You know it, because you’ve been close to the green in two (whether you arrived there via the fairway or the short rough) but its taken you three, perhaps four more to hole the ball on that par 4.

Its so unnecessary. There is a logical, simplistic, approach to “The Short Game" of golf. You must be more efficient on and around the greens. Its essential that you have a good “short game" so that you can turn good golf into good scores.

You’ll not only get a tremendous advantage from this, but, I promise you, much lower scores. After all that is what we want don’t we?

You’ve got to stop assessing the next shot and the club selection before you get to the ball. Don’t think “Oh, that’s a wedge" and then when you get there automatically play the shot without further thought.

Do you go and look at the grebe?

Do you walk round the ball, looking at the way the ground slopes – if it does?

Are you in light rough or on the apron?

Do you consider running the ball to the hole instead of putting it in the air?

I could go on, but I think you’ve got the picture now!

Remember the old saying “You drive for show – but putt for dough". Does your putting consistently let you down? Do you go to the practice putting green before you play, or do you just play for fun and enjoy the company of your golfing friends regardless of how badly you play and hold up their round while you scratch around like a rabbit?

Putting is an almost exact science. You do know, don’t you, that the swing path of the putter is, nearly always, slightly inside to straight through – never straight back and straight through. I say nearly always because there is the odd instance where it is not true, but if you swing it slightly inside to straight through your putting will drastically improve - always assuming you’ve got the distance right!!

I’ve seen so many golfers putting with the left hand glove (right hand if you’re a left handed golfer) left on. You know, the putter’s handle feels son different on flesh as opposed to through leather. But, like any shot the ball only feels the club face. So to get the ball to perform the way you want it to, the putter has to perform correctly and the only thing that controls the face of the club is the way you hold it.

I know its basic to say watch the club face hit the ball, but we’re always anxious to see where the ball has gone, so the tendency to lift the head too soon is always with us. Control that tendency and topping the ball will disappear.

Did you know there are no less than 19 problems you can encounter on and around the greens? Each one requires thought and concentration. Don’t be distracted. If someone is talking, wait for them to stop. Yes, I know that in the Saturday morning 4 ball its difficult, but not impossible.

Think about your golf – its worth it!

God Bless, keep swinging and Happy Golfing. .©

Tony Bryan – The Audio Ebook Guy.

Tony is a retired Finance Director, single handicap golfer

and author of Golf- The Short Game at http://www.tony-bryan-theaudioebookguy.com

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