Save shots by increasing your repertoire from tricky spots
By Top 50 Coach John Howells with Mark Townsend
We don’t hit every fairway and sometimes even when we think we’ve hit an okay shot, we experience a spot of bad luck. So having the skills, repertoire and golfing IQ needed for a variety of recovery shot options is very important. Here, I run through seven escape shots for you to call on in various scenarios as you see fit. Some need a lot of specific practice; others require new dexterity training. The main thing is that when it matters most with scorecard in hand, you only take on shots you can pull off nine times out of ten. If you can’t, hit a different shot.
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Out of the ordinary shots
The idea is to take your club – normally a 9-iron is a good option – then flip it round so you hit it left-handed with the toe pointing down. Use a left-handed grip if you can, but if you feel more comfortable with your right-handed grip, so be it. You’re just trying to make a left-handed swing to tap the back of the ball. Don’t swing too hard.
It’s more about a smooth movement to nudge it back into play. It’s risky, but if you can develop a fairly repeatable lefthanded swing, it can get you out of trouble when options are limited. With practice, you may even be able to hit it around 100 yards. Make a half or threequarter backswing and then what feels like a slowed-down swing to just brush the ground near the ball. The main thing is practice – you don’t want to be trying this shot for the first time on the course. Developing a left-handed swing can actually be quite good for your body from a strength and conditioning standpoint, too. Training the other way can help to rebalance or redress some of the tightness you may have acquired from swinging right-handed over the years.
When you’re facing this lie with the ball near the lip of a bunker, if you were to play it in the conventional way, you would be standing two feet below the ball. That’s not very easy as it creates all sorts of problems with contact. In this scenario, I would advise you to develop a right-hand-only chip shot where you actually stand with your back to the target
Make a few practice swings with your right hand cocking almost straight up and down and trying to just brush the grass. The toe of the club will very much be down into the ground, and the heel off the ground. This steepens the shaft plane so the shaft is pretty much vertical and helps with contact as there is less club interaction with the grass or turf. Basically, it’s just a hinge up and a hinge down trying to brush the grass.
Use a lofted club like a sand wedge. Anything with less loft than perhaps an 8-iron and you aren’t g
