Use The Correct Mental Approach For Short Iron Golf Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles
Use The Correct Mental Approach For Short Iron Golf Shots (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if swapping the short irons for the short hybrid gold clubs sounds like it could be a nice positive move in your game, but it isn't going to be that silver bullet that means that every time you're a 120 yards out you're going to be hitting onto the green perfectly every time. There are still risk factors that you can try and mitigate by using good course management. So we expect that the short iron hybrids are going to be higher in the air, landing nice and softly on the green, not rolling over the back of the green. But you still got to work out, is that flag next to that bunker with the pond at the back of it? Is that flag a worthwhile flag to take on, or should I be playing safer, to the larger path to the green? And generally speaking, unless you've got really great confidence in the shots that you're about to play, you should always be playing for the largest path to the green. The safest path to the green, the chance that gives you the opportunity to land on the green, and take a nice solid two putt, rather than get too aggressive, go for the birdie, find out that you're in the bunker, or in the pond.

The other consideration is that if the green is on a severe slope, try and play to the lowest section of the green. So if we got a green like this, and the flag up here, a ball that lands above the flag is going to give it a lot more difficult of a putt towards the hole with the risk of a three putt. But if you play to the middle section of the green, the low side, and then putt back up the hill, generally that would be a safer consideration, and that's the conversations you'll often hear the caddies have with the players when they're looking at a flag. So we'll go two or three yards this side of the flag because that gives us the easier putt, rather than hitting the ball up to the top side, the slopey side, and then having to putt down. And that's particularly relevant if you're playing on very fast greens. Make sure you try and play for the low side, try and play away from danger when you're playing your short iron hybrid clubs into the green. 2016-09-26

So if swapping the short irons for the short hybrid gold clubs sounds like it could be a nice positive move in your game, but it isn't going to be that silver bullet that means that every time you're a 120 yards out you're going to be hitting onto the green perfectly every time. There are still risk factors that you can try and mitigate by using good course management. So we expect that the short iron hybrids are going to be higher in the air, landing nice and softly on the green, not rolling over the back of the green. But you still got to work out, is that flag next to that bunker with the pond at the back of it? Is that flag a worthwhile flag to take on, or should I be playing safer, to the larger path to the green? And generally speaking, unless you've got really great confidence in the shots that you're about to play, you should always be playing for the largest path to the green. The safest path to the green, the chance that gives you the opportunity to land on the green, and take a nice solid two putt, rather than get too aggressive, go for the birdie, find out that you're in the bunker, or in the pond.

The other consideration is that if the green is on a severe slope, try and play to the lowest section of the green. So if we got a green like this, and the flag up here, a ball that lands above the flag is going to give it a lot more difficult of a putt towards the hole with the risk of a three putt. But if you play to the middle section of the green, the low side, and then putt back up the hill, generally that would be a safer consideration, and that's the conversations you'll often hear the caddies have with the players when they're looking at a flag. So we'll go two or three yards this side of the flag because that gives us the easier putt, rather than hitting the ball up to the top side, the slopey side, and then having to putt down. And that's particularly relevant if you're playing on very fast greens. Make sure you try and play for the low side, try and play away from danger when you're playing your short iron hybrid clubs into the green.