When we talk about course management; people often think that determines the shot you’re going to hit from the tee and the club selection you’re going to hit with your second shot. But if you consider sort of miniature course management, course management in miniature we’d be looking at how you decide the clubs that you use and the shots that you hit from around the side of the green. It’s quite an important process it’s not just get near the green, pull out the sand wedge, and then work out how to hit the shot. You’ve got all of these different clubs at your disposable including your potter. You could hit any of those clubs to produce the right shot. Now I think the easiest way to decide on the shots from around the side of the green, would be to imagine you have the ball in your hand, and you were going to think about throwing the ball onto the green.

So you stand where your ball is, you look where the flag is, you read the green a little bit you look at the slopes and the speed, you also look at the hazards that are in front of you, to the sides, but also consider the hazards that are at the back of the green. Because if you get the shot wrong there is a fair chance it’s going over the greens we’ve got to work out what’s there. Then think about picking the ball up and if I ask you to throw the ball onto the green, think about how you would throw it, it’s a fairly instinctive process it’s something we’ve probably done our whole lives. Throwing or rolling a ball to get it to somewhere close. So we think, do I land it close, and roll it all loyal, or do I have to throw it up and over something and land it quickly. Would I throw it short of the flag, is there any danger there? Would I throw it beyond the flag, is there any danger there?

And I don’t just weigh up the perfect shot also need to look at, what if I get it wrong what’s my margin of error? I’m I about to throw into a flag that’s got a pond on one side and a bunker on another side, or I’m I about to throw off aiming for the middle of the green and taking a couple of putts. And I’d actually go ahead and just sort of visualize the throw, visualize how you would stand and how you would throw the ball out there to get the solution you want, then go and make your club decision. So it’s quite important you don’t pick a club and then try and manufacture a shot, you work out the shot you want to play, then go and choose the right club. And like I said earlier it could even be a potter, if there is nothing in the way dry flat grass I could put it across the floor. Need a bit more height, take a six or seven iron. A bit more height, maybe play a lob – sorry play a gap wedge or a pitching wedge. Need loads of height maybe to stop quickly, that might be a sand wedge or your lob wedge.

Just understand there is no right or wrong for this shot it needs to suit your eye it needs to suit your technique, but understand that you’ve got all of these clubs at your disposable, so work on your miniature course management technique to improve your short game shots.