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Game of the Week: Squeeze Play

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In all sports, coaches preach the importance of minimizing errors to their players. In golf, some of these errors include removing penalizing drives, missing greens from inside 100 yards and reducing the number of 3-putts. The error I hope to help you minimize in this article is your number of 3-putts. A tour player averages one 3-putt every other round. How many 3-putts do you average per round?

The first place to look to help reduce the number of 3-putts is your ability to control the distance the golf ball travels on the green, because managing the speed of your putts is imperative. While there are several things to look for technically — tempo, consistency of ball contact on the face, acceleration factors and more — I like to start with a drill or game, see how a golfer does, and then evaluate what needs to be done from there.

Here is one of those games, which I call Squeeze Play.

Game: Squeeze Play

  • Gear needed: Putter, thread/thin string/ribbon, 10+ golf balls.
  • Time needed: 15+ minutes (depending on your dedication).

Rules: Set up two pieces of thread, thin string or even ribbon on the green 15 feet apart. From 15 feet away from the closest ribbon, roll your first putt as close to the far ribbon as possible without going past it. Then hit your second putt as close to your first putt without going past that ball. The key is that each putt must roll shorter than the previous putt, or you have to start over. Abiding by that rule, try to get as many golf balls between the ribbons as possible. A great number is 10 golf balls. Once you do that, move back about 10 feet and do the drill again.

For more games visit our interactive practice website www.golfscrimmages.com or book Golf Scrimmages.

 Benefits: Here’s what this game helps you with.

  • You can’t play good golf without being proficient at getting your long putts close, and that comes from having a good feel for the speed of the greens.
  • Practicing your distance control is like brushing your teeth; it’s something you must do all the time.
  • You might find yourself getting frustrated at times, so back away, take a breath and go through your routine knowing that this type of challenging practice will make you a stronger player on the actual golf course!

Practice well to play well, GolfWRXers.

Previous Games of the Week

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Trent Wearner is the No. 1-rated teacher in Colorado by Golf Digest Magazine, as well as a two-time Colorado PGA Teacher of the Year (2004, 2014). Along the way, he has been recognized as a Top 20 Teacher Under Age 40 by Golf Digest, a Top 50 Kids Teacher in America by U.S. Kids Golf and a Top Teacher in the Southwestern U.S. by GOLF Magazine. Trent is also the author of the book Golf Scrimmages and creator of the website GolfScrimmages.com

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Douglas Kim

    Aug 15, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    Nice things. You can do this drill with just one ball and a few minute and at home with PUTTOST. Lol.

    • Douglas Kim

      Aug 15, 2016 at 7:07 pm

      Nice things. You can do this drill with just one ball and a few minute and at home with PUTTIST. Lol.

  2. Jim H

    Aug 15, 2016 at 10:38 am

    Agree. Targeting 12 inches past the hole for amateurs will result in more putts made. One of the biggest detriments to successful putting is not rolling the ball all the way to the cup.

  3. Jason

    Aug 13, 2016 at 6:08 pm

    I like it but feel it ingrains in you that coming up 1″ short of your target is great. This is fine until you are trying to hole putts.

    I think finding a way to make it the opposite would provide more benefit. Where each putt has to go farther than the prior one.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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