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Patient: Male Age: 38 Current Handicap: 12 Lowest Handicap: 9 Has played golf for: 13 years Plays: About twice a month Practices: A couple times a month The symptoms: I play at a couple of golf courses that have elevated greens. I’ve been playing there for years, but can never get the ball to hold the green. Any thoughts on how to get the ball to hold on these uphill shots? Dr. Golf’s prescription: The answer might lie more with your course management skills and less with your ability level. The angle and trajectory the ball lands on the green affect how the ball will spin once it hits the green. From a flat lie the relative spin will apply. If the elevation of the green is below where you are hitting, expect more spin, and if the green is above, expect less spin. If you hit a 7-iron to a green below you it will react more like a 9-iron or pitching wedge. That same 7-iron, hit the same way to an elevated green, might react like a 4- or 5-iron. Therefore, when playing to an uphill green, try to hit the ball 5-7 yards shorter than you normally play and hopefully it will balance out and you’ll find yourself putting more often. You want the ball to land on the front of the green and roll back to the hole. Also, to maximize the backspin on a shot, remember these tips: Keep your grooves cleaned; use a softer ball (Nike Platinum, Titleist Pro V1) so the grooves dig into the ball; you can spin it more from the short grass; and a higher-lofted club will always spin more than a lower-lofted club. Patient: Male Age: 52 Current Handicap: 9 Lowest Handicap: 7 Has played golf for: 32 years Plays: About once a month Practices: Once a month The symptoms: My home course has a hole with a blind tee shot. I don’t think I’ve hit a solid drive on this hole in 10 years. I’ve tried hitting different clubs off the tee, I’ve tried swinging easy, but nothing seems to break this mental block. Do you have any tips that can help me? Dr. Golf’s prescription: To overcome your mental block you need to use the art of visualization. Play the hole and visualize in your mind the part of the fairway you want to hit. Stand facing the green with your back to the tee at the beginning of the fairway. Spend some time looking to your left, ahead and to your right. Notice the way the fairway bends, where the fairway ends and begins, and any hazards that might come into play. Once you feel like you have this picture memorized, go back to the tee and picture the hole as if you were standing in the fairway after hitting a good shot down the middle. The place where you envision standing now becomes your target point. The trick to visualization is to have the picture of the fairway in your mind and not the blind shot. Accomplishing that will enable you to focus more on your targets and hit better tee shots. PGA professional Eric Lohman is the general manager at Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda. He can be reached at (714) 961-0060. Patients in need of help should e-mail their ailments to scpgamedia@aol.com. |
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