Imagination

Aim: To provoke some kind of activity in the grey area between the ears. Remember Seve Ballesteros, one of the most naturally talented players the game of golf has ever seen ( God bless him, and thanks for Valderrama Seve ;-) was blessed with an extraordinary array of shots, none of which ever appeared in a coaching manual, just watch highlights of his 1979 Open win at Lytham. There really is more than one way to skin a cat

Well, here's something I can't teach, this is your chance to create an extra dimension to your game that is unique to you. It's been said by many that golf was a game played between the ears, although in real life this was talking about the swing and confidence, in Links it's also true that there is a tremendous amount of scope for lateral thinking, not just when you are in trouble but also from a perfect spot. If I did offer one piece of advice it would be to stay consistent wherever you can, if you are forced to come up with a tricky recovery shot and you mess it up, dont try it again ! If you hit on a great out, then make an exact note (as usual) of what the shot conditions were in terms of lie, grass, wind, etc...and jot down the carry and roll of the shot, the response on the green/fairway etc etc...you may find it comes in handy another time. As an example I have a super little 3iron shot lofted right to the bottom which I use out of the rough to smash under and through trees without hitting the low branches..not only do I have a good idea how far it will go, I know how it responds to lies, winds and green conditions,I know where it will land and where it should roll....it's no good having a million little trick shots unless you can remember all of them, unlikely! So, when you are lucky enough to hit on a shot that works, remember it and make use of it again. A final word before you go off playing cut down, half pace fading delofted 5 woods.....don't be afraid to try something different, if you think something might work, just mentally tick off and visualise what you want it to do, and what you need to hit to achieve the end result, I vividly remember someone being really rude to me in a match and goading me to go in the water at the last hole ( I was 1 up, he was on the green, I had a tricky downhill approach with a tight entry and water to both sides. My solution ? I seem to remember taking the loft right down on a 4 iron and drilling it onto the green with the ball about 6 feet off the ground at most, never over anything but dry land and never going over the back because there was an upslope, so rather than take an aerial route which the wind or a bad snap could have got wet, I smacked it in low where it landed sharpish and had no chance to get wet ( rough collars would also stop the ball running off into the water)....so, the motto is, and I am quite pleased to get this one in, "He who dares, wins!" hehehehe

Bomber's 3-iron Ballesteros Style
Although I'm not going to dictate your game in this area, I thought it would be useful to share with you some information about my favourite out-of-trouble shot using the 3-iron in a manner befitting the great Spaniard.I've actually hit some balls and made a chart for this guide, but I never use numbers, so I didnt actually know until now what the distances were, this is always a shot I play by feel for yardage, and usually it's just used to get me out of a tight spot...anything close is just a bonus. The shot is a 3-iron with the loft clicked all the way down to the bottom, so it's like a punch shot with one extra downclick of loft. Although I list a full table here, don't take my word too much, I didn't take that much care about it, so the angle of the wind might have been a bit off and the pip distances might not have been exact. I would rarely use this shot past 10 pips, and as you'll see from this table that means the shot goes more or less the same in any conditions and out of any spot, rough or fairway, I call it my "wormburner" because hit at that pace, it hardly lifts off the ground...very handy

Top Tips:
Don't spray mad shots willy nilly for the sake of it but...
Dont be afraid to try something different
And DO remember and re-use a small number of "trick" shots for getting out of trouble, rather than try something new every time you find the trees

Back to Contents Page