Three More Golf Tricks Shots to Escape Trouble (Video) - by Pete Styles
Three More Golf Tricks Shots to Escape Trouble (Video) - by Pete Styles

See you're in the awkward position where you're driving the ball into the trees, and we need to be able to get out of the trees. This shot could actually be the most important shot you play on this hole because it's this shot that get you back in play to maybe rescue par or even bogey rather than making double bogey, triple bogey by causing yourselves more problem in the trees.

So first thing to do is assess what the best way out is. If you can't go over the trees, you can't go into the trees; you could go around the trees. You might look at the ball and think well, if I could play it out there with some curve or there with some curve, I could get this ball back in playing get it chasing towards the green. First thing let's consider as you might have a normal tendency you might normally slice the ball or you might normally hook the ball. Try and play the ball out of the trees with your normal tendency because it would be very difficult of a slicer to actually find that and hook the ball or vice versa. So if you have a normal tendency try and save there's a route to play it out that way. If there isn’t a route to play it out that way, then you got to try and curve the ball. What we need to do is we need to point the club, kind of where we want to hit the ball to go. We want the ball to finish down one side of the hole then we got to aim the body a long way away from that line. So I'm going to try and slice this one. I'm going to swing way down the left hand side. I want the ball to start out down this left hand side, so I'll point the club where I want the ball to start, and I'm going to then swing a left of where that, where that position is. That way it starts where I wanted it to start the fresh air and then curves around back behind the tree. So let's say there's a tree right here 50 yards in front of me. I'm back here, and I want to finish the ball behind it. I would aim my bodyweight left. I would aim my club a little bit left safe of the tree my club points where I want the ball to start. I then swing across my body and I work hard to keep that club face wide open. I don’t want to shut that club face down and roll it that would shut the face and draw the ball too much, so I aim the club where I want the ball to start my bodyweight left of it, and cut across there. And that ball comes out with quite a big slice. That must have moved nearly 50 yards in end has actually finished back behind my imaginary tree, so I'm practicing this on the driving range and that will be a great place for you to practice this because you don’t really want to practice this out on the golf course. It seems strange to me that we probably get one of these shots every round or maybe even two or three round each time you play depending on how well you hit off the tee. Yet there's a shot that very few people ever practiced on the driving range, so get yourself to the driving range and practice this and these draws and these slices, these hooks and slices around tree. Now, if we look at drawing the ball going from right to left for the right handed golfer, again I point the club where I want the ball to start. I point my bodyweight to the right of that line. I then swing way to the right of my club face. My club face would start the ball and then turn it and then hook it, so I aim the club to the right of my tree, and I draw the ball back in around it so I aim to the right, turning my hands over quite aggressively, quite a limited leg action you can see here in that swinger I wanted to get my hands turning over. I wanted to get that golf ball hooking and I was able to turn that ball 30-40 yards, quite a low flight that time because the club face was close down as I did that, and really got that ball hooking around. One more thing that again you might sound that practicing this on the driving range, but occasionally would save you a shot on the golf course, and that would be for the right handed golfer to actually practice it in the odd left handed shot. Now, you don’t necessarily have to have left it on the clubs first. What you do as you take your normal right handed club and you would just toe it down, so you point the toe down at the ground and that produces effectively a left handed face. I would then grip it as a left hander so, left hand low this time and I'll practice just nudging the ball forwards, no big swing. Its nothing too complicated. This would be the time and place on the golf course where I've just got myself in a position behind the tree. I can't get into play as a right hander. There's no room, so I'll just be able to turn around left handed, and just bunt it forward, just get it running back 20 yards, 30 yards back onto the fairway, but its better than taking a penalty shot and dropping back in the tree. But again don’t take that shot on unless you've actually practiced that one on the driving range. You might feel that practicing with the left handed club on the range, but that might save you a shot or two next time you're playing. 2013-09-16

See you're in the awkward position where you're driving the ball into the trees, and we need to be able to get out of the trees. This shot could actually be the most important shot you play on this hole because it's this shot that get you back in play to maybe rescue par or even bogey rather than making double bogey, triple bogey by causing yourselves more problem in the trees.

So first thing to do is assess what the best way out is. If you can't go over the trees, you can't go into the trees; you could go around the trees. You might look at the ball and think well, if I could play it out there with some curve or there with some curve, I could get this ball back in playing get it chasing towards the green. First thing let's consider as you might have a normal tendency you might normally slice the ball or you might normally hook the ball. Try and play the ball out of the trees with your normal tendency because it would be very difficult of a slicer to actually find that and hook the ball or vice versa.

So if you have a normal tendency try and save there's a route to play it out that way. If there isn’t a route to play it out that way, then you got to try and curve the ball. What we need to do is we need to point the club, kind of where we want to hit the ball to go. We want the ball to finish down one side of the hole then we got to aim the body a long way away from that line. So I'm going to try and slice this one. I'm going to swing way down the left hand side. I want the ball to start out down this left hand side, so I'll point the club where I want the ball to start, and I'm going to then swing a left of where that, where that position is.

That way it starts where I wanted it to start the fresh air and then curves around back behind the tree. So let's say there's a tree right here 50 yards in front of me. I'm back here, and I want to finish the ball behind it. I would aim my bodyweight left. I would aim my club a little bit left safe of the tree my club points where I want the ball to start. I then swing across my body and I work hard to keep that club face wide open. I don’t want to shut that club face down and roll it that would shut the face and draw the ball too much, so I aim the club where I want the ball to start my bodyweight left of it, and cut across there.

And that ball comes out with quite a big slice. That must have moved nearly 50 yards in end has actually finished back behind my imaginary tree, so I'm practicing this on the driving range and that will be a great place for you to practice this because you don’t really want to practice this out on the golf course. It seems strange to me that we probably get one of these shots every round or maybe even two or three round each time you play depending on how well you hit off the tee. Yet there's a shot that very few people ever practiced on the driving range, so get yourself to the driving range and practice this and these draws and these slices, these hooks and slices around tree.

Now, if we look at drawing the ball going from right to left for the right handed golfer, again I point the club where I want the ball to start. I point my bodyweight to the right of that line. I then swing way to the right of my club face. My club face would start the ball and then turn it and then hook it, so I aim the club to the right of my tree, and I draw the ball back in around it so I aim to the right, turning my hands over quite aggressively, quite a limited leg action you can see here in that swinger I wanted to get my hands turning over. I wanted to get that golf ball hooking and I was able to turn that ball 30-40 yards, quite a low flight that time because the club face was close down as I did that, and really got that ball hooking around.

One more thing that again you might sound that practicing this on the driving range, but occasionally would save you a shot on the golf course, and that would be for the right handed golfer to actually practice it in the odd left handed shot. Now, you don’t necessarily have to have left it on the clubs first. What you do as you take your normal right handed club and you would just toe it down, so you point the toe down at the ground and that produces effectively a left handed face. I would then grip it as a left hander so, left hand low this time and I'll practice just nudging the ball forwards, no big swing. Its nothing too complicated.

This would be the time and place on the golf course where I've just got myself in a position behind the tree. I can't get into play as a right hander. There's no room, so I'll just be able to turn around left handed, and just bunt it forward, just get it running back 20 yards, 30 yards back onto the fairway, but its better than taking a penalty shot and dropping back in the tree. But again don’t take that shot on unless you've actually practiced that one on the driving range. You might feel that practicing with the left handed club on the range, but that might save you a shot or two next time you're playing.