesn’t mean they’re making six bogeys (or worse) every 18. Why? Because they’re elite with a wedge in their hands.
In 2021, Tour average scrambling percentage sat at 58 percent, meaning of the six greens the average pro misses, they’re saving par between three and four times per round. Add in a couple birdies and you’ve got a tidy scorecard in the books.
First, set up for a chip shot and place a club underneath your toes on the lead foot, like Zander demonstrates in the video above. Then, your goal is to push your weight into the club underneath your foot as you take the club away.
“As I go back, I load the lead side,” Zander says. “And then I push up.”
This move helps you keep your weight forward and not sway your body away from the target.
“As I load the lead side, you’ll see a little flex in the lead knee,” he says. “And then when I come through, that flex goes away.”
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.