This past week, Kenny Knox and Dave Seeman showed us how to execute bunker shots as well as tricky pitch shots around the green. Today, they're back to cover chipping, another important part of your short game. As I've said, Kenny is an absolute wizard around the greens, which is why I love sharing his methods because I believe they will make us all better players and scorers.
Dave and Kenny also have an exciting announcement as we roll forward into the 2013 golf season, but you'll have to watch the video to find out!!
Enjoy today's video and remember that we conduct golf schools all around the country, as well as select locations internationally. There's no better way to learn these techniques than by getting hands-on instruction from our great group of certified instructors.
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Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Chipping
My personal way of thinking/chipping is with no body movement, just arms.
Chipped in for a birdie on the weekend from the same distance that Kenny did in the video. I suppose it's all about personal style/preference/methodology. I can see that Kenny's way is very simple, ie
just a simple passive turn of the body, back then forward. The bottom line
is that no matter what method you use, chipping is a feel thing, much like
putting and takes a lot of practise to get where he's got.
Chipping
An interesting video today on a facet of the game that has been my saving grace many, many times. Like NeilofOZ, my chipping is usually all arms. It will not do any harm I suppose to check out Kenny Knox's method by comparing the two methods.
A very, very busy few weeks for us. Moved house to a better location, in all respects. Then the NZ Army inter-Regional Annual Golf tournament was held all last week at our course. I last played in this competition in early/mid 1990's. It was a strenuous challenge physically for those taking part. 36holes per day of matchplay, with mountain goat territory on the first 7holes hahaha! I assisted my golf mate's team from the south island and guided them around on the practice day. Then played between 8 and 12 holes a day, interspersed with pushing my mate's golf trolley[trundler to us folk down under]up hill and down dale.
Met fellow golfers I had not seen for years. In several cases, between 15 and 30years. A great catch up.
Now free to play again, and the rains came down. Much needed rain. The ground is like concrete at the moment.
Looking forward to continuing my PPGS journey to more consistency. Getting there and enjoying the quest. Kindest Regards to all.
Hope everyone had a good St Paddy's Day. From a damp New Zealand.
NZ Drought
DH, read about a drought in the north island last week and had to re-check the location as I never in my wildest dreams, would believe that the land
under the "Long White Cloud", would suffer from drought. Iv'e never seen a
picture of NZ that wasn't green all over, cept the snow topped mountains, lol.
Hope it starts pouring sooner than later.
NZ Drought
Neil, absolutely correct about the drought in the north island. It started raining yesterday and is expected to rain through to early Thursday, and it is needed. In Wellington and the Hutt Valley there are water usage restrictions. Just went out onto the front deck [like in Surge's videos before he gravitated to the 'backyard driving range] and it started to rain again, before I had a chance to swing hahaha~! Keep on hitting them straighter and more consistently in Oz ; - )
Trolly,trundler
Hello there DH. Good to see you checking in on us. Others haven't commented as much for one reason or another. Many are certainly busy with life's affairs. For some I know it's challenging to talk golf when they are in cold, simi-frozen areas of the globe and are un-able to play yet. Glad to here your all moved in. Moving can be quite traumatic.
Cool you were able to enjoy a matchplay tourny with some old golf chums.
Over here we most often refer to the trolly as a push and or pull cart. Trundler eh? I learn something every week from my international friends. Is NZ similar to Australia in that it is okay to roll ones trundler across the greens? Makes sense to me and in my own rebellious way I've adapted that philosophy and on the days when my wife and I walk our municipal course I'll occasionally walk right across the green with my wide soft wheeled cart!:) The bigger challenge on our only water hole (on that course) are the land mines left by the geese and ducks on and around the green. Iv'e become quite talented at zig zagging between and around said mines without hitting them with my feet or the trundler! Ha ha!
Speaking of ducks, my wife always brings half bags of bread for her feathered friends. They know her so well that long before we approach they see her and come running. Over at Los Prados golf course they are even more aggressive. When she pulls out the bread the little group of 5 birds often becomes close to one hundred as birds of many types seem to fly in from all over the area to help eat the goodies she shares. There is one bird type that we've called a puck as it looks like a pigeon and ducks child.
Good to hear from you old friend. glad you're recovering and better off after your move. Golf you shall go.
Trundling along in Las Vegas:)
Hit 'em straight.
BTW On the chipping thing. I will have to give that at the belly botton body move a trial too. Like you and Neil of Oz I am (until now) nearly all arms from close in. Where I have gained the most help from Kenny's style has been on his ways for getting out of sand and from 15-75 yards out when chipping and pitching. I have picked up a lot from his short game video and review it frequently.
Trolley, Trundler...
High Robert,
A cart to us here is a four wheeled transporter of people and their clubs. Have not got to the stage of needing to use one yet ; - )
The push/pull terms are starting to be used more.
On the question of taking your trolley across the green? You would be found hanging from one of the very tall trees on the course, were you to commit such a heinous crime hahaha! Club rule, no trolleys or carts within 4mtrs of the green [not always observed].
On the subject of birds? We don't encourage feeding them either. A little like, the chicken and the egg,ie, feed them and you will have it converted to the black tar, sticky stuff on the greens. We do have ducks,geese and Kekapo's.The latter leave their wee presents all over the place. The duck goo is the worst on the greens. We don't scare them away and frighten them by throwing things at them. All we do is say the magic words, "Beijing Kao Ya" [Peking Duck to you] and they scoot hahaha.
Noted passing my old course, that there are always carcasses of mainly Kekapo's etc which have been flattened by traffic, foraging for things thrown out by drivers too lazy to use a rubbis bin. We feed the birds at home every day. They say thankyou by leaving thankyou messages on the range mat~!Hahahaha.
On the golf scene. I will try Kenny Knox's chipping method against my present technique. Always willing to learn a better method.
Watched the final round of the Tampa Bay event this morning live. Another rising star in the making with the performance by Kevin Streelman. Good to see the young guard advancing.
Keep on hitting them longer, straighter and more consistently in LasVegas.
PS
Left my driver at home last two days of last week. Who needs a driver my wife says? The 3W performed brilliantly, with assistance from making sure that my right arm was correct at address and at the top of the BUS! Which is not as far as I had been swinging the club! With the right elbow in the correct place, the rest is much easier : - )
Method
I guess you could say I use the Nike Method from the old commercials.
(Just Do It!)
Sometimes it's about like Kenny does it. Sometimes there is virtually no movement from the waist down and is more of a rocking of my shoulders.
Sometimes it's a combination of those. Whatever I'm in the mood for I guess. Those are easy as pie anyway.
Now if they want to give a demo on hitting a 10 yard shot to an elevated green, short sided, off of 2 inch dormant Bermuda, with the ball sitting on top of the grass and 2 inches off of the ground, with the grain growing back against me, I am all ears.
Yep, our 5 man shamble team had that very shot Saturday and not one of us got it up and down.
Method
Steve,
Must give that shot a try~! We have several greens with rough similar to that which you describe. Not an easy shot at all!! Since Friday I have only been able to swing on the golf mat or front [concrete texture lawn]. Using a PW/7iron/Driver, I used dandelions which the mower had missed instead of a ball. This meant having to aim at some just above ground level and others a couple of inches up to 6inches off the ground! Soon got the hang of it. I will see how it helps in future with the ball sitting up as you describe. Yep! Just do it. Would be choking well down on the club grip, face well open, stance too. Someone will have an answer for you I am sure. Practice makes perfect and perfect practice...... : - )
Regards DH
Double post again
It appears that Simply Golf and I are having a contest to see who can make the most duplicate comments.
Ha ha!
H&H
There is only one acceptable method for that shot.
The old H&H method.
Hit and Hope!
Funny thing is that everybody on our team has a good short game (which is why we picked them) and 4 of us hit a flop that landed within 3 yards of the pin (about 1 yard too short) and rolled back down to our feet. The last guy tried a sweeping pitching wedge and did get it on the green but well past the hole (like we knew it would) leaving a long putt that he didn't make. I would have done it that way if I was playing on my own and guaranteed a putt at it but we needed a par and I certainly thought that out of 5 people at least two of us would get it close.
We figured that cost us the match but when we got back in we beat the next best team by 4 strokes (go figure). Nobody is scoring right now. Too much wind and dormant Bermuda knocks about 5 or 6 strokes off of everybody's score. Ready for green grass!!!
Green Grass
I totally agree with your last statement, I'm looking forward to the time we can chip off something other than dormant Bermuda, or hard pan. We've had really strange conditions, periods of rain that causes soppiness. then periods of no rain that creates a surface like dried out straw. I even delayed bringing out my new irons for a month because of the mud. They're promising Spring, I for one can't wait. Mike
Smith Wins the Tie Breaker
Congrats, Steve.
If I am careful now, this will post just once
and you will win the tie breaker!
It's an on-going dialogue, of course,
and this could change again at any time.
Arms or no arms
I've been thinking about what a lot of us have said about tending to use our arms for chips and hold the body as still as possible, while Kenny is recommending holding the arms connected to the body and making a small turn, only enough to make contact with the ball and get it to travel the desired distance. Those of us who have practiced a primarily arms-only chipping method have become reasonably good with it, but I can see where, under the kinds of pressure that pros play with all the time, stress can amplify errors with an arm swing, and have less of an effect on Kenny's connected chipping method. I have the Kenny Knox short game videos, but I haven't really put them into my practice yet (I've hardly been able to practice, so when I do make it out, it's mostly the basics on the range, plus some putting and maybe a little sand play). I really need to focus on practicing them soon.