How To Play Less Than Full Golf Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles
How To Play Less Than Full Golf Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles

Hitting a less than full golf shot on the golf course should be one of the easiest things we do, but as golfers we know it isn't. And if I have an example of doing something in a full-speed motion to then to halve that speed and do it slower, you would think it would be easier. But actually as a golfer we are so used to hitting things hard and committing to things that taking the power away would be quite awkward. But as a golfer, we also encounter these non-full shots quite regularly, particularly as we get nearer to the green into our short game. Now, in an ideal world, we'd have a bag of about 30 different clubs and every club would go a five-yard increment less from the next club. So whenever we walk up to a shot, we've always got the exact perfect club to go within five yards of the flag. But the reality is our clubs are limited to 14; we're not allowed to carry any more than that.

Yet in terms of distances we get, we get everything from a 300-yard golf shot to a 1-yard golf shot. So clearly we've got to be able to hit these clubs lots of different powers, stronger shots and half shots. So for some golfers when we approach the ball and we ask them to hit a half shot, what they generally do is make the same as their normal swing and then they don't commit. So I’ve got myself an 8 iron here and I’m going to take a few yards off my 8 iron, but I make my same full backswing and then I don't commit to it on the followthrough and it just looks a bit wishy-washy. It's very difficult to control the distance and for lots of golfers, it's very difficult for them actually to control their strike. So in this next little mini series of videos, we're going to explain how you can use your non-full swings to control your distance and still keep a really accurate ball strike. 2016-05-12

Hitting a less than full golf shot on the golf course should be one of the easiest things we do, but as golfers we know it isn't. And if I have an example of doing something in a full-speed motion to then to halve that speed and do it slower, you would think it would be easier. But actually as a golfer we are so used to hitting things hard and committing to things that taking the power away would be quite awkward. But as a golfer, we also encounter these non-full shots quite regularly, particularly as we get nearer to the green into our short game. Now, in an ideal world, we'd have a bag of about 30 different clubs and every club would go a five-yard increment less from the next club. So whenever we walk up to a shot, we've always got the exact perfect club to go within five yards of the flag. But the reality is our clubs are limited to 14; we're not allowed to carry any more than that.

Yet in terms of distances we get, we get everything from a 300-yard golf shot to a 1-yard golf shot. So clearly we've got to be able to hit these clubs lots of different powers, stronger shots and half shots. So for some golfers when we approach the ball and we ask them to hit a half shot, what they generally do is make the same as their normal swing and then they don't commit. So I’ve got myself an 8 iron here and I’m going to take a few yards off my 8 iron, but I make my same full backswing and then I don't commit to it on the followthrough and it just looks a bit wishy-washy. It's very difficult to control the distance and for lots of golfers, it's very difficult for them actually to control their strike. So in this next little mini series of videos, we're going to explain how you can use your non-full swings to control your distance and still keep a really accurate ball strike.