Tip From the Archives
Hitting Onto the Green
Problem
You hit straight at the pin and are almost always left with a difficult putt or it rolls off the green.
Cure
It is likely that you are always hoping to get the ball to land straight into the hole but you are off by a little or do not come in at the right angle or high enough, causing lots of roll. You need to become a little more realistic about your abilities and quit banking on what you wish would happen. Think of your own statistics; how many times have you shot the ball directly into the hole verses seeing a lot of bounce and roll? When you are playing, you need to make choices around your own personal odds and then you will save strokes in the long run.
Therapy
Ideally, practice hitting onto the green so that the ball stops on a dime when you are at home or at the driving range. Until then, plan on taking advantage of roll by evaluating the slope and roll to expect if you land at different areas on the green. An easy way to think about how the ball will react when landing on the green is to imagine throwing the ball onto the green. If you were to throw the ball ten feet from the pin on the right, how would it roll? How about from the left or from behind it? Is the club you selected going to let you land there and give you similar roll? Do you need to change clubs? Take the club you feel most comfortable to get you to land on that spot on the green for the best possible roll into the hole.
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