Age: 8
Handicap: Work in progress
Golf Club: Dereham Golf Club
Fave golfer: Annika Sorenstam
Strengths:Driving.
Weaknesses: Chipping.

Tricky decision on chip or putt

Today we are looking at the tricky decision of whether to chip or putt from the apron of the green.

Rachel Hide (above) is seen here with that problem. The green in this instance has a severe left to right slope on it which makes judging the pace even more difficult.
From here, the optimum choice would be to chip and putt but because we are not all Tour players it might be wiser to bring out just the flat stick. Yes, we would like to hole it, but that is not likely.

If the apron was long or wet then I would suggest a chip or if you have to hole the shot then I would go for a chip as putting through long grass makes it difficult to keep the ball on line.

In a medal competition or in a tight situation I would putt.

Rachel and I tried several balls from here and came to the conclusion that putting would be the best solution.

There is an old saying: your worst putt is as good as your best chip.

From here, because we are presented with the left to right putt, we have to putt uphill to start with as well as putt through the apron so we need to hit the ball harder than you think.

The best place to leave the ball would be in the sector marked on the photo.

Ideally a straight uphill second putt would be perfect, but if we leave it short a slight borrow, as long as it was uphill, would be okay. Above the hole is not an option.

This is another classic turn three into two sitation and you are more likely to achieve it with the putter.

Remember, your worst putt is still as good as your best chip.

Working on Rachel's approach putting

This week we continue to discuss course management with Academy pupil Rachel Hide who’s tackling the idea of approach putting.

We were talking last week of the need to leave yourself an easy uphill putt rather than a slippery side-hill or downhill putt.

This week we will demonstrate a tip to help if you don’t quite get the approach shot in the right place on the green.

Fig. 1 demonstrates where you would normally putt from off the centre of the putter which is usually marked by the manufacturers sight line. Should you have a steep downhill putt try to putt off the toe of the putter (see Fig. 2).

This part of the putter will have a much deader feel and the ball will come off the putter slower allowing you to be more positive with your stroke.

Rachel is demonstrating a good putting action for the this fast downhill putt. Her stance is open to the target (aimed left), which allows her space to swing the putter through the ball at the same time keeping the blade squarer.

If the stance was square or closed it would encourage a wristy action, which is the last thing we want from this position on the green.

A smooth pendulum action is required using arms only in the swing. Putting from the toe will mean the roll on the ball is slower. Concentrate on pace as we need to roll the ball into the hole slowly because if it catches the edge of the hole with pace you will possibly have a longer putt coming back than you started with.

This is a putt that you would like to make but make sure you get down in two – this is a classic course management decision that many high handicappers get wrong.

Working on Rachel's posture

Under the Potter microscope this week is 8-year-old Rachel Hide.

Rachel is one of our younger students and has possibly played the least golf.
Rachel, like all the children we are looking at, has a sound swing for her age. The one area we are looking at is her posture, the way she stands and addresses the ball.

If you look at Fig. 1 you can see that Rachel has very straight legs. This is especially evident if you look at her left leg, which is clearly supporting most of her weight and on the heel. Her back is also too arched – compare the incorrect angles of her legs and her back in Fig. 1 to that of what the correct stance in Fig. 2.

The problem with the poor posture is that Rachel will find it extremely difficult to turn correctly on the backswing. The tendency from this position will be for the left knee to move backwards towards the ball on the backswing causing the left shoulder to drop and the club to be picked up steeply causing a lack of coil and power.

The correct posture is show in Fig. 2. Here, Rachel has adopted a more flexed knee position which will make it far easier for her to turn correctly and maintain the spine angle at address through the complete golf swing.

All solid buildings have good foundations and the same can be said about the golf swing.

Once this small change is introduced into Rachel’s swing we should see her scores come tumbling down along with her handicap. This season she will be spurred on by the sibling rivalry she has with her older sister Jennifer, whose swing we will look at next week.