Golf Tips: Getting up and down more often

In today’s version of golf tips, we are going to work on a couple ways to be better around the green. The first is one that’s incredibly simple. The second, that is one that not many people have heard of.

There are a couple of great feelings in golf. One of them is striping a drive down the middle of the fairway. Another is sinking a putt. For today’s golf tips, we are going to talk about one that is in between those two. Chipping the ball within a couple feet, giving yourself an easy putt.

An area a lot of golfers struggle in is pitching and chipping when they get near the green. Most of it, like nearly anything you will struggle with in golf, is due to lack of practice. That’s what today’s tip is. Practice. Instead of going to the range for a day, find an empty spot on the green and practice. I don’t mean hitting 20-25 chips. I mean hitting 200+ chips.

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One of my golfers was really struggling around the green. He was good off the tee, and a decent putter. He could get near the green in two or three shots most times, but would put himself in a terrible position each time with his chips. He had never broken 105, and was getting frustrated. So we switched up his practice routine.

He didn’t go out on the course for three days. He would get some swings at the range, but for the most part, he spent two hours each day chipping. Hundreds and hundreds of chips. The result? He shot a 91 that week, with nine one-putts. They say practice makes perfect, and it sure helped him. It can help you too, as long as you put the work in.

The second golf tip today is called the rule of 12. It goes as follows, and we will keep it simple by using a distance of 12 feet. Each foot would be “one part”. You want the club you use to land that many “parts” away from you, while using a putting style stroke to your swing. If you’re using a 6-iron, you would want it to land six parts away, or six feet in this case. According to the rule, it would then roll the remaining parts. A PW would land 10 parts away, and roll the remaining two. A 3-iron, three parts away and rolling the remaining nine.

Whichever club you use, equate that to the parts the ball should fly. The remaining parts would be the roll. A 48 foot chip with a 5-iron? You are going to carry it 20 feet (5 parts), and it should roll out the remaining 28 feet (7 parts). There is a little math involved here, but if it is something you want to stick to, writing it down in your yardage book, or the back of your scorecard is a nice little reminder of how it works.

This is a great practice tool, and can help you get a feel for how the greens are rolling wherever you are playing at. While you are at the practice green, use the rule of 12 to check the green. If you are running past on all your chips, you know the green is fast. It’s slow if everything is stopping short.

One thing to remember with this drill is the putting style stroke is important here. It isn’t a normal chip/pitch stroke. If you do swing that way, the rule of 12 isn’t going to work. For those who struggle with their short game, adapting to the rule of 12 is a good way to fix it. Remember, practice makes perfect. Or at least breaking 100.